Tarot Reading Read my future
Reading Performed 05/09/2024 at 6:40 PM
Click or scroll down for the meaning of each position and the interpretation of its card.
Querent
The querent is the card that this user felt represented them or their situation best.
Wheel of Fortune
Card Meaning When Upright
Destiny, fortune, success, advancement, luck, delight.
Card Description
The four Living Creatures of Ezekiel occupy the corners of the card. The symbols on the disc in the center stand for the perpetual motion of an ever-changing universe and for the flux of human life. The Sphinx is equilibrium within that state of change. The letters of Taro or Rota are inscribed on the wheel, interspersed with the Hebrew letters of the Divine Name—to show that Providence is implied through all existence. However, this is the Divine intention within, and the similar intention on the surface is represented by the four Living Creatures.
Visual Layout
Card One
Judgement from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Change of position, renewal, the outcome.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The Last judgment. I have spoken of this symbol already, the form of which is essentially invariable, even in the Etteilla set. An angel sounds his trumpet per sepulchra regionum, and the dead arise. It matters little that Etteilla omits the angel, or that Dr. Papus substitutes a ridiculous figure, which is, however, in consonance with the general motive of that Tarot set which accompanies his latest work. Before rejecting the transparent interpretation of the symbolism which is conveyed by the name of the card and by the picture which it presents to the eye, we should feel very sure of our ground. On the surface, at least, it is and can be only the resurrection of that triad--father, mother, child-whom we have met with already in the eighth card. M. Bourgeat hazards the suggestion that esoterically it is the symbol of evolution--of which it carries none of the signs. Others say that it signifies renewal, which is obvious enough; that it is the triad of human life; that it is the "generative force of the earth... and eternal life." Court de Gebelin makes himself impossible as usual, and points out that if the grave-stones were removed it could be accepted as a symbol of creation.
Card Description
A great angel is surrounded by clouds. He blows a trumpet with a banner displaying and a cross. Beneath, the dead are rising from their tombs—a woman on the right, a man on the left, and between them their child, whose back is turned. In the background are more dead who are restored. All the figures stand as one in the wonder, adoration, and ecstasy expressed by their postures. This card represents the accomplishment of the great work of transformation, in answer to the summons of the Celestial, heard and answered from within.
Card Two
Ten of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Oppression, especially that of fortune, gain, or any kind of success. Success will be mocked if the Nine of Swords follows. If it is a question of a lawsuit, loss is certain.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Difficulties and contradictions, if near a good card.
Card Description
A man carries ten staves, burdened down by their weight. It represents the burden of material wealth. It may also represent false-seeming, disguise, corruption, as if the place the man approaches will suffer beatings from the rods he carries.
Card Three
Three of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Occupation, trade, skilled labor; also nobility, aristocracy, renown, glory.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
If for a man, celebrity for his eldest son.
Card Description
This card shows a sculptor working in a monastery. Compare with the Eight of Pentacles: the apprentice or amateur in that card has received his reward and is now at work in earnest.
Card Four
Ace of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Triumph, the excessive degree in everything, conquest. It is a card of great force, in love as well as in hatred. The crown may carry a much higher significance than usual in fortune-telling.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Great prosperity or great misery.
Card Description
A hand extends from a cloud, grasping a sword, the point of which is encircled by a crown.
Card Five
The Hanged Man from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Wisdom, prudence, discernment, trials, sacrifice, intuition, divination, prophecy.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The Hanged Man. This is the symbol which is supposed to represent Prudence, and Eliphas Levi says, in his most shallow and plausible manner, that it is the adept bound by his engagements. The figure of a man is suspended head-downwards from a gibbet, to which he is attached by a rope about one of his ankles. The arms are bound behind him, and one leg is crossed over the other. According to another, and indeed the prevailing interpretation, he signifies sacrifice, but all current meanings attributed to this card are cartomancists' intuitions, apart from any real value on the symbolical side. The fortune-tellers of the eighteenth century who circulated Tarots, depict a semi-feminine youth in jerkin, poised erect on one foot and loosely attached to a short stake driven into the ground.
