The Darkness

[Dasani]

Does anyone know why these cards were chosen to have so much darkness in them? Is there a reason? Are these three connected in anyway symbolically?

Is this a good sign that the client is in darkness or depressed if all three turn up? (I think so but may be wrong).

The Devil
5 of Pentacles
9 of Swords
(mabee 10 of swords but I don't find this one as dark)

[Centaur]

Ros,

I am thinking that the 5 of Pentacles and the 9 of Swords could be considered to be cards relating to considerable anxiety and worry.

The Devil is a card which could be considered to refer to desires within ourselves which are unhealthy or bad for us: for instance, addictions.

Therefore, both cards can be considered to refer to the capacity of the human mind to inflict a considerable amount of distress upon oneself. It is just a thought, but perhaps one could relate the darkness in these cards to the presence of mental distress sparked from within oneself. Yes. Anxiety is most usually triggered by an external event, but it is usually our own over-worrying etc, which in turn causes us to be upset and sometimes over-emphasise negative aspects.

I wonder if there are any other cards characterised by darkness which could also be linked to this line of though: perhaps the Two of Swords, reflecting a dilemma that one is caught between, or the Eight of Swords, reflecting the feeling that one is trapped in a specific situation.

What do you think?

C

[Dasani]

Yes I agree with you Centaur but they are almost forced into darkness.I mean that they have blindfolds on. These other cards the eyes are open & only the 9 swords the person covers their eyes with free hands not tied like the 2 & 8 of Swords.

So yes don't you just love where these threads take you.
Now I have to figure out the "darkness" as in the black coloring in the cards & darkness of having your eyes shut.

Another different but the same. AUGH!

[Dasani]

Just an idea,
Darkness could be a void of an experience.

A time of dead air!

[Imagemaker]

Most of my RWS decks show the 5 of Pentacles with the two people turned away from each other, out in the snow and outside the lighted window.

Yesterday I received my Morgan Greer deck and was shocked to see the two people holding each other, comforting each other. That gives me a very different message!

I didn't like it :-) I like different visual interpretations of cards, but that seems like a complete switch to me.

Comments?

[tmgrl2]

5 of Pentacles....loss? of something real or imagined?
9 of Swords....too much mental activity...awakening from a nightmare? just quick thoughts

[Centaur]

Originally posted by ros
Just an idea,
Darkness could be a void of an experience.

A time of dead air!

I really like that. I guess one could liken the darkness to a a static period of nothing. Being stuck. Imprisoned by one's own mental thoughts.

I am thinking that in some of these cards perhaps they have actually forced themselves into their blindfolds. And having done so, find it increasingly difficult to figure out how to get them back off again.

Interesting!

Imagemaker, I am not familiar with that specific card in the Morgan Greer but I too think I would find it to be curious. In my Rider-Waite decks the people in the Five of Pentacles just look plain miserable. I guess perhaps the Morgan Greer is taking a more positive stance and indicating that one should seek comfort in the midst of one's anxieties? Just some more thoughts...

C

[TemperanceAngel]

In a reading I have sometimes found them to be related to health issues...
XTAX

[Dasani]

Does the question have to be about health or do you just use your intuition & the client to know.
I don't do a lot of health issues in readings.

[Rusty Neon]

Originally posted by Imagemaker
Yesterday I received my Morgan Greer deck and was shocked to see the two people holding each other, comforting each other. That gives me a very different message!

I didn't like it :-) I like different visual interpretations of cards, but that seems like a complete switch to me.

Comments?

As noted by Waite in _Pictorial Key to the Tarot_ but not illustrated in a clear manner by the RWS 5 of Pentacles card, one of the traditional divinatory meanings for the 5 of Pentacles is Love and Lovers. In fact, it's an Etteilla (pre-Golden Dawn) meaning for the 5 of Pentacles. The creators of the M-G deck must have picked up that meaning from Waite's book. However, the M-G card does, at the same, illustrate also the RWS card's poverty/misfortune meaning through the man and woman's external appearances.

[TemperanceAngel]

Originally posted by ros
Does the question have to be about health or do you just use your intuition & the client to know.
I don't do a lot of health issues in readings.
Can be a question, a divinatory meaning or intuition..
Remember that worry and anxiety does affect our health.
XTAX

[Centaur]

I have just been thinking and it would seem that there are two different types of darkness in these cards (FYI I am referring to the Universal-Waite). There is darkness which is present in the cards themselves (eg. The Tower), and there is darkness which is implied by the use of blindfolds and closed eyelids, (eg. Eight of Swords). Sometimes there is the presence of both external and implied darkness (2 of Swords).

I am thinking what if anything this distinction might bring to our understanding of the cards.

For instance, in the Eight of Swords, the woman wears a blindfold, and the card is relatively bright in colour. It is not an external darkness as in the presence of darkness in the card itself, but rather a self-imposed, internal, and reflective darkness hinted at by the use of a blindfold. If she where to remove the blindfold then she would be able to move out of her rather tricky situation. I suppose then that in some of these cards the use of blindfolds and closed eyelids could refer to an inward focus rather than an external focus. For instance, in the case of the Eight of Swords the woman could be perceived to be trapped by her own anxieties and insecurities.

In the case of the Two of Swords, the darkness seems to be both apparent in the colour of the cards, and implied in the fact that the person is wearing a blindfold. This might then suggest a combination of both external and internal misery.

I suppose we could go through each card and say something along these lines, but then that would take forever. ;)

Rusty, I never knew that about the 5 of Pentacles. I must have skimmed over that part when I read the Pictorial Key To Tarot. Hehe.

C

[WalesWoman]

I had Morgan-Greer before getting RWS, Radiant and my first impression of this card was seeking comfort or forgiveness for creating some sort of loss. The poor guy looks remorseful and shell shocked, like perhaps he was ambushed. Sort of the return of the prodigal son? I found it really interesting that love was part of the original DM, because when my 8 year old daughter looked at it, she told me it meant "love". I'm thinking she has some real potential as a reader and wants to learn. There is a real difference in the feelings that come from the Radiant image for 5 pentacles, it seems so hopeless and destitute, where the other acknowledges the loss and gives comfort.
The darkness is things we don't know, but in that darkness is also the potential for what can be, so in a sense it does offer hope.

[Dexter]

To me the five of pentacles has always represented a need to just keep trudging along one foot after another. The image of them passing by the chruch window without even looking towards it tells me that you have to make your own way. The the comfort and assistance that you have always turned to is no longer available. Hence the shocked espression. You have to take it one day at a time. There is movement but very slowly almost to the point where you feel your not making any progress at all. The snow has always given me the feeling of being left out in the cold. No place to turn for comfort.

The nine of swords also is the feeling of being alone but alone with ones own thoughts and anxiety. There is no other time that this feeling of lonliness and anxiety can hit then at night. No distractions from your thoughts just the blackness and you. A feeling of being overwelmed by all that is hanging over you. With no help but from yourself.

Same theme as the 5 of pentacles.

[SeaPrism]

...darkness as illusion...

We are stuck because of what we CHOOSE not to do or see or decide or have... not the truth but what we believe.