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The Mystical & Magickal Art Of

Tarot

 

A Brief Lesson

Some Background, My Teacher, and Pamela Coleman Smith

The Magickal Art of Tarot


Greetings & Merry Meet.
As you probably know by now, my name is Gail, although some of you may know me as
AWinterSky, WinterSky or MoonRaven. Regardless, I am the same person, taking on the persona as I journey along this "Mystical & Magickal Path".

Thank you for stopping by and I do hope you plan to return, for here I will be sharing the wisdom and knowledge I have gained on my journey with the Tarot!

Whether you are just starting on this magickal journey with the Tarot, or if you have been traveling this path for many moons, I'm sure you will find some tid-bits of information here that you can carry along with you, and if so, all I ask is that you continue to share any knowledge you gain from here, with others you meet.

Remember....
We are all students and teachers.
We all learn and then teach others that which we have learned, and so it goes.

Magickal Blessings on your Journey!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

A Brief Lesson

Tarot is a boundless picture book of cards. Each time the cards are laid out, they tell a story. The cards are for growth on a personal and spiritual level; they can be used for divination, giving help and guidance to others. There are many ways of interpreting the Tarot, but the best way is through your own inner meanings, feelings, and insight.

The Tarot is read with symbols, which trigger the psyche thereby allowing the Reader to interpret those messages. The Tarot is the most involved form of divination. Knowledge of basic alchemy, astrology, numerology, mythology, the Qabala, the Bible, philosophy and psychology as well as symbology is a must! This may seem overwhelming to those interested in the Tarot, but to gain the "Wisdom of the Tarot", one must have the Knowledge and the Understanding to use it. Continuous study and proper meditation are essential.

When consulting the Tarot, you come face to face with the Inner Self. If you listen to your Inner Self, you will be guided on the right path. Tarot may show a situation that is unpleasant, although it also shows the solution(s) available. Tarot should only be used for guidance in the most positive way and never used to destroy or control others.

The Tarot consists of 78 cards which are divided into two sections called the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana (Arcana means hidden/secret knowledge).

Major Arcana - 22 cards that deal with the Major issues in one's life, the important or serious issues that need attention first and foremost. These particular cards are used with meditation to help reach the higher or spiritual levels of wisdom and understanding. These cards are numbered 0, The Fool, through 21, The World.

Minor Arcana - 56 cards that deal with the daily situations in life. These cards are important but not as important as the Major Arcana cards are. The Minor Arcana is divided into four groups, known as suits:

Wands - representing the Element of Fire
Swords - representing the Element of Air
Pentacles - representing the Element of Earth
Cups - representing the Element of Water

Each suit of the Minor Arcana contains 14 cards consisting of: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Page, Knight, Queen, and King. The Kings, Queens, Knights, and Pages are known as Court Cars and represent the person, place or thing you are reading and the people involved. You cannot tell the age, sex, or skin color from the cards. The Court Cards show the Inner Person, what the person is like on the inside according to the Element they are in. Everyone fluctuates between all the Court Cards.

There are no cards that are "all good" or "all bad"! Each card of the Tarot has a basic, overall meaning. One should remember that each card is positive and negative, both in the upright as well as the reversed position. Every symbol, color and number along with the position in the layout of the reading adds or subtracts to the basic meaning as well as any cards that are surrounding them.

There are many superstitions connected with the esoteric arts and should be looked into. What you believe in is what you create. Should you choose to use rituals, it is better to create your own, such as shuffling, cutting or laying out the cards. Find a pattern that is comfortable for you and covers whatever questions you may have. Tarot cards are just paper; there is no magic in the cards. The Power and Magick is within you! You are using Knowledge that you yourself posses, so learn to use this power to guide yourself and others on the Path to Enlightenment. Validation comes from your clients. Let word of mouth be the tool of your success. I wish you Much Success and Enlightenment on your Journey with the Tarot.

 

Original: Copyright 1986
Gail Dettmar
Revised: 1988, 2003 by
Gail Dettmar

Permission is hereby given to copy this commentary provided it not be altered in any way and it can only be reproduced in its entirety with proper credit given to: Gail Dettmar.