Card Description
The figure of a man hangs head down from a gallows, to which he is attached by a rope around one of his ankles. His arms are bound behind him, and one leg is crossed over the other. The gallows from which he hangs forms a Tau cross, while the figure—from the position of the legs--forms a cross. There is a halo around the head of the apparent martyr. It should be noted (1) that the tree of sacrifice is living wood, with leaves on it; (2) that the face expresses deep entrancement, not suffering; (3) that the figure, as a whole, suggests life in suspension, not death.
Card Six
Eight of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Work, employment, jobs, craftsmanship; skill in craft and business, perhaps at an entry level.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
A young man in business who has relations with the Querent; a dark girl.
Card Description
An artist at his work in stone, which he exhibits in the form of trophies.
Card Seven
The World from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Assured success, compensation, voyage, travel, emigration, fleeing, change of place.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The four living creatures of the Apocalypse and Ezekiel's vision, attributed to the evangelists in Christian symbolism, are grouped about an elliptic garland, as if it were a chain of flowers intended to symbolize all sensible things; within this garland there is the figure of a woman, whom the wind has girt about the loins with a light scarf, and this is all her vesture. She is in the act of dancing, and has a wand in either hand. It is eloquent as an image of the swirl of the sensitive life, of joy attained in the body, of the soul's intoxication in the earthly paradise, but still guarded by the Divine Watchers, as if by the powers and the graces of the Holy Name, Tetragammaton, JVHV--those four ineffable letters which are sometimes attributed to the mystical beasts. Eliphas Levi calls the garland a crown, and reports that the figure represents Truth. Dr. Papus connects it with the Absolute and the realization of the Great Work; for yet others it is a symbol of humanity and the eternal reward of a life that has been spent well. It should be noted that in the four quarters of the garland there are four flowers distinctively marked. According to P. Christian, the garland should be formed of roses, and this is the kind of chain which Eliphas Levi says is less easily broken than a chain of iron. Perhaps by antithesis, but for the same reason, the iron crown of Peter may he more lightly on the heads of sovereign pontiffs than the crown of gold on kings.
Card Description
The four living creatures of the Apocalypse and Ezekiel's vision are grouped around an elliptic garland. They are attributed to the four Gospels in Christian symbolism. Within this garland there is the figure of a woman, whom the wind has clothed with a light scarf, and this is all she wears. She is dancing, with a wand in either hand. It speaks of the swirl of the sensory life, of joy attained in the body, of the soul's intoxication in the earthly paradise. However, she is still guarded by the Divine Watchers. They are the powers and the graces of the Holy Name, Tetragammaton, JVHV. These four ineffable letters are often attributed to the four mystical beasts. This card represents the perfection and end of the Cosmos, the secret within the Cosmos, its rapture when it understands itself in God. This card is further the state of the soul in the awareness of Divine Vision, reflected from the self-aware spirit.
Card Eight
Three of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Removal, absence, delay, division, separation, dispersion, and all that the design naturally signifies.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
For a woman, the flight of her lover.
Card Description
Three swords pierce a heart; there are clouds and rain behind.
Card Nine
Eight of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Bad news, terror, crisis, rebuke, powerful obstacles, conflict, slander; also sickness.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
For a woman, scandal spread in her respect.
Card Description
A woman stands bound and blindfolded, with the swords of the card around her. It is a card of temporary imprisonment rather than permanent bondage.
Card Ten
The High Priestess from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Secrets, mystery, the future as yet unrevealed; the woman who interests the Querent, if male; the Querent herself, if female; silence, tenacity, wisdom, science.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The High Priestess, the Pope Joan, or Female Pontiff; early expositors have sought to term this card the Mother, or Pope's Wife, which is opposed to the symbolism. It is sometimes held to represent the Divine Law and the Gnosis, in which case the Priestess corresponds to the idea of the Shekinah. She is the Secret Tradition and the higher sense of the instituted Mysteries.
