Spirituality in the minors

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 03 Apr 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Butterfly	03 Apr 2003
Where do you feel spirituality fits in terms of the suits? It seems the minors cover all other elements of life but not spirituality. I'd always considered spirituality as part of cups- emotions, spirituality, water- it all seems to fit. But I've changed my mind,as I see it applying more to pentacles in my self readings. do you suppose that it fits into all suits? You know each person has a unique spirituality- for me it must be grounded and expressed in my everyday material world (very pentacles) while someone else might take an intellectual approach to their spirituality say- swords. Is the idea of a fifth suit, as in a number of decks, perhaps not such a crazy idea? Why do you suppose spirituality is not as explicitly covered? Or is it? In all of my years of tarot- I've never thought this through. Silly huh!

Astraea	04 Apr 2003
Butterfly, I think it's an excellent question and one which will elicit a wealth of thoughtful responses. First of all, spirituality is a subjective issue and -- as you say -- unique in its expression within each of us, so I do not believe that a universally agreed-upon answer to this question is possible. My personal view is that spirit precipitates through planes of greater and greater density, finally appearing as matter; so spirituality is inherent and accessible through all levels of experience -- and thus, all card suits. There are as many avenues of spiritual expression as there are people, which is why I believe that you are intuiting something valuable about your own spiritual nature when you recognize its appearance in the Pentacles. Some people equate the Major Arcana with ether, as a sort of "fifth suit," and the the matrix in which the minor arcana are embedded -- which is probably why the Majors are considered more "spiritual" than the minors. It has never seemed so to me. I think that the Majors represent archetypes in the Jungian sense of that word, as the tendency to experience life in certain ways; that tendency is eventually expressed through thoughts, images, symbol systems, and individual experience. It seems to me that as the archetypal or "pre-human" level or plane of consciousness takes shape in human beings, the synergy that occurs is the realization of spirit: meaning. In that sense, the minors are (for me) every bit as "spiritual" as the Majors -- and perhaps moreso, in that they represent experience that is accessible, tangible, and filled with the friction that produces growth.

Richard	04 Apr 2003
That IS a good question...two answers spring to mind immediately, but I'll be thinking about it more... 1) Cups are the spiritual suit, since if you match up the suits with the medieval classes, Cups equal the Clergy. 2) Spiritual ideas are not really present in the minors because the cards themselves are spiritual...any real representation of the spiritual side of life would thus be redundant. Both of these theories are rather facile...I'd like to see what other people have to say...

jema	04 Apr 2003
oh oh and oh!!! i was JUST reading a chapter from Rachels Pollacks book "forest of souls" where she mentions this. ok. page 153 if you got the book: "Danish tarotist Helle Agathe Beirholm describes the Minor Arcana as four ways to bring the spiritual principles of the Major Arcana into our lives. The idea really works in both directions, for the Mionr suit also describe four approaches to discover such principles." and then there is an example with a baby being born. how the element of water is our beginning in the womb, the fire is the way we burn food for energy, air for the first breath apart from the mother and how it opens up to a new world to explore and finally how it all takes place in the body, on the earth. the minors can be seen as a way to transform the purely spiritual to the physical. also a spirituality not grounding in the physical don't amount to a whole lot. for some their spiritualtity is expressed in emotions, the love they feel and give freely of, for some it is in studies, in trying to understand everything and learning and making connections - very "airy" for others it might be in creativity, that divine spark, the muse that guides their hand in expressing themselves. and for some it is in the body and in the earht, the growth of things, sensations, the touching and tasting of life.

firemaiden	04 Apr 2003
Beautiful question, beautiful answers. Nothing to add really... so many great things have been said already. I was thinking: Umbrae asks us "why do we read" and finds it important to make the distinction --- if we read for spiritual rather than secular reasons, than all the cards are about our quest for depth and meaning, our quest for "contact" with magic and mystery.... thus, just as any chinese fortune cookie can be morphed into something off-color if you add "between the sheets" .... so too we can read any card as an important aspect of the spiritual path (if we CHOOSE to). As we were discussing on the Will-the-Real-Masters-Please-Stand-up thread; there is always a deeper level to the cards. In the case of the decks designed by mystics, or psychics, or those deeply plunged into mystical quest, one has to assume the card has almost unsoundable depths... Read Aleister Crowley's Book of Thoth, and you will see how each card is meant to be a not just living breathing being, (here's where you sing the twighlight zone music), but also a magical object! Then, thanks to the Second Aeclectic Collaborative Tarot, in process, many of us have had the experience of designing tarot cards for the first time. I discovered (I did three cards) in the process of painting a card, you put yourself into it, you put all of your being into it, all of your images, all of your philosophical ideas, your experiences and memories... it is truly an amazing process, and what seems to happen is that the process of designing the card causes the meaning of it to unfold in your life.... So, with that in mind, I have to imagine, that any card which has been designed with love holds great potential for very profound, spiritual interpretation!!! Sometimes I have my doubts about the "Gummi bear Tarot" however...