 

Some Background, My Teacher,
And Pamela Coleman Smith

For many, many years, I worked with the Tarot but continuously felt drained by it. I found I seemed to be giving people more negative readings than I was positive. So I worked more with the cards myself than doing readings for others.

The problem was I wasn't really listening to my inner self, I was reading by the "books", meaning the booklets that come with the decks. After looking seriously at the books and pamphlets, I realized that a very large percentage of the meanings were dark or negative, giving disastrous results in a reading.

You see, I had a grandmother that was very psychic, a witch. She did readings of various kinds, including using cards. She was ridiculed and told she was crazy and even locked up in a mental hospital a few times for observation (the Burning Times are not over!). My grandmother made excellent predications and thus people came to her for it, yet also feared her. They kept trying to lock her up. Anyway, when I was but 13 or 14, I asked her to help me understand the cards and read them better, more positively. That was my last communication with her. She contacted my father, told him to tell me to stay away from the cards and died days later.

I was scared, baffled; it made me wonder just what my grandmother may have seen for me in my future should I continue with the cards! I had them, used them, yet was very uncomfortable with them. On the other hand, they kept calling out to me, drawing me to them more and more.

Finally, after giving another disastrous type reading, I decided to seek help and guidance and ask the Great Spirit, God/Goddess, whatever you wish to call on, for this help. I asked to be brought to a teacher to help me understand, to help me grow. Like lightening, my words were answered and I was put in touch with someone who worked in a store, did readings and taught classes. His name was Mynya. He was wonderful and from the time I started working with him, the doors to this enlightenment and this journey flew entirely open, and all I had read and studied over these passing years was now put clear and simple for me. I learned the language of the Tarot!

Mynya was very ill as a child and couldn't go out and play as the other children could. He was under the care of his grandmother; her name was Julia. Julia spent time teaching Mynya all the ways of the occult. You see, Julia was a famous psychic within the Order of the Golden Dawn! This was the foremost psychic group of its day. They got together to gather all known information dealing with psychic research, to find the good and get rid of the bad. Their idea was to bring Tarot into the light and get rid of the fears and superstitions.

Mynya followed in his grandmother's footsteps and now I follow in his.

Julia was the very best friend of Pamela Coleman Smith who, as I have been told by Mynya who was told by his grandmother Julia, that Pamela designed the Tarot deck we now know as the Rider-Waite deck. Julia and Pamela were best friends throughout life. There are many things, many secrets, and many firsts to this deck that Pamela incorporated into this deck.

What's interesting is the during some interviews, Mr. Arthur Waite was asked why he did certain things to this deck and many of the questions he could not honestly answer. He just replied with phrases like, "I felt like it." Pamela, as all good, old teachers did, put specific changes and specific "mistakes" into this deck.

Why? you ask. It was good to see who would question them. Serious students would ask questions, other would not. This way, the teacher would know who to focus on more seriously, on the one who would be serious enough to pass on the truths and traditions of the Tarot! Some firsts Pamela did with this deck: She added leaves to the Wands, making them a "living hierarchy", not a dead one! Also, she changed the places of the Justice and Strength cards. Did she misplace them or did she actually put them back where they should have been from the beginning?

Many of the things she did with this deck, and there are many, she did with intent. Thus, in my teachings, I pass along much of what I was taught, but not all and I too may change some things. All is food for thought for a serious study of the Tarot. Have a good magickal journey and I look forward to sharing this path with you for as long as I can, too.

 

With Magickal Blessings,

Gail Dettmar

 

The Magickal Art of Tarot
By Gail Dettmar

Tarot Cards

The tarot deck consists of 78 cards divided into two sections. Minor Arcana: 56 cards that deal with the daily, the everyday, things in one's life. These are important, but not as important as the Major Arcana. Major Arcana: 22 cards that deal with the major things in one's life, the important or serious things that need attention first and foremost. Note: The majority of either of the Major or Minor cards in a layout will determine the seriousness or depth of the reading.

