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gecko
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Tarot Interpretations
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Jan 3 17:44 UTC 1997 |
Tarot Interpretations - An open discussion of what individual cards
mean to different individuals.
I'm starting this conversation in an effort to gain a greater
understanding of the tarot, which will aid me in my creation
of my own deck.
Each week or so I'd like to suggest a card adn then let anyone
interested relate their experiences or interpretation of that
card. I've found that everyone who uses tarot, has a different
way of viewing each card.
May we begin with one of my favorites, "The Fool"?
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| 136 responses total. |
gecko
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response 1 of 136:
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Jan 3 17:51 UTC 1997 |
The deck I'm illustrating is using all sorts of creatures as symbols
for each card. For instance, I'm currently considering the use of
a grasshopper for "The Fool". (If anyone is familiar with a tarot
deck that already uses creatures instead of people - please let
me know.)
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jenna
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response 2 of 136:
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Jan 3 18:05 UTC 1997 |
well in many tarot decks some of the people are accompanied by
certain creatures, which are somehow associated with the meaning
of the card (hopefully). In the case of oe of the most basic
decks, rider-waite, I believe the fool is frolicking alongside a
very small dog (always looks like those really little ones with
sorta long fur... don't recall the bred name)
I'm making a collage tarot deck for the fun of it, so far I've
completed my High Priestess and the 9 of Pentacles... I think I choose
to start with those because I'd gotten familiar with them as they
were my "soul" card and special birthday card... based on some
calculations in a tarot workbook.
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arwyn
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response 3 of 136:
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Jan 3 19:32 UTC 1997 |
Hi Gecko! Grasshopper for the fool puts me in mind of two things.
One, the story of the Grasshopper and the Ants
and two the old Kung Fu series (that was Kung Fu...stupid telnet)
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babozita
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response 4 of 136:
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Jan 3 19:48 UTC 1997 |
Hmmmm... the Kung Fu representation is certainly appropriate, since that's
exactly what the Fool is usually interpreted as: the eternal student, but also
the one who doesn't know where he's going and pays it little heed. IT might
help, Gecko, if you suggested *why* you picked the Grasshopper.
I have about 100 tarot decks right now. There are some with creatures on them,
though all the examples that pop to mind involvthe same creature on each card
(as in the Dragon tarot) or ancillary creatures, as Jenna described.
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gecko
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response 5 of 136:
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Jan 4 05:58 UTC 1997 |
Actually, I picked the grasshopper for many reasons. The Grasshopper
and the Ants fable, the grasshopper's goofy looks, an image in
my head of a little insect on a blade of grass with the whole
world spinning around him.
I like the Kung Fu student interpretation - it works well.
IMy choice of the grasshopper isn't set in stone, in fact,
none of the creatures I'm considering are definite (except maybe
a couple). That's why I started this little chat - to glean
ideas and information from all of you wise and intuitive types -
and use that info in the deck I'm creating.
Believe it or not I've even found some help here in Salt Lake City.
They have a small pagan community, and even some tarot readers.
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jazz
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response 6 of 136:
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Jan 4 14:05 UTC 1997 |
If you want to get strict, the Rider-Waite deck that most modern decks
are derivatives of is a very Hermetic interpretation of older decks, which
some Hermetics would argue is rooted only in "high" magick, Egyptian and
Hebrew ceremonial magick. I don't know, myself. There's enough vagueness
in the whole story of the Tarot that it could have had any of a dozen origins,
and evenm the corrected BOTA, OTO, and Golden Dawn decks don't have so much
of an Egyptian or Hebrew flavour as they do European alchemy.
I'll look up the correspondencies once I get back my copy of 777.
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kami
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response 7 of 136:
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Jan 6 17:34 UTC 1997 |
I like the grasshopper image, for both the reasons mentioned. I like the
image of hopping off into the unknown, the "live for today" notion, and the
eternal student/innocent. And I'm partial to green :) One thing: the fool
transforms in the course of his journey. I see the first choice being between
priestess and emperess or magician and emperor. In the second half of the
majors, the fool may become the hanged man, leaving the choice of
transformation up to the gods. Gaining wisdom, he may become the hermit or the
heirophant, and so on. So as you contemplate the form of your fool, think of
what he can become- will those transformations flow smoothly? I love your
work. I"m looking forward to seein the results.
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arwyn
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response 8 of 136:
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Jan 6 20:46 UTC 1997 |
Or, if the fool were the mayfly and the hanged man the dragon fly
you still have the idea of innocence vs knowledge. I like the idea!
I still like the grasshopper. Perhaps each transiition through the major
arcana could be up the food chain?
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kami
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response 9 of 136:
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Jan 6 21:14 UTC 1997 |
Up the food chain? Cute! What would that make death- a shark? <eg>
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babozita
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response 10 of 136:
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Jan 6 22:46 UTC 1997 |
Have you ever seen Shark dressed in all black? He'd make a good Death. =}
*inside joke*
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gecko
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response 11 of 136:
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Jan 6 23:14 UTC 1997 |
I'm considering the mayfly - give me some time. I might be able
to make it work. . .
I just bought the Beasts of Albion by Miranda Gray. She has done
something very similiar to what I'm working on, but her empahsis
is on British animals and my creatures are from all over. In fact,
I want to have all types of critters represented (Insects, reptiles,
marine animals, and even the cute fuzzy types.) Ms. Gray's deck
isn't a tarot deck, it only has 39 cards, but it is very lovely.
Has anyone else seen it?
