Alignment

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 22 Oct 2001, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Greenman	22 Oct 2001
i'm wondering how everyone feels about the different alignments you find in different decks. most decks are aligned with 'swords' (blades, etc) as air and 'wands' (staves, etc) as fire. i prefer this method, as it fits in with my magickal practice. but some decks, such as the Haindl for example, reverse this. any thoughts?

Jane	22 Oct 2001
Hi again, I too prefer the swords/air, wands/fire alignment. Perhaps it's because of my deck preference. My fist deck was the RWS, but I got the Thoth deck very soon after and have been working with that since. It's kind of funny because I do collect other decks also, and many of my favorites switch the attribution. I've tried working with them some, but this always throws me off. Jane

nexyjo	22 Oct 2001
this has been an on going discussion for quite some time. it's a shame that some of the older threads were lost when the forum went down... anyway, i used to prefer swords/fire and wands/air, as that is the correspondance i use in my spiritual practices. however, i've become used to it the traditional way, which is swords/air and wands/fire. what i found interesting, is that in decks that do use the reverse, typically do not change card meanings to follow the elements. that i could never figure out... in any event, i don't have a preference either way - i've learned to work equally well with either alignment. luv and light, nexy

Kiama	23 Oct 2001
For me, I find it very difficult working with a deck that takes Swords to be Fire. I think they are Air, mainly cuz th eSwords represent the sharp wits of the mind, and of course, they slice through air. Wands represent Fire for me, cuz they seem to be very passionate, and of course, the Ace of Wands is very much the male phallus, which is far from Airy.... Look at the Robin Wood deck and notice the two sunflowers very nicely placed on each side of the Wand.... Now let your mind drift.... And realise just how tongue in cheek it really is! (Thanks to tarotbear for pointing it out to me!) Kiama

Jane	23 Oct 2001
Quote: nexyjo (23 Oct, 2001 02:44): [snip] what i found interesting, is that in decks that do use the reverse, typically do not change card meanings to follow the elements. that i could never figure out... Hi, I've noticed this too. I work with elemental dignities when I read and I think that's part of my problem in making the switch. Maybe I'll figure it out someday, but for now I find plenty of complexity in the Thoth deck to keep me learning it for quite a while. Jane

The Alignment thread was originally posted on 22 Oct 2001 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.