Minor Arcana

This arcana consists of the four suits: Pentacles, Cups, Swords and Wands. Different decks may have different names for these suits as well as different symbols for them. Here, I use the most commonly known names for the suits. Each suit contains 14 cards consisting of ten cards numbered Ace through ten and a King, Queen, Knight and Page.

Pentacles
Element of earth. Represented by the five-pointed star. This suit deals with material values, money and what money can buy: anything that can be bought or sold. This can also deal with personal values of one's self also. There are five ways of making money, one for each point of the star:

  1. gifts, legacies, inheritances, winnings
  2. marriage, marrying into money
  3. prostitution, selling your ideas, selling yourself in anyway
  4. illegal ways, stealing, cheating, counterfeit
  5. working, the hard everyday life, earning money through labor

Cups
Element of water. Represented by the cup. This suit is dealing with emotions, love and sustenance. This is anything that fulfills oneself in an emotional way.

Swords
Element of Air. Represented by the double-edged sword. This suit deals with communications, reasoning, thinking and health. **Important Note** In dealing with this suit you must be very careful about what and how you deal with the health aspect. Unless you have a medical degree, you cannot practice medicine, including giving medical advice!

Wands
Element of fire. Represented by the wand. Deals with hierarchy and sex. This is a dual suit. Position in life deals with the hierarchy, which is shown throughout the entire suit. Sex deals with relationships and the sexual side, whether or not the person is right for you and can satisfy you and is usually only used with the court cards of this suit.

Major Arcana

This arcana consists of 22 cards numbered 0 through 21. Major arcana cards are also known as Keys or Pip cards.

Record Keeping

Keep accurate records of all your personal readings and everything you see, say, feel or think in or about the cards. This will enable you to see the pattern you have created and the changes you have made. It will show you the pattern of your growth. Your journey with the Tarot is an endless one, a continuous development.

Care and Cleansing of Your Cards

Treat your cards with love and they will bring you love. You must remember that the cards are only paper. People are what count; people are what is important!

You may desire to keep your cards in a cloth, box or bag. It doesn't matter which, as long as what you choose to keep them in is pleasing to look at and it creates a positive energy for you and in your readings. If it's unattractive to you, it will create negativity in you and your readings.

Keeping your cards with you at all times makes them available to read with or study. The more you work with them or just look at them they will talk to you. It is also a good idea to keep them under your pillow while you sleep or on your nightstand. This has been known to help you as your subconscious records them for you.

Cleansing
Occasionally you may wish to cleanse your deck, to refresh it. Know that by just shuffling your deck you are using your energy and the element of air to refresh your cards. You can hold your cards in the smoke of some cleansing incense, or you can gently blow your breath on and over the cards to breathe fresh new life into them and thus connect more personally with them. Another way to cleanse your cards and keep your personal energy in/on them is to take one card at a time and gently wipe each card with your hands, sort of caressing them. You can also hold the deck in both of your hands and hug them to your heart and mentally program them to be refreshed and that they work for you for the good of all, etc.

Crystals
Often readers will choose to keep one or more stones with their deck of cards to aid in the energy. These crystals can be kept in the pouch or box and/or set out on the area where you will be doing the reading. Here are some suggestions:

  • Clear quartz for communication and clarity
  • Amethyst quartz for communication
  • Rose quartz for peace, love and patience
  • Selenite for cleansing; it purifies and removes any negative energies

Reading Cloths

Some readers prefer to use a nice cloth for a table where they do their readings. You can use a plain cloth, which I highly recommend, because with a plain cloth you do not get distracted from the cards by the designs on the cloth. You are able to keep your focus on the cards themselves, which is very important.

You may wish to embroider, with either thread or paint, designs on the corners of your reading cloth or around the edges. You may wish to add trim, fringe or beads around the edges of your cloth. Again, remember that whatever you decide to do should be something pleasing to you.

