Usually I’m not a huge fan of readings done on someone else without them knowing, not for ethical reasons but because I always feel there is more wiggle room for error if the person is not present. This is just my experience, but that’s how it works for me. Still, when a friend of mine started getting paranoid that his job contract might not get renewed I decided to ask, even though he didn’t feel like getting a reading (especially since we don’t live in the same country)
I used the Bolognese tarot, since this is the deck I’m currently studying, and the thirteen card spread, which is the most common spread with this deck.
Will the contract be renewed?
I believe the line that gives us a positive answer is the third, with the Hermit, the Angel and the Devil. Angel and Devil is one of those rare traditional combos that cannot be reduced to the basic meaning of the cards: it represents great news or great satisfaction. In general, when they fall together, they can be a hint at a yes.
Since the Hermit opens the line though, this is going to take some time (and it did: he was waiting for an answer any day from the date of the reading, instead it took two months). And the answer WAS positive, so the Hermit only influenced the time element, but it didn’t block the good news.
What about the other cards? Well, I believe the first two lines are simply describing the situation: in the first line we have the querent, my friend (the King of Wands) together with the little money card and the Ace of Wands. This can be interpreted as him having actually little (Ten of Coins) interest (Ace) for the job aside from needing it or, more positively, that the job brings him success (Ace) in little amounts (Ten of Coins). Both interpretations are actually true.
The second line has Justice and the Ace of Swords, which together can talk about a legally binding (Justice) contract (Ace of Swords). Then comes the letter card (the Page of Swords) which is followed in the next line by the Hermit, the blockage. This is where the delay was created.
What about the last line? Here I’m not sure. The cards talk about a woman, the Queen of Wands, possibly belonging to the family (she sits right on top of the Ace of Cups). She is surrounded by confusion (Fool) and betrayal (the Hanged Man). My only thought was that a woman close to him wasn’t at all expecting the contract to be renewed, was taken by surprise. I wasn’t able to confirm this detail, but there you go.
(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 Ten of Pentacles from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck
Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)
The time period is the third decanate of Virgo, under the rulership of Venus, September 13 to September 22. Meanings: Well-Dignified: money through servants or subordinates; gain in matters connected with medicine, drugs, food, nursing, farming or gardening; completion in material gain and fortune, but nothing beyond. Ill-Dignified: material success, but heaviness and dullness of mind; sometimes loss through the matters listed above; slothfulness. Keyword: Wealth. (From the Oracle of Tarot course)
A. E. Waite
A man and woman beneath an archway which gives entrance to a house and domain. They are accompanied by a child, who looks curiously at two dogs accosting an ancient personage seated in the foreground. The child’s hand is on one of them. Divinatory Meanings: Gain, riches; family matters, archives, extraction, the abode of a family. Reversed: Chance, fatality, loss, robbery, games of hazard; sometimes gift, dowry, pension. (From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)
The Ten of Pentacles from the Rider Waite Smith tarot
Aleister Crowley
The Ten of Disks is called Wealth. Here again is written this constantly recurring doctrine, that as soon as one gets to the bottom one finds oneself at the top; and Wealth is given to Mercury in Virgo. When wealth accumulates beyond a certain point, it must either become completely inert and cease to be wealth, or call in the aid of intelligence to use it rightly. This must necessarily happen in spheres which have nothing whatever to do with material possessions, as such. In this way, Carnegie establishes a Library, Rockefeller endows Research, simply because there is nothing else to do.
But all this doctrine lies behind the card; it is the inner meaning of the card. There is another view to consider, that this is the last of all the cards, and therefore represents the sum total of all the work that has been done from the beginning. Therefore, in it is drawn the very figure of the Tree of Life itself. This card, to the other thirty-five small cards, is what the twenty-first Trump, The Universe, is to the rest of the Trumps.
[…]
The number Ten, Malkuth, as always, represents the final issue of the Energy. Here is great and final solidification. The force is completely expended and results in death. Mercury rules this card in Virgo; and this may imply that the acquired wealth, being inert, will be dissipated unless put to further use by devoting its power to objects other than mere accumulation.
