tarot meanings

From off the top of my head, here are some of the manifold Tarot card definitions.  All card meanings are transmutable and can evolve because they involve living beings and elementary energies.  Just think of the Book as an interpreter of the chaos that cannot be read in a conventional way.  The Tarot is a language that is universal in that it does not require words.  The Major Arcana are the most important of the deck and are real, true living beings, but start out believing they are archetypes or inner aspects of the Self.  Up until a point it is good to do daily readings before daily activity and if you need help defining the results, look up the meanings in the booklet for your cards or on the internet.  I used to refer to Michael Tsarion's awesome definitions back when he had them available, but after a certain point you will not need to refer to definitions whatsoever.  This is not because you have them memorized.  There is a point far beyond memorization of the meanings, it is the astral level in which the cards will speak to your soul directly, but also because I have created a kabalaa (or discovered rather) I can show you how Tarot has been made to be counted.  Once you realize that the Tarot is a Game and that the Future is only a Possibility based on present energies in the Now, then the real meaning of divination will be discovered.  After this point, there is another realization that you in fact are controlling the cards.  Granted, I always shuffle with the cards face down on the altar and scramble them in a circle to coincide with the etheric body's force field (although now this seems elementary to me), but scrambling the cards instead of shuffling them like a gambling pack is important in my opinion, and I know not all successful readers do this, but one of the main reasons I believe is so that the energies do not cross themselves. Plus with this shuffling method you can rely upon reversals with confidence. You must charge your cards magically and keep them protected to be able to control them.  With my correct numbering and counting system (not like the ones you will commonly see which are in error) you will be able to predict many of the cards.  It's a marvelous feat to be able to predict the cards and also utilize numerological reductions, because as you learn to predict and count the Tarot as you go through divination you will also learn the kabalaa of your mind (True Mind connected to the One Mind) and also be able to decode more formulas of energy patterns.  With that being said, remember that the Marseilles Tarot indeed shows us that there is a kabala inside the deck and that it corresponds to geomancy and astrological divination (including kabala) and the Marseilles cards are an early example of the unhindered Rota.  Besides this fact, I am implying that it is not necessary to over-indulge the senses and over-complicate the art of numbers found in the Tarot (which I believe is mostly Pythagorean in the Pantheistical Pagan Kabalist sense) so if you have X Wheel you also have 1+2+3+4 because these add up to 10.  The first quaternary of the Tarot is X Wheel.  You may think that I am arbitrarily attributing meaning to the cards.  That is erroneous and not my line of thinking, I was certain after some time with working with it that there was an original intention and meaning and that the Arcana is generally correct (as far as which archetype is on which numeral).  Take for example the XV Devil.  It is the first Pentad, hence you have 1+2+3+4+5.  Yes the entire deck is error correcting and has this redundancy within it.  This enables the practicioner to further his astral soul while gaining insight into any and all sorts of phenomenal problems and questions of existence.  This is only the beginning.  OK here are the card meanings:

Note: Reversals if used (I recommend them), are not always black and white, their validity in the reading will be indicated by the reader's psychic intellect, clearly sometimes they are emphasized and other times quite simply ignored. I may leave them out now, only to focus on them at another post.  But for now, think of reversals as a degraded form of unity within the card, as a lesser harmonic quality, or as an emphasis. As always let the Majors decide and lead you as all surrounding cards are important, especially if you do not use a spread that has "past, present, future" implications because that is faulty and takes the Game out of Rota.

0 Fool - beginnings, lack of knowledge, Uranian inventiveness, random, fun, stupid, godless

I Magician - thought, communication, Mercurial attributes, knowledge, learning, speaking, teaching, Thoth

II High Priestess - Isis, first emanation from singular, divinity, divine, dark moon, things to come, future coming, can also be a strong indicator to stay out of certain affairs, remember you can always consider the High Priestess showing up in a reading to be essentially important and it deals with priesthood and initiatory knowledge at its core, I recommend you seek the Goddess Isis to speak to you as you stare upon this card's image, also think of Lunar qualities. So many meanings to this card because of the sacerdotal qualities and primordial beginnings of essence and material dimensions opening up.

III Empress - Attention all! The Empress has shown up! Venus is alive! Beautiful people especially women, Luciferian qualities and definitions, nature, speed and desire, sometimes it means waiting or egotism and self importance, connect your soul to her spirit for closeness to the female kind and their allure and attraction.

IV Emperor - Power, definition, leading the way, knowing exactly what one wants, being a man, being an empowered woman, earthly domination, structure, the planet mars and also planet earth, taking care of business, masculinity, toughness, ruggedness, combinations, channel this card's god (or demon) if you need more active motion and motivation

V Hierophant - he can represent society, churches, heads of state and various religions, but also be aware that he is also your teacher in the pack, he may indicate that you are going to have to learn something directly from the Tarot. I also believe that he is the author of the Tarot, he is also the ancient Hierophant of the Initiate Schools and Mysteries, so it is either indicatory of an object or it is the actual Presence of the Hierophant in Spirit ready to direct you through the reading and its hidden meaning, so watch for this card especially.

VI Lovers - A commonly misunderstood card, especially for those novices in the divinatory arts.  But don't worry this card does mean Lovers.  It also means (or can mean) friends, choices, Geminian qualities, togetherness, a diverging point, relationships, courtship, acceptance, fun, sunshine, heat, truce, goodness, peaceful vibes.  Some may recall that 6 can also have a darker meaning such as the demonization of the number in the biblical kabal, but nevertheless there is a connection to the non-christian XV devil since 1+5=6 so it does have a multiplicity to it and this is the first, lower portion of the Arcana.  My sincere advice is that you push yourself to guide your higher mind in Spirit to the true meaning of the card and why it has appeared, especially for the Lovers card.  It is the first card to teach us to be receiving of the divinatory meaning by intuition for these reasons (and other reasons too...for you to find out).

VII Chariot - Chariot of Ra, Solar Gods, Connect the Chakras, Total Spirit, Beyond what we know, positive energy, goals exceeded, driving, traveling, golden aura, the body and its fulfilment, an appreciation for nature, occultism, the holy septenary, life in its fullest and on and on to the point that we will not know at least not in this day and age...give it a few hundred years if the Seven Doctrines are revealed.  This card is a strong indicator card for truth, goodness and the right way.

VIII Justice - Power, force, a mysterious Goddess or Gods, feminine exoterically because of V+III which III is feminine, of course this is energetic and all cards are androgynous spirits, yet also reflect the origins of our delineation of the sexes so they too have those qualities, this card is the Power card, power of the Law at times (when seen with Tower and other 8's can indicate legal/law/court/etc) and many times can indicate absolute symmetry (4+4), perfection of form, strong moral qualities, excellence, beauty plus knowledge and forces of nature in some aspects although not as severely as the devil can indicate them.  One of the more important cards to be seen reversed since many times that can mean the total opposite in quality, such as amoral, degenerate and reprovable, but let's move on.

IX Hermit - A wondrous card to encounter! The Hermit at number nine is very deep, and as you know the number nine reflects numbers mathematically, so this card also indicates deep looking within, serious meditation, lonely times to gain power for oneself, acceptance of solitude and the way of the Hermit.  A necessary step in gaining spiritual power to continue in the Rota path.  Always your friend, usually the reversal is not that detrimental either, only in exceptional cases, usually it only indicates a slightly lesser quality or lower tone.  The Hermit reveals to us the three hermetic triads and is the magicians own reflection of himself or herself.  The three triads are 1,2,6 / 2,3,4 / 1,3,5. This proves the connection between Hermes Trismegistos and IX Hermit.  In terms of traversing the archetypal wisdom path of the Fool until he/she reaches Yoga/Union/XXI this card Hermit and its Thrice Great Seer represented upon it are necessary in order to proceed further beyond to the Wheel of Life and to the doubles, the second portion.  You must well-acquaint yourself with the Hermit and appreciate solitary meditation to gain insight to One.  Ok here we go...

X Wheel - Wheel of Fortune, luck and positive outcomes.  The upright especially, but many times the reversed X Wheel indicates a turn of events, a special day, a great outcome of things, unexpected coolness.  This is the column upon which you build your development and is basically the same concept as the Buddhist Wheel of Dharma and related concepts in various schools of Buddhism, which are valuable tools and resources to study.  The Wheel of Rota is the Wheel of Truth, the first quaternary, the four seasons, the movement through those changes and changes in ourselves.  It can also mean the finish of something or the turn of events that may signal an ending of those things.  It's always moving and most of the time indicative of good fortune.

