Scorpio in the Major Arcana: Death (part 1)

Given what we know of Scorpio, it probably comes as no surprise that the card associated with Scorpio (in the system I follow) is Death. Death, as in the end of a cycle – something that’s necessary in order to allow something new to grow and develop. Not physical death, or at least, not necessarily. 

Death (trimmed):

© Sharman-Burke/Caselli Tarot

Traditional depictions of Death show us a knight in armour on a white horse, a king dead underfoot, a religious figure in its path, sometimes children. The image in the Sharman-Burke/Caselli tarot is a variation on that theme; here the horse is black (the colour associated with death in some cultures), its rider a skeleton. The skeleton’s headdress is a swaddling cloth, used at birth, reflecting the link between birth and death and the unending cycle of life. The skeleton carries an hourglass, reminding us that everything has its time. 

In the distance, we see a river – another reminder of the ongoing process of transformation, this time in the form of the hydrologic cycle (the river water evaporates and forms clouds, the clouds rain, rainwater falls back to earth). The boat is said to symbolize both the cradle and the coffin. In the foreground we see a raven, thought to be a harbinger of death in many traditions. The theme is Scorpionic – transformation and change; endings creating openings for new beginnings.

XIII Death (trimmed):

© Thoth Tarot

The skeleton with his scythe are also seen in the Crowley Thoth tarot’s version of Death. He wears two faces here – one is that of the destroyer, the other that of the liberator – reminding us that in order to change, we may have to let go of things that hold us back, that no longer serve us. The headdress of this skeleton is a funereal head-covering, used in ancient Egypt – a reminder of the need to bury old, out-dated, invalid ideas and beliefs so that new life can begin. We see the scorpion at the bottom of the image, ready to sting, and the snake – perhaps THE symbol of transformation – ready to bite. A fish, representing the past, swims through the serpent’s coils: is it the next victim? Above it all, the phoenix, which can only rise from the ashes once the fire has consumed everything in its way. Intense? Oh yes! 

Beginner’s Guide to the Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections

Thoth Tarot created by Aleister Crowley, illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Sagittarius in the court cards: quest for fire!

Last but not least, by any means – Sagittarius in the court cards. But which one – or ones?  Different traditions have different astrological correspondences when it comes to the Court Cards.  In the system I follow, correspondences depend on how cardinality, fixity and mutability have been assigned.  As Sagittarius is the mutable Fire sign, this gives us the Knight of Wands.

Knight of Wands (trimmed):

© Sharman-Burke/Caselli Tarot

In the Sharman-Burke/Caselli deck (Beginners Guide to the Tarot) we see the Knight charging towards us on a horse that looks as though it’s flying through the air.  Fire is represented by the arid background, the sun motif on the Knight’s cloak, and the salamander motif on the horse’s trappings.  The mutability is in the action, but also in the pyramids, representing old knowledge or wisdom. The Knight has visited that location, and is now taking that knowledge with him, intending to spread it on his adventures – transforming, bringing change.   

Like all the knights, he’s on a quest for knowledge, which is in itself quite Sagittarian – but this one is primed for action and adventure!  The fact that he’s so confident and positive works for him; he doesn’t consider the possibility that he might fail in his quest, an attitude which often leads to successful outcomes. 

Knight of Wands (trimmed):

© Shadowscapes Tarot

In the Shadowscapes deck, the Knight rides on a lion, not a horse. The lion symbolizes the strength of his feelings, his determination and passion (courage=coeur+rage? a stretch perhaps…!) as he heads out on his quest.  The foxes represent cleverness - the ability to think quickly, on his feet - while the flowers that are being trampled underfoot, unnoticed by the Knight, the lion, or the foxes, act as a reminder of the shadow side of this Knight: what might be missed through being over-confident or fool-hardy.

