The 3 of Coins is one of the TdM cards that display a "womb-like" arrangement of foliage enclosing a suit emblem. Because the foliage appears to be encircling the emblem in a protective and nurturing way, the implication is that of gestation of the "seed" principle of the suit. The other "incubator" cards in the … Continue reading A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 3 of Coins
Pips
A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 2 of Coins
There is an interesting convergence of ideas between this card and the RWS 2 of Pentacles. Here we have two coins tightly wrapped in what appears to be a ribbon with a decorative floral fringe, while the RWS card shows an off-balance juggler trying to keep two balls in the air (and not a very … Continue reading A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 2 of Coins
A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 5 of Coins
The 5 of Coins is the obvious next stop in this series of TdM "thumbnails," showing as it does an interesting departure from the 4 of Coins. Here the encirclement of the central emblem (formerly a shield) has now been completed and, lo and behold, we have another coin (or fruit, or seed) at the … Continue reading A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 5 of Coins
A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 4 of Coins
The 4 of Coins is fascinating in that it is the only one of the Coins pip cards to display a fabricated artifact (other than the coins themselves, which in fact could be seen as fruit or seeds). There is a shield with an abstract central blossom on it separating the two sets of coins … Continue reading A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 4 of Coins
A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 7 of Coins
Here is a kind of "trial balloon" floating some of the ideas I've been talking about in my most recent posts. The image in the Conver 7 of Coins suggests a trellis bearing ripe fruit, some of which have fallen (or are in the act of falling) to the ground. It shows the harvest at … Continue reading A Tarot de Marseille Thumbnail: 7 of Coins
Stone Soup
I think it's time I start getting serious about bringing cartomantic (that is, playing-card) meanings into my approach to the numbered - or "pip" - cards when reading. The RWS minor cards with their built-in narrative vignettes are like "canned soup," the semi-scenic small cards of the Thoth deck are closer to "home-made soup" that you start with store-bought … Continue reading Stone Soup
Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Tens
Plato considered Ten to be a perfect number when viewed from a philosophical rather than a mathematical perspective (in the second case, the term has an entirely different derivation attributed to Euclid). In the qabalistic model of the Universe, Ten delivers the "last gasp" of an elemental energy in its increasingly encumbered progress down the Tree of Life. The original, largely spiritual, force … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Tens
The “Just Folks” Personality Profile Spread
I don't do much personality profiling with the tarot because I think it works best as an action-and-event-oriented approach to divination (the "situational awareness and developmental insight" thing I'm always on about). But when I do it, I tend to be comprehensive. Here is a spread that is aimed at examining the multiple personae that an … Continue reading The “Just Folks” Personality Profile Spread
Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Nines
The number Nine marks the end of the series of simple numbers; the Ten is more of a postscript, the "jumping-off place" for a return to Unity (Ten reduces numerologically to One: 1+0 = 1). As such it is considered the completion and fulfillment of the promise of the Ace of each suit. Zoroaster said it … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Nines
Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Eights
I've said almost everything I have to say about the Eights in two previous posts, "The Eights and Anxiety" and "The Sevens and Eights" (links below). The one thing that bears repeating is Joseph Maxwell's idea that the simple even numbers Four and Eight are characteristically balanced owing to their roots in the binary Two, although the … Continue reading Tarot 101, My Way – Minor Arcana: The Eights
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 