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Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Everyday Oracle, Fortune-telling, Sibilla della Zingara, Vera Sibilla

Vera Sibilla Cards That Indicate Negative Feelings

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I already made a post about positive feelings. This is a follow-up on the other side of the coin. As usual, this isn’t meant to be exhaustive. Note that many cards indicating difficult feelings are just reversed cards whose upright meaning is positive.

Three of Hearts Reversed – The Balcony

When upright, the Three of Hearts relates to the sense of sight, both literally and figuratively. Reversed, it can represent someone who is blinded by emotion, especially such emotions as rage or lust (the “red” emotions). It can indicate the inability to control oneself as a result of such emotions.

Four of Hearts Reversed – Love

Aside from being an indication of depravity, the reversed Love card can, and in fact is more commonly found to relate to unrequited feelings, emotional dryness and deep emotional scars from disappointment, usually in love.

Seven of Hearts Reversed – The Scholar

Upright, the Scholar card represents the mind in its best aspects of intelligence, creativity and having a solid grip on reality and on one’s problems. When it is reversed, it represents either someone who is cold and calculating (the lower octave of the mind) or someone who feels impotent and easily overwhelmed by problems.

Eight of Hearts Reversed – Hope

When reversed, the Eight of Hearts is a harbinger of sorrow, disappointment and unfulfilled hopes and wishes. Being a card that is strongly connected with one’s inner optimism, the reversed Hope card becomes one of pessimism or even of mild depression (by itself).

Nine of Hearts Reversed – Faithfulness

Upright, the Dog card of the Sibilla indicates friendship and loyalty, as well as deep and strong attachment to someone, something or an idea. Reversed, it is an indicator of rebellion, unreliability and biting the hand that feeds you, from thankless teens to political activists depending on the context.

Ten of Hearts Reversed – Perseverance

Upright, the Ten of Hearts can indicate solid, reliable people, lasting feelings and certainty. When it falls reversed in a reading, the Ten of Hearts become an indication of turmoil and of not being able to control oneself, one’s instinct and one’s rage.

Two of Clubs Reversed – The Peacock

When it comes up reversed, the Peacock card embodies the negative side of the symbolism of the animal, namely pride, haughtiness, an inflated ego that is easily slighted and self-centeredness. Depending on the surrounding cards this can go from a mild drama-queen complex to serious pathological deviancy.

Seven of Clubs Reversed – Realization

The Upright Seven of Clubs represents our realization in the world, our ambitions and our sense of accomplishment. When it comes up reversed, it shows insecurity, dissatisfaction with one’s existence, and fear, especially understood as feeling under attack in one’s life projects.

Eight of Clubs Reversed – The Reunion

Reversed, the Reunion card has many difficult meanings relating to groups and one’s social contacts. However, it is also a card of disillusion, sadness and depression. It represents someone who has lost momentum and is prey to inner turmoil, self-doubt and similar feelings.

Nine of Clubs Reversed – Merriment

Coming up reversed in a reading, the Nine of Clubs reverses the hakuna matata feeling of its upright counterpart. It becomes a card of joylessness, and it can also represent feeling isolated from others, sometimes even as a consequence of other people taking shots at us.

Four of Diamonds – Falsehood

The Falsehood of this card must be understood broadly as a feeling of “wrongness” and negativity. In this sense it is the opposite of the Dog card. It represents being ill-disposed or displeased with something, and negative feelings brewing right below the surface.

Five of Diamonds – Melancholy

The title speaks for itself. Upright, the card can be an indicator of disappointment, sadness, pining, melancholy and dissatisfaction. By itself it is not a tragic card, but it does slow you down. Reversed, the card becomes much more impactful and its effects long-lasting.

Seven of Diamonds Reversed – The Child

When it falls reversed, the Child card embodies the negative side of children: childishness, in the main, but also a general sense of inexperience and that the world is too complex for us to understand and tackle.

Nine of Diamonds – The Fools

The Fools indicate feelings of unwarranted exaltation and self-confidence, mistaken conceptions, as well as easily aroused feelings of aggression. They depict a volatile atmosphere where things can go seriously south.

Ten of Diamonds – The Thief

The Thief is a card of betrayal, whether literal or metaphorical. It represents ill-will toward someone or something, and the desire to do wrong things. This needn’t be tragic, as there are many situations where the sneakiness of the Thief borders on amorality rather than immorality. Still, this card is always a warning.

Ace of Spades – Sorrow

The Sorrow card is the card of tears, of the broken heart and of the sense of being cut off from one’s source of happiness. In itself it is a very difficult card to go through, but when not piled on by other problematic cards it can show just a sense of discouragement that the person can muscle through with some mental discipline.

Three of Spades – The Widower

Another difficult card, the Widower represents isolation, loneliness and serious interpersonal issues. Being the card that signifies “oneness” and the single individual, sometimes it can show things done alone, with no negative connotation, but more often than not it foretells difficulties in one’s loneliness. When reversed, it becomes a rather tragic card.

