Grip Dellabonte
It's been so long since we did this....I'm all fuzzy-headed. Hope it doesn't take long to get back in the rhythm.
So...the sixes...let's start with the
Six of Wands: In this card we have two young men on horses each holding in their right hands bearded irises as if the flowers were standards and the men were the bearers. There are four other irises in the picture but one in the back looks like it has taken a beating, and is actually no longer living.
The men are wearing marigold buds upside down as hats. They have similar clothing, but their dress is not really "uniform" per se.
The horses have parts of plants that have been draped on them, and placed on their faces so it looks like armor. There are six wands above the men.
The horses walk perfectly in step, and the men also have exact seating on their horses.
I get the feeling that they are messengers. They are signaling the arrival of somebody else who's coming.
By their carriage, I would say they are proud to be in front paving the way.
The dead iris is intriguing. They are not coming back without a loss.
This is the victory card in most decks. Often there is a person on a noble steed being cheered on by crowds of onlookers. Sometimes that person has a laurel wreath he's waving around. I think the reason that the messengers are in the frame and not the victor is because the artist just chose to change the focus. Instead of showing the victor as having arrived, the card is heralding that he is on the way. It's just a different way of looking at the card with the message being the same. Whether the victor is the focal point, or his representatives, success was achieved.
So with the Harmonious, when this card shows up I would say it is signaling that the querent has good news coming their way, concerning a victorious outcome of some sort.
Six of Cups
Just as an aside, I want what this lady is wearing. But in a way more dramatic color, like peacock, or grenadine....and the little girl is kinda cute!
Changing art styles again. I don't know what it is, maybe after the turn of the century (maybe nouveau? ish?), but no flower people.
In this card there is a mother (looks like) with her young child who is probably around three. They are out in a garden picking roses. There is other vegetation around them like pine trees and lilies.
The child is looking up at the mother as if listening closely to what the mother is telling her.
It is a pretty straightforward scene of a sweet, unguarded familial moment. Many times the Six of Cups shows a person who is older in the process of "showing" or "guiding" or "reading" to a younger person. So there is generally an imparting of knowledge.
By the side of the cultured garden's borders there sits an hourglass. It is a jolt when it is first noticed. It is a reminder that these moments are fleeting. Capture them whilst you can.
Also, the hourglass is behind the people. This could mean that a person is focusing on the past, that they could expect to hear from someone in their past, that there is an event from their past that they can learn from and benefit from now...
At any rate, it is a gentle card, generally evoking warm feelings.
I forgot to mention that there are three cups over the gardeners' heads, and three beside them on the ground. The cups are empty. But the lady's basket is holding what she and the child have picked together...
Six of Swords
I wish I woulda been as clever as this woman when my kids were younger! Things might have been really different.
Actually I think the figures are Psyche and Cupid again (I think they were the figures in the Three of Swords as well....).
Here we have a winged cherub driving a leaf chariot - I say "chariot" because it looks like the leaf has yellow flower clusters for wheels, and she's standing. So it's not a palanquin, or something like that, where she would most likely be sitting and there would be no wheels.
He has white reins that look like spider web strands! I've been awake many hours - my eyes could be strained, but they're at least something white. The strands lead to two pink flower clusters that are really two flocks of birds!
The chariot is crossing over a crooked little river. The water is moving, but it doesn't look like a very dangerous body of water.
The landscape is dry. Even the sky looks dull and dry.
On the shore under the flower birds there is a blooming Lily-of-the-Valley. In the air above the cherub's whip is a flower cluster...just floating in midair. There is another one floating by the woman's left shoulder.
The woman has a vine of the pink clustered flowers draped around her shoulders, with the flower bunch drooping down by her left side.
Above that are four swords in a vertical position with points alternating either up or down. Over the woman's head are two swords positioned horizontally with their points going in opposite directions, and both laying on top of one of the other four swords.
Just like a more traditional Six of Swords card, this does show travel over a body of water. The water is not turbulent.
The woman does not seem altogether happy, and the cherub seems more focused than anything else. So my sense is that this was a move based on some reasoning. They are not slipping away in the dead of night. And it was a necessary move, not really a happy one.
Yet, even though it's a move based on some rational thought, I think the woman half wonders if she's done the right thing. She is holding on to the vine like it's a limber handrail. But it's not offering her much support.
Those two floating flowers strike me as a couple of life's little distractions that crop up just when you've become determined to do something. But they are ineffectual. The main figures have their minds on other things.
If this card came up in a reading it could be addressing all sorts of things: the woman not concentrating on where she's going but where she's been, the cherub being so single-minded, watch out for distractions, trip by water...those are just a few...
Six of Pentacles
This is a picture depicting two women - probably mother and grown daughter. Both are dressed in rather opulent looking gowns. The colors of the fabrics are golds, pinks, oranges, and white...very rich and warm colors. That may be what the card is trying to convey...richness and warmth.
The more known meanings of this card are basically prosperity, "getting and giving away" (philanthropy), giving something but holding back a little (only giving what won't be missed)...these are just a few. It's pretty clear these women have "gotten"....but there is no real sign of the "giving" of anything. They both are sort of standing around looking pensive. I think this card only focuses on the prosperity message. I think you might be able to make the case that both of these women may give, but not more than they had to. They aren't screaming with generosity and charity to me. So I think that aspect of the card is missing.
There are six coins above their heads that are half-smiling. There is a flower that grows by the mother's feet. Other than that, there is no other soul around.
If this card came up in a reading, I think you would have to use your prior knowledge of the Six of Pentacles to interpret its placement.
