TAROT Meditations: FOOL ♅ ♒♏

[shinobishaw1982]

Hermit

This card has been said to be that of attainment, but of what? This Hermit is certainly not seeking something nor is he on a path or journey because he has already achieved.

This is the card of Enlightenment, here the Hermit has attain full communion with his inner light and has attained a level of knowledge not even accesible to gods, it may also be about certain mysteries of Silence, he in fact can be said to be protected by Silence.

Here he throws his inner light below to enlighten others and guide them, so he can be said to be a master guru, though silence will always protect his mysteries from the eyes of the profane.

But this card is also about Prudence and even roguery/mischief which in this case means that one must always follow one's inner light and use discernment and discretion in following the ligths of others.

Because this card certainly teaches that just because a being is made of light, does not mean it has your best interests at heart.......

However regardless of that, The Hermit's state is a high achievement indeed, though the wanderer will always remain alone in this, his vagrant state.

[shinobishaw1982]

Wheel of Fortune

It's important to note that the Cyclic Law that is presented here is in the sphere of Living Things (hence why the card has many Living Creatures), the idea of Cyclic Law working upon Universal Nature is found in another card coming up (21).

The Wheel of Life and Chance might in some ways be a better name for this card as it relates to things connected with supreme laws and still yet higher wills of the Universe, it relates to forces connected with Karma, Cause and Effect, and Fate, which *everything* in this universe must be subjected to (even the Geniuses of Nature).

It even can be connected to ideas of being 'lucky' or of fatalism and self-fulfilling prophecies.

This is CYCLIC LAW, Time in the manifest plane is Cyclical and has to go through an inevitable cycle of Birth-Life-Death and Rebirth in the same manner that in daily existence we wake up, have some activity, and then wane down until sleep time and then we repeat the cycle again and again AND again ad infinitum!

Unless one takes initiative to force your way through, you will simply subject yourself to be within this loop of Fate and repeat the cycle over and over (It might surely be connected to Eternal Recurrence and perhaps what we need is a little Amor Fati).

Cyclic Law is not on your side....or is it?

The Sphinx might hold the key to liberty......

[shinobishaw1982]

Justice

One of the most complex Trumps of the Major Arcana and for whatever reason it's also one of the most misunderstood, the irony is that the same can be said for the office that Justice upholds.

This card has nothing to do with punishing Karma ('just desserts') and it has nothing to do with the law of Justice (so it has nothing to do with fairness and even vengeance).

This card can be said to be the high house of he who is the light bringer to all of mankind.

The light behind the veil of Lady Justice is the glory of Universal Intelligence who through a mysterious proccess and order elects certain type of people who are given high intellect and gifts of discernment.

This card can surely present a very harsh cruel truth, that there will always be people who are better then you. Some people are born and will always be poor even in spirit and then there are certain people who have it ALL, a rich inner life and rich outer life.

As such those who are born with with low intelligence will probably end up at a dead end (and that is their justice for their experience however harsh is a result of their own choices and free will however poorly made).

The card is really about those people who through a mysterious proccess and order have high levels of Judiciousness and Intellect, they dedicate their ambition to high ideals and keep the world in a state of balance through COUNTER balance (that's why crowley called it ADJUSTMENT....adjusting the balance of the world through counterbalance). As a result this card is connected to 'military intelligence, offices of the crown etc.'

The reason why this card is connected to the High Priestess is because THE ELECT (i.e. the chosen ones) through counterbalance extract the hidden knowledge of the High Priestess and bring it out to the surface for the purpose of bringing balance and make people strive to make better choices.

Even moreso the Universal Intelligence behind the veil is completely silent in worldy matters (because everything is in accordance with Universal Order), so it very much has to do with Dharma in every sense of the word.

So on the surface Justice may appear cruel and punishing but every strike from her sword will eventually bring understanding and wisdom to the world and workout all the issues within the subconscious (which is connected to the High Priestess).

[shinobishaw1982]

The Hanged Man

Meet the true initiate but yet still in his physical mortal shell! Yet his consciousness may be somewhere else.... This card has been falsely connected with trials, sacrifice, duty and suffering. They are false indeed because they are shallow attributes of the real meaning of the card. This man is not suffering, he is not unwillingly hitched to the tree, nor is he a martyr. This card is also not about socially ostracized people (that meaning belongs to another card that is coming up).

