We are all wanderers on this earth. Our hearts are full of wonder, and our souls are deep with dreams.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Stumped?

11 comments
We all have them.  There's at least one card in the tarot deck that, when you look at it, inspires little in the way of interpretation.  Of course we know what it means, or rather, what it's supposed to mean, but we can't seem to draw any more out of it than that.  It's not an aversion, per se, because the card isn't provoking any negative feelings or responses in you, but it's just sitting there, not saying much, being, well, just a tarot card in a spread. I'm talking about one specific card that does this routinely, not just a random blank moment in a reading. 

What's your tarot dullard? Maybe we can take a fresh look at it.

11 comments :

  1. I have two: 2 and 3 of Wands!

    Never never never really gets them.

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  2. The Emperor. He's been coming up a lot recently and I just don't get him. Never have.

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  3. Temperance

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  4. It's Secret Tarot's 4 of Pentacles. I just don't get that card, and I cringe when I see it.

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  5. I've got two. Major Arcana. Back-to-back. The Star and The Moon. Know them. Understand them. And often move very quickly to the next card when they show up in a reading.

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  6. Hanged Man. For me and for many people, tehy tell me.Drives me crazy each time I get him in a reading.

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  7. Anonymous3:53 PM

    I, too, have a problem making sense of The Hanged Man. There are so many commonly accepted interpretations of this card that I never which is the "right" one for the situation. Nor do I know what it means when it's reversed.

    All other cards are easy to interpret, at least for me. I have no doubt that if I ever figure this card out, it will stop coming up. : )

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  8. Robbin3:55 PM

    For me it's been the court cards as well. I have the damnest time interpreting them.

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  9. Now, I KNOW you guys have looked up my card interps for these stumpers in my archives, right? ;)

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  10. Cat -- http://78notes.blogspot.com/2006/07/mapquest-doesnt-help.html

    It's my post long ago on Temperance. I really can't think to add much to it. If it doesn't help, well....

    Carol, I did the Emperor recently. ROFL, not THAT way. He's a pain in the ass. He usually represents "The Way Things Are or Must Be." I hate that. You really can't fight him because he's got that whole army at his disposal and all, so unless you're Spartacus with a rag tag band of gladiators at your beck and call, the Emperor will have his way. He has to. He's da Boss. His number is solid 4, stable and unchanging. BUT! He can be swayed diplomatically if you can show how everyone, including him, will benefit. Now, in a reading, he may be advising you to be that immovable force, to insist on your way or the highway or he could be the force you must reckon with. It all depends on where he shows up. http://78notes.blogspot.com/2009/07/macho-man-emperor.html

    Peter -- Here is The Moon: http://78notes.blogspot.com/2007/01/paper-moon.html
    and here is The Star: http://78notes.blogspot.com/2008/02/wish-i-may-wish-i-might.html

    As for the Hanged Man, yeah, he's a tough one for a lot of people. It helped me to look into the historical significance of his pose. Found it in the Italian "shame portraits." http://78notes.blogspot.com/2009/01/for-shame-hanged-man.html

    As for Court Cards, OMG, have you not read my The Tarot Court series? It's available in podcast format. A number of years back there was that viral WWJD phenomenon among mostly Christians, but also some secular folks. It stands for What Would Jesus Do? It was supposed to be a reminder, anytime one was faced with a challenging situation, to stop a moment and ask oneself what Jesus would do in any given situation and do likewise. With the Courts, I have a similar way of interpreting them. Once I familiarized myself with their "personalities" and characteristics, I will ask myself in a reading, "What would the [insert court card here] say/do?" So if they aren't actual people showing up in the reading, you can, in this way, pretty much decipher what they are trying to say.

    Now the 2 and 3 of wands have more to do with the suit and the number than the card images. Two's are about choices and decisions, dichotomies, either/or...there's tension in those two's. Three's are about a decision made, an action taken, a truth revealed that sets that tension at peace for a while. It's an achievement, but not a huge one.

    I had to go look at the The Secrets Tarot's 4 of Pents, and yeah, he's a sourpuss like the other RWS 4 of Pents guys. He looks like he's keeping tabs on his things, itemizing an inventory, making a list, checking it twice, quite the obsessive...and quite alone, too. He's the miser, the one who would rather stuff a million dollars in the mattress than pay it forward or invest it. 4's are rather stuck. Think material constipation. Mine and no you can't have any.

    The 8 of Wands...all things work together for good. Rushing together in harmony towards a common goal. Lots of messages crossing the airwaves -- internet/phone communication. A message hitting it's mark. Mostly it tends to indicate some combination of events all coming together and happening quickly. The image is weird, though. Flying wands in formation. I like the DruidCraft image of a guy trying to throw a wand like a javelin across a chasm.

    I've got more thoughts, they just don't fit in this comment box.

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  11. This happens with other divination systems, too ... My primary wisdom tradition is the I Ching, and even though I've been working with this oracle for nearly 30 years, there are a couple of hexagrams (principles) that continue to stump me ... and which don't often emerge in a reading.

    Likewise, there are those cards / hexagrams / runes (etc.) which seem to turn up all over the place ...

    Never a dull moment, where divination is concerned! :-)

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