EPIPHANY! A New Take on the Major Arcana

rwcarter

I need to play catch-up at some point (soon, hopefully). Don't know if I've had one migraine for 3 weeks or 3 migraines in 3 weeks, but I also have vertigo on top of that. :bugeyed: Haven't spent as much time in front of the computer as I normally do. I'm glad to see a revival in interest in this idea though and will participate when I'm feeling better (and have finished playing catch-up).

Rodney
 

dangerdork

DUDE! Give us more of a teaser than that after all this time! ;) (Although technically, discussion of the deck should occur in Tarot Deck Creation while it's in progress and Tarot Decks once it's completed.)
OK Rodney, I've pulled the trigger and created a thread in "Tarot Deck Creation" where I will be able to post all my meta- stuff on the Seven Stations deck.

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=242577

Maybe we can get some cross-channel interest from denizens of that area of AT if they're curious to come over and investigate Channel Seven here. ;)

Don't know if I've had one migraine for 3 weeks or 3 migraines in 3 weeks, but I also have vertigo on top of that. :bugeyed: Rodney
So very sorry to hear that, hope you're feeling better soon. I've missed your commentary here.
 

Lucas Prince of Cats

I think you're doing a fine job of "coming out of your shell" lol. I'm thrilled that you're so enthusiastic about tarot and learning, and about participating in this thread.

I was about your age (13 or 14) when I got my first tarot deck and started learning about various (what we called "occult" back then) schools of thought - out of all that stuff, tarot is the one thing that really "stuck," because as I got older my interests turned to things like art, mythology, and storytelling... and tarot incorporates all of those.

You're obviously a bright guy and love new ideas, so I look forward to hearing more of your perspectives here.

Oh, I'm sorry, I think I've mislead you. The reason why I mentioned that is because 14 is 2x7, and the second chakra is the social chakra.
 

Lucas Prince of Cats

I need to play catch-up at some point (soon, hopefully). Don't know if I've had one migraine for 3 weeks or 3 migraines in 3 weeks, but I also have vertigo on top of that. :bugeyed: Haven't spent as much time in front of the computer as I normally do. I'm glad to see a revival in interest in this idea though and will participate when I'm feeling better (and have finished playing catch-up).

Rodney

XD Yes, I've kind of come across it by chance (and lead by karma, which leads to "new perspectives"), and kind of decicded to oin and I geuss I've ramped it up, and I've been really womndering where you've been. You were a big person in this. Get better, soon!
 

dangerdork

Hermes Trismegistus

Hey, look over there: a whole rabbit farm! Go look up old H.T. and soon enough the trail will lead to the Emerald Tablets of Thoth, Kybalion, Paul Foster Case and B.O.T.A., Aleister Crowley... all just bursting with ripe 7x3 goodness.

However, I have cards to work on. Please research and discuss.
 

Lucas Prince of Cats

Oh, yes, and I should answer a question from a long time ago. I rea a lot of mythology, and once, you mentioned that the cards have a star, moon, nad sun, but "why not all the planets, than?". It's because the sun and moon ewach represent the day and night, but to the ancients, venus was called "the morning star" because it was the first planet to appear, and was visible during twighlight. To the greeks, it was the sun or moon of twighlight, so it venus was THE STAR. A friend of mine told me taht as venus moves through the sky, it moves in the shape of a pentagram the modern symbol for a star.
 

MandMaud

So first, I think it's a cycle, and it's simply being reborn in a new age, or THE new age of aquairus. In it's elderly years, it's very misinterpretated, and kind of "beaten up". Think of the mother/earth goddess, and how she rebirths the god or horned-god once it dies into it's birth, so it's just a big cycle, and the people of the new age hope to make sure it goes as planned, and the philosopy and spirituality spreads.
Yes exactly!

Then, as for your thing about the mirror, I like hearing that little tale. I've never known why, and that's very interesting! So, like I said before, every human conquers the first three parts of the soul, so for a 21 year-old, they have accomplished pride (which the mirror may symbolize), and power, but also, the first three chakras can represent the human ego, and self (also, the mriror can represent the second chakras stuff), so perhaps taht could go with anyone of age. Now, the thing is, some people caoulds consider all the chakras individual souls, depending on what "soul" means to you. For the japanese, the gods are made of 4 souls. So, I think it's a symbolic metaphor, that fits really well. New agers believe that the betyter your chakra, the better taht area of life.

I hadn't thought of it that way at all (esp. the mirror/self and the other symbolism) - hm...
<eyes light up with glee at new chain of ideas>

And I was going to say you're so well-read etc, that's why I exclaimed about being 14 - but dangerdork has put it much better. :)

(Blushing) I'm also overjoyed with the PDF I did yesterday.

I think the PDF you refer to would fit the original spread described on page 2 of this thread.

I'm really enjoying the back-and-forth between you and Lucas.

It looks like this thread has gotten several hundred views over the past week or so. I wish (AHEM!!) a few more people would chime in.

Yes, both PDFs are gorgeous, you have a knack for it. And yes, I remember that spread now. And yes, more people need to de-lurk - even though I doubt I'll keep up if this thread gets much busier. :)

And yes, Rodney, FEEL BETTER. :)
 

Lucas Prince of Cats

Ok, so, wow, I had an almost unesplainable experience the day before yesterday. So, I was in the car as my parents were driving home, and I was day dreaming about an impossible highschool romance again (normal prince of cups, highschool stuff!), and was thinking about if I ever do get a boyfriend, I'd talk to my friend about it and... that's when I felt ome kind of SHIFT. Suddenly, bragging rights, and even connections to epople became so much less important! It's hard to explain, but I think I've moved to the third chakra taht day! And you know what? The hermit very well describes my thoughts at taht moment! I'm on the power station of the mystic path!
 

dangerdork

Elemental Dignitaries and Seven Stations

Sorry I haven't posted much lately - but I've been working very productively on the actual designs for the Seven Stations deck. Deciding what arcane symbols to include on the label for each card led me into several lines of thought. (FWIW, on each card label I included Hebrew letter, Chakra, Astrological Sign and Elemental Dignity as well as color and graphic treatments indicating Path and Station for each.

First today, I want to talk about the Elemental associations again. Lots of people know lots more on this subject than I do, but I'm going to use the Seven Stations perspective as an excuse to learn more about it.

Apparently there are a couple variations historically in which elements are assigned to which cards. I'm using the set referenced earlier described by Thierens in 1930. It has one variance from the (excellent) thread here on AT:

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=188924

As I looked along each path for a pattern of elements, there were maybe a few elements that showed up more than others for each path, but nothing seemed to stand out. Let's start here instead: I'm looking at triads of cards - the three Arcana in each Station, one for each Path. Let's see if a pattern emerges.

Origin/Root station- Magician=Air, Priestess=Water, Empress=Earth
Inspiration/Sacral Station- Emperor=Fire, Hierophant=Earth, Lovers=Air
Power/Solar Plexus- Chariot=Water, Strength=Fire, Hermit=Earth
Turning Point/Heart- Wheel of Fortune=Fire, Justice=Air, Hanged Man=Water
Transformation/Throat- Death=Water, Temperance=Fire, Devil=Earth
Epiphany/Third Eye- Tower=Fire, Star=Air, Moon=Water
Destiny/Crown- Sun=Fire, Judgment=Water, World=Earth

I think I DO see a pattern here. We should note that no duplications of elements appear in any of the triads - that is, each set consists of three different elements. The elements MISSING from each triad almost look like they're starting to form a pattern too:

Path 1 (-Fire), Path 2 (-Water), Path 3 (-Air), Path 4 (-Earth), Path 5 (-Air), Path 6 (-Earth), Path 7 (-Air)... so the four missing elements are distributed equaly amongst the first four Paths, and then a pattern of Air, Earth, Air, Earth, Air.

The one variance I'm looking at is Judgment, which some sources (primarily Case) list as "Fire" but many astrologers associate with "Water." I'm going to go with the latter simply because it fits the pattern I'm seeing here. :D

I'd love it if somebody who knows more about all this would chime in here, since I know little about the subject of Elemental dignifications. I know that basically, cards are sometimes interpreted based on their ruling elements to be "opposed," "friendly," or "neutral" to each other.

ETA: I See Rodney had begun to delve into this in THIS POST: http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=1189564&postcount=36

Aside from needing to read up more on this, I did begin to speculate how these elemental interactions may tie in to my recent perspective of (Path 1 card) NEEDS (Path 2 Card) TO accomplish (Path C card).

I'm not seeing any immediate connections with this pattern of Elemental Rulers yet... but thinking it over led to another idea which I'll outline in my next post.
 

Lucas Prince of Cats

Sorry I haven't posted much lately - but I've been working very productively on the actual designs for the Seven Stations deck. Deciding what arcane symbols to include on the label for each card led me into several lines of thought. (FWIW, on each card label I included Hebrew letter, Chakra, Astrological Sign and Elemental Dignity as well as color and graphic treatments indicating Path and Station for each.

YES, I love this! It's kind of the whole purpose of this deck!

[/QUOTE] First today, I want to talk about the Elemental associations again. Lots of people know lots more on this subject than I do, but I'm going to use the Seven Stations perspective as an excuse to learn more about it.

Apparently there are a couple variations historically in which elements are assigned to which cards. I'm using the set referenced earlier described by Thierens in 1930. It has one variance from the (excellent) thread here on AT:

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=188924


As I looked along each path for a pattern of elements, there were maybe a few elements that showed up more than others for each path, but nothing seemed to stand out. Let's start here instead: I'm looking at triads of cards - the three Arcana in each Station, one for each Path. Let's see if a pattern emerges.

Origin/Root station- Magician=Air, Priestess=Water, Empress=Earth
Inspiration/Sacral Station- Emperor=Fire, Hierophant=Earth, Lovers=Air
Power/Solar Plexus- Chariot=Water, Strength=Fire, Hermit=Earth
Turning Point/Heart- Wheel of Fortune=Fire, Justice=Air, Hanged Man=Water
Transformation/Throat- Death=Water, Temperance=Fire, Devil=Earth
Epiphany/Third Eye- Tower=Fire, Star=Air, Moon=Water
Destiny/Crown- Sun=Fire, Judgment=Water, World=Earth

I think I DO see a pattern here. We should note that no duplications of elements appear in any of the triads - that is, each set consists of three different elements. The elements MISSING from each triad almost look like they're starting to form a pattern too:

Path 1 (-Fire), Path 2 (-Water), Path 3 (-Air), Path 4 (-Earth), Path 5 (-Air), Path 6 (-Earth), Path 7 (-Air)... so the four missing elements are distributed equaly amongst the first four Paths, and then a pattern of Air, Earth, Air, Earth, Air.

The one variance I'm looking at is Judgment, which some sources (primarily Case) list as "Fire" but many astrologers associate with "Water." I'm going to go with the latter simply because it fits the pattern I'm seeing here. :D

I'd love it if somebody who knows more about all this would chime in here, since I know little about the subject of Elemental dignifications. I know that basically, cards are sometimes interpreted based on their ruling elements to be "opposed," "friendly," or "neutral" to each other.

ETA: I See Rodney had begun to delve into this in THIS POST: http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=1189564&postcount=36

Aside from needing to read up more on this, I did begin to speculate how these elemental interactions may tie in to my recent perspective of (Path 1 card) NEEDS (Path 2 Card) TO accomplish (Path C card).

I'm not seeing any immediate connections with this pattern of Elemental Rulers yet... but thinking it over led to another idea which I'll outline in my next post.[/QUOTE]

The thing is, I don'tpersonally understand why people do elemental dignities, because to me, some cards can have elements like the moon being water, but others can be a mix or for like the fool, no elements.