(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 Cups from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck
Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)
The Three of Cups is astrologically related to the second decanate of Cancer ruled by the Scorpio aspect of Mars, time period July 2 to July 12. The distinct meanings in divination combine the pleasure and emotion associated with the suit of Cups and the sex magnetism of the Scorpio aspect of Mars, together with Cancerian practicality and penchant for attachments. Well-Dignified: activity, determination, practicality; fondness for pleasure and comfort; attachments and attractions to the opposite sex; pleasure, merriment, eating and drinking, plenty of new clothes, etc. Ill-Dignified: danger of the ‘triangle’ situation; trouble through attachments to the opposite sex; midunderstandings; prodigality; sensuality. Keyword: Enjoyment (From the Oracle of Tarot course)
A. E. Waite
Maidens in a garden-ground with cups uplifted, as if pledging one another. Divinatory Meanings: The conclusion of any matter in plenty, perfection and merriment; happy issue, victory, fulfilment, solace, healing, Reversed: Expedition, dispatch, achievement, end. It signifies also the side of excess in physical enjoyment, and the pleasures of the senses. (From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)
A marvellous AI-generated illustration for the Three of Cups
Aleister Crowley
The Three of Cups is called the Lord of Abundance. The idea of love has come to fruition; but this is now sufficiently far down the Tree to introduce a very definite differentiation between the suits, which was not previously possible.
[…]
This card refers to Binah in the suit of Water. This is the card of Demeter or Persephone. The Cups are pomegranates: they are filled bountifully to overflowing from a single lotus, arising from the dark calm sea characteristic of Binah. There is here the fulifilment of the Will of Love in abounding joy. It is the spiritual basis of fertility.
The card is referred to the influence of Mercury in Cancer; this carries further the above thesis. Mercury is the Will or Word of the All-Father; here its influence descends upon the most receptive of the Signs.
At the same time, the combination of these forms of energy brings in the possibility of somewhat mysterious ideas. Binah, the Great Sea, is the Moon in one aspect, but Saturn in another; and Mercury, besides being the Word or Will of the All-One, is the guide of the souls of the Dead. This card requires great subtlety of interpretation. The pomegranate was the fruit which Persephone ate in the realms of Pluto, thereby enabling him to hold her in the lower world, even after the most powerful influence had been brought to bear. The lesson seems to be that the good things of life, although enjoyed, should be distrusted. (From The Book of Thoth)
Golden Dawn’s Book T
A WHITE Radiating Hand, as before, holds a group of lotuses or water-lilies, from which two flowers rise on either side of, and overhanging the top cup; pouring into it the white water. Flowers in the same way pour white water into the lower cups. All the cups overflow; the topmost into the two others, and these upon the lower part of the card. Cups are arranged in an erect equilateral triangle. Mercury and Cancer above and below. Abundance, plenty, success, pleasure, sensuality, passive success, good luck and fortune; love, gladness, kindness, liberality. Binah of HB:H (Plenty, hospitality, eating and drinking, pleasure, dancing, new clothes, merriment).
Etteilla
Success Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Success, Science, Happy outcome, Happy solution, Victory. – Healing, Cure, Relief. – Accomplishment. – Perfection. Reversed. Dispatch, Sending, Execution, Completion, End, Conclusion, Termination, Fulfillment.
(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.
(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 Wands from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) Tarot deck
Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)
In Tarot divination the Two of Wands has these key meanings: Well Dignified: it shows force, enterprise, boldness, resolution, some combativeness, much originality. lll Dignified: it signifies restlessness, fierceness, shamelessness, inordinate ambition, turbulence, obstinancy, revenge. A card of enthusiasm, but of strong self-interest. Keyword: Dominion (From the Oracle of Tarot course)
A. E. Waite
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. (From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)
Aleister Crowley
The Two of Wands is called the Lord of Dominion, and represents the energy of fire; fire in its best and highest form.
[…]
This card, pertaining to Chokmah in the suit of Fire, represents the Will in its most exalted form. It is an ideal Will, independent of any given object.
“For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect.” AL. 1. 44.
The background of this card shows the power of the planet Mars in his own sign Aries, the first of the Signs. It there represents Energy initiating a Current of Force.
The pictorial representation is two Dorjes crossed. The Dorje is the Tibetan symbol of the thunderbolt, the emblem of celestial Power, but more in its destructive than its creative form.
