Post 5 - Talking to Gods
As discussed in the first post, Tarot did not start with religious or occult connotations, as far as current scholarship can tell. There is some misinformation regarding how far back, and what place these occult connotations came from, but the deck itself developed into something recognizable in italy, and gained its first occult connotations in France in the 15th century. As discussed in the 3rd post, it was later picked up by english and eventually american occultists, and the 1960s is when it took off in the public eye.
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Nowhere in that history does wicca or witchcraft clearly come into play, and that’s largely because witchcraft and tarot are two separate mystical experiences and while there’s crossover in the symbols, the two are largely unrelated. That is, however, not to say that tarot isn’t a tool that witches use. “Many people from all walks of life find themselves interested in the Tarot at one point or another, and Wiccans and other Witches are no exception. In fact, while the Tarot is its own mystic tradition in and of itself, it’s very common to find a deck of these enchanting cards among a Witch’s magical tools.” (Chamberlain, 2017). Wicca focuses on the mind, body, heart, and soul, which aligns nicely with the cards’ focus on thought, action, emotion, and spirituality. “You can't do [anything] without a body, or without a mind. All engage the heart. All are involved with speech — verbal or internal.” (Dragonsong, n/d). There’s also a fair bit of overlap between the symbols used. “The symbolism of the cards also corresponds with much of the symbolism practiced within the Craft. For example, the four elements, the athame, the chalice and the wand can often be seen depicted across the cards.” (May, 2021).
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Wicca is branching and complicated with many different categories. Inspired by paganism, which is actually a pretty broad term in and of itself. Brown (1999) explains that it was a word used by early christian romans as early as the 300s to describe those who practiced anything other than Christianity or Judeisim, but was also largely correlated with those who practiced polytheism. Wicca is far more modern and was developed and outlined by Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente, a High Priestess in the 1940s. It shares its predecessor’s emphasis on nature, the moon, the sun, and the seasons. The leading guideline of wiccan morality is taken from a poem called the Wiccan Rede, which is longer than the single line it’s best known for, “An ye harm none, do what ye will.” (In this case ‘an’ takes on its middle english meaning, which is more similar to ‘if’, meaning that the line means ‘if you harm nothing, then do as you like’). No official author has been found for the couplet, although some believe that Valiente did, others point out the similarities it has to a quote in Aleister Crowley's The Book of the Law (1909) that goes “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law” (Crowley, 1909). The line has been interpreted a few ways by scholars and practitioners alike, some interpret it as advice while others consider it a commandment.
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Witches might use Tarot cards in order to communicate with their gods and patron deities, which is more what I’m focusing on today. The types of deities that one can channel through this method are incredibly varied, and depend largely on your beliefs. Wicca is generally duotheistic, worshipping (traditionally but not always) the Triple Goddess and the Horned God. However, it can and often is practiced through a henotheistic lens, which allows gods to be drawn in from other pantheons, sometimes from totally different religions. This to the point that some consider them as overseeing forces than actual gods, considering pantheons of smaller gods to be the actual gods that can be spoken to.
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The most common pantheons that gods are taken from are Norse, Roman, Greek, and Egyption but most any figure can be called upon. Lilith, who is a figure prominent in Judaism, is often worshipped by witches, and many angels and demons from Christian theology are also used in contemporary wicca worship.
Four Elements Reading:
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Reading and communicating with deities is a subtle art, but when you can’t find your cards the day you want to do a reading? Not much interpretation is needed. When I found them the next day, I went to begin a reading with Stolas and I dropped the deck. I took that to mean that this reading wasn’t meant to be, and kept looking for a deity that might be a better starting point, only for one to happen totally organically.
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Recently, one of my friends had a hard period in their life. Deciding to take a chance, I took my cards and attempted to channel Aphrodite, who I associate with this friend, to ask her how I can help them and be there for them. I decided to do a Four Elements reading to examine how I could try to help and how it would affect me and them.
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I have avoided revealing information about this friend at their request.
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I have read with Aphrodite a few times, usually in regards to loved ones, asking for advice, and I hoped she would grace me again.
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Four Elements reading take a card for each of the four elements, and their associated representation:
Card 1 is Fire, passion, pursuit, and physical action needed to chase a goal. “A positive card here suggests that the client is able to actively pursue their physical goals.” (Fenton-Smith, 2008)
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Card 2 is Water. “This position covers the emotional, creative, and imaginative portions of the reading.” (Fenton-Smith, 2008). The element of water looks at things when they are still in the ‘ideas’ phase, but can also suggest the planning phase.