XI Strength - Power, struggle, depth of existence, force, will, anger, hostility, the sexual, haunted, enemies, going through crazy stuff.  Please consider this to be the correct number of Strength. As I mentioned elsewhere here on my site that the Justice card should not be switched with Strength because we should not pervert Justice and give it an Odd number.  If you can reasonable prove otherwise to this then do so, thank you.  I'm certain that Justice and Lady Justice do not need to be placed here at Eleven (5+6).  Think of the implications of Strength (I also entertainingly named it Threat awhile ago) appearing at XI which at face value indicate all of the meanings and numerical structure (kabal) of both the Hierophant and Lovers, so there is a symbolical Struggle there.  This is where the Initate is going to sweat, and once again the numerical sequence proves correct because this card comes right before a most hierarchical and immovable card, that is, the Hanged Man. 

XII Hanged Man - Le Pendu (get it, Pendu-lum?) As I said Strength is the struggle of the initiate before getting to the dome, the palace, the revealing of remarkable, stunning realities never once considered to exist.  This new place of hanging before the gods (and in the Marseilles the Twelve gods are symbolically hinted at upon the trees), a place where realization definitely takes place.  This is basically where the gates open up and the Initiator lets you walk inside, a place of wonder and total immersion in the unreal yet Very Real.  I have numerically found this to be the case and provable but it must be dealt with at another time.  The Hanged Man in divination has plenty of meaning, some of which is very esoteric and so I caution you to gather as much as you can up until this point to be able to decipher those varieties of divination.  It also has less difficult meanings such as the period in between, for example it could indicate the period in between a breakup and finding a new lover or friend.  This card always carries a weight with it and I encourage you to take note of its relationship to the minors and court royals which appear alongside the divinatory spread at hand because it has a definite essence that one must begin to see.  In simpler every day, general or daily readings it can indicate a stagnant day ahead.

XIII Death (or no name card) - Death is a beautiful card, really, well...especially in Tarot and in Spiritual stuff.  Don't worry though this card indicates transformation.  It also indicates some things that may pertain to the occult, ending of relationships, sadness and breakups, occult societies, secrets of the universe, known and unknowns combined in all sorts of applications.  The number XIII does show us that the Wheel and the Empress are at the exoteric disassembling of these cards and so there is beauty in it and also movement and change.  This Arcana will show you how to read and decipher the Tarot by Intuition and non-mediumistic channeling of energies.  Yes the previous card hanged man was preparing the soul for this most excellent transmutation because after this card the Arcana goes to the higher realm.  From Temperance to World the concepts are much more enlightening and less personal, almost undescribable in their Wonder...of things to come. Next,

XIV Temperance - Art in the Crowley Thoth deck, because he felt that the card indicates the Alchemy of Opposites within the Self and in all practical usage.  I also believe that the card is the holy guardian of healing and the angel of preservation and perseverance and total serenity.  Now in these higher numbers of the Majors, the divinatory meanings are more abstract, yet also more defined, a seeming paradox but one does not wish to limit the potential of such Beauty.  Many times the card indicates rest and healing, a superb alchemy (thanks Crowley), there is an esoteric connection to the Hierophant (remember 1+4=5), peacefulness, surrender to the mystic, mysticism, depth of persona, blessings, charisma, charm, intense love, purity, guidance, needfulness, empty cup becomes full, grace, helpful assistance from above, deception averted, coincidence uncanny, mental strength and power, platonic love, brotherhood and sisterhood, goodness, truth, cleansing, awesome beauty, the actual Spirit itself enlightening the Aura and Third Eye and higher Mind, Western magic, water, angels.

