A Feminist Tarot
A Feminist Tarot
A Feminist Tarot
i
ii
A
Feminist
Tarot
by Sally Gearhart
and Susan Rennie
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Paperback, Copyright © 1987, 1997 by Sally Gearhart and Susan Rennie.
Illustrations from the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck®, known also as the Rider
Tarot and the Waite Tarot, reproduced by permission of U.S. Games
Systems, Inc., Stamford, Connecticut 06902, USA. Copyright © 1971
by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. Further reproduction prohibited. The Rider-
Waite Tarot Deck is a registered trademark of U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
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CONTENTS
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Using the Tarot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
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PREFACE
S
ince the last printing of A Feminist Tarot, we have been heart-
ened by the increase in interest in the tarot in general and by the
enthusiastic response to this book in particular. That response
has come from men as well as from women, whose critical remarks
have been helpful in our revision of the book for this new edition.
Particularly we would like to acknowledge Jane Gurko, without whose
critical faculties the revision would never have been accomplished.
We are grateful too for the help given us by Gloria Anzaldua, Kirsten
Grimstad, Christine Menefee, Louisiana Sissies in Struggle, Alyse B.
Tartell, and Joyce and other Sisters of Aradia.
The text of the book has been somewhat altered to include our own
changing perspectives and our responses to constructive criticism. We
hope that the new introduction and bibliography will increase the
book’s usefulness. We still see A Feminist Tarot as only a beginning in
women’s recovery of the tarot from traditional masculinist bias. And
we still acknowledge that the views expressed here have their own
limitations. Our hope is that the work we have done will aid others
in uncovering more of the meanings inherent in the cards so that the
tarot becomes truly an instrument for women’s self-discovery and self-
exploration.
Since the last printing of this book, its original publisher, Perse-
phone Press, has been forced to cease. Both of us, Susan and Sally, want
to express our gratitude to the women of Persephone not only for their
commitment to women’s culture, but also for the fairness, straight-
forwardness, and willingness to struggle that characterized our
association with them. From its inception in 1976, Persephone Press
gave the women’s movement access to an astonishing amount of lesbian-
feminist and feminist literature; some of their publications have become
classics. So even while we mourn the loss of Persephone, we cherish
its gifts and acknowledge its vision of lesbian publishing. The women’s
movement and the lesbian/gay movement share a fundamental need
for publishing houses that can risk the publication of books that
represent us. One such publishing house has been A Feminist Tarot’s
present publisher, Alyson Publications. Its founder, Sasha Alyson, took
over a number of Persephone’s titles and has seen to it that they remain
vi
available to the movement and to the world at large. Our association
with Sasha and the staff of Alyson Publications has been from the outset
a pleasure and a benefit. We’re glad to be a part of that enterprise and its
commitment to the spread of lesbian, feminist, and gay literature.
Sally M. Gearhart
San Francisco
Susan Rennie
Los Angeles
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INTRODUCTION
A
fter the publication of A Feminist Tarot in 1976, women
frequently questioned us about our use of a traditional deck.
Why hadn’t we used a new feminist-envisioned tarot to
accompany our feminist interpretations? The current renaissance of
interest in the tarot has resulted in at least a dozen newly conceived
decks whose images are considerably changed from the traditional
images of the tarot trumps and the minor arcana, familiar to us since
Waite published his deck in 1911. These have included at least one “woman’s”
deck in which the images have been drastically altered to eliminate what the
author sees as patriarchal bias. We applaud these new developments,
particularly as they contribute to our women’s culture, and we hope for
their continued success.
But a large part of the answer to the original question—our choice
of the Waite-Smith deck—has to do with our understanding of what the
tarot is, our beliefs about its historical lineage, and our conception of its
use and function. We feel that the power of the tarot derives from an
ancient and complex symbology that represents all aspects, forces, stages,
and configurations in our psychic lives - a totality of human experience.
The traditional tarot, with all its richness and mystery, can be a woman’s
tarot. That, essentially, is what we have attempted to show: the reappro-
priation of meaning within the original matrix. The “old” cards, seen from
an altered angle of vision, can be used as a tool for self-analysis to explore
our inner regions, to give ear to our inner voices; they still activate the
potent insights and connections that the tarot was always meant to evoke.
In fact if we look at its ancestry, we will see that the tarot is a particularly
appropriate vehicle for women with feminist consciousness. At its very
core it is synchronous with that vision which honors the female principle
as a creative and dynamic force in the universe.
There are a number of fanciful myths about the origins of the tarot.
One of the most popular stories is that it was introduced into western Eu-
rope by the Gypsies; another, that it was produced at a gathering of sages
and wise men at Fez. The Gypsy theory speculates that these itinerant
people made their way into Europe over the course of several centuries,
carrying with them the wisdom of ancient Egypt whence they came—
hence “Gypsy.” The wisdom was encoded in the tarot, which they used in
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Introduction
ix
Introduction
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Introduction
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Introduction
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Introduction
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Introduction
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tarot picture is by itself a rich and deeply evocative set of symbols which
relates to the core experiences of the human condition and the human
psyche; in the patterns that the tarot cards form in any chosen spread
- with whatever meanings assigned to the various positions - they can yield
rich and complex insights in understanding ourselves, because unlike tea
leaves or raindrops they were designed to yield these patterns. That’s why
we think it is vital to use a deck that maintains the essential integrity of the
original images as does, for example, the Waite-Smith deck.
There are numerous tarot decks, both historical and contemporary,
which exhibit striking differences in style and form but which maintain
the basic integrity of the images. There are, for example, widely differing
representations of Death, but the concept of Death is there unmistakably.
In more recent times, many of the decks that have been redesigned
elaborate the cards’ symbolism—reflecting the extensive information
about the tarot excavated by nineteenth- century occult scholars. The
changes are an attempt not so much to express the personal world view
of the authors (as do decks such as the New Tarot, the Witches’ Tarot,
the Aquarian Tarot), as to “get it right.” The three best-known contem-
porary decks—the Waite-Smith, Paul Foster Case’s BOTA, and Crowley’s
Thoth—are all examples of the attempt to construct a tarot which is the
“true,” the “rectified,” or the “restored” deck (words used by both Waite and
Crowley). (Incidentally, all three of these decks were painted by women:
Pamela Coleman-Smith, Jessie Burns Parke, and Frieda Harris, respectively.
How much the artists contributed to the conceptualization we don’t know.)
The significance of these three decks (as well as the recently published
but aesthetically disappointing Regardie-Wang deck) is the membership
of Waite, Case, and Crowley in the secret hermetic Order of the Golden
Dawn. This was an occult society founded in England in 1888 dedicated
to the continuation of ancient esoteric tradition through the study and
practice of the Western occult arts. For our purposes, it is very important
to note that women were not only admitted and participated in the society on
an equal basis with men, but also that the beliefs and rituals of the Golden
Dawn were Goddess-centered.
The Golden Dawn lasted a scant fifteen years, but its influence,
especially on the tarot, has been enormous. Virtually every major tarot
deck of the twentieth century is derived from the deck used by
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Introduction
the members of the Order. That deck, in turn, was the product of deep
research and study by one of its founders, MacGregor Mathers, and
—a fact rarely mentioned in works on the history of the tarot—his wife,
Moina, who frequently conducted the Order’s ceremonies in the role of
High Priestess. The deck incorporates a virtual archaeology of the symbolism
of the tarot, including the numerological and astrological significances of
the cards, their Kabbalistic correspondences, the importance of colors,
and even such details as the relevance of which way the figures in the cards
face. The Golden Dawn claimed to be the inheritor of ancient keys to
psychic power handed down through the centuries by means of a hidden
oral tradition. It was not only the intensive research which had gone into
the history of the tarot that gave the Golden Dawn deck its special
puissance, members claimed, but also their access to this secret oral
tradition.
The society’s research and its claim to special information may explain
the particularly compelling quality of the decks published by its
members, most specifically the Waite-Smith, the Case, and the Crowley
decks. While we cannot say that there is any such thing as a “true” deck, of
the three the Waite-Smith deck seems the most symbolically powerful and
useful to us. It is more widely available and better known than Case’s
BOTA, even though there is little difference in detail between the two.
Crowley’s Thoth deck, for all its seductive and stunning beauty, rouses in
us strong reservations of conscience since it was designed by a man who
exhibited a vicious and infamous hatred of women.
However, all existing decks pose very real problems for feminists,
Waite-Smith’s included. Many women do not find offense in the
traditional imagery of the tarot. What has been a sore spot has been the
rampant masculinist bias in the traditional interpretations, the meanings
attributed to the cards—even by sensitive women tarotists such as Eden
Gray. This was the original impulse behind A Feminist Tarot: to develop
the meanings that the cards evoke in a feminist imagination.
But interpretation is not the only problem. Some women have found
offense in what they see as a visual sex-role stereotyping in the pictures
themselves. We have hoped that A Feminist Tarot would challenge this
depiction of women in the cards.
The matter of other caste-marked (meaning those who cannot hide)
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Introduction
groups is different. Pictorially all the decks we know of ignore the physically
disabled and people of color. There are some tired people in the cards,
some blindfolded and even wounded; but there is only one pair of crutches
evident (the five of pentacles), and the parade of fully perceptive, physically
active, able-bodied characters is overwhelming. It is true that blindness,
deafness, and much physical disability are not always apparent and should not
be hauled out for caste-marking even by well-intentioned artists or inter-
preters. But the question of disability must permeate our awareness and
influence our interpretations wherever possible.
The matter of race in the cards is more obvious. No amount of
argument about the origin of the tarot among dark-skinned people, no
cataloging of the changes the cards have been subjected to by white
European cultures, and no rhapsodizing about the universality of the
concepts represented can minimize the effect of the blond and fair-skinned
personae who dominate the cards’ imagery. We consider this a particularly
limiting characteristic of the Waite-Smith deck. It is true that the tarot, like
other artifacts, rises out of a specific culture; and perhaps we should be
able to transpose into global terms the specifics of that culture—costumes,
properties, settings, and the white skins. But one reason why people of
color may not use the tarot, particularly decks full of human forms, is
precisely because such transformations are not worth the hassle. It is true
that the Crowley deck with its overall bizarre colors and its non-human
symbols in the majority of suit cards may allow for more universal inter-
pretation; it is also true that Case’s BOTA deck comes without color so
that the user can paint the drawings - including skin patches - for most
meaningful interpretation. But even such suggestions seem like sops and
do not adequately address the problem of the predominantly Caucasian
figures suggested in all the decks. We have decided after careful consid-
eration of this issue that the most important factor in dealing with the
problem may simply be our open acknowledgment of the limitations and
our openness to the experience and viewpoint of people of color in the
interpretations of the cards themselves. Even in spite of these limitations,
the Waite-Smith deck still harbors for us a greater richness and power in
its images than other decks. We want to continue its exploration with full
acknowledgment of these questions.
Finally, the matter of caste-marked figures and the need for wide
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boundaries in interpretation bring up an equally significant political mat-
ter. How can we use the study of the occult (the I Ching, the tarot, astrology,
the Kabbalah) to encourage dialogue between the “hard-core politicos”
who supposedly scorn such approaches and the so-called “spiritual”
feminists who are accused of retreatism and political irresponsibility?
We both feel that such divisions are more often manufactured among
us than inherent in feminist politics, even though we also acknowledge
that human beings differ in their approaches to reality. We both think of
ourselves as political activists and as spiritually concerned feminists. We
believe that a consideration of both the “material” and the “psychic” is
necessary to the growth of individuals and to the development of femi-
nism as a global force. We hope that “hard-core politicos” will remain
open to the messages that can come from meditation or from sources be-
yond hectic daily experience; we hope that feminists who learn and grow
from the occult do not let their politics end there but see the necessity for
carrying that creative energy into concrete social action. It seems to us
that, by affirming each other and our differing approaches to reality, we
can only gain in mutual support and political power.
