(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.)
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)
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
