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Tarot
Gateway To Tarot
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by Bonnie Cehovet
Tarot Master
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I just had the honor of reviewing Tarot Decoded, by Elizabeth Hazel. I have followed Ms Hazel for years in one of my on-line e-groups - she has an outstanding knowledge of both Tarot and Astrology, and freely shares her creative insights with great humor and humility. Tarot Decoded is bound to become a seminal resource book for work with dignities and correspondences in interpreting Tarot spreads. I don't even want to think about the layers of knowledge that this book offers the Tarot student - it is tremendous!
Ms Hazel covers Elemental and Numerological dignities, as well as Modal dignities (Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable attributes), Shared Status ( a mode of dignity used among the court cards), Locational dignities (where a card occupies a position within a spread that either assists or undermines its strength and meaning), and Planetary/Zodiaca dignities.
I was most impressed with the manner in which she worked with the Astrological spread. The dignities that we are working with are as follows*:
Modality:
Cardinal (Angular) - Houses 1, 4, 7, 10
Fixed (Succeedent) - Houses 2, 5, 8, 11
Mutable (Cadent) - Houses 3, 6, 9, 12
Element:
Fire - Houses: 1, 5, 9 Signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
Water - Houses: 4, 8, 12 Signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces
Air - Houses: 3, 7, 11 Signs: Libra, Aquarius, Gemini
Earth - Houses: 2, 6, 10 Signs: Capricorn, Virgo, Taurus
The positional meanings for the Astrological spread are**:
1. First House (Ascendant): The self, modes of perception, general demeanor of the individual
2. Second House: Skills, abilities, capacities to earn a living, possessions and personal values
3. Third House: daily life, siblings, short journeys, discussions
4. Fourth House (Nadir/IC): Inner life, family, origins, private thoughts and feelings, past foundations
5. Fifth House: Creativity, children, love affairs, the ability to express the ego's contents
6. Sixth House: Work, health, co-workers, issues the individual must work through with others
7. Seventh House (Descendent): Relationships, transactions, agreements, marriage partner
8. Eighth House: Shared resources with spouse or partner, transitions with family or spouse
9. Ninth House: Education, spiritual and intellectual matters, long-term plans
10. Tenth House (Midheaven/MC): Career, bosses, life path, future direction, conditions in the real world
11. Eleventh House: Group associations, desired results, hopes for the future
12. Twelfth House: Areas lacking access or control: confinement, illness, blind spots, family issues that may besiege or haunt the querant
The cards that I drew, from the Golden Tarot (by Kat Black), were:
1. Eight of Cups
2. Four of Swords
3. Knight of Cups
4. Nine of Coins (Pentacles)
5. The Fool
6. Seven of Swords
7. Three of Swords
8. Eight of Swords
9. The Hierophant
10. Seven of Cups
11. Justice
12. King of Coins (Pentacles)
Interpretation:
(Please note that I am interpreting in my own manner, with the use of dignities as I apply them, with additional information from Tarot Decoded. The interpretation will not be precisely what Ms Hazel presents in her book.)
Numerological Dignities:
Note: In the system that I use for the court cards, I simply continue the numbering. Pages are 11, which reduces to 2 (1+1=2); Knights are 12, which reduces to 3 (1+2=3); Queens are 13, which reduces to 4 (1+3=4); Kings are 14, which reduces to 5 (1+4=5). For the Major Arcana, I reduce double digit numbers to a single digit.
Numerologically, this spread reads: 8, 4, 3, 9, 0, 7, 3, 8, 5, 7, 2, 5. We end up with four even numbers and seven odd numbers. Taken as a progression, cards 1 and 10 are well dignified, cards number 2, 3, 7, and 9 are neutral, and cards number 8, and 11 are ill dignified. There are four "sets" of numbers in this spread: the 3's, 5's, 7's, and 8's. Because they are sets of two only, I would really not place added emphases on them. There are no sequences involved (a series of numbers within a suit that are either of an increasing or decreasing nature).
Elemental Dignities:
(Note: Ms Hazel makes the observation that the elemental quality of a sign or card shows "what" it is made of.)
Elementally, this spread reads: Water, Air, Water, Earth, Air, Air, Air, Air, Earth, Water, Air, Earth. The first thing that I would note here would be the preponderance of Air (authority, mental, wisdom - 6 out of 12 cards), and the lack of Fire (will, passion, determination). The answer comes from what is lacking - Fire. Cards number 1, 6, 7, 11 and 12 are well dignified; cards number 2, 3, 4, 5, 9 are neutral; there are no cards that are ill dignified.
Using the House and Card Elemental attributions, we have Fire/Water, Earth/Air, Air/Water, Water/Earth, Fire/Air, Earth/Air, Air/Air, Water/Air, Fire/Earth, Earth/Water, Air/Air, Water/Earth. Houses number 4, 5, 7, 10, 11 and 12 are well dignified; houses number 3, 8 and 9 are neutral; houses 1, 2, and 6 are ill dignified.
