Card meanings can be very frustrating. No two tarotists seem to agree on what the cards mean, and sometimes they contradict each other completely.
But let me tell you a secret: most cards have a more-or-less-agreed-upon interpretation, but tarotists may emphasize different angles of the same meaning.
Another possibility: components that most frequently make up the divinatory meanings of cards are suit and element, number, and astrology. Some, however, use one component but not the other, add different elements such as alchemy, interpret the same element in different ways, or follow a different tradition. Or, of course, throw out tradition and create their own.
The easiest way to decipher (most) interpretations is to examine the most-often-used components of card meanings. This series of posts try to help you do that.
Corresponding major arcana cards
Corresponding minor arcana cards
Suit and element
Suit and element are perhaps the most popular ways to create meaning for the cards. There is one problem, though: many tarotists follow the example set by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (for instance, to associate Wands with Fire), but not all (some prefer Wands and Air). In this post I use the Golden Dawn convention, but if you prefer Air, we’ll get to that element in time.
Fire and Wands have been discussed in several posts (see “related posts” below for a list). A quick recap:
- Wands suggest power, control, direction, intent, will, and effort.
- The phallic shape of the wand points to traditionally “masculine” qualities such as drive, ambition, energy, and action.
- Fire is pure energy, heat, light, life and growth, purification, sacrifice, and the ever-present danger of uncontrollable destruction. Fire is also volatile, needing effort and attention to keep it burning, and care to keep it from running wild.
- Fire has no form of its own, and does not take on the form of a container.
- Combining the associations of Fire and Wands, we get transformative power (magic), creativity, ideas, and intuition, as well as will, intent, courage and strength in difficult circumstances. Wands/Fire people are charismatic, enthusiastic, passionate, optimistic and dynamic.
Number
Number is another important influence on card meanings. The problem (you expected that, didn’t you!) is that there are several ways to associate meaning with numbers. The Kabbalah—in the form of the Tree of Life—offers one set of meanings; Pythagorean and neo-Pythagorean number mysticism another; and sometimes is simply what makes sense to the tarotist at the time.
Tiphareth on the Tree of Life
(The names of the sephiroth are spelled differently in the diagram to the right. Din is an alternative name for Gevurah.)
Tiphareth, the sixth sephirah on the Tree of Life, is the heart of the Tree. It is the meeting point of left and right, above and below. Tiphareth translates to “Beauty,” and its beauty lies in balance, symmetry, and harmony.
Kether, Chokmah and Binah form the first triangle on the Tree. The second triangle comprises Chesed, Gevurah, and Tiphareth. This second triangle is upside down; it is a reflection of the first. Although Tiphareth is a reflection of Kether, not Kether itself, the sephirah plays a central role in the Tree.
Tiphareth balances the Tree. It is halfway between Kether (pure energy) and Malkuth (physical reality). It is also in the middle of the two ‘pillars’ of the Tree: the Pillar of Mercy (the ‘male’ pillar on the right, comprising Chokmah, Chesed, and Netzach) and the Pillar of Severity or Justice (the left, ‘female’ pillar).
One of the titles given to Tiphareth is, appropriately, the Intelligence of Mediating Influence. In Tiphareth, what is above meets what is below; spirit meets matter; divine meets human.
Paths lead directly from Tiphareth to Chokmah, Binah, Chesed, Gevurah, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod. A path also leads from Tiphareth to Kether over the abyss, or Da’ath. (Da’ath is not one of the sephiroth, but is sometimes called the ‘hidden’ or ‘uncreated’ sephirah.)
Of the sephiroth below the abyss, only Tiphareth has a direct path to Kether.
Tiphareth represents the third day of Creation (the first is Chesed, the second Gevurah or Din), in which God separated the waters from the land. Pure energy is starting to take on form.
Tiphareth is also the sphere of the ‘son,’ the Son of the Expressed Mother (Gevurah) and the Expressed Father (Chesed). In Tiphareth, divine energy starts to manifest into the ‘divine son,’ who is often a demi-god or a king. In Christian terms, God takes on human form in Jesus, in whom divinity and humanity co-existed. The ‘divine son’ is also usually sacrificed; he dies and rises to be sacrificed again.
Tiphareth is therefore also the sphere of reconciliation and redemption.
Tiphareth finds the balance between opposites: male and female energies; Chesed and Gevurah (mercy and strict justice; the loving and the fearsome god; expansion versus restriction), and Netzach and Hod (victory and glory, also called emotion and intellect).
