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CHAPTER 1
INTERPRETATIONS OF THE CARDS — MAJOR ARCANA
THE SIGNIFICATOR
In the Dame Fortune's Wheel Tarot, though not a part of the traditional Tarot deck, the pictorial Significator card is, in effect, a variant of what Etteilla modestly named 'The Etteilla,' an extra card he took the liberty of adding to represent the enquirer himself. To quote Etteilla's reasoning for this: "One felt the necessity for a blank card ['The Etteilla'] when one reflected on the fact that, if a dark man was reading the cards for himself, and he chose the King of Trefoils [Clubs], which designates a dark man [to represent himself], he wouldn't be able to discover if a dark man intended to be of service or disservice to him." In other words, by using the extra 'Etteilla' card, you freed up all the other cards in the deck for divinatory use. It is an option you may use if you wish. The design for the Significator card in Dame Fortune's Wheel is adapted from a 16th century manuscript illustrating the astrological rulership of the zodiacal signs over parts of the human body, beginning with Aries at the head and ending on Pisces at the feet. The Four Triplicities into which the signs are divided represent the four Aristotelian elements, Fire, Air, Earth and Water, each allied respectively to one of the Four Humours considered to determine the personality of a human being: Choleric, Sanguine, Melancholic or Phlegmatic.
TRUMP 0 — THE FOOL
Many medieval woodcuts entitled "The Children of the Planets" depict the rule of the seven astrological planets over people and their professions. The Fool often appears among them depicted as a child of the Moon, in fact as a "lunatic." In a Tarot deck he carries no number or alternatively a zero, maybe because he stood outside the social order. He was the homeless, placeless, often mentally ill person, cast adrift, frequently taunted by children and left to beg for charity. In some decks he is placed at the end of the trump sequence, after card 21. He also plays a popular, central role in German medieval drama, which may partially account for his presence in the Tarot. Despite his outcaste station in life a witty Fool could sometimes find himself a niche at a medieval court, where, like King Lear's Fool, he could provide entertainment for his lord. Theoretically he was the one person immune from retribution for quips he made, but all too often he became a whipping boy, a scapegoat in effect. Indeed, in Tarot games he is frequently known as the Skys, the "Excuse," an expendable card you may play to save a higher card you otherwise would be forced to sacrifice. He is powerless to take any other card, although in a few games he is considered the highest trump of all. Our design is based on one created in 1761 by Nicholas Conver, a Marseilles card maker from southern France.
KEYWORD
Madness.
UPRIGHT CARD
Mania, intoxication, infantilism, innocence, unpredictability, anarchy.
REVERSED CARD
Stupidity, nullity, apathy, sloth, dementia or mental illness.
TRUMP I — THE JUGGLER
Since the beginning of recorded history, the skilful juggler has entertained his audience with his principal trick, which is depicted in this Tarot trump. The "Cups and Ball" trick uses three inverted Cups and a ball to misdirect his victims. The ball is seemingly placed under one cup, which is then switched around rapidly with the others. The unwary onlooker is now encouraged to bet money on which cup the ball is under. The design of our card is based upon another 15th century illustration of The Children of the Planets. The Juggler is at his table up to his old trick, baiting and switching, bamboozling gullible onlookers. Mercury, the astrological ruler of tricksters and wheeler-dealers, is the planet whose occult influence the Juggler falls under, as does the Juggler's pet monkey. Today we might see the Juggler as an entrepreneur, agent, sly lawyer or politician, fake psychic or swindler, depending on his position and the cards that surround him. His appearance in your spread implies the application of some form of skill, cunning, dexterity or diplomacy. Or maybe the enquirer is being conned and taken for a ride, depending on how the card is positioned, upright or reversed.
KEYWORD
Cunning.
UPRIGHT CARD
Skill, dexerity, diplomacy.
REVERSED CARD
Deceit, quackery, swindling.
