fluffy said:
3 sets of three cards in each suit have the same "mode" and same "sign". ie. 2 wands is aries and cardinal, 3 wands is aries and cardinal and 4 wands is aries and cardinal?
Is that correct? I ask because I just assumed that every card would be different!
Yep, that is it exactly. The 2, 3 and 4 of Wands are all Aries, and Aries is a Cardinal sign, so all 3 fit into that Cardinal Sign (or constellation, winks at Ravenest again). They are all the same, as they are all the same sign.
Each of those cards is a different Decan of Aries (i.e. 1/3 of it) but they are all Aries and Aries is always Cardinal.
In fact it may help to think to yourself, that the 2,3 and 4 of every suit are always Cardinal. The 5,6 and 7 are always Fixed, and the 8,9 and 10 are always Mutable. This affects their meaning, but also it allows you to work out the Sign when your unsure what it is. (e.g. "I am looking at the 7 of Wands... I can't remember what sign it is.... I know its a Fire sign since its Wands, and I know the 7's are always Fixed signs, so it must be Leo, the sign of Fixed Fire".) Once you get that formula under your belt, you can work out any card in a snap.
Fluffy said:
I am still considering your first post and not really thinking about constellations and stars just yet, or decans really till I get this clear. I hope I don't hold everyone up!
There really is no need to start thinking about the debate of constellations verses signs, as it exceedingly unlikely to make a different to tarot work for most people (IMO). If you want to start applying your tarot work to magic it might come up, but for the time being I'd suggest we blissfully ignore it.
And please don't worry about holding anyone up. I've been studying this for a little while now and have a reasonable grasp on the basics, but have learnt so much more from looking at it anew this way. Thats what is so exciting for me about this method. One little question or spanner in the works, and you can discover great new stuff trying to peg it down. Fun eh!?