Tarot of the Cat People correspondences
Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 02 Nov 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.
| _N_ |
02 Nov 2004 |
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OK, I hope this is the right place to ask this. In the Tarot of the Cat People, which I have the deck and book set of, I cannot find anything that specifically says which element the Suits correspond to. Does anyone know if the deck follows the usual RWS or if it does what some decks do, and puts Swords and Wands as they are supposed to be as Fire and Air (The RWS reversed them as a way of him keeping some of the Golden Dawn knowledge "secret", ie he kept his vow of secrecy by reversing them.)
This is all I get from the book and the LWB:
Swords are related to The Ruby Kingdowm and the Fire People (so you'd think it would mean sword are fire)
Wands are related to The Emerald Kingdom and the Sand People (don't know how that could mean air, possibly understand how it could mean fire...)
Cups are related to The Topaz Kingdom and the Salt People (which is really confusing as to how salt relates to water...)
Pentacles are related to The Sapphire Kingdom and the Rock People (Finally, one that is understandably earth...)
This is a beautiful deck which was actually bought for my husband, but not for him to use - he wanted a deck he liked to get his readings (by me) from. So I have to learn this deck and it would be really helpful to me to know what the correspondences for the suits are. It's so odd that it was left out of the books. And the descriptions of the people and kingdoms are such that the only one you can almost be sure was meant to be fire is Swords, but again, it's not clear. Especially since the deck is based on RWS imagery, I'd think it would keep the correspondences as well, but I must know for sure LOL.
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| HudsonGray |
02 Nov 2004 |
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I think that salt would relate to water if you think of it as 'ocean'.
As for the rest...you're on your own. I'm surprised the artist wasn't more specific in her book. I do know that she had planned on writing a novel about the characters on the card, set in the world the deck portrays, but she died before that was done (I think, she may have had it published right before she died, I'm not sure).
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| Kyrielle |
03 Nov 2004 |
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My best guess is that the universe of the Cat People abides by different laws than our own, hence the difficulty of applying the traditional correspondances to these suits.
Or you can just see it as an artistic liberty.
Or consider the elements of this deck Fire, Sand, Salt, and Rock. Forget about the usual four elements and see what you can come up with if you think of these as the four elements you have to work with using this deck.
I have to get this one back out...It's been put away too long.
Kyrielle
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| Lee |
03 Nov 2004 |
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Originally posted by Kyrielle
Or consider the elements of this deck Fire, Sand, Salt, and Rock. Forget about the usual four elements and see what you can come up with if you think of these as the four elements you have to work with using this deck. I think Kyriella's advice here is really the way to go.
-- Lee
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| _N_ |
03 Nov 2004 |
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Originally posted by Kyrielle
Or consider the elements of this deck Fire, Sand, Salt, and Rock. Forget about the usual four elements and see what you can come up with if you think of these as the four elements you have to work with using this deck.
Interesting take on it - and perhaps appropriate since the "mythology" that goes with the deck shows the people - ALL of them - as being tough as nails - no wishy washy watery types LOL. It would definately flavor the readings in a new way, and I find it significant that this is the deck my husband WANTED for his readings - he is a firey, gritty, salty, rock headed pain in the butt at times :P
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| Fulgour |
07 Nov 2004 |
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I believe that, in the same sense Catrin Finch is a Harp,
Karen Kuykendall ~ was a Cat... and the beauty of her
vision is fully within the expression of her artistic work.
How then shall we best relate to the elements of her four
Kingdoms ~ Ruby Swords, Emerald Wands, Topaz Cups,
and Sapphire Pentacles: see them in the eyes of her Cats.
Ruby and fire:
Swords are Air, as always, but now Red, like a Ruby held
to a flame at midnight, with the wild ferocity of the hunt.
Emerald and sand:
Wands are Fire, but with that doubly lit reflective aspect,
the magical night sight of the mysterious feline prowlers.
Topaz and salt:
Cups are Water, but now with the worn and smooth look
of river rocks, the cool dry essence of well washed stones.
Sapphire and rock:
Pentacles are Earth, though now with the dark wonderment
of richly scented grasses and soil, a moist and potent realm.
The enduring gifts of this deeply sensitive and tenderly playful
artist live on with us still, and her feral kingdoms remain ours.
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| _N_ |
07 Nov 2004 |
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Fulgour, very interesting take on it, I however, after re-reading the book and her stories about the people with an eye towards which should be which, have come up with something a little different.
Swords, being of the Fire People, the Fire People being from a land where there are constant volcanic emmissions, I am taking Swords to be associate with Fire.
Wands, being of the Sand People - this one was tough at first, but as one reads her stories about the people of Twahihic, there is so much association with what Air does there - sand storms, building and shifting of the dunes, etc. So I am taking this as Wands being associated with Air.
Cups, being of the Salt People - again, this was initially a tough one, but in part because of what HudsonGray said about salt and the ocean, and, again, from my re-reading of the information about them, I can see the Water association - one of their industries is the distillation of water and it is mentioned that one of the dangers is "quicksand" - a thin layer of salt crust over a pan of water - an interesting way to make an analogy to the emotional aspect of Water/Cups.
Pentacles, being of the Rock People, was, as I said, the only one that was clearly what it was supposed to be - you don't get much earthier than a Rock ;)
Thanks for all the input everyone - it helped me to be able to re-read the information with a different view and come up with the ideas above :D
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The Tarot of the Cat People correspondences thread was originally posted on 02 Nov 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.
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