Shuffling

There is no set way of doing this. It is up to you. Be sure that when you shuffle the cards, that you reverse some of them. There are a lot of myths as to whether or not you should let others touch your cards. This is totally up to you. If you believe someone will put negative energy in them, then it will. It's what you create for yourself, so be positive and create as much positive around you by Being Positive.

Laying Out the Cards

You should remember to pattern yourself in the way you turn your cards out for the layout. You should flip them from side to side, such as left to right or right to left or flip them over from top to bottom or bottom to top throughout the whole reading. Combining these will change the meaning of some of the cards. Choose a pattern that is comfortable for you and stick with it. If by chance you notice that you occasionally flip some cards differently during a layout then just leave them as you have, but make a mental note of which cards they were. These cards have a stronger, more significant meaning in that reading. **Important Note** There are no "good" or "bad" cards. Replace the words good and bad with positive and negative. In actuality, the cards with the worse pictures are the best cards in the whole deck. It is like "night and day". At night you really have to look harder to see where you are going and in the daylight you can see clearly, on the surface of things. Night or darkness is called "sifting through the garbage to find the gold". If you learn to dig into the darkness you will know what is in there and no longer be afraid. If you don't pay attention in the light you can get hurt or used; don't take things for granted.

Problems/Issues

When seeing a problem or a negative situation in a reading you will always have a solution to it. A problem is considered a pit that you can get through, jump over or go around. Try reprogramming by changing the word problem to the word "issue". Using the word issue makes a situation seem so much easier to deal with.

Reversed Cards and Balance

There is a balance in the cards and some of the cards lay out in a reversed or upside down position. This is as it should be. Know that there are thousands of meanings for each card. Yes, there is an overall meaning for each individual card, but there are also many more meanings within each card. Each position of the card, number, symbol, color, and many other things each affects the others to where it can almost seem endless.

Example: Each card has both a positive and a negative meaning in the upright position, in the reversed position, with each color, each number, each symbol, each position in the layout, not to mention the card's relation to the one next to it, above it or below it and so forth. Each will affect the other, making it stronger or weaker, more positive or negative.

Blueprints

Blueprints are something that you choose or someone else chooses for you. They are your goals, plans, dreams, desires, etc. of what you are or will do with your life. These blueprints are what you choose for yourself or what others choose for you and what you get is determined by whoever has the strongest will, the strongest picture for you to attain it.

Other Myths of the Cards

It is solely up to you whether you want to let anyone else touch your cards, hold or shuffle them. The "magick" or "power" is in you, the reader. The cards are just paper; there is no magick in them. It is your magick, your energy, your power that connects with the querent and creates the cards to layout as they do in any given reading. It's you, the reader, that is interpreting the cards. If you believe that other people who touch your cards can put negative or harmful energy on or in them and that they can or will affect your cards, then of course it will be so. That which we think, see and say, we can create.

Basics

Never read the person! Read the cards and let your psychic intuitive self do the readings. Do not be influenced by the other person or their questions. The cards do not tell the age, sex or color of skin of the person. They only tell what the person is like on the inside. They show the maturity of the person only. You can be mature in one element and immature in another.

The first card you lay out in a reading is important. It colors the whole reading. You must make a note that if the first card you lay out is the "Fool" (key 0 of the Major Arcana) then it is "foolish" to continue the reading. This means that the person you are reading for will not personally benefit from the reading or that it is basically the wrong time for the reading and you should put it off until another time. This also means that the person could be so concerned about someone else that the reading will be for or about them. When this happens, the reading will give the guidance needed to help them with whoever they are concerned about.

The last card you lay out is the final outcome. This is equally important. It will tell you whether or not the person will do what is necessary to do. It will tell you whether or not the person is going to pay attention to you and the guidance you are giving.

Final word: You must remember that all the cards are numbered except the court cards. This shows the influence on the card according to the number it has. You can find totals by adding each area in the reading and/or the entire total of the layout to achieve an overall picture. These totals will give you the direction to guide the client. The total number should be broken down to 22 or less.

