Elemental Switches

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 03 Dec 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Silverlotus	03 Dec 2002
Some decks use the Fire/Wand, Air/Sword association. Other decks use Air/Wand, Fire/Sword. But often the means for the "switched" suits remain the same, or very similiar. Why is that? I also came across an interesting quote regarding elemental attirbutes, and I was wondering if anyone could explain just exactly what's what. “One other point: in the presentation of the symbols of the elements, we attribute the Wand to Air, and the Sword to Fire. This is the tradition which we follow – but others attribute the Wand to Fire and the Sword to Air. The Wand/Fire, Sword/Air attribution was a deliberate ‘blind’ perpetrated by the early Golden Dawn, which has unfortunately not yet died a natural death; it seems to us contrary to the obvious nature of the tools concerned. However, many people have been brought up to believe that the ‘blind’ was the genuine tradition, so that by now, for them, it feels right.” ~ J. & S. Farrar, A Witches Bible Complete, Part 1: The Sabbats, pg. 161 I realise that some people are uncomfortable with fire being Wands, as fire would consume a wand. But what do the Farrar's mean by saying it was a blind perpetrated by the GD. Why would they do so?

Pollux	03 Dec 2002
I suggest searching for this topic, it's a very frequent matter of discussion... ;) Talking Tarot and Using Tarot Cards.

Diana	03 Dec 2002
Silverlotus: I think that it is not a Golden Dawn tradition only, that Swords and Air are linked together. All the books I own, for instance, on the Marseilles decks - French books, some of whose authors have probably never even more than glanced at a Golden Dawn type of deck (Thoth or Rider Waite) link the two together. It is true, however, that the tradition of the Golden Dawn has taken a strong hold over the imagination of Tarot enthusiasts in certain parts of the world. I wonder why sometimes. Perhaps it's magic(k) :P :D

Laurel	03 Dec 2002
Supposedly, to protect Inner Order secret occult knowledge and to "test" the discerning abilities of those seeking to be adepts, the founders of the Golden Dawn provided false information regarding the tarot in the early knowledge lectures and Waite's tarot was published with misleading and incomplete symbolism. Supposedly, one of the tricks was this elemental switch. But I've never seen original GD doccumentation on this, only heresay that a few people who studied under original GD teachers were told such by their teachers.... nothing really proveable one way or another. I have studied this and disagree that the elemental juxtapositioning was a deliberate "blind". Instead, I believe that different occult authorities, with equitable knowledge and understanding, created effective but opposing correspondences. Waite's tarot being published with misleading and incomplete symbolism has been pretty well proven and something he himself never denied. He took his oaths of secrecy to the order seriously. However, since the days of Waite, almost all the Golden Dawn doccuments have been made public and the "secret knowledge" is out there for all to utilize as they please. In the end, Swords=Air or Swords=Fire isn't an Absolute Truth, its a mythical or subjective one and therefore, ultimately, any insistence on trying to prove one is better than the other will fail. Laurel

The Elemental Switches thread was originally posted on 03 Dec 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.