Tarot Card Info: Book 6

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Tarot Card Info: Book 6

Special Meanings for Numbers

Ace

These are the aces, the raw or initial passion, feelings, thoughts and needs that can be directed into something more. They represent hope, a possibility, an action to take. The Querent can use them, or leave them behind. Choose wisely what you take up from the Magician's table for each has its pitfalls as well as pinnacles.

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Two

The twos are related to the High Priestess. As such they indicate duality but, more importantly, they indicate instinctual knowledge. Aces are undirected energy; the twos are, in a sense, the knowledge of what the direction for that energy should take.

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Three

So at first we had one, indivisible; then it splits into two, mirror images, opposites: two opposing passions, twin emotions, two ideas, two jobs or finances. The next move, of course, is for the two to create a third. Male and female create a child; two corners get a third to form a triangle.

Ruling over the threes is the Empress, of course, whose card is all about creation. The child in the womb, the seed in the ground. So, with the twos, a choice has been made about what use to put this passion, emotion, brainpower, craft. Now we get the first results of that decision, the initial offspring.

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Four

Fours are ruled by the Emperor. Like both the Emperor and his throne they signify a kind of stability, a holding pattern if you will. For a moment, everything is still, solid, rooted, established. This can be positive, a solid foundation, or negative, something that refuses to budge or change.

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Five

When trying to read the Fives, think of the Hierophant. The Hierophant represents a teacher, counselor, or priest, someone who advises people when they're in trouble. Likewise, the Fives are unique cards in that each one seems to pose both a problem and an answer. After four fairly smooth cards of growth and development, the fives represent the fly in the ointment. Instability; the changes that make one humble and allow for growth.

Of the question asked of the Hierophant by a troubled supplicant, the problem is real world. The answer, however, appropriate to the Hierophant, is usually spiritual or at least pragmatic. Understand that all Fives temper the Querent - you go through the fire, the low points, the hard times, in order to come out stronger.

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Six

Sixes are balance and harmony, especially after the upsets of the fives. These cards predict a solution, and not just any solution; there will be an exchange, a give and take that results in a new equilibrium. It may not last, but for that moment, everything is stable. With this card, there is an almost "Ah-HA!" of recognition, of understanding in the solution, and more than a little awe at the symmetry achieved by it.

If you connect the sixes to the Lovers card you'll see how it works. The "love" aspect of the Lovers card is that of recognition and equilibrium. Like Gemini, you recognize your twin, your soul mate. Maybe you didn't even know how uneven, how lopsided your life was, but now that you've met this person, you can feel the scales coming into balance. Here is harmony. Here is the solution.

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Seven

As the fives indicated a particular problem, so do the sevens. The fives were about loss, losing momentum, losing love, losing an argument, losing money. The question there was, "How do I deal with this loss?" The sevens are about finding yourself in a situation where you are not in control. Sevens relate to the Chariot, a card about finding and maintaining complete control and mastery over wild or opposing forces.

If the charioteer lets his horses run where they will, as they will, the chariot will crash. He not only has to have them completely in hand, but to win in a race or war, he must also control direction and speed. So, too, in life. You need to know not only how to take control but also how to direct the forces once you have them in hand. Sevens, like fives, are about overcoming fears and finding a way to succeed in a tough situation. They answer the question, "How do I take control?"

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Eight

Going with the Rider-Waite deck, we'll relate the Eights to Strength. Eights are about moving, taking action, as Strength is a card of courage and transformation. It's very easy to let things stay as they are inside yourself or without (though, as the Eights warn, it's easy but damaging). It is much harder to gather up the willpower and mental strength to make a real change. A scary change. Like the Strength card, it is scary to approach that lion, but you can alter the relationship you have with it.

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Nine

Nine is a card of completion (so is Ten, but we'll get to that). Like the Hermit, who connects to the nines, it is a card where something is finished and the person in turn steps back to look on what he's done, earned, or gained. Nines are among the most powerful cards, usually granting the Querent what it is they, like the Hermit, are seeking.

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Ten

As the aces were the pure, elemental spark of the suit, the tens are the element of the suit complete. Not as in the nines, which are physical completion, but in a transcendent fashion. It is the ultimate good or bad of that element.

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Page

The first court card are the Pages/Princesses. It is always best to imagine them as young, and with a letter or scroll in hand or on their person. The element of the pages is "Earth" indicating something young, growing, a seed planted. So the Page of Wands would be "Earth of Fire" - the seed of fire, so to speak. The spark. Pages most often stand for children, though they can also be said to the "Fool's" alter ego. So, an adult who is child-like enough might also be a page. The Querent, if starting something very new and fresh might also be said to be "The Page" - in this case, a kind of apprentice. Deck-wise, if a Page, they can be male or female. If a Princess, likely a female young person; the prince will be the male young person.

When no children seem to be involved (the person you're reading for is childless, has no friends with kids, etc.), then the Pages can indicate that the Querent is about to receive a message. The purpose of a page, after all, is to deliver messages.

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Knight

Knights or princes are the spirit of the teenager, all about changes. Knights are never still; as the pages/princesses suggest messages, the knights/princes suggest movement, travel.

Elementally, they are Air moving and flowing like that element. As a person, they're likely to stand for a young adult or someone who acts very like a teen. Their beliefs are purer than of adult, less cynical and more fierce. In this they are most knight like: powerfully, almost unquestioning loyal to a kingdom or cause.

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Queen

The element of Queens is water and, not surprisingly, they are a reflection of the Empress. In this they signify the creative force. One way to think of the court cards is this: The Kings are the motivating force (Fire = the sun waking up the sleeping Earth). The queens are the ones who make it real (water = rain bringing forth life from the earth). The Knights spread the idea of the Kingdom (wind = spreading the seeds). And the Pages, of course, are the fertile soil in which all of this can grow.

When Queens appear they signal a time of growth and development, a time when the Querent is making things real.

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King

Kings. Although they come last, they really should come first, as Kings are where the Court Cards start. They are the fire - their element - the passion, the driving force. This is why Crowley has them as Knights instead, riding on horseback (rather than sitting passively on a throne), filled with energy, moving, leading. Kings are related to the Emperor and like him they are planners, motivators, commanders, creators, the one who rallies everyone together to form the kingdom. (Think Henry V.) The Queen is the one who will make it real, and the Knight/Prince will take it beyond the castle walls. But without the King, it won't happen at all.

Thus, Kings in a spread can indicate motivation, a beginning or start of something.