The disks, or (as they have now become) coins, are arranged on the Tree of Life, but the Tenth coin is much larger than the rest; the image indicates the futility of material gain.
These disks are inscribed with various symbols of mercurial character except that the coin in the place of Hod (Mercury) on the Tree is marked with the cipher of the Sun. This indicates the only possibility of issue from the impasse produced by the exhaustion of all the elemental forces. At the end of matter must be complete stagnation, were it not that in it is always inherent the Will of the Father, the Great Architect, the Great Arithmetician, the Great Geometer. In this case, then, Mercury will represent the Logos, the Word, the Will, the Wisdom, the Eternal Son, and Virgo the Virgin, in every implication of that symbol. This card is in fact a hieroglyph of the cycle of regeneration.
Among the Geomantic figures, Mercury in Virgo is Conjunctio. The meaning, conjunction, is shown plainly by the attraction of the descending (female) Triangle, the cipher of the Yoni, to the ascending (male) Triangle, that of the Lingam. This union completed, they appear interlaced, forming the figure of Capricornus, the Sign in which the Sun finds his rebirth. It is the holy Hexagram, the symbol of the uniting of the Macrocosm and the Microcosm, the accomplishment of the Great Work, the Summum Bonum, True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness. Sic sit vobis! (From the Book of Thoth)
The Ten of Disks from the Thoth Tarot deck
Golden Dawn’s Book T
AN Angelic Hand, holding by the lower extremity a branch whose roses touch all the Pentacles. No buds, however, are shewn. The symbols of Mercury and Virgo are above and below. The Pentacles are thus arranged:
* * * * * * * * * * Completion of material gain and fortune; but nothing beyond: as it were, at the very pinnacle of success. Old age, slothfulness; great wealth, yet sometimes loss in part; heaviness; dullness of mind, yet clever and prosperous in money transactions. Malkuth of HB:H (Riches and wealth). Herein are HB:LAVYH and HB:HHa’aYH set over this Decan as Angel Rulers
Etteilla
The house Upright. In terms of spiritual medicine, this card, in its natural position, signifies: Home, Household management, Economy, Savings. – Dwelling, Domicile, Residence, Manor, Lodging, Regiment, Ship, Vessel, Vase. – Archive, Castle, Hut. – Family, Origin, Race, Posterity. – Cave, Cavern, Refuge. Reversed. Lottery, Luck, Gambling, Chance, Accident, Ignorance, Fate, Destiny, Predestination, Fatality. – Fortunate or unfortunate opportunity.
The literary landscape in Italy is rather dismal, as far as the occult arts are concerned, even though in recent years something seems to be changing. But Il Tarocchino di Bologna (the Little Tarot of Bologna) by Andrea Vitali and Terry Zanetti is not a very recent book, and this makes its outstanding quality even more of a surprise.
The book is divided into several sections, some authored by Vitali and some by Zanetti. Andrea Vitali is possibly the greatest living tarot historian (and a damn good diviner too), the one who has shed the most light on the history and origins of the tarot, bursting a lot of bubbles in the process. His section is, as usual, well documented and written, and generally aims at showing that the tarot probably originated not in Milan but in Bologna.
But, as undisputed as Vitali’s expertise in the field, our focus in this review is Zanetti’s section on cartomancy. This is well organized and competently written. Aside from a brief preamble, the largest part of her section of the book is dedicated to the meanings of the cards, which she has researched in various ways, including by looking for old decks with the meanings written on them.
Zanetti, like Celi (and currently like me), uses a 45-card deck. The deck, however, differs: instead of one Stranger, she uses two, one of them taking the place of the Ten of Coins. As I mentioned elsewhere, these discrepancies are to be expected from a tool of popular divination that was invented in a non-globalized world of isolated villages and streets. Even some of the meanings differ, as I explained in this post, where I talked about the fact that she interprets the Page of Swords not as a letter but as a young man.