Four of Spades – Sickness

Although this is the card that indicates literal sickness, it can also be interpreted metaphorically on occasion. It often signifies feeling sick, disturbed or down, but it can also be the card of sick and morbid feelings which cannot find a healthy expression.

Six of Spades – Sighs

Among the less difficult Spades in the deck, the Six of Spades represents everything we desperately long for and await, hoping it will come to us. It is a less serene version of the Eight of Hearts, as it contrasts its composure with a sense of uncertainty and fear of losing what one wishes to get.

Seven of Spades – Tragedy

Another card of “red” feelings, this one indicates anger and wrath. It shows explosive energy disrupting one’s life, which, from an emotional standpoint, usually signifies that we are feeling slighted or wronged or somehow unable to restrain our ire.

Eight of Spades – Desperation and Jealousy

In the main, the Eight of Spades is a card of literal jealousy and envy, but it can represent all those situations where we look at others with toxic feelings in our heart. It can also signify desperation and tears, and a sense of being trapped in a corner with no way out.

MQS

Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Tarot

The Mystery of the Six of Pentacles

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Following up on my article about the Seven of Swords, I want to take a look at another ambiguous card in Waite’s deck: the Six of Pentacles.

As usual, there is a folk intepretation of this card and there is what Waite meant. My comment is not meant to be disparaging of anyone’s interpretation: it is just philological in nature.

Generally, most people see the Six of Pentacles as a card of generosity, philanthropy and giving to others. This is rather odd at first, since for the meaning of the minor cards Waite follows the Golden Dawn system almost religiously (which is proof that he didn’t care much about the minors in the first place, see my article about his disdain for the minor arcana).

In the Golden Dawn system of tarot, all sixes represent the best expression of the suit and are assigned to the sephira Tiphareth, which is indicative of perfect harmony and equilibrium within the element. The harmony represents a balance between the closed stability of the Four and the chaos of the Five, with a direct influx from the Ace coming from above -shown, as it were, by the fact that the Six is directly in contact with the first Sephirah, Kether the Crown:

The Tree of Life as used within the BOTA and Golden Dawn tradition (and OTO as well, with minor changes). Number Six is right in the center

In the Golden Dawn system, the Six of Pentacles is called Material Success. The description of the meanings says (taken from Book T):

Success and gain in material undertakings. Power, influence, rank, nobility, rule over the people. Fortunate, successful, liberal and just.

If ill dignified, may be purse-proud, insolent from excess, or prodigal.
Tiphareth of HB:H (Success in material things, prosperity in business).

Clearly, Waite meant the Six of Pentacles to represent material success and influence/rank in that the merchant in the depiction has material success and has influence over the needy underneath him. The other important source of inspiration for Waite is Etteilla, who calls the Six of Coins the card of the “Present” understood as present time, now, immediately. This is in contrast to the Six of Cups, which Etteilla calls the card of the past (when upright) and of the future (when reversed).

With that in mind, let’s see what Waite has to say about this card (taken from The Pictorial Key to the Tarot):

A person in the guise of a merchant weighs money in a pair of scales and distributes it to the needy and distressed. It is a testimony to his own success in life, as well as to his goodness of heart. Divinatory Meanings: Presents, gifts, gratification another account says attention, vigilance now is the accepted time, present prosperity, etc. Reversed: Desire, cupidity, envy, jealousy, illusion.

Note how Waite stresses that the act of giving is “a testimony to his success in life”. Then he adds the divinatory meanings, and he says “presents, gifts”. Why? One may be tempted to say that he is taking this hint from the keywords “liberal and just” from Book T. In reality, Waite may have mistaken the word “present” in Etteilla, taking it as meaning “gift” rather than “now”.

Mistaken is probably an excessive word. Waite knew his French quite well, so it is unlikely he got the translation from Etteilla wrong. What he is trying to do is “drawing a harmony of meanings”, as he often says, between the various sources. This is why he adds the strange meaning “present prosperity”, which mixes the material success of the GD Six of Pentacles and the present time of Etteilla’s Six of Coins.

Note, furthermore, that Waite is not the first to add the keyword “presents, gifts” to the Six of Pentacles: MacGregor Mathers had already done so in his exoteric booklet on the tarot, a book Waite definitely used as a source. Of the two, if anyone was more likely to have misread the French it was probably Mathers, and Waite simply ran with it.

What is interesting about Waite’s interpretation of the card is that it is certainly colored by his Christian mysticism. He says that the merchant depicted in the card has success and “goodness of heart”, which mediates between the stable but unfruitful Earthly Power of the Four and the destitution and Material Trouble of the Five.

What results is a rather dynamic card which ends up representing material success not as something in itself, but as a means to help others, which is the most beautiful (Tiphareth) expression of the suit of Pentacles. This is in contrast to the Ten of Pentacles, which, in GD decks, is often described as “material wealth but nothing beyond”.

MQS

Card Meanings, Card Reading, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Everyday Oracle, Fortune-telling, Reading Example, Sibilla della Zingara, Vera Sibilla

Pangs of Conscience (Example Reading)

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Sometimes the Sibilla’s chattiness is exasperating: there you are, trying to get a straight answer about whether he loves you or not, and she just wastes your time telling you about what his aunt thinks about the whole thing. At other times, though, the Sibilla is a drama queen in the type of language she uses. Here’s a simple example of the latter behavior.