More, that is, in its earlier rather than its later form. For destruction may be regarded as the first step in the creative process. The virgin ovum must be broken in order to fertilize it. Fear and repulsion are therefore the primary reaction to the assault. Then, with understanding of the complete plan, willing surrender rejoices to co-operate. Six flames issue from the centre. This indicates the influence of the Sun, who is exalted in Aries. This is the creative Will.
Mars in Aries is the attribution of the Geomantic Figure Puer. The meaning of these figures is to be studied in the Handbook of that science: “The Equinox” Vol. I, No.2. Remember that the Geomantic Intelligences (see Liber 777 Cols. XLIX and CLXXVIII) are all primarily Gnomes. (From the Book of Thoth)
Weirdly religious AI-generated illustration of the Two of Wands
Golden Dawn’s Book T
A WHITE Radiating Angelic hand, issuing from clouds, and grasping two crossed wands. Flames issue from the point of junction. On two small wands above and below, with flames of five issuing therefrom, are the symbols of Mars and Aries for the Decan. Strength, domination, harmony of rule and of justice. Boldness, courage, fierceness, shamelessness, revenge, resolution, generous, proud, sensitive, ambitious, refined, restless, turbulent, sagacious withal, yet unforgiving and obstinate. Chokmah of HB:Y (Influence over others, authority, power, dominion). Therein the Angels HB:VHVAL and HB:DNYAL bear rule.
Etteilla
Sadness Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, signifies, in its natural position: Sadness, Misery, Melancholy, Affliction, Sorrow, Desolation, Mortification, Mood, Discontent, Vapors, Gloomy Ideas. – Bitterness, Anger, Spite. Reversed. Surprise, Enchantment, Shock, Upset, Unexpected event, Unexpected fact, Excitement, Fear, Fright, Terror. – Consternation, Stunning, Domination, Abduction, Alarm. – Marvel, Phenomenon, Miracle.
The following is an attempt at reorganizing some old notes I have taken on the subject of divinations without a specific question, adding to them some new insights,
Divination Without Questions Is Possible (With Exceptions)
There is a relatively well-known tarot reader who says that a reading without a question is basically two people talking over a bunch of colored cardboards.
This is not true. It was customary, among old-time fortune-tellers, to have the querent sit in front of them and never have them speak anything that wasn’t their name at the beginning of the consultation. I know for a fact that this is a tradition in the Italian countryside, and I believe it is the case all over the world as soon as one leaves the hipster pseudointellectual tarot community bubble and seeks the real deal.
Let’s leave aside the fact that, technically speaking, there is always a question. Even if the querent sits with their arms crossed in front of you waiting to be astounded, the implicit question is “What’s going on in my life, now and in the near future?”
Times change, and sensibilities change with the times. Many querents nowadays wish to take a more active part in the reading. Furthermore, readings without a question are obviously more difficult, and the modern diviner who doesn’t have time to waste is certainly happy to get more cooperation. I know I do. But this doesn’t mean that a reading without a question isn’t possible.
There are exceptions to this, of course. Some oracles do require a question. Horary Astrology, for instance, usually needs one, and the more specific and focused it is, the better. True, some old authorities give rules for judging “Universal Questions“, but these universal questions were asked back when many people didn’t know their birth time and often had to travel for days to see the astrologer for probably the one and only time in their life, so instead they asked the astrologer to tell them about their future in general in more than one sector of life.
Confronted with the impossibility of looking at the person’s birth chart, the astrologer erected a horary chart for the time the consultation took place, a moment that was probably significant, since the querent had gone to great trouble to visit him. Today, the astrologer is one Zoom call away, so this hardly justifies vague Horary questions.
The peculiarity that makes Horary more sensitive than other oracles is that there is no manipulation of physical counters involved: you don’t reshuffle the planets whenever the querent’s whim settles on a new fancy. Therefore, the question put to the heavens must be meaningful and at least relatively important to the person asking it. In a way, this limitation of Horary is due to Astrology’s nobility, seeking as it does answers from the heavens themselves.
Cartomancy is not noble. It spreaded like wildfire among the lower classes exactly because you didn’t need to have studied trigonometry in order to deal out a spread. Cartomancy is therefore as sturdy as the beasts of burden that the lower classes used in the fields. Like all beasts of burden, of course, cartomancy too has its limits: you can ask random questions (“Tell me about my life. Now tell me about my sweatheart. Now tell me about my job. Now about my neighbor”) but if you abuse it, it collapses to the ground exhausted.