TRUMP II — THE FEMALE POPE
Nicholas Conver also provides the prototype here. Pope Joan, a popular mythical figure of late medieval legend and drama, reached her position of eminence through her erudition. In 1361 Boccaccio placed her among the great women of antiquity and sang her praises in his book About Famous Women. An ambitious nun who dressed herself as a monk for self-protective reasons, Joan attained high ecclesiastical office and was finally elected to the papacy in 855 as Pope John VIII. She was only unmasked when she gave birth to a child. In medieval religious dramas she does rigorous penance for her audacity and is ultimately saved from the jaws of Hell by the intercession of the Virgin Mary. By her subterfuge she may arguably be considered a greater trickster than the Juggler, in this manner earning her her position in the trump procession. Today many cartomancers view her as symbolic of feminist issues. She also implies new, radical and therefore "heretical" revelations, notions that contradict currently accepted views (exemplified by the Pope trump), even heralding new paradigms. When she appears reversed however her revelations may prove ineffectual, may not stand up in court, to laboratory testing, or even to the test of time. Or they may simply be considered too off-the-wall and out of touch with reality.
KEYWORD
Revelation.
UPRIGHT CARD
New paradigms, astonishing revelations, female spirituality.
REVERSED CARD
False revelations, incorrect conclusions, crackpot theories, false teachings.
TRUMP III — THE EMPRESS
The inspiration for this card is drawn from a Milanese design found on an uncut sheet of 15th century black and white Tarot prints. As the wife of the Emperor, the Empress is one of the characters that feature in the medieval morality play The Dance of Death. She may also represent the Empress Irene, whose tale follows that of Pope Joan in Boccaccio's popular book, which may account for her placement after Joan in the trump sequence. On the other hand, if the Emperor trump represents Frederic III (a subject we shall explore in the next card), then the Empress may be his wife Leonora of Portugal, whom he married in 1552. In terms of cartomantic significance we may say that all the famous women rulers of antiquity are represented by this image. Today we might see her as an archetype of female secular authority, if not at work on the throne then the power behind it. She is generally considered by cartomancers as a card of great productivity and beneficence.
KEYWORD
Matriarchy.
UPRIGHT CARD
Female authority, beneficence, plenitude.
REVERSED CARD
Waste, vacillation, overindulgence, female authority abused.
TRUMP IV — THE EMPEROR
The design for this card is based upon the same black and white fifteenth century Milanese fragmentary deck as the Empress. Founded in 800 C.E., the Holy Roman Empire was to have been the secular counterpart of the Church, a realization of the ideal of the Imperium Christianum, heir to the ancient empire of Rome comprising the European lands of Christendom. The Empire ultimately came to an end in 1806. The Holy Roman Emperor portrayed in the trump may have been in power around the time the trumps came into existence, possibly the Emperor Sigismund who was crowned at Rome in 1433. On the other hand the trump could equally well represent Emperor Frederick III who succeeded him in 1452. In medieval and Renaissance iconography the Emperor's image symbolized the supreme secular rule of the monarch as opposed to the religious rule of the Pope. His appearance in your spread brings stability, potency, protection and realization, benevolent authority and aid. Reversed or badly placed he may indicate stubborn authoritarianism and the worst side of paternalism.
KEYWORD
Patriarchy.
UPRIGHT CARD
Male authority, stability, potency, protection.
REVERSED CARD
Abuse of male authority, authoritarianism, micromanagement.
TRUMP V — THE POPE
The Tarot of Nicholas Conver supplies the inspiration for this image. As successor to the Apostle Simon Peter, the Pope, whose title "Papa" means "Father," was considered to be the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe. He was also believed to be the "vicar," or substitute, for Jesus, and was frequently depicted as holding the symbolic "Keys" that Jesus was believed to have granted Simon Peter to bind and loose men from the spiritual consequences of their sins. The image of the Pope represents orthodox, organized religion — religious as opposed to secular authority. As the Pontifex or bridge-builder between man and divinity, the Pope was the "official" interpreter of the mysteries of the unseen. When he shows up in a reading the trump may represent a spiritual adviser to the enquirer, one to whom he or she would turn in times of perplexity or spiritual quandary, possibly a counselor, psychiatrist, father or mother-confessor, guru, priest, imam or rabbi.