Example: 10 of Wands, The Moon (#18), and 7 of Cups would total: 10+18+7 = 35. This would need to be further broken down: 3+5 = 8. Thus the number 8, or the Strength card of the Major Arcana, would be the total overall.

Reading of the Tarot is a spiritual path in which you will develop your psychic abilities. The tarot covers many avenues such as: Numerology, Astrology, Qabala, Symbology, Hierarchy, Alchemy.

Reading the Cards

Looking at the layout you will read the cards as they face you, not the querent (the querent is the person you are doing the reading for).

  • The cards that face you are upright.
  • The cards that are upside down are reversed.
  • The left side of a card is the past, that is your left side as you look at the cards.
  • The left is considered the passive, receptive, female, subconscious.
  • The right side of a card is the future, that is your right side as you look at the cards.
  • The right is considered the aggressive, assertive, male, conscious.
  • The center of the card is the present, the balance of the past and future.

People in the Cards
There are only three people in the deck:

  • Man, which is the Conscious Mind, aggressive, assertive, right side.
  • Woman, which is the Subconscious Mind, passive, receptive, left side.
  • Angel/Devil, which is a combination of both the conscious mind and the subconscious mind working together.
  • A child is not a person for the most part, but something that you create. You can create children, music, art, business, things. It is anything created.

Readings Can Be Done on Anything
You can ready people, buildings, cities, states, animals, anything. You can read more than just people.

Reading Children or Teens
When you read for children or teens, you should always have the consent of a parent or guardian and you will need to center yourself to read in the frame of conscious and subconscious to relate to the child or teen. You will need to be able to communicate about things in words or phrases they will be able to understand according to their age range.

Tree of Life/Chakras

There are several different ways to read the chakras. There are hundreds of chakras in the Tarot and we work with the chakras in three different ways.
Note: There are three "double centers", the Third Eye, Throat and Solar Plexus/Gut.
        

  1. The three main centers: The Crown, Third Eye, and Throat Center
  2. The seven main centers: One through Ten centers, although each of the double centers count as one.
  3. The ten main centers; These are all ten centers.
1
  1: The Crown Area
2                                3   2&3: The Third Eye Area
4                                5   4&5: The Throat Area
6
  6: The Heart Center
7                                8   7&8: The Solar Plexus, The Gut Area
9
  9: The Creative Center, Sexual Center
10
  10: Foundation (the bottom of the spine), your feet on the World.
     
1
  1 is the Crown
2                                3   2 is Understanding, 3 is Wisdom
4                                5   4 is Severity, 5 is Mercy
6
  6 is Beauty
7                                8   7 is Splendor, 8 is Victory
9
  9 is Foundation
10
  10 is Kingdom

Three pillars can be seen in the above diagram of numbers:

Numbers 2, 4 and 7 are the left side, known as the Pillar of Boaz, female, passive, receptive, element of water and shown as a dark pillar.

Numbers 3, 5 and 8 are the right side, known as the Pillar of Joaquin, male, aggressive, assertive, element of fire and shown as a white pillar.

Numbers 1, 6, 9 and 10 are known as the Middle Pillar, the pillar of balance. The balance of the other two pillars when working together. It is usually shown as gray or shaded black and white.

Symbols

Tarot is read by positions of the cards in a layout and by symbols as they project an image or feeling to the reader. Symbols trigger our emotions. The Tarot is made up of pictures; these pictures speak to us through our vision, our subconscious, the same as photos in our photo album do. A picture tells us a story, a story of something that has happened. When we read the Tarot we are, in actuality reading a bunch of pictures. Our layout is set with areas of past, present and future and whichever picture falls in a particular position would tell the story of what has, is or will happen.