Each card is presented with their Italian and Bolognese dialect name, a brief iconographic rundown, the list of meanings, an example reading with a three-card method, a saying from the Bolognese popular tradition that illustrates the meaning of the card, and a combination. Some combinations are exceedingly curious and stray far way from the original meanings of the cards.
The spreads covered by Zanetti are also interesting and worth studying. One is a variation of the great staircase spread I talked about, but Zanetti gives very specific and somewhat rigid rules for interpreting it. She then covers a pyramid spread and a variation of the cross spread, the thirteen card spread and, finally an oracle made up of only three cards.
The only small concern is the rigidity with which Zanetti treats combinations of two cards. My experience is that cards must be first and foremost combined logically based on the context of the question and the other cards, but she asserts that when two specific cards come together they always have a specific meaning regardless of everything.
This, I have found, may be true when many cards come together. For instance, even if you ask about love, if someone in your life is about to drop dead, lots of cards will amass in that regard, not just two. Yet Zanetti treats two-card combos as if they were powerful enough to transcend the question (and yes, she does give a combination about death). Again, this is a question of method and personal experience. It does not detract from the validity of her experience, but it does highlight one of its peculiar traits.
So is this book worth having? To this my answer is a big fat yes!
When someone teaches someone else the traditional meanings of the cards, they often don’t waste too much time giving them a rundown of all the applications of the one or two keywords they give them, especially at the beginning. Keep in mind that in many traditions, at least in Italy, the initial instructions for card reading are passed down on Christmas Eve, so the explanations must be quick enough to fit into one evening where you have plenty of other stuff to do.
Usually, the initial instruction is followed up by a more thorough explanation later, but the new reader is also expected to “lavorare le carte”, literally to “work the cards“. This means that while they are being given a vocabulary (the keywords) and some grammar and syntax (the various spreads and combinations) they are supposed to develop their own language.
Think about it: we all speak English on this blog, yet each of us speaks a different version of it, not only because some of us are native speakers while some aren’t, and not just because some come from the US, some from GB, some from Australia, etc. but also, and especially, because each speaker of a language has their own slightly different version of it, owing to their character, personal history, experiences, education, talents and many other factors.
This may sound like an admission that language is random and infinitely pliable at will, but it isn’t. Your own language is an emanation of you as a person, but who you are as a person is not fully under your control. In fact, the diviner and occultist in me believes that it is only very slightly under your control.
What is true for regular speech is true for the speech of the cards. Once you are given the meanings of the cards, it is not a matter of reinventing them, but rather of discovering how the meanings work for you, of understanding what your particular, individual dialect is. This is a never-ending process, because the language of divination is a difficult second language to learn and because there is no human native that can help us.
But let’s discuss an example of how you take a single keyword and turn it into a web of interrelated meanings. In the Bolognese Tarot, which is my current obsession and is quickly becoming one of my favorite systems, the Queen of Coins is called “the truth”. There. If you were sitting on grandma’s lap on Christmas Eve and she were passing the meanings down to you, that’s what she would say. The truth. Period.
The truth is a complex thing, and throughout history different people have understood it to be something different. In itself, it is an abstract concept. After receiving it, you need to make it concrete, i.e., you need to discover how the word “truth” is used in your particular divination dialect. Let’s give it a try (and this is my dialect, obviously. It may or may not overlap with yours).
The truth is what truthful people tell, so obviously the card qualifies people as truthful, dependable, reliable. Next to a person card, the person will be all these things, probably.
Once you know the truth about something, you know about it. Knowledge is therefore another aspect of truth. Who has knowledge? Professors, for sure, and people who have studied something. One might counter that so many graduates today are ignorant fools filled with prejudices they never questioned. And one would be right. Archetypally, though, the connection (the ‘signature’) holds, similarly to how astrologically scholars are ruled by Mercury, even if scholars are often up their asses.