This man is entranced, completely focused, and so submitted to that which is above that he has surpassed the lower ego and has reached a reduced ego state (but willingly) and we can say he is a soldier of his own inner essence and like a pendulum he shifts to the direction which the Spirit guides and as a result he is fully connected with the Lady of the Pillars of Justice and the Lady of the temple of B and J.

He has complete discipline and has put his knowledge into practice, which has led him to a state of suspension, surrender, and total submission. He has dived into the waters of the unconscious and has arrived at a mystical death to which will lead him to GOLD.

The position that he is in is profound and can only be truly known by those who have experienced conscious dive onto waters......

[aratron]

Originally Posted by shinobishaw1982

The Hanged Man

Meet the true initiate but yet still in his physical mortal shell! Yet his consciousness may be somewhere else.... This card has been falsely connected with trials, sacrifice, duty and suffering. They are false indeed because they are shallow attributes of the real meaning of the card. This man is not suffering, he is not unwillingly hitched to the tree, nor is he a martyr. This card is also not about socially ostracized people (that meaning belongs to another card that is coming up).

This man is entranced, completely focused, and so submitted to that which is above that he has surpassed the lower ego and has reached a reduced ego state (but willingly) and we can say he is a soldier of his own inner essence and like a pendulum he shifts to the direction which the Spirit guides and as a result he is fully connected with the Lady of the Pillars of Justice and the Lady of the temple of B and J.

He has complete discipline and has put his knowledge into practice, which has led him to a state of suspension, surrender, and total submission. He has dived into the waters of the unconscious and has arrived at a mystical death to which will lead him to GOLD.

The position that he is in is profound and can only be truly known by those who have experienced conscious dive onto waters......

nice thread.

the hanging man can also be a difficult place to be in.

sometimes the change can be very painful.

like being hanged.

[jconnar]

Am enjoying the postings.

[codie]

Originally Posted by decode reality

I like the Hanged Man image...simply put, the idea that you have to turn things 180 degrees to see the reality.

Yeah I agree

[shinobishaw1982]

Death

Usually the most feared card of them all, but this card must not be feared but respected for what it is.... for Death is another aspect of Life and the opposite of Death is actually Birth.

This card in readings usually is connected to endings and changes but this card in its esoteric aspect *really* is about Death or should I say perhaps THE END of a 'vehicle' on any plane (so it's also connected to the SECOND DEATH). The Wheel of Life (Fortune) is constantly in motion and so there must be change and transformation to get things moving...so this card is also connected to Time and fixed place of formation.

This is the card of Dissolution and of everything that decays and dies in this world to then be transformed and re-created in the otherworld.

Everything (as I mentioned in The Wheel of Fortune) is subjected to Cycles and so here lies the transformative principle that destroys and creates (though this card is more connected to the destroying ending aspect then the transfomative one).

The background shows the ascend to the Great Heights of the World.

[shinobishaw1982]

Temperance

A card that is often overlooked (probably because it does not have the allure of the other Trumps). In reality its message might be one of the most important! For this card holds the meaning to the secret of Eternal Life!

This card is not about abstinence or even moderation, it's exactly the opposite of the former and is directly related to excess and utter intoxication of things that are Divine!

The 'angel' is androgynous and 'he' has one foot upon waters (subconscious) and one upon land (physical), 'he' is in fact mixing and combining the two natures (inner and outer) and is creating the Elixir of Life or the Philosopher's Stone. So this card has much to do with Alchemy, Synthesis, and the law of Harmony and this in essence will open the path to the Sun of immortality!

There is a reason Crowley called it ART, because the main essence of Alchemy and diluting the dross from the gold is in fact an ART form (though this card is NOT about the Black Arts, that belongs to another card coming up).

In a lower sense the card may also be connected to management and accommodating opposite forces and blending them into a harmonious mixture.

Are *you* cooking something up in the laboratory?

[shinobishaw1982]

Devil

This card as its very essence has presented, has been widely misunderstood over the ages.