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A Feminist Tarot
1
2
USING THE TAROT
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A Feminist Tarot
4
Using the Tarot
Thus, taking Wands as the suit that represents energy and growth,
we would suggest that the King of Wands represents the querent’s secu-
rity in her own changes and development. The Queen would indicate
the querent’s security in her own potentiality for growth and change, or
her security in her ability to accept the growth and change of others.
The Knight or Prince would show that the querent is actively involved in
change and development, while the Page or Princess would indicate that
the querent is seeking growth and change in the matter being considered
in the reading. And so with the other suits.
Spreads
The most popular spread in use today is the so-called Celtic spread
originally published by Waite in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910).
This spread is supposed to be the most suitable for obtaining an answer
to a definite question.
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A Feminist Tarot
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Using the Tarot
1. Significator
7
5. Immediate Past — the influence on the question that
is presently passing away.
8
THE
MAJOR
ARCANA
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A Feminist Tarot
0
THE FOOL
Planet Uranus
Upright: NAÏVETÉ
A
n androgynous youth begins a journey, a task, a challenge. She is
fresh, innocent, not operating under controlled ego but garbed
in insouciance or non-responsibility. She experiences the world
without the self-consciousness that often blocks enlightenment. She is un-
able to prepare for the journey except by the experience itself of starting.
She sets out optimistically. Only the dog—consort of the Great Mother
—warns of an approaching peril.
An optimistic beginning; ebullience, overconfidence. Innocent trust of
people and situations. The fool, wearing the rags and tatters of the troubadour,
plays to the audience, constantly seeks those who will enjoy her. She is an out-
sider who is mocked and laughed at, but who is the harbinger of real change.
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The Major Arcana
Traditional meaning:
Venturesome quest. Spiritual innocence containing within it
cosmic wisdom. The dreamer confronted with choices.
Reversed: RELUCTANCE
Not yet ready to make a beginning; ill-prepared even to risk the expe-
rience of learning. The time is not right for some new enterprise or under-
taking. Major problems will be created by impulsive behavior.
Perhaps some stubbornness or desire to sustain status quo; inability
to take an important risk; fear of the future. Perhaps disillusionment as a
result of too many false starts; jaded or cynical.
The querent or one near her may be too self-conscious to act sponta-
neously. Or she may fear being laughed at, being thought of as foolish. She
may hold back her creativity out of fear of being thought a freak.
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A Feminist Tarot
1
0
T H ET H
M EA FGOI C O ILA N
Planet
PlanetMercury
Uranus
Upright: CHANNELIZATION
also Creative Will Power
T
he magician is the agent, the wise channel of consciousness. The
consciousness flows two ways. The figure does not “draw” power
from above, but opens her/himself at both extremes so as to
connect two entities, fields, areas, things, people. A mutual movement
takes place through the Magician: the dark synthesizing powers of the
psyche rush to meet the bright analytical powers of the mental. Light makes
materiality aware of itself and the dark gives spirit something to be aware of.
Experiences are illuminated; thoughts are embodied; language may be
born. The Magician is the channel.
The querent or one near her needs some channel or connection. Or
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The Major Arcana
she may serve as some connection. There is much dealing with power here:
personal, political, or cosmic. Analysis and synthesis; organization; meaning-
bestowing.
The querent may be a mediator or may need a mediator.
Also a unifying card. All the major symbols (wands, cups, swords,
pentacles) are gathered in one place and the Mobius strip or cosmic lem-
niscate suggests the infinite connectedness of all things.
Traditional meaning:
Strength of will. Originality, creativity.
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A Feminist Tarot
2
THE HIGH PRIESTESS
Planet Moon
T
he virgin, the one unto herself, the daughter of the moon, the
unconquered, the lesbian, the witch, Isis, Artemis, Diana, Lilith.
She is shrouded in the mystery of the as yet unrevealed. “There are
some respects in which this card is the highest and holiest of the greater
arcana.” (Waite)
The Priestess holds the sacred Torah suggesting the matriarchal roots
that underlie patriarchy. She represents men’s deepest fear: that women do
not need men.
The querent’s future is hidden, unknown, virginal. Or some aspects
of the querent (or one near her) are virginal. She is in touch with hidden
knowledge, perhaps to be expressed creatively. Some important aspects
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The Major Arcana
Traditional meaning:
Hidden influences at work. Intuition, perception.
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A Feminist Tarot
3
THE EMPRESS
Planet Venus
Upright: FERTILITY
E
arth Mother, Venus, the eternal resource, she from whom all come
and to whom all return. Love, productivity, generative forces. The
holder and carrier of seeds to fruition. Usually the heterosexual
woman. But also that aspect of all women in touch with physically, sensu-
ally derived energy.
A time or circumstance for great growth of any kind. Special bounti-
fulness for creative and artistic people. The querent or someone near her
experiences deep unfolding, expansion, stretching.
The femaleness of the human species is suggested in the card and the
passing of power from mother to daughter. The suggestion is that the
female rightfully controls the size and character of the human species.
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The Major Arcana
Thus the querent may be faced with the reality of male control of female
bodies, e.g.: abortion rights, forced sterilization, prostitution, marriage,
rape, incest.
Traditional meaning:
Fertility, sensuality, productivity. The mother figure representing
abundance. Ishtar, Demeter/Kore, Aphrodite, the Corn Woman.
The maternal aspect of the Triple Goddess, as the Priestess in her
veiled or maiden aspect.
Reversed: BARRENNESS
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A Feminist Tarot
4
THE EMPEROR
Sign Aries
Upright: DOMINATION
T
he archetypical king, the active father force, god as the father, the
ultimate patriarch. He is seated on stone in front of blood-red
mountains, reminders of the violence that his reign requires; animal
skulls adorn his throne. Power, hierarchy, law - all institutionalized and
called “natural” and “inevitable.”
Circumstances are essentially out of the control of the querent and in the
hands of male powers - the males in her life, the institutionalized powers
of the patriarchy, the male qualities in herself or in others. She is subject to
him, submissive to his dominance. This is also the card of controlled and
blocked emotions; affect is gained if at all through physical sexuality.
It may be appropriate for the querent to behave in authoritative ways;
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The Major Arcana
she may be able to prevent her own victimization only by fighting back
with the weapons of the oppressor, projecting and exercising power in a
directive way. She may have to control by force someone or something and
deal later with the consequences to her psyche.
Traditional meaning:
Power, authority, leadership. The domination of reason over emotion.
Control, ambition. He who sets in order. Jehovah, Zeus, Thor.
Reversed: FANATICISM
also Defeat
Patriarchal powers become actively dangerous; some bursting of pressure
points and the release of an uncontrolled power. The emperor has gone mad
and a bloodbath threatens. Loss of control by somebody in a dominant power
position.
The querent or one near her loses control of the dominant parts of herself
and acts without reflection. She may be paranoid, temporarily unable to cope
with reality. Her freak-out may require the support of a number of friends. Or
some power outside the querent breaks its traces to become an active and unpre-
dictable threat to her, either physically or psychically.
The querent experiences a diminution of strength and a sense of defeat,
drained by confrontation and struggle with the patriarchy - its agents externally,
or its agents within her own psychic structure.
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A Feminist Tarot
5
THE HIEROPHANT
Sign Taurus
Upright: CONVENTIONALITY
also Dogmatism
T
he hierophant represents traditional or orthodox teaching; strict
conformity to institutionalized rules and regulations; social approval;
the ultimate in what-will-the-neighbors-think fears. Fear of disgrace;
extreme pride in having the respect of others. The ritualistic, ceremonial,
dramatic outer form; protocol, the ruling powers of the conventional.
For the querent, society or persons representing society will not allow
deviation; habit and social mores are of rising influence.
This card also represents those who want the world to be neat, schematic,
and orderly and who tend to be dogmatic about their beliefs, feeling that
what they conceive to be right and truthful should be right and truthful for
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The Major Arcana
everyone else. Can be the card of the ideologue, the intellectual oppressor,
the “correct liner,” the inquisitor who seeks to eliminate deviation.
More positively the card suggests that the querent or one near her is
a bridge, a translator, an interpreter, a teacher, as original hierophants
were—showing the sacred reality to others, the door to the mysteries revealed
by the High Priestess.
Traditional meaning:
Rule by the conventional, preference for the outer forms. Conformity.
Intolerance, captivity to one’s own ideas.
Reversed: REBELLION
Revolt against convention. Nonconformity, ingenious unorthodoxy.
The pursuit of new ideas, alternative forms.
At the cost of deep pain the querent may break the icons, may stand
free of some long-established convention. An ability to handle complex-
ity, a tolerance for ambiguity, and a rejection of simplistic analysis and pat
solutions.
Perhaps the mistaken destruction of some part of the system that
could have been helpful. Throwing the baby out with the bath water in a
hasty action.
Traditional reversed meaning:
Unorthodoxy. Openness to new ideas. The card of the nonconformist.
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A Feminist Tarot
6
THE LOVERS
Sign Gemini
T
he man (conscious mind) looks to the woman (unconscious mind)
as she and the angel exchange some knowledge. The suggestion
is that any connection with “higher” or transcendent or cosmic
energies must be through the unconscious. Woman has also traditionally
been “body” so that to connect with the transcendent, consciousness must
also transit the physical, particularly the sexual.
For the querent some question regarding sexuality or the physical. A
love relationship carries deep meaning. Or there is sexual attraction outside a
committed relationship. Questions of honesty and risk.
A card of harmony between body and mind, of the physical or material
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The Major Arcana
Traditional meaning:
A time of choice. The beginning of romance, love, harmony.
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A Feminist Tarot
7
THE CHARIOT
Sign Cancer
Upright: WILLPOWER
T
he charioteer has control of the chariot drawn by two figures: that
is, control of the dual nature of the self. She is at a place of rest in
her personal life, which allows concentration on external affairs.
The absence of reins and the presence of the moon and stars surrounding
her head suggest a psychic or psychological control of forces.
Some victory through personal effort and determination. Some battle
of sheer will has been won; some habit broken; some seemingly impos-
sible task of self-discipline accomplished. Progress in life is secure.
The querent or one near her is challenged by self-discipline or has
accomplished it in some specific task. Or the querent may be reminded
of an addictive personality (hers or another’s) and the need for willpower
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The Major Arcana
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A Feminist Tarot
8
STRENGTH
Sign Leo
Upright: COURAGE
T
he woman stroking the animal suggests that power and dominion
are not the issue at all - at least as conceived by the patriarchy.
The strength shown here is not so much a matter of “taming” the
lower nature so much as bridging spirit (person) and body (lion), relating
to non-human forms in caring ways, and working with nature and the
material world. Strength comes not from the discipline of inner weakness
(as with the Chariot) but from steadfast adherence to a principle or from
strength of inner conviction and harmony with the natural world. As with
the Magician, the halo of infinity suggests connectedness.
And the lion, as the bridge between the human and the rest of nature,
underscores that sense of connectedness.
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The Major Arcana
Traditional meaning:
The triumph of love over hate. The courage of convictions. Reconciliation
with an enemy. The defeat of base impulses.
Reversed: ALIENATION
Discord, strife with nature and materiality. Even cruelty to or neglect
of animals or particular animal friends. Not enough attention to sur-
roundings, to little things. Disjointed attempts to conquer material or
animal worlds. A lack of relatedness to nature or to people, thus allowing
the objectification of them, perhaps even their victimization.
Refusal to risk caring. Continued isolation. Possible illness.
The querent is distanced from herself; she perhaps constructs complex
justifications (as with nuclear power) for her misuse of the earth and its
creatures.
Traditional meaning:
Weakness; a failure of nerve; lack of faith. Fear of the unknown in
ourselves.
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A Feminist Tarot
9
THE HERMIT
Sign Virgo
Upright: SELF-SEARCH
T
he hermit has been alone on the silent white mountains of abstract
thought. He has carried with him the lantern by which others may
be guided to their own wisdom. He both seeks and has found. He
is without arrogance or egotism.