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Card 3 is Air, which includes logic, rationale, and thought. A particular emphasis is also put on mental attitude, understanding, and balance.
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Card 4 is Earth. Earth represents that which is “practical, organized, realistic, and grounded.” (Fenton-Smith, 2008). It represents what is physical, such as possessions and money, your physical health and active environment.
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“Cards can focus your energy and help place you in a meditative or trance state” (Fields, 2020), so I started shuffling the cards before I reached out to Goddess Aphrodite. May emphasized voice, both internal and external, as important tools in wicca so I spoke aloud and greeted her before asking for her counsel.
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“[Name] is hurting right now. Please advise me on how to help them. I know I can’t solve the problem for them, but I want to help.”
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As two of the cards in this reading have already been drawn, I will only define the unfamiliar ones for the sake of brevity.
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Justice
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Reflections
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Interpretation:
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In position 1, was the Four of Cups, a card that emphasises taking opportunities before you miss them. This position relates to the physical actions that need to be taken in the situation, and “a cups card here suggests enthusiasm applied to emotions.” (Fenton-Smith 2008). This is an emotional issue that, unfortunately, I have limited ability to engage with physically due to circumstance. I receive very few opportunities to reach out to them in a tangible way. I took this card in this position to mean that I have a lot of emotional passion for the situation, and that I shouldn’t neglect opportunities to do the limited activities that we can.
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In position 2, the position that involves the emotional and creative elements of a situation, was the inverted Five of Wands. Fenton-Smith does say that “[a] reversed wands [here] can describe emotional chaos or too many projects being tackled at once” (2008), however this wands is the Five. Fives tend to be more positive when inverted and sure enough, while it can suggest that you are avoiding conflict or struggling with ethics, it can also be “like a sigh of relief after a struggle. You are no longer up against so much competition and can just ‘be.’” (Biddy Tarot, 2020). Considering I could not find aspects of myself that suited the ethics struggling or conflict avoidance, I took it to be the third option. The five of wands also represents taking a broad-minded approach to things changing, which I aspire to help my friend do with their change, and as such must also do myself.
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Position 3 involves mental attitudes and logic, and the Chariot appeared. The Chariot involves controlling opposing forces through tenacity and will. I was not sure if this card was for me or for my friend, as it wasn’t me who had forces to work through. However I eventually realized that it was likely for us both. The Chariot represents success through persistence, so my mental attitude must stay fluid (as evidenced by the Five of Wands) but my resolve strong.
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Position 4 represents the material and the practical. What can be planned and enacted, or interacted with like health or environment. In this position an inverted swords can suggest “confused ideas or beliefs about life limiting material success.” (Fenton-Smith 2008). This inverted Knight of Swords was an absolute callout to me being careless with my money and time in light of my friend being in emotional distress. I do not think that it’s necessarily an admonishment, but a warning to be more careful in the future. The inverted Knight of Swords is a lack of success due to a lack of forethought and repeated mistakes, so I believe Aphrodite was telling me to be more careful in the future. A ‘helping myself help others’ situation.
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Technical
These are more about the cards themselves, the meanings that they have, and my skill in memorizing and associating them.
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For the first time in this unit, cards I've seen before showed up. This is a blessing for both my wordcount and my reading because it meant that I could draw on my past experiences with those cards and use them for the reading rather than looking up references for every single one.
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I’ve mentioned before that the fives are one of the few cards where inverted is what you want, so I was less concerned about seeing the inverted five than I would have been at the start of this journey. I was also able to glean meaning from the cards that I had seen before. Analysis of the picture aided me in trying to remember what they represented. When you have a base of knowledge to work off, even if you can’t clearly remember, the pictures act as effective reminders. I was able to remember, for example, that the Four of Cups suggested you might be ignoring new opportunities offered to you, due to the fact that the image depicts a figure ignoring the cups he’s being presented with. Now is not the time to be bogged down by new opportunities, but is instead time to reflect. I was really proud of my upfront reading today. Just being able to recall the meaning of specific cards because I’d seen them before was really satisfying, and made the reading a lot quicker.
