Vol. 2 #5 / March 1, 2010
In this Issue:
- Welcome
- Tarot Tip: Interpreting Water in Readings
- Tarot Card Showcase: The High Priestess
- Card Study Complete Teleclasses: The Suit of Swords
- Best Practices for Professional Readers:
"Woo Woo" and Wisdom in Tarot
- Featured Tarot Blog: Eris Hilton Speaks
Welcome to a new issue of Tarot Tips!!
Do you remember when you received your first tarot
deck? Were you excited? Nervous? Did all the
meanings and symbols overwhelm you? Perhaps it
was all very comfortable and a natural fit for you.
Nonetheless, at some point you no doubt immersed
yourself in studying the meanings, mysteries and
uses of this system. You've come a long way on
your journey, so what now? Perpetual student of
tarot, this issue is dedicated to you!
This issue's Tarot Tip is a wonderful exploration
of the element of water, and how it can inform
your tarot readings, written by guest contributor,
Peggy Firth. The High Priestess, who holds the
mystery and wisdom of esoteric knowledge, is the
source of all water in the tarot, and is highlighted
in the Tarot Card Showcase.
The featured column discusses fortune-telling
and touches on the background of symbolism in
tarot. Today's decks still use familiar images and
symbols to transmit the concepts of esoteric wisdom
embedded in tarot. There are many recent deck
creators who revise or replace the imagery in older
tarot decks to crystallize their own ideas about the
meaning of the human journey and experience.
Tarot can be very challenging, yet beautiful and
practical. It has something to give to everyone
who has a question, even if the answers aren't
what one expects. You're in good company in the
world of tarot. We regularly feature tarot blogs
to share with other enthusiasts in the study and
application of this system, and we have another
interesting blog that you will certainly enjoy.
Yours on the procession into the temple of tarot,
Tarot Tips is here to help you with the practical side
of your Tarot journey. In order to take the greatest
advantage of this newsletter, please send us your
questions regarding any aspect of your tarot study
or practice and we'll do our best to answer them
in an upcoming issue.
Spread the experience of tarot - share this newsletter
with other Tarot Enthusiasts!
Tarot Tip
INTERPRETING WATER IN READINGS
by Peggy Firth, CTM
Water, in all of its forms, whether as ocean,
river, pool or glass of water, conjures up a vast
number of possible meanings and symbols, and
each reader ultimately has to decide which one to
use and when. Everyone has had their own unique
and meaningful experiences with bodies of water,
and your feelings may color your interpretations.
In the Rider Waite deck half of the 78 cards have
images of water, from oceans to cups full of
running water. Historically, western religious
traditions around water represent rebirth or
cleansing. The rite of baptism remains much the
same today as in the early church, where water is
anointed upon the forehead. In some churches,
baptism involves being totally immersed in water.
Water symbolizes the soul, the inner life and the
unconscious. Large bodies of water or deep pools
represent deeper mysteries, since their depth
seems fathomless, like our unconscious minds.
Water is also linked with the feminine nature,
which in turn is linked to mystery and intuitive
abilities. In the Rider Waite cards there are many
rivers and streams, whether in the background or
near enough to the central figure to engage your
attention. Rivers may or may not be dangerous or
fathomless, but all rivers symbolize something in
motion that must be either crossed or penetrated
for a deeper understanding.
Since water reflects the weather, the surface of
water may be turbulent or smooth. Rolling waters
can be read as unstable or as changeable
conditions or situations. The King of Cups, a
mature and responsible personage, sits upon a
stone throne set upon foaming waters, representing
tumultuous emotions. One meaning suggests that the
querent remain level-headed in an emotional
situation, or that there may be more choices than
realized.
If you have had good experiences with large bodies
of water such as sailing, boating, swimming or
vacationing by the water, you will infuse your
readings with your positive associations. If the
thought of drowning or falling into water without
the ability to swim makes you uptight, then you
may use those feelings in your readings.
The falling rain shown in the Three of Swords sets
us on edge as we try to determine how we feel
about rainwater. If you love the rain, it may wash
away the sorrow of a broken heart. If rain makes
you feel sad, then your reading may reflect that
sadness.
The Suit of Cups implies the emotional body and
our experiences with love relationships. Readings
with the Suit of Cups start with the Ace of Cups,
the beginning of an emotional attachment that
leads to the more mature aspects of love in all of
its forms. The Kings and Queen of Cups represent
ways that love can rule over all challenges of the
human condition.
Examine your decks for images of water, and think
of ways to interpret the variety of meaning that
this life affirming liquid represents.
Tarot Card Showcase
In this section we will feature tidbits on a
specific tarot card. While there are many
systems and decks to choose from in the world
of tarot, here we use the Universal Waite
Tarot images and symbols.
Copyright 1992 U.S Games.
THE HIGH PRIESTESS
Esoteric Title: Princess of the Silver Star
Astrological Attribution: Moon
Hebrew Letter: Gimel (Camel)
Qabalistic Attribution: Tiphereth (Beauty)
to Kether (Crown)
Esoteric Intelligence: Uniting
The High Priestess is the first of the feminine
cards in the tarot deck. She is often depicted in
an outside setting or in the doorway of a temple.
The High Priestess is attractive and yet seems
unapproachable. She is the Princess of the Silver
Star, which is the Moon. The Moon is a reflection
of the Sun and is considered a "dark" light.