Modal Dignities:
(Note: Ms Hazel makes the observation that modes show the quality of the elemental attribution, or how a sign or card is likely to behave.)
By mode, the cards read mutable, cardinal, 21 degrees cardinal to 20 degrees fixed, mutable, (the Fool is an elemental trump - Air - and as such, will have no modality), fixed, cardinal, mutable, fixed, fixed, cardinal, 21 degrees fixed through 20 degrees mutable.
Using the House and card modal attributions, we get: cardinal/mutable, fixed/cardinal, mutable/21 degrees cardinal to 20 degrees fixed, cardinal/mutable, fixed/(the Fool is an elemental trump - Air - and as such, will have no modality), mutable/fixed, cardinal/cardinal, fixed/mutable, mutable/fixed, cardinal/fixed, fixed/cardinal, mutable/21 degrees fixed through 20 degrees mutable.
Locational Dignities:
I am not going to work with locational dignities in this article because, quite frankly, I haven't worked with them enough myself yet!
There are other things that we look at within the Astrological spread that are particular to it (or to its geometry). One of these is reading by axis (houses directly across from each other). We end up with the Cosmic Axis (houses 1 and 7; houses 4 and 10); 2nd house and 8th house axis; 3rd house and ninth house axis; 5th house and 11th house axis and 6th house and 12th house axis.
For this reading, we are looking at: the 8 of Cups and the 3 of Swords; the 9 of Coins (Pentacles) and the 7 of Cups; the 4 of Swords and the 8 of Swords; the Knight of Cups and the Hierophant; the Fool and Justice; the 7 of Swords and the King of Coins (Pentacles).
Another layer is analysis by quadrant. First Quadrant - Personal/Inner area (houses 1, 2, 3); Second Quadrant - Developement/Inner Area (houses 4, 5, 6); Third Quadrant - Interpersonal/Outer Area (houses 7, 8, 9); Fourth Quadrant - Results/Outer Area (houses 10, 11, 12).
For this reading, we are looking at the 8 of Cups, the 4 of Swords and the Knight of Cups; the 9 of Coins (Pentacles), the Fool and the 7 of Swords; the 3 of Swords, the 8 of Swords and the Hierophant; the 7 of Cups, Justice and the King of Coins (Pentacles).
Another layer of interpretation is analysis by elemental triplicity: Fire (houses 1, 5 and 9); Water (houses 4, 8, 12); Air (houses 3, 7, 11) and Earth (houses 2, 6, 10).
For this reading we have the 8 of Cups, the Fool and the Hierophant; the 9 of COins (Pentacles), the 8 of Swords and the King of Coins (Pentacles); the Knight of Cups, the 3 of Swords and Justice; the 4 of Swords, the 7 of Swords and the 7 of Cups.
By now I am sure that this is all starting to run together and not make sense. Too many dignities, and not enough time! My suggestion - start reading with one dignity at a time until you understand them. Then start putting them together and see what happens. Each reader decides for themselves what system(s) they will use, and how they will apply these systems to their readings. Each system adds another layer of interpretation - another very valuable layer!
One big hint that Ms Hazel gives is on scanning the cards. The eyes must always be moving to see the relationship of the cards to each other. Do one scan for an overall theme, then keep scanning to see the different relationships between the cards. Use the geometric form of the spread to your advantage. Also, I use the position definitions as a strong beginning point in interpreting how a card is acting within a reading.
Tarot Decoded contains some excellent charts that can be used as "cheat sheets" until the information becomes second nature through use. Or you can make up your own charts and graphs. The idea here is to pick a place and start - the rest will be history!
Happy Taroting!
Footnotes:
* Hazel, Elizabeth. Tarot Decoded. Weiser Books, 2004, Appendix E.
** Hazel, Elizabeth. Tarot Decoded. Weiser Books, 2004, pages 109-110.
Bibliography:
Hazel, Elizabeth. Tarot Decoded. Weiser Books, 2004.
If you have any questions, or suggestions for future columns, please contact me at: Crystalgate@aol.com.
May your paths be well lit and well traveled.
(c) July 2004
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Bonnie Cehovet,
Tarot Master, and Reiki Master/Teacher.
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Bonnie Cehovet is a Tarot Master, professional Tarot reader and Reiki Master/Teacher.
Bonnie has been reading the Tarot professionally for over ten years. She has served in various capacities with the American Tarot Association, including Secretary and Web Assistant For Links. She is currently Certification Director and Secretary for the American Board For Tarot Certification. Bonnie is also a founding member of the World Tarot Network.
Bonnie has had her work published in the ATA newsletter, in Geraldine Amaral's "Celebrating The Tarot" print newsletter, on the World Tarot Network and other internet sites. She is editor for her own monthly newsletter "Gateway To Tarot" (Yahoo Groups).
www.tarot.thecrystalgate.
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