Course, I've had mental blocks on many of these cards. Maybe its message is clear and I'm just not seeing it!
So...the sixes...let's start with the
Six of Wands: In this card we have two young men on horses each holding in their right hands bearded irises as if the flowers were standards and the men were the bearers. There are four other irises in the picture but one in the back looks like it has taken a beating, and is actually no longer living.
The men are wearing marigold buds upside down as hats. They have similar clothing, but their dress is not really "uniform" per se.
The horses have parts of plants that have been draped on them, and placed on their faces so it looks like armor. There are six wands above the men.
The horses walk perfectly in step, and the men also have exact seating on their horses.
I get the feeling that they are messengers. They are signaling the arrival of somebody else who's coming.
By their carriage, I would say they are proud to be in front paving the way.
The dead iris is intriguing. They are not coming back without a loss.
This is the victory card in most decks. Often there is a person on a noble steed being cheered on by crowds of onlookers. Sometimes that person has a laurel wreath he's waving around. I think the reason that the messengers are in the frame and not the victor is because the artist just chose to change the focus. Instead of showing the victor as having arrived, the card is heralding that he is on the way. It's just a different way of looking at the card with the message being the same. Whether the victor is the focal point, or his representatives, success was achieved.
So with the Harmonious, when this card shows up I would say it is signaling that the querent has good news coming their way, concerning a victorious outcome of some sort.
Six of Cups
Just as an aside, I want what this lady is wearing. But in a way more dramatic color, like peacock, or grenadine....and the little girl is kinda cute!
Changing art styles again. I don't know what it is, maybe after the turn of the century (maybe nouveau? ish?), but no flower people.
In this card there is a mother (looks like) with her young child who is probably around three. They are out in a garden picking roses. There is other vegetation around them like pine trees and lilies.
The child is looking up at the mother as if listening closely to what the mother is telling her.
It is a pretty straightforward scene of a sweet, unguarded familial moment. Many times the Six of Cups shows a person who is older in the process of "showing" or "guiding" or "reading" to a younger person. So there is generally an imparting of knowledge.
By the side of the cultured garden's borders there sits an hourglass. It is a jolt when it is first noticed. It is a reminder that these moments are fleeting. Capture them whilst you can.
Also, the hourglass is behind the people. This could mean that a person is focusing on the past, that they could expect to hear from someone in their past, that there is an event from their past that they can learn from and benefit from now...
At any rate, it is a gentle card, generally evoking warm feelings.
I forgot to mention that there are three cups over the gardeners' heads, and three beside them on the ground. The cups are empty. But the lady's basket is holding what she and the child have picked together...
Six of Swords
I wish I woulda been as clever as this woman when my kids were younger! Things might have been really different.
Actually I think the figures are Psyche and Cupid again (I think they were the figures in the Three of Swords as well....).
Here we have a winged cherub driving a leaf chariot - I say "chariot" because it looks like the leaf has yellow flower clusters for wheels, and she's standing. So it's not a palanquin, or something like that, where she would most likely be sitting and there would be no wheels.
He has white reins that look like spider web strands! I've been awake many hours - my eyes could be strained, but they're at least something white. The strands lead to two pink flower clusters that are really two flocks of birds!
The chariot is crossing over a crooked little river. The water is moving, but it doesn't look like a very dangerous body of water.
The landscape is dry. Even the sky looks dull and dry.
On the shore under the flower birds there is a blooming Lily-of-the-Valley. In the air above the cherub's whip is a flower cluster...just floating in midair. There is another one floating by the woman's left shoulder.
The woman has a vine of the pink clustered flowers draped around her shoulders, with the flower bunch drooping down by her left side.
Above that are four swords in a vertical position with points alternating either up or down. Over the woman's head are two swords positioned horizontally with their points going in opposite directions, and both laying on top of one of the other four swords.
Just like a more traditional Six of Swords card, this does show travel over a body of water. The water is not turbulent.
The woman does not seem altogether happy, and the cherub seems more focused than anything else. So my sense is that this was a move based on some reasoning. They are not slipping away in the dead of night. And it was a necessary move, not really a happy one.
Yet, even though it's a move based on some rational thought, I think the woman half wonders if she's done the right thing. She is holding on to the vine like it's a limber handrail. But it's not offering her much support.
Those two floating flowers strike me as a couple of life's little distractions that crop up just when you've become determined to do something. But they are ineffectual. The main figures have their minds on other things.
If this card came up in a reading it could be addressing all sorts of things: the woman not concentrating on where she's going but where she's been, the cherub being so single-minded, watch out for distractions, trip by water...those are just a few...
Six of Pentacles
This is a picture depicting two women - probably mother and grown daughter. Both are dressed in rather opulent looking gowns. The colors of the fabrics are golds, pinks, oranges, and white...very rich and warm colors. That may be what the card is trying to convey...richness and warmth.
The more known meanings of this card are basically prosperity, "getting and giving away" (philanthropy), giving something but holding back a little (only giving what won't be missed)...these are just a few. It's pretty clear these women have "gotten"....but there is no real sign of the "giving" of anything. They both are sort of standing around looking pensive. I think this card only focuses on the prosperity message. I think you might be able to make the case that both of these women may give, but not more than they had to. They aren't screaming with generosity and charity to me. So I think that aspect of the card is missing.
There are six coins above their heads that are half-smiling. There is a flower that grows by the mother's feet. Other than that, there is no other soul around.
If this card came up in a reading, I think you would have to use your prior knowledge of the Six of Pentacles to interpret its placement.
Course, I've had mental blocks on many of these cards. Maybe its message is clear and I'm just not seeing it!
