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.

Sagittarius in the Major Arcana (part 2)

There’s another card from the Major Arcana to look at while we’re in Sagittarius, and that’s the card that’s associated with the ruler of this sign. Jupiter rules Sagittarius; in the system of correspondences that I use, Jupiter is linked to the Wheel of Fortune.

Remember that Jupiter, the largest of the planets in our solar system, is composed almost entirely of gas.  When gas is heated, it expands – so Jupiter has come to represent growth and expansion, and from there, with generosity and benevolence (in astrology, the planet is referred to as the 'greater benefic'). There’s the link to the Wheel - changing fortunes.  Circumstances change; the wheel is constantly turning – things expand and contract, our fortunes rise and fall.

Wheel of Fortune (trimmed):

© Sharman-Burke/Caselli Tarot

Jupiter was also known as Jove, giving rise to our word 'jovial'.  Jupiter has also come to be associated with good humour, despite also being the god of thunder!  All this good-hearted benevolence has become almost synonymous with Jupiter being linked to good fortune. This is accompanied by a sense of optimism, and faith in something ‘greater’.

Of course, when heat is removed from a gas, it contracts – Jupiter the planet can’t expand indefinitely or it would burst! This cycle of expansion and contraction of Jupiter is reflected in The Wheel.   Circumstances change; the wheel is constantly turning – things expand and contract, our fortunes rise and fall.

We often see Fortuna, the goddess of chance, in this card. Blindfolded, she turns the wheel of life, unable to see the consequences of each turn. Life is unpredictable, and it often seems we have no control over what fortune awaits us.  We can choose what action to take as we’re confronted with new situations, though, so it may not be completely out of our hands.  Events may appear to be random – but are they? And can we recognize the silver lining, the blessings in disguise – benefic Jupiter at work – when they do happen?

The Wheel  (trimmed):

© Wildwood Tarot

In the Wildwood, we see the three herons representing the Three Fates, waiting for the robe to be completed – but we can affect what’s being woven into the fabric of life.  The robe carries symbols of life and death – the cycle of life that keeps on going, reminding us that nothing stands still – or if it does, it stagnates.  The warp of potential, the weft of possibility – that’s what we see in that unfinished garment.

Wheel of Life (trimmed):

© Margarete Petersen Tarot

Margarete Petersen’s Wheel of Life is a whirl of colour, spinning so quickly it’s hard to make out what might be caught up in it. A face appears to be behind it, at the top – it’s the only thing that doesn’t seem to be moving. A smaller circle of yellow-gold light sits in the centre; the source of the larger wheel, perhaps? The Sun? The larger circle spirals outwards, expanding – not unlike Jupiter’s expansion. In the accompanying book to the deck, Margarete Peterson’s words reflect the “these things shall pass” quality of other versions of the card. Having faith and trusting in the process, gaining wisdom (all linked to Jupiter, astrologically) as we do. 

Fortune (trimmed):© Thoth Tarot

And then there’s the Thoth. All that purple shrieks ‘Jupiter’ at me, purple being associated with royalty, among other things! The wheel has ten spokes, reflecting the number of the card in the Arcana. Three creatures are placed around the edge of the wheel. Sphinx, ape, and crocodile represent three Egyptian gods, and through them wisdom (Jupiter), ability to think clearly, flexibility, creativity – mutable qualities all linked to Sagittarius. All around are whirlwinds and lightning bolts (Jupiter being the traditional god of thunder and lightning, although Uranus took over rulership of lightning: electrical storms) – sudden, unexpected changes in fortune. (Although not astrological, the Hebrew letter Kaph, “palm”, also symbolizes the need to let the wheel turn freely, not being in control over what happens.)

The Wheel  (trimmed):

©  Druid Craft Tarot

In the Druid Craft we see a woman drawing a circle in the sand on a beach at the entrance to a cave, the sea in the background. Different image, but the same message - the circle represents the never-ending cycles of life and death, birth and re-birth, while the sea, with its natural ebb and flow represents the turning of the wheel in respect to our fortunes. The tide will come in and wash away the circle in the sand but it can be redrawn on the tide’s ebb. Trusting in the process, gaining wisdom throughout.

