Melanchollic
By popular request (well, a few people anyway), I'll post some of my reflections on the pips and courts, or the 'minors' as the occultists called them. My sources are mainly classical, though some as late as the 16th century. These methods are best used with real tarot gaming decks. Obviously Waite's deck and Crowley's deck, and most modern Tarot decks are designed around the systems of their creators. I tried to base my 'system' objectively on classical and period sources, so my interpretations will have little in common with the popular tarot systems, including those used for the Marseille decks like Marteau's or Camoin's.
I base my interpretation of the pips and courts on several factors -
Two sources stand out as influencing my approach to card interpretation, and I recommend them to one and all -
Iamblichus' The Theology of Arithmetic.
Aristotle's Generation and Corruption
http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/corruption/book2.html
Some knowledge of Plato, Plotinus, and traditional European astrology and alchemy is also helpful.
Many of the supporting pieces of framework that support this system are scattered through out various posts in the Tarot History & Iconography section of AT. A few essential bits can be found here:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=1620790&postcount=97
and here:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=1621209&postcount=98
and here:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=1540307&postcount=332
I base my interpretation of the pips and courts on several factors -
- The suit emblems.
- The ascending and descending rankings of the suits.
- The element of the suit.
- The element of the number.
- The planetary energy of the number.
- The arithmology of the number.
Two sources stand out as influencing my approach to card interpretation, and I recommend them to one and all -
Iamblichus' The Theology of Arithmetic.
Aristotle's Generation and Corruption
http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/a/aristotle/corruption/book2.html
Some knowledge of Plato, Plotinus, and traditional European astrology and alchemy is also helpful.
Many of the supporting pieces of framework that support this system are scattered through out various posts in the Tarot History & Iconography section of AT. A few essential bits can be found here:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=1620790&postcount=97
and here:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=1621209&postcount=98
and here:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=1540307&postcount=332