Llewellyn's Complete Book of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot

by Sasha Graham

  The idea of placing a farmer or field worker on the card comes directly from the Book T stating in its definition of this card “a cultivator of land.” Waite describes “a young man, leaning on his staff, looks intently at seven pentacles attached to a clump of greenery on his right; one would say that these were his treasures and that his heart was there.” The title “Lord of Success Unfilled” is indeed expressed by the image, where the figure’s “treasures” bring him no apparent joy. Waite points out the contradictory nature of the card as meaning “altercation” in one reading and “innocence” in another. He makes no attempt to clarify the meanings.

  Pamela is inspired in her design by a version of the Fool card in an ancient deck of cards called the Tarocchi of Mantegna (E-Series). The Tarocchi of Mantegna, circa 1465, contains fifty cards with five suits. It is not a proper tarot deck because it does not contain seventy-eight cards with a major and minor arcana. The first card is called Misero, or beggar, and is the equivalent of tarot’s Fool (note the dog at his side). Pamela crafts her Seven of Pentacles field worker in exactly the same posture. He leans on a staff, exuding the same feeling as her field worker. The Tarocchi of Mantegna also influences the following Eight and Nine of Pentacles.

  Waite’s Divinatory Meanings: These are exceedingly contradictory; in the main, it is a card of money, business, barter; but one reading gives altercation, quarrels—and another innocence, ingenuity, purgation.

  Reversed: Cause for anxiety regarding money which it may be proposed to lend.

  Eight of Pentacles

  Lord of Prudence—Sun in Virgo—Stage Card

  Transform the world!

  Thou inner sense of sight,

  Transform my soul!

  Arthur Waite, Collected Poems

  The Eight of Pentacles is the card of master craftsmanship and productivity. A young fellow with curly hair works on a bench. He holds a mallet in his right hand, a carving implement in his right, and wears an apron. Examples of his handiwork line the wooden wall next to him. A city lies in the distance while the artist forges his own unique creative space.

  The Eight of Pentacles reflects creative satisfaction. Pride in work permeates the card as the craftsman hangs examples of his handiwork, the pentacles, in a line up the right side of the card as if they were a ladder on which he could ascend to new heights. It is the card of throwing out distractions, battening down the hatches, and getting serious about work. It is hitting the books or the canvas and using whatever tools, real or metaphorical, you use for your job, career, or hobby.

  Freemason symbolism permeates this card, as it did in the Three of Pentacles. The Masonic apron (protection), bench (elevated space), and tool (agent of change) are drawn. The addition of Masonic symbolism brings a deeper metaphysical realm to the card. It asks the observer, how are you the architect of your life? What have you built with your talents, thoughts, and actions? The Masonic element speaks to the nature of internship and apprenticeship. Who is your mentor or do you mentor others? Is there an underlying system to the way in which you live your life?

  The esoteric title is the “Lord of Prudence.” Prudence is one of the four cardinal virtues recognized in classical antiquity, along with Temperance, Justice, and Fortitude (Strength). Prudence is the only cardinal virtue not to appear in the major arcana. To possess prudence means having a practical and discreet nature. The ability to employ the discipline of reason is exemplified by this card. The astrological traits of Virgo include an analytic mind, hard work, and a practical nature.

  Waite tells us the artist’s work “is displayed in the form of trophies.” This informs the reader the work is exemplary and award winning. Pamela’s design is inspired by the Tarocchi

  of Mantegna (E series). Her card closely resembles the card of Artixan, or artisan, who is found two cards after the Beggar card that inspired the design for the Seven of Pentacles. The Mantegna card shows an artist hard at work who is shadowed by his younger apprentice.

  Apprenticeships in old Europe held a vastly different meaning than the modern idea of internship. Modern interns often gain valuable work experiences, trading pay for work for short periods of time. Older European models of apprenticeships under a Master Craftsman often began in the apprentice’s teen years and lasted a lifetime. Once a trade was selected, it was adhered to for life. Decades of dedication to a craft is how any given craft—watchmaking, winemaking, baking, etc.—kept its value and integrity. This is the true meaning of artisan products and artistry. The Seven of Pentacles holds the deepest elements of lineage and dedication.

