Tarot University ArkLetters

June 2005 Tarot ArkLetter Now Online

The June  2005 New Moon issue of Christine Payne-Towler's
"Tarot ArkLetters" is online June 6th, 2005.

IN THIS ISSUE:

I.   Notes on the New Moon ...With this Newmoon in Gemini combined with the Uranus/Mars in Pisces and Pluto in Saggitarius,  both the Lights and three other planets are in the mutable signs, bringing a fluid, possibly even murky feeling to this time.

II.  The Minor Arcana  ...A full review of the Minor Arcana, illustrated and with commentary for every card in the Pips:
The Suit of Coins
The Suit of Cups
The Suit of Swords
The Suit of Wands

New Moon Notes, June 2005

With this Newmoon in Gemini combined with the Uranus/Mars in Pisces and Pluto in Saggitarius,  both the Lights and three other planets are in the mutable signs, bringing a fluid, possibly even murky feeling to this time.  One should not feel flawed or out of control just because the pervasive sensation of this cycle is that of being swept along by the current!  Instead consider that you might learn to relax and enjoy this feeling of flow, as things which in the past had been irrevocably hardened now melt away and release their resources into your hands for future change.

Suit of Wands - The Minor Arcana Reviewed

by Christine Payne Towler

Key words for the suit of Wands include energy, will, desire, and charisma. The wand symbol is, at its most primitive, a rough club of wood, sometimes showing sprigs of new green growth emerging from its weathered grain, occasionally aflame like a torch. A more refined version shows a magical wand or staff, collecting and focusing lifeforce according to the user’s will.

Like a conductor’s baton, this symbol leads and directs the unfolding action, and the participants instinctively know to follow the one who holds this symbol of authority. Because the element connected with Wands is fire, the qualities of boldness, ambition, drive, competitiveness, and initiative are highlighted. Whenever a Wand card appears, actions are being taken or suggested, change is in the works, and a challenge to the will is implied.

Suit of Cups - The Minor Arcana Reviewed

In the majority of European esoteric Tarots, the suit of Cups refers to the element water. The suit symbol is usually a large drinking cup or communion cup, like the mysterious Grail chalice, occasionally shown pouring forth with holy water or other sacred fluids. Associations with this cup include the Holy Grail; a fountain of love; the Cornucopia, containing all good things that make us happy; the Krater, stone cup of the Mysteries, containing Soma, psychedelic elixir of mushrooms and cannabis pollen; communion cup of the Catholic Mass; the Pomegranate cup of the Egyptian cult of Isis and the old Hebrew mysteries.

Suit of Swords - The Minor Arcana Reviewed

by Christine Payne Towler

The symbol of the sword, dagger, scimitar, or knife represents the world of mind, the realm of thought and ideation where we frame beliefs and values, personally and socially. It points to the rational mind, that faculty which compares, contrasts, balances, and names the processes governing relationships and exchanges, from economic to romantic.

Suit of Coins - The Minor Arcana Reviewed

by Christine Payne Towler

The suit of Coins, usually symbolized by a solid gold coin, represents first and foremost, your body, health, vigor, and genetic heredity. It can be seen as the capacity to “ground” and relax, attuning to the rhythms of Nature within and without. Emotionally, the coin symbolizes a feeling of abundance, security, safety and general freedom from threats to survival. When you feel safe, you are free to be creative, not hampered by fear and reactivity. The theme of prosperity is not limited to a financial experience. Even the poorest person can be enriched and increased by the experience of a golden moment, contact with goodness, or beauty.