This card is not about some age-old story about an evil boogeyman that dares tempt mankind into sin nor is the creature himself evil (though the human figures surely might).

This card is the SHADOW personified, it's definitely related to people in this world who subccumb to the trappings of the material life, the Bourgeois Life. So it's connected to twisted perceptions of oneself and others, addictions and extreme negative attitudes of any kind, projections of neglected parts of oneself onto others who might embody them, prejudices, hatred and finiteness etc.

But this card is also about the scapegoat, people tend to think a person might be 'evil' simply because the person is unusual or has a bizarre nature which is then misunderstood as 'evil' and therefore demonized and persecuted. They don't realize that these are beings who have yet not expressed light as others and should be left alone to their own undoing.

In its most esoteric sense though the card represents The Dweller on the Threshold which is the utter despair, desolation, and even cruelty that comes to those who mire themselves with matter (The Empress gone haywire and the opposite of the High Priestess), it's the utter emptiness and void that is found in the hollow hearts of those chained to the material life.

But the card is also about the Disclosure of the misuse and abuse of forbidden knowledge and how it might be viewed by the world at large if revealed, and what they see brings them utter disgust, shocking ugliness, and utter repulsion! They rather wish it would have never been revealed at all if it were ever divulged.....

So the card also has to do with the misuse and abuse of Occult powers, so it's connected to the black arts and related to the Left Hand path. But the malice, despair, and cruelty contained in this card is nowhere near as bad as the falling towers soon to come.....

[princessofwands]

Death

In its most esoteric sense though the card represents The Dweller on the Threshold which is the utter despair, desolation, and even cruelty that comes to those who mire themselves with matter (The Empress gone haywire and the opposite of the High Priestess), it's the utter emptiness and void that is found in the hollow hearts of those chained to the material life.

You could say this is the card that shows us the ways in which we're still chained into the Matrix.

The Dweller is the sum total of all the matrix entities that dwell in our aura (thought-forms, emotion-forms) that are using us as their host and are often the reason for our addictions and obsessions.

When we become conscious of our mental and emotional habits, we can see how we are being "operated" by something that is not our true Being. We can cast off those chains.

A fascinating read is this book - "Operators and Things". It's supposedly the tale of a woman with schizophrenia, but quite possibly a true story of our symbiotic relationship with astral entities. They are the Operators, we are simply the Things that they operate.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/down...izophrenic.pdf

[shinobishaw1982]

The Dweller is the sum total of all the matrix entities that dwell in our aura (thought-forms, emotion-forms) that are using us as their host and are often the reason for our addictions and obsessions.

Ohhh, I love this description, because that is exactly what the dweller on the threshold is about.

Once you start getting out of the matrix the thought forms start to dissolve and be released per say, these thought forms were created by the person's own doing and have possibly been with the person for several lifetimes.

The more mired one is in the material world the 'bigger' the dweller becomes which indeed manifests as prejudices,addictions, despondency and even cruelty.

Once one starts to let go of the material trappings and starts uncovering one's inner nature it would appear as if 'the dweller' becomes more 'hostile' as if challenging you before it dissipates.

The more profound truths one discovers the bigger the release of inner demons or thought-forms.

[empathyx]

Originally Posted by shinobishaw1982

Fool

The card numbered 0 belongs nowhere and everywhere in the sequence of the Trumps, but its most fitting place would be before The Magician. However I (like many others) find that it's better to talk about it at the end as it may just throw the listener for a loop and the listener might understand the meaning more towards the end.

This card in many ways reveals (like the Star) far more truth in its rich symbolism then many others and it can be said to be in its lower sense the Spirit now looking for experience in the manifest planes and yet not knowing that its an emanation or RAY of the ALL-ONENESS of BEING. It may also be about Wisdom, but how can a Fool be a wise person? That is because the wisdom of Divinity is truly foolishness to mankind, however it's most certainly not true that the folly of this world is anywhere near Wisdom. It can be someone who drops everything in life to roam and wander in the jungles of Thailand simplifying and enjoying the exquisite NOW.

The Fool strips itself down to the basics in simplicity, in innocence, in wholesomeness, for he does not follow mental constructs but only his inner gut instincts!

