Choose your card for the week from Wheel of Change Tarot by Alexandra Genetti. When making your selection, don’t worry about what the cards mean. Base your choice on the pictures—the stories they tell and how they make you feel. Let us know what card you chose. Post a comment!
Prince of Cups, 9 of Cups, 8 of Swords
10 of Wands, 9 of Wands, Knight of Cups
Anastasia Haysler of Tarot-To-Go introduced me to this deck, and I just love it. When my husband looked through it, he said, “The artist who made this must be a very interesting person.” I have to agree. What an imagination!
This is an all-encompassing deck that includes diverse cultures and reflects the depth and breadth of the earth. It reminds those of us who are living an urban/suburban life that the world extends beyond our immediate community. There are also glimpses into the cosmos.
What I love most about the deck is the way it reflects the expanse of time. Many of the cards illustrate the layers of earth and sea and buried treasures. For example, the contents of the Prince of Cup’s vessel below look like they might slip into the sea and settle on the ocean floor, as shown in the Nine of Cups. How long will they rest there before snagged by a fishing line? The Nine of Wands could be an excavation site where the past is unearthed. These images become more powerful when juxtaposed with images from modern life: a baseball breaking a window, and a homeless man playing saxaphone.
This deck offers great insight and many surprises with each draw. It also comes with a 383 page book.
Images from The Wheel of Change Tarot reproduced with permission from Alexandra Genetti.
March 24, 2008 at 12:26 am |
The Prince of Cups is just a beautiful card! So I choose that… That would be the Knight of Cups in the RiderWaite deck? Or is that the Princess and the Prince would be the Page?
The Giovanni Vacchetta Tarot mentioned on her site is also a very nice looking deck.
March 24, 2008 at 11:15 am |
i too am drawn to the prince of cups the card is very beautiful
March 24, 2008 at 1:26 pm |
Hi Jan and Cathy,
I’m in agreement–that Prince of Cups is very beautiful. I’d like to be in that boat along with him. I imagine the water to be warm and an invigorating breeze in the air.
Cathy, you asked about the correspondence with Rider-Waite. The Wheel of Change court cards are structured differently. They include Prince, Princess, Knight, and Queen.
In the book, the Prince of Cups’ subtitle is “Learning to Steer by the Stars.” I like that!
Susan
March 24, 2008 at 3:15 pm |
Hi Susan,
I find it confusing that essentially similar cards in different decks change meanings. How do you come to grips with that?
Cathy
March 24, 2008 at 10:53 pm |
Hi Cathy,
I understand that sense of confusion. Maybe it’s helpful to think of the tarot as a system. There is a generally agreed upon structure to the deck–22 archetypal cards (major arcana/trumps) and 56 situation cards (minor arcana/pips), 12-14 of which are court cards. And then there are generally shared ideas about what each suit symbolizes and what each number symbolizes, and court cards, too. Beyond that, it’s really open to the artist’s/deck creator’s interpretation. Interpretations also change with the times. Consider that today’s interpretations are influenced by modern psychology and the value we find in self-reflection. This is quite different from more traditional and strict ideas of tarot as a tool for divination.
I’m most comfortable reading with Rider-Waite. Sometimes when I lay out a R-W spread, I’ll hunt for the same cards in another deck or two to see what new insight I get. At first, two cards may seem like night and day, but often there is some connection, even if it’s a loose one. Another deck might emphasize the light side of the archetype or the shadow side, or it might emphasize the theme of its deck. Sometimes I don’t see a connection, but I’ll get a whole new interesting perspective anyway.
When I’m getting acquainted with a new deck and working solo with it, mostly I don’t worry about the intended meanings. I focus on the images–how they make me feel, the story they tell, personal experiences they remind me of…. I might think about the significance of the suit and number, and I develop my own interpretation. Then I might consult the companion book to see what the deck creator had in mind, and I might incorporate those ideas as well. I’ll usually think about the corresponding R-W card, to see if that sheds light.
I guess what I’m saying is that there isn’t one definitive interpretation of each card. There are visionaries–deck creators and tarot writers who may inspire us, but ultimately, as readers, we should be encouraged to explore the images of the cards to come up with our own personally meaningful interpretations.
Thanks for raising the question. It’s interesting to think about!
Susan
March 25, 2008 at 1:22 pm |
Thanks for the explanation, I appreciate it!
Cathy
March 27, 2008 at 5:53 pm |
What an interesting deck! I’m drawn to the 9 of Cups– treasure in the depths waiting to be pulled to the surface. It’s how I’d like to imagine my subconscious…
March 29, 2008 at 7:24 am |
Susan,
I love that you are introducing us to all manner of tarot decks. This one seems to have such clear imagery of changes that challenge us.
March 31, 2008 at 9:25 pm |
Sonia, I love the idea of pulling treasures from the subconscious to the surface!
March 31, 2008 at 9:31 pm |
Thanks, Carly. I’m glad you’re enjoying the different decks.
By the way, I love your site and wanted to see how you would feel about me including a link under the Work and Passions of Friends section of my blogroll. Some folks find my site while in search of Jewish tarot, and if they haven’t already found you, I bet they’d be delighted. Let me know what you think.