Knight of Wands (trimmed):

© Crowley Thoth Tarot

The Crowley Thoth tarot’s Knight of Wands is also depicted as a fiery image, full of movement.  He holds the burning torch from the Ace of Wands in his left (the creative side) hand, lighting the way forward.  Sagittarian qualities – the dynamism, the quest for knowledge, the bringer of change, the disseminator of wisdom and experiences – are clearly at work! He’s impetuous, but also carries Jupiterian courage, passion, and generosity of spirit out into the world.

Beginner’s Guide to the Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections

Shadowscapes Tarot created by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law and Barbara Moore, published by Llewellyn

Thoth Tarot created by Aleister Crowley, illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Virgo in the Minor Arcana: The Nine of Pentacles

Following on from the Eight of Pentacles, we have the Nine, linked to Venus in Virgo, and to the middle ten days of the sun’s journey through this sign (3^rd-13^th September).  We’re still looking at Virgoan qualities here, so it’s Venus that gives the Nine a different ‘flavour’ from the Eight.

 

Virgo is the sign associated with the harvest, while Venus symbolizes harmony – that sense of well-being that I feel whenever I look at this card.  There’s a real feeling of abundance, and the enjoyment of it - Virgo is the mutable Earth sign, so there's the suggestion of sharing and spreading the wealth of the harvest.  I’m also reminded of the Empress, with all the signs of fertility – the fruit as well as the rabbit! In the Nine of Pentacles we see it’s taken a lot of hard work, though, for the earth to have yielded such wealth.  

Nine of Pentacles (trimmed):

© Mystic Spiral Tarot

Venus is not really that comfortable in Virgo, though – in astrological terms she’s ‘in fall’ in this sign.  This can come out in the Virgoan critical faculties, when Virgo’s ideals and standards aren’t met – when the ‘perfectionist’ goes overboard.  But I can also see this ‘Venus in Virgo’ in the pleasure that the woman in the image is taking in what she’s produced.  The fruits of her labours are not necessarily beautiful, but they are useful and practical – appealing to the down-to-earthiness of the Pentacles family.

Venus in Virgo can also be cautious, or conventional.  The fruits of her labours have probably been a result of ‘tried and tested’ methods, not something new or revolutionary. 

Nine of Pentacles (trimmed):

© Sharman-Burke/Caselli Tarot

As I mentioned in earlier posts about Virgo, this sign is the sixth one encountered in the journey around the zodiac, and as such, represents the closing of the first half of that journey, that of the individual.  From here on, the focus shifts to the wider, outer world.  I think this comes across clearly in the Nine of Pentacles (as well as in the Hermit) – there’s a sense of self-sufficiency in this card. There’s no one else in sight.  She’s alone - but not lonely, and is happy in that state.  She doesn’t need more, but she’s content with what she’s achieved, and with the promise of what’s ahead (in the Sharman-Burke/Caselli Beginners' Guide to the Tarot deck, the hunting bird symbolizes her far-sightedness and imagination). The actual harvest is still to come, of course - this is only the Nine; the culmination, the Ten, is still to come. 

Nine of Disks (trimmed):

© Thoth Tarot

In other decks the falcon represents a very Virgoan quality: discipline – the ability to give attention to the job at hand.  The discipline here is not imposed from an outward source; it’s about having the self-discipline required to devote time and energy to something that you really want to achieve. And when you do achieve it, you – like this woman - can luxuriate in the fruits of your labour!

The Thoth deck, although the image is very different from that of the Rider-Waite-based decks, carries a similar message.  The more we give, the more we receive – the harder we work, the more rewards we’re able to reap, the overall idea being that a number of qualities or skills need to be brought together in order to achieve results.    In this image, we can see six symbols representing the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, as well as the Moon – which in astrology is considered to be a planet (as it too ‘wanders the sky’).  So we have the ambition of Mars, the vision of Jupiter, the communication  of Mercury, the time-management, perhaps, of Saturn, the nurturing of the Moon, and – last but not least, the abundance of Venus, all brought together though the effort of Venus in Virgo!

