§ 2. THE
LESSER ARCANA
Otherwise, the Four Suits of Tarot Cards,
will now be described according to their respective classes by the
pictures to each belonging, and a harmony of their meanings will be
provided from all sources.
THE SUIT OF WANDS
King
The physical and emotional nature to which this card is attributed is
dark, ardent, lithe, animated, impassioned, noble. The King uplifts a
flowering wand, and wears, like his three correspondences in the remaining
suits, what is called a cap of maintenance beneath his crown. He connects
with the symbol of the lion, which is emblazoned on the back of his
throne. Divinatory Meanings: Dark man, friendly, countryman,
generally married, honest and conscientious. The card always signifies
honesty, and may mean news concerning an unexpected heritage to fall in
before very long. Reversed: Good, but severe; austere, yet
tolerant.
WANDS
Queen
The Wands throughout this suit are always in leaf, as it is a suit of
life and animation. Emotionally and otherwise, the Queen's personality
corresponds to that of the King, but is more magnetic. Divinatory
Meanings: A dark woman, countrywoman, friendly, chaste, loving,
honourable. If the card beside her signifies a man, she is well disposed
towards him; if a woman, she is interested in the Querent. Also, love of
money, or a certain success in business. Reversed: Good,
economical, obliging, serviceable. Signifies also--but in certain
positions and in the neighbourhood of other cards tending in such
directions--opposition, jealousy, even deceit and infidelity.
WANDS
Knight
He is shewn as if upon a journey, armed with a short wand, and although
mailed is not on a warlike errand. He is passing mounds or pyramids. The
motion of the horse is a key to the character of its rider, and suggests
the precipitate mood, or things connected therewith. Divinatory
Meanings: Departure, absence, flight, emigration. A dark young man,
friendly. Change of residence. Reversed: Rupture, division,
interruption, discord.
WANDS
Page
In a scene similar to the former, a young man stands in the act of
proclamation. He is unknown but faithful, and his tidings are strange.
Divinatory Meanings: Dark young man, faithful, a lover, an envoy, a
postman. Beside a man, he will bear favourable testimony concerning him. A
dangerous rival, if followed by the Page of Cups. Has the chief qualities
of his suit. He may signify family intelligence. Reversed:
Anecdotes, announcements, evil news. Also indecision and the instability
which accompanies it.
WANDS
Ten
A man oppressed by the weight of the ten staves which he is carrying.
Divinatory Meanings: A card of many significances, and some of the
readings cannot be harmonized. I set aside that which connects it with
honour and good faith. The chief meaning is oppression simply, but it is
also fortune, gain, any kind of success, and then it is the oppression of
these things. It is also a card of false-seeming, disguise, perfidy. The
place which the figure is approaching may suffer from the rods that he
carries. Success is stultified if the Nine of Swords follows, and if it is
a question of a lawsuit, there will be certain loss. Reversed:
Contrarieties, difficulties, intrigues, and their analogies.
WANDS
Nine
The figure leans upon his staff and has an expectant look, as if
awaiting an enemy. Behind are eight other staves--erect, in orderly
disposition, like a palisade. Divinatory Meanings: The card
signifies strength in opposition. If attacked, the person will meet an
onslaught boldly; and his build shews, that he may prove a formidable
antagonist. With this main significance there are all its possible
adjuncts--delay, suspension, adjournment. Reversed: Obstacles,
adversity, calamity.
WANDS
Eight
The card represents motion through the immovable-a flight of wands
through an open country; but they draw to the term of their course. That
which they signify is at hand; it may be even on the threshold.
Divinatory Meanings: Activity in undertakings, the path of such
activity, swiftness, as that of an express messenger; great haste, great
hope, speed towards an end which promises assured felicity; generally,
that which is on the move; also the arrows of love. Reversed:
Arrows of jealousy, internal dispute, stingings of conscience, quarrels;
and domestic disputes for persons who are married.
WANDS
Seven
A young man on a craggy eminence brandishing a staff; six other staves
are raised towards him from below. Divinatory Meanings: It is a
card of valour, for, on the surface, six are attacking one, who has,
however, the vantage position. On the intellectual plane, it signifies
discussion, wordy strife; in business--negotiations, war of trade, barter,
competition. It is further a card of success, for the combatant is on the
top and his enemies may be unable to reach him. Reversed:
Perplexity, embarrassments, anxiety. It is also a caution against
indecision.
WANDS
Six
A laurelled horseman bears one staff adorned with a laurel crown;
footmen with staves are at his side. Divinatory Meanings: The card
has been so designed that it can cover several significations; on the
surface, it is a victor triumphing, but it is also great news, such as
might be carried in state by the King's courier; it is expectation crowned
with its own desire, the crown of hope, and so forth. Reversed:
Apprehension, fear, as of a victorious enemy at the gate; treachery,
disloyalty, as of gates being opened to the enemy; also indefinite delay.
WANDS
Five
A posse of youths, who are brandishing staves, as if in sport or
strife. It is mimic warfare, and hereto correspond the Divinatory
Meanings: Imitation, as, for example, sham fight, but also the
strenuous competition and struggle of the search after riches and fortune.
In this sense it connects with the battle of life. Hence some attributions
say that it is a card of gold, gain, opulence. Reversed:
Litigation, disputes, trickery, contradiction.
WANDS
Four
From the four great staves planted in the foreground there is a great
garland suspended; two female figures uplift nosegays; at their side is a
bridge over a moat, leading to an old manorial house. Divinatory
Meanings: They are for once almost on the surface--country life, haven
of refuge, a species of domestic harvest-home, repose, concord, harmony,
prosperity, peace, and the perfected work of these. Reversed: The
meaning remains unaltered; it is prosperity, increase, felicity, beauty,
embellishment.
WANDS
Three
A calm, stately personage, with his back turned, looking from a cliff's
edge at ships passing over the sea. Three staves are planted in the
ground, and he leans slightly on one of them. Divinatory Meanings:
He symbolizes established strength, enterprise, effort, trade, commerce,
discovery; those are his ships, bearing his merchandise, which are sailing
over the sea. The card also signifies able co-operation in business, as if
the successful merchant prince were looking from his side towards yours
with a view to help you. Reversed: The end of troubles, suspension
or cessation of adversity, toil and disappointment.
WANDS
Two
A tall man looks from a battlemented roof over sea and shore; he holds
a globe in his right hand, while a staff in his left rests on the
battlement; another is fixed in a ring. The Rose and Cross and Lily should
be noticed on the left side. Divinatory Meanings: Between the
alternative readings there is no marriage possible; on the one hand,
riches, fortune, magnificence; on the other, physical suffering, disease,
chagrin, sadness, mortification. The design gives one suggestion; here is
a lord overlooking his dominion and alternately contemplating a globe; it
looks like the malady, the mortification, the sadness of Alexander amidst
the grandeur of this world's wealth. Reversed: Surprise, wonder,
enchantment, emotion, trouble, fear.
WANDS
Ace
A hand issuing from a cloud grasps a stout wand or club. Divinatory
Meanings: Creation, invention, enterprise, the powers which result in
these; principle, beginning, source; birth, family, origin, and in a sense
the virility which is behind them; the starting point of enterprises;
according to another account, money, fortune, inheritance. Reversed:
Fall, decadence, ruin, perdition, to perish also a certain clouded joy. |
