Seasons, Suits & Elements?

[lark]

Maybe I've got this all wrong..I don't know, but none of these ever seem to match up with the way I see them on any deck I buy.
I just got the Ma'at workbook and it's very wonderful and interesting, but once again this is no match for how I see things.

Cups are summer and water.... summer to me is swimming pools and going to the lake, running through the sprinkler....watering the garden...watching the birds splash in the birdbaths...it's watery. I can not get away from associating it with summer and water.

Wands are spring and air.....the little shoots that sprout on the wands....the energy of growth...the start of new life..birds nesting, baby animals being born....up here on our hill it is the windiest time of the season...the roar of it in the trees...the wind drying out the earth,...so the garden can be planted.

Pentacles/Coins is earth and autumn.....the lusty colors of dark greens, reds yellows and oranges...the bounty of the harvest waiting to be picked...the cash crops ready to be brought in, the wheat cut, the apples picked, the corn harvested.
The garden can be harvested and put to bed.
It is the time where you are paid either in money or in produce for the summer's duty of tending to your crop....it is a time of preparation and well being.
Of crossing the t's and dotting the i's before winter sets in.

Swords are fire and winter.....the fire to keep you warm in the hearth....the emotionless grey skies, the dark bare trees that outline the horizon....the skill and logic needed to survive the winter well and happy. Swords to me are just firery...I see them more as the defenders ...with a low flame always simmering at their center...ready to flare up and take on any challenger.....I see this in a Sword much more than in a Wand.

So how and why do you see them as you do?
Anyone see them like I do?
Any deck you know of that see's them my way?
Or maybe I just have to paint my own deck?

 

[Skysteel]

Hi, lark.
-

So how and why do you see them as you do?
Anyone see them like I do?
Any deck you know of that see's them my way?
Or maybe I just have to paint my own deck?

Wands - sprouting, initiating - Wood - Spring/Summer
Coins - manifesting, realising - Fire - Summer/Fall
Swords - stripping, cutting - Metal - Fall/Winter
Cups - concentrating, reflecting - Water - Winter/Spring

Technically Lanterns are Fire/Summer/Fall and Coins are Earth/Changing Seasons, but there aren't many decks with five Suits.

 

[Sulis]

I think a lot of this comes from geographical location.
I base my elemental, seasonal and directional correspondences on my magical practice.
I use:

Air - East, the sunrise, Spring, beginnings, thought, communication, Swords
Fire - South, mid-day, Summer, doing, action, energy, transformation, Wands
Water- West, sunset, Autumn, fruition, relationships, emotions, reflecting Cups
Earth - North, night, Winter, manifestation, the physical world, health, money,Pentacles.

 

[WolfyJames]

It's all a matter of personal taste, you go with what you like. In my case I go like this:

Water(Cups): spring, east, morning, beginning, love, snow melts and it rains a lot, weather warms up, love season, seems like we open up here, our blood start warming up.

Fire (Wands): summer, south, noon, actions, projects, parties, it's get very hot, our latin blood finally shows up, lots of flirting around.

Earth (Pentacles): autumn, west, evening, endings, work, harvest, natures gives her fruits, trees are full of warm colors, we start preparing for winter ahead.

Air (Swords): winter, north, night, gestation, contemplation, thoughts, cerebral works, it's very cold and snowy and very windy. It's really in winter I feel the wind, it has a strong presence, a personality, it pushes you around.

The system Sulis uses is the traditional one used in Wicca by the way, in case anyone is interested. I'm Wiccan so I'm a bit confused between my system and Wicca's but I usually use mine at home and Wicca's in my coven.

Edit: (my computer crashed twice on me before I could edit)

Usually tarot decks follow the ceremonial magick system. Which is the system Sulis mentionned. Sometimes, tarot decks won't follow it, like the Crystal Tarot or the Celestial tarot, which places Swords as winter and Wands as summer, close to my system but her two other cards are different than mine.

In the tradition of my coven, the elements air and fire are switched, Wands are air and spring/east and Swords are fire and summer/south. It's confusing.

 

[Alta]

The way I see it comes from my understanding of the I Ching cycles (Later Heaven/ Inner World arrangement:

Li stands in the south: stands for heat, for summer, for things recognizing each other in the light. It is the fullness of creativity but also blasting heat of rashness and going too far. I associate it with Wands.

K'an stands in the north. It is winter, a time for coming to truly face what has been accomplished and what has not and taking responsibility for it. It is ways coming to an end, with a rational and responsible summing up. But I also remember it is certain wild courage in the face of life. It is swords.

Chen stands in the east. Spring. It is the world overflowing with new life. Water and the divine spark come together and our natures over-flow joyfully in the face of the bounties to come. It is cups.

Dui stands in the west. Autumn. It is the gradual ending of light. It is also the beginning of understanding, of reflection. It is a gathering together against the increasing cold to be of cheer and exchange knowledge. It is a time of gathering, exchanging and foreseeing and it is coins. The earth.

 

[WolfyJames]

The way I see it comes from my understanding of the I Ching cycles (Later Heaven/ Inner World arrangement:

I don't know anything about I Ching. What are the elements of these words you used: Li, K'an, Chen, Dui? It is interestig to see that is seems to go along with my system, which has nothing to do with I Ching but it's interesting that my crazy system may have similarities with I Ching. I may check out I Ching now just to see.

While air is seen as a "male" energy like fire and is usually put as east, as an air sign I view more air as contemplative and cerebral. Sure the mind can be quite quick and come up with ten things at once, but it does not involve any physical movement at all. Actually, less the body moves more the mind thinks. So in winter in a gestative state the mind should be at its best while in summer with the fiery actions we do the mind is usually put in the back.

 

[lark]

So very interesting to read these and to know others have hashed this out in their head and come up with thier own personal system too.

Marion the I Ching cycles...now that is unique...never thought of that.

Hi Wolfie nice to see you here. I sure do go with what i like but it leaves me out in the cold sometimes as far as connecting with decks that have other ideas.

I don't know what directions I would give them..
I think....
Swords~North
Cups~South
Wands~East
Coins~West

Hi back to you Skysteel....now where do you get lanterns from? I like how your seasons overlap.

Sulis....it is nice to be involved in a system where this was brought to your attention early on and you have an understanding of the concept behind it.

I think i might need to get one of those color your own decks and color it up in my style just to see how it all feels to me.

 

[WolfyJames]

I don't know what directions I would give them..
I think....
Swords~North
Cups~South
Wands~East
Coins~West

You don't have to give them directions. I am a Wiccan and as such use the elements in ritual and we use the directions as well with the elements, like calling the air in the east. For those of us Pagans and ceremonial magicians directions are a must but if you are none of this and don't do rituals at all don't worry about the directions.

 

[Alta]

Technically it isn't a perfect match since IC also uses 'Metal' as an element. As I tried to express, it is my interpretation but based on the concepts rather than strictly carrying the elements across.

 

[Briar Rose]

Any deck you know of that see's them my way?
QUOTE]


What about the Sacred Circle?