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Reflection through Reading
This is more about my performance, and how I interpreted the cards and linked them to my personal circumstances to find meaning and advice for self-reflection
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This was my first time doing a reading about someone else, but asking my own actions as a medium, and while I could easily find ways for the cards to connect, it was surprisingly tricky to figure out whether the cards were referring to my friend or myself. For the most part I worked under the assumption that they were in regards to myself because I asked what I can do to help rather than what will happen with my friend, but there were times where I wondered if the message being shown was even for me. I believe that this reading was meant to guide my future actions with my friend, pointing me in the right direction to be there for them as a supporting role. It helped me feel calmer about that concept, as there was always the fear of making the situation worse, working with a friend who has had so much change.
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I tried my best to follow the cards advice and stay calm and open-minded. Being there when my friend needed to talk, and providing company when they wanted a distraction. It did help me gain confidence that I was going about this in somewhat the right way as, with the exception of the Knight, it didn’t tell me to change my approach in any meaningful way. Simply bear things in mind.
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Variable
Consider how the variable may have impacted my method and results.
On a technical level, not much changed. I read the cards more or less the same as I ever have, only this time I was (hopefully) receiving the advice from a deity rather than the cards themselves. It did however affect how I went about the reading. What I did before and after, and even how I spoke to the cards whilst I was interpreting. I hoped that this would help me connect to Aphrodite and better analyze her advice.
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Intuition played a huge part in this one, which is appropriate because wicca also places an emphasis on intuition. I also remember being very nervous, more afraid of doing something wrong than I had been since I started reading almost three months ago. This often happens when I try to channel powers, I find. I tried to do what felt right, bearing in mind that I was channelling through a higher power. I tried to be polite and unassuming, and not to presume too much. Heaven forbid I approach a greek deity with a measure of hubris. In hindsight, the reading felt far more emotional and close to my heart than the other readings have, even though I’ve read about no shortage of emotional topics over the course of the paper. Whether this is a result of a connection between myself and Aphrodite, myself and my friend, or simply the fact that it felt very significant and intimate to ask for help from a Goddess, I’m not sure.
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References:​
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Biddy Tarot. (2020, April 24). Five of Wands Tarot Card Meanings. https://www.biddytarot.com/tarot-card-meanings/minor-arcana/suit-of-wands/five-of-wands/
Chamberlain, L. (2017, November 6). The Witch and the Tarot: A Wiccan Guide –. Wicca Living. https://wiccaliving.com/witch-tarot/
“Dragonsong,” E. (n.d.). Spiritual Practices & Power Tools * Wicca-Spirituality.com. Wicca Spirituality. Retrieved May 29, 2021, from https://www.wicca-spirituality.com/spiritual-practices.html
Ventimiglia, M. Harm None. The Wiccan Rede: Couplets of the Laws, Teachings, and Enchantments. Citadel Press: Kensington, 2003. 186-87.
The Tarot Guide. (n.d.). Knight of Swords Tarot Card Meaning. Thetarotguide. Retrieved May 30, 2021, from https://www.thetarotguide.com/knight-of-swords
Piper, D. Wiccan Ethics and the Wiccan Rede. tryskelion.com. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
Crowley, A. (1987). The Book of the Law (Reissue ed.). Weiser Books.
Brown, P. (1999). "Pagan". In Glen Warren Bowersock; Peter Brown; Oleg Grabar (eds.). Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World. Harvard University Press.
Fields, K. (2020, September 26). How to Use Tarot to Work With Gods and Goddesses. Otherworldly Oracle. https://otherworldlyoracle.com/how-to-use-tarot-to-work-with-gods-and-goddesses/
Fenton-Smith, P. (2008). Tarot revealed. General Books.
May, A. (2021, February 26). Witchcraft and Tarot. Wicca Now. https://wiccanow.com/witchcraft-and-tarot/
Five of Wands (Inverted​
The Five of Wands often means that there is a battle going on around you or that you are in that resulted from a difference in beliefs of perspectives, as represented by the figures in the card. Each are carrying their wand a different way, and getting entangled in the wands of everyone else. “With the Five of Wands, everyone is fighting to be heard. But guess what? No one is listening. When everybody has a different opinion, but no-one is stopping to hear each other out, conflict and misunderstandings will run rampant.” (Biddy Tarot 2020). When inverted, however, it often means that such a conflict is resolving. You have adopted a broader worldview and are better for yourself and your surroundings for it.
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Knight of Swords (Inverted)
“​In a general context, the Knight of Swords is a change card, it tells you that a big change is coming, one you have been awaiting for quite some time and you better be ready to roll with it when it does.” (The Tarot Guide n/d). When inverted, however, it can mean the opposite of that and that you are failing to see that opportunity has come to you. It can also mean that you are being reckless and repeating your mistakes because you fail to see them.
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