Learn TarotMarch 4, 2007 7:54 pm
While the major arcana expresses universal themes, the minor arcana brings those themes down into the practical arena to show how they operate in daily events. The minor arcana cards represent the concerns, activities and emotions that make up the dramas of our everyday lives.
Each of these suits stands for a particular approach to life.
Wands- fire, creativity, action & movement; Cups - water, emotions & spiritual experience; Swords- Air, intellect, thought, & reason; Pentacles- Earth, practicality, security, material concerns
Exercise 3.1 - What are the Suit Qualities?
Review the lists of suit qualities. They describe some positive and negative expressions of each suit. Don’t try to memorize these lists. They are simply designed to give you a first feel for the energy of each suit. When you’re ready, go through the word pairs below. For each pair, give the suit and expression (+ or -) that seems most appropriate to you. For "dependable and careful" you might say "Pentacles - positive." You can check my suggestions, if you wish. When your choices are different from mine, try to figure out why. In this way, you begin refining your own understanding of each suit. You can also have a friend quiz you using new two-word combinations from the lists.
- sullen and lazy: Wands - negative (Cups - emotions)
- prim and humorless: Pentacles - negative
- witty and well-informed: Swords - positive
- judgmental and controlling: Wands - negative (Swords - disharmony)
- cheerful and bold: Cups - positive (Wands - bold=masculine element, cheerful-outward, which is also male)
- thorough and practical: Swords - positive (Pentacles - practicality!, completing a task thoroughly could lead to materialistic gain)
- calm and sympathetic: Cups (pentacles?) - positive (Cups!)
- logical and outspoken: Swords - postive
- irresponsible and cocky: Swords - negative (Wands - irresponsible would probably refer to having to do outward facing things & not doing them, cocky is also outward)
- loyal and down-to-earth: Swords - positive (Pentacles - earth!!, loyal would probably be in reference to security)
- critical and arrogant: Swords - negative
- whole-hearted and passionate: Cups - positive (Wands - passion has a "airy" feel to it, as well as being connected to creativity; and whole-hearted would probably be connected to passion)
- temperamental and sulky: Cups - negative
- sensitive and loving: Wands - positive (Cups - loving has a watery-flow to it, as well as being emotions & perhaps a means of gaining spiritual experience)
- foolhardy and rash: Wands - negative
- moody and frail: Cups - negative
- stubborn and gloomy: Wands - negative (Pentacles - gloomy has a earthy feel to it, stubborn could be a resistance to security & responsibility)
- honest and objective: Swords - positive
- persistent and firm: Swords - positive (Pentacles - both could be a means of gaining security & material possessions, and both are possibly practical means of gaining such)
- aloof and domineering: Wands - negative (Swords - both could lead to disharmony)
- spiritual and intuitive: Wands - positive (Cups - spiritual experience)
- hasty and unprepared: Swords - negative (Wands - could cause issues with action & movement)
- creative and adventurous: Wands - positive
- overcautious and rigid: Cups - negative (Pentacles - overcautious could be result from overthinking while striving for practicality, rigid could be seen as an earthly form)
Exercise 3.2 - Suit Qualities - Clear-cut Examples
Many aspects of daily life reflect the energy of one suit in particular. For each activity below, state the suit and expression you believe fits that activity best, and name a few qualities that support your choice. Going skydiving might be a "Wands-positive" activity because you must be "daring, energetic and confident." (or a Wands-negative activity because it is "foolhardy and reckless!)" You can check my suggestions, if you wish.- always needing to have everything just so: Negative - Either swords because it’s over-analyzing the situation & perhaps unreasonable, or Pentacles on a materialistic level because it’s perhaps impractical - Could be seen in the same suits as positive, however. (Pentacles)
- getting drunk the night before an important exam: Pentacles - negative - irrational, causes lack of seciruty, or probably Swords as unreasonable & thoughtless (Wands)
- being where you say you will, every time: Swords - positive - ethical, wise, reasonable, responsible (Pentacles)
- solving a math problem: Swords - positive - intellectual, thought, reason
- using the tarot cards: Cups - positive - spiritual experience; describe inner states, feelings, & relationship patterns, viewing inward
- cheering your team on to victory: Wands - positive - action, movement, confidence
- listening to a friend talk about her troubles: Cups - positive - emotional, flows inward
- making a cruel, sarcastic remark: Swords, or Cups - negative - rude, thoughtless, lack of mental clarity (Swords)
- refusing to apologize when you’re wrong: Cups - negative - emotional, or Swords, as it could be seen as unethical (Pentacles)
- treating those "beneath" you with disdain: Swords - negative - unethical, or Wands, as in relevance to a negative form of confidence
- seeing a project through to the end: Swords - positive - persistance, requires thought, reason & mental clarity (Pentacles)
- brooding over a perceived slight: Cups - negative - emotional, inner state
- volunteering for a dangerous, but vital mission: Wands - positive - action, adventure, risk-taking, masculine, brave, outward
- quitting your job in a moment of anger: negative - Could be Wands because of the action taken, Cups because of the anger involved, or Swords because of the lack of reasoning (Wands)
- arbitrating a dispute: Swords - positive - reason, justice, truth, thought
- finding dirty work distasteful: Wands - negative - lack of enthusiasm, adventure, action, & possibly creativity; unwilling to direct outward in this certain situation (Cups)
Exercise 3.3 - Suit Qualities - Blended Examples
In most events, the four suit qualities blend together. For each activity below, name two positive suit qualities that would contribute to success and two negative ones that would take away from it. Do this for each suit. For example: to keep love alive….