KEYWORD
Faith.
UPRIGHT CARD
Organized religion, church, temple, synagogue, mosque, orthodoxy. Cleric, rabbi, imam, spiritual counsellor.
REVERSED CARD
Dogmatism, bigotry, hypocrisy, sanctimony.
TRUMP VI — LOVE
The design for this card is based upon a medieval illuminated manuscript depicting a marriage. The earliest Tarot decks simply depict a pair of lovers, and always overhead flies the mischievous boy-god Eros, classical emblem of allconquering, often unrequited Love. On the other hand his brother Anteros, born of their mother Aphrodite as a playmate to solve Eros's loneliness, was considered to represent requited love. Eros, or Cupid as the Romans knew him, possessed a golden bow and quiver full of arrows, some tipped with gold, some with lead. Those beings, mortal or immortal, struck by one of Eros's gold tipped arrows became infatuated with the first individual they set eyes on, while those pierced by one of his lead tipped arrows fled in loathing from the person they encountered. After time the title of this trump changed from Love to the Lovers and depicted a young man apparently torn in his choice between two figures, giving rise to a later cartomantic interpretation of the card as "Choice." Love triumphs over all the trumps that precede him, the Fool, Juggler, Female Pope, Empress, Emperor and Pope, although there are in the deck fifteen more powerful trumps that can defeat him.
KEYWORD
Love.
UPRIGHT CARD
Infatuation, union, marriage, partnership, difficult choice.
REVERSED CARD
Destructive partnership, end of a relationship or partnership, no more choice.
TRUMP VII — THE CHARIOT
The Chariot trump probably displays one of the pageant wagons that initially served as stages for medieval plays. The figure riding inside it varies from deck to deck. Most often a crowned male figure in armor appears, who may depict a triumphant monarch in a victory parade. The card may then augur the achievement of a major victory over some problem. On the other hand, if we consider one of the other names for this card, "Reward of Victory," then the Chariot may also be interpreted as Fame (as opposed to Fortune which has a mightier trump of its own) in addition to Victory in general. Sometimes a female allegorical figure of Fame is even depicted riding in the Chariot. And this is interesting — by its placement in the trump sequence, slightly cynical and somewhat world weary perhaps, Fame is seen to triumph over Love! When reversed or positioned with bad cards, the looked-for Fame or Victory may be delayed or even overturned by superior force. Nicholas Conver provides the basis for our trump's design.
KEYWORD
Quest.
UPRIGHT CARD
Fame, esteem, renoun, victory, success.
REVERSED CARD
Victory delayed or blocked, tarnished fame.
TRUMP VIII — JUSTICE
The Cardinal Virtue Justice as displayed in Tarot decks is generally female, possibly representing Astraea, the daughter of the Greek deities Zeus and Themis. She was said to have been born during the Golden Age before the Great Flood when all humanity lived together in harmony in an Earthly paradise, but as wickedness among men increased she withdrew from the world and made her home in the heavens, where she may be seen today as the constellation Virgo. The design for this card is based upon a 15th century painted trump from a partial collection known as the "Estense" deck, probably created around 1470 in Ferrara, Italy. Like the other Cardinal Virtues, Justice is often portrayed in religious art with a polygonal halo, indicating the figure's allegorical as opposed to sanctified status. The word "cardinal" implies a principal virtue, on which other moral virtues are hinged. Sometimes portrayed wearing a blindfold, the trump counsels impartiality, urging the querent to weigh a matter carefully in the scales of wisdom before applying the sword of division or retribution. Often it also warns of impending retribution for the querent, of reaping the reward for ones actions materially or through a system of metaphysical rewards and punishments. When reversed, the card may indicate the prevalence of perverted justice or bad laws.