Wheel of  Fortune (trimmed):

© Shadowscapes Tarot

The Shadowscapes' Wheel of Fortune depicts a sort of Celtic-knot pattern - something with no discernible beginning or end.  Again, it's about standing back and seeing the bigger picture - about not putting boundaries on everything but allowing things to expand and develop at their own pace. Let the wheel keep turning.

Of course, what comes up must go down – but the Wheel doesn’t indicate which way it’s turning; we rely on other cards in a reading to determine that.  When heat is removed from a gas, it contracts – Jupiter the planet can’t expand indefinitely!  Fortunes change.

Whatever the imagery in the card in front of us, we see a circle, a representation of the never-ending cycles of life and death, death and re-birth – and of our fortunes.  There’s no discernible beginning or end.  We have to stand back and see the bigger picture, taking the Jupiterian view.  We know that what goes up must come down – it’s all part of the cycle – but we have faith that the Wheel doesn’t stop there, but keeps on turning.

Wheel always turning

Happiness, sorrow, life, death

Trust in the process.

If you’ve enjoyed this post, you might be interested in my e-book, Astrology in Tarot, now available from Amazon.

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

Margarete Petersen Tarot, AGM-URANIA/Deep Books, 2004.

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.

Wildwood Tarot created by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections

Scorpio in the Major Arcana: Death

After dipping into the Minor Arcana – and the excitement of the Samhuinn Tarot Blog Hop! - let’s look at Scorpio in the Major Arcana.  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. 

Traditional depictions of ‘Death’, number 13 in the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot, 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 (Beginners' Guide to the 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 hydrological cycle (the river water evaporates and forms clouds, the clouds rain, the water 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 linked with 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!

XIII Death (trimmed):

© Shadowscapes Tarot

The Shadowscapes Tarot also draws on the promise of renewal with its phoenix rising from the ashes of the devastation, the tearing down of what has been, ready for what’s to come.  It's one of the more 'optimistic' versions of the Death card, I think - the fiery-red phoenix, symbol of death and rebirth and life all in one, looks upwards and outwards towards what appears to be a sunny future... What do you think?

The creator of the Shadowscapes deck, Stepanie Pui-Mun Law, incorporates a lot of botanical symbolism in her images. Here we see irises, my favourite flower. These are also associated with death, through Greek mythology: Iris, goddess of the rainbow, would not only travel down to earth with messages from the gods, but also transported souls to the underworld.  

13 The Journey (trimmed):

© Wildwood Tarot

Deadly nightshade can also been seen here - an extremely poisonous plant, so associated with deception, danger, and death - as well as sumac, which (according to the Victorian language of flowers) says "I will survive the change". 

The Wildwood draws on different images of death, representing transformation.  In ‘The Journey’, Will Worthington has given us an image of the raven (considered to be a guardian of the dead, or guide to the otherworld) tearing flesh from a skull of a reindeer - a symbol of the stripping of life, and of the (re)cycling of life through death and birth; all 8^th house/Scorpio issues.  

Both the Druid Craft’s creators and Margarete Petersen have made reference to the Crone in their depictions of Death. There’s an element of looking backwards and forwards with the Crone-Hermit, and that ‘crone knowledge’ or wisdom associated with the Hermit is necessary in order to make the changes that Death demands. The serpent, representing transformation, is present in both images – in fact, in Margarete Petersen’s version, we see two serpents, one white, one black. There are links back to her High Priestess, Chariot, and even the Lovers in the way she’s used duality and opposites in her work. Her Death image is almost a mirror image: white serpent meets black serpent; Death, in the form of a cloaked skeleton, stands behind the white, earth-bound figure. Out of the dark comes light. A bit like the phoenix, then?

Death (trimmed):

© Margarete Petersen Tarot

XIII Death (trimmed):

© Druid Craft Tarot

If you’ve enjoyed this post, you might be interested in my e-book, Astrology in Tarot, now available from Amazon.

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

Margarete Petersen Tarot, AGM-URANIA/Deep Books, 2004.

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.

Wildwood Tarot created by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections