Study Hall #1

Kosjitov

Re: Zechariah's Card Post

No, haven't seen it :(

You know, Zechariah, I almost picked up this deck on the weekend because of you. I don't know why but the artwork is actually more attractive than my Vampire Tarot by Nathalie Hertz and I put it back to get the Greenwood deck. One of the other things that almost made me capitulate was the use of "Daughters". Are they replacements for the Page in the courts? Just curious. I do want this deck eventually- the gothic style on it isn't so overdone that it's repulsive. Ah, one of these days. :)
 

Zechariah13

No, haven't seen it :(

You know, Zechariah, I almost picked up this deck on the weekend because of you. I don't know why but the artwork is actually more attractive than my Vampire Tarot by Nathalie Hertz and I put it back to get the Greenwood deck. One of the other things that almost made me capitulate was the use of "Daughters". Are they replacements for the Page in the courts? Just curious. I do want this deck eventually- the gothic style on it isn't so overdone that it's repulsive. Ah, one of these days. :)

the thing to know about this deck:
It has very RWS-y majors and VERY thoth-y minors, especially the courts. The daughters fill the space of the pages, yes, but i always read them differently. They are the earth aspect of the courts (they are all broken down into elements), and as such, they tend to be a bit more stable than their RWS counterparts. Although, there is a sort of "danger of innocence" feeling to them. Like the Daughter of Grails (cups) is described as a Siren, not because she is evil, but she just doesn't quite understand how captivatingly brilliant her beauty is. A slight naivete on some, but not the complete reckless inexperience i see in the RWS.

the book that comes with it is good, if a bit redundant. but still good. And i like the change of the suit names (scepters for wands, grails for cups, Knives for swords, and Skulls for Pentacles)
 

Jes

Card of the Week

For my card of the week I am going to work with the Queen on Wands from the legacy deck. (seeing as I started to describe her in my previous post, and I just pulled her, I think she is telling me something ;))

I am a strong, passionate woman wearing a red gown with golden stitched patterns; my long hair is braided and elaborately twisted on my head, and golden strips are woven into the buns, with red stones dotting them. I have red facial makeup on and I have created it to look like fire is twisting around my eyes. I have lavish golden earrings on with stars, moons, wands and suns dangling from them. I stare at you determined, proud and provocatively. QoW

There is the feeling of a great energy in me when I look at this card. Like I am looking for something to do next. As a court card, the QoW talks to me about a person in my life )the who), and shows me the qualities that I share with her.

She is a great multi- tasker, she has great energy, is highly organised and people are often drawn to her warm and sometimes flamboyant personality. The QoW's gets things done, she makes things happen, but becomes easily bored.

I see her as a bit of a flirt sometimes too, but fiercely loyal to her mate and family, she just enjoys the fun of the flirt.
Full of passion she has to have outlets for it, and sometimes her outlets can be miss guided decisions on her part.

In a reading when this gorgeous Queen comes along and there is no one in your life who she could be, she reminds us that we can handle lots of things at once by multi-tasking and being organised.

there you go... my take on the Queen of Swords... from the Legacy of Divine Deck.
 

pacificwaters

Kosjitov, Jes and Zechariah13 ...hello everybody...

A special hi to Jes and Zechariah13 :)

I am sure Kosjitov must have mentioned about me to you...and my interest in participating in this study group as well.. As mentioned in a PM to him, I would once again like to tell a bit of my interest in joining this group..

Just a little about me and why I am interested to join this group... I was interested in learning Tarot since a very long time, but somehow I never found a teacher (someone to just tell me the basics). Just this June my search ended and I was introduced to Tarot by an elderly gentleman. He sort of just introduced me..that's it... Obviously you cant learn Tarot in a 3 day course...Anyways then onwards I started googling and I found AT and started learning a bit from the forums here. Over a period of time I bought some books as well...Ah and yes, I have the RWS deck (never knew that a wide variety of decks existed in the market until I joined AT) And from what I have been learning buying RWS was perhaps the best decision (I have been reading its a good deck for the beginners, and therefore it has to be good for me :) )

Anyways coming back to my story, at AT I realized how a study partner can help (especially with his/her inputs). I started feeling more of a need of a study partner gradually as I couldnt discuss about Tarot with anyone where I stay (Tarot is a rarity here and practiced by only a few housewives). This is almost around the same time that I spotted this thread, I was 2 days (since its inception) late though to spot it ;)

PMs exchanged and I am here, posting in this thread...absolutely looking forward to learn...considering how tender my baby steps are in Tarot today...

And yes, as discussed with Kosjitov I will do my level best to maintain the rules of this group...!!
 

Jes

welcome pacificwaters

Welcome pacificwaters. You are in the right spot here as both zech and kos are relatively new to tarot as well. Me, I have been reading ... Well ... A lot longer ;) but I am always learning. And this group is about supporting each other through our learning. If you have any questions please ask, (that goes for kos and zech too) that's what this thread is about ;)

Cheers, Jes
 

pacificwaters

Thanks for the welcome Jes...appreciate it..!

I am sure i will be learning quite a lot here... Will be posting my view on a card soon enough :)

Cheers!!
 

Kosjitov

RE : Wednesday Checkup

Hi everyone. Just doing my middle of the week checkup. Do me a favor and TITLE your posts, please?

Your card of the week should say "Card of the Week Oct 1-8" or something in that vein so I have an easier time of making sure we're all caught up by the weekend, purty please.

"Card of the Week"
"Discussion Post"
and if you're replying to someone else's please put "RE:" or "reply" in the title. Doesn't even have to really be anything after that, just so I know it's not what you want to count towards YOUR discussion post/card at a glance. (Goin back to edit my own...)