  Waite’s Divinatory Meanings: Work, employment, commission, craftsmanship, skill in craft and business, perhaps in the preparatory stage.

  Reversed: Voided ambition, vanity, cupidity, exaction, usury. It may also signify the possession of skill, in the sense of the ingenious mind turned to cunning and intrigue.

  Nine of Pentacles

  Lord of Material Gain—Venus in Virgo

  But for you a place of wonder

  Your own garden ground must be;

  ‘Twist the trees that you stand under,

  Seeing what is yours to see.

  Arthur Waite, Collected Poems

  The sumptuous Nine of Pentacles is the card of luxury, wealth, and riches. It is the desire to surround oneself with beauty, not as a status symbol but for the pleasure of refinement and appreciation of craftsmanship. The European vineyard implies inheritance. Traditionally, European vineyards, like castles and large estates, are passed down through generations. The idea of craftsmanship echoing throughout the suit of pentacles with its multiple Masonic overtones adds to the physical nature of the suit. In a certain sense, the pentacles are inherited DNA providing an opportunity for us to examine traits, behaviors, and our personal House of Spirits, with all its gifts and curses. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes the import of ancestors: “To remember a long list of elders, going back a dozen generations, is particularly enjoyable in that it satisfies the need to find a place in the ongoing stream of life. To recall one’s ancestors places the recaller as a link in a chain that starts in the mythical past and extends into the unfathomable future.” Where do you fit into the chain? What behavior is authentic to you? What belongs to your mother, your sister, or your grandmother? What talents have you been gifted? What traits and behaviors do you wish to cast off?

  The female’s gown is embroidered with flowers, with the symbol of Venus under her left arm. This connects her to the Empress card’s fertility and creativity. The falcon and art of falconry imply loyalty and lineage, and birds in general reflect the human and cosmic spirit intertwined. The snail denotes a slowness requiring plenty of time to develop. The snail shell reflects the infinity of the golden spiral. Rosy purple grapes bursting from the vine imply ripeness and harvest. The woman’s hand gently resting across the pentacles marks her gentle touch over them. It is as if the pentacles themselves are bending to her will, falling at her feet and obeying her orders like a well-trained pet. The Nine of Pentacles is a figure with complete manipulation and mastery over the physical world. She acts in accordance to the Strength card. She respects the forces of nature by working in tandem with them, not attempting to bend them to her will. Her nature serves as a strong reminder to work in tandem with all the forces and assets of your life. It is also a reminder to appreciate what you already have rather than envying the possessions of others. The figure reflects a woman who is completely at home in herself. She is complete and alone amidst her own pleasures. She defines herself and the moment. Like the World dancer, she integrates without thought to the past or the future. She luxuriates in the present.

  Waite describes the card and its “manorial house.” Pamela’s image is inspired by her many illustrations of actress Ellen Terry, a woman she loved like her mother. The Nine of Pentacles looks specifically like the illustrations Pamela made of Ms. Terry in her role in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Pam
ela drew and colored individual prints of her fellow actors in the Lyceum Theater. She sold them to fans the way movie fans purchase movie stills and posters. Pamela’s illustrations of Ellen Terry proved quite popular, and it was likely she used her own illustrations of actors as models for the RWS deck.

  Waite’s Divinatory Meanings: Prudence, safety, success, accomplishment, certitude, discernment.

  Reversed: Roguery, deception, voided project, bad faith.

  Ten of Pentacles

  The Lord of Wealth—Mercury in Virgo

  Ah, one thing more, last gift and best, we wait!

  Beyond all type and sign,

  Teach us to issue out of Nature’s gate

  On Thine unveil’d Divine.

