DW 78: The Cards as a Sequence, Chapter 2

arizonagirl

(Melvis will be back with Chapter 3.)

Ms. Pollack looks at the cards in the Major Arcana as a progression through life. Chapter 2 is an overview, and we will get into greater depth of the sequence in subsequent chapters.

To best participate in this discussion, get your deck (Rider Waite or favorite) and lay the cards out as Ms. Pollack describes.

The Fool, whose number is 0, is set apart to show us that he belongs everywhere and anywhere. Ms. Pollack divides the remaining cards into 3 groups of seven. These 3 rows of cards she calls the Areas of Experience.

The first line, The Worldly Sequence, represents consciousness, the outer concerns of life in society. This line concentrates on such matters as love, social authority, education, and describes the main concerns of society. This line begins with the Magician and ends with the Chariot. It describes a journey of personal growth.

The second line, Turning Inwards, represents subconscious, the search inward to find out
who we are. This line concentrates on the awareness of self, followed by a symbolic death and rebirth. This line begins with Strength and ends with Temperance. It is a journey of
self-knowledge.

The third line, The Great Journey, represents super-consciousness, a travel from darkness
into light. This line begins with the Devil and ends with the World. This is a journey of
enlightenment.

Examine the cards you’ve laid out before you. Tell us what you see. Do they fit with her approach? Do they not correspond? What do you see in the first and last cards of each line? What do they mean to you? Do the second cards in each sequence relate to each other? Do the third cards? What does the Wheel of Fortune in the exact middle mean to you?
 

Jeanette

I used my Universal Waite deck and laid out the cards in three rows of seven, and when I looked at it, Justice XI was in the middle, not Wheel of Fortune X. ??
 

Kate

The Cosmic Tarot has Justice and Strength exchanged.

So I'm studying the first card in each grouping, and see tremendous similiarities between the Magician and Justice - graphically the smiliarities are pronounced, and I can intuit that they represent different things but in a similar way.

I'm not grasping how the Devil card works this way.

It's as if I see apple, banana, (ok, I can make some sense of that) pencil (huh?).
 

Kiama

I laid this one out, and stared a while, all the time wondering what the hell Strengt was doing under the Magician and above the Devil! So, I swapped Strength and Justice round (Something very unusual for me, but then again, I don't use numerologyor astrology in my readings, so it really wouldn't matter for me where Strength went!), and it suddenly clicked!

I then re-named each vertical row. (Feel free to disagree with me on these names!)

Row 1: (Magician, Justice, Devil) The Instigators, the Initiators. The Magician is the frist active spark, Justice is that which instigates the law of give and take, and the Devil is that which causes you to have the desire to beak free from bonds.

Row 2: (High Priestess, Hermit, Tower) Inner Wisdom, or Introspection. The High Priestess is keeper of inner mysteries. The Hermit is the card of introspection and prudence. The Tower sees a break down of outer, false boundaries and foundations, leaving you with your true inner self.

Row 3: (Empress, Wheel of Fortune, Star) The Rejuvenators. The Empress gives birth to new life, rejuventing the world. The Wheel of Fortune turns, bringing new life round to where there was previously barren-ness. The Star pours water bck into a still pool, keeping it moving, preventing it from becoming stagnant. She brings hope, and new outlook.

Row4: (Emperor, Strength, Moon) The Subtle Rulers. The Emperor, whilst ruling firmly over his kingdom, is not mean or tyranical. He rules with confidence, and never uses force. Strength subtly tames the beast, again, without force. The Moon rules us without many of us realising it: Our bodies consist of 70% water, and the Moon rules the water, causing tides (Our emtional sways.) It also causes subtle deception.

Row 5: (High Priest, Hanged Man, Sun) Three Different Stages of Spiritual Outlook. The High Priest starts with the seeker needing a guide and a mediator, to set them on their way. The Hanged Man then sees a turn around in spirital outlook, with the seeker deciding to seek for themselves, and look at things diferently. The Sun sees the ultimate spiritual finding. The realisation of the self as sacred, beautiful, and god-like.

Row 6: (Lovers, Death, Judgement) Have not named this really. Kind of 'Letting Go' or 'Mirror of the Self'. The Lovers sees the seeker looking in the mirror, seeing the other side of themselves. Death sees them leaving behind of the past, in replacement for something new, then Judgment sees the actual letting go of the past, which leads to higher growth.

Row 7: (Chariot, Temperence, and World) Realisation. Chariot sees the seeker realising their own importance in their destiny, grasping the reins of life. Temperence sees them realising the importance of balance. And finally, the World sees them realising the ultimate dream.

Kiama
 

Jeanette

Good job, Kiama! I'm going to lay the cards out again tonight and study them with your interpretations :)
 

Kiama

Something else I just noticed about the sequence, with the swapped Justice and Strength: Look at how similar the Magician, Justice, and Devil (Row 1) are. They're all going for the 'as above, so below' look!