Study, teaching, learning, explaining, science, discovering, bringing to light, intellectual (or at least not physical) occupations seem to also be concepts that beautifully complement that lonely keyword “truth”. But all these aren’t just descriptions for abstract knowledge. What is a less abstract form of knowledge? Expertise, for sure. If you call the plumber, he may not be able to tell you how the categories of Aristotle’s logic apply to your toilet, but he sure knows how to stop it puking out scum. And that’s a good deal more helpful. So a plumber with the truth on his side is certainly a plumber you want to hire.
Today, the word wisdom is almost forgotten, or relegated to describing dubious practices with no scientific stamp of approval. But wisdom used to be deeply connected to knowledge. The Queen of Coins, therefore, surely describes the ability to lead your life the right way, or to lead others the right way.
Especially in the West, the idea of truth has always been connected with the ability to see. “I see” we say, when we understand something. This may sound shallow, but it actually has its roots in the old Greek notion that the truth is what the mind sees beyond the illusions of the senses. The word “idea”, which is what we have in our minds and which we hope to be a truthful representation of reality, comes from the root ‘vid-‘, which is the same root as the latin ‘videre’, to see. So the Queen of Coins stands for sight and for the eyes, and for windows, which bring light (understanding) into the home and from which we see how the world outside looks like. And so on and so forth.
These associations can be discovered by practice and by decoding the combinations that are usually passed down. Again, it is not a matter of making up. It is, literally, a process of discovery.
I often get messages from people asking me how to learn the tarocchino. This makes me happy, because it means this extremely old divination tradition is slowly getting the attention it deserves.
I had the blessing of knowing a great teacher, Germana Tartari, whose first book I reviewed (and whose two other books I shall review in the near future). She taught me how to read the 50 card method.
For those interested, a course by her will start on 15 January. You can read more about it on the website of the Accademia degli Studi Ermetici
(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 Ten of Swords from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck
Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)
The time period is the third decanate of Gemini, June 11 to June 21, under the rulership of Saturn and Uranus. Well-Dignified: in spiritual matters, the end of delusion; the overthrow of limiting conditions; break-up of restrictions. In material affairs, sudden and unexpected changes, not always unfortunate in the long run, but disappointing when experienced: interference from from others. and.loss through indiscretion in writmg or signing contracts. lll-Dignifled: failure, desolation, misery. Keyword: Destruction (From the Oracle of Tarot course)
A. E. Waite
A prostrate figure, pierced by all the swords belonging to the card. Divinatory Meanings: Whatsoever is intimated by the design; also pain, affliction, tears, sadness, desolation. It is not especially a card of violent death. Reversed: Advantage, profit, success, favour, but none of these are permanent; also power and authority. (From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)
The Ten of Swords from the Rider Waite Smith tarot
Aleister Crowley
The Ten of Swords is called Ruin. It teaches the lesson which statesmen should have learned, and have not; that if one goes on fighting long enough, all ends in destruction.
Yet this card is not entirely without hope. The Solar influence rules; ruin can never be complete, because disaster is a sthenic disease. As soon as things are bad enough, one begins to build up again. When all the Governments have smashed each other, there still remains the peasant. At the end of Candide’s misadventures, he could still cultivate his garden.
[…]
The number Ten, Malkuth, as always, represents the culmination of the unmitigated energy of the idea. It shows reason run mad, ramshackle riot of soulless mechanism; it represents the logic of lunatics and (for the most part) of philosophers. It is reason divorced from reality. The card is also ruled by the Sun in Gemini, but the mercurial airy quality of the Sign serves to disperse his rays; this card shows the disruption and disorder of harmonious and stable energy.
The hilts of the Swords occupy the positions of the Sephiroth, but the points One to Five and Seven to Nine touch and shatter the central Sword (six) which represents the Sun, the Heart, the child of Chokmah and Binah. The tenth Sword is also in splinters. It is the ruin of the Intellect, and even of all mental and moral qualities.
In the Yi King, Sol in Gemini is the virtue of the 43rd Hexagram, Kwai, the Watery modification of the Phallus; also, by the interlacing interpretation, the harmony of these two same Trigrams.
