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Which Card of The Major Arcana You Take As The 'Most Positive'?


Mark Foot

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Saturn Celeste
13 minutes ago, Mark Foot said:

There are too many replies here.

This is a busy forum and our members enjoy participating in discussions.

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One more of "too many":

I don't have a "most positive" card. I think Tom Robbins rhapsodized about the Empress in one of his novels, it was obviously his favorite. The Empress is a nice card - but you probably don't want to see it in a draw for someone hoping she isn't pregnant. Everything depends on context.

Consider the context of the question. If the question concerns whether some ordeal will end soon, the Death card can be quite welcome. Not totally painless, but at least the end is in sight.

It can also depend how the cards land. The Chariot may be good, but suppose the client is considering a 500 mile road trip and wants to know if their car will make it there and back? Chariot followed by the Tower says to find alternate means of transportation, lest they end up on the side of the highway with smoke pouring from under the hood!

None of this is intended to say there are "no good or bad cards" - there definitely are. The Chariot itself hasn't changed, it's still a good card. But the Tower is a nasty one in a question like this. The story unfolding on the table is a warning. On some very high level, it's said by meditation masters that nothing is good or bad. But for us here and now, we definitely experience things that way, and that's a big part of why people come to us. Trying to predict the future is tricky enough without adding complications and ambiguity. 😉

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7 hours ago, Mark Foot said:

There are too many replies here.

shocked jurassic park GIF

 

Whaaat? I simply cannot believe that there exists such a thing!! 😁 (We never want people to hold back. We WANT everyone to participate! You'll get used to it, I promise ☺️)

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11 hours ago, katrinka said:



Consider the context of the question. If the question concerns whether some ordeal will end soon, the Death card can be quite welcome. Not totally painless, but at least the end is in sight.

 

I love the Arcanum XIII (the so-called Death card). There's a finality about it that I find comforting. No need for any decision making. It's out of our hands. As you say, it may not be totally painless (although it can be) but at least one can now move on and turn the page. No, not "can" as one has no choice. All one can do is to lay back and watch and witness the crumbling or the sudden change. It's better to lay back and just witness because otherwise the stress and anxiety levels can reach dangerous heights. 

 

Mark Foot : Why are there too many replies here ? 

Edited by Marigold
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Marigold - I am so pleased to see that I am not the only one to appreciate the Death card.  As you say, there is a finality about it that is deeply comforting.  Whats more, I have seen it to mean actual physical death.  In the case I am thinking of, an old lady asked for a reading (online as I never do face to face) and I very definitely got the message that she was not long for this world, so I told her this, and she was so happy, because she couldn't wait to be reunited with her departed husband.

The Tower can also be positive.  Examples - I once saw that a womans world was about to fall apart; she was happy as she felt trapped by her partner in the world he had created for them.  And - another time, I saw a person home physically falling down.  Again, positive result as he lived in sub standard accomadation, about to be demolished and he was being rehoused.

I should point out that I was cautious and tactful on how I delivered these messages!

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1 hour ago, spider said:

Marigold - I am so pleased to see that I am not the only one to appreciate the Death card.  As you say, there is a finality about it that is deeply comforting.  Whats more, I have seen it to mean actual physical death.  In the case I am thinking of, an old lady asked for a reading (online as I never do face to face) and I very definitely got the message that she was not long for this world, so I told her this, and she was so happy, because she couldn't wait to be reunited with her departed husband.

The Tower can also be positive.  Examples - I once saw that a womans world was about to fall apart; she was happy as she felt trapped by her partner in the world he had created for them.  And - another time, I saw a person home physically falling down.  Again, positive result as he lived in sub standard accomadation, about to be demolished and he was being rehoused.

I should point out that I was cautious and tactful on how I delivered these messages!

Oh indeed, the Death card certainly can mean actual death. The World card can also indicate physical death. I also saw the Hanged Man once indicate the method of suicide of the brother-in-law of a client (when I was reading semi-professionally). Sometimes the Tarot can be very literal.

 

Tower can be a great card too as you say. In the Marseilles tradition, it more often than not indicates liberation from limitations of any kind. Sometimes our self-imposed limitations, sometimes those that are more external. It's also often in my past readings referred positively to a desired change of domicile (literally moving out from one house to another). Just like you have had in your experience too. 

 

 

 

Edited by Marigold
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Yes I received a lot of replies... I mean, thank you everyone, but I cannot respond to all of you individually! 

 

@spider

Totally agree with your approach on the Death card. Most people will tell you that 'the Death card never means literally Death'. But I disagree.. Yes, the Death card CAN mean literally Death, at least, this is according to my experiences, and I believe most of you one way or another agree with that. But also it could signify positive transformations. I remember in one spread a few months ago when the Death card came up, I was hired to a new job and then I had to quit my old one. But on another instance, I received a death message from an old friend. 

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16 hours ago, katrinka said:

It can also depend how the cards land. The Chariot may be good, but suppose the client is considering a 500 mile road trip and wants to know if their car will make it there and back? Chariot followed by the Tower says to find alternate means of transportation, lest they end up on the side of the highway with smoke pouring from under the hood!

