Cards you *still* don't get!

After months, years of using tarot cards, which cards just won't sink in for you?

For me there are a few, but the one I wanted to discuss because I saw it mentioned on another thread is the 2 of wands

All the cookbook terms for it, choice, dominion, control don't help

I have trouble mixing the meaning of wands and the two

My cosmic deck has a man standing proud just in front two long staffs which look like a kind of gateway - it's as if he has made a decision to go for something and is about to step out and do it but pausing for a few seconds to muster up courage

he almost looks as if he is waiting at the altar for his bride to appear

or how about

wands - passion - two - a couple - sex? could this card be about courting/a proposal? deciding to go after a man or woman? putting oneself out there? needing to find their match, someone on same wavelength and nothing less will do - kind of don't go for second best? you see i am totally confused

http://www.angelpaths.com/decks/cosmic/wands/twoofwands.html

This is a card I have had most trouble with also. I think it's partly to do with the vagueness of the meaning of the RWS, partly that it differs form one deck to another, and partly because in RWS based decks, the images and meanings of the 2 and 3 of wands are in some ways similar. Also, on top of this, you have many more recent decks where the creators felt the same ambiguity towards this card and so went with something totally new.

It's interesting that you suggest a male-female coupling element as I just got the Alchemical Renewed and this card is Hermes and Aphrodite- one lover lost in the other, or something like this. It shows one torch lighting another.

The doorway idea is one that's been used by the DruidCraft, although you wouldn't guess it from the image!

I think that, in the end, it's best to go with the meaning prescribed by whichever deck you use, combined with your own ideas and intuition. I used to try to shoehorn meanings from different decks, but it doesn't work. I think if you use the meaning set out by the image on the card as a starting point, then at least you're not 'going against' the images in front of you- something which for me made the RWS impossible to learn in the early years was that the meanings and pictures didn't always match up, it is counter-productive to developing your intuitive skills.


there are a couple of interpretations which have worked for me, one is that of potential- like reading it as one before the 3.... The other is that of dominion as in the Thoth, but with little enjoyment. I have oftne read it in a kind of 'getting your own way but with little satisfaction' kind of context, but it really comes down to how you feel about it when you turn it over. Also,I do change how some cards read according to the deck for the reasons stated above.

Zoe xx

Just wanted to add that for me it wouldn't be about a romantic relationship as such, I associate that with cups, and indeed the two of cups is about marriage and proposals etc. I think the Fire suit is more about the spirit, you may think of the fires of passion, but in it's pure form, fire is not about that, it's more about will, energy, creativity, purpose and so on. And twos don't have to be about two people, they can be about choices, or pairs of other kinds.

Zoe xx

That just goes to show you that one particular one card doesn't have the same meaning from reading to reading, there are quite a few meanings for each card that can be interchanged, so to speak.

For Two of Wands I tend to go for both. Two of Wands can sort of indicate two minds, in one sense. For instance, you could go for what is in the future, or you can stick with what is in the past. The man in the Rider-Waite is actually holding the world in his hand, while looking at the left, the past. So, you can see that it is which way to go, to stick with what is and was, or to venture into new territory. Along with that duality, is that you can be in a sense that one moment you will be feeling happy, enthusiastic, content and what not, but on the other hand you might be feeling melancholic, angry, sad and what not, and this would be about the same thing. It is a "what do I do" card, actually, and really speaking all the Two's seem to indicate just that.

On the other hand, it could indicate that what was started in the Ace of Wands, that extra action would be put into it, to make the thing more of a reality, or more workable, more viable, etc.

Difficult one, especially when you just don't know which one to go for!

This is a tough card to "get", it's almost like 2 aces, 2 options, and the duality of both. Want/want, but you can't have it both ways, something's got to give. You can't stay where you are and move forward at the same time. Or more often it seems like rather than one person having two options, it's two different sets of wants, rather than needs, working at cross purposes or totally opposing each other. The battle of wills.

Maybe it's the can't have your cake and eat it too card.

I've always seen this card as feeling restricted and confined and indecisive, that you realize your world is a tiny little place and want to push the boundaries, yet to do so means giving up the safety provided within those boundaries and striking off into the unknown. Still even RWS, or M-G, has help coming from unexpected places, some sort of assistance, so you aren't having to do this alone.

As for relationships, I really see this as head butting, two different agendas with all that passion behind it. So no wonder the LWB says, no marriage will occur with this card.

It is friction to be sure, when you rub two sticks together, long enough, with enough pressure, you will eventually start a fire.

I still have a blockage with Justice, I read, I study but it's still this tangled, chaotic mess in my head! I dread getting it in a reading. Any advice on this card? It's a toughie for me!

2 and 3 of Wands are also tricky cards for me, though the 2 I seem to be getting more of a feel and handle on. The 3? It's all over the map!

For many years (I started at 15) when I 1st started learning Tarot the Judgement card was a nightmare for me. I was raised in a strict Penecostal household with the salvation through terror fire & brimstone approach to God. So Judgement had all the super negative meanings and connotations for me. The RWS imagery certainly did not help. It was all doom & gloom and dread when this card turned up.

Now it's a extremely special card to me. My understanding and relationship to it is complex and my journey with it has mirrored my spiritual journey and awakening. My study, learning and interpertations of Judgement has so many complex layers, it's now one of my very favourites in the deck!

Great thread idea

Thanks so much wytchwood, rcb, waleswoman and 6hd

It seems like it can be the more *troubled* of all the twos - starting a business is stressful and risky just popped into my head for this card

Lots of food for thought there and tips

6hd Justice is another one for me but not as bad as the 2w

Maybe try and look at the images on your deck and think of where you have seen that in real life and what you think of them and what they remind you of/associate with them?

I have built up a set of meanings through practice for about 2 years now (or whenever i joined here and bought my deck) with the exception of the dont get it cards and one way i have done it is to do readings on myself, and some of the meanings just clicked one day (after a while though i must say when my emotions were not in a mess and i was clearer) because i experienced exactly in personal life what the card was about

i've just had an idea for a new tarot game to help learning

thanks again

I STILL have difficulties with Justice, Temperance & Judgment at times - they can be complicated! Especially Temperance, it just sometimes doesn't seem to say much to me.

I guess that the Courts still sometimes give me problems. Yeah, sometimes some pips too - that 2 of Wands, ugh! I call it, "Waiting for your ship to come in" - that helps. The 3 is, actually WATCHING your ship come in. Makes sense to me...

star-lover said:

i've just had an idea for a new tarot game to help learning

thanks again

Click to expand...

OOO share share!!

judgement is a release card - letting go, not consciously but its like a weight has been removed off your shoulders and not suffering any more, relief finally from ongoing struggle of anykind, and a clean slate to start over with

yes rosie will do that game shortly once i flesh it out in my mind bit more