But the fact remains that cartomancy (and tarot reading is a form of cartomancy) is a trusty, resistant beast.
Another common myth is that if one asks a general question the reader is entitled to give them a general answer. Even worse, some readers say that, in the absence of a question, they can read “the general energies surrounding your life.” The problem is that there is no such thing as a (meaningful) general answer. “Tell me about myself.” Well, you seem to be a featherless biped with one heart, two lungs, etc.
The thing is that when the cards have been shuffled and dealt, they always tell a specific story. Sometimes this story is not what the querent secretly wishes us to talk about, but that’s not our fault–we are merely reading what’s there. Furthermore, we as readers may sometimes not be able to decipher the story in the cards, but it’s there. We may, as a result of our confusion, try to string together the cards in a looser way than usual (“There seems to be a woman next to you whom you love dearly and is going through a rough patch in life. It could be health-related, but I may be wrong. Can you help me with this?”). The cards, however, are always specific, never vague.
As a matter of fact, our life is never vague. It is always made up of details. These details may be mundane, but they are specific. In our life there is never “the general energy of the moment”. You don’t go the supermarket and find the general energy of the moment on sale. There is no such thing.
There is the coffee I’m brewing, the floor I’m sweeping, the feeling of dread I’ve been struggling with for some months, the mom I just talked to on the phone, etc. And the mom I talked to is my mom, not a general mom floating in the world of Platonic ideas. No energy. No universals. Universals are always embodied in our limited existence. I don’t talk to “momness in itself”. I talk to my mom. Therefore, the fact that our querent asks us a general question cannot embolden us to give a general answer, though it CAN justify us in being more cautious and loose in the interpretation.
Again, if we don’t have a specific question, it may be harder to interpret the cards, especially because certain cards together may appear to be open to more than one interpretation if we don’t have enough context.
And here we come to an important point. Some diviners think they need to be able to awe the querent with incredible details without missing a beat and think they should never ask them for clarification. I say that the querent exists in order to be tortured until every last bit of useful information that I need in order to interpret his damn spread has been wrung out of his writhing body, because at the end of the day it’s him who wants to know about his future, not I.
This authoritarianism is all the more justified in case of a general question. I am not going to talk for ten minutes straight without catching my breath only to be told “no that’s not me.” I’d much rather proceed cautiously and ask the querent for clarification step by step (and, if nothing makes sense, start anew).
BUT, the point remains that when we lay out the cards, the cards are going to talk about specific situations in the querent’s past, present or future. They are not going to give us “the general energy”.
(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 Ace of Coins or Pentacles from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot
Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)
The time period is from the beginning of Capricorn to the end of Pisces, December 22 to March 20. Occult title: The Root of the Powers of Earth. Divinatory meanings: The power of Will as expressed on the physical plane. Materiality in all its phases, whether good or evil. “The things that are Caeser’s.” The power of the world-illusion. Material gain, contentment, wealth, and the things, conditions and works which contribute to such gain. Keyword: Materiality. (From the Oracle of Tarot course)
A. E. Waite
A hand–issuing, as usual, from a cloud–holds up a pentacle. Divinatory Meanings: Perfect contentment, felicity, ecstasy; also speedy intelligence; gold. Reversed: The evil side of wealth, bad intelligence; also great riches. In any case it shews prosperity, comfortable material conditions, but whether these are of advantage to the possessor will depend on whether the card is reversed or not. (From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)
Aleister Crowley
The Ace of Disks pictures the entry of that type of Energy which is called Earth. It is here proper to insist a little strongly upon one of the essential theoretical theses which have inflamed the constitution of this present pack of Tarot cards; for this feature is significant, and distinguishes it from the numerous crude efforts of uninitiates to put themselves forward as adepts. The grotesque barber Alliette, the obscurely perverse Wirth, the poseur-fumiste Peladan, down to the verbose ignorance of such Autolycus-quacks as Raffalovitch and Ouspensky; none of these or their kin have done more than “play the sedulous ape” to the conventional Mediaeval designs. (Their luck was out: the Tarot is a razor!)
