Elements and learning

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 02 Apr 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

ros	02 Apr 2005
What elements are you comfortable with? Water, Fire, Earth, Air Do you think this makes a difference with learning Tarot? If we have problems - with Cups do you think it is with water as in afraid of water, lakes or swimming - with Wands ~ being afraid of strong energy or fire - with Earth ~ not an outdoors person or not being grounded - with Air ~ being too grounded and not changing as air moves things or ideas. I am low on energy and like water but not being in the middle of the lake. I found that Pentacles and Swords were easier for me to learn, but then I'm also an earthy type person who likes to think about all different angles in a situation. Of course the more we learn with Tarot, I feel we understand and balance ourselves out. Have you ever thought about this or am I way off here! LOL

Enchanted	02 Apr 2005
Very interesting question and not one I had thought about. I had always thought about the elements in terms of astrology, like what was in my birth chart as to what I could relate to. In my chart I lack Air and I do think that I if I think of it in terms of the 'Queens' I find the Queen of Swords the hardest to manifest. In terms of the suits as a whole I have found that the ones that I find easiest to relate to, from that point forward, are the ones which I can relate to a personal experience or lesson learnt. If you are an earthy person who likes to think about things from different angles then sure these would be the cards that you relate to the easiest. ros wrote: Of course the more we learn with Tarot, I feel we understand and balance ourselves out. Absolutely! :) All the elements are 100% necessary. it's maintaining that balance that proves the most difficult! Aaaaah the circle of life!

psychic sue	03 Apr 2005
I love the Cups. Water is my element anyway as I am a pisces with cancer rising. I found the cups very easy to learn too. I learned 20 odd years ago on a Swiss 1JJ deck, which had no picture pip cards, but the cups came very easily to me. The hardest to learn, for me, were the wands. I always used to think the 2 and 3 of wands were the same message. Of course, I am now older and much wiser! Thanks for the great question. Sue x

Fudugazi	03 Apr 2005
This question implies there is only one possible suit-element attribution - which is far from being the case. I have recently been working with some Spanish tarots in which Swords are water. Now I am a water person: and I am finding it quite easy to adapt to swords as water :). In this system, cups are air. Which is turning round my way of seeing entirely and is quite a challenge for me - but actually a welcome one: as it allows me to see the emotions from a lighter, more spiritual air-bound perspective. In other systems, swords are fire: which also makes sense to me. They are hot and forged in fire. I have trouble with swords as air. In yet another (Tarot de la Réa, Alain Bocher) coins are fire! And that I have trouble with though I understand the rationale. Wands (batons) are earth, because alone of all the suis, staffs are not man-made but grow from the earth. This makes absolute sense to me, and gives me a far more energetic idea of the earth. So I think the question asked is actually far more complicated- but also even more interesting - than it at first appears!

Fulgour	03 Apr 2005
ros wrote: What elements are you comfortable with? Water, Fire, Earth, Air FIRE = Big Yang AIR = Little Yang WATER = Big Yin EARTH = Little Yin Yang & Yang get along Yin & Yin get along But what about "opposites" Yin & Yang? "Opposite" Bigs & Littles get along! Little Yin Earth gets along with Big Yang Fire, and because Earth and Water get along fine, Fire and Water can be bridged through Earth. Etc :) Etc

psychic sue	04 Apr 2005
Water and Earth, once mixed, (mud) become very hard to separate. Water puts out fire, unless one or the other is contained. Just my 2p ! Sue

Fudugazi	04 Apr 2005
psychic sue wrote: Water and Earth, once mixed, (mud) become very hard to separate. That's how pottery is made. Practical and beautiful. Artistic and useful. :) psychic sue wrote: Water puts out fire, unless one or the other is contained. In which case fire makes water boil and steam, and we can have a cuppa together (in a cup made with water and earth). ;) Air, of course, is everywhere. It carries dreams and songs, thoughts and the smell of home cooking. We breathe it in and out every few seconds and whistle it out when we are happy.

MercyMe	04 Apr 2005
Helvetica wrote: That's how pottery is made. Practical and beautiful. Artistic and useful. :) Add fire and that beautiful pottery will last a long, long time. ~Mercy

Breathhh	04 Apr 2005
i rely a great deal on the elements in my readings and when I'm teaching. Cause it seems they are always mingling and weaving their stories together. Inviting and challenging me to tell their 'tale' as best I can. I like the way folgour spoke to the yin/yang. In colour theory the opposite colour on the colour wheel is the compliment. I think I'm going to ponder the idea of how that compliment might work with your big n' little yin n' yang. Any ideas out there? When I consider the elements i take the physical reality of them and fit them into my emotional/mythic reality A story I have about those elements. . i.e.Earth ..ground. Form. what i stand on. what I live upon. what I grow vegetable and flower in. so when I take that physical reality within myself to how I feel about it, I begin to consider, How grounded am I in the world I live in? do I stand firmly in who I am? What grows from the 'seeds' i plant within and around me? Does what i 'plant' (ideas(air), feelings(water), desire(fire) manifest well? there are lots of questions that come up for me when I consider any of the elements and how they speak from the tarot cards. The tarot cards give me the picture to deepen the elemental story that lives in each card for me. and then I can never forget to bring the numbers in.. as for a favorite element. different days speak to different elemental relationships. And...I believe Air is the element I am most connected to. Breathing...thinking... discerning...clarifying..cutting away. etc. My challenge is to keep them ALLl in a healthy relationship within myself, in a way that serves my life and keeps me in balance. My readings often look to the elemental imbalances that reveal themselves in the cards. so many stories so little time.... breathhh

tmgrl2	04 Apr 2005
Good thread, ros! I always feel most comfortable with Air (and for me that is Swords...) and I associate that with intellect, swords cutting through the air and making a swooshing sound (so a military component) and also with spirit....like my eagle soaring through the heavens....lifted up on eagle's wings... Also, cups for my are water (and I associate them with emotions and also with soul, and sometimes with spiritual matters)...Water is very soothing to me. I have lived near large bodies of water my entire life. (Can't swim, but love water, boats, fishing)...serenity is water. Wands...(I associate with fire). I always have a bit of trouble reading wands...don't know why. Coins/pentacles/deniers...Earth. Material...I really feel that when these cards appear they have to do with all things material...(I think of the MATCHES acronym)...money, ambitions, travel, careers, health, expectations and sex/love. Recently, when I got a copy of Robert Place's Alchemical Tarot...I wrote in the front of his book, what he says about the four elements and the "circle" or progression within life: Earth: dry and cold Water: cold and wet Air: wet and hot (I think of water heating and turning to steam..) Fire: hot and dry...brings us back to Earth..... terri I would value any input on people's associations with Wands and Fire...since the other three seem to call forth more from me when I read.

The Elements and learning thread was originally posted on 02 Apr 2005 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.