Card Description
She has the lunar crescent at her feet, a horned circlet on her head with a globe at its center, and a large solar cross on her chest. The scroll in her hands is inscribed with the word Torah, signifying the Greater Law, the Secret Law, and the second sense of the Word. It is partly covered by her mantle, to show that some things are implied and some spoken. She is seated between the black and white pillars—labeled B. and J.—of the mystic Temple. The veil of the Temple is behind her, embroidered with palms and pomegranates. Her clothing is flowing and gauzy, and her mantle suggests light—a shimmering radiance. She is the Secret Church, the House of God and man. She is the spiritual Bride and Mother, the daughter of the stars and the Higher Garden of Eden. She is the Queen of the borrowed light, which is the light of all. She is the Moon nourished by the milk of the Celestial Mother. In a way, she is also the Celestial Mother herself—the bright reflection of the moon. She is the Spiritual Bride of the Just Man. When the Just Man reads the Law (Torah), she gives the Divine meaning. There are some respects in which this card is the highest and holiest of the Major Arcana.
Card Eleven
Strength from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Power, energy, action, courage, generosity; also complete success and honors.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Fortitude. This is one of the cardinal virtues, of which I shall speak later. The female figure is usually represented as closing the mouth of a lion. In the earlier form which is printed by Court de Gebelin, she is obviously opening it. The first alternative is better symbolically, but either is an instance of strength in its conventional understanding, and conveys the idea of mastery. It has been said that the figure represents organic force, moral force and the principle of all force.
Card Description
A woman, over whose head is the same symbol of life seen in the Magician card, closes the jaws of a lion. Her benevolent strength has already subdued the lion, which is being led by a leash of flowers. Fortitude, in one of its most exalted aspects, is connected with the Divine Mystery of Union. It connects also with untouched innocence, and with the strength that resides in contemplation. These higher meanings are hinted at in a concealed manner by the leash of flowers, which signifies 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 ordinary self-confidence—it concerns the confidence of those whose strength is God and have found their refuge in Him. In one sense, the lion signifies the animal passions, and the lady called Strength signifies the higher nature of Man in his liberation. The higher nature of Man has walked upon the asp and the basilisk and has trodden down the lion and the dragon (see Psalm 91:13).
Card Twelve
Knight of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Utility, usability, interest, responsibility, decency—all on the surface.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
An useful man; useful discoveries.
Card Description
A knight rides a slow, heavy horse, similar in appearance to himself. He displays his symbol, but does not look at it.
Card Thirteen
The Tower from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Misery, distress, extreme poverty, adversity, disasters, disgrace, deception, ruin. It is a card in particular of unforeseen catastrophe.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The Tower struck by Lightning. Its alternative titles are: Castle of Plutus, God's House and the Tower of Babel. In the last case, the figures falling therefrom are held to be Nimrod and his minister. It is assuredly a card of confusion, and the design corresponds, broadly speaking, to any of the designations except Maison Dieu, unless we are to understand that the House of God has been abandoned and the veil of the temple rent. It is a little surprising that the device has not so far been allocated to the destruction Of Solomon's Temple, when the lightning would symbolize the fire and sword with which that edifice was visited by the King of the Chaldees.
Card Description
A Tower struck by Lightning. It is definitely a card of confusion, and the design can correspond to any well-known catastrophe. It may also depict the House of God, abandoned, and the Veil of the Temple, rent.
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Card Fourteen
The Sun from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Material success, fortunate marriage, contentment.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The Sun. The luminary is distinguished in older cards by chief rays that are waved and salient alternately and by secondary salient rays. It appears to shed its influence on earth not only by light and heat, but--like the moon--by drops of dew. Court de Gebelin termed these tears of gold and of pearl, just as he identified the lunar dew with the tears of Isis. Beneath the dog-star there is a wall suggesting an enclosure-as it might be, a walled garden-wherein are two children, either naked or lightly clothed, facing a water, and gambolling, or running hand in hand. Eliphas Levi says that these are sometimes replaced by a spinner unwinding destinies, and otherwise by a much better symbol-a naked child mounted on a white horse and displaying a scarlet standard.
Card Description
A naked child mounted on a white horse displays a red banner. The sun shining above represents consciousness in the Spirit—with direct, as opposed to reflected, light. The archetype of humanity has become a little child beneath its rays—a child in the sense of simplicity, with innocence in the sense of wisdom. In that simplicity, he bears the seal of Nature and Art; in that innocence, he signifies the restored world. When the self-knowing spirit has dawned in the consciousness above the natural mind, that mind is renewed and directs the animal nature in a state of perfect conformity.