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kami
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response 12 of 136:
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Jan 7 05:10 UTC 1997 |
Yes-Shark makes a good death. or shattered tower- walking chaos. <g> And
the cover of the '95 Proceedings was supposed to be way-markers. Sure looked
like grave stones to me...;)
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babozita
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response 13 of 136:
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Jan 7 12:38 UTC 1997 |
Gravestones *are* a sort of way marker, no?
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hokshila
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response 14 of 136:
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Jan 7 13:29 UTC 1997 |
The owl comes to mind for death....it's razor sharp talons pierce the heart
and brain of the prey before the prey is aware of the owl. The owl flys
silently in the darkness....
Also, the catapiller, for it dies and then is reborn. Thinking about what
symbol to use for a card really makes me think about what the card represents,
that is what aspect and perspective. Good stuff, thanks.
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jenna
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response 15 of 136:
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Jan 8 02:56 UTC 1997 |
hum i womehow don't associatate catapillar's with death
as they are youths... nor owls really, as I have
the traditional-wisdom association.
I think if I were doing animls for the fool i'd pick
the salmon, or maybe for the heirophant. Afterall
they sometimes get themselves killed for traditon's
sake. Killers, m not sure..
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gecko
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response 16 of 136:
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Jan 8 21:19 UTC 1997 |
I like the shark for the tower, but I don't understand what a
way marker is?
The owl is pretty good for death considering that all birds in
general are considered psychopomps, and given the owls noturnal life,
ferocious hunting nature, and wisdom - it really seems to fit.
I -plan on using a salmon somewher in the deck, but it is far
too wise for the fool, imho.:)
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arwyn
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response 17 of 136:
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Jan 8 21:22 UTC 1997 |
Deat? I would suggest the [Dscarab beetle or perhaps the dung beetle. :-)
I meant Death not deat! heehee Or what about something that is involved in
recycling in recycling of some type? There is a certain seed that can't grow
unless passsed through a digestive system.
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arwyn
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response 18 of 136:
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Jan 8 21:27 UTC 1997 |
re: #16
I like!!! the salmon idea!
!talk gecko
errr?
talk gecko@grex.cyberspace.org
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kami
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response 19 of 136:
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Jan 9 04:55 UTC 1997 |
In Norse belief, the Owl is associated with death, and birth is considered
very close to death, so midwives would sharpen their nails (at least some
of them) to be like the beak or talons of an owl, to pluck the baby from
the realm of death.
I like the caterpillar for death, since the tarot card "death" is about
major, life altering change, of which physical death is only one form.
Hm, I could see the salmon for the Fool, as it leaps blindly out of its
element, swims upstream to where it only dimly knows, and has an association
with wisdom.
Gee, what about coyote or wolf for the magician?
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jenna
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response 20 of 136:
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Jan 9 06:07 UTC 1997 |
true... now for he 10 of swords... i'd pick a hawk if i was
going for a bird. why should eath always come in the night?
--
kami - yah, that;s my point about slamon, although their firm roots in
tradition (going to the
place they were bron) alwaso tie them to the hierophant, in some ays
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hokshila
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response 21 of 136:
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Jan 9 13:35 UTC 1997 |
Well, to my understanding of salmon, salmon is no fool. Salmon returns to a
place known only for a short time and travels hundreds sometimes thousands
of miles to get to the exact same stream in which this salmon was born. Salmon
is at the end of it's life and goes back to where the origin was, like we do,
returning to spirit. The bodies of the dead salmon feed some forty animals,
from bears to cray fish and also its young. The trees and other plants along
the shore are fertilized from the rotting bodies. The entire population of
the stream requires the death of the salmon in order to survive. The salmon
gives life back to that which gave life, and in this lesson is great wisdom
for us in the western world, where we just take from the earth.
The coyote for the fool is great. The coyote will make a fool of all
of us from time to time and teach us to laugh at ourself. I trying to track
the coyote, the coyote will end up tracking you and run you in a circle until
you are so tired of it. Then at night when you are resting from the folly,
you will here the coyote laughing at you, and maybe, if the wisdom is there,
with you.
Death coming at night is symbolic of our entering the darkness then
moving into the light, that's all. "Death comes like a theif in the night."
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bjorn
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response 22 of 136:
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Jan 9 18:09 UTC 1997 |
Re #19: Having silently skimed this item through each Grex session until now,
I am interested on your source material for that claim - as, if I am going
to learn anything new about my religion, I would like sources cited. I
already knew of mistletoe being a symbol of death to Volsungs such as myself,
but I am very interested in the Owl thing. Perhaps this question is better
suited to answer via e-mail. Of course, I'm sure someone will get the idea
to use mistletoe on their Death card now . . .
<}&~)>========================
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jenna
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response 23 of 136:
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Jan 9 23:59 UTC 1997 |
Usually the fool is not the card of the person who makes a fgool of everybody
else...
but he person who is being made a fool of (everybody in life) the joke's
n the fool card, i think... your average copyote is sturdy,
adaptable, creative, and not a pikcy eater. How does that make them foolish?
*shrug* unless you want to define things non-standarly as well, in which case
there's no oint discussing it with other people because they can't read your
mind.
--
salmon arestupid. do you know how many of them die in the southwest because
their driving need
to go back to their stream of origin gets them stuck in turbines and behind
dams,
or baked in hot california aqeducts?
Of course, the people are the jerks, but the salmon are kinda dumb about it
too.
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blondval
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response 24 of 136:
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Jan 10 01:28 UTC 1997 |
Jenna, insome native American traditions coyote is the trickster Deity. I
don't know about the Salmon but there may be something traditionally
associated with them because they were a Major diet item in the societies of
the Pacific Northwest.
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