Eliphaz Levi was a master-scholar, and knew the true attributions; but his grade in the Great White Brotherhood was only 6○=5□ (Adeptus Major); and he had no instructed foresight of the New Aeon. He did indeed hope to find a Messiah in Napoleon III; but of the complete spiritual upheaval which accompanies the Proclamation of a new Magical Formula he had no glimpse; no, not though he had Maistre Alcofribas Nasier to guide him! [See The Grands Annales ou croniques Tresveritables des filz. Roy des Dipsodes. 1542. Book I, Chapter LVIII, where is given not only a remarkable description of the social conditions of the twentieth century e.v., but even, in the last line of the Prophetic Riddle, a clear indication of the Magical Motto of the Adept chosen by the Masters to announce this Formula-this Word, openly given in the name of the Abbey itself. But, as so often is the case, it was too simple and straightforward to be seen!]
Dr. Gerard Encausse, “Papus”, who followed Eliphaz Levi, felt himself even more closely bound by his Oath of Secrecy, so that his dealings with the Tarot are worthless; and that although he was Grand Master of the O.T.O. in France, and Grand Hierophant 97° of the Rite of Memphis on the death of John Yarker.
These historical data are necessary to explain why all previous packs are of little more than archaeological interest; for the New Aeon demanded a new system of symbolism. Thus, in particular, the old conception of the Earth as a passive, immobile, even dead, even “evil” element, had to go. It was imperative to restore the King-Scale colour attribution to that of the Aeon of Isis, Emerald Green, as was understood by the Egyptian Hierophants. This green is, however, not the original vegetable green of Isis, but the new green of spring following the resurrection of Osiris as Horus. Nor are the Disks any more to be considered as Coins; the Disk is a whirling emblem. Naturally so; since it is now know that every Star, every true Planet, is a whirling sphere. The Atom, again, is no more the hard, intractable, dead Particle of Dalton, but a system of whirling forces, comparable to the Solar hierarchy itself.
This thesis dovetails perfectly with the new Doctrine of Tetragrammaton, where the Earthy component, He’ final, the Daughter, is set upon the Throne of the Mother, to awaken the Eld of the All-Father. The NAME itself, accordingly, is no longer a fixed symbol, emblem of extension and limit, but a continuously revolving sphere; in the words of Zoroaster, “rebounding, whirling forth, crying aloud”.
It has been the custom of publishers or designers of packs to set their personal seal upon the Ace of Disks, for grammatical reasons not unconnected with the perhaps arbitrary differentiation in the Latin Language between the pronouns “meum” and “tuum”. Saith not the Bard?
“Steal not this Book for fear of shame! The Ace of Disks-the Author’s name. The Ace of Swords-thy corpse shall look Like Agag’s did, in Samuel’s book. The Ace of Cups-drink thou no less Than Brinvilliers the Marchioness! The Ace of Wands-thy death be reckoned Like that of good King Edward Second!”
The central symbol of the Ace of Disks is consequently the personal Hieroglyph of “the chosen priest and apostle of infinite space”, “the prince-priest the Beast”. (Liber AL. 1.15.)
This is to be compared with the Sigillum Sanctum of the Order of A∴A∴
In the centre of all is yet another form of Tetragrammaton, the Phallus, showing Sol and Luna, with the number 666 duly inscribed, as if to equilibrate, to fit into the Vesica, with the seven sevens adding to 156 (BABALON 2 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 30 + 70 + 50=(7 + 7) divided by 7 + 77+ 77=156) as the Magick Square of 6 adds to 666 (1=62= TO MEGA QHRION 300 + 70 + 40 + 5 + 3 + I + 9 + 8 + 100 + 10 + 70 + 50=]Vyrt 400 + 200 + 10 + 6 + 50). Should one choose to interpret the vertical line above 666 as 1, and add it, the number of the Scarlet Woman, 667, appears. (667 = H KOKKINH GUNH =8 + 20 + 70 + 20 + 20 + 10 + 50 + 8 + 3 + 400 + 50+ 8.) This cipher is enclosed in a Heptagram, as manifestly needful; and this figure again in interlaced Pentagons whose sides are extended, so forming a Wheel of 10 spokes whose boundary is a Decagon; and this again within a circular band, upon which is inscribed in full the name TO MEGA QHRION, of 12 (6 x 2) letters.