In its truly most esoteric sense however this card is about that ever-glorious Morning Star, the PRINCE of the Air, the magnificent unconditioned existence at the great heights of the world! The GREAT SPIRIT Flowing in the bare naked AIR of Universal Being-Consciousness where only the Bright reflection in its complete TRUTH and the ineffable reside. The UNIVERSAL BE-NESS existence is Universal Consciousness and what to us appears as a complete oblivion or nonexistence... UNconsciousness, but it's truly the ultimate reality in its naked Splendor!

As a result it's truly the card of the absurd, the incomprehensible, the unintelligible and at these Great Heights one can only laugh at the absurdity of mundane tribal-race-ethnic petty issues, of hatred and finiteness, of the dramas of life, of social preferment and taste in dress, of the endless desire for riches and wealth.

This Fool only cares for one thing only, to experience existence!

Every Tarot card has a great deal of information attached to including Kabbalah,Astrology and Numerology Links.

I like very much what you have written about the Fool, who is also known as 'no name/no number' but there are other things on the Fool card apart from these descriptions so excellently written by yourself.

The Fool card can give a North West Direction, it can represent cliffs, rocks, open landscape, campus's, festivals. It is also linked to Music, drugs and being 'free' even be described as 'HIPPY' card. The Fool is also someone who takes with them all their possessions to go on a journey, therefore the Fool could be leaving town or leaving home. The Fool is someone who is very much 'careless' in attitude, being very open to new ideas and having a free attitude, go where the wind blows type of character.


The Fool is someone who would believe most things that are told to him, even though deep down he is questioning things as the little dog is nipping at him warning him that one must not always be so naive. The Fool is a fresh new adventure or experience that a person can undertake, its the new and the unchallenged, untried and therefore it represents the big journey ahead or having no particular hard fast plans.

The Fool reversed can be a very difficult situation as one can encounter obstacles in all of the above said. It can be someone who is being wild and reckless without a care or thought for another person. Someone who abandons themselves to drugs and wild living. It can be someone whose feet are sore and who has to sit down to rest. When the Fool is reversed, the journey is being presented with pot holes and problems.

Every Tarot card is an amazing experience with so much information it is quite incredible to realise just how much they can offer. The Fool has very little wisdom in his life or know how, but when he reaches the Magician he starts to learn the tools of the trade, the gift of the gab, the way to get what you want in plain sight.

The Fool is an earnest chap but also someone who can become the victim of those far more experienced in life for example if he met the Magician and did not learn from him.
The Fool is not really a Fool at all, he is just starting out and needs experience to understand what life is all about. He is often known as a TOURIST too just as one would look around a new town not know it very well but start to experience it and form an opinion and be more informed once he becomes the next card - the Magician.

There are absolutely so many sides to the Fool and these are just a few more that I have given.
I have had 20 plus years experience in Tarot and every day there is something new to learn. EVERYDAY and that is why it is so incredible as a friend, a helper and a kindness to those who need advice.

Thank you for letting me comment on this wonderful subject.

[empathyx]

Originally Posted by princessofwands

Death

In its most esoteric sense though the card represents The Dweller on the Threshold which is the utter despair, desolation, and even cruelty that comes to those who mire themselves with matter (The Empress gone haywire and the opposite of the High Priestess), it's the utter emptiness and void that is found in the hollow hearts of those chained to the material life.

You could say this is the card that shows us the ways in which we're still chained into the Matrix.

The Dweller is the sum total of all the matrix entities that dwell in our aura (thought-forms, emotion-forms) that are using us as their host and are often the reason for our addictions and obsessions.

When we become conscious of our mental and emotional habits, we can see how we are being "operated" by something that is not our true Being. We can cast off those chains.

A fascinating read is this book - "Operators and Things". It's supposedly the tale of a woman with schizophrenia, but quite possibly a true story of our symbiotic relationship with astral entities. They are the Operators, we are simply the Things that they operate.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/down...izophrenic.pdf

If I may comment on this card in a slightly lighter format the Death card is very rarely linked to actual death but more to transformation of the person. It represents a skelatal form which shows that the person strips off everything of the flesh to get to the bones of themselves in order to change. Therefore this card can represent people who are reforming their personality. It also has other attributes in that it can represent Metal. The horse in the death card has a rider wearing Armour and this can be an armed vehicle. It can be one who is protecting themselves and arming themselves against disease or life threatening circumstances.

