78DW: Gate Cards?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 25 Jan 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Macavity	25 Jan 2003
Despite much of my energies being devoted to following the interesting thread on "pips .vs. pictures", on closer reading (I'm the original skim reader) of Rachel Pollack's 78DW, I have come across her interesting concept of "Gate Cards". She says: "In a similar way joining ourselves meditatively to particular cards in the four suits [of the rider waite] will bring experiences reaching beyond the cards' specific meanings." Cool Huh? The RW strikes back? Fwiw, I have not fully absorbed (any of) this material, so merely remark on it. I imagined this to be the process triggered by pip cards? - Or that may be totally of beam! Just for interest, I was going through the 78DW book index and trying to correlate WHICH cards were these "gates". I obtained: 3W, 8C, 5C, 8S, 6S, 10P, 6P, 1P - Well, I think those are they anyway! Food for thought. :) Other musings welcome... Macavity

Minos	25 Jan 2003
Could you expand a little more on what she means by "gate cards"? Is every card a potential gate, as she means it? Or only certain ones? Or different ones for different people?

Pollux	26 Jan 2003
The gate cards are those that convey a particularly deep and strong meaning, and mark an important achievement on the part of the querent. One of my favourite Gates is the 6 of Pentacles: behind the concept of the restrained but generous philantrope, Rachel Pollack sees the very working of the universe. The giver is the image of life, that in many cases gives the very little we need to carry on, and encourages us to appreciate it and work for more by ourselves. Maybe this was (HIGHLY) unclear... But I don't have the book close by and can't quote. Anyway, the passage in the book is very beautiful indeed. Minos, I gather you don't have the book yet - unless you are a very very very beginner in tarot, GO GET IT RIGHT NOW!!! }) *LOL* :D Yeah, it's a good investment! ;)

Major Tom	26 Jan 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Macavity Despite much of my energies being devoted to following the interesting thread on "pips .vs. pictures", on closer reading (I'm the original skim reader) of Rachel Pollack's 78DW, I have come across her interesting concept of "Gate Cards". She says: "In a similar way joining ourselves meditatively to particular cards in the four suits [of the rider waite] will bring experiences reaching beyond the cards' specific meanings." Other musings welcome... This is what using tarot cards is about. This pathway leads to magick. }) Rachel Pollack isn't the only one with something to say about gate cards - perhaps the only published? I'm sure that many of our regular contributors have something to say about gate cards. This needn't be assigned to a study group specialised to Rachel Pollack. Though her work is an excellent introduction to the topic. What do we see in the 6 of Pentacles? In Major Tom's Tarot I've made it the 6 of Coins. I've made this change to the deck because I strongly feel that the Earth is our environment and money more than any other factor effects our environment. Oddly enough, the card isn't yet on display. Coming soon. :laugh: The 6 of Coins shows how the world works. It's really about how you spend your money. (ok - i acknowledge that there are alternatives to capitalism) :eek: I need to back up to demonstrate this but would definitely be straying into the realms of Spirituality. }) Perhaps we should cover the various gate cards separately - each with it's own thread? Post away if the topic interests you. :) My friend Pollux has nominated for this thread: the 6 of Pentacles. :D

Jenny-Li	28 Jan 2003
As with everything else I do, I read that passage in the 78 DW, liked the thought and then went and did it all my own way anyway. That's what works in the long run...! :D So I have found "my" Gates in completely different cards, and for completely different reasons than the ones ms Pollack refers to in the book (but then I don't use the deck that book is based on either), and it really works. :) I think the concept is about NOT seing the Minors and the Majors as eternally separated from each other, but rather playing parts in the same universal play. The Minors can be very spiritual indeed, and they leed us forward, because none of us could live all our lives ONLY in the Fool's Journey - to do that we'd have to be alone in the world, and we're quite obviously not... ;) But the Minors, the everyday life that we life, it is full of gates, and the trick is to find them. Rachel Pollack can't find your gates for you, she has some really lovely ones in the 78 DW, but the only one who knows if they are also true for you, that is YOU. I also think the Gates will appear only when the time is near, so where there were no Gate yesterday, there might be one tomorrow, so intuition and trust in the Universe is what you need to find them. Ms Pollacks examples are wonderful, they really are, and they are a great way to learn to understand how this Gate-business really works. But they are examples, nothing else. They are not a complete listing of all possible Gates in the Minor Arcana, don't limit yourself to think that, and to think that you can just learn what the gate of, say the 6 of Pentacles is about, and then you can move on to the next one. There is always another layer of truth behind the one you just revealed, that's the greatness of the Tarot. And that is why you are your own best teacher, with the help and guidance of others who have walked this path, but nobody has the whole truth written down somewhere. Well, that was one long 2-cent rant from me - I do hope it made some sort of sense, because I really, really, REALLY love the whole Gate-card concept! Good luck working with it! :D Light and love, Jenny :)

ZazaZ	28 Jan 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Jenny-Li Ms Pollacks examples are wonderful . . . they are examples , nothing else. They are not a complete listing of all possible Gates in the Minor Arcana, don't limit yourself to think that . . . I certainly agree with Jenny-Li, here, because my favorate "gate key" in the suit of Pentacles is number two, the "juggler," and my personal zodiacal significant Tarot card. :T2P

Jewel	28 Jan 2003
For those who have not explored the concept of Gate Cards I would highly recommend a look through Rachel Pollacks book ... then go find your own gates. I was quite shoked to find the Queen of Cups to be a Gate Card for me ... I discovered this completly by accident while working on the SACT. I found some profound connections between her, the HP, Empress and Moon cards ... yet she was separate. Hard to explain but a really neat experience.

Minos	28 Jan 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Jewel I discovered this completly by accident while working on the SACT. What's a SACT?

Jewel	29 Jan 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Minos What's a SACT? Sorry ... the SACT is the Second Aeclectic Collaborative Tarot. It is an Aeclectic project where Aeclectic subscribers have come together to design a collaborative deck. It is the second such project. You might want to go to the site map and look at the cards created in the FACT (First Aeclectic Collaborative Tarot).

firemaiden	02 Feb 2003
How "synchonicitous" ... I just came across the gate cards idea in 78DW last night. I thought it meant, these cards depict a door to the unconscious realm. Yes Pollux, I was very impressed with her writing about the 6 of pentacles: especially the idea of the universe giving only what you are ready to receive when you are ready to receive it. P.S. The revenge of RWS - yeah, I was never interested in this deck until now. Going through the 78DW - trying to see how my new Secret Tarots related to it, I suddenly understood why the RWS is the mother of us all. It was that 10 of pentacles card that did it, with the multiple layers of meanings, all those magic symbols and the old man... I wonder if it means anything that there is literally a gate on the card...

The 78DW: Gate Cards? thread was originally posted on 25 Jan 2003 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.