It’s an old reading from at least ten years ago, when a friend and I were relatively fresh out of college. She had been desperately looking for work for some time but without success, and, like most desperate people, she’d started looking in unconventional places. She’d answered an ad that would require her to move to Poland or the Czech Republic (can’t remember) for a stage followed by a part-time offer if all went well.

The first contact was by phone, yet she had some suspicions. She didn’t seem to be able to get a straight answer out of the guy interviewing her. So she asked me to pull some cards on the dude, and here’s what came up:

Can I trust him? Vera Sibilla Reading

I don’t think we need much interpretation to see that there’s something fishy at best about the offer, and at worst it’s a total swindle. The Thief and the Enemy can obviously show anything from an actual thief to a mobster to an assassin, depending on the other cards. Here we have no hint of violence, so we’ll stop at swindle.

The most interesting card here, though, is the reversed Six of Spades. When it is upright, the Six of Spades represents someone who sighs after someone or something, whether because he or she longs for it or because they have pangs of conscience about it.

When it is reversed, the Six of Spades can be a good card if surrounded by positive cards: it can indicate letting go of an addiction, for instance, or of an unrequited love. Broadly speaking, it indicates not sighing anymore.

In this case, though, the reversed Sighs card is surrounded by terrible cards, cards that indicate someone who would hurt others, at least financially, for his own profit. Therefore, the Six of Spades reversed simply shows he has no pangs of conscience about it, which in turn makes him even more dangerous.

Well, my friend did some snooping around and she soon came into contact with other people who had answered the ad. By piecing together the information they had, it turned out that it was a swindle. I am not sure what would have happened, had they gone to the “stage”. Probably they would have been duped out of some money. Anyway, I’m sure glad she didn’t go.

MQS

Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Occultism and Esoterism, Tarot

The Mystery of the Seven of Swords

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Waite the Juggler

The Rider Waite’s minor arcana (which I already talked about here) are based on the Golden Dawn’s correspondences and titles found in Mathers’ and Felkin’s Book T. Yet Waite, who was very fond of showing off his erudition, made it a point to look for as many similarities as possible between the Book T system and other lists of meanings such as Etteilla’s, Christian’s and others.

This is reflected in the accompanying book to his deck, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, where he tries to find similarities between various sources for each minor card. He never mentions the Golden Dawn material, despite the fact that knowing the GD’s card names would clarify most of the designs.

The 1 to 1 correspondence between GD meanings and Waite’s minor arcana is self-evident, and once it is noted it cannot be unseen. Yet in his book he makes it a point to just rely on non-esoteric sources, or at least on non-GD sources.

Note that the Golden Dawn did something similar, despite the claim that the card titles were revealed to them. Take the Four of Cups, for instance, which technically should be ascribed to the rulership of the Moon in the third decan of Cancer and to the sephira Chesed (mercy). All these things sound very promising. Yet the card is called Blended Pleasure and it is less positive than the previous two, largely (I believe) in an attempt to accomodate Etteilla’s relatively negative interpretation of the Four of Cups as a card of boredom, annoyance, etc.

Similarly, the Golden Dawn retained certain meanings found in traditional fortune-telling, such as ‘travel by water’ for the Six of Swords. This can be seen as part of the GD’s attempt at summarizing the whole of the Western magical tradition in a new synthesis.

Going back to Waite, it is clear that in his book he is also trying to balance various sources, but if in doubt about which one to follow, he will stick (without saying so explicitly) to the GD tradition. An example I already discussed is the Five of Pentacles, which Etteilla calls the card of the lovers, but the Golden Dawn called it ‘Material Trouble’.

Another example is the Two of Wands, which Etteilla calls a card of sorrow, but for the GD it is a card of Dominion, so Waite goes with the GD but tries to stretch the interpretation in his text by saying that it could be the sorrow of a great leader, like Alexander the Great, at the height of his power.

But What About the Seven of Swords?

With that in mind, what the hell is going on with the Seven of Swords? Let me explain: most people who pick up a Rider Waite tarot deck, even today, have no idea about the esoteric stuff behind it, so they base their interpretation on the design (which, incidentally, Waite thought very little of). This is how, for instance, the Two of Pentacles, the Lord of Harmonious Change according to GD, became the card of juggling, or how the Seven of Cups, the Lord of Illusionary Success, became the card of options.

In this new folk approach to the Waite deck, the Seven of Swords became known as the thief card due to the design.

Yet Waite does not even mention thieves in his description. He says:

A man in the act of carrying away five swords rapidly; the two others of the card remain stuck in the ground. A camp is close at hand. Divinatory Meanings: Design, attempt, wish, hope, confidence; also quarrelling, a plan that may fail, annoyance. The design is uncertain in its import, because the significations are widely at variance with each other. Reversed: Good advice, counsel, instruction, slander, babbling.

