Aha cards!!

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 13 Jun 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Maan	13 Jun 2002
Hello All, There are so many decks out there ( and i want them all LOL ) Not every deck is original but in every decks there are some cards that jump out. The one's you think that make you think Aha!!! Fore me that where for emxample: The 6 of cups from the secret tarot wich pictures a child on a swing! The judgement card from the Whimisical tarot with jeremy cricket whispering in the ear of Pinnocio Or the five of swords wich shows a person on a rescue raft survival of the fittest ;) A can go one fore ages here!! But i won't LOL So What are your Aha cards?

SharonElizabeth	13 Jun 2002
One "ah-hah" card for me is the three of swords from the ancient egyptian deck which features and woman sitting on a bed, with her face buried in her arm and a man coldly standing at the window and looking out. On the floor is a rose with several petals falling off. http://www.wicce.com/ancientegypt.jpg That's the link to some images from that deck on www.wicce.com.

Houklani	14 Jun 2002
The Wheel of Fortune card on the Fantastical Tarot is the one that I think got me hooked, though all of the Major Arcana are fabulous. Also, the Queen of Wands of the Fantastical Tarot. And let's not forget the Japanese cards in the Ancestral Paths deck! Smiles, Houklani

aeonx	14 Jun 2002
Hi Maan. :) (Hm. Every time I see you handle, I think of the King of Cups! ;) ) I can't remember with the other decks I have, since I've only used the Hanson-Roberts the last months. If you remember my post My deck told me a secret, I wrote about one day when the Ace of Cups jumped out of the deck. Follow the link if you want the rest of the story. It's seldom a card jums out this way. And it's as exiting every single time! :D ~aeonx~

Starfish	14 Jun 2002
Not so much a particular deck, but I find myself drawn to the Star card of pretty much any deck I look at. I just love the symbolism in it and the glowing star... As for cards that just seem to jump out (literally), the Queen of Swords seems to hop out of my deck on a near-bout daily basis. The things she's trying to tell me... I hope I can figure them all out soon! :TQS Starfish

Pollux	14 Jun 2002
Mh... I think it depends on the Deck. My decks/Cards VISCONTI-GOLD: Fool, Magician, Ace of Cups TAROCCHI CELTICI (Tuan): a present... so nothing really. But I liked the Empress/Brigantia BOSCH: Empress (again), Lovers AQUARIAN: High Priestess, Empress, Lovers, Star, Judgement... GILL: High Priestess, Hemrit, Death, 5/King of Cups, 9/10 of Swords... VISION QUEST: Justice, Devil, Ace of Cups, 10 of Pentacles... COSMIC: High Priestess, Lovers, Wheel... There are some cards I look for when I want to investigate about decks: mainly Fool, Magician, High Priestess, Empress, Lovers, Hermit, Wheel, sometimes Hanged Man, Star, Moon & Sun, Ace of Cups, 9 of Swords...

jema	14 Jun 2002
ancestral path - 3 of swords, this is where i for the first time saw that the separation didn't have to be heartbreak in the "ordinary" sense of the word. spiral tarot - lots and lots of cards, 5 of swords have been mentioned already, 3 of coins, 3 of swords, the deck is filled with aha cards (by the way - this deck is hardly ever mentioned on this forum, am i the only one using it?) spirit tarot - 5 of cups, a bit abstract but at one point in time this was the card that helped me heal.

raeanne	14 Jun 2002
Two of my "Aha" cards are: Devil – Robin Wood High Priestess – Cosmic Tribe It doesn’t matter which deck I am reading with, if the Devil card comes up, in my head I see the Robin Wood picture. If the HP card shows up, I think of the Cosmic Tribe picture. Those two images just really fit for me.

Jewel	14 Jun 2002
I have way too many AHA cards in the Cosmic Tribe to mention ... the 4 of Disks being one that I really needed! Another card that was an AHA for me and has left an everlasting impression is the Wheel of Fortune of the Spiral ... I love the use of the 3 Fates. I know I have tons of others, but at the moment I cannot recall them.