Male and female energies transform to androgyny; In finding the balance between Chesed (mercy) and Gevurah (justice), Tiphareth allows compassion to emerge.
Divine consciousness flows from Kether through all the sephiroth to Malkuth, which is the sphere of matter. In Tiphareth, halfway through the Tree, consciousness is revealed as human consciousness or self-consciousness. (In Malkuth it has become primitive or animalistic consciousness.)
The sephiroth are all associated with celestial bodies, which influence the meaning assigned to each sephirah. Tiphareth and the sephiroth surrounding it have been assigned six of the seven celestial bodies visible to the naked eye: Chesed (Jupiter), Gevurah (Mars), Netzach (Venus), Hod (Mercury), and Yesod (the moon). (Binah is assigned Saturn.)
The sun, heart of our solar system, is assigned to Tiphareth.
Just as the sephiroth surround Tiphareth, the planets revolve around the sun. Assigning the celestial bodies visible to the naked eye to the sephiroth around Tiphareth emphasises the central and centring role of the sephirah.
Tiphareth and the sun as symbol complement each other well. As the primary source of light, the sun suggests enlightenment, reason, and joy. The sun is also a symbol of life.
Number mysticism
The number six is graphically represented by the six-pointed star, often called the Star of David. The star consists of two intertwined triangles. In alchemy, the triangle that points up is the symbol of fire, while the triangle pointing down stands for water. The Star of David thus shows the integration of dualities.
It is also possible to see four triangles in the star, each representing one of the four classical elements. The triangle that points up has a line across its top, formed by the top line of the downward triangle (see the illustration on the left). While the upright triangle represents fire, with the line, it represents air.
The same is true for the downward triangle. The triangle represents water, but with the line across, earth.
The star—and six—thus represents the whole of (material) creation (the macrocosm).
Six is also associated with integration as it contains the power of two threes (3 + 3 = 6, or 2 x 3 = 6), and three is the number of integration.
Six can represent balance, as it consists of three twos (6 = 2+2+2), making it three times as balanced as two.
The Pythagoreans regarded six as a perfect number because it is both the sum and the product of its parts: 1 + 2 + 3 = 6 and 1 x 2 x 3 = 6. Six is the only perfect number between one and ten.
The geometrical figure associated with six is the cube. A cube is a square (four) in three dimensions, and as four is the number of stability, six represents perfect stability. Moreover, because all six faces of a cube are exactly the same, six also stands for truth and perfection.
In his Book of Thoth: A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians, Aleister Crowley points out that the perfection of six is reflected in the four ‘six’ cards in the Tarot deck: they illustrate their element at its practical best.
Crowley talks about ‘practical best’ as a reference to Virgo, the sixth sign of the zodiac. An earth sign, Virgo is practical, conscientious, hard-working, detail-oriented, and analytical, and strongly driven to serve others. Virgo imparts these qualities to six.
Like five, six is also regarded as a circular number, because when squared, the solution always contains a 6: for example, 62 = 36, 63 = 216.
Six has another mystical connection to a circle: if you take a coin and place coins of the same size around it so each coin touches the coin in the middle (see the illustration to the right), you will always have six coins plus the one in the middle.
Six is both motion and stillness. Circles imply cyclical movement. On the Tree of Life, Tiphareth seems to be an axle around which the other sephiroth revolve. Furthermore, six is not the end of the journey: on the Tree of Life, there are four more sephiroth after Tiphareth. Biblically, six yearns for perfection, which is seven.
If three completes a cycle, six is the end of the next cycle, but not yet the last one. Six is a circle, but also a square (and therefore stable) in three dimensions.
Six is not the end of the journey. It is a place of peace and beauty, but also a yearning for true perfection. It is a sphere of transformation, and moving on. Six is a circular number, but a square in three dimensions. If you look at the Tree of Life, Tiphareth seems to be the spill around which the sephiroth can turn: moving, yet staying still.
Biblically, seven is the number of perfection. The number 666 assigned to the Beast or Antichrist shows symbolically that the Antichrist always falls short of perfection. Creation was also not complete on the sixth day; although God has brought everything that exists into being in six ‘days,’ the seventh day—the rest day—completes the work.
Following five
Another way to look at the number six is to compare it to previous numbers.