The meanings he gives are from Etteilla, where the Seven of Swords is one of the few non negative Sword cards. The description of the card, however, is far more consonant with what we find in Book T, which is:

The Lord of Unstable Effort […]Partial success. Yielding when victory is within grasp, as if the last reserves of strength were used up. Inclination to lose when on the point of gaining, through not continuing the effort. Love of abundance, fascinated by display, given to compliments, affronts and insolences, and to spy upon others. Inclined to betray confidences, not always intentionally. Rather vacillatory and unreliable.
Netzach of HB:V (Journey by land: in character untrustworthy)

This thing with the yielding when victory is within grasp is clearly depicted in the card, where the thief takes away most of the enemy’s swords, but not all, as Waite clearly states.

But why did Waite (and, maybe, Smith) decide to depict a thief in the Seven of Swords despite it being so thematically different from Waite’s actual inspiration (Book T) and even his cover-up inspiration (Etteilla)?

The only hints we find in Book T that seem to point in this direction are “to spy upon others” and “in character untrustworthy”. In an attempt to accomodate Etteilla, Waite probably saw the man looking longingly at the swords he left on the ground as a symbol of hope, which is Etteilla’s meaning for the card.

One possible explanation is that Waite and/or Smith probably thought the type of action that is best suited to the Suit of Swords is the kind of sneaky, underhanded action depicted in the final design of the card. Be it as it may, this is one of the cards that always stood out to me when studying the history of this deck, because it takes a very non-obvious approach to its theme.

MQS

Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Tarot

Tarot Encyclopedia – The Three of Pentacles or Coins

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(Note: this is a collection of the meanings attributed to the cards by some occultists in the past centuries. It does not reflect my own study or opinion of the cards. It is only meant as a quick comparative reference as I develop my own take.)

The Three of Pentacles from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) deck

Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)

The time period is the second decanate of Capricorn, under the rulership of Venus, from January 1 to January 9.
Well-Dignified: construction; increase, growth; financial gain; the building up of favorable conditions; gain in commercial transactions; rank or prestige in vocation or business; beginning of matters to be perfected later.
Ill-Dignified: selfishness; cleverness in business, but lack of scruples;
narrowness and prejudice; too much ambition.
Keyword: Constructiveness.
(From the Oracle of Tarot course)

A. E. Waite

A sculptor at his work in a monastery. Compare the design which illustrates the Eight of Pentacles. The apprentice or amateur therein has received his reward and is now at work in earnest. Divinatory Meanings: Métier, trade, skilled labour; usually, however, regarded as a card of nobility, aristocracy, renown, glory. Reversed: Mediocrity, in work and otherwise, puerility, pettiness, weakness.
(From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)

Aleister Crowley

The Three of Pentacles, in a similar manner, exhibits the result of the idea of Earth, of the crystallization of forces; and so the Three of Pentacles is called the Lord of Work. Something has definitely been done.

[…]

The influence of Binah in the sphere of Earth shows the material establishment of the idea of the Universe, the determination of its basic form. It is ruled by Mars in Capricornus; he is exalted in that Sign, and therefore at his best. His energy is constructive, like that of the builder or engineer. The card represents a pyramid viewed from above the apex. The base is formed by three wheels-Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt; Sattvas, Rajas, and Tamas in the Hindu system; Aleph, Shin, and Mem-Air, Fire, and Water-the three Mother letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

This pyramid is situated in the great Sea of Binah in the Night of Time, but the sea is solidified; hence the colours of the back-ground are mottled, a cold thin dark grey with a pattern of indigo and green. The sides of the pyramid have a strong reddish tint, showing the influence of Mars.
(From The Book of Thoth)

AI-generated illustration for the Three of Pentacles or Coins

Golden Dawn’s Book T

A WHITE-WINGED Angelic Hand, as before, holding a branch of a rose tree, of which two white rosebuds touch and surmount the topmost Pentacle. The Pentacles are arranged in an equilateral triangle. Above and below the symbols Mars and Capricorn.
Working and constructive force, building up, creation, erection; realization and increase of material things; gain in commercial transactions, rank; increase of substance, influence, cleverness in business, selfishness. Commencement of matters to be established later. Narrow and prejudiced. Keen in matters of gain; sometimes given to seeking after impossibilities.
Binah of HB:H (Business, paid employment, commercial transaction).
Herein are HB:YChVYH and HB:LHChYH Angelic Rulers.

Etteilla

Important
Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Noble, Considerable, Famous, Important, Great, Major, Extended, Vast, Sublime, Renowned, Famous, Powerful, Elevated, Illustrious. – Excellence, Consideration, Greatness of mind, Nobility of conduct, Generous deeds, Magnificently, Splendidly.
Reversed. Puerility, Childhood, Infantilism, Frivolity. – Weakening, Lowering, Diminishing, Education, Modicity, Mediocrity, Minuity, Inezia, Frivolity, Lowness, Vileness, Poltrony, Rampant, Small, Puerile, Petty, Low, Servile, Vile, Abject, Humble. – Abjection, Humility, Humiliation.