This is certainly true. Followed by the Tower or the Devil, the Chariot could be a sign of road accident; imagine going for a trip and in the midst your car engine fails! 

I also think that the central card, or at least a card - or a set of cards - that summarize(s) the overal situation is important. 

Edited by Mark Foot
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When I had a reading once and I pulled The Empress & the reader announced with huge smile:  'You're Pregnant young man!'   I can honestly say Mr Foot that that was the 2nd happiest moment of my life.  

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Saturn Celeste
4 hours ago, Mark Foot said:

Yes I received a lot of replies... I mean, thank you everyone, but I cannot respond to all of you individually!

@Mark Foot, this is not an exchange, it's just a discussion.  Only in an exchange do you need to give feedback to those who help you.  Regular discussions threads just have fun with them!  I'm glad you said something!! :bubble_bthumbsup:

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I was mistaken like Mark. I was posting to my own thread one day and was trying to respond to everyone who posted in response because I thought it was required in all threads. I don't know where I got that idea, but I did get it. I think it may have come from a thread where a new person had posted a topic, gotten several responses but no response from the new person in return and a mod gently reminded them they needed to respond to the ones who had posted after him/her.  Not meaning, though, that every single poster needed a response, but it just sounded like that. 🙂

 

Anyway, there aren't any cards I see as being all positive or all negative. Even the Death card can be very positive. In 2015 my youngest son's wife passed away from a long and hellish battle with melanoma. We all loved her so very much, but seeing her suffer through so much over many years and then die suffocating because her lungs had so many tumors made her death a very positive thing for her and all of us. 

 

I have to admit the Tower card and I went steady for many years that I didn't find entirely pleasant,  but each episode did turn into a positive in the long run. It just depended on how I chose to look at it. 

 

There's a lesson I've learned in my years with the cards. It's that if I can come to each reading, no matter who I'm reading for, with a clean slate and a fresh look at the spread, then I can give a good reading that's appropriate to what the cards are saying at the time for whoever and whatever I'm reading for. Of course, all our experience with what the cards have meant in past situations will remain in our minds and color each new reading in some way, but it's a mistake to get into a rut by having a preconceived "this is not good or this is all good" about each card. Those are judgments we're personally harboring that might have nothing to do with the reading we're doing right now. I've seen us readers described as "the postman (or postmistress) for the Universe"  Meaning that we're in the position of communicating with the Higher Intelligence/God/Higher Power and bringing questions, answers and messages to and from the person we're reading for and that Higher Power using whatever means we're asking with. 

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57 minutes ago, Grizabella said:

Anyway, there aren't any cards I see as being all positive or all negative. Even the Death card can be very positive. In 2015 my youngest son's wife passed away from a long and hellish battle with melanoma. We all loved her so very much, but seeing her suffer through so much over many years and then die suffocating because her lungs had so many tumors made her death a very positive thing for her and all of us.

This is what I was getting at with the assertion that Death is never totally painless.
It can be welcome, it can be a relief, but what got the person there?
I would say that in this case, melanoma was a major player in the death process.
We're hardwired to want to survive, it's instinctive. And it takes an incredible amount of pain, whether physical, emotional, or both, to override that instinct and make death desirable.

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I agree, Katrinka. I don't always read all the posts in the threads because the print is hard to see but you and I often seem to have similar interpretations. 🙂

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Page of Wands

If i use my experience as a reader to say which card is more positive, i would say none.

 

All cards can have different meanings in the readings.

 

For example:

-Judgement can be a death in the family;

-World can show an ending...of a painful process...not necessarily happy;

-The fool can show immature behavior or even show that you are a fool for asking that;

 

Even the sun and the star i can see in a not so good meaning.

Sun as something that blinds the querent

Star as something dreamy, distant...even platonic.

 

 

But, if i had to pick, by the meaning not by my experience, ill go with the chariot and magician.

I love both cards...

The chariot takes the cake between both.

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To me the sun has always represented a card thay I would like to get in a reading. It just brightens the reading. And it is a position I aspire to reach

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theholysticvagabond
On 8/11/2019 at 8:00 PM, DanielJUK said:

I would say the most positive for what?

 

0. The Fool - the most positive for starting fresh, spontaneity and taking a risk into the unknown

1. Magician - the most positive for action with skills and resources

2. High Priestess - the most positive for the subconscious and intuition

3. Empress - the most positive for fertility, femininity and beauty

4. Emperor - the most positive for masculinity, authority, power and structure

5. Hierophant - the most positive for group conformity / religion, traditional, beliefs

6. Lovers - the most positive for love, unions, choices and values aligning

7. Chariot - the most positive for drive, determination and control

8. Strength - the most positive for strength, courage and compassion

9. Hermit - the most positive for soul-searching, introspection and being along / finding yourself

10. Wheel of Fortune - the most positive for destiny, cycles, karma

11. Justice - the most positive for justice, faithless, truth

12. Hanged Man - the most positive for patience / waiting, letting go, seeing a new view

13. Death - the most positive for renewal, transformation, transition

14. Temperance - the most positive for balance, moderation, calm

15. The Devil - the most positive for sex and sexuality, lust and acknowledging negative patterns

16. The Tower - the most positive card for shaking you up to put you in a better place and for room shaking sex

17. The Star - the most positive card for hope, inspiration and spirituality

18. The Moon - the most positive card for the subconscious, creativity and dreams

19. The Sun - the most positive card for optimism, positivity (perhaps this is the most positive card overall or it's subjective!) and fun

20. Judgement - the most positive card for absolution and finding your inner calling

21. The World - the most positive card for completion, rebirth and achievement

Thank you for this. I'm currently reviewing all the cards and this is a good summarise.