Maan	14 Jun 2002
Hi Aeonx! your connected to the king of cups in my mind forever ;) The Hanson Roberts is great! When i do readings for others the deck likes to tell me stuff before i begin the reading by the jumping cards! Jema your certainly not the only one using the Spiral! I don't use it often but some but its a great deck! And some cards like the cards you mentioned are just IMO purely brilliant!!!!! I just love to read all of the stories here. It makes me whanna buy more decks ;)

Jeannette	14 Jun 2002
Maan: This is a wonderful thread -- actually, finding "Aha" cards, as you so aptly and concisely put it, is one of my personal favorite tarot activities! :) I actually did one of my tarot presentations on a very similar topic, several years ago. In the hour I was given to make my presentation, I only had time to cover the majors (and even then, it ran a bit long). But here's a few of the cards I chose for that presentation. If I were to do the presentation again today, I'm sure my list would be at least somewhat different, with so many new decks becoming available on an almost daily basis! - Fool: Servants of the Light Tarot - Aha! aspect: The fact that the Fool is walking through a door into midair, as opposed to stepping off a cliff. - Magician: Yeager Tarot of Meditation - Aha! aspect: The painting behind the Magician, which depicts him in the exact same scene and pose we see in the foreground, including the painting itself, which also includes the painting, and so on an so on, in the manner of the "infinite mirrors" illusion. - Empress: Mythic Tarot (Shaman and Burke) - Aha! aspect: The Empress' crown, which is actually composed of small buildings, comprising a town or city. - Hierophant: The Arthurian Tarot (Matthews) - Aha! aspect: The use of the bard Taliesin as the card's central figure, and the ribbons which appear from behind his chair, passing through his hands into the hands of the children who sit at his feet. - Lovers: The Jungian Tarot (Wang) - Aha! aspect: It's not the Lovers card alone that comprises the "Aha!" here -- it's the Lovers card when compared directly to the Devil card in this deck. If you don't own this deck, and aren't familiar with these cards, you can see them side-by-side in my sample Tarot Garden scans at: http://www.tarotgarden.com/database/dbsearchengine.php?view_title=jungian - Chariot: Tarot of the Old Path - Aha! aspect: The use of four horses instead of two, with each horse representing one of the four elements. - Strength: The Witches Tarot (Reed) - Aha! aspects: The unclothed woman, with the lion licking her face; the snake gently trapped under the lion's paw. - Moon: The Elemental Tarot (Smith & Astrop) - Aha! aspects: The mask in front of the moon, casting a shadow upon the waters below; the subtle but strongly feminine-aspect symbolism of the stone arch with the hills in the background. And finally, also my absolute favorite Aha! card of all time: - Devil: Robin Wood Tarot!!! Raeanne: I'm in complete agreement with you here. I know I've already gone on too long, even with my abridged list. But I can't resist adding a brief discussion of this card here, because I've found that even people who've worked with the Wood tarot regularly for some time have missed one of the most fascinating symbolic aspects of this card. I know that with this group, I don't need to point out the significance of the fact that there is actually no actual devil or demonic figure depicted on this card. What I find even more interesting, however, in the inclusion of a reference to the "monkey trap" tale, shown as an etched carving in the side of the treasure chest. For those of you who may not be familiar with the story of the "monkey trap" (which I assumed was widely known, but have subsequently come to discover quite a few people who hadn't heard of it), here's the general gist: Supposedly, there are places in Africa where monkeys are "trapped" using a simple trick. Peanuts or some other desirable "treat" are placed into a hollow tree or log with a small opening. The opening is just large enough for the monkey to reach in, with outstretched fingers, and grab the treat. However, once the monkey grasps the food, the opening is no longer large enough to allow him to remove his balled-up fist. So, the monkey is trapped." Of course, the monkey could free himself by simply letting go of the food. But instead, he clings stubbornly to his "treasure," unable to remove his hand from the hole, and thus remains a prisoner of his own making. I'll wrap up my extended comments here, but it's been a real treat to read what others have already shared on this thread, and I look forward to reading what others will add as the discussion continues. -- Jeannette http://www.tarotgarden.com

cricket	14 Jun 2002
Two that pop out at me in almost every single deck I've seen are the Strength and th eDevil. Maybe it's because they've been my cards to work on for a while now. Who knows?