MQS

Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Tarot

Tarot Encyclopedia – The Three of Swords

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(Note: this is a collection of the meanings attributed to the cards by some occultists in the past centuries. It does not reflect my own study or opinion of the cards. It is only meant as a quick comparative reference as I develop my own take.)

The Three of Swords from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck

Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)

The time period is the second decanate of Libra, under the combined rulership of Saturn and Uranus, October 3 to October 12. Because Libra is involved, remember that the qualities of the Seventh house are prominent.
Well-Dignified: this is nevertheless a Key depicting sorrow, disappointment and tears, but it can be the beginning of deep understanding as to the basis and cause of our problems; disruption of friendship; interruption of cherished projects; quarrels; occasionally the position in the layout may indicate platonic friendships; in money matters this card is almost always a symbol of loss, but indicates that whatever money matters are under consideration have been fair and honest, so that no blame attaches to anyone for the loss.
Ill-Dignified: slander; selfishness and dissipation; deceit with respect to promises; loss in legal affairs.
Keyword: Sorrow
(From the Oracle of Tarot course)

A. E. Waite

Three swords piercing a heart; cloud and rain behind. Divinatory Meanings: Removal, absence, delay, division, rupture, dispersion, and all that the design signifies naturally, being too simple and obvious to call for specific enumeration. Reversed: Mental alienation, error, loss, distraction, disorder, confusion.
(From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)

Aleister Crowley

The idea of division, of mutability, the idea of the airy quality of things, manifests itself in the Three of Swords, the Lord of Sorrow. Here one is reminded of the darkness of Binah, of the mourning of Isis; but this is not any vulgar sorrow dependent upon any individual disappointment or discontent. It is Weltschmerz, the universal sorrow; it is the quality of melancholy.

[…]

Binah, the Great Mother, here rules the realm of Air. This fact involves an extremely difficult doctrine which must be studied at length in The Vision and the Voice: Aethyr 14.
Binah is here not the beneficent Mother completing the Trinity with Kether and Chokmah. She represents the darkness of the Great Sea.
This is accentuated by the Celestial Lordship of Saturn in Libra.
This card is dark and heavy; it is, so to speak, the womb of Chaos. There is an intense lurking passion to create, but its children are monsters. This may mean the supreme transcendence of the natural order. Secrecy is here, and Perversion.
The symbol represents the great Sword of the Magician, point uppermost; it cuts the junction of two short curved swords. The impact has destroyed the rose. In the background, storm broods under implacable night.
(From The Book of Thoth)

A gruesome AI-generated illustration for the Three of Swords

Golden Dawn’s Book T

THREE White Radiating Angelic Hands, issuing from clouds, and holding three swords upright (as though the central sword had struck apart the two others, which were crossed in the preceding symbol): the central sword cuts asunder the rose of five petals, which in the previous symbol grew at the junction of the swords; its petals are falling, and no white rays issue from it. Above and below the central sword are the symbols of Saturn and Libra.

Disruption, interruption, separation, quarrelling; sowing of discord and strife, mischief-making, sorrow and tears; yet mirth in Platonic pleasures; singing, faithfulness in promises, honesty in money transactions, selfish and dissipated, yet sometimes generous: deceitful in words and repetitions; the whole according to dignity.
Binah of HB:V (Unhappiness, sorrow, and tears).
Herein rule the Great Angels HB:HRYAL and HB:HQMYH as Lords of the Decan.

Etteilla

Removal
Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: estrangement, Departure, Absence, Discarding, Dispersion, Remoteness, Delay. – Contempt, Repugnance, Aversion, Hatred, Disgust, Horror. – Incompatibility, Contrariness, Opposition, Unsociability, Misanthropy, Incivility. – Separation, Division, Breaking, Antipathy, Section, Cutting off.
Reversed. Misdirection, Dementia, Vanity, Alienation of spirit, Distraction, Insane conduct. – Error, Miscalculation, Loss, Deviation, Discard, Dispersion.

MQS

Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Tarot

Tarot Encyclopedia – The Three of Wands

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(Note: this is a collection of the meanings attributed to the cards by some occultists in the past centuries. It does not reflect my own study or opinion of the cards. It is only meant as a quick comparative reference as I develop my own take.)

The Three of Wands from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck

Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)

In Tarot divination the key ideas related to the Three of Wands are: mental energy, leadership, ambition, determination. It is a card related to the realization of hopes and of success after struggle.
Well-Dignified: it stands for courage, persistence, pride and nobility.
Ill-Dignified: it represents conceit, arrogance, insolence.
Keyword: Established strength.
(From the Oracle of Tarot course)

A. E. Waite

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.
(From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)

A beautifully essential AI-generated illustration for the Three of Wands

Aleister Crowley

The Three of Wands is […] the Lord of Virtue. The idea of will and dominion has become interpreted in Character.

[…]

This card refers to Binah in the suit of Fire, and so represents the establishment of primeval Energy. The Will has been transmitted to the Mother, who conceives, prepares, and gives birth to, its manifestation.

It refers to the Sun in Aries, the Sign in which he is exalted.

The meaning is harmonious, for this is the beginning of Spring. For this reason one sees the wand taking the form of the Lotus in blossom. The Sun has enkindled the Great Mother.