The querent or one near her encounters the expert seeker and giver of
intellect, knowledge, learning, the teacher of the meaning of both silence
and sound. Possibly a journey to get to the teacher.
Also an indication that withdrawal for study and contemplation may
be necessary. A time in which thought has priority over action, so that
action will be sound. The querent may discover the need to look into the
self, search for the self.
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The Major Arcana
Traditional meaning:
Wisdom is offered. Silent counsel. Discretion, vigilance.
Reversed: DILETTANTISM
Wisdom is rejected. The querent shies away from solitude, knowledge
of sound and silence. Or perhaps these things are inappropriate to the
querent’s life at this time.
Patent rejection of some patriarchal learning that may have some virtue.
Dilettantism or superficial knowledge. Buckshot learning. Skimming
the surface.
The querent may need to pass completely through the “hero” stage
before becoming the hermit. There is still action to be taken. No time yet
for retreat or reflection.
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A Feminist Tarot
10
THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE
Planet Jupiter
E
xternal forces over which there is no direct control influence daily
living. The cycles of an individual’s life move without the will of
the person involved. Coincidence. All the querent can do is be
aware, try to understand what is happening, and roll with the punches.
The card can also suggest change in general rather than forces entirely
outside the querent’s control. Thus her own actions may become operative
factors that determine or help to determine the turning of the wheel; she
will receive the rewards of her labors, the fruits of her former deeds. She
will reap what she sows.
The quaternary signs of the bull, lion, eagle, and angel (symbols of
earth, fire, air, and water) represent the psychological functions of feeling,
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The Major Arcana
Traditional meaning:
Unexpected turn of luck. The beginning of a new cycle in one’s affairs..
Whether good or bad depends on the surrounding cards—although
usually the card means something positive.
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A Feminist Tarot
11
JUSTICE
Sign Libra
Upright: BALANCE
T
his mother-goddess figure sits upon stone to dispense equity, but
not patriarchal justice (whose standard is external action); she does
the delicate balancing that weighs motive, circumstances, internal
qualities. Psychologically the card suggests balance of circumstances,
creative energy investments. On the external plane it refers to the kind of
balance achieved by a small person whose agility and centeredness allow
her to defend herself against a larger enemy.
Justice will be done according to the querent’s integrity and her
understanding of justice. Some legal matter may be settled favorably, or
an internal conflict may find resolution. There is the proper mixture of
elements in a given circumstance, relationship, or enterprise. What seems
32
The Major Arcana
Traditional meaning:
Fairness, reasonableness. The card can be positive or negative depend-
ing on the moral position of the querent. Balance is required.
Reversed: IMBALANCE
33
A Feminist Tarot
12
THE HANGED MAN
Planet Neptune
Upright: SUSPENSION
A
snare has caught up the androgynous figure to arrest him in his
ordinary task. The figure is made powerless, made to surrender,
made to listen to himself until he is set free. The expression on the
figure’s face indicates that the experience is not painful. On the contrary
seeing the world from upside down seems to have produced an ecstatic
mood.
A pause in the querent’s life for evaluation and/or perspective. Deci-
sions should not be made now. Motion and activity should rest.
The Hanged Man also represents the sacrificial victim (the Green
Man, the Winter King) who must die to ensure regeneration. The card
therefore suggests the sacrifice of the male principle and the regeneration,
34
The Major Arcana
Traditional meaning:
A pause in one’s life. A reversal of one’s way of life. Self-surrender to
higher wisdom. A willingness to submit oneself to the dictates of the
inner self. Regeneration, rebirth.
Reversed: SPEED
35
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13
DEATH
Sign Scorpio
A
busy card, packed with a juxtaposition of symbols. Clearly the
figure of Death has the power that there is not standing against
- whether king or commoner, old or young, man or woman, priest
or layperson.
A protest against stagnation. The end of something (often of the per-
sonal view). More often it is the nonviolent death of some status quo
which in turn makes way for new ideas, situations, people, opportunities,
possibilities.
The querent will experience more than the usual change in her daily
life, particularly in the realm of consciousness and values.
36
The Major Arcana
Traditional meaning:
Change, transformation, renewal. Destruction which has a positive
outcome - clearing the way for change. One removes what is outdated
and superfluous from one’s life.
Reversed: INERTIA
also Stagnation
37
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14
TEMPERANCE
Sign Sagittarius
Upright: INTEGRATION
T
he angel pours the stuff of life back and forth from the unconscious
to the conscious. Vibrations and radiant energy temper experience
just as pouring back and forth creates the liquid. Here it is the act, the
motion, of integration that is important. As an individual or as a social entity
it is time to pay attention consciously to certain experiences—to pour them
back and forth so that they may be reenergized, re-understood, given new
meaning.
Time for the querent or one near her to reflect, to integrate, to bring
oneself into balance, to straighten out the priorities of one, life. Harmony
and cooperation are called for or are imminent.
38
The Major Arcana
The card’s natural setting suggests a rare harmony of the human with
earth, trees, water, animals. The querent needs to touch this harmony, be
reminded of it lest her activities scatter her, alienate her from “home.”
The card suggests moderation, economy in the expenditure of energy,
a balance of external activities with inward reflection.
Traditional meaning:
Harmonization, coordination, accommodation, mixing. Successful
union, fusion, bringing together.
Reversed: FRAGMENTATION
39
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15
THE DEVIL
Sign Capricorn
Upright: BONDAGE
T
he chains on both figures are removable at will. They link the
figures to the throne of material immediacy, that is, the experi-
ence of life without the sense of history or association. Sensation
divorced from understanding.
There are parts of the querent or of a social/political situation sur-
rounding her that are not yet understood on any level. They need to be
placed within an historical context and their associations made clear.
The corruption of the early Pan figure (or the satyr) into the evil devil
is a Judeo-Christian embellishment that aids the notion that all of nature
is “less” than mankind and thus in need of taming.
40
The Major Arcana
Traditional meaning:
Self-destructiveness. Bondage to the material. Subordination. Evil,
sadism, weird experience.
41
A Feminist Tarot
16
THE TOWER
Planet Mars
V
iolent social conflict and change; destruction of the old order on a
grand scale. Release from imprisonment in one of the patriarchal
towers as it is demolished. Its fortifications no longer exist; it no
longer defends and keeps surveillance. Its dungeons are emptied. Freedom
is won at a high cost.
The querent may suffer bankruptcy, disruption of career, loss of a
job, of a power position. More likely there will be the overthrow of
some institution or an entire social order.
Violence is triggered by repression or lack of opportunity to reflect.
Unleashed rage occurs without regard for consequences.
42
The Major Arcana
Traditional meaning:
A sudden change of beliefs. Disruption which brings enlightenment.
The destruction of an outdated philosophy. Unforeseen catastrophe.
43
A Feminist Tarot
17
THE STAR
Sign Aquarius
Upright: HEALING
W
aterbearer (here the Great Mother as Isis-Urania) kneels in as-
tral light to stir up the pool of the unconscious. She refreshes
herself with water, drenches the earth with it. She gives sus-
tenance to herself and to materiality itself. She bathes herself as well in
life-giving radiant cosmic energy. She is open to all life-giving forces that
well up from within. A healing that is achieved through dipping into the
unconscious and listening to the inner voices.
A rural setting where stars can be seen. The card suggests a healthy
environment free from pollution and exploitation, psychic or material, the
kind of environment that creates healthy people. The querent may need
to take action to preserve nature or her own health, especially through
44
The Major Arcana
Traditional meaning:
Hope, inspiration, bright prospects. Widening horizons. New life and
vigor. A very favorable card.
45
A Feminist Tarot
18
THE MOON
Sign Pisces
Upright: INTUITION
I
n the light of the moon the querent exposes her catch, her harvest,
from the pool of the unconscious. Primitive and perilous thoughts
emerge from the Water Bearer’s pool—now in the foreground—with
the center of interest focused on the distant mountains of thought, where
the querent may find consciousness and integration. But the towers of
patriarchy are intact, and life is blocked by having to enter through that
gateway. As she rains energy upon them (the Yods), the moon liberates the path.
The powers of psychic endowment—dreams, intuition, hunches—
confront the fears that are embedded in the unconscious, placed there
early on by socialization and enculturation. The querent or one near her
will make a major breakthrough to freedom and integration if she opens
46
The Major Arcana
herself to her psychic powers. Her relationship to her inner powers changes.
She finds support for her unpopular ideas or grows in her own convictions.
There is some freeing of restriction. Socially some liberation or reform.
A revolt of the natural against artificial forces. Some breaking loose
or breaking through of the earth or the environment. Elements that have
been harnessed are released.
Traditional meaning:
Intuition, the power of the instincts. Deception, hidden enemies, dark-
ness. Dread of the irrational.
47
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19
THE SUN
Planet Sun
Upright: REBIRTH
A
big turn in the journey toward the self or toward new forms of
art and intellectual expression. Some union of the conscious with
the unconscious brings about the rebirth of a new whole: a new
person, a new society, or new values. The red banner of action is also the
versatile costume for the theater (the let’s-pretend of artistic transforma-
tion). The child relates to the horse and the sunflowers through psychic
channels. She addresses the world with the same spirit of play and opti-
mism that the Fool exhibits. But she has lived more than the Fool, and the
play is out of a more authentic experience.
For the querent something new and of deep significance in her life. A
successful change testifying to an integration after stormy (revolutionary)
48
The Major Arcana
times. Pain is largely behind her now or can be dealt with more creatively.
Joyful affirmation of existence.
The card can suggest the affirmation of a physical baby or child.
Traditional meaning:
General success. Happiness of all kinds: emotional, material, creative,
social. Glory, abundant joy.
Reversed: CLINGING
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20
JUDGEMENT
Planet Pluto
T
he completion and ending of all judgement as we have experienced
it. Perhaps a shedding of high competitive standards for the self
- the end of self-judgement and comparisons with others as well as
the end to societal definitions or standards for judging or condemning.
Differences (qualities, quantities, actions) rise from the sarcophagi to
be judged “lesser” or “greater” for the last time. Self-definition follows
immediately. The swan song - played by the patriarchal angel from high
above - of the external standards of definition and identification.
The querent experiences an awakening from her own self-hatred, guilt,
or penance. Judgments from others no longer have any meaning. A card
50
The Major Arcana
Traditional meaning:
Judgment, the final determination of something with the suggestion of
something to follow. Resurrection, choice, initiation.
51
A Feminist Tarot
21
THE WORLD
Planet Saturn
Upright: COMPLETION
T
he satisfactory completion of some cycle. An enterprise accom-
plished. The four balanced comers (the archetypical creatures)
and the circular wreath indicate that the end of an era has arrived.
All details are accounted for and nothing extraneous interferes. A short
period of stability before a new movement begins.
The theatrical banner of transformation suggests that now creativity
may take place in earnest. The dancer and her twirling batons are framed
in a complete picture of performance.
Or perhaps the querent can cease playing roles and settle in with a
more consistent identity, and harmonize the different parts of the self.
52
The Major Arcana
Traditional meaning:
Synthesis, crystallization. Perfection, cosmic consciousness. The path of
liberation.
Reversed: INCOMPLETION
53
54
THE
MINOR
ARCANA
55
56
THE SUIT OF
PENTACLES
This suit speaks of the practical ways that the material world functions
for us in our creativity and self-expression. It is the suit of work, of craft
and art, of career, and material possessions. It speaks more of material
than of spiritual opulence, more of material than of spiritual poverty, even
though through the awareness of creativity it allows for the existence of
the psychic; in some places it specifically evokes images of psychic power
(the page and the queen).
For the most part the pentacles speak in terms of possession and earned
goods and services, of the world as the generation(s) immediately before
us has known it, and not so much of what it suggests of art and creativ-
ity and of the liberating function of meaningful work is applicable to any
society. Pentacles can be read as coins, competition, and even war, and also
express the use of cooperation and creativity.
