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

Tarot Blog Hop Samhuinn 2017: Birth, Death & Rebirth

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Welcome to Alison’s Alembic!   You may have arrived here as a stop on the Tarot Blog Hop from either Hannah Berg's or Lore Lore M's blog. Or you may have found this through TABI’s Facebook page, or though one of the many wonderful tarot bloggers in the ether... It doesn’t matter – what does matter is that you’re here!

It’s the time of Samhuinn (“summer’s end”), a liminal time when the veil that separates us from those who are no longer walking in this world is thinnest. The Day of the Dead, a time to honour the ancestors - and, in the old Celtic tradition, the end of the year.  Our wrangler for this particular Blog Hop, Jay Cassels, has asked us to look at where we are at the end of this cycle – what’s happened to us since last Samhuinn, and where we might be headed as we begin a new year.

This resonates with me more than usual, as I’m approaching the end of an even bigger cycle early next year – my Saturn Return!  Not only that, but this year sees Jupiter travelling through Scorpio, the home of my natal Jupiter, so I’ll be experiencing the end of yet another cycle during the coming year.

With all that in mind, I’ve decided to use the Spirit of the Circle spread (as described in the accompany book to the Druid Animal Oracle) and my ‘go to’ deck for this time of year, the Wildwood.

Card 2                                   Card 7                                   Card 4

Spirit of the Ancestors             The Gift                           Spirit of Time

Card 1

Self

Card 5                                   Card 6                                   Card 3

Spirit of Place                     Spirit of the Journey       Spirit of the Tribe

Self: Queen of Bows - Hare

This suggests that over the past year I’ve become kinder to, and more understanding of, myself – and, I hope, others too. These qualities have certainly helped me to complete several of my long-term projects earlier this year, and I'm sure they will stand me in good stead in whatever I set out to do over the coming year.

Spirit of the Ancestors: 5 The Ancestor 

(I kid you not - I really did draw this card!)

I’m at the gateway of a new cycle, I know. A turning point. I’m wary of what lies ahead but I know that if I listen to my ‘inner ancestor’ and draw from all my past experience – not only from the past year but from all my experiences – I will have the strength and patience (I’m a double Taurus, after all!) to keep me going on whatever new path calls me.

Spirit of the Tribe: Page of Bows - Stoat

Second card from the Bows, and second court card too!  The stoat is a hunter, with the ability to change the colour of its fur. That, and the fact that it lives underground, has given me a strong sense of secrecy (highlighting my Scorpio Ascendant), of staying hidden when necessary and adapting to changing circumstances.  There’s a bit of the “free spirit” at work too, underlying all the “shoulds” and “ought tos” that The Spirit of the Tribe – today’s culture, in other words – projects, which I’d be wise to listen to. Keep my head down until it feels right to pounce! 

Spirit of Time: Ace of Bows

Subtitled “The Spark of Life”, the Ace of Bows (the third Bow to appear in the spread), this suggests that the “spirit of the times” is inviting me to start a new fire burning, to kindle a new spark of creativity, to hunt out new skills to learn.

Spirit of Place:  6 The Forest Lovers

I have been working with the image of the Forest for the past couple of years, as part of my path, so seeing the Forest Lovers representing Spirit of Place  resonates on that level.  I feel I'm nearing the end of this part of the path, so this card reminds me that I'll have choices to make when I reach the next "fork" in my journey.

Spirit of the Journey: Ten of Arrows

Subtitled “Instruction”, this card conjures up the completion of two long-held writing projects over the past year.  The passing on or sharing of knowledge and ideas…that’s the journey I’ve been on this year – perhaps there’s more to come as the wheel continues to turn...

The Gift: King of Bows – Adder

A bit of a shudder when I drew this card (snake phobia) but I also felt a shiver of excitement at this gift. Maturity, strength of resolve, energy and wisdom are phrases associated with this card – what wonderful qualities to receive as the new year begins.

Thank you for stopping off here on your travels through this Samhain Tarot Blog Hop!  Please do come back and read some of my other posts.

The next stops on the Tarot Blog Hop are - depending on whether you’re moving backwards or forwards through the list - Hannah Berg's or Lore M’s blog. The Master List can be found here.