Kiama
 

Melvis

This was difficult to do with the Legend: Arthurian deck! Here goes:

What stands out most is the Lady of the Lake as Justice in the center of the spread. Her arms are spread straight out at her sides as she rises from the lake. Beneath one hand hangs Excalibur, suspended in the air above the water. Beneath the other hand is the sword's scabbard. Thus her posture creates the form of the scales usually associate with Justice. It forms a great centerpiece for the whole spread.

I did see a connection to what RP says in Chapter 3 about the rows representing (top to bottom): consciousness, the subconscious, and the super-consciousness. The top row features, in order, Merlin, Nimue, Guenevere, Arthur, Taliesin, Gareth & Lyones, and the Battle of Mount Badon. They are (with the possible exception of Gareth & Lyones [who??!!]) some of the best known characters from the legends. They represent basic drives and desires. The Battle of Mount Badon at the end is particularly well placed, because it was the decisive battle that brought Arthur to prominence, and readied him for the next stage of his career.

The second row features cards that depict more mythical or dreamlike characters and events. With such titles as Percivale's Vision and Arthur's Dream, you realize that at this stage in your journey through the Majors, you're entering another realm entirely...you have to go deeper into yourself to reach the next level.

The final row was a little more difficult for me. It seems to have lots of situations involving prophecy (Star-"Firedrake"), reading signs and portents (Moon-"Morgan Le Fay"), and ignoring signs of doom (Tower-"Vortigern's Fortress"). It seems to point to the idea of applying what you've learned about yourself (and your connection to your inner resources) to your connection with the superconscious.

Does that make any sense? I'm watching the Olympics as I write this, so I'm a little distracted!

Peace,

Melvis
 

Talisman

Arizonagirl, Melvis, all,

No contribution here. Just wanted to say I will be a constant reader.

Fascinating, valuable stuff here!

Talisman
 

Kaz

Kiama, thanks for this splendid contribution, I know it will help me looking at them Templar cards. To be continued....

Kaz
 

Kaz

My impressions, using the Templar Tarot.

This a Rider Waite based deck, so the cards put in this order fit the approach of the 3 sequences mentioned in the book.

Worldly Sequence:
- Starts with the Magician, a female dancing around like in trance with 8 arms distributing the raw powers she has (for detailed description of card see my post on chapter1).
- Ends with Chariot, a gray bearded fellow wearing armor and holding a big scythe in his right hand, and the reigns to the 2 unicorns pulling his cart in the left hand. He looks fully in control and having succeeded in his stuggles in life so far.

The raw powers from the Magician have been given direction and are being controlled now by the Chariot.

Turning Inwards:
- Starts with Strenght. A monk-like figure with a little beard, dressed in a brown robe with a hood sits praying near the window in his room in a high place (tower?). Around him are "people", a pile of books, pots, skulls everywhere, in the ground and in the air, bones and huge nails driven in the floor. A bit scaring and depressing atmosphere. I didn't have a clue where these figures all stood for, so I had to consult the LWB for this card. The LWB tells these surroundings are his soul's dark aspects, and at first he is unable to accept them, but he knows this must be done or he will never see truth.
- Ends with Temperance. A bare-chested male figure, not looking very healthy, as if he has been hit two black eyes ( he looks pathetic). He has a ring of thorns around his head and holds a huge purple piece of cloth (curtain?) with a white cross on it in front of him. In the background are some rock-like structures, in the middle where he stands it's paved with stones, and in the foreground there is most of the purple cloth and 7 books of knowledge.

The haunting dark aspects of the soul in Strenght have been accepted in Temperance, though the rebirth this Temperance shows is a dark one (in most decks it's glorious), not looking very happy towards the future. Getting to know yourself is not a pleasant experience in this deck.

The Great Journey:
- Starts with the Devil. This is half a man and half an animal figure. From the waist down it is a hairy pair of animal legs with feet like goats have, and a tail that grows in the ground. The torso is a man, with horns on his head, one of them is broken.. He holds with his right hand a stick in a fire and with his left hand he is doing the thing you do in court when swearing to speak the truth. The surroundings look like what you can expect to be the Hell, a barren landscape in orange/reddish colors with this fellow doing his act in the middle. Above him there is a tree-like structure, it hasn't got leaves, but it's branchy and they have something of thorns and a bonelike look. A dove flies between them.
- Ends with the World. Here you find all the elements blended to completion with a male/female person in the middle raising its arms high in joy. All darkness has been trown off and enlightment has set in.

To get to enlightment you have to start getting control over the raw powers, leading to a jouney through darkness within, passing your own Hell and finally reward is there......

I dont like the Wheel of Fortune in the middle in this deck as turning point, it's very obvious that the 3 stages as decribed in the book fit this deck.

Kaz