Struggle with the Sacred Circle

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 17 May 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Aerin	17 May 2002
I just got this deck, and I do love the pictures. Not so sure about the key words, but I think I can cope ;) The one thing which is bothering me is the Majors. Two things in particular stand out: 1. There is a High Priest card which looks like the Heirophant and also has an aspect of passing on teachings but which the book says is the same meaning as the Magician. There is a Druid card which is seated in front of a table with all the usual Magician stuff on it, yet the book says this card is the equated with the Heirophant. (Also something about teaching and passing on lore in the card description) Anyone else run into this? What did you do? I'm tempted to go with the archetypes I know, these two seem a bit muddled up together to me. 2. The Strength card shows a fierce warrior woman in black leather. I can't quite reconcile this with my understanding of Strength as being more about inner power than expressions of outer power. Now, I have only got the deck yesterday and I asked it about my relationship with it and my Tarot studies. I got: (past) High Priest (present)The Warrior , (future) The Star, (summary/ advice) Queen of Discs. I interpret this as saying that my previous knowledge of Tarot is affecting me, and so I am fighting the deck, yet I live in hope that it will be very useful for me. And that the way to make it useful is plenty of practice. Funny huh? Two of my problem cards within the reading about the deck!!!!!! Help and comments very much appreciated Aerin

Liliana	17 May 2002
This has been discussed before, and i believe many people reverse the High Priest and the Druid. So go ahead and do it. I cantsay i can help youmuch with the leather clad strength card,other than aye to say she has to have the inner strength to wear such an outfit lol :THP

WolfSpirit	20 May 2002
I also just got the Sacred Circle, I loved the pictures but I haven't tried reading with it yet, I was just drooling over the deck. Only problem is: it makes me want to pack my bags and rush of to Ireland ;) I also use the Celtic tarot by De Burgh and that also has the Druid instead of the Hierophant, so I don't find that confusing. I agree with you on the Strength card: the deck has so many animals on the cards, and this card does not have the lion (well, she does have a badger with her-maybe this counts as a dangerous animal LOL) I also find the Web (Justice) confusing... But I think I love the Shaman (sounds great anyway ;)) If you really love this deck you'll read OK once you're acustomed to it. I 'm not readiing with it, I just choose a card I like to contemplate. It's really a great deck for that. Enjoy your deck and give it some time, it has very much a character of its own !

Phoenix	20 May 2002
I personally just eversed the cards. The imagery on the Druid fits with the Magician.

Aerin	21 May 2002
Thank you for all your comments. They have given me the courage to go with what feels right for me rather than be constrained by the book. Killer Badger. Hmmmmm. Aerin

Bings	21 May 2002
The High Priest and the Druid really confused me at first. So I also switched them. The Warrior card I really don't like. But I love the deck as a whole. Dianne

The Struggle with the Sacred Circle thread was originally posted on 17 May 2002 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.