  Arthur Waite, Collected Poems

  The Ten of Pentacles reflects the culmination of all things in the material world. The Nine of Pentacles reflects the autonomy of an individual with her wealth. The Ten of Pentacles reflects the entire family. Like all minor arcana tens, the Ten of Pentacles depicts finality and the end of a saga, story, or cycle in one’s life. Three generations—a grandfather, parents, and child—are seen. Two elegant family dogs (in contrast to the Fool’s mangy dog) are petted by grandfather and grandson. The card implies wealth in all physical things, from finance to family to friends. It is set at the threshold of a city, marking the entrance to a warm interior protected by battlements. It is a safe and protected space. The city is also the place of commerce and a place reflecting the monetary value of the pentacle. The Ten of Cups reflects a pastoral family of the countryside, while the Ten of Pentacles reflects a wealthy urban family in the space of material possessions.

  The Tree of Life is encoded onto and across the design of the card. The tree has developed across the entire suit. It appeared as a single pentacle in the ace. It is seen as a triad in the Three of Pentacles’ cathedral. Five upper points of the tree appear in the stained glass window of the Five of Pentacles. The entire tree now hangs in splendor.

  How does the material world bridge us to the spiritual? We merge with the sublime in various ways. The ace is the simplest, while the ten is most complex. The Ten of Pentacles can reflect a masterpiece, like Vivaldi’s Four Seasons or Dante’s Inferno. Great works of art exist on the material level, yet they transport the participant to higher spaces of spiritual joy and acute happiness.

  Waite points out the “two dogs accosting an ancient personage seated in the foreground.” Could this figure mark the Hermit’s return from self-imposed seclusion? If so, the Hermit’s gray cloak has been transformed into an amazing Technicolor dreamcoat. His white beard marks maturity and experience. He looks like the many bearded ceremonial magicians of the

  Golden Dawn. Could this figure be based on co-founders William Wynn Westcott or William Woodman? Waite’s monogram is cleverly hidden upon the grandfather’s cloak. Perhaps the figure is Waite himself. The grapes on his cloak connect to the grapes in the Three of Cups and Nine and King of Pentacles and their bacchanalian properties.

  The outside of the city is pale, drawn in black and white, while the figures and the inside are as vivid as the Technicolor in The Wizard of Oz. The Tower card is hinted at by the black-and-white tapestry hanging to the left of the threshold. Justice’s scales hang in the black-and-white tapestry above the Magician’s head. This card secretly connects to the Hermit, Justice, and the Tower. This coloring reflects the final stage of manifestation into the concrete world of reality. The card is truly the “Lord of Wealth.”

  Waite’s Divinatory Meanings: Gain, riches; family matters, archives, extraction, the abode of a family.

  Reversed: Chance, fatality, loss, robbery, games of hazard; sometimes gift, dowry, pension.

  [contents]

  55. Williamson, A Return to Love.

  56. Eliot, Collected Poems 1909–1935, 59–79.

  57. Eliot, Collected Poems 1909–1935, 59–79.

  58. Tolle, The Power of Now.

  chapter eight

  Hod (Splendor)

  The Court Cards

  Page of Wands

  Book T Title: Princess of the Shining Flame, the Rose of the Palace of Fire

  Elemental Counterchange: Earth (Page) of Fire (Wands), Princess and Empress of the Salamanders, Throne of the Ace of Wands

  Astrological: Season of Summer

  Travel, travel and search, eyes that are eager glisten

  I stand on the marge and listen.

  Arthur Waite, Collected Poems

  General

  The Page of Wands, the Youth of Fire, has a red flame protruding from the top of her hat. The red flame denotes all you need to know about the Page of Wands. As the youth of fire, she reflects purity of passion glowing in its primal stages. Put yourself in your prepuberty mindset and imagine yourself around age nine or ten. What activities did you love more than anything? What fascinated and beguiled you? Did the library’s endless bookshelves with tasty titles and colorful covers each call out to you like a new adventure? Did dirt and grass baseball diamonds appear like a magical landscape where you could reach immortality with a single solid swing and crack of your bat? What toys and games did you devour? Did Monopoly or Clue, a colored square cardboard, provide hours of fun? What movie or TV show did you watch repetitively? Were you lost in vibrant waxy crayons, dripping paints, and creamy smooth paper? Did the freedom of bike riding—wind in your hair, gravel crunching under your tires—thrill you? The Page of Wands puts what she loves most at the center of her attention. The Page of Wands’ life forms and reforms around her passionate bright flame. This flame burns at the center of her existence.