XV Devil - Diabolos Not the Christian Devil nor is it representative of Satan or Lucifer (Christian or otherwise).  Since the Rota is a Symbolical language, the Devil is not a Person or Anthropomorphic deity.  It is an exotic card full of wonder and mystery, occult magic and superstition, darkness to be comprehended in many ways thus it is the numerological pentagram, the first pentad of the Book.  He can hold people's souls in bondage to the material realm by mysterious, iniquitous forces.  There is a definite force, a god of force, of the natural, material realm, of earthquakes and storms, of tumult and deception, lies and arrogance.  Yet as with all of the Major Arcana not any card or its representative Symbol is two-dimensional in scope, and thus we can also see the XV Devil representing material wealth, money, the gaining of such, or it can be a positive being, a good devil, another type of guide.  In more proper classical gnostic terms it can be the Demiurgos, the god of matter and Spirit's descension into Earth, as the point faces downward of the 5 sided star.  Let us move along,

XVI Tower - Oh wow, can you even go further after the previous card? The depth of symbolical meaning is unreal, and this short introduction is only showing a minute portion of what can be accomplished.  The Tower is the Tower of Babel for one, and it supposes that all edifices must also eventually come crashing down.  As Jodorowsky has said, it indicates something opening up which was not already there, a new dimension of reality, a new open mind becoming even more open to the possiblities that are present.  In divination and its applications, magically the Tower is the All-Seeing-eye, it is the Pyramid, it is the universal Mind, Osiris, the Brotherhood of Mankind (and Womankind).  It's a remarkably esoteric card in readings.  I love the Tower, it has so much variety and potential.  It's definitely an ancient, ancient symbol.  Fines, debts, fees, legality and courts in one type of interpretation it can mean, or ascension, dreams, the third eye, kabalism, enchantment, dedication and sensory triumph in the other.  Yet I feel it is still a mystery to me even to begin to know what the Tower really is, except I think you may relate the Tower to those dreams where you are on top of a ridiculously tall skyscraper and somehow find yourself up in the clouds while the structure is tossing back and forth, and archetypally it is an obelisk or primitive phallus of magical cultures, yet in these dreams of being high up in a skyscraper tower, you know that the future holds something great only beginning to be realized.  I'm thankful for this card.  We will see more of it in days to come.

XVII Star - Oh wow, hail the Star! The Light from Above, the entire Universe, the Stars and their Light, the feeding of the Earth from the cosmos, through our souls to each other and to the Stars again, Eternity, fulfillment, hopes, wishes, dreams (again but this time even more inspiring, provocative dreams with even more emotive power) and night time, and astrology to name a few.  Beauty from the heavens, really cool Aquarian stuff, metaphysics, exceptional people, great minds, eclectic thinkers, inspiring, dreamy, cool 80's music, divine music, music of the spheres, and anything relating to stars, planets, cosmology, the sun in a certain way, truth and values, America the continent, dreaminess, many things and never-ending newness, the afterlife or devachan.  If the Star is reversed or it is in a certain aspect to other cards and the intuition lines up, then it can indicate cosmic battles, transits, planetary commotion, and rough times from hard aspects of the stars and things like that.

XVIII Moon - Madness, Insanity, the Occult Arts, Lunar Mother, Gorgeous beauty, incredibly pleasing emotions, deep satisfaction and romantic love, birth-giving, water, cycles of tides, the Moon itself, full moon magic, the night sky, something occuring in the night, a deep combination of all these, blessedness, fertility, poetry, magic, enchantment, spell workings, heat of the moon upon earth, lunar light, gut feelings and intutive insight, psychic work, goddesses of the moon such as Hekate (she can be III Empress i.e. Triple Headed).  So many things that it would be practically impossible to list all the features of the Moon in symbolic language, especially when considering her in Theosophy.  Note that the number 18 itself is completely reflective mathematically and this also applies to the Symbol in that the Moon is a reflective body, and thus feminine.  It is fun to apply this understanding in practical, every-day matters.