About this whirling Disk are its six Wings; the entire symbol is not only a glyph of Earth as understood in this New Aeon of Horus, but of the number 6, the number of the Sun. This card is thus an affirmation of the identity of Sol and Terra-and that will be best understood by those who have punctually practised Liber Resh for the necessary number of years, preferably in such Hermitages as those of the Sahara Desert, where the Sun and the Earth can soon be instinctively recognized as living Beings, one’s constant companions in a Universe of Pure Joy. (From The Book of Thoth)
AI generated illustration for the Ace of Pentacles or Ace of Coins
Golden Dawn’s Book T
A WHITE Radiant Angelic Hand, holding a branch of a Rose Tree, whereon is a large Pentacle, formed of Five concentric circles. The Innermost Circle is white, charged with a red Greek Cross. From this White Centre, Twelve Rays, also white, issue: these terminate at the circumference, making the whole something like an Astrological figure of the Heavens. It is surmounted by a small circle, above which is a large white Maltese Cross, and with two white wings. Four Crosses and two buds are shewn. The Hand issueth from the Clouds as in the other three cases. It represents materiality in all senses, good and evil: and is, therefore, in a sense, illusionary: it shows material gain, labour, power, wealth, etc.
Etteilla
Perfect contentment Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Perfect contentment, Happiness, Fortune, Rapture, Enchantment, Ecstasy, Wonder, Complete satisfaction, Unspeakable joy, Inexpressible pleasure, Red color, Perfect medicine, Solar medicine, Pure, Fulfillment. Reversed. Amount, Capital, Coin of great value. – Treasure, Wealth, Opulence. – Rare, Dear, Precious, Priceless.
(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 Ace of Swords from the Builders of the Adyum (BOTA) tarot deck
Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)
The time period is from the beginning of Libra to the end of Sagittarius, Sept. 23 to Dec. 21., representing the conjoined power of Venus, Mars and Jupiter. In divination , when the sword is turned downward it is ill-dignified and has a negative significance. In ceremonial magic the sword in this position is used for the invocation of evil forces, while with the point upward it denotes invocation of spiritual forces. Keep this in mind in divination , as an ill-dignified Ace of Swords shows need to control and overcome negative emotions and thoughts. Keyword: Activity (particularly mental force in operation). (From the Oracle of Tarot course)
A. E. Waite
A hand issues from a cloud, grasping as word, the point of which is encircled by a crown. Divinatory Meanings: Triumph, the excessive degree in everything, conquest, triumph of force. It is a card of great force, in love as well as in hatred. The crown may carry a much higher significance than comes usually within the sphere of fortune-telling. Reversed: The same, but the results are disastrous; another account says–conception, childbirth, augmentation, multiplicity. (From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)
Aleister Crowley
The Ace of Swords is the primordial Energy of Air, the Essence of the Vau of Tetragrammaton, the integration of the Ruach. Air is the result of the conjunction of Fire and Water; thus it lacks the purity of its superiors in the male hierarchy, Fire, Sol and the Phallus. But for this same reason it is the first card directly to be apprehended by the normal consciousness of Mankind. The errors of such cards as the 7 and 10 of Cups are yet of an Order altogether higher than the apparently much milder 4 of Swords. The study of the subtle and gradual degradation of the planes is excessively difficult.
In nature, the obvious symbol of Air is the Wind “which bloweth whithersoever it listeth”. It lacks the concentrated Will of Fire to unite with Water: it has no corresponding passion for its Twin Element, Earth. There is indeed, a notable passivity in its nature; evidently, it has no self-generated impulse. But, set in motion by its Father and Mother, its power is manifestly terrific. It visibly attacks its objective, as they, being of subtler and more tenuous character, can never do. Its “all-embracing, all-wandering, all-penetrating, all-consuming” qualities have been described by many admirable writers, and its analogies are for the most part patent to quite ordinary observers.
But, it will instantly be asked, what of the status of this Element in the light of other attributions? In the Yetziratic World, is not Air the first element to follow Spirit? Is not Vayu the first emergence of the phenomenal from the arcane obscurity of Akasha? How may one reconcile the doctrine of Mind with the fact that Ruh, or Ruach, actually means Spirit itself? “Achath Ruach Elohim Chiim” (777) means “One is the Spirit (not Air) of the Gods of the Living”? And is not Air, the element attributed to Mercury, also most properly the Breath of Life, the Word, the Logos itself?
The student must be referred to some less raw, cursory, elementary and superficial Treatise than this present bat-eyed, penguin-winged, bluebottle-brained buzzing. Nevertheless, although Air is in no system the lowest, and so cannot claim benefit of clergy from the doctrine that Malkuth automatically resolves into Kether, the following reference seems not wholly to lack either cogency or pertinence.