Lee	04 Apr 2003
Several authors and deck creators define the suit of Wands as representing the spiritual, for example James Wanless in his Voyager Tarot, and Wiliam Lammey in his book "Karmic Tarot." Firemaiden, I'll bet if you tried, you would get very spiritual interpretations from the Gummi Bear Tarot! :D No, seriously! I think sometimes the more mundane a deck is, the greater the potential for spirituality. -- Lee

Kiama	04 Apr 2003
I don't think that any one suit, or in fact any of the cards have the specific relation to spirituality, since spirituality is so diverse and come sin all shapes and forms... I do think however that the cards shows us pathways to spiritual understanding, each and every one of them. Its a fairly abstract concept, so I've given up trying to explain it further... Its early morning and I am not thinking straight... Kiama

firemaiden	04 Apr 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Lee No, seriously! I think sometimes the more mundane a deck is, the greater the potential for spirituality. I like that, Lee. That makes sense, sort of like the plainer and simpler is the language in poetry, the greater its power... no poetic language was as simple as that of the "symbolist" Maeterlink -- the simplist phrases like "who are you?" managed to resonate on many planes of thought at the same time. A mundane tarot card gives the reader more flexibility, serves more as a vessel of thought, than as an imposed thought structure... BUT THERE IS NO WAY THAT I YOU ARE GOING TO GET ME TO BUY THAT STUPID GUMMI BEAR TAROT!!!!!!!

galadrial	04 Apr 2003
I find the minors more flexible in dealing with, well, minor, daily hassles than the Majors, but when spiritual guidance is called for they have ample imagery for that, as well. For instance, I was debating whether to call in sick for work and drew 3 minors (in a 3 card reading) that showed figures lying down- one was even sleeping! (Celtic Wisdom deck). But on occasions when I'm battling overspending or some other wordly problem with a spiritual root, I find the minors address the underlying spiritual problem- quite bluntly at times!

Silverlotus	04 Apr 2003
I've never really thought about which suit seemed to be the most concerned with spirituality. I've always seen using tarot cards as an act of spirituality, and the readings themselves bring this spirituality into the mundane situations of everyday life. Now that I am thinking about it, I think Butterfly has a good point in saying that each suit could represent spirituality, as each person comes to their spirituality in a different way. I find spirituality through the physical, books, etc., making Pentacles my spiritual suit. And that makes perfect sense. A person who comes to spirituality through emotions could see the Cups as spiritual, etc. Maybe all the cards, Majors and Minors alike, have an element of spirituality to them. In life, one nevers knows what even will trigger a spiritual experience, so wouldn't the cards refect that?

Inana	04 Apr 2003
Interesting idea... I like your thoughts on it. Had not much to add. I agree that its the way you approach spirituality you can find more suitable one suit or another. Having this point of view, swords is what seems to fit better to me. Spirituality has a lot to do with mind and thinking, learning... and cause the air is the more etereal and intangible element, like spirituality. Anyways, all suits are carrying a part that covers all the spiritual aspect on our lives. And the whole tarot represents spirituality itself.

Inana	04 Apr 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Richard 1) Cups are the spiritual suit, since if you match up the suits with the medieval classes, Cups equal the Clergy. Just curious about this idea. What are the other matches you make between suits and medieval classes?

miranda	04 Apr 2003
Quote: Originally posted by galadrial I find the minors more flexible in dealing with, well, minor, daily hassles than the Majors, but when spiritual guidance is called for they have ample imagery for that, as well. For instance, I was debating whether to call in sick for work and drew 3 minors (in a 3 card reading) that showed figures lying down- one was even sleeping! (Celtic Wisdom deck). But on occasions when I'm battling overspending or some other wordly problem with a spiritual root, I find the minors address the underlying spiritual problem- quite bluntly at times! did u call in sick?

Richard	04 Apr 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Inana Just curious about this idea. What are the other matches you make between suits and medieval classes? Wands (Clubs) are the peasantry, Swords are, I think, the nobility, and Pentacles (Coins) are the merchants. There are probably other permutations, but this is the one I've come across.

galadrial	06 Apr 2003
Quote: Originally posted by miranda did u call in sick? You bet I did! I was fairly sick but wanted to spare as many sick days as I could in case I got very sick- the reading was just what I needed to decide the issue. I wish advice on "worldly problems with a spiritual root" were as easy to apply:-)

Logiatrix	07 Apr 2003
butterfly, here's a book that gives a refreshing perspective of the minor arcana: "Tarot and the Tree of Life" by Isabel Radow Kliegman. the author parallels each of the minors to each of the "sefirot" on the kabbalaistic tree of life. i have found this to be a very spiritual application. also, if you're just looking for a generally good tarot-read, this book is worthy of a perusal. :)

The Spirituality in the minors thread was originally posted on 03 Apr 2003 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.