Like the suit of cups, pentacles deal with the querent’s perception and
understanding rather than her judgements and actions (the function of
the suits of swords and wands). The pentacles suggest ways of perceiving
the “real” world and allow for understanding that world without the ne-
cessity of evaluation or judgement.
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A Feminist Tarot
ACE OF PENTACLES
T
he ace represents the source or the center of power, that place where
power’s presence is most intensely felt. The wellspring. In this case
the source is of creative or acquisitive power. An unimpeded flow
of productive energy.
The querent or one near her is assured of her potential to produce ar-
tifacts or to acquire material goods. There is even the strong possibility of
wealth. The path invites her beyond the security of the formal garden into
the landscape where things may be more risky. The querent or one near her
may already have attained material or artistic success.
The card may be a promise only: that work can be meaningful, that
talent is present, that the world will receive the querent’s work.
58
The Pentacles
Traditional meaning:
Perfection, prosperity, attainment, ecstasy. Contentment, security,
appreciation of the good things of life. According to Waite, the most
favorable of the minor arcana.
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A Feminist Tarot
TWO O F P E N T A C L E S
Upright: MANIPULATION
T
he juggler is a real operator, both of human beings and of
material goods/ services. The ability to balance one deal, one person,
against another, usually in a gameful or clever way. An ingenious,
charming individual of high business acumen; the low key but
manipulative salesperson; a circumstance that calls for a delicate balancing
of resources. Perhaps also, in a more positive sense, the ability to juggle
simultaneously several projects or to work toward several goals at once.
An individual who works alone trusting no one. The figure could become
the king of pentacles.
Not an evil person, but one who has learned well the rules of the game
and lives by the charming use of people. The card may represent the
60
The Pentacles
querent or one near her, or parts of the querent. The card also suggests a
state of vacillation.
Travel, messages, commerce are hinted at by the ships. The juggler has
far reaching enterprises.
Traditional meaning:
Knowledgeable manipulation of the rules of life. The ability to juggle
two situations at the same time. Fun and recreation.
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A Feminist Tarot
THREE OF PENTACLES
M
arketing some intellectual or creative skill to an established
institution as suggested by the artisan displaying her work for
the approval of church officials. The craftsperson, having
completed some artwork or finished her technical/intellectual/artistic
training now puts herself out for approval to those who may buy her skills.
Possible feelings of creative prostitution, or simply concern about the
reception of one’s work and the judgement of the external world.
Deep questions of integrity versus political expedience attend this card;
the danger is that need might force capitulation to or compromise with an
order that holds down people with differences from the mainstream.
The querent or someone close to her is called to sell her wares; she
probably will do it and pay a price for it.
62
The Pentacles
Traditional meaning:
Praise or appreciation from someone already established in one’s area of
work. Or, establishment approval and critical praise.
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A Feminist Tarot
FOUR OF PENTACLES
Upright: MISERLINESS
T
he miser, the person who has made moderate material or artistic
gains, clings to her possessions without sharing. Social amne-
sia. Forgetting the group, particularly family or cultural ties.
Individualism. The figure clings to all her gains; to people, too, making
them her possessions and sharing very little of money or emotion.
May be material or elite artistry or hoarded technical knowledge on
the querent’s part or on the part of one near her.
The attempt to achieve power through the acquisition of goods and
wealth without regard to changes needed in the system. The consumer
mentality. Looking for security by piling up possessions, or, hanging onto
what has provided security in the past-people, values, circumstances.
64
The Pentacles
Traditional meaning:
A miserly, ungenerous character. Cleaving to that which one has.
Material gain, inheritance.
Reversed: EXTRAVAGANCE
Generosity to a fault. Probably misuse of money, possessions, knowl-
edge, gifts, skills. The spendthrift with all resources, often giving them
when they are not asked for or needed-sometimes when they are not
wanted.
A tendency to try to impress people with material possessions; the
attempt to buy respect and status with large expenditures. Perhaps the
querent or one near her shows off her power or her goods in the face of
those that she has risen above.
The querent may too readily give her energy and attention to other
people, thus spreading herself too thin.
Traditional reversed meaning:
The spendthrift. Loss or setbacks in the material sphere.
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FIVE OF PENTACLES
Upright: POVERTY
P
hysical deprivation. Hunger. Disease. Defeat. Being left out in the
cold. Or, the fear of these things. The consequences of lack of money.
The querent or one near her may suffer a setback in money. Or if
the querent is inside looking out, some recognition of poverty may change
her life.
On the creative level the refusal of institutions to take seriously the
querent’s abilities. Rejection of her work or her manner of self-expression.
Only by the standards of the institutions themselves are skills presently
judged-and too often found lacking.
Also the possibility that the querent is voluntarily giving up something of
value-voluntarily experiencing hardship to break through to something new.
66
The Pentacles
Traditional meaning:
Unemployment, destitution, severe material adversity.
Reversed: ALTERNATIVES
The figures in the snow may find others similarly victims. Enough
shared pain can become revolutionary rage. Important bonds may be
forged with those sharing the same plight. There are alternatives to be
found. Seen in this way, the reversed card provides a connection to the suit
of wands, the suit that suggests revolutionary political action.
Rejection of the forces that create poverty. Action at a grass-roots level
to form coalitions. A time for political organizing or alternative structures.
New interest in political matters on the querent’s part. Self-education into
consciousness. Focusing rage into action. The querent’s survival is tempo-
rarily assured.
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A Feminist Tarot
SIX OF PENTACLES
Upright: CONDESCENSION
also Philanthropy
T
he successful person on the way up commercially, in moderate
or comfortable circumstances. Condescension on her part toward
those who are still where she once was.
The querent or someone near her is in danger of forgetting her roots,
of denying her culture or upbringing. She is trying to forget her obligation
to overthrow the system. She gives charity to those who remind her of
that obligation. Tokenism. A bending of the system to keep the lid on
discontent by giving the bare necessities of survival.
The querent or one influencing her is probably “fair” and may believe
herself to be a reformist. But though she may once have had the commitment
to make things better for people like herself, she is now deeply bought by
the system.
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The Pentacles
The querent may be in the role of beggar for favors. She may be called
upon to swallow her distaste of the role and receive help from someone
offering to help.
More positively, the querent gives away or shares something in which
she is well-endowed-energy, knowledge, skills.
Traditional meaning:
Charity, sympathy, sharing with others. You will get what you deserve.
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SEVEN OF PENTACLES
A
period of self-evaluation of one’s productivity. The figure has
planted and it looks like there is to be a good crop but the harvest
is not yet ready. Some doubt exists about the possibility of market-
ing the crop. It seems much work for little gain. Sheer survival may be at
stake: where to find a job, how to get trained for productive work.
A person attempting to express work and the creative urge in some
way close to the earth or out of some natural or primary (not intermedi-
ary) source. Not an interpreter but a creator, close to raw materials in
making something. Yet dependent for a livelihood on productivity. Hence
the anxiety and concern.
The possibility that productive efforts made in the past may be wasted
by inaction in the present; or that productive efforts in the past are yield-
ing results too slowly. In both cases, the anxiety is misplaced.
70
The Pentacles
Traditional meaning:
Money worries, specifically about a loan. Speculations that don’t pay
off. Pause during the growth of an enterprise.
Reversed: PROCESS-MANIA
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EIGHT OF PENTACLES
Upright: APPRENTICESHIP
A
time of learning, practicing, getting skills ready for the world. Not
yet an artisan. Growing, listening to others, taking suggestions,
modelling after others with only occasional excursions into one’s
own creativity. Learning the craft; hands-on experience. Technical accom-
plishment; mastering the tools of a trade. Intellectual, artistic, psychic,
psychological, political, physical or business powers are being developed.
Concentrating on the development of one’s craft or work.
There is the suggestion that the querent or one associated with her
may be a person who never masters a trade perhaps because of lack of tal-
ent in that area, perhaps because the economic obstacles are too great.
Traditional meaning:
Skill in work (perhaps in the preparatory stage). Using skills in a way
which is satisfactory and useful. A good card for anyone with talent.
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The Pentacles
Reversed: MEANINGLESSNESS
also Aimlessness
Lack of desire to learn or loss of kinship with one’s creative powers.
What-do-I-do-with-my-life? Perhaps existential angst with no drive to
achieve marketable or even self-fulfilling skills. May signify meaningless
work. Drudgery. Alienation from creativity, even forced labor.
The querent or one near feels inertia, lack of motivation to work (or
to get out of meaningless work). Perhaps despair at the prospect of work
within the present culture’s values.
The card sometimes suggests the person with the sure-fire project that
never materializes.
Traditional reversed meaning:
Misuse, dishonest use of skill. Misplaced vanity about one’s work. Fail-
ing in one’s work ambitions.
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NINE OF PENTACLES
C
reativity practiced in solitude, without others but with animals
or other growing things; perhaps the desire for such solitude and
privilege. No necessary involvement in the commercial nexus
because the products of labor are themselves sustenance, or because
circumstances are comfortable enough without money having to be
an issue. Creations that do not necessarily go on the common market
but that are enjoyed by a limited number of people. The Venus symbols
suggest that she lives and is sustained by other women.
The querent or someone close to her is developing a special product/
crop under special conditions. Both the grapes and the hooded falcon
suggest the negative aspects of creativity fostered by privilege: the grapes
hint at self-indulgence, the falcon of those who are exploited in order to
provide privilege for the few.
74
The Pentacles
Traditional meaning:
Material well-being. Solitary enjoyment of the good things in life
(meaning without dependence on men?). Love of nature; success in
growing things.
Reversed: COMMERCIALIZATION
Work in the Marketplace
Co-option of a product or of an entire culture; commercialization of
something precious, particularly one’s personal rituals or ethnic conven-
tions. Something better kept at low visibility among a few people is put on
the market for material livelihood.
There is little or no opportunity for the solitary cultivation of creative
powers. Lack of material resources make such a way of life impossible. A
barrier to private self-expression and a forcing of it into a public sphere.
Relinquishing the creative in order to survive.
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A Feminist Tarot
TEN OF PENTACLES
T
he established and privileged patriarchal family carrying on its
prosperity and its pride in tradition. The coat of arms and the
dogs testify to the comfort of living in the manner approved of
and supported by present social and economic structures. But not just
an upper class family. It may be an extended family or social unit whose
values claim the querent’s loyalty.
Moderate material wealth. Intense training of children both morally
and practically in how to handle money. Perhaps an inheritance or some
positive reaching out from the querent’s family or from a family that the
querent feels she could belong to.
Suggestion that the querent or one near could be restricted or benefited by
family ties, family security, family comfort, depending on surrounding cards.
76
The Pentacles
Traditional meaning:
Inheritance. Family wealth. Family affairs.
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PRINCESS OF PENTACLES
I
ntellect, creativity, financial acumen being discovered or trained. The
natural setting and the floating pentacle suggest that psychic powers
are also developing; in this case they are connected with work and
career, for example following the intuition in financial speculation. The
card thus becomes a connecting one to the suit of cups.
Through lots of work-diligent scholarship, personal discipline,
responsible analysis, the querent or someone close achieves entry
into the economic world.
Or perhaps powers of accomplishment not yet used or even developed.
Particularly psychic powers. A challenge to develop such powers.
Traditional meaning:
Good management, prudence, conscientiousness, diligence. A message
of good news about a money matter.
78
The Pentacles
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PRINCE OF PENTACLES
Upright: PRACTICALITY
T
he mercenary soldier who deliberately extends her skills or labor
for a price and who limits her responsibility to her paycheck’s
requirements. There is no personal investment in or identification
with or loyalty to the enterprise of the employer but rather a practical trade
agreement to sell work for money. Important pleasures come after hard
labor-drinking, socializing, hanging out. She earns her way (secretary,
manual laborer, domestic worker, maybe even management) and is often
impatient with those who don’t (the lazy, the “freeriders” on welfare).
The querent or one near her is not associated with political struggle
but rather lives in a personal equilibrium with the system, even though
that system does not function in her own best interests.
