Seasons and the Suits

Alright, I am getting really confused by the contradictions that keep popping up in my books!

What suits/seasons do you associate together?

Example: I've seen listed as representing Autumn in one book, and in another as Winter.

I look forward to reading your responses!

Starfish

I think it depends on who you ask. There are obviously many different interpretations.

I follow:

Swords - Spring
Wands - Summer
Cups - Autumn
Pentacles - Winter

Just find a system that works for you.

the season suits you

OH yeah...I hear ya' on that one...everything has a different take on what season goes with what suit. The Legend deck associates wands with air and swords with fire, another part of Tarot that seems inconsistant. In this deck swords are Autumn, shields are winter, spears are spring and cups summer.
My first deck ever associated swords with spring, wands with summer cups with autumn and coins with winter(makes little sense to me). I never really got into using the seasons as part of my readings with this deck. I do like the associations of the Legend deck, but I'm able to work with the other variations.
I go with cups as summer, but it could very well be seen as spring. Like the word spring. Not only is it a season, but a source of water.
It's all in the perception and association.
winter is a time when things return to the earth, bears hibernate.
Is it not a blade that brings down the harvest in fall?

I've always thought as swords being winter (with the references to death), cups being spring (all the showers/water references), wands as summer (fire, the hottest part of the year) and pentacles as fall.

Strega said:

Swords - Spring
Wands - Summer
Cups - Autumn
Pentacles - Winter

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I think this is the standard Wiccan idea of it, shared by a bunch of people around. And I follow that too I think - even though I am still looking out and trying to understand what the seasons mean to me, and therefore have not chosen my personal preferences yet. For the time being, this works well for me.

lunalafey said:

My first deck ever associated swords with spring, wands with summer cups with autumn and coins with winter(makes little sense to me).

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Same as above.

lunalafey said:

I go with cups as summer (...).
winter is a time when things return to the earth, bears hibernate.
Is it not a blade that brings down the harvest in fall?

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This instead goes with the Cardinal Sign, opening up the season: Cancer/Water/Cups with summer, Capricorn/Earth/Pentacles for winter, Libra/Air/Swords for fall, and remains Aries/Fire/Wands for spring.
This one is starting to make more sense to me, as time passes by. Maybe because I am influenced by the Christian thing of the world being created at spring during Sun in Aries... But the idea of Elemental associations going with Cardinals is nice.
(And I am sure that it works for you, luna, also because of your astrological backgroung! )


Oops, I only NOW noticed this is not in Spirituality but Using Tarot Cards - I don't think I ever bothered to consider elemental correspondences with seasons in readings.

Although I am Celtic Wicca I follow Cricket's interpretation of the suits, but I think there are as many interpretations out in this subject as ways to spread a Celtic Cross.

MerryDay also does Swords-Spring, Wands-Summer, Cups-Fall, and Pentacles Winter, which is my prefered association too if wands are fire and swords are air as they are in most decks.

cricket said:

I've always thought as swords being winter (with the references to death), cups being spring (all the showers/water references), wands as summer (fire, the hottest part of the year) and pentacles as fall.

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Cricket -

I like your take on the seasons/suits! It makes good sense to me

Thanks for sharing!

Starfish

Liliana said:

MerryDay also does Swords-Spring, Wands-Summer, Cups-Fall, and Pentacles Winter, which is my prefered association too if wands are fire and swords are air as they are in most decks.

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I am with Strega and Liliana on this one.

Swords - Spring
Wands - Summer
Cups - Autumn
Pentacles - Winter

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This is the most typical. Here's why--as Strega and others note, this follows the Wiccan alter (or circle) allignment: Atheme (knife/sword) to the East/Spring, Wand to the South/Summer, Cup to the west/Autumn and Pentacle to the North/Winter.

If you want a seasonal rational..well, it works really well if you're in a Mediteranian type of climate--In such a climate, you get windy springtimes, sometimes starting as early as Feb. Days are crisp, harsh and cutting, the wind blows firecely at night rustling the plam fronds--meanwhile, new plants and leaves cut they way up out of the earth. As Spring is the end of the school year, its a time for tests and studying, reading, writing. Also math for tax time.

Wands are pretty self-explanitory--hot, active, passionate. In that kind of climate, summer is hot and dry--and very active. Time for camping and traveling. Late nights around a bon fire.

Cups--Autumn means rain. If it's gonna rain, it'll rain then. So you stay indoors and get cozy. Time to share a bottle of wine or have a family gathering. Also, a psychic time--Halloween (or Samhain) when the spirit world comes near.

Pentacles--Winter is the Earth at rest--like pentacles, patient, solid. A time to stay indoors and be domestic, get some work done, inventory.

Mind you, this is just my rational. In the end, you decide which suit speaks to you of which season. If winter is cutting and windy and you figure it for swords, make it swords.