KEYWORD
Justice.
UPRIGHT CARD
Impartiality, law, due process, rectitude, probity, reason, virtue rewarded.
REVERSED CARD
Bad laws, injustice, corruption, punishment, droit de guerre.
TRUMP IX — THE HERMIT
The Estense partial deck from Ferrara also provides the basis for the design of this card. The Hermit may appear in the Tarot as one of Death's victims in his Dance. Alternatively, one of the Hermit's other titles, Rerum Edax "Devourer of Things," and other versions of his trump such as the one represented here depicting him carrying an hour glass instead of a lantern, indicate that his true identity may be all-devouring Time, portrayed in the image of the Greco-Roman god Kronos-Saturn. Warned by a prophecy that one of his sons would supplant him on the throne of heaven, Kronos began swallowing his children as soon as his wife Rhea gave birth to them. Rhea, however, finally foiled her husband's schemes by presenting him with stones wrapped in baby clothes to swallow. As a result, one of Kronos's sons, Zeus, grew to manhood, wrested the crown from him and banished him to rule the Isles of the Blessed forever. Basically this card represents Time and Old Age, and therefore all things, good or bad, associated with these matters.
KEYWORD
Prudence.
UPRIGHT CARD
Slow deliberation, the wisdom of age, contemplation, caution, precaution, seniority.
REVERSED CARD
Obstacle, apathy, avarice, aging, dementia, compulsive retentiveness, hoarding, decrepitude.
TRUMP X — THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE
The Roman goddess Fortuna held a strong appeal for the late pagan mind. She appears in Anicius Boethius popular sixth century work The Consolation of Philosophy, and as the deity in charge of fate was respected by gamblers and fortune-tellers alike. She was renamed Dame Fortune during the Christian Middle Ages and was still feared on account of her well-known fickleness, the gifts presented at the turn of the year by servants to their masters being a memory of the old Pagan worship. One of her most frequently encountered symbols is a large wheel, the so-called Wheel of Fortune. Illustrations of the Wheel sometimes depict four figures riding it with words emerging from their mouths: regnabo, regno, regnavi, sum sine regno: "I will reign, I reign, I have reigned, I am without reign," which tell their own story. Dame Fortune may turn the Wheel herself, blindfolded like Eros to demonstrate just how arbitrary she is. Her Wheel may be seen to represent the questioner's public image, his friends and associates, his financial condition or that of his employer or business associates. Generally however cartomancers regard the Wheel as a card of good fortune, growth and prosperity when it appears upright; of aggrandizement and its perils when reversed.
KEYWORD
Fickle Fortune.
UPRIGHT CARD
Good, rewarding times coming, growth, well disposed friends and benefactors.
REVERSED CARD
Bad, troublesome times following growth, possibly from hollow friends or unreliable business associates.
TRUMP XI — FORTITUDE
Fortitude is the second of the Cardinal Virtue trumps. The conventional Marseille trump portrays Fortitude as a female figure either wrenching open or forcing shut the jaws of a lion, an image possibly derived from that of the classical hero Hercules conquering the lion of Nemaea. In Dame Fortune's Wheel Tarot we have again followed a different lead, that of the painted, Ferrarese trump from the Estense deck that depicts Fortitude breaking a column in two, an image that frequently appears in early Renaissance art. Although this image has likewise become a female figure, the prototype was also probably originally male: the biblical hero Samson, pulling down one of the pillars of the Temple to which he had been bound by the Philistines after his betrayal by the faithless Delilah.
KEYWORD
Fortitude.
UPRIGHT CARD
A trial of strength, moral or physical, heroism, physical robustness, firm resolve, advice to take courage.
REVERSED CARD
Foolhardy audacity, overkill, despotism.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Dame Fortune's Wheel Tarot"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Paul Huson.
Excerpted by permission of The Witches' Almanac Ltd..
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