Pagan Thoughts

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?

1. sullen and lazy: Wands - negative (Cups - emotions)
   
2. prim and humorless: Pentacles - negative
   
3. witty and well-informed: Swords - positive
   
4. judgmental and controlling: Wands - negative (Swords - disharmony)
   
5. cheerful and bold: Cups - positive (Wands - bold=masculine element, cheerful-outward, which is also male)
   
6. thorough and practical: Swords - positive (Pentacles - practicality!, completing a task thoroughly could lead to materialistic gain)
   
7. calm and sympathetic: Cups (pentacles?) - positive (Cups!)
   
8. logical and outspoken: Swords - postive
   
9. irresponsible and cocky: Swords - negative (Wands - irresponsible would probably refer to having to do outward facing things & not doing them, cocky is also outward)
   
10. loyal and down-to-earth: Swords - positive (Pentacles - earth!!, loyal would probably be in reference to security)
    
11. critical and arrogant: Swords - negative
    
12. 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)
    
13. temperamental and sulky: Cups - negative
    
14. 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)
    
15. foolhardy and rash: Wands - negative
    
16. moody and frail: Cups - negative
    
17. stubborn and gloomy: Wands - negative (Pentacles - gloomy has a earthy feel to it, stubborn could be a resistance to security & responsibility)
    
18. honest and objective: Swords - positive
    
19. 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)
    
20. aloof and domineering: Wands - negative (Swords - both could lead to disharmony)
    
21. spiritual and intuitive: Wands - positive (Cups - spiritual experience)
    
22. hasty and unprepared: Swords - negative (Wands - could cause issues with action & movement)
    
23. creative and adventurous: Wands - positive
    
24. 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

1. 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)
   
2. getting drunk the night before an important exam: Pentacles - negative - irrational, causes lack of seciruty, or probably Swords as unreasonable & thoughtless (Wands)
   
3. being where you say you will, every time: Swords - positive - ethical, wise, reasonable, responsible (Pentacles)
   
4. solving a math problem: Swords - positive - intellectual, thought, reason
   
5. using the tarot cards: Cups - positive - spiritual experience; describe inner states, feelings, & relationship patterns, viewing inward
   
6. cheering your team on to victory: Wands - positive - action, movement, confidence
   
7. listening to a friend talk about her troubles: Cups - positive - emotional, flows inward
   
8. making a cruel, sarcastic remark: Swords, or Cups - negative - rude, thoughtless, lack of mental clarity (Swords)
   
9. refusing to apologize when you’re wrong: Cups - negative - emotional, or Swords, as it could be seen as unethical (Pentacles)
   
10. treating those "beneath" you with disdain: Swords - negative - unethical, or Wands, as in relevance to a negative form of confidence
    
11. seeing a project through to the end: Swords - positive - persistance, requires thought, reason & mental clarity (Pentacles)
    
12. brooding over a perceived slight: Cups - negative - emotional, inner state
    
13. volunteering for a dangerous, but vital mission: Wands - positive - action, adventure, risk-taking, masculine, brave, outward
    
14. 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)
    
15. arbitrating a dispute: Swords - positive - reason, justice, truth, thought
    
16. 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

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

1. 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
   
2. 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
   
3. 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
   
4. 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

• 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.
  

The word arcana is the plural of arcanum which means "profound secret."
The tarot cards are therefore a collection of the "secrets" that underlie and explain our universe.
There are 22/78 cards in the major arcana. Each of these cards symbolizes some universal aspect of human experience/human nature. Some cards are individuals who personify a particular approach to life, such as the Magician or the Hermit.
When a major arcana card appears, you know the issues at stake are not mundane or temporary.
Many interpreters view the major arcana as showing the different stages on an individual’s journey of inner growth - what some call the Fool’s Journey. In these systems, each card stands for some quality or experience that we must incorporate before we can realize our wholeness.
Markers on the path of inner development leading from earliest awareness (card 0) to integration and fulfillment (card 21).

Think over the ideas presented in lesson 1. Write down briefly what you do and do not believe at this time about the tarot. Assign a percentage to your beliefs where:

• 0% = "I am totally skeptical about using the tarot for anything but fun."
• 100% = "I am absolutely convinced that the tarot can give me specific, personal guidance."

Well, I guess I’ll put it as a 45% - I believe in it much more because of my first oracle reading with my personal deck. I kind of believe this: if you can see the faces of the cards while they’re being shuffled, your unconscious mind keeps track of where those cards are, even if you flip the deck over and whatnot. So, when subconsciously being pulled to certain cards, your subconscious is, perhaps, coming through to tell you a message. However, you need to know basic information about the cards in order to have any idea wat the subconscious is trying to say — or, perhaps, the brain percives the images and interprets them in its own personal manner. Regardless, I think I’m going to stick with my personal deck at least until I learn more about the meanings behind Tarot cards.

Exercise 1.2 - Getting to Know a Card

• What story do I see in the picture?
• What emotions do I feel?
• How do the details in the picture reinforce those ideas?
• What is the overall mood?
• What do I think this card might mean?

When you are through, go to the information page for that card and read through the actions. Compare these to your impressions. Do not be concerned if your ideas do not match mine. Your intuition is working and already giving you some unique insights! You can repeat this exercise with as many cards as you like.

Since I don’t have a deck, I’ll go find an image of The Empress, since that’s what a "What Tarot Card Are You?" quiz said I am … Luxury. Regarded above all others. Fought for. Loved. Admired. Protective. Nature-loving. A calmness. "the creation of life and its sustenance through loving care and attention" "The Empress represents the fertile, life-giving Mother who reigns over the bounty of nature and the rhythms of the Earth. From her comes all the pleasures and joys of the senses and the abundance of new life in all its forms. The Empress encourages you to strengthen your connections with the natural world which is the ground of our being. Too often false sophistications and pleasures take us far from our roots. Let the Empress remind you to keep your feet firmly planted in the Earth."