The 4-card pattern with The Röhrig Tarot
Okay... uh... my computer ate my homework!
Unfortunately, this is true... I had spent quite a bit of time at work typing this up, then when I went to submit it, I wasn't logged on anymore.
Lost the whole thing! So, anyway, now that I'm at home (and have fewer interruptions) I'll try re-typing it.
I've been using the Rider-Waite deck for a while now, and just picked up the Röhrig Tarot, so - since I need to study these new images - I thought I'd use them for this study group. Disclaimer: Other than the LWB that came with the Röhrig deck, I haven't read any specific books on this new deck. So, if I'm
waaay off on my interpretations, you'll have a good idea of why!
I'll start with The Fool. The image on the Röhrig deck is, as with all of the images, very different from those of the RW. While I feel that the RW deck shows The Fool as a youth of indeterminate sex (neither male, nor female) the Röhrig Fool is definitely shown as
both. The image is of a face, which is divided vertically in half. The left side (the observer's left) is, to me, a masculine face, while the right is feminine.
The male half appears happy, carefree and very nonchalant. An alligator’s head, with gaping jaws, is emerging from the top of his head and overlaps, but is not actually eating the head of a tiger. Though at first glance it does appear to be being eaten. I think this may reflect a similar meaning as that presented by the dog in the RW Fool, that of nature being subdued (or "improved") by man's conscious.
The right half of the face also appears to be happy, though not as nonchalant as the male side. On her head, her hair seems to blend into a cap of feathers, which curves outward ending in a bell, like a jester's cap. The feathers seem to me to be reminiscent of the Eagle that appears in several cards of the RW Tarot. In fact, feathers appear in several cards of the Röhrig deck as well. The Eagle depicts strength, and rising from The Fool's head, perhaps strength of thought or character.
These two halves of The Fool's face seem to depict the very duality that diverges into the next two cards. The duality of male/female, conscious/subconscious, material/spiritual. The left, masculine, half of The Fool leads directly to The Magus on the left side of the diamond. The right, feminine, side of The Fool flows into The High Priestess.
The Magus is depicted as a male who has his eyes wide open, perhaps studying the world around him. His concentration is directed outward at the reality which surrounds him. A nova-like burst of light is issuing from his crown chakra - this also seems to indicate that his energy and consciousness is directed outward towards the material world around him.
The High Priestess, on the other hand, is depicted as a woman with her eyes closed, as though in deep meditation. To me she appears to be concentrating on learning inner truths, exploring herself, her subconscious and through that the superconscious. The moon and a net of energy appears to be converging on her crown chakra, indicating her connection to those higher powers and truths she is trying to understand.
These two characters (The Magus and The High Priestess) reconverge in The World. In The World, a female figure is depicted against a backdrop of a field of stars. Chains that are shattering into pieces surround her. These chains are intermingled with a diaphanous substance. This could depict the breaking of the bonds of the material world through the power of the subconscious mind. Her eyes are closed and she is exerting no physical force on these chains - she doesn't need to because, as she learned while she was The High Priestess, her mind alone can free her. She is also handling - and coexisting with - a large pale snake, though she is exerting no physical effort to do so. I'm not certain about this image, but it seems to say to me that The Magus has learned how to effortlessly coexist with nature. And finally, she is partially clad with a light gown, which appears to be cut from the very fabric of the Universe itself - she no longer needs the trappings of the material world as she is covered by the superconscious.
Okay... I'm afraid this ended up getting a bit longer than I had expected,
but this deck really seems to have some images I can "see" very well for myself. This is how these cards appear to me. I would appreciate any input that others might have on these cards from The Röhrig Tarot.