Colors

  • Red - Mars force, desire, anger, conscious mind, lust, sexuality
  • Blue - Spirituality, intuitive, subconscious, sensitivity, passiveness
  • Black - Hidden things, fears, also darkness or nighttime
  • White - Revealed things, daylight, daytime. White clothing represents purity or pure intent
  • Gray - Combination of black and white, some things hidden and some revealed. Depth of the gray tells whether it leans more to the white or black areas
  • Green - Venus force, love, productivity, growth, healing, work, overwork
  • Yellow - Creativity, fun, party time, too much fun or partying
  • Orange - Harvest time, reaping what you sow. Put out positive get positive, put out negative get negative.
  • Brown - Earth, earthiness, being materialistic or down to earth, miserly
  • Purple - Majestic, royalty, magickal, regal
  • All Other Colors - they are combinations of the above colors and should be read as such. One color will be stronger than the other in the mixture and will influence the energy more.

Numbers and the Tarot

All cards, except the court cards, of the Tarot are numbered and have a major influence in a reading. Study the cards with the same numbers together, notice the energies and what is most positive and most negative with each, how they compliment each other, etc.

  • 0 is the potential of all or nothing. It is the Abyss. You either fall into it or go over or around it. Zero represents the Fool card.
  • 1 is the conscious mind and conscious control, individual, loner, leader, beginnings, starting out, reaching out, first and the number one represents the Magician, the Wheel of Fortune, the Sun and all the aces and tens of the Tarot.
  • 2 is the subconscious mind and subconscious control, unity, balance, rhythm and represents the High Priestess, Justice, Judgment and all the twos of the Tarot.
  • 3 is love, beauty, birth, creativity, the trinity, or triangle and represents the Empress, the Hanged Man, the World and all the threes of the Tarot.
  • 4 is the square, being squared away in your world, in the world and is represented by the Emperor, Death and the number fours of the Tarot.
  • 5 is the human body, the five pointed star, religion, philosophy, right, wrong, orthodox, unorthodox, etc. the four elements with spirit and represents the Heirophant, Temperance and all of the number fives of the Tarot.
  • 6 is unity, the six pointed Star of David, balance of the conscious and subconscious, love, harmony, peace, home, family, and represents the Lovers, Devil, and all the number six cards of the Tarot.
  • 7 is the square and the triangle, the four sides of the square and the three sides of the triangle, balance with you and your world, control of things, control of others and represents the Chariot, the Tower and all the sevens of the Tarot.
  • 8 s the infinity symbol, infinite, balance, yin/yang, power, money, status, strength, the occult, balance in both worlds and represents the Strength, the Star and all the number eight cards of the Tarot.
  • 9 is the end, old age, three states of three, knowledge, wisdom, wise one, teacher, guide and represents the Hermit, the Moon, and all the number nine cards of the Tarot.
  • 10 All tens are doorways. The tens of the Minor Arcana are doorways to the energy and element of the suit they are in. The Wheel of Fortune is the main 10 of the Major Arcana and thus the door to all other doors. The Sun is the card of growth or burnout of the Major Arcana and thus with the Sun opens things through growth. Tens in the Tarot mean that a door is either open (if the card is in the upright position) or closed (if the card is in the reversed position). When one door is closed, there are always others that are open, we just have to go to the open doors and not waste our time trying to open the closed and/or locked doors. Tens are a combination of two other numbers: one and zero. Thus the number ten contains the energies of the number one and zero. When the one and zero are added together, they total one again. Thus, always the ability to begin again.
Astrology Basics and the Tarot
Signs
+/-
Symbol
House
Astrological Ruler
Aries
+
Ram
1st
Mars
Taurus
-
Bull
2nd
Venus
Gemini
+
Twins
3rd
Mercury
Cancer
-
Crab
4th
Moon
Leo
+
Lion
5th
Sun
Virgo
-
Virgin
6th
Mercury
Libra
+
Scales
7th
Venus
Scorpio
-
Scorpion
8th
Mars and Pluto
Sagittarius
+
Archer
9th
Jupiter
Capricorn
-
Goat
10th
Saturn
Aquarius
+
Water Bearer
11th
Saturn and Uranus
Pisces
-
Fish
12th
Neptune and Jupiter

Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
Aries
Cancer
Libra
Capricorn
Taurus
Leo
Scorpio
Aquarius
Gemini
Virgo
Sagittarius
Pisces