Card Fifteen
Temperance from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Thrift, moderation, frugality, management, settlement.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Temperance. The winged figure of a female--who, in opposition to all doctrine concerning the hierarchy of angels, is usually allocated to this order of ministering spirits--is pouring liquid from one pitcher to another. In his last work on the Tarot, Dr. Papus abandons the traditional form and depicts a woman wearing an Egyptian head-dress. The first thing which seems clear on the surface is that the entire symbol has no especial connexion with Temperance, and the fact that this designation has always obtained for the card offers a very obvious instance of a meaning behind meaning, which is the title in chief to consideration in respect of the Tarot as a whole.
Card Description
A winged angel, with the sign of the sun on its forehead, and on its breast the square and triangle of the septenary (symbolism of the number seven). The androgynous figure pours the essences of life from chalice to chalice. It has one foot on the earth and one on water, illustrating the nature of the essences being poured. A direct path leads to heights on the horizon, and above shines a great light, through which a crown can be vaguely seen. Here is some part of the Secret of Eternal Life, as available to man in this existence.
Card Sixteen
Seven of Cups from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Fairy favors, images of reflection, tenderness, imagination, scrying; moderate success, but nothing permanent or substantial.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Fair child; idea, design, resolve, movement.
Card Description
Cups holding strange visions are presented to a figure in the foreground, as if offering a choice.
Card Seventeen
The Emperor from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Stability, power, protection, realization; a great person; aid, reason, conviction; also authority and will.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The Emperor, by imputation the spouse of the former. He is occasionally represented as wearing, in addition to his personal insignia, the stars or ribbons of some order of chivalry. I mention this to shew that the cards are a medley of old and new emblems. Those who insist upon the evidence of the one may deal, if they can, with the other. No effectual argument for the antiquity of a particular design can be drawn from the fact that it incorporates old material; but there is also none which can be based on sporadic novelties, the intervention of which may signify only the unintelligent hand of an editor or of a late draughtsman.
Card Description
He has a form of the Crux ansata (like an Ankh) for his scepter and a globe in his left hand. He is a crowned monarch—commanding, stately, seated on a throne. The arms of his throne have rams' heads on the front. He is execution and realization, the power of this world, clothed with the highest of its natural attributes. He is the virile power to which the Empress responds, and in this sense, he is the one who seeks to remove the Veil of Isis; yet she remains a virgin.
Card Eighteen
Two of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Elation and recreation; also news and messages in writing, as obstacles; agitation, trouble, entanglement.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Troubles are more imaginary than real.
Card Description
A young man dances with a pentacle in either hand. They are joined by an endless cord: the number 8 on its side.
Card Nineteen
Nine of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Prudence, safety, success, accomplishment, certainty, discernment.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Prompt fulfillment of what is presaged by neighbouring cards. Reversed:Vain hopes.
Card Description
A woman with a bird on her wrist stands among an abundance of grapevines in the garden of a mansion. Behind her is a wide landscape, suggesting plenty in all things. Possibly, the land is her own possession, and testifies to material well-being.
Card Twenty
The Chariot from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Aid, providence, war, triumph, presumption, vengeance, trouble.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The Chariot. This is represented in some extant codices as being drawn by two sphinxes, and the device is in consonance with the symbolism, but it must not be supposed that such was its original form; the variation was invented to support a particular historical hypothesis. In the eighteenth century white horses were yoked to the car. As regards its usual name, the lesser stands for the greater; it is really the King in his triumph, typifying, however, the victory which creates kingship as its natural consequence and not the vested royalty of the fourth card. M. Court de Gebelin said that it was Osiris Triumphing, the conquering sun in spring-time having vanquished the obstacles of winter. We know now that Osiris rising from the dead is not represented by such obvious symbolism. Other animals than horses have also been used to draw the currus triumphalis, as, for example, a lion and a leopard.