It therefore can be a card describing 'flat lining' also but with recovery. The person can have a life changing experience, an accident or mental blow that brings them to think about their life and how much it might mean to them. It is a guard against losing ones life or being brought to face the fact in order to change their ways before it is too late. The Death card walks through carnage towards the light/sun therefore the person would or may have had harrowing circumstances so bad that the saying 'it can only get better' might come into play.

The Death card carries the black flag, therefore he has been in deep battle with himself or with some other situation that he is now coming out and surrendering all those things to go into a clearer prospective.

The Death card has the bishop and the child, and this can be the near death experience when you see your life flashing before you , your childhood and the priest being a benediction. This card which can represent Metal, can also show us car parks, rubbish tips, anywhere with debris, scrap yards etc, it can also show us life being in the balance between that light and dark and on health matters can be very useful to discern health depending on a companion card.

The Death card has the mythic river - the styx upon it and can represent the alcohol via the liquid on the card or indeed it can show that a person can be near water or any of the descriptions /places as above. Death can mean death depending on its companion cards but it must not be construed as a death card as a finality. Often with this card you can dodge the bullet and have a lucky escape.

It is a fascinating card and can be used for dates/timings etc through the number on the card itself. Death can bring light whether spiritually if one exits life or can bring about a whole new way of thinking. Once you have been there you know how to live your life type of card.

Thank you for letting me comment on this card.

[empathyx]

Originally Posted by shinobishaw1982

Magician

One word rules this card, 'Visionariness.'

This card has nothing to do with a condition of life nor is it a state, it does however have to do with the aspiration and mastery of the Adept Philosopher, which is any individual who has mastered LIFE. So it can also be said to be the individual visions of what today is only been attained by the few and in the long-distant future to the rest of humanity at large. In many ways it can be said to be Hermes Trismesgistus in his glory, so this card is not about the plethora of Neophytes (which will be represented in an upcoming card) that think in their physical triumphs that somehow they are part of the minority of the great Adepts and initiates of the highest degrees.

So here, meet the True Occultist! Who is adept in living in all ranges of his human constitution that is from the higher ONE-ALL of universal being to the physical shell. He has in many ways attain full-fledge self-consciousness and knowledge and we may even say he might be immortal (relatively speaking as nothing is truly immortal in Life) and as a result he is the living embodiment of the Uroboric dragon...one of the glorious Nagas.

The Magician is the Higher Self who is the source of all righteousness and goodness wanting to exert his will onto the lower self/ego (us) to control and guide us toward liberation of karma and finite physical mortal existence! As a result he is also the unity on all planes of his constitution, the egoic self-conscious mind with the potential to attain full knowledge of his inner self, which is that same self of everything else.

He is a representation of humanity, of what it could be at its most advance stage and as such we can say he represents the 'resurrected' Christos but he really might be another aspect of the LIGHT-BRINGER......

The Magician is a wonderful con artist. There are no real magicians they just learn tricks but some are far better then others therefore, this card is one of complete ability to deceive another. This is your handyman with all his tools, he can fix anything, even if it was not fixed, it will be for a while because he is very convincing with his bag of tools.

This card is all about WILL and making things happen, its determined, strong and direct the willpower fuels it in every way. It is also a card of going in the right direction, it decrees that. The Magician is the snake oil salesman, he wears a belt of the snake that should say something about his oily tongue and actions. He can make everything disappear but we know it is,nt a disappearance, what we know is that it just 'looks like that' - so he is the deceiver and in some cases an out and out liar but oh so convincing on every conceivable front.

This Magician is someone who thinks about themselves first. They are also highly organised, they know exactly what they are doing so they are ahead of everybody with tricks up their sleeves, or a contingency plan. A Magician is adept at that. They like to be the number one in anything and they work very hard to perfect everything they do as it would not be a good thing for them to be found lacking. They are always prepared - always.

They also are found next to cliffs, water and high places, they like to be above everyone just as a Magician would be on a stage, the Audience is always below. So in terms of places one would think of those kind of terrains.