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Gemini in the Minor Arcana: The Eight of Swords

In the system I follow, the first of the Minors that’s associated with Gemini is the Eight of Swords. This is linked to Jupiter in Gemini, as well as to the first ten days of the sign – so this year, from the 20^th to 30^th of May.

Eight of Swords (trimmed):

©Sharman-Caselli Tarot

Gemini is the mutable Air sign – exchange of knowledge and information through networks, through language and ideas.  It’s about communication, as well as the market place.  Jupiter brings the desire to grow and expand through developing a wider range of skills, through broadening our learning.  It takes Gemini’s need to dip into a variety of interests and turns that into a way to bring greater meaning to life.  Jupiter is in detriment in Gemini, though – so the faith and optimism that we tend to associate with Jupiter can be hindered by excessive worrying, or over-analysis – and even by the constantly changing curiosity of Gemini.  And that, for me, is the clue to Jupiter in Gemini’s association with the Eight of Swords.

The Eight of Swords has come to represent the idea of being restricted by our thoughts, about not being able to see (or choosing not to see) things as they really are. Most images show a woman blindfolded, but loosely bound, surrounded by eight swords. The ties that bind her do not necessarily prevent escape, and there is space between the swords so that she could walk away. 

Eight of Swords (trimmed):

© Druid Craft Tarot

The number ‘8’ is associated with re-birth/death or regeneration, both in tarot and in astrology, through the 8^th house, so we’re looking at ending old or invalid ideas and beliefs, and the beginning of something new. That ‘something new’ is symbolized by a single bird in the Sharman-Caselli deck (Beginners Guide to the Tarot), and by the new growth in the background in the DruidCraft Tarot – both hard to see if you’re blindfolded.  

That combination of blindfold, ties, and barrier of swords represents the excessive worrying, or the over-thinking of Jupiter in detriment in Gemini.  But remember that Jupiter is a gaseous planet – gas, when heated, expands – so there is a way out!  We need to take of the blindfold – develop our reasoning so that we can see the fears and worries for what they are, and allow ourselves to trust (also symbolized by the bird) in ourselves – to have faith in not only ourselves but also in life.

Eight of Arrows (trimmed):

© Wildwood Tarot

In the Wildwood and Shadowscapes Tarot decks, the emphasis is the same, although the images are different. 

We see a figure struggling through the snow, cold and wind (Gemini being an Air sign) in the Wildwood.  The lantern represents the hope and faith of Jupiter that will help us make choices and overcome the fears and anxieties we encounter on the way.  

Eight of Swords (trimmed):

© Shadowscapes Tarot

In the Shadowscapes, we see a swan surrounded by a barrier of swords.  She’s looking up at the sky, as if she’s aware that there’s an escape route – and if she wasn’t, there’s a little hummingbird above her, lighting the way. So what’s holding her back, apart from the brambles and swords around her? The thorny bramble over her head? The barbed wire at the top of the image? There’s a way out if you stop and breathe – taking a deep breath, expanding (Jupiter) the lungs (Gemini)!

Eight of Swords (trimmed):

© Thoth Tarot

The Thoth emphasizes that idea of struggling to endure that comes from thinking too much to the point that we are ‘frozen’ by anxiety, doubt, and fear; there’s no longer the clarity to be able to make a decision or choice.  Gerd Zielger (Tarot: Mirror of the Soul, published by Weiser Books) writes about Jupiter being a ‘harbinger of the unforeseen and unexpected change for the better’, and that it’s this, rather than trying to come up with an ‘analytical’ (Gemini) solution to the problem, that will show us the way out.

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 U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

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

Lammas Blog Hop 2016: The Union of Opposites

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Welcome to Alison’s Alembic!   You may have arrived here as a stop on the Tarot Blog Hop from either Morgan Drake Eckstein's Gleamings from the Golden Dawn or Joanne's Cosmic Whispers' blog.  Or you may have found this through TABI’s Facebook page, or though one of the many wonderful tarot bloggers in the ether... It doesn’t matter – what does matter is that you’re here! 