Card Description
An upright and princely figure carrying a wand. On the shoulders of the victorious hero are the Urim and Thummim, symbols of divination—here shown as faces within crescent moons. He has led captivity captive (see Psalm 68:18); he represents conquest on all planes—in the mind, in science, in progress, and in certain trials of initiation. He has replied to the sphinx's riddle; therefore, two sphinxes draw his chariot. He is above all things triumph in the mind.
The Meanings of these Tarot Cards
Card One
Judgement from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Change of position, renewal, the outcome.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The Last judgment. I have spoken of this symbol already, the form of which is essentially invariable, even in the Etteilla set. An angel sounds his trumpet per sepulchra regionum, and the dead arise. It matters little that Etteilla omits the angel, or that Dr. Papus substitutes a ridiculous figure, which is, however, in consonance with the general motive of that Tarot set which accompanies his latest work. Before rejecting the transparent interpretation of the symbolism which is conveyed by the name of the card and by the picture which it presents to the eye, we should feel very sure of our ground. On the surface, at least, it is and can be only the resurrection of that triad--father, mother, child-whom we have met with already in the eighth card. M. Bourgeat hazards the suggestion that esoterically it is the symbol of evolution--of which it carries none of the signs. Others say that it signifies renewal, which is obvious enough; that it is the triad of human life; that it is the "generative force of the earth... and eternal life." Court de Gebelin makes himself impossible as usual, and points out that if the grave-stones were removed it could be accepted as a symbol of creation.
Card Description
A great angel is surrounded by clouds. He blows a trumpet with a banner displaying and a cross. Beneath, the dead are rising from their tombs—a woman on the right, a man on the left, and between them their child, whose back is turned. In the background are more dead who are restored. All the figures stand as one in the wonder, adoration, and ecstasy expressed by their postures. This card represents the accomplishment of the great work of transformation, in answer to the summons of the Celestial, heard and answered from within.
Card Two
Ten of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Oppression, especially that of fortune, gain, or any kind of success. Success will be mocked if the Nine of Swords follows. If it is a question of a lawsuit, loss is certain.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Difficulties and contradictions, if near a good card.
Card Description
A man carries ten staves, burdened down by their weight. It represents the burden of material wealth. It may also represent false-seeming, disguise, corruption, as if the place the man approaches will suffer beatings from the rods he carries.
Card Three
Three of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Occupation, trade, skilled labor; also nobility, aristocracy, renown, glory.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
If for a man, celebrity for his eldest son.
Card Description
This card shows a sculptor working in a monastery. Compare with the Eight of Pentacles: the apprentice or amateur in that card has received his reward and is now at work in earnest.
Card Four
Ace of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Triumph, the excessive degree in everything, conquest. It is a card of great force, in love as well as in hatred. The crown may carry a much higher significance than usual in fortune-telling.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Great prosperity or great misery.
Card Description
A hand extends from a cloud, grasping a sword, the point of which is encircled by a crown.
Card Five
The Hanged Man from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Wisdom, prudence, discernment, trials, sacrifice, intuition, divination, prophecy.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The Hanged Man. This is the symbol which is supposed to represent Prudence, and Eliphas Levi says, in his most shallow and plausible manner, that it is the adept bound by his engagements. The figure of a man is suspended head-downwards from a gibbet, to which he is attached by a rope about one of his ankles. The arms are bound behind him, and one leg is crossed over the other. According to another, and indeed the prevailing interpretation, he signifies sacrifice, but all current meanings attributed to this card are cartomancists' intuitions, apart from any real value on the symbolical side. The fortune-tellers of the eighteenth century who circulated Tarots, depict a semi-feminine youth in jerkin, poised erect on one foot and loosely attached to a short stake driven into the ground.
Card Description
The figure of a man hangs head down from a gallows, to which he is attached by a rope around one of his ankles. His arms are bound behind him, and one leg is crossed over the other. The gallows from which he hangs forms a Tau cross, while the figure—from the position of the legs--forms a cross. There is a halo around the head of the apparent martyr. It should be noted (1) that the tree of sacrifice is living wood, with leaves on it; (2) that the face expresses deep entrancement, not suffering; (3) that the figure, as a whole, suggests life in suspension, not death.