They often have roses at their feet, they have such a slick tongue but not everything is roses with this card as we have to remember those roses are at his feet , they are not cut and in a vase they are there to tread amongst. Therefore however appealing the Magician might be, it is always wise to remember that they are capable of forked tongues and very wily means of getting their own way.
They are the slick old salesmen - they have to gain at your expense and they can do that because they can hold your attention long enough to wipe you out. That means they could make great burglars, pickpockets or could warn you that a situation may not be what it first appears.

The Magician is the seed, they will put an idea there in the mind and then manipulate it to watch it grow. Very clever in every way. They always point to the heaven and to the Earth as above, so below - and that could not be truer as they appear to invoke magic but in fact their tricks are just the tricks of man and nothing spiritually involved. Its just that it looks like they just magicked something out of thin air.

The Magician has learnt the tricks of the trade, no more the simple fellow, he will be the first to earn a few quid on the back of nothing but thats because he knows what its like to come from nothing. The Magician can be connected North and South and be capable of many things but can he be trusted?

When this card is reversed he can get found out as everything is turned upside down including the table with all his hidden compartments and his top hat which reversed will reveal the rabbit. Last of all if a Magician decides to do something - they WILL succeed because basically they can do anything.

A brilliant card with so many more descriptions and information to long to go into, but he is a fascinating card.

[empathyx]

Originally Posted by shinobishaw1982

Temperance

A card that is often overlooked (probably because it does not have the allure of the other Trumps). In reality its message might be one of the most important! For this card holds the meaning to the secret of Eternal Life!

This card is not about abstinence or even moderation, it's exactly the opposite of the former and is directly related to excess and utter intoxication of things that are Divine!

The 'angel' is androgynous and 'he' has one foot upon waters (subconscious) and one upon land (physical), 'he' is in fact mixing and combining the two natures (inner and outer) and is creating the Elixir of Life or the Philosopher's Stone. So this card has much to do with Alchemy, Synthesis, and the law of Harmony and this in essence will open the path to the Sun of immortality!

There is a reason Crowley called it ART, because the main essence of Alchemy and diluting the dross from the gold is in fact an ART form (though this card is NOT about the Black Arts, that belongs to another card coming up).

In a lower sense the card may also be connected to management and accommodating opposite forces and blending them into a harmonious mixture.

Are *you* cooking something up in the laboratory?

This is also a card of patience and self control and meditation. It is about controlling ones inner thoughts with ones concience, weighing up the pros and the cons of a matter. Thinking about the right way to look at something and not just one side of it, combining and combination also a very important part of this card.

This is a card also where you try to hold on to first thoughts before charging ahead it is a calming card in very many ways. The Archangel Michael is there and is asking that you think about the spiritual side of what ails you, think about the goodness in a situation or even in a person when you least wish to and allow it to temper your thoughts and feelings so that you can come to a balanced viewpoint.


When this card is reversed it can show that self control has completely been lost to a person, their patience has totally run out, they have lost their cool, they are not willing to consider the righteous points of view. It is also a card which can describe people/situations/circumstances that do not get along well together, they are not pulling together in any way and often avoidance can come in here. Even families who have tried to keep things PEACEFUL can find that they just cannot share viewpoints or ways of life and can be left estranged.

This card can also represent 14 in distance and timings and also can show terrains of land and water in peaceful landscape. This card also can represent oil and water and as we know it is a saying that neither mix well. Cooking most certainly can show in this card, mixing ingredients! So if want to know if your partner is a good cook with a reversed temperance card, go and buy some fish and chips!

In order to mix Oil and water it is a lifelong patience to achieve, reversed shows you that it can be impossible.

[empathyx]

Originally Posted by shinobishaw1982

The Lovers

This card in its most simplistic sense can be said to be Love, but the card is called Lovers (which means there is 'interaction' here).

This is the law of Attraction (on all planes, in the human experienced as love/affection, in nature as gravitation etc).