The Ruach is centred in the airy Sephira, Tiphareth, who is the Son, the first-born of the Father, and the Sun, the first emanation of the creative Phallus. He derives directly from his mother Binah through the Path of Zain, the sublime intuitive sense, so that he partakes absolutely of the nature of Neschamah. From his father, Chokmah, he is informed though the Path of Heh’, the Great Mother, the Star, our Lady Nuit, so that the creative impulse is communicated to him by all possibilities soever. [How strikingly this fact confirms the counterchange of IV and XVII, above fully expounded: as a link between Chokmah and Tiphareth, the Emperor would have no great significance, and this exquisite doctrine of the Three Mothers would be lost.] Finally, from Kether, the supreme, descends directly upon him, though the Path of Gimel, the High Priestess, the triune light of Initiation. The Three-in-One, the Secret Mother in her polymorphous plenitude; these, these alone, hail him thrice blessed of the Supernals!
The card represents the Sword of the Magus (see Book 4, Part II) crowned with the twenty-two rayed diadem of pure Light. The number refers to the Atu; also 22=2 X II, the Magical manifestation of Chokmah, Wisdom, the Logos. Upon the blade, accordingly, is inscribed the Word of the Law, This Word sends forth a blaze of Light, dispersing the dark clouds of the Mind. (From The Book of Thoth)
AI generated illustration for the Ace of Swords, looking more like a spear
Golden Dawn’s Book T
A WHITE Radiating Angelic Hand, issuing from clouds, and grasping the hilt of a sword, which supports a White Radiant Celestial Crown; from which depend, on the right, the olive branch of Peace; and on the left, the palm branch of suffering. Six Vaus fall from its point. It symbolizes “Invoked,” as contrasted with Natural Force: for it is the Invocation of the Sword. Raised upward, it invokes the Divine crown of Spiritual Brightness, but reversed it is the Invocation of Demonic Force; and becomes a fearfully evil symbol. It represents, therefore, very great power for good or evil, but invoked; and it also represents whirling Force, and strength through trouble. It is the affirmation of Justice upholding Divine Authority; and it may become the Sword of Wrath, Punishment, and Affliction.
Etteilla
Fructification Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Extreme, Great, Excessive. – Exaggerated, Furious, Choleric. – Extremely, Passionately, Excessively. – Vehemence, Animosity, Carriage, Impetus, Anger, Fury, Rage. – Extremity, Terms, Boundary, End, Limits. – Last sigh, Last extremity. – Divergence. Reversed. Pregnancy, Germ, Seed, Sperm, Matter, Impregnation, Generation, Conception, Fructification. – Childbirth, Puerperium. – Fertilization, Production, Composition. – Enlargement, Increase, Multiplicity.
(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 Ace of Cups from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck
Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)
Well Dignified: fertility, productiveness, development, multiplication, happiness, pleasure, gratification, fruition of desires; cheerfulness, geniality, gaiety. lll Dignified: too much emphasis on pleasure; over-intensity of the desire nature; trouble in love. Keyword: Desire force (From the Oracle of Tarot course)
A. E. Waite
The waters are beneath, and thereon are water-lilies; the hand issues from the cloud, holding in its palm the cup, from which four streams are pouring; a dove, bearing in its bill a cross-marked Host, descends to place the Wafer in the Cup; the dew of water is falling on all sides. It is an intimation of that which may lie behind the Lesser Arcana. Divinatory Meanings: House of the true heart, joy, content, abode, nourishment, abundance, fertility; Holy Table, felicity hereof. Reversed: House of the false heart, mutation, instability, revolution. (From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)
Aleister Crowley
This card represents the element of Water in its most secret and original form. It is the feminine complement of the Ace of Wands, and is derived from the Yoni and the Moon exactly as that is from the Lingam and the Sun. The third in the Hierarchy. This accordingly represents the essential form of the Holy Grail. Upon the dark sea of Binah, the Great Mother, are Lotuses, two in one, which fill the cup with the Life-fluid, symbolically represented either as Water, as Blood, or as Wine, according to the selected purpose of the symbolism. This being a primordial card, the liquid is shown as water; it can be transformed into Wine or Blood as may be required.
Above the Cup, descending upon it, is the Dove of the Holy Ghost, thus consecrating the element.
