The Gothic Tarot by Vargo - Ace, Two and Three Of Pentacles

WolfyJames

Due to their basics design, the aces, twos and threes are treated in the same thread. See The Gothic Tarot by Vargo Study Group for more informations.

Ace Of Pentacles:
The Ace is very simple, it is a pentacle contained in a circle. The pentacle is surrounded by red, personaly I would say blood, but you might have a different opinion on that.

Blood is the essence of life, the food of the vampires. Power is gained from it. So much blood has been poured over lands and possessions.

Two Of Pentacles:
There's an engraved monster who looks like a jester, with four horns, two on each side. Each big horn supports a pentacle, and the pentacles are chained to each other.

The jester seems to be juggling with the two pentacles, just like in the RWS. He's king of smiling weirdly.

Three Of Pentacles:

Another jester-like-creature is engraved on the wall. On the shelf above him stands three ravens, and above them are three engraved pentacles on the wall.
 

ol_crazy_Legs

Just pointing it out.. but on the 2 of pentacles did you notice that the pentacle hanging the lowest on the right is separated from the one on the left by a crack in the wall? Is this significant?
 

contrascarpe

My thoughts on these three cards:

Ace - A pentagram surrounded by an ornate red bas relief. I get a sense of fire here, but the pentacles are the earth cards. Not sure I can add anything. Aces are usually beginnings - perhaps the pentagram is a solid foundation surrounded by chaos? Maybe this is an indication to gain your solid foothold.

Two - I definitely revert back to my RWS imagery of "balance". The horned beast is trying to balance the pentacles through its horns via a chain. It appears to be struggling a bit to keep them balanced. An indication that greater concentration and effort are required? I cheated and looked at ol_crazy_legs' post about the crack in the wall - this is very insightful and fits in well with my thoughts on this card. There is an effort to balance two equal parties who are separated by an external force.

Three - Three pentacles, above three crows (on a ledge) above a relief figure of what appears to be a not-so-happy jester. The first crow is looking up to the pentacle above it, the second crow (agitated) is looking down at the jester and the third crow is looking at the second crow. My initial reaction - seeing all sides of an issue clearly and not really happy with the conclusion. Again, not the book meaning, but I am going with gut feeling again.

Dan
 

Annwyn

2 of Pentacles

Ok my very first reading from this card I noticed immediately the crack that runs through the right pentacle chain and then it also branches of to a secondary crack at the bottom left of the card.
The right pentacle is slightly heavier than the left and the jester type character has his mouth open and his eyes are "blind"?

My first impressions is something is out of whack/balance just slightly (obvious I know) since pentacles are related to health/money and material possession, I could interpret this as you need to balance your finances before you get further into debt (warning....hence the cracks) or something with your health needs attention (again another warning...hence the cracks) otherwise it could lead to more serious problems later on down the track. The other sign that indicates to me these are warnings is the eyes of the jester...blind.....telling the questioner perhaps do not turn a blind eye to these problems.

Ok they are just my feelings.

Cheers
Annwyn
 

Annwyn

Ace of Pentacles

I agree the red from this card could represent blood and that blood is the lifeforce of a vampire. It has a rich, velvety, lush appearance also which to me indicates success, lots of wealth and earthly possessions.

The pentacle is placed in the middle it blends harmoniously with its surroundings. It looks good in the middle of the red, a great partnership. It's stable and secure in the middle of the red.

My first impressions of this card was indicating to great succesfull business partnerships offering stability. Or because the Ace does indeed represent a possible new beginning, perhaps this means
the "new partnership" in business will be rewarding with great riches????????

What do you all think?

Cheers
Annwyn
 

Annwyn

3 of pentacles

The "jester" face is surrounded by intricate, elaborate vine like circles so to speak. Indicating to me instantly this is very artistic and creative. My intial instincts were to look at the expression on his face and say yes he looks unhappy, unwell perhaps. Give that pentacles relate to health and wealth etc. Then I took a closer look at the ravens and what they were doing. The middle one does look annoyed about something and the left bird facing up towards the left pentacle also looks like he has something to say. the other bird on the right has beak shut, like well nobodies going to listen to me so why bother cawing!

Taking a closer look at the facial expression, with the jesters eyes shut, to me its like he doesnt want to hear what the ravens have to say. He is above them "Dont bother me with your wining and squabbling" Its like he is saying that.
But given his place below the ledge, below the birds perhaps he really does need to open his eyes and listen to what they have to say.

Also I wonder if the cracks in the walk and the ledge are symbolic of anything worth noting. Bottom left corner of card in particular grabs my attention.
 

mercenary30

Two of Pentacles

The sconce on the wall resembles a court jester, albeit a very dark and haunting one. The head piece slightly resembles the traditional cap, except realistic horns protrude instead of the colorful ones. One pair of those, curve around the sides of the head, similar to a ram. A chain is looped around the curved horns and two pentacles hang from either end of the chain. The left one is higher up than the right one.

This depiction to me, very much symbolizes what is in the RWS version. The person juggling the coins in that card is dressed as a colorful performer, and the left pentacle is the higher one there as well. Here the clown face is more gothic and on the whole has a sinister flavor. After ages of living the same life the process of keeping things on track and moving forward has grown mundane and stable. No longer is constant attention necessary to keep things on track. So it is now securely chained on display, where it can be checked upon occasionally, and adjusted as necessary. It would be interesting to see what would happen if some usurper came along and broke the chain. Maybe that is one reason the clan is so protective of their estate………
 

lunakasha

Re: Two of Pentacles

mercenary30 said:
Here the clown face is more gothic and on the whole has a sinister flavor.

Yes....I was looking at this card, and the face looked very familiar to me....couldn't quite place it at first, but then I thought: Bela Lugosi as Dracula!!! (minus the fangs, hehehe) Does anyone else see a resemblance???

Reading your post made me think of another card with an evil court jester....the V of Swords....one of the first cards in this deck that really jumped out at me.

:) Luna
 

mercenary30

Ace of Pentacles

As with all the aces, we have the same red backdrop displaying one of the four symbols of the cards. A large pentacle is prominently displayed in the middle. It seems to be carved from marble and inlayed with jet, obsidian, or some other black mineral.

Upright pentacles and pentagrams are among the most widely used religious symbols. They have been used in many eras and by many cultures and religions of the world: by ancient Pagans, ancient Israelites, Christians, magicians, Wiccans and others. Almost all black colored minerals are used for protection of one form or another. Here are three that I know of.

Jet: dispels fearful thoughts and protects the wearer against illness and violence, protects during pursuit of business, and helps stabilize one¹s finances.

Onyx: for security, stabilizes and calms excess female energy. It also helps banish grief, and enhances self-control, and stimulate the power of wise decision-making.

Obsidian: Protection, grounding, banisher of negativity
 

annik

The ace of pentacle : Makes me think of a coin in a fire. Or deep into the core of the earth, with the lava.

The 2 of pentacles : I had it not long ago in the daily card thread. I won't repeait what I said, mainly because I can see pleople had said similar comments. It's great to know that I am not the only one to had seen the crack.

The 3 of pentacle : The jester figure seems scared by the ravens. Maybe he know they are quite on a party. I like the color of the stone. I would like to be able to touch it! lol!