Too many meanings spoil the card?

If you have looked at books on Tarot, you may have noticed that authors sometimes give several meanings for a card -- sometimes contradictory meanings, and often meanings contradicting those given by another author. What does this mean, and how do you deal with it?

Suggesting possibilities

The first thing to note is that meanings given to a card are suggestions, possibilities that you can consider when interpreting a spread. They may spark an idea, or give a hint as to how a specific card in a given position could be interpreted.

Making your own meaning

The second thing is that you do not have to use the meanings given to the cards by other people. You can make your own. In fact, that is just what some authors have done, for example Gail Fairfield in her Every day tarot: A choice centered book. This is one reason why interpretations differ from one authority to another. Many readers also prefer this method, finding it a more intuitive way to approach the cards and a reading. They might also tell you that this method means you do not have to spend so much time memorizing meanings (always a good thing!), and that the same card may have a completely different meaning for you from reading to reading, depending on which aspect of the card draws your attention. Examples of intuitive approaches are described in Heart of Tarot: An intuitive approach by Amber K and Azrael Arynn K and Mary K. Greer's 21 ways to read a Tarot card.

"Traditional" meanings 

Not everyone is comfortable using the intuitive method, though, and beginners in particular may like to know more about how the card meanings are derived. And in any case, when I talk about "suggestions" and "possibilities", where do they come from?

Archetypes and archetypal situations

Archetypes and archetypal situations are universal, but we all have our own take on them. How a specific deck designer or author interpreted or depicted an archetype is another source of sometimes seemingly contradictory interpretations.

If you are familiar with Tarot cards, you will know that there are (usually) 78 cards, divided into Major and Minor Arcana. The 56 Minor Arcana cards are further divided into four suits, much like ordinary playing cards (and most experts believe there is a connection between Tarot cards and the ordinary playing cards, although the exact nature of the link is debated). In general, the 22 Major Arcana cards (also called Trumps) are believed to represent what Carl Jung called "archetypes", i.e. representations of people or situations that are universally recognised. Among these cards you will find the Mother and Father figures (not the personal mother or father, but what is usually meant and understood in phrases such as "he is a father-figure" or "the mother in me"), the Wise Old Man, the Fool, the Hero, Death, Justice, Lovers, and so on. Archetypes will be discussed in more detail later.

The 56 minor arcana cards -- also called "pips" -- are not in general regarded as representing archetypes, but they do suggest archetypal or universal situations, such as the exchange of vows, feeling dissatisfied, experiencing despair, celebrating something, being generous, arguments and strife, travelling, being "on the defence" or encountering treachery or betrayal.

When you think of the archetypal Great Mother, you will realize that she represents various things to different people. Not everyone will picture her in exactly the same way, and no one way will capture all the aspects to this archetype. We can associate her with fertility, nature (as in Mother Nature), nurturing, love, protection, warmth. In her darker aspects she could be cruel or smothering -- as in the Wicked Stepmother or Crone/Witch of fairy tales. Card designers and artists will use different symbols to portray and archetype, and might highlight one or two aspects more than others.

Death can be associated with endings, rebirth or transformation, and some deck designers have used different symbols and even changed the name of the card to highlight a different aspect of the archetype. In Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot, Trump XIV (Temperance in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck) has been renamed Art, and Trump VIII (Strength in the RWS) has become Lust, emphasizing the "animal nature" that is tempered by our "higher natures". Trump V -- The Hierophant -- is sometimes called the Pope, Priest, Jupiter or Shaman....

Card meanings based on esoteric systems

Many of the decks on the market today follow the system established by Arthur Edward Waite when he designed his own deck (the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, also called the Rider-Waite or the RWS). His system is based on that of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn -- established in the UK in 1888 -- which in turn draws heavily on Hermetic Qabala. Hermetic Qabala is only one of several Qabalistic traditions, although it is the one most often associated with Tarot cards, thanks to the Golden Dawn.

Then again, not everyone used the same system in the same way. Aleister Crowley, also at one time member of the Golden Dawn and also using Golden Dawn attributions, used a different approach for his deck, and some decks follow his system. Paul Foster Case, founder of the Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A.) mystery school in the US, also based his card interpretations on Hermetic Qabala, but almost gleefully pointed out where he thought Waite had gone wrong.

In the Eliphas Lévi, the 19th century magician and occultist, was the first to assign the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet--each of which has its own mystical meaning--to the major arcana cards. The Golden Dawn

Numerology, Qabala

The Golden Dawn system is not the only system on which a Tarot deck could be based. Some modern decks follow systems based on wiccan, pagan, Christian or feminist traditions; some decks are based on the French tradition, or the Egyptian tradition, or the Spanish tradition ....

Card meanings for the minor arcana are often derived by taking the number of the card and combining it with the element represented by the particular suit. The snag is, not all systems use the same element / suit combinations. In the Golden Dawn tradition, for example, Wands are associated with fire; Cups with water; Swords with air; and Pentacles with earth. In decks influenced by Gardnerian witchcraft, Swords are fire and Wands are air.

Court card attributions are usually given as Pages / Princesses = earth; Queens = water. Some associate Kings with fire and Knights with air; and some feel that Knights are fire and Kings air.

Then of course there are authors who have devised their own system, sometimes loosely based on a more traditional one, and sometimes not at all. You will also find that some decks with specific themes -- such as fairy tales, the Lord of the Rings book or films, folk tales, a specific artist's work, a comic book or a life style -- may modify more traditional interpretations to suit the theme.

All of these factors -- and more -- will influence the interpretation given to a specific card. Most often, though, the specific attributions used for a deck will be explained in the accompanying pamphlet or book. Most authors who write for beginning students of the Tarot use the RWS deck or a deck based on the system used in the RWS. For this reason, beginners are often advised to begin their studies of the Tarot with one of these decks, and explore other possibilities once they are familiar with the basics.

How do you use all of this information?

Understanding something of how card meanings were derived helps you remember them better. This does not mean you have to start studying numerology, astrology, the Qabala or become an initiate in a mystery school. Even a superficial knowledge may help you, although the more you know, the more depth your readings may have. Some understanding will also make you more flexible in your interpretations, and you may see more possibilities.