Five is the number of change and unpredictability, which means chaos, disruption, loss, and pain. Five disturbs the peace and harmony of four, reminding us that growth cannot take place in a stable, static situation. But the pendulum swings, and in six, the trials have been overcome; unpredictability is replaced with regularity; equilibrium, peace and harmony have been regained.
Six is another number that implies completion. The form it takes in six is that of perfection and inclusion, or wholeness. Think of the six directions that surround you: left, right, front, back, up, and down. You are completely enclosed.
Six is the third day of creation and the completion of the sixth day. Six completes the second cycle of threes.
Five is a number that focuses on the self, on desires and needs and the pain of loss. Six take the focus back to others: it is the number of love, compassion, and social responsibilities. Rather than the ego-centrism of five, six is about co-operation and reciprocity.
Just as three integrates unity (one) and duality (two), six balances the stagnation of four and the upheaval of five. Having integrated the lessons, six offers healing and love.
Temporary peace?
One problem with the beauty and peace found in six, is that it might be a temporary peace, an unstable balance. This is especially true in the suit of volatile Fire.
We have seen that Tiphareth balances the Tree just as the sun holds the planetary forces in balance. But in both cases the forces are immense, and it might take little to upset the balance.
The divine energy becomes less pure the further it travels down the Tree. In seven the weakness of six becomes apparent.
And thirdly, if six is a yearning for perfection, something must change for the journey to continue, and when balance is upset, chaos takes over.
Astrology
You may not be surprised: astrologists do no all follow the same tradition either. Most tarotists follow the example of the Golden Dawn, who assigned the second decan of Leo (Jupiter in Leo) to the Six of Wands.
Picatrix describes this decan as one of quarrelling, ignorance, pretended knowledge, wrangling, victory over the low and base, and of drawing swords. The Golden Dawn ignored Picatrix, decided on more positive associations for Jupiter in Leo, and added beauty, balance, and harmony associated with Tiphareth.
Both Jupiter and Leo are good-natured natural leaders (as long as they are admired). Both like to be in the limelight, and want to be appreciated. The decan can be described as one of big dreams and aspirations which (with Jupiter throwing some luck into the mix) may have come true.
With two such egos, however, the moment of triumph may not last long, and could descend into quarrels and wrangling. Jupiter could bring out both the best and the worst in Leo.
Tradition
In the West, ‘tradition’ is mostly either—or a combination of—the Golden Dawn, Waite, and Crowley. In turn, they often used Etteilla’s interpretation as a base.
Clearly, for the Six of Wands the Golden Dawn did not agree with Etteilla: only Waite incorporated one of Etteilla’s suggestions, that of courier or messenger.
Etteilla thought that the Six of Wands signified servants and housework.
Etteilla’s interpretation does, however, pick up Virgo’s qualities of service and social responsibility.
McGregor Mathers (the Golden Dawn) used Etteilla’s reversed meanings: attempt, hope, desire, wish, and expectation, for the upright meanings.
The Golden Dawn called the card Lord of Victory, and added victory after strife, avoiding of strife, success through energy and industry, pleasure gained by labour, carefulness, and sociability. It seems they chose to combine the meanings of Tiphareth and the characteristics of Virgo to form an interpretation.
Waite merged some of these meanings: in addition to ‘great news,’ he agreed that the card is one of triumph, expectation (crowned with its own desire), and crown of hope.
The image
You might want to throw the whole lot into the fire and rely on the image alone for inspiration. The most popular deck in the West is the Rider-Waite-Smith deck (the first illustration in this post), so this is the image I used here. You might have seen from the other card images I have used that there are more, and very interesting, ways to illustrate the card.
The cards designed by Pamela Colman Smith are, in their simplicity, highly evocative. Most of the people in her designs have neutral expressions, which means that we can project whatever we want on them.
What is your first reaction when you look at the the Six of Wands? Is the rider arrogant, relieved, proud, tired, determined, task-oriented, serious? Look at the faces of the two people in the background. Are they rejoicing, admiring the rider, bored, angry, expectant, afraid, exultant?
The rider has the horse under firm control. What does this mean? Is he a good horseman; keeping a tight rein on his emotions; sure of where he is going; letting his instincts guide him?
Is he returning, or setting out?
Newly crowned (as a winner, or a king?)
Setting off to war or coming back victoriously?
A braggart showing off?
On his way to a fancy-dress ball, or a play?
Is that a celebrity surrounded by an adoring crowd?
A proud, arrogant man who demands admiration?