XIX Sun - Numerologically the number Nineteen is very impressive.  My theories rest on the Symbols are aids to studying the numbers and not vice versa, that the numbers are the originators of the Symbols, but this is not essential nor am I fully convinced of there being any dogmatic rule to this set-up. I desire you will see the doctrine unfold and hopefully in many faceted ways like that of a gemstone glistening in the Sun.  The number 19 is essentially 1+9=10 and even more, 1+9=1+0=1, so there is a great tie to the Magician up through the Wheel and back again.  The Roman numerals display this curiousity, X-I-X, the Magician is in-between two wheels.  I believe this may be a part of the Secret Doctrine.  Not necessary in doing divinatory readings or psychic readings for that matter, we can know that the Sun represents the Sun, the living true God Himself (Herself too), there is also a concept known as the Great Central Sun, that the Light of the Sun is only emanating from a higher more divine source and that it lives within us when we connect to it through our own spirit and become essentially a god ourselves, as did the Ancients, who are still living.  And most of this can be gained from learning Tarot as a Book of Holy Wisdom from them, the ancients, and especially with studying so many works that have come through to our age about Tarot in accordance with our own Intuitive guiding and inner light.  Divinatory meanings of XIX Sun also include New Beginnings, Power from the Light, The Solar Priesthood, Solar Cults, All Life, Plant Life, Animal Life, Mineral Life, Human Life, Birds, Eagles, Trees, Breath, Sight, All Senses, All Energy, Goodness, Solar Deity and accompanying gods and hierophants, magicians and all the rest have lived under the same sun.  You will realize the Ultimate Sun is not just a phsyical object in space and consider the sun each day and don't forget to smile, the meanings of this card are endless.  Reversals are possible in psychic readings too but I will leave this up to you to decide what it means, since the Sun is so great! Hail the Sun! Breathe in the light of the sun, so much more....(I know I didn't do it justice! :)

XX Judgement - Esoterically this is a GRAND Trump, so you noticed how I nearly fainted at the esoteric Sun trump, so I might keep this one simple so not to look stupid.  From a reading standpoint this card indicates a Judgement and is important (or is it spelled Judgment?), like a sort of Judgment of the Game.  In other words, a Double-Up, Two Kings, Two Wheels, i.e. special card in the game.  It is looking up when you see the Judgment and it definitely deals with Rebirth and Uniting again and absolute new situations arising.  An upgrade to your status, if you will.

XXI World - The End, The Beginning, The All.  Totality and Triumph, communion with the Gods, the players, the pieces, the situations, the dealings, the communities, the facets of life all in one song.  Yoga and control of the mind and body, destiny.  It can mean fulfilment of the karma in any given way, it can mean total connection with the world and the person, place or thing is especially important to many people and greatness in life. It can go both ways easier than some of the other cards when seen reversed, a slightly negative connotation can take hold, like the ending of a friendship or finality of the question asked.  It is a purifying symbol.  XXI 21 is related to XII and also related to XX, and also to III in the values of the numerals.  It is reassurance that needs are being met, closeness to God, exceptional communication and worldly skills, remarkably famous people, never deceiving unless the layout deems it, but because it is twenty-one this card holds as much weight as all of them and it takes more obscure forces to cause any negativity to be expressed by its appearance and even by a reversal, most of the time a reversed World is still very good or meaningless.  Writing this out I am learning that World also has to do with sharing and by sharing comes greater knowledge.

Minor Arcana or Pips - Essentially these cards serve to back up the Majors and give them an elemental quality among other things.  On some instances they may substitute for a Major, but usually it is not needed.  Also consider that each deck has a different take on the Minors and the illustrations the artist gives them can provide fantastic divinatory assistance, otherwise you have a pips deck where the Minors do not feature illustration.  The Marseilles tarot is one of those decks.  I suggest that you let the Majors in your divination guide you through the meanings of the Minors if you have a pips-type deck, because you would not wish to weigh too heavily upon a single Minors card except in rare instances where the Tarot speaks directly and loudly right at you.  There is no such thing as a complete meaning list for the cards! Only the initiated will know what this means. So here we go:

Ace of Wands - Aw (for short) - The essence of fire, the fiery wand, the provocative force, the light, the push, the charger, energizer, free will, expulsion, dejection, an alarm or indicator

Two of Wands - 2w - Domination, dominion, ownership, fire starter, two wands intersecting, the point of pulse, pulsing energy, beginning

Three of Wands - 3w - Can relate to Empress and more commonly, The Hanged Man. A force that is being initiated yet awaits.  Stubborn energy, fuel up.

Four of Wands - 4w - Generosity, relationship forming, kindness, relates to Emperor, but not solely, can be an aid to Justice, warming, pulling into, fire magic and assistance.

Five of Wands - 5w - Competition, harassment, relates to Hierophant, a fiery form of learning, of being taught.  Being beaten up.  Courage, tearing through, trials and multiple attempts, figurative challenges heating up, etc.