The signification is perfectly harmonious with that of the Ten of Swords It represents the damping down of the Creative impulse, weakness, corruption, or mirage affecting that principle itself. But, viewing the Hexagram as a weapon or method of procedure, it counsels the ruler to purge the state of unworthy officers. Curiously, the invention of written characters to replace knotted strings is ascribed among Chinese scholars to the use of this hexagram by the sages. Gemini is ruled by Thoth; 10 is the key of the Naples Arrangement; and Apollo (Sol) is the patron of literature and the arts: so his suggestion might appear at least no less suitable to the Qabalistic correspondences than to their double emphasis on Water and the Sun. Apart from this, however, the parallelism is complete. (From the Book of Thoth)
The Ten of Swords from the Thoth tarot deck
Golden Dawn’s Book T
FOUR hands holding eight swords, as in the preceding symbol; the points falling away from each other. Two hands hold two swords crossed in the centre, as though their junction had disunited the others. No rose, flower or bud, is shewn. Above and below are Sun and Gemini, representing the Decan.
Almost a worse symbol than the Nine of Swords. Undisciplined, warring force, complete disruption and failure. Ruin of all plans and projects. Disdain, insolence and impertinence, yet mirth and jollity therewith. A marplot, loving to overthrow the happiness of others; a repeater of things; given to much unprofitable speech, and of many words. Yet clever, eloquent, etc., according to dignity.
Malkuth of HB:V (Ruin, death, defeat, disruption). Herein the Angels HB:DMBYH and HB:MNQAL reign
Etteilla
Affliction Upright. In terms of spiritual medicine, this card, in its natural position, signifies: Crying, Tears, Sobbing, Moaning, Sighing, Lamenting, Complaining, Afflictions, Regrets, Sadness, Pain, Wailing, Lamentations [= Poetic lamentations], Desolation. Reversed. Advantage, Gain, Profit, Success. – Grace, Favor, Benefit. – Ascendant, Power, Empire, Authority, Might, Usurpation.
Working on my review of Andrea Vitali and Terry Zanetti’s book on the Bolognese tarot I came across some interesting information that matches what some Bolognese tarot readers have confirmed.
If you read my section on the card meanings of the Bolognese tarot, you will see that I call the King of Swords “Spadino”, which literally means “little sword” or, more appropriately in this context, “little sword bearer” (the ‘bearer’ part is implied). This is because the people I have chiefly learnt from all agreed on this one name, independently from one another.
When we read Zanetti’s section on the divinatory meanings of the cards, though, we find that she calls the Page of Swords ‘Spadino’, identifying the figure with a young man. This is in contrast with the tradition I’ve received, whereby the Page of Swords is just a letter or message. Zanetti does say that the card can also sometimes signify a disquieting letter, but she chiefly identifies the Page with a young man.
The Page of Swords and the King of Swords in the Bolognese tarot / Tarocchino bolognese
I must say I find this option strangely titillating, as the Page of Swords, Spadino, would then be a male counterpart to the Page of Cups, Coppina, ‘little cup bearer’. The ending -ino, which in Italian points to something small or young, definitely fits the Page more than the King. Zanetti denies that this parallel between Coppina and Spadino exists, because the Coppina is supposed to be always negative (she’s traditionally the little floozy who snatches hubby away). But I have not found this to be the case: the Page of Cups is just a young (or younger) woman.
Ultimately, as my understanding and practice with the Bolognese tarot evolves, I know I will have to create my own deck (all traditional readers seem to have done so, preserving a part of tradition and integrating it with their own discernment and experience). Tradition is, after all, not something fixed, but something that is handed over to us (from the Latin tradere) and that we must administer intelligently.
Another interesting fact is that Zanetti emphasizes the intellectual aspect of Spadino, calling the card “young man and his thoughts”. This is in contrast with what I’ve learned from Germana Tartari, my teacher for the 50-card method, whose grandma taught her that the Knight of Swords can sometimes represent the King of Swords’ thoughts, in a kind of parallel to the Knight of Wands being the thoughts of the King of Wands.