At the base of the Cup is the Moon, for it is the virtue of this card to conceive and to produce the second form of its Nature. (From The Book of Thoth)
AI-generated illustration for the Ace of Cups
Golden Dawn’s Book T
A WHITE Radiant Angelic Hand, issuing from clouds, and supporting on the palm thereof a cup, resembling that of the Stolistes. From it rises a fountain of clear and glistening water: and sprays falling on all sides into clear calm water below, in which grow Lotuses and Water-lilies. The great Letter of the Supernal Mother is traced in the spray of the Fountain. It symbolizes Fertility — productiveness, beauty, pleasure, happiness, etc.
Etteilla
Table Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Table, Meal, Feast, Gala, Banquet, Nourishment, Food, Nutrition. – Guests, Services. – Invitation, Prayer, Supplication, Convocation. – Guest, Hotel, Inn, Tavern. – Abundance, Fertility, Production, Soundness, Stability, Steadfastness, Constancy, Perseverance, Continuance, Duration, Follow-through, Assiduity, Persistence, Steadfastness, Courage. – Picture, Painting, Image, Hieroglyphic, Description. – Tablet, Portfolio, Office, Secretary. – Natural tablet, Bronze tablet, Marble tablet, Law. – Catalog, Index of subjects. – Harmonic table, Garden table, Holy table. Reversed. Mutation, Permutation, Transmutation, Alteration, Vicissitude, Variety, Variation, Inconstancy, Lightness. – Exchange, Barter, Purchase, Sale, Market, Treaty, Convention. – Metamorphosis, Diversity, Versatility, Reversal, Reversal, Revolution, Reversal. – Version, Translation, Interpretation.
(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 Ace of Wands from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) Tarot deck
Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)
In Tarot Divination the Ace of Wands has these key meanings: natural as opposed to invoked force; strength; force; vigor; vitality; particularly the force of concentrated will; the principle of beginning; initiation or inception of any enterprise or activity; concentration of power; involution of force. Keyword: Initiative (From the Oracle of Tarot course)
A. E. Waite
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. (From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)
Aleister Crowley
This card represents the essence of the element of Fire in its inception. It is a solar-phallic outburst of flame from which spring lightnings in every direction. These flames are Yods, arranged in the form of the Tree of Life. (For Yod, see Atu IX supra.) It is the primordial Energy of the Divine manifesting in Matter, at so early a stage that it is not yet definitely formulated as Will.
Important: although these “small cards” are sympathetic with their Sephirotic origin, they are not identical; nor are they Divine Persons. These (and the Court Cards also) are primarily sub-Elements, parts of the “Blind Forces” under the Demiourgos, Tetragrammaton. Their rulers are the Intelligences, in the Yetziratic world, who go to form the Schemhamphorasch. Nor is even this Name, “Lord of the Universe” though it be, truly Divine, as are the Lords of the Atu in the Element of Spirit. Each Atu possesses its own private, personal and particular Universe, with Demiourgos (and all the rest) complete, just as every man and every woman does.
For example II’s or VI’s Three of Disks might represent the establishment of such an oracle as that of Delphi, or VIII’s might be the first formula of a Code such as Manu gave to Hindustan; V’s, a cathedral, XVI’s, a standing army; and so on. The great point is that all the Elemental Forces, however sublime, powerful, or intelligent, are Blind Forces and no more. (From The Book of Thoth)
Golden Dawn’s Book T
A WHITE Radiating Angelic Hand, issuing from clouds, and grasping a heavy club, which has three branches in the colours, and with the sigils, of the scales. The Right-and Left-hand branches end respectively in three Flames, and the Centre one in four Flames: thus yielding Ten: the Number of the Sephiroth. Twoand-twenty leaping Flames, or Yodh, surround it, answering to the Paths; of these, three fall below the Right branch for Aleph, Men, and Shin, seven above the Central branch for the double letters; and between it and that of the Right twelve: six above and six below about the Left-hand branch. The whole is a great and flaming Torch. It symbolizes Force — strength, rush, vigour, energy, and it governs, according to its nature, various works and questions. It implies Natural, as opposed to Invoked, Force.
Etteilla
Birth Upright. This card means, in its natural position, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned: Birth, Beginning. – Nativity, Origin, Creation. – Source, Beginning, Primacy. – Extraction, Race, Family, Condition, House, Lineage, Posterity, Occasion, Cause, Reason, First, First fruits. Reversed. Fall, Decadence, Decay, Decline, Decay, Decay, Dissipation, Failure, Bankruptcy, Ruin, Destruction, Demolition, Damage, Devastation. – Guilt, Error, Contempt, Abatement, Depression, Discouragement. – Perdition, Abyss, Chasm, Precipice. – Dying, Falling, Decay, Derogation. – Depth.