  In You

  The Page of Wands places her attention entirely on what thrills her, and when you do the same, you embody her. Recall the complete and total attention of your child-self immersed in play. Holding complete awareness on what fascinates you allows you to live in the moment. It releases the ego. The past and future slip away. Each of us is born with unique talents and dreams. We each hold particular sensitivities. We explore our passions, be it dance, cooking, traveling, etc., and we become the Page of Wands. We are born with unique sensitivities and passions that feed our dreams. Exploring our passions allows us to blossom, grow, and evolve. We feed the passion and the passion feeds us. It is a symbiotic relationship of growth and evolution. The Page of Wands can be understood as the pleasurable energetic process leading you deeper into the evolution of your true self.

  In Others

  The Page of Wands is the good-time girl who exhibits the excitable qualities of fire. She is full of energy, seemingly tireless, and bubbly. She’s the type of friend who gets you both into trouble because fire qualities move first and ask questions later. She cheers you up with her charismatic energy, and she’s usually wildly popular, with a wide circle of friends. Her essence is infectious. Being near her is like standing close to a crackly, popping fire.

  You’ll easily observe Page of Wands energy in others when you see someone immersed in what they love. A fiery excitement fills a person when their inner page is activated. Have you felt hot jealousy while watching someone doing something you wish you could do? Envy, a distinct fire quality, is a clear signal that you need to activate your inner page. The feeling of jealousy can be harnessed once it is experienced because it points us toward hidden desires we have repressed or ignored. Allow the jealousy to slip away, but allow the experience to inform your desire and future actions. Get moving on what you want. The Page of Wands’ most endearing and enviable quality is her laser-like dedication to passion. Nothing can stop her once she puts her mind to something. She is often found in dance classes and politics, changing the world for the better.

  Symbols

  Fire salamanders are identified by their black and yellow coloring. Pamela took these colors to heart for the Page, Knight, King, and Queen of Wand’s costuming. Each of their gar
ments matches the fire lizard’s colors, black and yellow with circular salamanders. Waite tells us about the page by saying, “His tidings are strange.” Waite refers to the pages as males, yet most readers assign pages the female pronoun of “she” to reflect energetic balance in the deck. Her gaze focuses on the ultimate act of manifestation at the tip of the wand. A triad of pyramids stand in the background, echoing the page’s creative nature. The number three is the essence of creativity, and a triangle has three sides. Three triangles create the invisible portion of the Tree of Life, which produces manifestation in the material world. The page gently holds a wand and gazes at what is blossoming and growing. She is watching the ultimate act of manifestation, and, by doing so, it teaches her how to be in the world.

  Waite’s Divinatory Meanings: Dark young man, faithful, a lover, an envoy, a postman. Beside a man, he will bear favorable testimony concerning him. A dangerous rival, if followed by the Page of Cups. Has the chief qualities of his suit. He may signify family intelligence.

  Reversed: Anecdotes, announcements, evil news. Also indecision and the instability which accompanies it.

  Knight of Wands

  Book T Title: The Lord of the Flame and Lightning, the King of the Spirits of Fire

  Elemental Counterchange: Fire (Knight) of Fire (Wands), King of the Salamanders

  Astrological: Sagittarius (Mutable Fire)

  Light of the endless East and West,

  Shine on me here as there;

  The signs at least of the great quest

  Are round me everywhere!

  Arthur Waite, Collected Poems

  General

  The Knight of Wands is infused with the explosive, expansive element of fire. He reflects unbridled and uncontrolled passion. He is teenage energy and indignation. The Knight of Wands doesn’t stop to think. He acts out first and asks questions later, if at all. His unbridled energy is a powerful force of change but causes trouble if it goes unchecked. Knights often reflect romance, and the Knight of Wands is hot to the touch. He reflects the dangerous love your mother warned you about, burning fast and hot. He is the rush of romantic love that feels like a drug. He is the exhilaration of the first six months of romance. He’s the ultimate endorphin rush. Harness Knight of Wands’ energy, point it toward any goal, romantic or otherwise, and there’s nothing you can’t do.