The fact that so many traditions seem to exist should not discourage us from engaging with them. Keep in mind that the Bolognese tarot tradition evolved locally, with each city, village or even street having slightly different versions of it. Thus, this is less a matter of who is right or wrong and more one of systemic preference and whether integrating different system together leads to new systems that work, or whether it is best to keep them separate. This is something that can be established only through trial and error.
(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 Ten of Wands from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck
Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)
The third decanate of Sagittarius is the time period from December 12 to December 21. In divination its meanings are those of the Tenth Sephirah combined with the planetary forces of the Sun and Jupiter, the zodiacal sign of Sagittarius together with its natural Ninth house of the Higher Mind. Well-Dignified: generosity; success and honor in connection with the law, religion or philosophy; possibility of post of responsibility; gain through travel. Ill-Dignified: ostentation; dogmatism; overbearing pride. Note :- this card often carries the significance of a burden of responsibility of ‘too many irons in the fire’, or the need for a rearrangement of the Querent’s affairs or activities so as to get them in better order. Keyword: Fullness of power. (From The Oracle of Tarot course)
A. E. Waite
A man oppressed by the weight of the ten staves which he is carrying. Divinatory Meanings: A card of many significances, and some of the readings cannot be harmonized. I set aside that which connects it with honour and good faith. The chief meaning is oppression simply, but it is also fortune, gain, any kind of success, and then it is the oppression of these things. It is also a card of false-seeming, disguise, perfidy. The place which the figure is approaching may suffer from the rods that he carries. Success is stultified if the Nine of Swords follows, and if it is a question of a lawsuit, there will be certain loss. Reversed: Contrarieties, difficulties, intrigues, and their analogies. (From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)
The Ten of Wands from the Rider Waite Smith tarot
Aleister Crowley
The Ten of Wands is called Oppression. This is what happens when one uses force, force, and nothing else but force all the time. Here looms the dull and heavy planet Saturn weighing down the fiery, ethereal side of Sagittarius; it brings out all the worst in Sagittarius. See the Archer, not shooting forth benign rays, but dealing the sharp rain of death! The Wand has conquered; it has done its work; it has done its work too well; it did not know when to stop; Government has become Tyranny. One thinks of the Hydra when one reflects that King Charles was beheaded in White hall!
[…]
The number Ten refers to Malkuth, which depends from the other nine Sephiroth, but is not directly in communication with them. It shows the Force detached from its spiritual sources. It is become a blind Force; so, the most violent form of that particular energy, without any modifying influences. The flames in the background of the card have run wild. It is Fire in its most destructive aspect.
The card also refers to the influence of Saturn in Sagittarius. Here is the greatest antipathy. Sagittarius is spiritual, swift, light, elusive, and luminous; Saturn is material, slow, heavy, obstinate, and obscure.
The eight Wands are still crossed, showing the enormous power of the completed energies of Fire; but they have lost their patents of nobility. Their ends seem more like claws; they lack the authority and intelligence shown in the earlier cards; and in front are the two formidable Dorjes of the Two of Wands, but lengthened to bars.
The whole picture suggests Oppression and repression. It is a stupid and obstinate cruelty from which there is no escape. It is a Will which has not understood anything beyond its dull purpose, its “lust of result”, and will devour itself in the conflagrations it has evoked. (From The Book of Thoth)
The Ten of Wands from the Thoth tarot deck
Golden Dawn’s Book T
FOUR hands holding eight wands crossed as before. A fifth hand holding two wands upright, which traverses the junction of the others. Flames issuant. Saturn and Sagittarius.
Cruel and overbearing force and energy, but applied only to material and selfish ends. Sometimes shows failure in a matter, and the opposition too strong to be controlled; arising from the person’s too great selfishness at the beginning. Illwill, levity, lying, malice, slander, envy, obstinacy; swiftness in evil and deceit, if ill dignified. Also generosity, disinterestedness and self-sacrifice, when well dignified. Malkuth of HB:V (Cruelty, malice, revenge, injustice). Therein rule HB:RYYAL and HB:AVMAL.