Fire
Water
Earth
Air
Aries
Pisces
Taurus
Gemini
Leo
Cancer
Virgo
Libra
Sagittarius
Scorpio
Capricorn
Aquarius

The Four Fixed Signs of the Zodiac and What They Represent

Signs
Symbols
Elements
Seasons
Biblical
Taurus
Bull
Earth
Spring
Matthew
Leo
Lion
Fire
Summer
Mark
Scorpio
Eagle
Water
Fall
Luke
Aquarius
Man
Air
Winter
John

The Court Cards

The Court Cards always represent a person, place or thing you are reading. You can read anything. Dealing with the people, the court cards are you or the people in your life. You, your mother, father, brother, sister, family, friends, neighbors, enemies, co-workers, etc.

Take out all of the 16 court cards and lay them out in the following order:

Pentacles
Cups
Swords
Wands
- King Pentacles +
- King Cups +
+ King Swords +
+ King Wands +
- Queen Pentacles -
- Queen Cups -
+ Queen Swords -
+ Queen Wands -
- Knight Pentacles +
- Knight Cups +
+ Knight Swords +
+ Knight Wands +
- Page Pentacles -
- Page Cups -
+ Page Swords -
+ Page Wands -

Female Suits: Pentacles and Cups
Male Suits: Swords and Wands
Subconscious Mind
Conscious Mind
passive, receptive energy
aggressive, assertive energy
Shown with a minus symbol before it
Shown with a plus symbol before it

All Kings and Knights of all suits have a plus after them for aggressive, assertive, masculine energy.
All Queens and Pages of all suits have a minus after them for passive, receptive, feminine energy.

Note which court cards have a minus before and after it.
Note which court cards have a minus before and a plus after it.
Note which court cards have a plus before and after it.
Note which court cards have a plus before and a minus after it.

Cards with a minus and plus are balanced in energies.
Cards with both minuses are overly passive, receptive, feminine energy.
Cards with both pluses are overly aggressive, assertive, masculine energy.

You will find that if you put two aggressive people together you'll always have a fight. Where there is aggression there is friction.
Also, where you find two passive people you find that nothing gets done, they each wait for the other to do it.
It always takes a passive and aggressive together to obtain a balance, to get things to work.
The cards show the attitudes of the person such as fire, air, earth and water.
The cards show the maturity of the person, what the person is like on the inside.
The Kings and Queens are mature, they are finishers.
The Knights and Pages are immature. The Knights are starters; the Pages need others to care for them.

All Kings are mature, aggressive, assertive, conscious mind.
All Queens are mature, passive receptive, subconscious mind.
All Knights are immature, aggressive, assertive, conscious mind.
All Pages are immature, passive, receptive, subconscious mind and are the most receptive.

When working with the Court Cards, always notice the direction the person on the card is looking. The direction a person faces tells what or who they are looking at.

If the person in the card is looking to your left they are looking back at what was, or is looking away and doesn't want to deal with the present or future.

If the person in the card is looking directly at you then they are dealing with issues in the present, here and now.

If the person in the card is looking to your right they are looking to the future or what is ahead of them, what is coming up.

If two people in cards are facing each other than something is going on between them.

If two people are looking away from each other then they are ignoring each other, or don't want anything to do with each other.

If two people are there and one is looking at the other, but the other is not looking back at them, that means one is not paying attention to the other for some reason.

If one person is facing another, but the other person is looking elsewhere, say looking down, then once again one is trying to communicate and focus on the other, but the other is not wanting to deal with the other person at that time.

Always notice what or where a person is focusing; it will help you in your reading.

Remember that only the Court Cards are the actual People cards. The Court Cards show the actual people or person you are reading or the people they are or will be dealing with.

People you see in other cards throughout the deck are only sides of the person, such as their passive or aggressive side showing, their childish side, or what they are creating.

 

No part of the document may be copied in any form without sole written permission from the author.

Copyright 1986
Gail Dettmar
Revised Copyright 2004
Gail Dettmar

Any questions? Feel free to contact me at: gaildettmar@yahoo.com