Emily	17 Jun 2002
Aha cards for me would have to be, from the Spiral tarot:- The Empress, The World, The Moon, Death, The Sun, The Lovers, The Star and The Devil. Usually because everytime I look at these cards I see something new lol

napaea	17 Jun 2002
This is a fun thread! Great idea. Some of my "aha" cards are: from the Osho Zen: High Priestess. Queen of Cups. Magician. from the Vampire Tarot: Justice. High Priestess. Knight of Cups (he's hot). Emperor. I seem to connect to the High Priestess in almost all the decks i have or have looked through. And though I am a Taurus and technically my significator should be Queen of Pentacles, I'm almost always more connected to the Queen of Cups. (not that this matters, cause i still don't use significators yet - aaahhh! scary!) napaea

Jenny-Li	18 Jun 2002
I like the Robin Wood-devil, but the World Spirit one did the "clicking" for me. Hm... It IS kind of "loudly explicit", isn't it... But then, here's another aspect: I got a clear AHA!-sensation from the 6 of cups from Universal Waite just a couple of weeks ago, after I've watched that card about a million times. But they keep coming up with NEW aha-experiences for us, don't they? That happens to me every now and then, but always when I least expect it! Jenny :)

catlin	18 Jun 2002
I still stumble across the heavy muscled guys in green slips which are depicted on the 2 of Pentacles and the 8 of Pentacles in the Cannon Reed Witches deck. Cannon Reed also depicted the 2 of cups in a very unusual way: ayoung blonde couple is climbing on a steep rock, The woman is nearly on top although she carries the 2 cups whereas her partner is empty-handed but has a hellish pain to catch up with her. He is struggling to climb the rock whereas she seemed to be at leasure and quite at ease.

Jewel	18 Jun 2002
Jeannette, I loved your post! very thorough. The Robin Wood Devil is also one of my favorites, it was the one card that taught me that the devil was about giving into temptation and "making your own bed and lying in it". A total AHA! card. Another card in that deck that was an AHA! for me was the Judgement card where the woman/phoenix rises out of the cauldron. Love that card! The Chariot, Illusion (Moon), and Karma cards in the Tarot of the Old Path were other AHA! cards. The Chariot is real interesting because it is the careful balance of the charioteer that maintains the elemental balance. And finally Jeanette, I love the side by side of the Lovers and Devil in the Jungian. I have wanted that deck for a long long time ... too bad it is OOP because now it probably costs an arm and a leg to get it!

Jeannette	18 Jun 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Jewel ...The Chariot, Illusion (Moon), and Karma cards in the Tarot of the Old Path were other AHA! cards. The Old Path "Illusion" card is a very original and unique execution of the Moon symbolism. It has so many interesting elements -- what in particular was the AHA! for you? Or was it just everything together in concert that "clicked" for you? Quote: The Chariot is real interesting because it is the careful balance of the charioteer that maintains the elemental balance. I'm very much "into" trying to understand how the major arcana cards relate to one another. Seeing the Charioteer reigning in those four "opposing" elemental strengths suddenly clarified (for me) the difference between the concept of "power" as represented by the "Magician" card (latent power invoked and directed) and the "Chariot" card (active power harnessed and directed). Quote: And finally Jeanette, I love the side by side of the Lovers and Devil in the Jungian. Again, it was quite an "AHA" in my early tarot studies to see the relationship between those two cards drawn out so clearly -- the opposing energies of free will or "choice," as it were. Quote: I have wanted that deck for a long long time ... too bad it is OOP because now it probably costs an arm and a leg to get it! Unfortunately, despite having been distributed in North America, Germany and France, it is surprisingly difficult to find copies on the secondary market -- espeically considering it was a mass-market release. The Jungian is neck-and-neck with Folchi's "Ferrara" deck as the #1 item requested through the Tarot Garden search service. -- Jeannette http://www.tarotgarden.com

Jeannette	18 Jun 2002
Oh, I probably should have made the offer to provide scans of any of the mentioned cards, if anyone would like to see them. If anyone wants to see a particular card, just make a post about which one you'd like to see. -- Jeannette http://www.tarotgarden.com

Kyrielle	24 Jun 2002
I like the Gendron Lovers and Justice, the Haindl Hermit, and the Wheel of Change Hermit and World. My favorite 2 of Pentacles is from the Robin Wood. The Karma Tarot 9 of Swords is a really great original variation on the traditional meaning. In the Hudes deck I like the High Priestess with her blank book and dress full of words, Strength with her infinity-sign made of birds, the Hanged Man because of the faces in the tree, and the Star because it's so different from Star cards in other decks. -- Kyrielle

The Aha cards!! thread was originally posted on 13 Jun 2002 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.