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Points of Tarot Study

To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick,alt.tarot,alt.divination,alt.pagan.magick,alt.occult.methods
From: nagasiva 
Subject: Points of Tarot Study
Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2003 08:13:15 GMT

50030604 VII

more tarot philosophy

some good advice on how to become familiar with tarot:
> For the minor arcana: Know what the numbers mean. 

1 -> 10? 
does "Ace" mean it's different than "1"? 
why isn't the 2 called a "Deuce"?
does the use of 'Ace' mean Tarot used to be a dice game?
there's a keen Napoleon Dice Divination Table around.
it brings back domino-memories.

> Know what the suits mean.

as if there's a single interpretation! so does it matter if
there are not only differing suits but differing interpretations
of the suits? should we adhere to popular tradition for some
rationally-supportable reason? after all, are Clubs *really*
fire? why would living staves want to be seen as aflame? is it
all some kind of religious Burning Bush analogy gone bonkers?
I think that the Staves/Clubs make more sense as WOOD.

> For the court cards: Learn how they represent masculine and 
> feminine attributes. 

or ambiguous ones (e.g. Knave/Ps).


> The Fool: Why his he a fool? What is foolishness? 

yeah, does he need an Excuse? ;> if so, for what?

> The Magician: Is he a stage magician, a real magician, 
> or maybe a little bit of both? 

and do numbers matter to the major arcana? 
does it matter if the Magician is A, B, 1, or I, or II?

> The High Priestess: What is her religion? How does it 
> differ from the religion of the Hierophant? 

or the querent!! if she's antagonistic to the querent
(in my deck she's a Witch!), then she might no be so
friendly in a reading. ;>

> etc. Whether or not you choose to use elemental dignities, 
> learn the elements of the cards anyway. 

where do the elements intersect the cards exactly?

   there's 3 STATUS-sections to concern ourselves with:

	1) Mega-Cards (trumpsuit!?)

		some include elements in their attributions,
		including 3-element systems related to the Sefir Yetzirah 
		or 4-element systems related to Aristotlean classics+
		but I like 5-element system along Chinese standards
	
	2) People-Cards (courtsuit??!)

		often combined in a 4x4 (=16) matrix for attribution,
		but 5x5 is also quite satisfying

	3) Weenie-Cards (numbers?!)

		by suit? by number? most seem to focus on
		a Planet+Sign/Suit combination without
		all possibilities covered (inelegant!)
		though Oswald Wirth surpasses this.

> How do the cards interact with each other? 

now you're talking! like that some decks have the Fool and the
Hermit with the same staff! or that one or more of the figures
in the Mega-Cards may appear in the others, or even in the
Small or Courts!!


soon we begin to speak of an interface, a moderating and/or
mediating agent helping us to perceive the information we
have set out to obtain (about the future or the Mysteries).
 

	so now a card can have

		an Upright meaning
and		an Inverse meaning

		a Status (Trump/Court/Number) with which is given

		 number
			a Suit (ordinary) + Elemental attribute 
			a Numerical attribute
	  		a Planetary + Sign attribute

		 court
	  		an Elemental Crossing
			a Personal and/or Zodiacal attribute

		trump
		 and/or a Letter/Roman Number attribute + Tree of Life Path
but how much can a little deck hold?!! 
doesn't the Little White Book cover it?! wah!!!!
		
nagasiva the intrepid

EOF

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