 

I agree that everything depends on the context. However, I would also be on the team that say the Star feels the more positive. Even if some people here pointed out the negative aspects of this card and it's really true as well.

As a last point, I would also say that I would put the Magician and the Wheel of Fortune in my top 3. 

 

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ThePerceptivePsychic

In no particular order -- The Sun, The Star, Empress, and The World

 

Honorable mention: The Tower, but ONLY when in reverse. You've just avoided chaos by the skin of your teeth, and are unscathed. Even though you're thrown about in the midst of someone ELSE'S mess, you can use it to your advantage by make their stumbling blocks YOUR stepping stones. In other words, learn by other's examples/poor mistakes.

Edited by ThePerceptivePsychic
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On 2/6/2020 at 8:24 PM, ThePerceptivePsychic said:

In no particular order -- The Sun, The Star, Empress, and The World

 

Honorable mention: The Tower, but ONLY when in reverse. You've just avoided chaos by the skin of your teeth, and are unscathed. Even though you're thrown about in the midst of someone ELSE'S mess, you can use it to your advantage by make their stumbling blocks YOUR stepping stones. In other words, learn by other's examples/poor mistakes.

Totally agree... 

 

I like the Justice also and the Chariot. It depends however... the Judgement, which is very positive for me, if it is followed by the Fool, may indicate problems. Actually, after the Judgement comes the World, which indicates completion. If after the Judgement comes the Fool it means that you are going back to the beginning without finishing the project. You are back to where you have started. 

 

The Star? It is ok... it shows bright hopes but the Star is still a 'night card', not as strong as the Chariot or the Sun. 

Edited by Jungian
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Call me weird but my favorite card has always been the Tower (or as it is called in French deck: The House of God). Why? I suppose I see the tower struck by lightning not as a refuge but as a prison. This card has often showed up in the readings I do to say: "you are imprisoned but freedom is near. You are tied up but your bonds shall be broken." and the like. Something is about to be thrown down around you. Nobody says it must be something positive. It can be your illusions, your old life, your old hatred.

 

The lightning can also sometimes be interpreted either as the fire of revelation, or the flame of love, two shattering thing. But then the latter makes more sense in French where "coup de foudre" means falling in love in an instant.

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I love the death card as I always feel it is a positive thing for something to end for rebirth. I also quite like the high priestess as I always feel I trust that something will come to light soon. 
 

The card that makes me whince is the moon- I feel this card means I’m going to be in the dark for a long time and it drives me mad! 💖💖💖

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Probably the Sun for me. Usually clarity, no secrecy and happiness. But no card has ever only been good, including the Sun, but it’s very rare that it’s been bad. 
 

The star has mostly been vague or unrealistic. “There’s hope, but it’s far away and may not happen in years if at all”. Sometimes it can be a cold card even. The world-all good things come to

an end. 

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I like The Sun, as many others have said.  I'll also have to give a shoutout to The Empress.  I like her disposition.  I'm quite fond of The Fool too, as it's about the start of a journey, but it's generally framed in a positive light.  Actually, it's a personal favourite.  Here's the Biddy definition: https://www.biddytarot.com/tarot-card-meanings/major-arcana/fool/

 

TBH though, there's a potential positive side to every card.  I just read a spread the other day with Death, along with the Reversed Five of Cups as a positive even though anyone who looked at that spread would be put off by how ominous it looks.  Also, I used my Gothic Horror Tarot deck so that could be part of it...

Edited by AlbaTross
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I may have missed it, but I haven't seen anyone suggest The Magician yet.... He's such a confident character that I consider him a good contender for the most positive card in the deck. 

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In my experience, the Sun, Justice and Empress tend to be fairly positive cards. I do read reversals however, and even so, the Sun card tends to be positive by and large. The downside having more to do with self-centeredness (something relatively easy to rectify as compared to the upheaval of the Tower for example) or temporary loss of enthusiasm/energy rather than anything majorly disruptive. Justice upright sometimes yields results that are unwanted (such as the end of a one-sided/imbalanced relationship) by the querent but ultimately in their greatest good. Empress rarely signifies negativity unless rx or in an unfavourable position, in which case she can spell trouble. The Sun rx/unfavourably placed rarely means anything too negative.

 

So, I'll go with Sun as the most positive.

Edited by tempress
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