Also externalizing one’s abilities, one’s productive powers.
80
The Pentacles
Traditional meaning:
A methodical, patient, responsible laborer who is the upholder of tradi-
tional values. Unimaginative, she usually depends on established authority
rather than exercising her own judgement. “He rides a slow, enduring,
heavy horse to which his own aspect corresponds.” (Waite)
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A Feminist Tarot
KING OF PENTACLES
A
t the pinnacle of material power, ownership of vast properties. The
capitalist. The corporate businessman or the government worker
who has made the right corporate connections. He has fought his
way up through the white fraternal system.
Perhaps sensual power as well as financial and even the hint of dissipation
in the grapes that hang so abundantly about him. There is no questioning
of the system on his part. Ease and charity. He will assure us that he helps
his friends, that his wealth is used in beneficial ways, that anyone could
have done what he did if only they had the perseverance.
Not so much a fanatic on law and order as the full-fledged patriarch.
He does not have to be since he is totally secure. He invests. He proliferates
his power and his pleasure.
82
The Pentacles
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QUEEN OF PENTACLES
Upright: PHYSICALITY
T
he woman who has made it materially by the use of her physical
body, perhaps in sports or dance but more likely in modeling,
perhaps in prostitution. She might also be the ordinary well-off
housewife who has been what she was told to be: beautiful, clever consort
to her husband and bearer of his children. If so, then she has not been
distanced from the natural elements that assure her a level of integration.
She has probably made of her home a remarkable oasis of genuine love
in a desert of alienated materiality. To the extent that she uses her body
as “ground” for her accomplishments and creativity, she unites body and
spirit, thus becoming a kind of bridge to the suit of cups.
The querent or one near has capitalized on those characteristics that
define her as a woman: beauty, passion, even fertility. She has had a good
relationship to her physical body and the use of it in self-expression,
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The Pentacles
personal achievement and career. Her creations have been physical, love-
making, children, sensual pleasure or physical comfort.
Traditional meaning:
The Empress, the earth mother, in her lesser arcana manifestation. A
woman lavish with her affections. Wealthy, but with a generous and
responsible attitude toward her money. Prosperity, abundance.
85
86
THE SUIT OF
SWORDS
In a positive sense the suit suggests the usefulness of logic and clarity,
the virtue of clean severing of confused elements into separate entities so that
each can be assessed in order and in relation to other parts; feminist strategy
requires the acknowledgement of these sword-like qualities and affirms the
proper use of reason.
Patriarchy, however, has made too much of reason, enthroning it above
other faculties (feeling, intuition, sensation). This leads to a mindset that
is destructive of life and the biosphere: competition, war, exploitation,
power-over relationships, dependency, possessiveness, elitism, hierarchies,
human chauvinism. It is the suit of the warrior, the suit of the dominant
social orders, most exaggerated in Western Europe and the United States
where it has been made to seem more palatable-even natural-through the
virtues of capitalism and the glories of romance. But it represents patriarchy
in any form, including the socialist systems where big brother has replaced
big daddy. It broadly represents men, their rational power, their scientific
method, and their strict socialization into the myth of their own superiority.
In this suit are all the vertical societal structures, the mystifications
of the Judeo-Christian heritage, the institutions of oppression of all
women, people of color and physically different people, and the mindset
of power over others. More often than not swords must be read as
aggression, fragmentation, strife, hatred, war, misfortune, disaster.
Like the suit of wands, swords have to do with the querent’s judgements
and actions rather than with perceptions and understandings (the functions
of pentacles and cups). Swords offer reason as the discriminating faculty,
the faculty of judgement. On the basis of that faculty swords suggest
actions that tend to support the status quo, the patriarchal system. More
often than not, the suit represents the misuse of reason rather than its best
application.
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ACE OF SWORDS
T
he hand from the cloud extends the gift of patriarchal values and
the promise of success in terms of those values if the querent will
play by the established rules. The ability to win at traditional games
(verbal or computative) is assured. Triumph, power, popularity, fame, con-
quest, ego-fulfillment-this is the card of the potential leader, champion,
hero provided the querent or one near her is willing to perform.
Within the structure of patriarchal values and institutions the querent’s
ambitions will be realized despite seemingly overwhelming odds. The card
may mark the birth of something heroic in the temperament through this
touching of the source of social power. The querent may achieve some
intellectual excellence or she may experience a personal empowerment, a
sense of inner strength which will be externalized in worldly success.
88
The Swords
Traditional meaning:
Power and justice which maintain world order. Success, strength, force.
All enterprises will succeed. Excessive degree in everything.
89
A Feminist Tarot
TWO OF SWORDS
T
he figure is hoodwinked in some way by the patriarchy and pledged
to it by her bearing of its arms. She is remarkably balanced for one
blindfolded-so balanced in fact that she may not move unless she
begins to understand her position. Her back is to the ocean and moon so
that even if her eyes were open she would not see the real sources of her
strength.
The querent or one near her has accepted the rules, the patterns of law
and order, and she refuses (through strong conditioning) to believe she is
unhappy or in any way oppressed. She closes off all but her own mind,
refusing even to accept sense data close at hand. Perhaps she believes that
mental clarity alone without the chaos of emotions is the goal of life. Or,
perhaps she is locked into a state of defensiveness which entails blocking
out the external world, as well as closing off her own unconscious.
90
The Swords
Traditional meaning:
Balanced force, stalemate. Tension in a relationship. Peace restored, yet
tension remaining. Temporary amnesty.
91
A Feminist Tarot
THREE OF SWORDS
Upright: ROMANCE
also Emotional Intensity
R
omantic love and violence: the patriarchy’s perpetual paradox.
Genuine love and the power-over mindset cannot coexist. Hence
the necessity for the death of love at the hands of duty or honor or
patriotism or Christ or law or civilization. The best the patriarchy can do
is make such a death noble and rhapsodize about the tragic pain of those
involved.
The card demonstrates the social order’s attitude toward love: either
its excitement fades into mediocrity (is it then still “true love”?), or its
exclusive existence (between two only, please) is invaded by a third party,
thus necessitating love’s tragic death.
The querent or one near her is in love. Exotic highs. Thrills and sheer
delight. Sexual attraction. The romantic mode. All the Hollywood
92
The Swords
Reversed: NO ROMANCE
also Emotional Tedium
A denial of romance for an attempt to see a relationship more hon-
estly. Less of excitement and adventure and more of the real work on rela-
tionships, both interpersonal and in task-oriented situations.
Perhaps a longing for excitement, a missing of intensity that once was
a part of one’s life: a fear of dullness or boredom that asks the question,
“What price honesty?”
A relationship involving the querent falters because sexual desire is
subdued or participants feel “dull.”
93
A Feminist Tarot
FOUR OF SWORDS
R
etirement, someone being moved aside, particularly someone who
is a threat to the situation or structure. Being put out to pasture,
or, in an indirect way, deprived of power. Perhaps incarceration or
confinement to a mental institution “for one’s own good.” Manipulation
of someone with unacceptable views into a position where she can no
longer do harm.
The querent or someone near her has become a threat on some level.
She has thus been kicked upstairs to a less powerful position, or retired, or
relieved of duties. Transfer, perhaps, to another area.
A de-powering of the person by subtle and ostensibly supportive
means. Release from the pressures of the job within the system.
Possibly a laying to rest of the powers of reason and judgement. A
letting go of some long held rational position. A voluntary, perhaps
94
The Swords
Traditional meaning:
Retreat, exile, solitude, repose. Rest after illness.
95
A Feminist Tarot
FIVE OF SWORDS
T
here has been some contest within the system, a debate, a
negotiation, even a physical battle, and some members of the
patriarchy have been beaten at their own game. One perhaps new
to the system has achieved some power within it. The main figure has
taken a first step toward power. She has won the swords.
The card may mean the movement into some power slot of a person
more dedicated to personal ends than to revolution. An opportunist may
have moved up a notch. Some empty victory over another because of the
system’s hierarchical structure and competitive attitudes.
Querent should be careful not to use unethical tactics, or should be on
guard against such tactics being used by others.
96
The Swords
97
A Feminist Tarot
SIX OF SWORDS
R
etreat from temporary failure. Some attempt to change patriarchal
structures or individuals has fallen into futility. The figure takes
the child (herself ) to a place of rest, having paid some boatman
too high a price so she can gain quiet.
Drawing back from some venture perhaps to catch one’s breath, to
retrench, or remake strategy. Political disappointment. A possible trip,
taking the querent away from the source of travail.
Reason and justice may have been defeated by mob power or fanaticism.
Reason and clarity must retreat.
Responsibility for someone or some enterprise weaker than the
querent. Or the querent is herself the ferry person, serving as some
means of transport (a facilitator, an ear, a temporary means of escape) for
another or others.
98
The Swords
Traditional meaning:
Success after anxiety. A journey away from trouble. Troubles not
completely over, but some obstacle has been removed allowing further
progress.
Reversed: ENDURANCE
99
A Feminist Tarot
SEVEN OF SWORDS
Upright: RIP-OFF
also Stealing the Weapons of the Enemy
T
he harlequin-like figure (thief, knave, hustler) has successfully
stolen some weapons-but not all-from the patriarchy’s battle camp
(a Xerox machine?) and is appropriating them for herself and
others of like mind. Under the very eyes of the enemy she has tiptoed
from the tents with the useful items.
Deception. Fraud and roguery in service of the revolution. Cleverness.
Stealth. Creative undermining. Executed, however, in a very individualistic
way without support from others and, hence, dangerous. The querent or
one near her is successful in such deception, or may be called on to use
such tactics.
Or, possible sense of betrayal on querent’s part. Someone she trusted
worked against her, ripping off her ideas, resources, or emotions.
100
The Swords
Traditional meaning:
New schemes, design, attempt. Unstable effort. A card that suggests
caution and vigilance.
101
A Feminist Tarot
EIGHT OF SWORDS
Upright: IMPRISONMENT
T
he card most literally addressing the matter of violence against
women. The querent or one near her must deal with rape, pornog-
raphy, or some physical abuse of herself or other women.
The bound woman is abandoned to the rising tide for crimes against
some established order-not being a proper woman; a lesbian, a witch.
Punishment is either the direct consequence of her actions, or simply a
way of making her an example.
It is significant that she is alone, isolated from others. Since she is
blindfolded she may not know her fate. She waits almost passively,
perhaps still trusting some unworthy agent. The swords, if she but
explored their presence, could cut her bonds and give her freedom.
Perhaps a refusal to use patriarchal methods (to cut with the swords).
Perhaps even a refusal to reason, to verbalize, or to assess a situation
102
The Swords
Reversed: REPRIEVE
Resistance to condemnation, fighting against it. Freedom from imprison-
ment. Escape from passivity and death by ingenuity and determination.
Some individual action taken against the institutions that physically
abuse women.
The drive to self-preservation combines with cool-headedness to allow the
querent or one associated to sidestep a perilous situation. A desperate
embrace of patriarchal methods, perhaps even violence, for one’s own survival.
Perhaps some power-that-is has her released at the last moment or she
is rescued by friends.
103
A Feminist Tarot
NINE OF SWORDS
Upright: FEAR
T
he woman awakes in despair from nightmares, perhaps an
increasingly common occurrence. She is horrified at and hides
her eyes from-the realization of the dangers of her life: the
consequences of her current involvements, her powerlessness, her
commitments, her overextension, her allegiance to an exploitative system.
Threats of death, judgement, or pain hang over her head. There is no rest
from the dangers, not even in dreams.
Perhaps the death, failure, or depowering of someone close or significant.
Perhaps guilt.
Some disruption in the querent’s life because of the constant or
sudden realization of menace. Someone or some agency is opposed to her
or seeking her out with malice. There is an invasion of her dreams; fears
of insanity.
104
The Swords
Traditional meaning:
Suffering, oppression, illness, pain. Utter desolation and despair. Death
of someone close to the querent. A card of bad omen.
