Story in the Minors too...?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 11 Nov 2001, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kiama	11 Nov 2001
Y'know how there is a distinctive story in the Major Arcana cards if you put them in order? Well, I was wondering if thre was one in each suit of Minor Arcana cards if they are in order. For instance, could there be a story of the basic outline of relationships on the Cups? Kiama

marichan	11 Nov 2001
Quote: Y'know how there is a distinctive story in the Major Arcana cards if you put them in order? Well, I was wondering if the was one in each suit of Minor Arcana cards if they are in order. For instance, could there be a story of the basic outline of relationships on the Cups? Well, I'd say someone could probably create one if it didn't already exist. Two decks I can think of off the top of my head that capitalized on that idea are the Art Nouveau Tarot and Mythic Tarot. The Art Nouveau tarot uses a different couple for each suit, and tells their story via the 10 cards (the court cards are not part of the story). The Mythic Tarot does the same. It uses a myth to illustrate the meanings of each set of numbered minor arcana. For example, the story of Cupid & Psyche is used for the cups. Jason and the Argonauts provides the story for the wands. Once again, the court cards are seperate. I don't think there could be a story from suite to suite for the simple reason that there's no univeral agreement of what order the Suites are in. -Mari (who's weekend has ended on a high note :-D )

Lee	11 Nov 2001
In one of the volumes of the Encyclopedia of Tarot (I don't remember which one, I'm moving and my books are all packed up so I can't check), Stuart Kaplan says that people have speculated that the Rider-Waite Minor suits each relate a story, starting with the 10 and ending with the 2. He gives an example of one or two of the suits. I think I recall that each suit tells the story of a family. I think the Swords suit began with murder (the 10), and in the 7 and 6 the mother escapes with her child, who eventually leaves her (the 3), and she ends up alone (the 2). If I could get the book out, I'd quote exactly what Kaplan says. Maybe after I get unpacked next week I'll do that. -- Lee

Mojo	11 Nov 2001
The LWB that comes with the Lo Scarabeo Secret Tarots does tell a story for each of the suits of the minor arcana. This deck is quite a departure from the Waite-Smith deck, so the story wouldn't be appropriate for other decks, but I did find the concept appealing. The deck itselfs tends to be quite dark and surrealistic, but I find it gives me great insight. I never do readings for anyone with it, but I will often use the deck to recreate spreads I've done when I want more insight into them.

january	11 Nov 2001
This is pretty cosmic!! Just the other day, I pulled out all of the wands in my RW deck, put them in order from ace to 10 and tried to make out some kind of continuous story within the suit. What brought me to this in the first place are each of the suit symbols on the Magician's table and how they must (in some way) birth to a story of the cups, wands, etc. Similar to how the Magician himself is the fools' first encounter and leads him through the major arcana. I'm pretty new to tarot so I thought that this would help me learn, but I put it aside. I think I'll revisit this now. - january

Jeanette	12 Nov 2001
The Renaissance tarot deck I have by Brian Williams does this with the minors. "Four classical myth cycles form the basis of the numbered cards of the four suits. An interlocking four-part system of planets, constellations, seasons and so on, based on the four elements, has been imposed on the court cards." That's from the LWB. It's a very pretty deck, but I'm not accustomed to it yet. I keep trying, though!

purplelady	28 Nov 2001
Quote: Lee (12 Nov, 2001 10:07): In one of the volumes of the Encyclopedia of Tarot (I don't remember which one, I'm moving and my books are all packed up so I can't check), Stuart Kaplan says that people have speculated that the Rider-Waite Minor suits each relate a story, starting with the 10 and ending with the 2. He gives an example of one or two of the suits. I think I recall that each suit tells the story of a family. I think the Swords suit began with murder (the 10), and in the 7 and 6 the mother escapes with her child, who eventually leaves her (the 3), and she ends up alone (the 2). If I could get the book out, I'd quote exactly what Kaplan says. Maybe after I get unpacked next week I'll do that. -- Lee I hadn't heard of that story before , but it just might make sense. I've never quite been content with any explainations I've heard of Why the 9's and especially the 10's of the 4 suits differ so much in positive or negative energy.If you look at the other numbers in the minors , the majority agree . For instance ,all the aces are generally thought of as positive. The 6's are usually happy, the 5's all negative. It still doesn't seem logical to me that pentacles(earth )and cups(water) end up all joyful, and wands(fire) and swords(air) end in destruction .............

Lee	30 Nov 2001
Okay, here's the quote from Kaplan's Encyclopedia of Tarot, Vol. 1 (not vol. 3 as I had thought). He doesn't list his source for this, and he only recounts the full story for the Swords suit. Here goes: "Interestingly, both the Rider-Waite tarot pack and the Royal Fez present a continuous story through the sequence of the cards in each suit. The three highest court cards in the suit of swords comprise a family of father, mother and eldest son. The king of swords is the father, the queen is the mother, and the son is the knight. A young lad in servitude to the knght appears as the page. In the 10 of Swords, the son is killed and the 9 of Swords shows a grieving sister sitting up in bed after a dream has reveald to her the terrible fate of her brother. The sister seeks to revenge her brother's death, and in the 8 of Swords she is captured and shown bound and blindfolded. In the 7 of Sowrds, the page appears with swords symbolizing that help is on its way, and in the 6 of Swords the sister and her young son are rescued by the page, who is also her lover. The page is now a warrior, and in the 5 of Swords he is shown with the swords of his craft. In time, the page is also stricken by the sword and killed, 4 of Swords, which causes much sadness as evidenced by the broken heart pierced by three swords in the 3 of Swords. The 2 of Swords shows the widow in mourning with swords of defiance and her eyes blindfolded to the way of peace, for she seeks revenge. The Ace of Swords emerges from a cloud, emphasizing that those who live by the sword are apt to die by it. "The suit of staves or clubs depicts the story of a family divided between the traditional ways and modern methods. Its moral is that harmony and progress are best attained when the old and new work together. The suit of cups reveals the paths to happiness and the search of two brothers for companionship. The suit of coins relates to the story of a wealthy family and the temptations and alternatives afforded them by the luxuries of wealth." Needless to say, I think Kaplan or whoever wrote these stories is speculating, and I think it's highly doubtful that Pamela Colman Smith had any such stories in mind when she drew the cards. -- Lee

The Story in the Minors too...? thread was originally posted on 11 Nov 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.