Card Six
Eight of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Work, employment, jobs, craftsmanship; skill in craft and business, perhaps at an entry level.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
A young man in business who has relations with the Querent; a dark girl.
Card Description
An artist at his work in stone, which he exhibits in the form of trophies.
Card Seven
The World from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Assured success, compensation, voyage, travel, emigration, fleeing, change of place.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The four living creatures of the Apocalypse and Ezekiel's vision, attributed to the evangelists in Christian symbolism, are grouped about an elliptic garland, as if it were a chain of flowers intended to symbolize all sensible things; within this garland there is the figure of a woman, whom the wind has girt about the loins with a light scarf, and this is all her vesture. She is in the act of dancing, and has a wand in either hand. It is eloquent as an image of the swirl of the sensitive life, of joy attained in the body, of the soul's intoxication in the earthly paradise, but still guarded by the Divine Watchers, as if by the powers and the graces of the Holy Name, Tetragammaton, JVHV--those four ineffable letters which are sometimes attributed to the mystical beasts. Eliphas Levi calls the garland a crown, and reports that the figure represents Truth. Dr. Papus connects it with the Absolute and the realization of the Great Work; for yet others it is a symbol of humanity and the eternal reward of a life that has been spent well. It should be noted that in the four quarters of the garland there are four flowers distinctively marked. According to P. Christian, the garland should be formed of roses, and this is the kind of chain which Eliphas Levi says is less easily broken than a chain of iron. Perhaps by antithesis, but for the same reason, the iron crown of Peter may he more lightly on the heads of sovereign pontiffs than the crown of gold on kings.
Card Description
The four living creatures of the Apocalypse and Ezekiel's vision are grouped around an elliptic garland. They are attributed to the four Gospels in Christian symbolism. Within this garland there is the figure of a woman, whom the wind has clothed with a light scarf, and this is all she wears. She is dancing, with a wand in either hand. It speaks of the swirl of the sensory life, of joy attained in the body, of the soul's intoxication in the earthly paradise. However, she is still guarded by the Divine Watchers. They are the powers and the graces of the Holy Name, Tetragammaton, JVHV. These four ineffable letters are often attributed to the four mystical beasts. This card represents the perfection and end of the Cosmos, the secret within the Cosmos, its rapture when it understands itself in God. This card is further the state of the soul in the awareness of Divine Vision, reflected from the self-aware spirit.
Card Eight
Three of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Removal, absence, delay, division, separation, dispersion, and all that the design naturally signifies.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
For a woman, the flight of her lover.
Card Description
Three swords pierce a heart; there are clouds and rain behind.
Card Nine
Eight of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Bad news, terror, crisis, rebuke, powerful obstacles, conflict, slander; also sickness.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
For a woman, scandal spread in her respect.
Card Description
A woman stands bound and blindfolded, with the swords of the card around her. It is a card of temporary imprisonment rather than permanent bondage.
Card Ten
The High Priestess from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Secrets, mystery, the future as yet unrevealed; the woman who interests the Querent, if male; the Querent herself, if female; silence, tenacity, wisdom, science.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The High Priestess, the Pope Joan, or Female Pontiff; early expositors have sought to term this card the Mother, or Pope's Wife, which is opposed to the symbolism. It is sometimes held to represent the Divine Law and the Gnosis, in which case the Priestess corresponds to the idea of the Shekinah. She is the Secret Tradition and the higher sense of the instituted Mysteries.
Card Description
She has the lunar crescent at her feet, a horned circlet on her head with a globe at its center, and a large solar cross on her chest. The scroll in her hands is inscribed with the word Torah, signifying the Greater Law, the Secret Law, and the second sense of the Word. It is partly covered by her mantle, to show that some things are implied and some spoken. She is seated between the black and white pillars—labeled B. and J.—of the mystic Temple. The veil of the Temple is behind her, embroidered with palms and pomegranates. Her clothing is flowing and gauzy, and her mantle suggests light—a shimmering radiance. She is the Secret Church, the House of God and man. She is the spiritual Bride and Mother, the daughter of the stars and the Higher Garden of Eden. She is the Queen of the borrowed light, which is the light of all. She is the Moon nourished by the milk of the Celestial Mother. In a way, she is also the Celestial Mother herself—the bright reflection of the moon. She is the Spiritual Bride of the Just Man. When the Just Man reads the Law (Torah), she gives the Divine meaning. There are some respects in which this card is the highest and holiest of the Major Arcana.
