TemperanceAngel said:
For some reason the colors that he uses in the Minors seem to remind me of the chakras, maybe because I am tuned into them at the moment, as in reading a lot about them. But we can talk about that in another thread...
I second that! Knowing nothing about chakras or their colors I would love to see that thread!
Ace of Cups: The cat and kittens at the bottom and around them looks to me like tents that have been pitched. Are they dolphins or fish? They look a bit Dr. Seuss characters don't you think?
Dolphins, I think, and yes they DO look a bit Seuss-y. I am not at all sure about the bottom, though. I thought tents at first too but the more I looked at them with my magnifying glass, the less that seemed the answer. But I don't really have a better theory.
Ace of Wands: LOL this card is great. What are those lepricorns up to at the bottom with their hammer and sickle? This card reminds of a really old deck. An Irish theme indeed. We see the three leaf clovers, and what is the naked child doing in the nest half way up. The fact that it's on fire I can't help but relate this card to the element of Fire. As with the Ace of Cups, so much water and shells has to be the element of Water.
Yep, plus the leprechaun at the very bottom is cutting down the tree stump and the handle of his saw is a wooden FISH! I am sure that means something but what? The child in the tree is holding up a green snake in his hands, not a scarf. You know, when you really look at the tree, you can see that the natural tree is "clothed" in wooden boards. I thought at first they were bark but now I can see they are really boards. How odd!
Ace of Coins: Any idea what those plants/flowers in the bottom right and left hand corners? Looks like the child holding the coin is the one from the Ace of Wands. This time blindfolded and the scarf is red, green in the wands ace. The coin itself has so much detail and looks as though it has been earthed or pulled out of the ground. Abundance, fruit trees, cow, man and women, lion etc.
No idea exactly WHAT the flowers at the bottom are but they are very similar to the flowers that are budding from the tree stump in the Ace of Wands. The child could be the same one but if you look at his hands, he is not actually "holding" the coin, his fingers are just extended straight out, touching it. He is probably blindfolded to keep him from seeing the very Baccanalian (sp?) scene above him in the coin. Real little orgy of grapes, treasure and nudity going on up there!
Ace of Swords: When I look from a distance I see the circle at the top looking like olives, lol, but seriously what are those black things? Beautiful wings, makes me think that the card is combined with the element of Air. And Coins with Earth. Snake or serpent. Man and women, Yin and Yang. Balance.
Those are "spades" up at the top, as in modern playing cards, probably the modern echo of the older suit. You know, now I can see that that is why the "heart" is on the cup ace, the three-leaf clovers are the "clubs" on the wands ace and I guess the "diamonds" around the woman's neck and in the treasure chest on the coins ace play the same role.
I agree with all the balance here of the woman holding the lamb and the man holding the infant on the crossbar of the sword; it is also reminiscent of the figures balanced on the swords in the three of swords. The woman hanging upside down at the bottom of the sword reminds me of the World card, especially if you turn the whole card upside down.
All three of the cups, wands and swords aces have yods falling from them as in the RWS decks but I don't know enough about the Kabbalah to be able to comment on them.
All in all, I think we could spend weeks on just the aces and their relationships with each other and other cards.