105
A Feminist Tarot
TEN OF SWORDS
T
here has been a ritual killing and a body has been left without
burial rites. A big thing has been made of the killing as if the
person were some symbols sacrifice or maybe a scapegoat-offered
up by the patriarchy or to it in place of others.
The querent or someone close to her may be sacrificed without her
consent; or she may be called on to sacrifice some part of herself “for the
sake of the cause” or for “good cause.” “The end justifies the means” is the
rationale undergirding this card.
Also, some suggestion of logic or the discursive mode as a killer: “Anal-
ysis presupposes a corpse,” or, to break down or tear apart requires the
death of something non-rational. The querent or one near her refuses to
recognize the dangers of repressing the creative for the sake of the analytic.
106
The Swords
Or the card could also signify the end of a delusion, release from some
obsession.
The querent may need to deal with death.
Traditional meaning:
Ruin, desolation, disruption of one’s life. Trouble notwithstanding ma-
terial security. This card represents the bottom of the cycle of misfor-
tune, things can only improve. Not a card of violent death.
Reversed: NONVIOLENCE
also Recovery
Refusal to justify violence as a means to some desired end. Violent acts
make violent people, and even failure is better.
The querent or one near her refuses to participate in violent action even
though that action seems to be for her own or other women’s safety. She
thereby loses peer group support, political clout, or interpersonal power.
Perhaps wholistic and non-rational avenues of discrimination are
tapped and energies are released to balance the threat of fragmented
rationality or tunnel vision.
107
A Feminist Tarot
PRINCESS OF SWORDS
or Page of Swords
A
young person practices wielding the power of the dominant
culture. Training in control.
This figure pursues the American Dream. She may be
an ardent Christian, A Rainbow Girl, a Mason, DAR member, Girl’s State
Governor, finding self-expression always within the confines of the value
system she has been trained within. The distinct impression of this young
person is that she will not change substantially; life seems too satisfying to
want an alteration of the system.
She could also be the co-opted feminist-the a-bigger-piece-of-the-pie-
for-me feminist. She is in danger of alienating herself from others and
from her own feelings.
She is somehow associated with the querent or is alive within the
querent.
108
The Swords
109
A Feminist Tarot
PRINCE OF SWORDS
or Knight of Swords
T
he established order responds in a hasty and violent way to some
action on the part of the people or someone disempowered. May
be in heavy police or military action repressing minority elements.
An unnecessary rash display of strength, paranoia, vengeance. (Kent State,
massacre of the SLA.)
A close relative of the braggart soldier, rattling swords and making
bold threats. The hasty action may actually be against her/his better judgment,
but necessary in order to fulfill her/his boasts.
The querent may herself be the knight responding hastily to some
enraging circumstance-not necessarily political. The danger is great that
she may behave in this way since women and other non dominant groups
have not until recently been able to emulate white knights dashing across
110
The Swords
open country on missions of grave import. She is likely to jump too quickly to
avenge another, or to protect what is dealt to her. Thoughtless action, no
matter what the motivation, has dangerous consequences.
Traditional meaning:
Tyranny over the weaker. A person always ready to start a fight. Prone to
look to violence for solutions. Fierce in action, but little staying power.
111
A Feminist Tarot
KING OF SWORDS
T
he conservative man, supporter of law and order, control, and
retribution. No respecter of differences, he is probably white
supremacist, Christian moralist, homophobic, misogynist-and
would deny only the latter. Not necessarily a wealthy financier or other-
wise powerful man, but a true believer in the superiority of patriarchal
values. He may well be in the police or legal profession, dispensing justice,
or in the legislature making righteous laws.
On an intellectual level, the hyperrationalist who dismisses all
phenomena which cannot be scientifically validated in the manner of
Bishop Berkeley who said, “in the dark if I can’t see you, you can’t be you.”
The card suggests a person in the querent’s life; but the patriarchal
characteristics may be a part of the querent herself-she may be overly rigid
or judgemental.
112
The Swords
Traditional meaning:
This card is the minor arcana equivalent of The Emperor. It stands for
the law of the dominant patriarchal order. Power, strength, superiority,
authority. An experienced, controlled, commanding man of highly
analytical intelligence. The advocate of modernity at the expense of
tradition.
113
A Feminist Tarot
QUEEN OF SWORDS
T
he patriarchy’s woman, perhaps even ruling class. One who believes
in individual power and the virtues of patriarchal tools. Perhaps
an academic woman whose mastering of male models and process
threatens to cut her off from other parts of herself.
The male-identified woman who has made it in the system or who is
the perfect housewife/mother/grandmother. She supports the system with
as much vigor as any man, has never felt oppressed and believes women’s
liberation is an excuse for shrill, pushy women to complain instead of
picking themselves up by their bootstraps and making something of
themselves.
“Her face is chastened through suffering”—perhaps through repressed
anger, and through the conviction that “you have to be tough to survive.”
114
The Swords
She may have a man’s job, and may despise women-herself included—
although, paradoxically, she could be a closet lesbian.
Somehow she touches the querent’s life or is a part of the querent’s self.
She is dangerous.
Traditional meaning:
A woman who suffered loss and privation. Quick-witted, perceptive,
and subtle. May signify mourning, absence.
115
116
THE SUIT OF CUPS
Water, intuition, the unconscious, feeling and emotion. The suit of the self.
This suit speaks of the relationship to the self, to the parts of the self and
to others in interpersonal contacts. It is the area of psychological growth, of the
internal quest for integrity. That integrity, bound up as it is with feminist values,
rejects the exploitation of any physical difference (race, sex, or bodily ability).
It affirms those qualities of traditionally secondary importance—qualities associated
with women and, by extension, other nondominant groups: emotionality, the
unconscious, the occult, intuition, bodiness. Hence the suit is associated with the
priestess. It calls for an integration of these qualities with the more traditionally
acceptable characteristics (masculine, white, able-bodied): mind, consciousness,
energy and strength.
The journey suggested by the cups is to authentic relationships where whole
persons interact with as few power games as possible. It is a journey away from
the half-persons who have to depend on each other for personal fulfillment (as
in the heterosexual model that all of us are still slave to on some level or in some
degree).
Cups are vessels of individual feelings, of psychic energy, of intuitive or un-
conscious material, particularly as women seek their own identity and happiness.
It suggests the necessity to intrapersonal confrontation with deeply-embedded
attitudes and the struggle that persists between whatever is “natural” and that
which is “conditioned” in the female psyche. It is the suit of self-knowing.
Like the suit of pentacles, cups have to do with perception and understand-
ing more than with judgements and actions (the functions of swords and wands).
The cups suggest ways of perceiving psychic and psychological realities; they open
ways for the understanding of such realities without the necessity of evaluations
or judgements.
117
A Feminist Tarot
ACE OF CUPS
T
he promise of self-fulfillment. The extended hand holds the
cup that runs over back into the waters of the unconscious and
intuitive knowledge. The offering to oneself of her emotionality and
sensuality (the five streams) and of her own pleasure in creativity and
self-expression.
The offering to women of what already belongs to them but which
is frequently unclaimed. The vision of the individuated self, there for the
taking, and the suggestion of collective potential as well-the return of the
individuated streams or drops of water to the larger body. The stirrings of
social consciousness through interpersonal relations.
Beauty, pleasure, self-love relationship. The vision of what with work
the querent could achieve. The dream of homecoming to the self. Over-
flowing with good feelings.
118
The Cups
For the querent a promise of creativity and inspiration which will re-
sult from openness to and close rapport with the subconscious mind.
Traditional meaning:
Fulfillment, fullness, abundance, happiness, contentment. Productivity,
inspiration, creativity. A very good card.
119
A Feminist Tarot
TWO OF CUPS
T
he vow to harmonize and balance in oneself the societally-defined
“feminine” and “masculine” elements. Not yet a union of these
elements, but the recognition of their existence as the foundation
of all power dynamics; a suggestion of hope that they might be reunited.
Often the vows of affection with a loved one. And the corollary: that
projections laid upon each other will be called home, that the relationship
will grow to the extent that unbalanced qualities and power dynamics are
named, struggled with and dissipated.
The querent or one near her is committed to or is about to be com-
mitted to exploring personal habits of manipulation or defensiveness
particularly as these habits affect friends, lovers. Perhaps the interpersonal
struggle of a racially mixed couple or of two persons of different class
backgrounds, different physical capabilities, different sexual orientations.
120
The Cups
This card can also represent the feminist woman who struggles to
achieve a non-repressive and non-oppressive relationship with a man; or it
could simply signify a profoundly committed love between two people.
Traditional meaning:
Harmony of the male and female principles. Co-operation, mutual
understanding. Love, affection, friendship.
Traditional meaning:
Harmony of the male and female principles. Co-operation, mutual un-
derstanding. Love, affection, friendship.
121
A Feminist Tarot
THREE OF CUPS
A
celebratory atmosphere like the first blush of sisterhood suggested
in the Four of Wands. Here, however, the mood has deeper mean-
ing, less frivolity; here are the deeper significance of intimate
personal relationships interwoven with more than one other person. There
is a toast to struggle together on issues intricately related to each one’s
personal growth far more than the traditional one-to-one pledging or the
general toasting to all women. A celebration of extended love relations or
of a potentially collective union founded on love, including physical love
and work. Perhaps a commitment to be a family, to involve children, older
women. Just a step away from concerted social or political action.
The querent or one close celebrates a joint venture, conceived in love.
Perhaps she specifically denies patriarchal monogamy or moves away from
122
The Cups
123
A Feminist Tarot
FOUR OF CUPS
Upright: REFLECTION
also Reevaluation
A
n alienated or distanced phase. Deliberate withdrawal and refusal
to participate in relations or even in ordinary day-to-day func-
tions. A surfeit of people or disgust and disappointment at failure
of communication in relationships. Self-imposed emotional and personal
isolation; obliviousness to others. Boredom with the self.
The querent or one close is in a period of re-assessment, stocktaking,
searching for new values. She may distrust all that has gone before. She
contemplates what may come. An immobilization that comes from a
profound sense of discontent with her life.
A deliberate withdrawal from others to process previous input and to
clear the circuits. Self-touch or grounding.
124
The Cups
Traditional meaning:
Ennui, surfeit, the salt hath lost its savor. Dissatisfaction with existing
values. A once passionate relationship loses its flavor.
Reversed: EXTROVERSION
125
A Feminist Tarot
FIVE OF CUPS
Upright: DESPAIR
also Disillusionment
A
desolate and despairing place in the emotional odyssey. Wrapped
in a cloak of mourning the figure contemplates the three overturned
cups as the wine (or blood?) seeps into the ground.
Disappointment. Relationship seems impossible-either paired
relationships, friendships, or work relations. All seems transient. Broken
trust, misunderstanding.
The querent may feel hurt by others or despairing at what seems to
be her own capacity to destroy. Self-denigration. Some sense of being
controlled by internal destructive forces perhaps too deep to understand.
The querent does not dare reach out to the remaining cups in case these
may also be lost.
A sense of futility and lack of clarity. The river of the unconscious
126
The Cups
reminds us that we are in its power and act very seldom out of conscious
motives.
The querent focuses on the bleakness of the past, failing to see the
things of value that remain in the present.
Traditional meaning:
A sense of loss, yet with a sense that all is not hopeless. Alternatives
remain to be explored. Relationship without real love.
127
A Feminist Tarot
SIX OF CUPS
Upright: CHILDHOOD
also Strength from the Past
A
journey back to childhood and early home circumstances;
memories and fantasies reconstruct significant occasions. A
place of early memories which one presently feels a need to
visit. A redemption of the child and re-ignition of the spark of play,
the spirit of fun.
Some understanding of present behavior through a link to the past.
For once the cups are full. The card thus suggests that there is a fullness, a
wholeness in childhood that the querent seeks or is discovering.
