Rose Ariadne's Chitchcraft Blog

Dear Friends,

In the last post, I lead you through “story” of the suit of wands. You were able to see how the energy of wands (action) was transformed through the different stages of the suit. In this post, you’ll see how the energy of cups does the same thing.

Cups, sometimes referred to as chalices and hearts in certain decks, represent emotion and love. You’ll find that spreads with a lot of cups in them often deal with creativity and matters of the heart. Cups are emotional at all levels. Here’s how they transform through the different numbers in the suit.

Ace/One – This is the beginning of a new love. Whether it’s a romantic love, friendly love or love in the form of creativity depends on the situation and the other cards in the spread. You may not have met your new love, or started a new painting, but you are definitely inspired to do so. It’s as if you’ve lifted the cup of love but have not yet drank.

Two – This card, in my deck, depicts two people gazing into each other’s eyes. Other decks normally display a similar pairing. If this card is drawn, a new love has begun or the you’ve found someone or something that you can bond with on an emotional level. It’s the start of an important partnership and is a very positive card. You’ve moving into a new phase, beyond the inspiration for love and creativity. You’re starting to find it reflected in your life in the form or a person or a creative activity.

Three – This card is also a very positive card. It is the addition of another element of creativity and love into your world. It’s a celebratory card and represents creativity. When you add two together, you get a third. Your creative work may have start to come into fruition, or you’re overflowing with love and joy. There’s so much good feeling to be spread around it also represents parties, weddings and birthdays.

Four – Three was overflowing and abundant, but four is stagnation and stillness. It represents a stagnation in your relationship or creativity. The inspiration you felt at one point is no longer enough to keep you going. You’re wondering if this person or project is what you should really be doing. This card is the point in relationships where a person’s eye will start to wander, wondering what else is out there for them to grasp. This card can also represent overindulgence in an attempt to find pleasure.

Five – In this card, you may be a little lost and disappointed that everything is not turning out the way that you wanted it to. Following the four of cups, it’s representative of what happens when you go out looking for more pleasure and inspiration. It’s a card of regret. You’ve lost your initial inspiration but you don’t see that the seeds of the relationship or project are still there. The lesson in this card is to open your eyes and see what you have. You can get over this time but only if you stop wallowing in self-pity.

Six – This is the nostalgia card. It’s a reminder to stop and remember the small things that mattered long ago. An old friend, a photo, a project you were working on in the past…..all these things can evoke powerful emotions. This card coming up in a reading is an indicator that you need to look to the past to gain inspiration and balance. When you’re feeling off center, this card is a gentle reminder that the past holds the tools to get you back on course.

Seven – This is the card of hopes and dreams. As you move from feeling stagnant, regretful and then reminiscing, you start to see the possibilities for the future. You see a wonderful relationship, a rich and creative life….and you can’t decide what to do next! You’re so caught up in the wonderment of the future that you completely lose touch with the decisions that you should be making. You’re overwhelmed by choices. In order to gain control, you need to take your time making a decision on the next right step. Don’t rely on intuition alone.

Eight – After making a decision, you’ll suddenly feel like you need to leave the old behind and move on to a brand new future. In this card, in most desks, a figure walks away from eight cups and is off to look for new treasure. The present isn’t what you’d hoped for so it’s time to let go of your old emotional baggage and look for a better future.

Nine – This is one of the most famous images of the tarot. A man sits with nine cups surrounding him. Although this is often considered to be a card of pregnancy, it’s also a card of wishes and wish fulfillment. Everything is better under the influence of this card. Relationships are loving and whole, creativity is at an all time high and spirits are high. Enjoy!

Ten – As you’d expect, the apex of the spirit of the sign of Cups is happiness and joy. It’s a card of family, togetherness and emotional fulfillment. It’s a reminder that no matter how difficult the journey is, when you are living with a full cup of life the destination is happiness.

Brightest Blessings,

Rose Ariadne
Your Warm And Caring “Resident Witch In Charge”

Dear Friends,

In the last post, we discussed the path of the cups. This was an emotional path filled with highs and lows. In contrast to the emotions of the cups is the logic and decision making of the suit of swords. Swords represent air, or thought and communication. The issues that are dealt with in this suit are all about your mind and your speech. Let’s get right into the interpretations!

Ace/One – This card represents your mind waking up to new and exciting challenges. You’re feeling more clear than you have in the past. This is a perfect time to write, start a discussion or engage someone intellectually. You’re feeling very powerful mentally.

Two – All twos represent balance and a choice to be made. In the case of the swords, it’s a clash of ideas that you need to resolve. You can keep the two sides in balance for the time being, but at some point you’ve got to make a choice. This card represents compromise for the time being.

Three – This card is one of the most recognized, and most feared, cards in all of Tarot. It depicts, in most traditional decks, a heart with three swords piercing through the center of it. This is the peace of the two swords that has come to an impasse. You knew that the compromise couldn’t last long and this is the heartache and loss that follows. This is often a representation of the death of an idea, instead of a physical or emotional death. Many times, you’ve gotten something wrong and are misunderstanding what is going on in your life. Although it seems bleak, this card can also be a powerful motivator for change and positivity. The things that you had bottled up can now be let out and let go. It marks the end of wondering and waiting. It’s time to move forward confidently.

Four – This card advises you to stop and take notice. After the painful transformation in the last card, it’s time to recuperate and put back together your life. If you’ve been living under false assumptions, you may need to regroup before you move forward and this card is indicative of that. The stillness and balance of four means that you need to lay low and rest.