But there is even more to it then that, the woman is the attraction to secret/hidden Wisdom, which is not a Temptation per say but truly the love of its Beauty. Here the Magician representing the man and the woman's (Priestess) love for each other is not merely beginning but in full bloom passion! So the card has a lot to do with partnership, connection, and receptivity of opposites. The Genius above them is the higher consciousness that brought them together and whom they will go back to, so the woman that has been given the forbidden fruit of knowledge by the Snake (in the macro, an emblem of time and in the micro, an initiate) has the ability to lure the man right into her grasps and yet her knowledge maybe (or not) his downfall.........

Also a family card. The Lovers is linked to choices the 6 of cups which represents itself in the family vicinity or the past showing a garden and children growing up. A place where a family might grow from childhood. This card represents the choice of duty over love. It has a dual nature that is very strong representing June and the Gemini card. A person finds that they might get this card if they wanted to choose between love or job or circumstances even a choice between lovers. It is a card about two paths and which one to take or walk along therefore it can be a very difficult card to get.

One has to make a choice or is placed before one. It being the card of a family can show broken ties when it is reversed, contrarities of all kinds and may even represent a stalker or a third person or an extra marital affair.

It can be a card for one who must make a choice whether to make a family or have more children but though it is about attraction with attraction comes that choice and that is an important feature of this card. One might wish to be lovers, but does one want that to go further? what does the other choice hold that might be more magnetic?

It is a contraversial card that can create many problems which one has to resolve.In a love affair it might be more preferable to be given a two of cups then the Lovers for at least one knows there is upright possibility of a true union whereby the Lovers card will always give you a divided reaction and an eeny meeny miny mo decision to make.
This is the perfect card for smelling the BS when its reversed we know true love is a lie or the choice we made was definately not the wisest choice.

[empathyx]

There are many brilliant and fascinating descriptions of the Tarot cards but there is also a very practical down to earth view. Often the very spiritual and indepth meanings of these cards confuse and flounder those who wish to learn them from a basic level. It is good practice to combine both the esoteric properties with a modern way of deciphering the meanings that others may learn the basics. I have often thought that some people feel that Tarot can appear much more complicated then it really is. It is after all just a 'journey' and one takes each step of that journey in their stride. Each card being a step forward.

I have studied Crowleys meanings in depth but one can get lost within them so that they become a language that is like cracking walnuts with teeth. Bringing Tarot down to levels of understanding is to walk into the picture and notice every detail, consider the numerology, dates timings months astrological factors and elemental designations and when reading for anybody put it into the language they understand.

The problem can be that one can over emphasise the spiritual values to such a degree that they begin to appear far from the understanding of the average person. Tarot never has to be like that. In every card is a form of action, thought, and so forth and can clearly be seen and interpreted as to what is happening there. Combinations of cards can give a clear story of events. Keeping Tarot simple is understanding its language and then being able to interpret that into a level that can reach most peoples ability to digest. It is like language itself, where one can recite great lengths of poetry or dialogue that slides over the head of the listener simply because it is too complex for them to take in. Therefore one has to break down the language and re present in a format that can be understood.

Tarot has an ancient dialect to it but it relies upon us to move with the times in order to make it a universal language - just like the fool, we should start simple as Tarot itself is a journey and indeed its language also has to follow one into the modern age.
It is worth remembering that Tarot is NOT a mystery it is a tool to clear UP mystery -a divination tool. The simpler it is the better one can appreciate the depth of the card because simplicity brings them to life?

[shinobishaw1982]

Empathyx: While I agree with you that the Tarot (as you can see from my initial post of this thread) is a universal tool with a universal language that details the mysteries of Nature and the universal richness of human nature.

However I disagree with the divinatory aspect of it because the TRUMPS MAJOR are not meant to be used for divinatory purposes nor do the truly have divinatory meanings per se.

They are fundamental truths about the Mysteries of Nature that are and will always be unchangeable, divinatory and ordinary meanings of any field do not find themselves in the trumps major.

The Minor Arcana however are adaptable with the times, like Air.

I also disagree with a few minor things that you said as well, however I do not want to turn thread into a debate about the Tarot (because that was not the intention and the rest of the entries will get lost in the shuffle).

Also, Princess of Wands was referring to DEVIL but accidentally put Death.

[empathyx]

I disagree about the Major Arcana but you are right it is best to not debate. No problem!