Perhaps the querent needs to deal with her present relationships to
children and with the things that are real to children. The place of children
in the querent’s life is in question. Or she is somehow responsible for
children. A possible extension of the home/family scene is suggested: the
128
The Cups
129
A Feminist Tarot
SEVEN OF CUPS
Upright: MEGALOMANIA
also Mystical Vision
A
n excessive and unrealistic obsession with personal wealth, fame,
and/or power and thus a card that suggests the energy of the suits of
swords and pentacles. The castle, the jewels, the wreath of victory,
the dragon (of temptation), the serpent, the head of the blonde woman,
and the covered figure of the querent’s own angel -all are figures of privi-
lege and power and fantasies of personal aggrandizement and acquisition.
The card is also a warning against the easy personal solution; the
dangers of “blissing out” through spiritual search that is unconnected to
social realities. Extremes of the individual quest, the danger of personal
fulfillment as an end in itself.
The querent or one near her may be in danger of becoming a self-
styled messiah, guru or spiritual leader; or she may be under the influence
130
The Cups
Reversed: LETTING GO
131
A Feminist Tarot
EIGHT OF CUPS
Upright: MOVING ON
also Rejection of the Present
A
journey that takes us over the river of the unconscious to we know
not where. Continuing, though there is risk. Moving forward into
the self in spite of full cups in the external world.
The querent or someone close turns away from individualistic visions
and seeks authenticity. She goes deeper, confronting more fears, dropping
more defenses, becoming more vulnerable. Still alone, still disillusioned,
she is at that point in the journey to the self where she knows the process
to be irrevocable. There is no place to go but on; there is no one to accompany
us but the moon.
The querent may be breaking with ideas, values or relationships which
have outlived their relevance. She journeys to a different and deeper
place.
132
The Cups
Reversed: GIVING UP
also Mired in the Present
A yielding to despair. Self-destructive acts. Perhaps a turn to super-
ficial pleasures and occupation of the senses in a flight from the self.
Alcoholism or excessive indulgence in some similar drug is suggested.
Sheer survival may be in question; external conditions are extreme;
one crisis after another; the querent or one near her may be exhausted,
may not wish to carry on, may feel unable to cope, may find no real
sustenance in herself. The card reversed may be a cry for help. The
querent or one near yields to the existing conditions of her life even
though she senses a need for progression and change.
An unwillingness to risk or a fatigue that prevents risking.
133
A Feminist Tarot
NINE OF CUPS
Upright: SELF-SATISFACTION
also Contentment
A
fulfillment of wishes, desires. Physical and psychological well-being
The smiling figure sits before nine cups, filled not with material
goods but with something intangible, like energy. She seems well-filled
with the contents; she may be hosting some celebration to come.
The querent or one near her feels a strong sense of her own integ-
rity. The danger is that she feels “right” (or politically correct) without
acknowledging that she may again be confused or in pain or that another
may be “right” as well. Her smugness may limit her.
The querent is at the point of conscious self-love; a potential relation-
ship that is free of games seems possible now. Inner security.
134
The Cups
Traditional meaning:
Circumstances which facilitate satisfaction, well-being, contentment.
Success in everything: relationships, work, creativity. Eden Gray sees
this as the wish card, i.e., the querent will get her wish if it turns up in
the spread.
135
A Feminist Tarot
TEN OF CUPS
R
ealization of the union of the “feminine” and “masculine” principles
sought in the Two of Cups, and the redemption of childhood as well
as one’s personal history.
The querent’s relations with children have reached a new high;
relations with old people (with other old people?) may have done the
same. She hails the river of unconsciousness from which discoveries will
continue to come. There is a recognition of the house—the self in which
the querent will live, a sense of at last being “at home.”
A plateau of growth for the querent. Some conflict is resolved, some
tension released, some answer discovered. Differences seem to enrich rather
than to cause conflict. Interpersonal relations feel solid, ready to grow into
new commitments.
136
The Cups
The card suggests that social or political action is possible only when
self-awareness and personal integration are achieved.
Traditional meaning:
Happy family life. Great friendship. Lasting happiness in an enduring
relationship.
137
A Feminist Tarot
PRINCESS OF CUPS
or Page of Cups
Upright: DISCOVERY
also Imagination
T
he fish, inhabitant of the ocean, arises from the depths of the
unconscious to where it can be examined, understood. (Waite
describes the fish as “pictures of the mind taking form.”)
There is some success in work with the unknown, with the uncon-
scious. Some food for thought, for self-examination. The emergence of the
intuitive and emotional powers within the querent or the appearance of a
person who may help with such discoveries.
The figure communicates with the fish, seeming to listen, to hear some
new message. Thus the card suggests the sharing of some secret, or the
sharing of some secret, either about the querent or with another person.
The querent might benefit from a slowing down of external activities
in order to hear (perceive) intrapersonal messages.
138
The Cups
Traditional meaning:
A quiet, imaginative person of artistic bent. Imagination, reflection,
mediation.
Reversed: PUZZLEMENT
also Blockage
Something puzzling from a non-rational source intrudes upon the
querent; a conundrum with no answer. Frustration at a vague sense of
unease or near discovery; at the failure to know and understand.
Perhaps the querent tries too hard to force a message from herself or
her surroundings. Or she may be unusually skeptical about the existence
of psychic messages. Or she has no time to be open to psychic messages.
Perhaps the destructive use of secret information; perhaps blackmail.
139
A Feminist Tarot
PRINCE OF CUPS
or Knight of Cups
A
military messenger. The querent emerges from perceptions of
herself and personal struggles into a world of social action, even
of battle. The card thus serves as a bridge to the suit of wands,
perhaps even the suit of swords.
It suggests a new way to go forth to battle: in an unwarlike fashion.
The “weapon” is a cup, a receptacle, as if to suggest that victory lies in
being filled, in baptizing, or in giving drink. The gift of imagination,
intuition, emotionality, seems held out not so much to the querent as to
the world at large-to the patriarchy, perhaps given by the querent.
The Knight is protected but except for the cup is unarmed. The wings
suggest she is a bearer of information, of self-knowledge-perhaps that is
the alternative to patriarchal alienation. Danger lies in the fact that she
140
The Cups
Reversed: PASSIVITY
Failure in the use of the “new weapon” perhaps because of lack of
understanding of its strength or because of the querent’s repression of
her emotional/intuitive side or because the querent has misjudged the
recipients of her gift.
Weakness, passivity, inability to withstand the behavior of the
enemy. Defeat or disappointment in bringing the message of self-discovery
or self-love to others. A premature gift, perhaps.
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KING OF CUPS
Upright: FATHER
O
ne of the few clearly male figures in a suit expressive of emotion-
ality and self-awareness; it thus suggests the presence of a man or
men who could embody those qualities.
More directly in the journey to the self this card represents the
querent’s father or strong male adult in her life. The man within the
querent’s history and within herself who functions as protector, provider,
intellect and judge. He is whatever the querent’s father has been or is.
A clear indication that feelings about the father must be examined or
that “fatherly” qualities must be named, confronted and explored within
the self.
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Traditional meaning:
A man of ideas, liberal, considerate, idealistic. Willingness to accept
responsibility. Power achieved through the use of the mind, creative
intelligence.
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QUEEN OF CUPS
Upright: MOTHER
also Nurturant Intelligence
T
he established order responds in a hasty and violent way to some
action on the part of the people or someone disempowered. May
be in heavy police or military action repressing minority elements.
An unnecessary rash display of strength, paranoia, vengeance. (Kent State,
massacre of the SLA.)
A close relative of the braggart soldier, rattling swords and making
bold threats. The hasty action may actually be against her/his better judgment,
but necessary in order to fulfill her/his boasts.
The querent may herself be the knight responding hastily to some
enraging circumstance-not necessarily political. The danger is great that
she may behave in this way since women and other nondominant groups
have not until recently been able to emulate white knights dashing across
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The Cups
open country on missions of grave import. She is likely to jump too quickly to
avenge another, or to protect what is dealt to her. Thoughtless action, no
matter what the motivation, has dangerous consequences.
Traditional meaning:
A good wife and mother. A woman with the gift of vision. She sees, but
she also acts. An intuitive woman whose instincts can be trusted.
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146
THE SUIT OF
WANDS
Fire, energy, growth, creativity, the production of ideas.
The suit of those who struggle together.
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ACE OF WANDS
T
he gift suggests profound social change through the action of
women. The promise of fulfillment. The suggestion is of some-
thing very ancient and very common which is also a brand new
thing in the world: a social phenomenon built on female values and revering
all women. A global rising up of women to redeem the earth.
An enterprise is begun. The dawn of some collective action. The
second wave of feminism enacted world-wide out of women’s pain.
There are green sprouts on the wand; other green leaves fall like the
fiery yods (see The Tower and The Moon). The river of the unconscious
flows toward purple-white mountains. A building or a town tops the hill.
A natural landscape-rural, of the people, of laborers, working women.
The card of primal energy, it suggests foundations/beginnings/
initiatives. A surge of personal growth and development.
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Traditional meaning:
The start of something new. The beginning of a journey, an adventure.
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TWO OF WANDS
A
privileged woman with the power that position and expertise
bestow upon her. The cold patriarchal mountains are not far
away but neither is the water of emotionality. Both roses of
desire and lilies of pure thought are common decoration in her home. She
has the courage and confidence which come from learning and achieved
status.
The card has potential for integrating the wands of women with the
world but all depends upon how the figure uses her power.
If the querent is a white woman she can rarely hope to be trusted by
women of less privilege than she. Her task is to prove her loyalty to other
women, with no expectation of recognition or thanks.
The influence of this person is both economic and intellectual. The
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THREE OF WANDS
T
he figure stands further away from the mountains of knowledge
than does the figure in the Two of Wands, but her power is plain.
Like the intellectual woman she is in danger of forgetting the
majority of women in the world as she exploits both people and the earth
in her trade. Yet she might call herself a feminist. She stands between two
wands—symbolic of life—and her hand is on a third; she is in touch with
another more authentic form of being than the one she presently operates
within. She is a merchant of some kind, dealing in the transportation of
goods and services. Her ingenuity has given her the respect of her
associates. Alone she watches her ships setting out for distant lands, travels
there herself to “take care of business.” A connecting card to the suit of
pentacles.
The querent may be a person interested in communication and
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human relations and the commerce between people. She may also be
someone skilled at seeing the connections in life, or someone who seeks to
develop and under stand connections: where she is, where she has been,
where she is going.
Traditional meaning:
The card of the inventor who turns a dream into a reality. Realization of
the enterprise (such as that launched in the Two of Wands). Success in
a mercantile venture.
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FOUR OF WANDS
H
ere is the first burst of sisterhood, the rosy glow of women’s
discovery of other women. Celebration with dance and song,
with garlands and games, food and drink.
Harmony and contentment. Perhaps the solidification of a relationship.
Sustaining the intensity of such highs is impossible. The glow is bound to
fade, and work must begin. But through the struggles we can be sustained
by hopes that this celebratory experience will be recaptured in a more
authentic and enduring form.
The querent or one near her finds time for joy and play, rest and
recuperation; a deliberate temporary turn from political work to the
levity of fun and “lesser” concerns.
Also a card suggesting the temporal arts (music, dance, theatre).
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Traditional meaning:
Completed harvest, perfected work. Rest after labor. Work that is
enjoyed.
Reversed: OVERWORK
Too much seriousness, not enough play. Overemphasis upon political
struggles among women. Burnout.
The querent or one near her needs release into some frivolity.
The search for the joys of sisterhood, believed in, but not yet personally
discovered. Frustration at the knowledge that other women exist and that
they hope for new values, but as yet no personal experience of womanlove.
Possible impatience of long-time feminists with the apparent naivete of
women just discovering each other.
Possible conflicts over issues arising at gatherings of women: substance
use (alcohol, nicotine, or other drugs), food, children, male children,
disabled needs, animals, class and race awareness.