- Wands: be passionate and enthusiastic, but not impatient and hot-tempered
- Cups: be romantic and loving, but not broody and touchy
- Swords: be honest and honorable, but not cold and judgmental
- Pentacles: be loyal and dependable, but not unexciting and inflexible
- managing a project: Wands- be charismatic and creative, but not unprepared and nervy; Cups- be calm and imaginative, but not lazy and narcissistic; Swords- be articulate and clever, but not controlling and critical; Pentacles- be determined and efficient, but not compulsive and inflexible
- creating a work of art: Wands- be whole-hearted and optimistic, but not rootless and impatient; Cups- be patient and imaginative, but not passive and hypersensitive; Swords- be objective and clever, but not thoughtless and overintellectualizing; Pentacles- thorough and skillful, but not uncompromising and perfectionistic
- raising a child: Wands- be bold and energetic, but not aggressive and impatient; Cups- be affectionate and benevolent, but not fragile and hysterical; Swords- be authoritative and clear headed, but not cold and detached; Pentacles- be bighearted and dependable, but not colorless and humorless
- closing a sale: Wands- be self confident and magnetic, but not unprepared and overzealous; Cups- be sympathetic and patient, but not wishy-washy and passive; Swords- be witty and truthful, but not patronizing and remote; Pentacles- be responsible and productive, but not unbending and stubborn
Exercise 3.4 - Suit Qualities in Yourself
The different suit qualities combine in each person to create his or her personality. Examine yourself in light of the four suits. Ask yourself these questions:- Is one suit quality dominant? I think that Cups would best define my personality, as I am somewhat introverted & always assessing my emotions & inner thought processes.
- Is one quality less familiar? I’d have to say pentacles, just because prosperity & wealth are far from my grasp right now, heh.
- In what situations do I take on each quality? Wands- painting, poetry writing; Cups- Anytime I have a moment to, I contemplate emotions (mine, as well as others’), relationships, and spirituality; Swords- disharmony & unhappiness, because I sometimes have trouble listening to my Inner Guide; Pentacles- in the workplace, managing bills, cleaning the house, taking a nature walk
- Do I reflect the positive or negative side? Positive side of all but Swords :/
- Do I attract people of the same type, or different? I’ve found over the years that I tend to attract people of all types, haha.
- stated on a small piece of paper (rectangular, to represent a pay stub) the amount of money I’d like to earn per week, when I would like to begin receiving these paychecks, and why; on the back I also made a promise to avoid gossip & drama within the workplace (as it seems to be drawn to me, no matter where I’ve worked, heh). Lit the candle, stating in my mind that it represented money & employment; placed the coin directly underneath the candle, stating that it was to help focus the energy of the candle; placed the bill underneath the candle holder, stating that it was to be saved to be the last-resort money, that I would like it to help draw more money to it, and that it was to be locked in the safe until needed. I then burned the "pay stub", stating that it was being released into the world to follow its intentions. I then meditated on confidence in searching for employment, and visualized myself happy, employed, and confident; and going to the bank to cash a paycheck, hehe.