In the Yi King, Sol in Aries is represented by the 11th hexagram, Thai; its meaning is identical with the above description.
(From The Book of Thoth)

Golden Dawn’s Book T

A WHITE Radiating Angelic Hand, as before, issuing from clouds and grasping three wands in the centre (two crossed, the third upright). Flames issue from the point of junction. Above and below are the symbols Sun and Aries.
Established force, strength, realization of hope. Completion of labour. Success after struggle. Pride, nobility, wealth, power, conceit. Rude self-assumption and insolence. Generosity, obstinacy, etc.
Binah of HB:Y (Pride, arrogance, self-assertion).
Herein rule the Angels HB:HHShYH and HB:a’aMMYH.

Etteilla

Enterprise
Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Enterprise, Undertake, Begin. – Usurp, Seize. – Boldness, Temerity, Fierceness. – Imprudence, Undertaking, Bold, – Committed, Embarrassed. Bewildered. – Paralyzed, Effort, Experiment, Attempt.
Reversed. Interruption of misfortune, torment, sorrow or toil. – End, Cessation, Interruption, Pause, Rest, Influence, Intermediary, Intermittence.

MQS

A collection of meanings for the Three of Wands
Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Tarot

Tarot Encyclopedia – The Two of Pentacles or Coins

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(Note: this is a collection of the meanings attributed to the cards by some occultists in the past centuries. It does not reflect my own study or opinion of the cards. It is only meant as a quick comparative reference as I develop my own take.)

The Two of Pentacles / Coins from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck

Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)

The time period is the first decanate of Capricorn, December 22 to December 31, under the rulership of Saturn. Meanings:
Well-Dignified: harmony in the midst of change; alternation of gain and loss; change of occupation; travel in quest of wealth; ups and downs of fortune; a visit to friends.
Ill-Dignified: intimates discontent; foolishness in the management of resources; restricted condition of material affairs due to bad management; the Querent is probably too talkative and too suspicious. He is kind, but inconsistent, and should avoid arguments.
Keyword: Fluctuation
(From the Oracle of Tarot course)

A. E. Waite

A young man, in the act of dancing, has a pentacle in either hand, and they are joined by that endless cord which is like the number 8 reversed. Divinatory Meanings: On the one hand it is represented as a card of gaiety, recreation and its connexions, which is the subject of the design; but it is read also as news and messages in writing, as obstacles, agitation, trouble, embroilment. Reversed: Enforced gaiety, simulated enjoyment, literal sense, handwriting, composition, letters of exchange.
(From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)

Aleister Crowley

The Two of Pentacles was of old time called the Lord of Harmonious Change. Now, more simply, Change; and here the doctrine must be stated a little more clearly. This suit being of Earth, there is a connection with the Princesses, and therefore with the final Heh of Tetragrammaton. Earth is the throne of Spirit; having got to the bottom, one immediately comes out again at the top. Hence, the card manifests the symbolism of the serpent of the endless band.

[…]

The number Two, Chokmah, here rules in the suit pertaining to Earth. It shows the type of Energy appropriate to Two, in its most fixed form. According to the doctrine that Change is the support of stability, the card is called Change.

Its celestial rulers are Jupiter and Capricornus; and these symbols are most inharmonious, so that in practical matters the good fortune of Jupiter is very limited. Their influence on the card is not great. Yet, Jupiter being himself the Wheel (Atu X), he emphasizes that idea.

The card represents two Pantacles, one above the other; they are the Chinese symbols of the Yang and Yin duplicated as in the Hsiang. One wheel is dextro- and the other laevo-rotatory. They thus represent the harmonious interplay of the Four Elements in constant movement. One may in fact consider the card as the picture of the complete manifested Universe, in respect of its dynamics.

About them is entwined a green Serpent (see Liber 65, chapter iii, verses 17-20). His tail is in his mouth. He forms the figure Eight, the symbol of the Infinite, the equation 0=2.
(From The Book of Thoth)

Nice AI-generated illustration for the Two of Pentacles or Coins

Golden Dawn’s Book T

TWO wheels, disks or pentacles, similar to that of the Ace. They are united by a green-and-gold serpent, bound about them like a figure of 8. It holds its tail in its mouth. A White Radiant Angelic Hand holds the centre of the whole. No roses enter into this card. Above and below are the symbols of Jupiter and Capricorn. It is a revolving symbol.

The harmony of change, alternation of gain and loss; weakness and strength; everchanging occupation; wandering, discontented with any fixed condition of things; now elated, then melancholy; industrious, yet unreliable; fortunate through prudence of management, yet sometimes unaccountably foolish; alternatively talkative and suspicious. Kind, yet wavering and inconsistent. Fortunate in journeying. Argumentative.
Chokmah of HB:H (Pleasant change, visit to friends).
Herein the Angels HB:LKBAL and HB:VShRYH have rule.

