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APRIL 2011
MINOR ARCANA ACES
by Peggy Firth, Certified Tarot Master
Unlike the Major Arcana, which provides us with information about our soul’s journey through life, the Minor Arcana falls into four suits of 56 cards that were originally designed as playing cards. From playing cards the Pentacles became diamonds, Cups became hearts, Swords became spades and Wands became clubs. If someone reads regular playing cards they know the suits and numerology associated with them.
Until the 1800’s the traditional Rider-Waite cards did not have pictorial references of people in action along with symbols that represent situations that correspond to the suit and number assigned to the card.
The suit of Pentacles, a five pointed star within a coin, refers to the material or information that comes through the five senses.
The suit of Cups or chalices refers to emotions, relationships and love.
The suit of Swords refers to the thinking processes and how we process information.
The suit of Wands refers to the intuitive mind and our primal functions.
The four court cards refer to:
Pages: youth, early, immaturity, messages brought by a page.
Knights – Physical, sensation, movement towards, stationary, protective but vital
Queen – Maturity, female qualities, mastery of life, nurturing but firm.
King – Masculine qualities, maturity, and mastery.
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Starting with the suit of Pentacles we see that the Ace is the first card depicting the hand of God coming out of the clouds bringing a gift (Pentacle) to the world. The Ace of Pentacles refers to the way in which we go about developing, acquiring and maintaining all of the material goods and information in this lifetime. Beneath the hand of God is a garden with a lovely rounded archway leading out of the garden. In the background are snow- capped mountains of attainment. However, one could also enter via the archway. In the foreground are white lilies representing chastity and virtue.
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The Ace of Wands refers to the nature we have been born with, intuitive abilities and the energy to create. Our task is to develop those abilities further. In the background is the castle on a hill that symbolizes all that we can house in this lifetime. The meandering river represents what we have to cross in order to make the journey.
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The Ace of Swords refers to the maturity that must be developed along with the personality. A crown is symbolizes the pinnacle of attainment and the “yods” or yellow drops in the sky refer to the love energy sent from God. |
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The Ace of Cups refers to the fulfillment of love energy that is possible. Water, which symbolizes “my cup runneth over” rains down upon a pond. Water yods abound.
The cup or goblet and white dove above the goblet holding the “body of Christ” is symbolic of our union with God. The water lilies of the pond have deep roots that symbolizes our connection with the God-force or Tree of Life. |
The Ace card represents the divine energy we are born with and should develop. Whether we fulfill our destiny in this lifetime is up to us. Despite the conditions that surround us we should always attempt to use this energy for the greater good.
Numerology can also be used for each suit. The smaller numbers indicate less development with more maturity assigned to the larger numbers. I will address some basic numerology in future articles.
Reading for the Emotionally Challenged
There are many types of intelligence(s) that querents bring to the Tarot reader. Most querents already know the answers to their situation but are unable to process the information emotionally. Such individuals seek assurance that their abilitiy to act upon their knowledge and situation is sanctioned. We all know that some folks are resilient and able to function without unnecessary worry or fear. They seem to sail through life unaffected. However, most carry some unprocessed fears, worries and stress.
Emotional intelligence (EI) represents an ability to reason with emotions and to use emotions to enhance thought. Emotion refers to a feeling state, including bodily responses and a sensitivity to others. For example, happiness is a feeling that also conveys information about how one relates to others and fear is a feeling state that urges one to flee others.
Emotions prioritize clear thinking. Something we respond to emotionally grabs our attention. Having a good system of emotional input helps direct thinking toward matters that are important. Emotions are also important for certain kinds of creativity. A positive mood has the ability to carry out creative ideas with ease and originality.
Happiness usually indicates a desire to join with other people, anger indicates a desire to attack or harm others and fear indicates a desire to escape. Each emotion conveys its own pattern of possible messages and actions associated with those messages. A message of anger, for example, may mean that the individual feels treated unfairly. The anger might be associated with specific sets of possible actions, peacemaking, attacking, retribution and revenge-seeking, or withdrawal.
Understanding emotional messages and the actions associated with them is one important aspect of this area of skill. As Tarot readers our job is to help these individuals grasp a reasonable approach to their challenges. The Tarot cards should be able to pinpoint the dynamics of a situation and offer ways to solve issues.
When an emotional cripple shows up, I find that it’s best to ask a lot of questions which may sound like, “Have you considered…”, “What can you do today to…”, “How can you…”.
Offering advice or telling a querent what to do will not fix things. Remember, 50% of the problem goes away when a querent can express their fears, concerns, etc. |
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