A famous wizard? (Wands are tools in magical practices)
A healer? (Fire can be healing and purifying; six is a number of community service)
A messenger? Bringing good news or bad? Are the crowd of people around him waiting anxiously for news?
A groom on his way to the wedding?
A politician who won, or is campaigning?
A king or king’s son about to be sacrificed to ensure a good harvest? It was the fate of many divine sons, or the sons of kings, to be sacrificed, in the place of the king, for the good of a community. These sacrificial victims were often decked in garlands. Jesus was given a crown of thorns and a robe to wear.
Corresponding major arcana cards
The two major arcana cards with the same number are Trump VI, the Lovers, and Trump XV, the Devil (1+5=6). These two cards are in many ways mirror images of each other, and demonstrate the extremes of two possible interpretations.
In most interpretations, the Six of Wands is a triumphant, joyful card. The strife in the Five of Wands has been resolved, and the victory is celebrated.
An interpretation of the Six of Wands that reflects the Lovers is one of triumph, celebration, beauty, and hope. The right choice has been made, and victory is the result. (In this version of the story of Adam and Eve, Eve has not succumbed to temptation).
In the Lovers, two people are blessed by an angel; in the Six of Wands, the victor has been crowned with laurels. In both cases, peace and harmony can be assumed.
Because the card is numerically linked to the Devil, we should take different interpretations into account, especially if the card is reversed or falls in an unfavourable position.
The image on the card has no context, which means the victory depicted by the Six of Wands is ambiguous. We don’t know what kind of victory this is, or what happened to the vanquished. Or was it perhaps a pyrrhic victory, with many soldiers lost?
Is the rider filled the joy and love of the Lovers, or the pride and arrogance of the Devil?
Is this man perhaps not returning, but setting out for war, with the possibility of defeat and even death?
We can also look at the scene with the eyes of those standing around the rider. For the spectators, there may be no celebration, no beauty, and a sense of hopelessness. Are they sharing in the joy of victory, or filled with fear and hate?
In the Devil, the blessing is that of the Devil, not an angel. The Devil is about slavery and imprisonment, the losers in a fight, or the wrong choices made.
What is interesting, is that Etteilla saw service and even slavery in the Six of Wands.
Corresponding minor arcana cards
According to Crowley, because six is associated with Tiphareth, the four sixes represent the practical best of their element.
The titles that the Golden Dawn gave to these cards reflect this: Lord of Victory (Wands), Lord or Pleasure (Cups), Lord of Earned Success (Swords), and Lord of Material Success (Pentacles).
Crowley titled the Six of Swords ‘Science,’ suggesting clarity of thought, discrimination, and research.
The four ‘six' cards all display the qualities usually associated with six: beauty, virtue, completion, practical deeds, success, service, and balance restored. Each card portrays these qualities according to the nature of its suit.
In the fire suit Wands, the beauty of Tiphareth is conveyed in courage and a hard-won victory. In Cups, the suit of emotion and relationships, Tiphareth is expressed in pleasure, love, and generosity. Swords, the suit of rational thinking and communication, shows a relief of mental anguish and a victory over fear, or—if you prefer Crowley’s interpretation—clear thinking and the fruits thereof. Pentacles, the suit of practicality and material matters, display practical generosity and sharing of wealth.
All four cards demonstrate practical help to others, a deed intended to improve the life of others.
The cards also depict more than one person, emphasizing the aspect of community and teamwork.
At the same time, all four cards can be interpreted less favourably. The Wands card may depict a victory that came at a high cost; the soldier and fortress in the Six of Cups suggest danger of some kind; the Six of Swords has a sense of defeat and hopelessness; and the Six of Pentacles shows poverty and perhaps a patronizing attitude. And could the man be giving money to one beggar, but not the other?
The sequence
Victory (Six of Wands) follows strife (Five of Wands).
From the Five to the Nine, the Wands suit is associated with fighting and war. In typical Wands fashion, battles are fought (and won) with courage and determination.
The Fire suit is not about long-term victories and success; a fight (Five of Wands) disturbs the domestic peace (Four of Wands). The fight is won and celebrated (Six of Wands), but in the Seven of Wands, a new battle starts. The Six of Wands is about victory, but not lasting peace.
Related posts
Fighting fair: The Five of Wands (Part 1)
Time out! The Four of Wands (Part 1)
First fruits: The Three of Wands (Part 1)
Personal power perplexed: Two of Wands (Part 1)
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