Five – Five is always a card of imbalance and in the case of the swords it depicts clear winners and losers in an intellectual battle. This card is a reminder that sometimes, the wrong person wins. A bully, a cheater or a braggart is depicted in most traditional decks. This card highlights the problem of wondering how to outwit someone who is “bad” but seems to win anyway. You want to argue, but this card reminds you that you have the option to walk away. If you do choose to come out of your restful state (four of swords), you need to understand that if you lose you should use it as a lesson and not a reason to become upset.

Six – To sum up this card easily, all you need to know is that “there is always answer.” In my Rider-Waite deck, a woman sits in a boat with six swords and is being carried across the river. She is leaving but she carries with her the experiences and knowledge of the past. You already know what you need to do to get through this period of time and you have the resources around you to figure it out. In some cases, depending on the other cards that have been drawn, it may mean a literal trip someplace.

Seven – This is the classic “thief” card and it represents that someone is stealing from you. In the case of the swords, this most generally means that your ideas or your thoughts are being stolen from you. In some cases, it means that someone is gossiping. In order to rectify the situation, you’ve got to get down to their level and be sneaky as well. Avoid being overly confrontational. Just try to outwit them on their playing field.

Eight – The eight of swords is a card of mental stagnation. You feel trapped in the place that you are currently in, but there isn’t much that you can do to get out of it. It represents those times when you feel like no matter what you say and do, it’s the wrong thing. This card is a reminder that you need to take action before you become trapped. The more you delay making a decision, the harder the consequences will be.

Nine – Fear and nightmares are the theme of this card. This is the card of worrying and over thinking problems. Unlike with cups and pentacles (in the next post), too much thinking can be a bad thing. This card reminds you that you need to stop worrying so much. You can wake up from your bad dream by realizing that you are just dreaming and blowing things out of proportion.

Ten – This is a card, like the Death card, that strikes fear in the heart of many Tarot readers or clients. But like the Death card, it has a hidden positive meaning. Sometimes, you can think things to death and everything ends up going wrong. You can’t do anything worse, so it’s best to just let go of the past and move on.

Brightest Blessings,

Rose Ariadne
Your Warm And Caring “Resident Witch In Charge”

Dear Friends,

The next several posts are devoted to help you understand the tarot at deeper levels. If you’re a regular reader of my column, you know that tarot cards are a deep part of my magickal work. I consider them essential tools for my own personal path and I hope that you’d at least try working with them. My experience has been greatly enriched with my study of the tarot.

If you’ve ever seen a deck of tarot cards, you know that there are four “suits” similar to modern playing cards. The four suits are wands, coins/pentacles, cups and swords. I’m going to give you an in depth look at at each of the four suits and their number cards. These cards, combined with the court cards, are considered to be the minor arcana in tarot. The major arcana cards are a lot more descriptive, so they are often overemphasized in tarot books. I’ve found that most tarot students take a while to really get the grasp of the minor arcana. It’s my hope that this section will help you do just that.

Each suit of the minor arcana tells a story, going from the ace of the suit up through the ten. The court cards (king, queen, knight/prince and page/princess) have their own specific meanings, which I’ll cover in a different post.

The first suit we’ll look at is the “wands” suit. Depending on your tarot card deck, this suit may also be referred to as rod, staff or stave. Every tarot designer has their own method for drawing or representing this suit, so if your deck is different from the norm, feel free to substitute something for “wand” in the following interpretations.

Ace/One – The first card in the Wands series represents the start or an idea, thought or inspiration. Wands represent fire and action, but in this position the action has not yet come to fruition. It’s the start of an idea that hasn’t yet caught fire. I liken it to the moment that you get a sudden burst of inspiration and are excited about starting something new. When this card comes up, get ready for inspiration and action in a new direction.

Two – In tarot, the two card represents choice and future decisions. In the case of the wands, it’s all about choosing which direction to take. After you’ve had the inspiration and start to lay the groundwork for something new, it’s time to decide whether or not you really want to go through with it.

Three – This is you and your idea, plus another element. It’s a stopping point in the process of taking action, because you realize that you need something else in order to keep going. It could be a partner, more money, more time, a better idea…etc.

Four – It’s celebration time! You’ve started to put your plan into action and have crossed over the hurdle of the four. You can celebrate a bit, but you also need to recognize that there’s still a lot of work yet to be done. The danger of this point is resting on your laurels too long.

Five – This is a card of conflict, and when it comes to the wands it means that the conflict is internal, in my opinion. This may be a resistance to moving any further with your action. You may be feeling conflicted about taking the next step, or wonder if you are going in the right direction.

Six – This card is all about success through hard work. After you have made the decision to keep moving forward, you’ve got to put your nose to grindstone and keep going. You may be tired ad ready to quit, but you’ll be greatly rewarded if you keep moving forward.

Seven – Much like with the five card, this is a period of unrest and conflict. However, this time the struggle is coming from external forces. You’ve thrown yourself into action and now are experiencing delays, questions and other types of resistance from the people or circumstances in your life. This card is a gentle reminder that you need to keep going no matter what.

Eight – This card is action to the extreme! In my deck, there are eight wands flying through the air and if you draw this card, you’ve got a lot going on in your life. All the things you set into motion in the past are bearing fruit right now. The challenge of this card is to keep everything up in the air.

Nine – This card shows success and victory, but it is not the final success that you are looking for. It may indicate that you are coming to the end of this project or period of activity but aren’t quite there yet. Hold on! The end near.

Ten – This card shows that the price of your success may be extra burdens. Although the negative interpretation of this card can be that you’ve taken on too much to carry, it can also indicate that you’ve received a bounty of success.

Brightest Blessings,

Rose Ariadne
Your Warm And Caring “Resident Witch In Charge”