Six of Wands - 6w - Something to do, tasks, taking out the trash, getting down to business, an urgency of doing, seeking help from friends (as it relates to VI Lovers) and so on.

Seven of Wands - 7w - Definitely relates to VII Chariot since both are Fire, an esoteric formula of the wands and their powers, the fire element in spirituality, burning, essence of desires, also political, 1/3 of world with 1/3 of fieryness, and 1/2 of temperance with 1/2 fieryness and many other uses for this bountiful, useful player in the Game.

Eight of Wands - 8w - Relates to Star (1+7), relates to Justice, relates to Tower if another 8 is present, it is a Saturnian number, can mean visions or fantasies but also can indicate patience or time threshold, plus lunar wands in magic (10+8)

Nine of Wands - 9w - Instantly you might see a fired up Hermit here, I also see a lot of potential indications, definitely regarding action and the number nine as a symbol, so it has an intrepid meaning and indication, it might relate to sun or moon depending which of those Arcana cards shows up (if both, then you will have to look at the other minors and courts that are on the altar).  Nine of wands is an awesome card and should not be overlooked, usually it has something special to share, it is very creative and can solve difficult problems if you let it speak to you. good luck.

Ten of Wands - 10w - Effort and force at its culmination for this element and suit.  It can be an oppressive force, an oppressor personality, a large task to be taken care of, demands that are difficult to meet and great power.  Sometimes it is exalted and other times, not so much. Now on to Cups,

Ace of Cups - Ac - A really awesome and beautiful symbol, the first generous blessing of the water suit and element it represents, full-on heart.  Wholesomeness in emotion and guardianship, integrity, great flow, essential to peace, when next to the Magician it can imply the communication of these values or it could also indicate a 1+1 alignment where something will manifest from, and these are just examples of millions of Tarot forms.

Two of Cups - 2c - The love card, friends, good people, not so easily reversed, but it is possible.  But also realize that it is related to High Priestess and can transmute easily on the board.  This doesn't always indicate intimacy or romance (at least not for me, hahahaha), but still you have to realize a lot about the symbology of the dolphins on the old woodcuts, and also the essentiality of two cups into one, there is a possibility here that was not present with the Ace of Cups, in divination maybe 8 times out of 10, especially when reading about people, that there is a good vibe about it and seeing it with Lovers and 6 of Cups is usually pretty awesome sign that this person has the ability to love and to keep friendships and openness with others.  Sharing love.

Three of Cups - 3c - Families, groups of lovers, groups of close friends, tight-knit emotional bonds, relates to Empress pretty easily and by relates I mean can be substituted by the Empress in the layout.  It also relates to Moon because Moon plus three is World, plus it relates to Hermit (3x3) there is a lot of fun with this card, but be careful, it doesn't want to be over-used.  It likes sincerity and to be valued like a prize, let's move along,

Four of Cups - 4c - Emperor in his emotional aspect is an illustration of this card and is useful but does not cover it completely.  It involves dreams, longing for another love, for an old love, for love.  Expression of feelings, awakening feelings in yourself, desire, getting ready, difficult feelings or memories of any type.

Five of Cups - 5c - The disappointment card, the breakup card, lost romantic interest, a deep learning experience, relates to Hierophant also, is not always a downer card though, this can pull you through also, it sees the heartache though.

Six of Cups - 6c - An awesome card, especially in a daily, morning routine reading, because it tends to predict really cool communications, talking, sharing, openness, friendliness with others.

Seven of Cups - 7c - An illumination card. What does this really mean? is the usual question brought about when you see it, yes it also relates to Chariot in the watery element, but yet, this great card is so essential to knowing the psyche and psychic warfare.  Eclectic, visionary stuff here, very powerful and yet it is so utilitarian on the altar, not always an essential portion of the reading, but sometimes it explains something so vague which you never knew!

Eight of Cups - 8c - Leaving, turning your back on something, usually situations.  Let's not only rely on that meaning because it is not that simple, it can relate to Hermit with the aid of an Ace or Magician (or even a Wheel in more esoteric stair climbings), but it also relates to moon and stars easily.  It is a strange, deep card and might relate to Justice in some instances, but not only focusing on what Majors it relates to because any of them could, in the multitude of endless combinations of energies on the board during the Game to absorb this symbol.  I tend to find it indicative of leaving or walking away, maybe also losing interest, but be careful not to associate this solely with that definition because you will notice there is another important energy of the 8c that must be withdrawn from the card and that is part of the truth--withdraw the meaning from the card, pull it out from it.  It might relate to dreams or karma and so on. Next!