The Moon controls the tides of seas and oceans,
which are symbols for emotions. Even though the
result of this influence is fluctuating, The High
Priestess is cool, calm and silent.
The High Priestess is the path of Gimel. As a
camel, she provides transportation across the
desert of the Abyss within the Tree of Life. This
is the path to the highest reaches of
consciousness. The High Priestess has knowledge,
but it is not the type of knowledge that can be
easily explained. It is a knowledge that must be
experienced.
Positive Keywords:
Feminine, mysterious, wise, hidden; virginity,
enlightenment, psychic ability, secrets, memory,
intuition, cycles, and union.
Negative keywords:
Dishonesty, hidden obstacles, false prophets,
forgetfulness, lunacy, immorality, ugliness,
vanity, restriction, selfishness and aloofness.
Card Study Complete Teleclasses:
THE SUIT OF SWORDS
Card Study Complete is a course that aligns itself
as closely as possible with the energy of the
seasons. Its second series is a first look at the
Minor Arcana in the form of the Suit of Swords,
often associated with the season of Spring.
In these four classes with Ruth Ann and Wald
Amberstone, you'll find out that the Suit of
Swords is magnificent. It's a whole world all by
itself, and one quarter of all there is. And if you
don't already know it, you'll also begin to realize
that the Minor Arcana cards are anything but minor.
This will be a beautiful series, full of elegant
surprises and a pleasing depth of useful
knowledge. Even if you are an experienced student
of tarot, you may never have seen anything like it.
Thursdays, March 11, 18, 25 and April 1
Tuition: $80
3/11 The Symbol of the Sword
3/18 Ace - 5 of Swords
3/25 6 - 10 of Swords
4/01 The Court of Swords
Best Practices for Professional Readers:
"Woo Woo" and Wisdom in Tarot
By Gina Thies
When it is time to write an upcoming issue, I
shuffle and pull a card from the deck that will be
the Tarot Tips showcase card to set the tone,
unless there is a specific agenda. I knew the
traditional meanings of The High Priestess and
began to ponder the selection of the symbols. I
thought, "What's a nice girl like you doing in
the Temple of Solomon?" This prompted a look
into religious and qabalistic symbolism.
The symbolic image is not a code but speaks to the
evocation of intuition. Generally, I feel that
symbols in modern times are often arbitrary.
However, in ancient times, they were not. The
symbol served to speak straight to the
intelligence of the heart, evoking understanding.
All activity pertaining to "higher
understanding" was cloaked in secrecy through
symbols cerated by the priesthood or mystery
schools. The hieroglyphs and selected images of
the esoteric "brotherhoods" were a secret
language, and to be able to understand the
language, one had to be initiated through
religious or magical rites.
The rituals and symbols of Judaic, Islamic and
Christian belief, with a Nilotic undercurrent made
its way into tarot. The 78 cards are a secret
language translated for the querent in a practical
way they will understand. In a tarot consultation,
unless the querent speaks qabalah, you couldn't
tell your client that he or she is on the path to
Kether in the realm of the Supernal Triad when
they inquire about a relationship issue. On the
other hand, telling them to "wise up" when it
comes to dating may or may not make sense either.
Many readers profess that they "don't give
'woo-woo' readings," or they are getting away
from fortunetelling, predictive or "divination"
readings. This is completely understandable
given the negative stereotypes associated with
any divination system. Divination's second
meaning, as defined in Merriam-Webster's
dictionary, is unusual insight or intuitive perception.
If a tarot reading infers or defines the consequences
of personal choices, based on a pattern of known
human experience (divined from symbolic pictures),
does that sound like fortunetelling?
I think of tarot as a pictorial and symbolic
representation of all human experiences. Tarot's
legacy is truly divine. Humans have always sought
help in mundane matters from those who best
understood the DIVINITY of human existence,
whether it was a priest or a sage with experience
that transcended their own. I think that
individuals who possess an innate mental ability
to quickly assess patterns, or take in information
through a feeling or sensing, and can quickly turn
those into actions, insights or strategies, are
very special indeed! These are traits in many of
Jung's 16 personality types. I will be discussing
personality types and the court cards in a
study group at the upcoming Readers Studio.
Questions arise when developing or transitioning
to professional Tarot Reading status to earn
income. These can range from "How can I make
money with Tarot?" and "How do I get started?"
to more complex technical and business questions.
You may already be up and running and have
questions about how to enhance or ramp up your
business. We would love to hear from you. Send any
questions, or interest in a future class on the
Business of Tarot, to tarot@tarotschool.com.
There are only 40 days left to register
for the 2010 Readers Studio!
The deadline for registration is April 9th.
Do you have your seat yet?
REGISTER NOW
to make sure you don't miss out!
Featured Tarot Blog / Newsletter
ERIS HILTON SPEAKS
Mad ramblings and apple pie - this hilarious
blog is well...hilarious. The Erisean Madness will
get you hooked if you love a fun poke at tarot. It
is the tarot journal of a self-proclaimed tarot
nerd. Very original and eclectic!
Join our 1,400+ fans and join the fun!
You never know what we'll say next...
Do you have a question or comment on anything
tarot? Suggestions for future topics?
Contact tarot@tarotschool.com
For information on tarot classes, courses,
© Copyright 2010 The Tarot School - All Rights Reserved
Directors: Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone
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