Aquarian tarot symbols

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 23 Jun 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

blashamma	23 Jun 2004
I was recently looking through my Aquarian Tarot by Palladini and I noticed things I just never really payed much attention to before. Besides his untraditional versions of the moon, the sun, the lovers, temperance, the chariot, strength, and the star... besides all of that, I found a few cards that had things in the I thought were somewhat strange. I the 3 of cups, I noticed that of the three women, one was looking off to the side, one was looking straight at me, and one was faced away. This seemed sort of strange, because none of them seemed to be ingaged with each other besides their hold the cups together. In the high priestess, she seems to be staring oddly at a wilting flower she is holding. Also, way in the background, there is a house or castle or something nestled in the hills. In the death card, there are two towers, one on either side of the sun. I know this is in the Rider-Waite Tarot though. In the 6 of swords, I noticed that the figure head was that of a quail. And in the ten of pentacles, eventhough the man and woman are turned away and apparently content, the small child next to them is turned towards us with what seems maybe like a worried or curious look. I only have one more deck to compare to, and it is very simplistic and has few symvols at all. So I'm not sure if these other things appear in other decks (despite what I've mentioned). I was wondering if there is some hidden meaning in these symbols, or even if they appear in other decks.

Le_Corsair	24 Jun 2004
This is the reason that they sell companion books, and also why so many different decks are sold. Tarot is interepreted differently by well nigh everyone, once you get past the tyranny of book interpretations. I don't have the companion book for the Aquarian, but one does exist, and it presumably details the symbolism involved in the deck. Palladini did another deck later in his career, and explains in the LWB about his reasons for changing the symbolisms from his Aquarian deck. Part of the charm of collecting decks is to find that perfect deck that suits your own reading style, and in which the symbols are simpatico with your personality. Most people will further tell you that they haven't yet found that perfect deck, since the rules are: 1. The perfect deck is the one that you don't have and desperately want; and 2. Once you have acquired that deck, see rule 1. :joke: Bob :THERM

blashamma	24 Jun 2004
good rules to follow! always leads to despair! ha ha ha! I didn't know there was a companion book to the Aquarian. I guess I haven't thought of it much. It did come with a long folded piece of paper that has a a couple of sentences about the meaning of the cards. I read somewhere... was it here?.. that the Aquarian was bades on the Rider-Waite, but as popular as that set is, I've never seen them. Well, I've seen the deck for sale and I've seen various pictures. I wonder if I can find pictures of the corresponding cards in the r-w set and compare with the Aquarian. Well, mainly I was just wondering what other people thought of these things in the cards and if anyone else has ever thought of them. I guess I should have just said that in the first place eh? ha ha ha!

northsea	24 Jun 2004
The Aquarian minors are based on the RiderWaite pictures, but the majors are really based on the meanings much more than the pictures, so I don't think of it as a RW clone. The quail on the 6 of Swords boat is like the hood ornament of a viking ship. Several decks use a similar design.

babyd	24 Jun 2004
ON the 3 of Cups you mention the women facing in different directions........................They may be facing that way to show they represent past present and future. babyd

lark	24 Jun 2004
Hi blashamma, Three of Cups~ The book says that the three women are facing different directions because they are toasting each other. The middle cup has a different design on it to represent unity and the steps it took for them to elevate their friendship to this level.

The Aquarian tarot symbols thread was originally posted on 23 Jun 2004 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.