CARDS OF THE DAY: January 12, 2022

 

 

Nine of Pentacles and Eight of Wands

from Neo Tarot

by Jerico Mandybur with art by Daiana Ruiz

 

January 12, 2022: Pip-pidee-do-dah! Today, two pip cards from Neo Tarot display two different ways of communicating a message.

IX of Pentacles brings us another of artist Daiana Ruiz's graceful human figures. Unlike some Nine of Pentacles images, this figure is moving, not so much smugly resting on their assets but actively enjoying them. A bird in the hand is a nifty symbol of all that is needed being reliably close at hand in the Nine's pleasing environment. It's a card of sufficiency and satisfaction.

VIII of Wands, like the classic Pamela Colman Smith pip on which it is loosely based, avoids human imagery altogether. Instead, it suggests turbulent, heavy weather in motion, an atmosphere ablaze with activity (wands equaling the element of fire in Tarot symbology). I often think of this card as the sign of lots of energy roiling around in either a literal or metaphoric environment--sometimes too much, much too much to handle. Things, thoughts, talk, tasks, challenges, people, what have you.

So, here are two cards again reminding us of the value of the basics to any Tarot study. As a Tarot newbie looking at the Nine, you're likely to figure out (no pun) a story to go with the figure that will work for your reading. Looking at the Eight, however, might prove more daunting. There's less here to go on, visually, and there are Tarot decks with pips that are even trickier to decipher--like the very early European ones and modern ones based on them that might show you merely a neat arrangement of six fancy pentacles or four elaborate cups.

Nine of Pentacles

from Ancient Minchiate Etruria,

a reproduction of a 1725 Florentine Minchiate oracle deck

 

That's when you need a clear understanding of what each of the suits are about--swords, pentacles, wands, and cups--and a grasp of how numerology can influence Tarot interpretation and storytelling.

One possible story arising from this particular encounter--Nine of Pentacles and Eight of Wands--is of sheltering with everything you need and staying out of the developing stormy weather. You'll know whether that message should be interpreted literally or metaphorically. It works either way.

An alternative story might show a past or current condition--call it Nine of Pentacles-hood, if you will--that is safe, secure, and even stodgy dramatically changing with a sudden wild infusion of new energy/weather! 

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Catch up with updated CARD OF THE DAY posts here: https://hummingwitch.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-good-weekend-to-catch-up-with-our.html

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