Favorite Symbolism On A Card

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 01 Feb 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

inzen	01 Feb 2005
What is your favorite Symbolism in Tarot, and Please Explain Why? Like a lions head, or snake, etc.

Fulgour	01 Feb 2005
II La Papess in Le Tarot de Marseille holds an open book. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind it is "The Tarot" with the entire structure and meaning of every single card. She does after all symbolise the embodiment of the Moon, and no other card shows so clearly her singular authority.

Rosanne	01 Feb 2005
My favourite symbol is the Hermits Light.-Light the way-Light of the world-Daylight-Moonlight-sunlight- the great clarifer and the light that goes on in my head when I see something clearly.

Arnnaria	01 Feb 2005
I don't know where I saw this, but I found it online. My soul card is the Hierophant and I was having difficulty understanding what that meant. I was searching online for various representations of it and how it applied to me. Finally I stumbled across a "kitchen tarot" of some sorts. And do you know what the Hierophant was? "The Cookbook." It made me smile.

tarotlova	01 Feb 2005
I love the Chalices, they seem to me to hold such promise.

Fudugazi	01 Feb 2005
There are several - - like Fulgour, the Papesse's book, which, like her veil, like most bood books, both hide and reveal. Her expression, too (if that can be considered a symbol ;) ) - The two faces and three pairs of eyes of XV-Le Diable (the Devil), the tongue sticking out - catch me if you can - the exagerated genitals. A completely in your face kind of image, but we still puzzle over it. - The city on the head of Demeter-the Empress in the Mythic Tarot - the black alchemical sun in the Hanged Man of the Tarot of Prague - going down there! - the bird-ships in the two of pentacles in the Robin Wood - grace under pressure - and because I am new to the deck: the butterfly that hovers above the Ace of Cups in the Tarocchi di Vetro (Crystal) - a cup with a Renaissance Italian city on it.

Fudugazi	01 Feb 2005
Arnnaria wrote: My soul card is the Hierophant and I was having difficulty understanding what that meant. I was searching online for various representations of it and how it applied to me. Finally I stumbled across a "kitchen tarot" of some sorts. And do you know what the Hierophant was? "The Cookbook." It made me smile. Yum! the Hierophant is the Bridge - the passage from humans to spirit and and from spirit to humans - or the staircase - the way up for humans from one stage into another - so you could say that your cookbook is a bridge or a staircase to greater culinary delights. Anyone who has seen Babette's Feast knows that means a feast of the Spirit, as well....

Pook	01 Feb 2005
I have a few favorite symbols myself..... If we're talking RW symbols, then I am particularly fond of the Queen of Wands cat. It reminds me of all of the feline qualities that the Queen herself possesses. She can be stealthy and quick to pounce if you do her wrong, or you could find her completely carefree and basking in the sun playing with her sunflower. And then there's the other feline qualities *wink, wink*, the more graceful, slinky, err.....sensual qualities. I also like the Globe that the man holds in the 2 of wands. If this card is about making choices, then what better symbol than the globe? It says, "Which part of the world am I going to conquer today?" Also, I have just recently decided that I really like the fish that is popping out from the cup in the Page of Cups. I found a passage in the book by Riccardo Minnetti that accompanies the Fey Tarot that says that a fish that emerges from a chalice is a symbol of the manifestation of the minds imaginings. I like the sound of that! Plus it's a cute fish.....

inzen	01 Feb 2005
Very good answers here, I am fairly new to tarot so it will take me a couple days to decide which I like best. I love the answers though

prudence	02 Feb 2005
I only just saw this today in the Devil card from the Thoth deck, the "testes" have within them the process of cell division as seen thru a microscope, mitosis?! Has anyone noticed that? It's what's going on behind those white guys within the testes. And I just like how the goat is grinning , not sure why but this is the least scary "devil" image I have seen so far (well, other than the hokey "Pan" image from Sisters of the Moon! nothing terribly devilish about that "fellow"). Astrid

WolfSpirit	05 Feb 2005
I love the symbolism of the lion in the Strength card: the lion can be wild and dangerous but is not evil, you need not battle him with force but can win him for you with gentleness. And the lightning striking into the tower: scary but also has beauty in it. Definitely irreversible, and leading to changes.

The Favorite Symbolism On A Card thread was originally posted on 01 Feb 2005 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.