Seasons & Elements

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 17 Dec 2001, and now archived in the Forum Library.

funkpuss	17 Dec 2001
Hi, Could someone tell me the seasons for the cup,wands,etc & the elements. Thanks in advance!! funkpuss

bec	17 Dec 2001
Hi there, here´s a link to a cheatsheat with LOADS of quali-info, among them the things you´re requesting. http://www.rglobal.net/user/nodntap/associations.html

Jewel	17 Dec 2001
Quote: funkpuss (18 Dec, 2001 00:12): Hi, Could someone tell me the seasons for the cup,wands,etc & the elements. Thanks in advance!! funkpuss I think it is as follows: Cups - fall Wands - Summer Pentacles/Coins - Spring Swords - Winter Please so check the link Bec gave you to verify this. Love & Light,

Kiama	18 Dec 2001
It depends on which book you read! I have alwas preferred to think that Swods represent the beginning of Life, cuz they are in the East and represent Spring. Then Wands as childhood, with all their lve of life and energy, and Pentacles Middle Age. Fr me, Cups are Old Age. Just my personal preference though! You'll probably get 10 more different ones! Kiama

DeLani	18 Dec 2001
Hi all, So many different views - all equally valid. So here's my 2 cents: Swords: East, dawn, spring, air. Wands: South, noon, summer, fire. Cups: West, dusk, fall, water. Pentacles: North, midnight, winter, earth. This goes along with most Wiccan and Neo-pagan correspondences, and even the Golden Dawn, I think. Hope this helps!

Martin	31 Dec 2001
Hello, I use the below assignments: Swords East Spring Air Wands South Summer Fire Cups West Autumn Water Pentacles North Winter Earth Swords are sharp, cutting, incisive & thus liken themselves to the mind. The mind is the home of new ideas & thus beginnings, and of course the season of spring is also the time of new beginnings. Wands are linked to the transformational element of Fire (Fire breaks down Earth & releases the energy of Air, which allows for new beginnings). Fire takes the ideas of Air & gives it vitality & energy, otherwise ideas would always remain just ideas. This links with Summer in the way that Summer is the time when our energies peak & are at their most active. We then move onto Cups & Water, where the idea is nurtured. Remember Fire can flare up drmatically & go out just as quickly, likewise if we do nothing about the things we are excited about they can also fizzle out, an opportunity missed. Cups are thus the sustaining force, they do this through nurturing & fulfilling. Autumn is the time of year when one reflects upon their life (suggesting the reflective pools of Water), an aspect of the saying that one is "in the Autumn of their life". It is the season where one is now looking inwards & seeking to help others, both cup associations. Pentacles are linked to Earth, through the obvious symbolism of materialism, and just as Winter is the culmination of the year, Pentacles & Earth symbolise the culmination & attainment obtained by following the process of idea, energising & nurturing (Air, Fire & Water). Winter & Pentacles also stand for the wisdom that has been obtained by old age & a consolidation. Far from this being the end of the cycle, it is obvious it is one which starts again, being seen in the returning of the sun after the Winter Solstice. We have completed one cycle & must start again, the mind once again showing us the way.

nexyjo	31 Dec 2001
i have several tarot decks with their corresponding seasonal (and other) attributes listed on my website here: http://hometown.aol.com/nexyjo/spirit/tarot1.htm hope this helps. luv and light, nexy

MeeWah	01 Jan 2002
The diversity of takes on this are interesting. The associations I generally use have worked, formed some time ago in the order of the seasons: Wands-Spring Cups-Summer Pentacles-Autumn Swords-Winter I can see switching the Wands & Cups to Summer & Spring respectively, however, if one takes into account the astrological correspondences as well. On the other hand, Martin's reasoning seems valid, too.

arizonagirl	02 Jan 2002
I agree with DeLani since it corresponds to my Wiccan beliefs. The compass direction and time of day in the link provided by Bec wasn't 'right' for me.

jmd	06 Jan 2002
Correlation between a suit and a season can be made for many reasons, but are, in my view, not intrinsic to the pack. For example, if one works magically, then, chances are, correlations between the four cardinal points and the four elements will be made. Generally, Fire will be associated with Summer... but sometimes, it may be associated with the entry into the Fire sign of Aries (and hence Spring in the northern hemisphere). The various astrological associations with the seasons will depend on whether one takes the cardinal, fixed or mutable signs to be the determining ones. Alchemically, Earth is the element with the greatest 'density', followed by Water, Air, and then Fire. The coldness of Earth and Water are there associated with Winter and Autumn respectively, and the warming or warmth of Air and Fire with Spring and Summer respectively. Qabalistically, Fire is associated with Shin and Summer, Air with Aleph and both Spring and Autumn, and Mem with Water and Winter! I personally prefer the following associations: Swords = Fire = Summer Cups = Water = Autumn Coins = Earth = Winter Staffs = Air = Spring Having said this, I also tend to place the Athame/Dagger (which to me is vastly different to a sword) with the handle as Water and the Blade as Air, and the Wand (which is again, to me, different to a Staff) with the point from the user as Earth, and the point towards the active Will as Fire. In readings, if an element comes to mind, then I will tend to allow the 'story' to unfold... the season which may be the most appropriate may then emerge. At times, however, I may use associations made above by DeLani and Martin. This is especially true if I am either teaching or doing a reading for someone for whom I sense this would be more 'correct'. Incidently, my wife tends to agree with MeeWah's correspondences, and this not because of astrological associations, but because of insights intrinsic to the tool at hand (sword/wand/cup/coin).

Pollux	17 Jan 2002
Quote: DeLani (18 Dec, 2001 23:40): Hi all, So many different views - all equally valid. So here's my 2 cents: Swords: East, dawn, spring, air. Wands: South, noon, summer, fire. Cups: West, dusk, fall, water. Pentacles: North, midnight, winter, earth. This goes along with most Wiccan and Neo-pagan correspondences, and even the Golden Dawn, I think. Hope this helps! As a Wiccan-to-be, I can't but agree! They're the typical disposition in the invocation of corners (at least I never saw a different one so far), and so I like to use it also for tarots and all. What is hard is to find a tetralogy that respects Astrological allignments (the problem with this is they're too many! ;P ). In this case for example, you have a mutable, 2 fixed and a cardinal. Considering all the Fixed Signs: Fire - Summer Earth - Spring Air - Winter Water - Fall. I like it (especially the Earth/Spring allignment) but the problem is that the circle wuold get the other way around! (i.e. the orther of the season is reversed ;D ) Even cardinals seems nice, but mutable ARE NOT - Virgo/earth-Summer? ??? - even though Cardinals don't fit in the circle because of directions (consider The World). You see, this IS a problem for me! :( But I agree with DeLani in the end. 8)

MeeWah	17 Jan 2002
It is a good point to correlate the correspondences used in magickal workings with the same in Tarot. Oddly, my Tarotwork seems to resist the alignment of the former--perhaps because the Tarotwork has been a longer part of me than the other; &/or works differently (?) This leaves me flummoxed.

Pollux	20 Jan 2002
Quote: MeeWah (18 Jan, 2002 08:24): This leaves me flummoxed. WOW! "FLUMMOXED" I expanded my vocabulary! = Pollux Vocabulary - LEVEL UP = --- Level....25 --- HP.......108 --- MP.......96 --- Spells : 1st - Diatriba exploding (27 MP)(new!) Stray the Forum (14 MP) WOW WOWOW WOWOWOW! I got level up! I also learned a new Spell! I LOVE RPG Games!

The Seasons & Elements thread was originally posted on 17 Dec 2001 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.