Queen of Tarot

The ancient wisdom of the cards

Tarot Reading children

Reading Performed 07/20/2018 at 12:36 AM

Click or scroll down for the meaning of each position and the interpretation of its card.

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The Meanings of these Tarot Cards

Card One

Queen of Swords from the Waite Smith Tarot Deck

Card Meaning When Upright

Widowhood, female sadness and embarrassment, absence, sterility, mourning, privation, separation.

Papus's Divinatory Meanings

A dark wicked woman. A gossip. A calumniator. Jealous.

Card Description

Her right hand raises the weapon vertically and the hilt rests on an arm of her royal chair the left hand is extended, the arm raised her countenance is severe but chastened; it suggests familiarity with sorrow. It does not represent mercy, and, her sword notwithstanding, she is scarcely a symbol of power.

Card Two

The Hermit from the Waite Smith Tarot Deck

Card Meaning When Upright

Prudence, circumspection; also and especially treason, dissimulation, roguery, corruption.

Papus's Divinatory Meanings

Prudence.

Card Description

The variation from the conventional models in this card is only that the lamp is not enveloped partially in the mantle of its bearer, who blends the idea of the Ancient of Days with the Light of the World It is a star which shines in the lantern. I have said that this is a card of attainment, and to extend this conception the figure is seen holding up his beacon on an eminence. Therefore the Hermit is not, as Court de Gebelin explained, a wise man in search of truth and justice; nor is he, as a later explanation proposes, an especial example of experience. His beacon intimates that "where I am, you also may be." It is further a card which is understood quite incorrectly when it is connected with the idea of occult isolation, as the protection of personal magnetism against admixture. This is one of the frivolous renderings which we owe to Eliphas Levi. It has been adopted by the French Order of Martinism and some of us have heard a great deal of the Silent and Unknown Philosophy enveloped by his mantle from the knowledge of the profane. In true Martinism, the significance of the term Philosophe inconnu was of another order. It did not refer to the intended concealment of the Instituted Mysteries, much less of their substitutes, but--like the card itself--to the truth that the Divine Mysteries secure their own protection from those who are unprepared.

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Card Three

Ten of Wands from the Waite Smith Tarot Deck

Card Meaning When Upright

A card of many significances, and some of the readings cannot be harmonized. I set aside that which connects it with honour and good faith. The chief meaning is oppression simply, but it is also fortune, gain, any kind of success, and then it is the oppression of these things. It is also a card of false-seeming, disguise, perfidy. The place which the figure is approaching may suffer from the rods that he carries. Success is stultified if the Nine of Swords follows, and if it is a question of a lawsuit, there will be certain loss.

Papus's Divinatory Meanings

Uncertainty.

Card Description

A man oppressed by the weight of the ten staves which he is carrying.

Card Four

Strength from the Waite Smith Tarot Deck

Card Meaning When Upright

Power, energy, action, courage, magnanimity; also complete success and honours.

Papus's Divinatory Meanings

Justice.

Card Description

A woman, over whose head there broods the same symbol of life which we have seen in the card of the Magician, is closing the jaws of a lion. The only point in which this design differs from the conventional presentations is that her beneficent fortitude has already subdued the lion, which is being led by a chain of flowers. For reasons which satisfy myself, this card has been interchanged with that of justice, which is usually numbered eight. As the variation carries nothing with it which will signify to the reader, there is no cause for explanation. Fortitude, in one of its most exalted aspects, is connected with the Divine Mystery of Union; the virtue, of course, operates in all planes, and hence draws on all in its symbolism. It connects also with innocentia inviolata, and with the strength which resides in contemplation. These higher meanings are, however, matters of inference, and I do not suggest that they are transparent on the surface of the card. They are intimated in a concealed manner by the chain of flowers, which signifies, among many other things, the sweet yoke and the light burden of Divine Law, when it has been taken into the heart of hearts. The card has nothing to do with self-confidence in the ordinary sense, though this has been suggested--but it concerns the confidence of those whose strength is God, who have found their refuge in Him. There is one aspect in which the lion signifies the passions, and she who is called Strength is the higher nature in its liberation. It has walked upon the asp and the basilisk and has trodden down the lion and the dragon.

Card Five

King of Cups from the Waite Smith Tarot Deck

Card Meaning When Upright

Fair man, man of business, law, or divinity; responsible, disposed to oblige the Querent; also equity, art and science, including those who profess science, law and art; creative intelligence.

Papus's Divinatory Meanings

A fair man. A friend. A barrister, judge, or ecclesiastic. A bachelor.

Card Description

He holds a short sceptre in his left hand and a great cup in his right; his throne is set upon the sea; on one side a ship is riding and on the other a dolphin is leaping. The implicit is that the Sign of the Cup naturally refers to water, which appears in all the court cards.

Card Six

Eight of Pentacles from the Waite Smith Tarot Deck

Card Meaning When Upright

Work, employment, commission, craftsmanship, skill in craft and business, perhaps in the preparatory stage.

Papus's Divinatory Meanings

Partial success. Great loss of money at last moment.

Card Description

An artist in stone at his work, which he exhibits in the form of trophies.

Card Seven

The Hanged Man from the Waite Smith Tarot Deck

Card Meaning When Upright

Wisdom, circumspection, discernment, trials, sacrifice, intuition, divination, prophecy.

Papus's Divinatory Meanings

Trials. Sacrifice.

Card Description

The gallows from which he is suspended forms a Tau cross, while the figure--from the position of the legs--forms a fylfot cross. There is a nimbus about the head of the seeming martyr. It should be noted (1) that the tree of sacrifice is living wood, with leaves thereon; (2) that the face expresses deep entrancement, not suffering; (3) that the figure, as a whole, suggests life in suspension, but life and not death. It is a card of profound significance, but all the significance is veiled. One of his editors suggests that Eliphas Levi did not know the meaning, which is unquestionable nor did the editor himself. It has been called falsely a card of martyrdom, a card a of prudence, a card of the Great Work, a card of duty; but we may exhaust all published interpretations and find only vanity. I will say very simply on my own part that it expresses the relation, in one of its aspects, between the Divine and the Universe. He who can understand that the story of his higher nature is imbedded in this symbolism will receive intimations concerning a great awakening that is possible, and will know that after the sacred Mystery of Death there is a glorious Mystery of Resurrection.

Card Eight

Three of Cups from the Waite Smith Tarot Deck

Card Meaning When Upright

The conclusion of any matter in plenty, perfection and merriment; happy issue, victory, fulfilment, solace, healing.

Papus's Divinatory Meanings

Mutual love.

Card Description

Maidens in a garden-ground with cups uplifted, as if pledging one another.

Details of this Tarot Reading

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