This is intended as a collection of meanings attributed by some sources to the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana of the Tarot. I will add sources as I study them. If you have sources to recommend, hit me up.
If you are interested in a (partial) list of the meanings I attribute to the Major arcana in my reading examples and case studies, click here.
(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 Page of Swords from the BOTA (Builders of the Adytum) Tarot deck
Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)
The time period is from the beginning of Libra to the end of Sagittarius, September 23 to December 21. Meanings: a young person of either sex. Artistic, active, generous. Capable of weighing evidence, somewhat interested in occultism, philosophy or religion. Naturally aspiring, graceful. If Ill-Dignified: frivolous, cunning and prodigal Light brown hair and blue eyes (From the Oracle of Tarot course)
A. E. Waite
A lithe, active figure holds a sword upright in both hands, while in the act of swift walking. He is passing over rugged land, and about his way the clouds are collocated wildly. He is alert and lithe, looking this way and that, as if an expected enemy might appear at any moment. Divinatory Meanings: Authority, overseeing, secret service, vigilance, spying, examination, and the qualities thereto belonging. Reversed: More evil side of these qualities; what is unforeseen, unprepared state; sickness is also intimated. (From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)
Aleister Crowley
The Princess of Swords represents the earthy part of Air, the fixation of the volatile. She brings about the materialization of Idea. She represents the influence of Heaven upon Earth. She partakes of the characteristics of Minerva and Artemis, and there is some suggestion of the Valkyrie. She represents to some extent the anger of the Gods, and she appears helmed, with serpent-haired Medusa for her crest. She stands in front of a barren altar as if to avenge its profanation, and she stabs downward with her sword. The heaven and the clouds, which are her home, seem angry.
The character of the Princess is stern and revengeful. Her logic is destructive. She is firm and aggressive, with great practical wisdom and subtlety in material things. She shews great cleverness and dexterity in the management of practical affairs, especially where they are of a controversial nature. She is very adroit in the settlement of controversies.
If ill-dignified, all these qualities are dispersed; she becomes incoherent, and all her gifts tend to combine to form a species of low cunning whose object is unworthy of the means.
In the Yi King, the earthy part of Air is represented by the 18th hexagram, Ku. This means “troubles”; it is, for all practical and material matters. The most unhappy symbol in the book. All the fine qualities of Air are weighed down, suppressed, suffocated.
People thus characterized are slow mentally, the prey of constant anxiety, crushed by every kind of responsibility, but especially in family affairs. One of both of the parents will usually be found in the aetiology.
It is hard to understand line 6, which “shows us one who does not serve either king or feudal lord, but in a lofty spirit prefers to follow his own bent”. The explanation is that a Princess as such, being “the throne of Spirit”, may always have the option of throwing everything overboard, “blowing everything sky high”. Such action would account for the characteristics above given for the card when well dignified. Such people are exceedingly rare; and, naturally enough, they appear often as “Children of misfortune”. Nevertheless, they have chosen aright, and in due season gain their reward. (From the Book of Thoth)
Golden Dawn’s Book T
AN AMAZON figure with waving hair, slighter than the Rose of the Palace of Fire. Her attire is similar. The Feet seem springy, giving the idea of swiftness. Weight changing from one foot to another and body swinging around. She is a mixture of Minerva and Diana: her mantle resembles the AEgis of Minerva. She wears as a crest the head of the Medusa with serpent hair. She holds a sword in one hand; and the other rests upon a small silver altar with grey smoke (no fire) ascending from it. Beneath her feet are white clouds. Wisdom, strength, acuteness; subtlety in material things: grace and dexterity. If ill dignified, she is frivolous and cunning. She rules a quadrant of the heavens around Kether. Earth of Air
Etteilla
Observer Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Spy, Curious, Observer, Scrutinizer, Collector, Overseer, Intending. – Examination, Note, Observation, Annotation, Speculation, Account, Calculation, Conjecture. – Scientist, Artist. Reversed. Unexpected, Suddenly, Suddenly, Suddenly. – Stunning, Astonishing, Inopinently. – Improvise, Acting and speaking without preparation, Composing and acting sitting down.