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FIVE OF WANDS
T
he wands are used to play a game, perhaps a sort of sporting ri-
valry-but it’s more likely that the card represents genuine strife.
The wands are turned against each other instead of being directed
outward toward the common enemy. They move in all directions in con-
trast to the other cards, where they are all directed one way. The sister-
hood cannot get it together. Disintegration, at least around certain issues,
threatens disruption. Differences may be seen as “better” or “worse.” A
party line may be emerging and may be being resisted. Issues of group
process, personal style, effective strategies, or conflicting values come to an
emotional (perhaps physical) climax. Ideological questions surrounding
violence against women may become issues between and among women.
The querent is participating in or affected by rumors, gossiping, back-
biting, self-aggrandizement, power-tripping, passivity, dishonesty, jeal-
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The Wands
Traditional meaning:
Strenuous competition; conflict which is unavoidable. The prize will
have to he fought for. Opposition.
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SIX OF WANDS
T
he querent is in a new leadership position and must deal with
all the questions surrounding a single person having power. The
figure has mounted a horse in order to proceed faster, to sit above
others, to fight from a more advantageous position, or to try out a new
perspective. The wreath of victory is on her head and on her wand. The
horse is in ceremonial rather than battle garb, all suggesting that the leader
has won some contest. Perhaps the victory is shared by others-she has just
been an outstanding participant.
The lack of heavy weapons could also suggest that the victory has been
achieved through the use of skill and diplomacy rather than the use of
power or force.
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Reversed: LEADERLESSNESS\
also Stalemate
There is some need for a leader. Chaos reigns and nobody is taking
responsibility. Nothing is getting done. The tyranny of structurelessness is
in full operation. Either there is no understanding among persons involved
of the power dynamics and the urgency of the situation, or persons
capable of leading hold back out of fear of being authoritarian-or fear of
being trashed.
The querent or one near her may feel a desperate ambivalence: she
respects the collective mode but does not want to repress her own abilities.
Relationships may be such that no leader is required. It may be possible
to get tasks done without hassles because there is tacit understanding of
each person’s skills and there is a high level of trust. Consensus may be
possible. Near egalitarian relationships could exist.
The card could also suggest tokenism, or the deliberate making visible
of a representative of some minority group for window dressing.
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SEVEN OF WANDS
A
single woman is attacked by and is defending herself against other
sisters. She stands on some promontory ready to fend them off
from above.
“Going against the tide.” An assertion of individual needs in
opposition to some group. Perhaps a warning against absorption into a
false collective identity. The sudden realization of the threat to some part
of oneself. Rebellion against being made invisible or feeling insignificant,
as in the case of women of color among white women.
Rebellion against the pressure from the group for the individual to
accept an internal dominant ideology. The defender may be being
attacked because it is thought that she is pushing her own selfish ends
to the detriment of the group, or that she is being deliberately disruptive.
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The querent may need to stand her ground against the attack of the
group. It is important to note that she is on top of the struggle.
Also crystallizes at times as an interpersonal struggle between the needs
of the self and the needs (demands) of others.
Traditional meaning:
The querent has the upper hand in a struggle. (“The combatant is on
the top and his enemies may not be able to reach him.” [Waite]) The
querent will obtain victory through sustained effort.
The individual, for some inarticulable reason, fears the group; or, for
some inarticulable reason, the group fears the individual.
The querent suffers latent rather than overt insecurity in a group situ-
ation. Lack of clarity about motives or about the behavior of members in
one’s group. Perhaps false fear of group attack. Perhaps an ungrounded
suspicion of an individual’s selfishness, or a questioning of her motives.
Possible suspicion of an individual being an agent, a plant. The feelings
are not out in the open. Hostilities must come into the open for the entire
group to deal with. An individual may need a champion or supporter in
order for conflict to emerge.
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EIGHT OF WANDS
S
omething is flying through the air over the river of the unconscious.
The positive energy of life is on its way somewhere, perhaps to the
querent. The wands reach through the atmosphere on many wave-
lengths to connect women, to become channels of communication.
Something is available that is not being tapped or used. Some
important communication is ready to be expressed from an unusual
source. Forces are moving that will significantly influence the querent’s
life; they may be out of her past, her culture, her family.
The querent may be unconsciously preparing to make contact with a
person or a group that will be important to her. A high energy period fa-
vorable for initiating change; or a time of movement and change requiring
high energy expenditure.
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NINE OF WANDS
T
he figure has fought and is prepared to fight again. She has been
hurt badly enough to require treatment. The issues (the wands) are
not menacing-indeed, they seem to back her up. But the internal
struggle is exhausting as well as dangerous. She expects to be battered by
the patriarchy against whom all the wands fight, but she is only learning
to be wounded from within her own ranks. She is reluctant to rejoin the
council of wandholders behind her.
May also suggest permanent physical disability or some incapacities of
aging. A struggle against stereotypes of disabled people. Querent may risk
some disability or be forced to deal with her fear and guilt surrounding
physical limitations.
Temporary or permanent dependence upon others. Anger, impotence,
guilt on the part of the dependent one; resentment, impatience, flight of
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TEN OF WANDS
H
ere is the Martha of the sisterhood: aware that many wands to-
gether cannot be broken, yet still believing she must carry them
all herself. Inability to let another’s task go undone. Backsliding
into the old patriarchal principle, “if you want something done, do it
yourself.” Increasing resentfulness at having to bear the burden alone.
Silent or whispered curses at others whose job she is doing because of their
lack of responsibility.
The querent has a tendency to bear others’ burdens when she has not
been asked. She may refuse to let others assume responsibility for themselves.
Difficulty in giving up power. The tendency to speak for a group (all black
women, all lesbians, all older women) instead of for one’s self.
The card also signifies the sense of oppressiveness that can come from
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The Wands
trying to handle more than one task at a time. Note that the carrier musters
the energy needed to reach the end of the road.
Traditional meaning:
Success which becomes oppressive. Taking on more than can be man-
aged. The burden of too much power.
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PRINCESS OF WANDS
or Page of Wands
T
his is the spokesperson, the articulate one who has risen from the
ranks of laborers and who can speak in the language of the
patriarchy itself. She stands on the earth, her wand touching it,
joining her to the ranks of women. She remains trusted and trustworthy.
The querent may be an ideologue, who, with her developed skills
articulates visions and strategies within the sisterhood. Or she may be
one of the sisterhood’s spokespersons to the patriarch which would explain
her rich dress the one who can understand and use the written and spoken
language that has for so long oppressed women. Perhaps she can write
proposals, plead court cases. As a figure committed to negotiating with
the patriarchy and to verbal and analytic expression, she makes the card a
bridge to the suit of swords.
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Traditional meaning:
A person of brilliance and beauty. A messenger with strange news.
Reversed: INARTICULATENESS
Frustration at having important ideas and few skills to articulate them
with. Either a temporary or a chronic condition. Or, a sense of loss of
verbal or analytic skills after having mastered them. Perhaps a literal loss
as with a stroke or physical trauma.
Perhaps words are deliberately held back-out of mistrust of them. A
search for some new language instead of the one all women have been
taught.
The querent or one near her may struggle with the language as a lately
acquired one and feel some question of her legitimacy coming from women
who have used the language since childhood.
The oppressiveness of language as a manifestation of a dominant culture.
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PRINCE OF WANDS
or Knight of Wands
T
he querent or one near her is impatient with words, with
intellect, with day-to-day resistance. She longs to take the patriarchy
by storm-to arm the troop of women and do battle in the streets. She
is full of clever dramatic strategies. She is the adventurer, the gambler, the
individualist, the romantic revolutionary more likely to set bombs and
hijack planes than to strategize with other women. Spontaneous action on
the basis of a hunch is her creed.
Or her action may take the form of a militant separatism, a dismissal of
men entirely and a withdrawal with other women from all societal structures.
She tends to want utopia immediately and exclusively through magical
means.
Her energy, her endurance, her strength, her charisma, all impel
women to follow her and sometimes into hasty, regrettable action.
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Reflective thought is not her strong point. This figure feels constantly
restrained by her sisters and often resentful of their plodding.
Traditional meaning:
An attractive, energetic, impulsive person. The mood of the horse is a
key to the character of the rider. Departure, flight. The coming or going
of a matter.
Reversed: INACTION
Indolence, inaction, unwillingness to put out, unwillingness to risk.
Much talk, little action. A contentment with the status quo. Lack of
revolutionary zeal. Too much fear of danger. Always the reluctant follower.
The querent or one near her is content with having an attitude and
seldom initiates action; e.g., she may be non-racist but not anti-racist,
non-sexist but not anti-sexist. Or perhaps the querent is disenchanted
with the process or strategy of feminists. She may become a drop-out from
the movement, deciding against future political commitments. She may
simply be burned out and need rest.
For the querent perhaps a time for reflection and self-criticism.
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KING OF WANDS
T
his figure is the sympathetic mana feminist-still powerful, as his
robes and demeanor suggest, but yielding significant aspects of his
power. The wand is a symbol not of his rule but of a kind of once-
removed membership in the ranks of women.
This figure is female-identified, perhaps “sissy”-identified. He understands
the auxiliary nature of men in the human species and feels the force and
inevitability of the movement to restore the species to its primary (female)
foundation. He functions where he can as a buffer against the patriarchy’s
oppression of women. He is a man of rural origin, and may himself be
Native American, black, or of another non-dominant U.S. culture. There
is a good chance that he is gay. Certainly he identifies with the cause of
held-down people. He is a passionate but careful revolutionary, and one of
the useful and important connections between separatist women and the
patriarchy. He can be trusted more than other men.
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The Wands
Traditional meaning:
Conscientious, fair-minded person. A lover of family life and traditional
ways. A good mediator who is able to see all sides.
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QUEEN OF WANDS
A
black cat sits at her feet while lions play on the tapestry and
constitute the arms of her throne. She holds not only the wand,
but the sunflower-another natural energy symbol.
She is the mentor of the use of energy in all its forms. The Leo woman;
Diana the Huntress, protector of her sisters, avenger of their wrongs; the
active and authoritative side of the Empress. She differs from the High
Priestess in that she is less an archetype and more a figure of the future, or
at least more of the present than the past. She is more active rather than being
symbolic-in her commitment to the politics and practice of womanlove.
The card symbolizes the positive use of power; commitment to women
and the non-rational conviction that the power exists only as it is shared
among many women.
The querent may discover within herself or in one near her great
174
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175
176
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Bibliography
Billie Potts, A New Woman’s Tarot, Elf and Dragons Press (P.O. Box
609, Woodstock, N.Y. 12498), 1978.
This is the only publication we know of that has
attempted a radical redesign of the Tarot from a Goddess-
centered perspective. The cards are esthetically disap-
pointing, but the content (the designations and interpre-
tations) are well-researched and imaginative-if you want to
move away from the historical Tarot. The interpretations
include astrological and herbal correlations. Potts provides
an interesting variation of the Celtic spread.
A.E. Waite, A Pictorial Key to the Tarot, Steiner Books (Blauvelt, New
York), 1971.
Waite’s book is divided into three parts: his version
of the origins (somewhat obscured because of his Golden
Dawn vows), his interpretations of the cards, and a section
on spreads and divination.
Robert Wang, An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot, Weiser
(New York), 1978.
This book purports to give the “true” and unveiled explana-
tion of the Golden Dawn Tarot system. It is a companion
piece to the deck of cards, recently published, painted by
Wang. This new “Golden Dawn” deck is supposed to be
directly derived from an original Golden Dawn deck in the
possession of Israel Regardie, an eminent occultist who was
Crowley’s secretary for several years. The new deck is
far from appealing. Whether that is Wang’s fault or not
we don’t know. But why wasn’t the original deck simply
published in its original form?
Jan Woudhuysen, Tarot Therapy, Tarcher (Los Angeles), 1980.
We dislike the cutsie drawings of the cards, and we
totally disagree with the interpretations, but this book
has genuine value in its thorough and down-to-earth sections
on spreads and techniques of reading.
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