Beginner’s Guide to the Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections

Mystic Spiral Tarot, created by Giuseppe Palumbo & Giovanni Pelosini, published by Lo Scarabeo

Thoth Tarot created by Aleister Crowley, illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Gemini in the Minor Arcana: The Nine of Swords

Today we move on to the Nine of Swords, which - in the system I use - is linked to Mars in Gemini, and the middle ten days of this sign (31^st May to 10^th June, approximately).

Just to recap: Gemini is the mutable Air sign, so we’re concerned with the exchange of knowledge and information through networks, through language and ideas.  It’s about communication, as well as the market place. Mars brings determination, drive, assertiveness, perhaps even some aggression into the mix.  Fire and Air – that suggests passionate conversations, curiosity around new ideas, perhaps a suggestion of open-mindedness.  Not the things we usually associate with the Nine of Swords, though, so what are we missing?

Nine of Swords (trimmed):

©Sharman-Burke/Caselli Tarot

The Nine of Swords is often called the card of nightmares. It’s about unfounded fears – not unlike the Eight of Swords, in a way; fears that aren’t based in reality.  Here though, we have the conflict (Mars) between what we think (Gemini/Air) and what we feel (the passion of Mars, perhaps) – symbolized in the Sharman-Burke/Caselli image by the air symbols and red hearts on the quilt.  Notice how the swords don’t touch the girl – just like the Eight of Swords; the situation is not always as bad as we think or fear it is. There could also be an element of being uncertain of what it is we want, and the doubt that comes with that being blown out of proportion by Martian energy – harsh or cruel words that create a deep wound, for instance, making us feel ashamed or oppressed for no good reason.

Nine of Swords (trimmed):

© Shadowsacpes Tarot

There’s a sense of that Mars in the Shadowscapes’ version too – we see a hunter with a gun in this image.  But he also has wings, a means of heading upwards towards the bright orb above him – a pinprick of hope - should he choose to.  He’s doubting himself, torturing himself through fear – but there’s a way out of it, if he ‘wakes up’.

The number ‘9’ is thought by some to be magical – it certainly appears often in many mythologies: the Nine Muses, the Celtic nine-fold sisterhood, the nine sisters’ rulership of the Fortunate Isles, and so on). These tie into the concept of choosing to start a new cycle, something we often consider in tarot – the nine being the penultimate card before the end of one cycle or phase, and preparation for a new one. In the Swords, this can represent the sorrow and the mental anguish that comes at the end of something, be it a separation or bereavement – but it also carries the knowledge that ‘this too shall pass’.

Nine of Swords (trimmed):

© SDruidCraft Tarot

I often think of the phrase’ light at the end of the tunnel’ when I look at the Druid Craft’s version of this card. It seems to me that the head of the bed is bathed in light, and the swords glint as if there’s light coming in from the left side of the card. As the Swords are associated with dawn in the Druid Craft (and in other decks), this could be the sun rising. 

Nine of Swords (trimmed):

© Thoth Tarot

The Thoth version takes this to another level, that of ‘cruelty’ to ourselves.  It sees the passion of Mars becoming revenge, or even martyrdom – a tendency to put ourselves down in a harsh, critical way.  Gemini is linked to our early childhood, our relationship with siblings as well as teachers – our formative years. If we remember harsh comments or criticisms from that time, we may continue to perpetuate these ourselves, becoming our own worst critic – and probably intensifying the original comment or criticism (or what we perceived as criticism).  The nine swords represent suffering – through lack of clarity.  We no longer have the ability to see things as they are, because our thoughts have become ‘destructive’ – we’ve lost the ability to make choices.  We need to open our minds again, to see and recognize the reality of the situation.

Beginner’s Guide to the Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections

DruidCraft Tarot created by Philip Carr-Gomm and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections

Shadowscapes Tarot created by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law and Barbara Moore, published by Llewellyn

Thoth Tarot created by Aleister Crowley, illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris. Published by US Games Systems Inc.