Card Eleven
Strength from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Power, energy, action, courage, generosity; also complete success and honors.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Fortitude. This is one of the cardinal virtues, of which I shall speak later. The female figure is usually represented as closing the mouth of a lion. In the earlier form which is printed by Court de Gebelin, she is obviously opening it. The first alternative is better symbolically, but either is an instance of strength in its conventional understanding, and conveys the idea of mastery. It has been said that the figure represents organic force, moral force and the principle of all force.
Card Description
A woman, over whose head is the same symbol of life seen in the Magician card, closes the jaws of a lion. Her benevolent strength has already subdued the lion, which is being led by a leash of flowers. Fortitude, in one of its most exalted aspects, is connected with the Divine Mystery of Union. It connects also with untouched innocence, and with the strength that resides in contemplation. These higher meanings are hinted at in a concealed manner by the leash of flowers, which signifies 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 ordinary self-confidence—it concerns the confidence of those whose strength is God and have found their refuge in Him. In one sense, the lion signifies the animal passions, and the lady called Strength signifies the higher nature of Man in his liberation. The higher nature of Man has walked upon the asp and the basilisk and has trodden down the lion and the dragon (see Psalm 91:13).
Card Twelve
Knight of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Utility, usability, interest, responsibility, decency—all on the surface.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
An useful man; useful discoveries.
Card Description
A knight rides a slow, heavy horse, similar in appearance to himself. He displays his symbol, but does not look at it.
Card Thirteen
The Tower from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Misery, distress, extreme poverty, adversity, disasters, disgrace, deception, ruin. It is a card in particular of unforeseen catastrophe.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The Tower struck by Lightning. Its alternative titles are: Castle of Plutus, God's House and the Tower of Babel. In the last case, the figures falling therefrom are held to be Nimrod and his minister. It is assuredly a card of confusion, and the design corresponds, broadly speaking, to any of the designations except Maison Dieu, unless we are to understand that the House of God has been abandoned and the veil of the temple rent. It is a little surprising that the device has not so far been allocated to the destruction Of Solomon's Temple, when the lightning would symbolize the fire and sword with which that edifice was visited by the King of the Chaldees.
Card Description
A Tower struck by Lightning. It is definitely a card of confusion, and the design can correspond to any well-known catastrophe. It may also depict the House of God, abandoned, and the Veil of the Temple, rent.
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Card Fourteen
The Sun from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Material success, fortunate marriage, contentment.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The Sun. The luminary is distinguished in older cards by chief rays that are waved and salient alternately and by secondary salient rays. It appears to shed its influence on earth not only by light and heat, but--like the moon--by drops of dew. Court de Gebelin termed these tears of gold and of pearl, just as he identified the lunar dew with the tears of Isis. Beneath the dog-star there is a wall suggesting an enclosure-as it might be, a walled garden-wherein are two children, either naked or lightly clothed, facing a water, and gambolling, or running hand in hand. Eliphas Levi says that these are sometimes replaced by a spinner unwinding destinies, and otherwise by a much better symbol-a naked child mounted on a white horse and displaying a scarlet standard.
Card Description
A naked child mounted on a white horse displays a red banner. The sun shining above represents consciousness in the Spirit—with direct, as opposed to reflected, light. The archetype of humanity has become a little child beneath its rays—a child in the sense of simplicity, with innocence in the sense of wisdom. In that simplicity, he bears the seal of Nature and Art; in that innocence, he signifies the restored world. When the self-knowing spirit has dawned in the consciousness above the natural mind, that mind is renewed and directs the animal nature in a state of perfect conformity.