Etteilla

Embarrassment
Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Awkwardness, Obstacle, Commitment, Obstruction, Setback. – Disturbance, Bother, Emotion, Mess, Confusion, Difficulty, Impediment, Tangle, Obscurity. – Agitation, Restlessness, Perplexity, Concern.
Reversed. Ticket, Piece of Writing, Writing, Text, Literature, Doctrine, Erudition, Work, Book, Production, Composition. – Dispatch, Epistle, Missive. – Written character. – Literal Meaning. – Alphabet, Elements, Principles. – Promissory note.

MQS

Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Fortune-telling, Tarot

Tarot Encyclopedia – The Two of Swords

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(Note: this is a collection of the meanings attributed to the cards by some occultists in the past centuries. It does not reflect my own study or opinion of the cards. It is only meant as a quick comparative reference as I develop my own take.)

The Two of Swords from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck

Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)

The time period is the first decanate of Libra from September 23 to October 2, under the rulership of Venus.
Well-Dignified: contradictory characteristics in the same nature; strength through suffering; pleasure after pain; delay in the realization of objectives. This card sometimes indicates a period of uncertainty, during which the Querent, though he has a sense of adequate power, does not know just what to do with it. It also indicates justice, unselfishness and the restoration of peace.
Ill-Dignified: falsehood; sorrow; injury from another who really means well to the Querent, or injury by the Querent to another whom he wishes to help; always a symbol of tension, of want of tact, and suggests force held in abeyance, awaiting some announcement or revelation that will make decision possible.
Keyword: Indecision.
(From the Oracle of Tarot course)

A. E. Waite

A hoodwinked female figure balances two swords upon her shoulders. Divinatory Meanings: Conformity and the equipoise which it suggests, courage, friendship, concord in a state of arms; another reading gives tenderness, affection, intimacy. The suggestion of harmony and other favourable readings must be considered in a qualified manner, as Swords generally are not symbolical of beneficent forces in human affairs. Reversed: Imposture, falsehood, duplicity, disloyalty.
(From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)

Aleister Crowley

The Two of Swords was formerly called the Lord of Peace Restored; but this word “restored” is incorrect, because there has been no disturbance. The Lord of Peace is therefore a better title: but it needs thinking hard to work this out, since the Sword is so intensely active. It may be helpful to study the Essay on Silence (p. 120) for a parallel: the Negative Form of the Positive Idea. See also the Essay on Chastity (Little Essays toward Truth, pp. 70-74) which concludes: Sir Knights, be vigilant: watch by your arms and renew your oath; for that day is of sinister augury and deadly charged with danger which ye fill not to overflowing with gay deeds and bold of masterful, of manful Chastity.

Witness also Catullus: domi maneas paresque nobis Novem continuas futationes. Nor does he misunderstand the gesture of Harpocrates; Silence and Chastity are isomers.
It is all one case of the general proposition that the sum of the infinite Energy of the Universe is Zero.

[…]

This card is ruled by Chokmah in the Element of Air. This suit, governing all intellectual manifestations, is always complicated and disordered. It is subject to change as is no other suit. It represents a general shaking-up, resulting from the conflict of Fire and Water in their marriage; and proceeds, when Earth appears, to crystallization. But the purity and exaltation of Chokmah are such that this card manifests the very best idea possible to the suit. The energy abides above the onslaught of disruption. This comparative calm is emphasized by the celestial attribution: the Moon in Libra.

The Moon is change, but Nature is peaceful; moreover, Libra represents balance; between them, they regulate the energy of the Swords.

In the card appear two swords crossed; they are united by a blue rose with five petals. This rose represents the influence of the Mother, whose harmonizing influence compounds the latent antagonism native to the suit. The Rose emits white rays, producing a geometrical pattern that emphasizes the equilibrium of the symbol.
(From The Book of Thoth)

An ominous AI-generated illustration for the Two of Swords

Golden Dawn’s Book T

Two crossed swords, like the air dagger of a Zelator Adeptus Minor, each held by a White Radiant Angelic Hand. Upon the point where the two cross is a rose of five petals, emitting white rays. At the top and bottom of the card are two small daggers, supporting respectively the symbol {Crescent moon with horns upward} thus, and Libra representing the Decanate.
Contradictory characters in the same nature, strength through suffering; pleasure after pain. Sacrifice and trouble, yet strength arising therefrom, symbolized by the position of the rose, as though the pain itself had brought forth beauty. Arrangement, peace restored; truce; truth and untruth; sorrow and sympathy. Aid to the weak; arrangement; justice, unselfishness; also a tendency to repetition of affronts on being pardoned; injury when meaning well; given to petitions; also a want of tact, and asking question of little moment; talkative.
Chokmah of Vau. Quarrel made up, yet still some tension in relations: actions, sometimes selfish, sometimes unselfish.
Herein rule the Great Angels HB:YZLAL and HB:MNHAL.

Etteilla

Friendship
Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Friendship, Attachment, Affection, Tenderness, Benevolence, Relationship, Identity, Intimacy, Convenience, Correspondence, Interest, Conformity, Sympathy, Affinity, Attraction.
Reversed. Falsehood, Falsehood, Lying, Imposture, Duplicity, Bad faith, Overbearingness, Dissimulation, Cunning, Deceit, Superficial, Superficiality, Surface.