(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 Nine 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 Gemini, June 1 to June 10, under the rulership of Venus. Well-Dignified: faithfulness, obedience, unselfishness, patience; fortunate news about legal affairs or partnerships, especially if the outcome has been delayed or in doubt; aid or gain through relatives, short journeys or writings, but not until the Querent has passed through a period of uncertainty or worry; ultimate good fortune, resulting from a series of events which at first present unfavorable appearances. lll-Dignified: despair, cruelty, unfaithfulness; want, loss, misery; bad outcome of legal affairs; disagreements with relatives; unfortunate journeys. Keyword: Worry. (From the Oracle of Tarot course)
A. E. Waite
One seated on her couch in lamentation, with the swords over her. She is as one who knows no sorrow which is like unto hers. It is a card of utter desolation. Divinatory Meanings: Death, failure, miscarriage, delay, deception, disappointment, despair. Reversed: Imprisonment, suspicion, doubt, reasonable fear, shame. (From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)
The Nine of Swords from the Rider Waite Smith Tarot
Aleister Crowley
The Nine of Swords is called Cruelty. Here the original disruption inherent in Swords is raised to its highest power. The card is ruled by Mars in Gemini; it is agony of mind. The Ruach consumes itself in this card; thought has gone through every possible stage, and the conclusion is despair. This card has been very adequately drawn by Thomson in “The City of Dreadful Night”. It is always a cathedral—a cathedral of the damned. There is the acrimonious taint of analysis; activity is inherent in the mind, yet there is always the instinctive consciousness that nothing can lead anywhere.
[…]
The number Nine, Yesod, brings back the Energy to the central pillar of the Tree of Life. The previous disorder is now rectified. But the general idea of the suit has been constantly degenerating. The Swords no longer represent pure intellect so much as the automatic stirring of heartless passions. Consciousness has fallen into a realm unenlightened by reason. This is the world of the unconscious primitive instincts, of the psychopath, of the fanatic.
The celestial ruler is Mars in Gemini, crude rage of hunger operating without restraint; although its form is intellectual, it is the temper of the inquisitor.The symbol shows nine swords of varying lengths, all striking downwards to a point. They are jagged and rusty. Poison and blood drip from their blades.
There is, however, a way of dealing with this card: the way of passive resistance, resignation, the acceptance of martyrdom. Nor is an alien formula that of implacable revenge. (From The Book of Thoth)
The Nine of Swords from the Thoth tarot deck
Golden Dawn’s Book T
FOUR Hands, as in the preceding figure, hold eight swords nearly upright, but with the points falling away from each other. A fifth hand holds a ninth sword upright in the centre, as if it had struck them asunder. No rose at all is shewn, as if it were not merely cut asunder, but utterly destroyed. Above and below are the Decan symbols Mars and Gemini.
Despair, cruelty, pitilessness, malice, suffering, want, loss, misery. Burden, oppression, labour, subtlety and craft, dishonesty, lying and slander. Yet also obedience, faithfulness, patience, unselfishness, etc. According to dignity. Yesod of HB:V (Illness, suffering, malice, cruelty, pain). Therein do HB:a’aNVAL and HB:MChYAL bear rule.
Etteilla
Bachelor Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Celibate, Celibacy, Virgin, Abbot, Priest, Monk, Hermit, Religious. – Temple, Church, Monastery, Convent, Hermitage, Shrine. – Worship, Religion, Piety, Devotion, Rite, Ceremony, Ritual. – Recluse, Recluse, Anchorite, Vestal. Reversed. Founded distrust, Well-founded suspicion, Legitimate fear, Distrust, Doubt, Conjecture. – Scruple, Fearful consciousness, Pure, Timidity, Shyness. – Shame, Shame.
