Poledra said:
Was just tidying up my notes on the Aces and had a few questions.
What is the meaning of the dove and W on the Ace of Cups? I assume the W stands for water, but that seems very simplistic.
Thanks,
Poledra
right now I can only help with the Ace of Cups based on what Robert M. Place in his book Tarot, History, Symbolism and Divination says:-
The W on the Cup is an M upside down identifies with Mary to show it is receiving the Host delivered by the dove. (maybe heavenly host - angels?). He says the RW Ace of Cups is definitely an allegory image of the Grail.
The dove is the standard Christian symbol for the Holy Spirit and the Host with the cross is the body of christ.
Now I have always thought the five streams represented the five senses but Robert M. Place tells us that they "represent the five wounds which he" (I assume christ) "bled to bring eternal life to the world." But another interesting things he tells us is that "Waite wrote that there were four. It appears that he wanted to connect the symbol to the fountain in the center of Eden from which four rivers flowed toward the four cardinal directions."
Finally he tells us that this card represents for us the "initiation of a search within the soul for one's true purpose or desires. When we find our true desire, we will discover that we are not it's author. It is like a seed planted in us by the divine, a seed that needs to be nurtured and allowed to grow"
As I have said before, for me the Ace of Cups is about rise in your personal feelings and how it urges one to not only become aware of this, but why you feel like this and what can be done with these feelings.
The hand issuing from the clouds my own personal feelings about this is that it represents a gift from God - I guess the simple reason it may well grab the sword and wand is because that appears more stable, whereas the cup and pentacle have a better base on which to balance - I will when I get a little time research that element.
The different scenery assigned to each Ace would be symbolic to its meaning- for instance the castle in the background of the Ace of Wands could well represent a man made structure showing the manifestation of security in the future. The Ace of course being an action card which urges you to take those ideas and set them in motion to create what you want.
To understand the differences in the scenery you have to study the symbolism.
I cannot recommend enough a good symbols dictionary and if you are interested in the History, symbolism and divination of the cards Rober M. Places book is a good and interesting read.
I hope some of this has been of use to you.