Card Fifteen
Temperance from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Thrift, moderation, frugality, management, settlement.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Temperance. The winged figure of a female--who, in opposition to all doctrine concerning the hierarchy of angels, is usually allocated to this order of ministering spirits--is pouring liquid from one pitcher to another. In his last work on the Tarot, Dr. Papus abandons the traditional form and depicts a woman wearing an Egyptian head-dress. The first thing which seems clear on the surface is that the entire symbol has no especial connexion with Temperance, and the fact that this designation has always obtained for the card offers a very obvious instance of a meaning behind meaning, which is the title in chief to consideration in respect of the Tarot as a whole.
Card Description
A winged angel, with the sign of the sun on its forehead, and on its breast the square and triangle of the septenary (symbolism of the number seven). The androgynous figure pours the essences of life from chalice to chalice. It has one foot on the earth and one on water, illustrating the nature of the essences being poured. A direct path leads to heights on the horizon, and above shines a great light, through which a crown can be vaguely seen. Here is some part of the Secret of Eternal Life, as available to man in this existence.
Card Sixteen
Seven of Cups from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Fairy favors, images of reflection, tenderness, imagination, scrying; moderate success, but nothing permanent or substantial.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Fair child; idea, design, resolve, movement.
Card Description
Cups holding strange visions are presented to a figure in the foreground, as if offering a choice.
Card Seventeen
The Emperor from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Stability, power, protection, realization; a great person; aid, reason, conviction; also authority and will.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The Emperor, by imputation the spouse of the former. He is occasionally represented as wearing, in addition to his personal insignia, the stars or ribbons of some order of chivalry. I mention this to shew that the cards are a medley of old and new emblems. Those who insist upon the evidence of the one may deal, if they can, with the other. No effectual argument for the antiquity of a particular design can be drawn from the fact that it incorporates old material; but there is also none which can be based on sporadic novelties, the intervention of which may signify only the unintelligent hand of an editor or of a late draughtsman.
Card Description
He has a form of the Crux ansata (like an Ankh) for his scepter and a globe in his left hand. He is a crowned monarch—commanding, stately, seated on a throne. The arms of his throne have rams' heads on the front. He is execution and realization, the power of this world, clothed with the highest of its natural attributes. He is the virile power to which the Empress responds, and in this sense, he is the one who seeks to remove the Veil of Isis; yet she remains a virgin.
Card Eighteen
Two of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Elation and recreation; also news and messages in writing, as obstacles; agitation, trouble, entanglement.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Troubles are more imaginary than real.
Card Description
A young man dances with a pentacle in either hand. They are joined by an endless cord: the number 8 on its side.
Card Nineteen
Nine of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Prudence, safety, success, accomplishment, certainty, discernment.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Prompt fulfillment of what is presaged by neighbouring cards. Reversed:Vain hopes.
Card Description
A woman with a bird on her wrist stands among an abundance of grapevines in the garden of a mansion. Behind her is a wide landscape, suggesting plenty in all things. Possibly, the land is her own possession, and testifies to material well-being.
Card Twenty
The Chariot from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Aid, providence, war, triumph, presumption, vengeance, trouble.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The Chariot. This is represented in some extant codices as being drawn by two sphinxes, and the device is in consonance with the symbolism, but it must not be supposed that such was its original form; the variation was invented to support a particular historical hypothesis. In the eighteenth century white horses were yoked to the car. As regards its usual name, the lesser stands for the greater; it is really the King in his triumph, typifying, however, the victory which creates kingship as its natural consequence and not the vested royalty of the fourth card. M. Court de Gebelin said that it was Osiris Triumphing, the conquering sun in spring-time having vanquished the obstacles of winter. We know now that Osiris rising from the dead is not represented by such obvious symbolism. Other animals than horses have also been used to draw the currus triumphalis, as, for example, a lion and a leopard.
Card Description
An upright and princely figure carrying a wand. On the shoulders of the victorious hero are the Urim and Thummim, symbols of divination—here shown as faces within crescent moons. He has led captivity captive (see Psalm 68:18); he represents conquest on all planes—in the mind, in science, in progress, and in certain trials of initiation. He has replied to the sphinx's riddle; therefore, two sphinxes draw his chariot. He is above all things triumph in the mind.