(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 Nine of Wands from the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) tarot deck
Paul Foster Case (and Ann Davies)
In Tarot divination this Key combines the forces of the Moon, Mars and Jupiter and the zodiacal influences of Sagittarius and Aries, together with the Ninth house of the Higher Mind. Well Dignified: well placed in a divination, this Key suggests originality, independence and daring. It has meanings that include strength in reserve; health after illness; success, but attended with some strife. Ill-Dignified: danger; violence in foreign places or during long journeys; difficulties with relatives of the marriage partner; conflict with persons prominent in religion or law; obstinancy. Keyword: Preparedness (From the Oracle of Tarot course)
A. E. Waite
The figure leans upon his staff and has an expectant look, as if awaiting an enemy. Behind are eight other staves–erect, in orderly disposition, like a palisade. Divinatory Meanings: The card signifies strength in opposition. If attacked, the person will meet an onslaught boldly; and his build shews, that he may prove a formidable antagonist. With this main significance there are all its possible adjuncts–delay, suspension, adjournment. Reversed: Obstacles, adversity, calamity. (From The Pictorial Key to the Tarot)
The Nine of Wands from the Rider Waite Smith Tarot
Aleister Crowley
The Nine of Wands is called Strength. It is ruled by the Moon and Yesod. In “The Vision and the Voice”, the eleventh Aethyr gives a classical account of the resolution of this antinomy of Change and Stability. The student should also consult the works of any of the better mathematical physicists.
Of all important doctrines concerning equilibrium, this is the easiest to understand, that change is stability; that stability is guaranteed by change; that if anything should stop changing for the fraction of a split second, it would go to pieces. It is the intense energy of the primal elements of Nature, call them electrons, atoms, anything you will, it makes no difference; change guarantees the order of Nature. This is why, in learning to ride a bicycle, one falls in an extremely awkward and ridiculous manner. Balance is made difficult by not going fast enough. So also, one cannot draw a straight line if one’s hand shakes. This card is a sort of elementary parable to illustrate the meaning of this aphorism: “Change is Stability.”
Here the Moon, the weakest of the planets, is in Sagittarius, the most elusive of the Signs; yet it dares call itself Strength. Defence, to be effective, must be mobile.
[…]
This card is referred to Yesod, the Foundation; this brings the Energy back into balance. The Nine represents always the fullest development of the Force in its relation with the Forces above it. The Nine may be considered as the best that can be obtained from the type involved, regarded from a practical and material standpoint.
This card is also governed by the Moon in Sagittarius; so here is a double influence of the Moon on the Tree of Life. Hence the aphorism “Change is Stability”.
The Wands have now become arrows. There are eight of them in the background, and in front of them one master arrow. This has the Moon for its point, and the Sun for the driving Force above it; for the path of Sagittarius on the Tree of Life joins the Sun and Moon. The flames in the card are tenfold, implying that the Energy is directed downwards. (From The Book of Thoth)
The Nine of Wands from the Thoth tarot deck
Golden Dawn’s Book T
FOUR hands, as in the previous symbol, holding eight wands crossed four and four; but a fifth hand at the foot of the card holds another wand upright, which traverses the point of junction with the others: flames leap herefrom. Above and below are the symbols Moon and Sagittarius.
Tremendous and steady force that cannot be shaken. Herculean strength, yet sometimes scientifically applied. Great success, but with strife and energy. Victory, preceded by apprehension and fear. Health good, and recovery not in doubt. Generous, questioning and curious; fond of external appearances: intractable, obstinate.
Yesod of HB:Y (Strength, power, health, recovery from sickness). Herein rule the Angels HB:YRThAL and HB:ShAHYH.
Etteilla
Delay Upright. This card, as far as the medicine of the spirit is concerned, means, in its natural position: Delayed, Dilated, Removed, Suspended, Stretched, Slowed, Slowly. Reversed. Travail, Obstacle, Impediment, Contrariness, Disadvantage, Adversity, Penalty, Accident, Misfortune, Calamity.