Nine of Cups - 9c - An awesome hermetic card, plenty of art and music stored up here, plenty of innovation in creativity, inspiration and surprises.  Do not place too much emphasis on its appearance however and be sure to consult the Majors during your outlay, you will find the truth.

Ten of Cups - 10c - Happiness overall, great abundance, maybe even drunkeness, love in its depth of experience, good things, supporter of all, the worst thing it could do is be an illusion but even still, in the end ultimate pleasures.

Ace of Swords - As - The root of intellect.  A great card that will clue you in and make you look at something.  A magician of the air element, a pure thought and a pointer on the table.

Two of Swords - 2s - A tough card to learn but once you see the simplicity of it, you will know.  Decisions, deciding process, emanation of those thoughts regarding circumstances, dialectic, trade-off.

Three of Swords - 3s - The sad card, when the heart is wrenched, when the gut is fully engulfed in despair, or in contrast it could mean a science of the same.  Alternatively do not try to poke and pry your way around the three of swords because it tells you of an emotion that is driven out of someone, but it might be good too, as in when the wisdom of the sadness/mourning is invigorating to becoming real, don't look too hard at this card, it always has its indicator. I hope you get it.

Four of Swords - 4s - The analysis, the pause, take a breather of silence to contemplate and formulate theories or learn.

Five of Swords - 5s - Ouch, the tearing, rending, mind melting conflicts and harassments.  On the contrary, limits and near excesses of limits.  Discord, contentions, strifes, pushing and pulling in the air/thoughts/brain.

Six of Swords - 6s - Science (thanks again Crowley, you scary guy), Mercurial wisdom, occult wisdom, transmutable thought processes, exceptional deliverance of the Tarot card meanings to others, the ability to know, the brain, accuracy in communication and precision in thought, smart people.

Seven of Swords - 7s - Intellectual strength, knowingness to oblige, consideration, sacred, initiatory rites, ceremonial magic, awkward profundity, absurd sanity, proclamation, Chariot of Air, weirdness

Eight of Swords - 8s - Interference! (Crowley again! haha) One of the great Minor Arcana cards to remember immediately (along with 2 of cups) because it's meaning is not easy to avoid! This is stammering all around us in our so-called modern life.  An inability to get the message across, to have the things happen the way they should! I actually do believe that the alternative meaning of this card to be fairly esoteric, but on the other hand you can be assured that a Reversed 8s will many times (but not all) give the card a lesser efficacy.

Nine of Swords - 9s - The pain level! The pain card, pain, pain and more pain.  Well it's not that bad though.  It can also be another esoteric Air suit card which carries a strange intellectual capacity.  Watch your back, though.

Ten of Swords - 10s - Besides being a card of cutting and destructions, it also can be a cool new beginning card, like as if the ten=one, and it is ready to be totally reset.  Other than that I've seen it indicate a quite accurate description in the greater layout and is a very useful card.  It can echo the nine of swords too, but don't worry too much if you see a 9s and 10s in a reading, look for the Sun and it may resolve some way.

Ace of Pentacles - Ap - If you call this suit coins thats fine, it's still the earth element obviously.  The Ace is really cool, it's like a magic sign.  It can indicate good luck for money and financial prosperity, but more importantly an earthy spiritual point in the Tarot deck and it can take on all sorts of mysticism, even something like the shape of the coin or pentacle, or a temple.  And so I love this card for it's truth.

Two of Pentacles - 2p - You might be dazzled by this card, but a lot of times it indicates exchange or movement on the board.  By exchange, that is implying purchases at a store, the exchanging of money or material.  Oscillation of the element, trade off, maybe it's a future indicator too =]

Three of Pentacles - 3p - Earthly and earthy goodness and most definitely Empress classified, great card, emphasis on the number 3 for this one, mostly because the coins are pips, points so they indicate number a great deal and meditation upon the symbol of 3 is valuable for this, a proprietor of natural form.

Four of Pentacles - 4p -