====== Wednesday Checkin =======

+Jes+
Discussion Complete
Card of the Week (Q of Wands) Complete

+Kosjitov+
Card of the Week (Strength) Complete

+Zechariah13+
Card of the Week (Moon) Complete
 

Zechariah13

Reply to Jes

I've never heard of the 21 ways.
I do look at the ratio of Major/courts/minors, and i LOVE elements.

Although i do get a tendency to draw a "Pure Court" (Queen of Cups, King of Wands, Daughter of Pentacles, Knight of Swords), along with a Major of the Element, and a reversed Ace. Always confuses me.

I personally prefer to just look at combos and imagery. If a knight gets ahold of the Ace of Swords, then there maybe trouble afoot. lol.
 

pacificwaters

Re: Zechariah13

I've never heard of the 21 ways.

I think the 21 ways mentioned here is Greer's book on - 21 ways to read a Tarot Card..!


I do look at the ratio of Major/courts/minors, and i LOVE elements.

Although i do get a tendency to draw a "Pure Court" (Queen of Cups, King of Wands, Daughter of Pentacles, Knight of Swords), along with a Major of the Element, and a reversed Ace. Always confuses me.

I personally prefer to just look at combos and imagery. If a knight gets ahold of the Ace of Swords, then there maybe trouble afoot. lol.

Initially when I started out, I just used to read the cards with their meanings. However over time I realised that, well the Court card - can it symbolise someone ( this thought started after reading posts out here on AT). Subsequently well I changed my outlook towards the cards a bit, and ys, I started observing that the court cards come quite often when reading for someone and they also represent their particular qualities for the particular question for the querent. The Major Arcana though has me confused most of the times. And yes, imagery as you mentioned. There have been times when I felt that the imagery talked to me more than the other dominant aspect of the card and sort of simplified what I was looking for!!!

............... Although, there is a sort of "danger of innocence" feeling to them. Like the Daughter of Grails (cups) is described as a Siren, not because she is evil, but she just doesn't quite understand how captivatingly brilliant her beauty is. A slight naivete on some, but not the complete reckless inexperience i see in the RWS.....

Well I actually googled to check this out...and I must say I loved this new aspect which you pointed out...!!
 

pacificwaters

Card of the week: Oct 1-8

Deck: RWS
Card: The Hierophant

Ok, here is my card for the week. Pulled it out from the deck and wrote it down in a book prior to typing it all out here....

Well, the moment I saw this card, the first thing that came to my mind were the two pillars and more surprisingly the color of the two pillars – light brown. Both have identical colors, something which is not the case for The High Priestess - the female counterpart of the Hierophant (one pillar for the High Priestess is White and the other is black). This made me check up one more card and the card that first came up was Justice. It too had two pillars of the same color (I didn’t look into any more cards coz I didn’t want to stray from the Hierophant). But, looking back at just these two cards – The Hierophant and Justice v/s The High Priestess….. well, the High Priestess is a bit about mystery – the other person not knowing what exactly is in her mind, while the Hierophant and Justice are not those type of cards. What I mean is that there is no mystery for these two – the facts are out in the open! Is that the reason for the similar color of the pillars???

The very next thought, that came to me was that this card had appeared in a reading I had once done for my sister and that in that reading this card was indicating my sister’s then boss. To elaborate, this card had come at a place in a spread for a location marked – obstacles in your path. The Hierophant is no doubt a good card, so when this card came as an obstacle I was definitely surprised. (this was the first time, The Hierophant had appeared in any readings I had done. Hence the memory!!) Anyways coming back, when I enquired with my sis, she said that though her boss was the least controlling, gave her all sorts of liberty and no doubt was a "good" boss, but she just didn’t like it with him (the reason for this even she didn’t know) So is the Hierophant inhibitive/controlling?? I mean in the card picture you see him as addressing some people (2 guys) who are definitely junior to him (lack of headgear). What is the address about? Is it admonishment or rather, is he guiding them??

The next thing I observed was the overflowing gown and I somehow felt the color “red” is dominating the Heirophant card! Does color have any significance in Tarot readings?? Personally for me, red has always been something to fear. So is it admonishment that the Hierophant is giving?? Why is he pointing his fingers upwards?? Is he showing them the way towards enlightenment? Why has he used two fingers instead of the usual one when pointing upwards? Does it have any special significance? Why is his face expressionless?

Close observation also makes me see that of his entire body, only the face and his two wrists are visible. Not even is his neck seen, neither his feet. Only his shoes are seen which indicates that he is sitting at ease on his throne without a need to leave it very soon (he has removed his shoes).

At his feet there are two keys placed in a cross. Why the cross? Is he admonishing them and has he taken away their keys or is he pointing upwards and telling them – Dudes, these are your symbolic keys to reach the Lord.

The two people before him are possibly standing (just a feel). Why are their backs towards me? Is it pointing to some facet of mystery? Is the card hiding something (just on the lines of the High Priestess card, I compare it here because as mentioned previously, the Hierophant is the male counterpart, as well of the higher order). The two guys before the Hierophant have yellow on their clothes , whereas yellow has graduated to the head gear and the very same yellow is not even a bit on the clothes of the Hierophant. Yellow color can be considered symbolic of gold. Is it hinting at decoration of head gear with this color to indicate the highest position (which he definitely is at) or is it a respect for the level of knowledge he possesses?

What is the yellow wand in the Hierophant’s left hand? Why does it have 3 horizontal sticks with each increasing in length as you go downwards? There are also three crosses in the central white pattern of the red robe. What do they indicate? Is the wand in the Hierophant’s hand symbolic of the power he wields??

Well..that's it..my overall take for The Hierophant..!