For those of you unfamiliar with Lammas, it’s the festival of the harvest.  Also known as Lughnasahd, the cross-quarter fire festival, it’s celebrated on the evening of the 31 July and on the first three days of August. More specifically, Lammas is the first harvest (usually of grain and fruit – the basic food that sustains us through the winter), when farmers begin to reap the rewards of their hard work.  It’s associated with baking bread from that first harvest of grain, but has also been called ‘the festival of gratitude and first seeds’ because the grain is also the seed that becomes next year’s harvest – a reminder of the cycle of life. 

Lammas celebrates the alchemy of Water and Fire - we’ve just left the water sign of Cancer and are now in the fire sign of Leo.   The sun still carries enough energy to help the crops to ripen, but we need rain as well.   Lugh, the Celtic god and Sun King, gives up his power at Lammas, just as the sun starts to wane and lose its power.  At this time then, we honour  both the bounty of the land, which yields the harvest, and Lugh, who ‘dies’ in the process of making the harvest possible – two ‘opposites’, if you like. 

Temperance (trimmed): ©Sharman-Caselli Tarot

Our wrangler for this Lammas Blog Hop, Aisling has asked us to write about the “union of opposites”, by finding either a card that represents, to us, more than one of the four elemental energies (specifically two which might be thought of as "opposites") or a pair of cards which work as a unit but represent two opposite views of the same situation.

As we’re celebrating the alchemy of Water and Fire in terms of moving into different signs of the zodiac, I decided to write about a card that brings together those two elements – Temperance.   

In the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot we see an angel pouring liquid from one cup to the other.  An angel also appears in the Sharman-Caselli version; here the alchemy is emphasized by the colours of the cups: gold (often associated with the Sun) and silver (the Moon).  There’s a need for flow between the conscious and unconscious, indicated by the flow between left and right hands, as well as one foot being on land and one in water. The rainbow symbolizes promise, as does the sun.  

Fire plays an essential part in alchemy – some of the main alchemical processes take place in a furnace.  

The Crowley Thoth tarot’s version of Temperance, entitled ‘Art’, depicts the alchemical union of Fire and Water.  We see here the lion and eagle, representing the Fixed signs of Leo (Fire) and Scorpio (Water), on either side of the cauldron, opposites balancing each other.  While water can extinguish fire, it can also join together with fire to form steam – which we see rising through the centre of the card, forming two rainbows enveloping the woman’s shoulders. Again, that symbol of hope and promise...

Art (trimmed): ©Thoth Tarot

... which also appears in the Druidcraft Tarot’s Fferyllt, the Druid alchemist. 

The Fferyllt (trimmed): ©DruidCraft Tarot

Red and white serpents wrap themselves, in a shape resembling the caduceus, around a tree in the Wild Wood. Red symbolizes Fire, blood, and iron. In the accompanying book, the creators of the deck  have chosen white to symbolise Air, although for me it’s Water.  A face set into the roots of the tree is half in shade, half in light – two sides to everything. The blending, or union, of opposites here fuels creativity, much as the Fferyllt does in the DruidCraft, or the angel in other versions of the card. Alchemy at work. 

Balance (trimmed): ©Wildwood Tarot

Margarete Petersen's Mediatrix also brings together opposites - light and dark, warm and cold, conscious and unconscious ... or as my friend Margo says "receiving stardust and giving water". I can see all four elements at work in this image - the 'angel' stands on the Earth, one arm reaching out to the Fire of the sun, the other to the Air of the universe, while a 'stream' of Water flows nearby.  The known/conscious of the Sun/Fire is separated from the unknown/unconscious of the Moon/Water by the ubiquitous rainbow. 

Mediatrix (trimmed): ©Margarete Petersen Tarot

Thank you for stopping off here on your journey through this Lammas Tarot Blog Hop!  Please do come back and read some of my other posts.    

The next stops on the Tarot Blog Hop are - depending on whether you’re moving backwards or forwards through the list – Morgan’s or Joanne's blog . The Master List can be found here.

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Druidcraft Tarot created by Philip Carr-Gomm and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections 2004

Margarete PetersenTarot, AGM-URANIA, 2004. www.tarotworld.com

Sharman-Caselli 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 US Games Systems, Inc.

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