MQS

Card Meanings, Cartomancy, Divination, Divination Master Post, Everyday Oracle, Fortune-telling, Sibilla della Zingara, Vera Sibilla

Vera Sibilla Cards That Indicate Change

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Change is a vague concept. Much of contemporary occultism is predicated on the equation of change and stability, so that essentially everything is change. Still, even if we subscribe to this notion, our everyday life is made up of things that change relatively as opposed to things that remain relatively stable. It may be true that my body is a Swiss cheese of chaotic particles constantly being swapped with new ones, but from the standpoint of our daily experience, my body is a relative constant.

Therefore, divination does deal with what changes and what stays the same. Here I talk about cards that indicate change. As usual, the list is not meant to be exhaustive.

Ace of Hearts Reversed – The Conversation

When upright, the Ace of Hearts, aside from being the card of words, represents a relatively stable situation (as indicated symbolically by the table in the image). When reversed, the Ace of Hearts represents change, transformation, revolution. This may be good or bad, depending on the cards that follow.

Two of Hearts Reversed – The House

Again, when upright this card indicates a house, a very stable thing. When reversed, it shows instability. This time the connotation is quite negative, as it can indicate a couple breaking up, a family falling out, and similar situations depending on the other cards. This is rarely a positive card when reversed.

Five of Hearts – Happiness

As I discussed in the article for this card, the Five of Hearts is the card of commitment to someone or something. Traditionally it is the card of engagement, a transition phase between being single and being married. As such, the Happiness card symbolizes a positive, happy transition (when upright). It often rids us of problems and shows fidelity and the ability to honor commitments.

Ten of Hearts Reversed – Perseverance

When upright, the Ten of Hearts represents things that persevere, go on, stabilize. When reversed it shows situations going legs up, becoming shaky or stormy. It is a wildly negative card of volatile emotions and deep instability.

Three of Clubs Upright or Reversed – The Journey

When upright, the Journey card is indicative of travel, that is, change of place. However, it also indicates physical movement, or even mental movement, such as changing one’s mind. It is a card of transition, seen in a neutral to slightly positive sense (but always take the other cards into account). When reversed, the Journey card becomes intensely positive, representing the interruption of negative trends, freedom from addiction or vicious cycles in general. It represents situations starting to evolve in a positive direction, unless followed by very negative cards.

Five of Clubs Upright or Reversed – Fortune

Representing the power of fate in our life, the Five of Clubs is emblematic of strokes of luck, situations taking a different (usually positive) turn, things getting into motion in a positive way. When reversed, the card is slowed down and weakened, and it acquires the meaning of long-term transformations.

Ten of Clubs Reversed – Levity

Much like the Fortune card, the Ten of Clubs reversed represents strokes of luck shaking up the routine, offering us opportunities and chances. Its power, however, is much smaller.

Five of Diamonds – Melancholy

The Melancholy card is rather static in itself, especially when hemmed in by cards indicating a negative situation. However, it can also show situations which were once positive and are starting to show some cracks or situations that are negative but which won’t be negative forever. Therefore, in spite of its mild negativity, often the card implies future change.

Eight of Diamonds – The Handmaid

A symbol of social and personal ascent thanks to its symbolism of the stairs, the Handmaid indicates positive evolution, transition from one phase to the next, entering new segments of one’s life. This is especially true when it shows between cards indicating different situations, or when it shows up at the beginning of a spread. In general it represents positive change.

Two of Spades – The Old Lady

It may seem strange to find the static Old Lady card on this list. However, when we think about it, the Two of Spades is about things that are old and are reaching their natural conclusion. When followed by cards indicating a different situation, therefore, the Old Lady can act as a card of transition (for instance, showing that a contract is expiring.)

Four of Spades Reversed – Sickness

The Sickness card reversed is usually a card of deep stasis and blockage. There is, however, one exception: when it is preceded by negative cards and followed by positive cards. In this case, it indicates the end of the negative situation (tha situation is blocked in favor of what followed.) Of course, when the situation is reversed, i.e., with positive cards before and negative ones after, it shows a change for the worse.

Five of Spades – Death

The most archetypal card of change, the Death card usually indicates a sharp and often difficult cut in one’s life. The result is not necessarily bad, as the outcome depends on what follows. However, since it is a Spade card, it is always difficult and comes at a great price.

Six of Spades Reversed – Sighs

When upright, the Sighs card signifies sighing for something, pining and waiting. It is very static. When reversed, one of its (many) meanings is of showing the end of sighing. This doesn’t necessarily mean you get what you’ve been sighing for. Often, it shows giving up on something and moving on, letting go of it.

Seven of Spades – Tragedy

In spite of its name, the Seven of Spades can indicate a sharp turn for the better if followed by positive cards (if followed by negative ones then, yes, it can indicate being struck by tragedy). What it does imply is that the situation followed by the other cards strikes us from the outside, without us planning it, and usually in a very sudden way.

Nine of Spades Reversed – The Prison

This card acts in very much the same way as the Sickness card reversed. Attention must be paid to the cards preceding and following it.

MQS