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18: The Moon

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Card 18 in the major arcana is The Moon card. The moon card is quite a mysterious one from first glance, so let’s dive into the mystery! There is so much going on in this picture! The most obvious is the moon, front and center, with the image of a side profile of a face, someone say the man in the moon, but I beg to differ. The moon is clearly a woman… reflective in nature, the moon is bright because it is reflecting the light of the sun back to the earth. One of the most beautiful gifts of the feminine, which exists in all things regardless of gender, is the ability to be a mirror, imploring you to take a deeper look with in. From the moon falls 15 yods, signs of heavenly blessings, and with that blessing you know that from this reflection and in depth exploration of the hidden depths of of the moon we will find many treasures. Whether the hidden aspects appear as treasures is up to you, of course! On either side of the card, in the background and just beneath the moon we see two towe...
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17 The Star

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Card number 17 in the major arcana is The Star card and it is a welcome breath of fresh air after the pressures of the previous two cards.  The star card kind of reminds me of the temperance card in that they both come at a place in the deck where rest is needed after confronting something that is potentially destructive and/or overwhelming. In the card we see a nude woman kneeling on one knee, placed on the ground with her other foot in the water. This suggests she is nourished and supported by both the earth and the waters, and that is what she offers. She pours her two full jars of water out, one back into the body of water she’s at and the other onto the land where it splits off into several smaller streams. While she is taking water from the spring to feed the land, she is also feeding water back into the spring making a closed circle which nourishes as it replenishes. It’s the ultimate rejuvenation! Behind her and all around her are plants in various stages of development sym...
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16: The Tower

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The Tower card right after the Devil card always feels a little overwhelming! There is a good reason the Tower follows the Devil and why it, like the Devil is not at all as scary as it first seems to be…   On the card we see a giant tower being struck by a bolt of lightning which blows the giant crown shaped roof off of the tower and sets it ablaze. We see fire coming out from the top and the windows and a man and a woman falling out of the windows. They both have blue and red items of clothing on symbolizing material desires and intuitive connection. Their faces are filled with fear and surprise which makes sense considering the circumstance. One may ask why didn’t they just attempt to leave the tower if they had an idea a storm was coming, instead of possibly falling to their death as a result of an inevitable strike of lightning causing them to leap? If you look closely, you see there is no door on the tower. They had no way to leave, besides the window. These two built a tower ...
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15: The Devil

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The fifteenth card in the major arcana is the Devil card. While this card can first bring on a feeling of fear or fright, it’s important to recognize that there’s nothing scary about the devil, because the Christian myth of the devil is wildly inaccurate. That being said, the metaphoric symbolism of the devil has to do with power imbalances. Let’s see how those qualities manifest in the Devil card… Looking at the Devil card we see a winged and horned satyr crouching on a raised stone platform of which the man and women are chained to. The man is standing in such a way that he seems to be lecturing the woman with an exasperated or demeaning look his face. The man’s tail is made of fire and it’s touching the downturned torch the devil holds, which still burns upward as if it was being held upright, almost as if the devil is ighting his behavior or attitude tempting him to treat her as if she should be submissive to him. The woman has grapes on the end of her tail from which she seems to ...
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14: Temperance

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 Major Arcana 14 is Temperance. Such a truly perfect card to come after the death card! An angel blessing us with impartial waters of life, or something else? Let’s go! There is an awful lot going on in this card but the first thing that catches our eye is this seemingly divine figure pouring water between two golden cups. Dressed in a white gown with beautiful red wings, we see a theme that repeats itself over and over in this card. White being heavenly/holy/pure and red being material/carnal/passion, we recognize this being as a balance between spiritual and material aspects of reality/existence. With one foot in the water and one on land we see the same theme, material and spiritual repeated, and we can assume from this theme the two cups passing water back and forth also have to do with the importance of existing in the material and spiritual realms. For each realm gives us different perspectives and values that must be used simultaneously for us to transcend the disconnection ...
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13: Death

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 Major Arcana 13 is the death card, and its appearance can be deceiving. While pulling the death card in a reading can incite fear in many, this card doesn’t need to be taken literally, as this card often symbolizes a metaphoric death or rather change. Let’s get into it! On the card we see a skeleton in armor riding on a white horse. This skeleton is carrying a black flag with the number 13 and a white rose. Trampled beneath the deaths horse is the emperor and in front of his horse, soon to be trampled is the child from the sun card, the hierophant and the maiden from the strength card. In the near background we see a shadow cast over the land, but in the far background we see the sun rising up over the two towers from the moon card. Wow! So why is this card filled with so many characters and objects from other tarot cards?  Death is a card of change, first and foremost. It is a sign that things that have been, are coming to an end, or have already come to an end and you will ...
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12: The Hanged Man

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Major Arcana 12 is The Hanged Man. I love this card because on first glance is it quite peculiar, indeed! However even the strangest things often have the most wonderful meanings… Here we have a peculiar picture of a young acolyte hanging from what appears to be a tree branch, but is it? At second glance, it looks like there is a t-shaped frame crafted from wood that still grows leaves, from which the acolyte hangs. The thought of someone hanging is quite a macabre one, but this is no cause for alarm as the acolyte is hanging from his one ankle, his hands tied behind him and perhaps attached to the ankle of the bent leg. He certainly has himself in one heck of a predicament, and it’s for a good reason. His blue tunic signifies the intuitive connection to spirit that he’s been dedicating his time to developing while the red tights signify his connection to the pleasure of the material plane. He also has a bright and shining halo around his head a shining representation of his burgeoning...
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