How Different are Tarot Decks?

Let's begin learning about the cards.  Pictured above are cards from the suit of swords, as depicted in the Divine Animals Deck and the Archeon Deck.  I chose them because they do have similarities.  They're both from the suit of swords, as mentioned, but they also involve birds: one has a hawk of some type, and the other a raven, but the similarities seem to end there.  Let's look a bit more closely.
Swords generally have to do with intellect, intelligence and the left side of the brain.  Knowing only this, I'd like you to look at the Four of Swords and tell me what you think this card is saying to you right now.

Go ahead -- take a few minutes. I'll be right here.

So, what did you think?  What kind of bird crossed your mind as you looked at it? Ignore the fact that it says "the Hawk" -- this bird can be whatever you want it to be. Was it an eagle? An owl? A mythical bird?  Whichever bird it was for you, what do you think of when you think of that bird?  This will get you started.  Now, when you looked at the light above the bird's head, what did it make you think of? The sun? The moon? A great insight? Did it have an omnipotent feature?  Whatever the light meant to you, dig a little deeper.  That light signified something - now what meaning does that 'something' have for you? How does that relate to the bird?

And what about those swirls in the air? How did they feel to you? Did you notice that some of them seem to have gotten caught on the hilts of the swords? What does that mean?

We're getting somewhere!  Those swords -- all that intelligence and logic -- they're stuck in a pile of what appears to be twigs. Did you think they were something other than twigs? Did it look like snakes? Or old weeds? Whatever they looked like to you, when you think of that thing, what does it mean to you? What other thoughts always come up with that image?
I'll take a minute here, so you can put all these thoughts together.

Now, normally when reading cards, you won't look at every element in each card to get the story you're looking for.  In fact, quite the contrary.  It will usually be only one or two elements that are appropriate at that moment. But the way you look at those one or two elements in each of several cards lying on the table looking up at you, involves the same exercise we just went through -- it just happens a bit more quickly.

There is no right or wrong answer to this exercise.  It's just practice. Practice in seeing what a card has to offer, and what you bring to those symbols, yourself.  As you become familiar with looking at the cards in this way, you can eventually add the most crucial ingredient: a client.

You've probably guessed why the second card is here.  Yes, I want you to do the exercise again.  Write down your very first thoughts for each element. This time, you might include the element of color, too.  What do the symbols in the card mean to you?  That is the only place you can start.

Back to Internal Wilderness