kalliope
Chapter 4 -- Pretty basic to me, but like you I also liked her take on how to care for decks. She emphasized what those rituals can do for you, the reader, not the decks themselves. There are definitely benefits to those things without having to believe in any superstitious rules about tarot, or in any "woo" , and I like that she pointed that part out.
Chapter 5 -- The elemental designations for the suits were nothing new to me. Although she says people don't always agree, I think Wands/Fire, Cups/Water, Swords/Air, and Pentacles/Earth are the most common, and what the average tarot reader probably uses. I did really like the 4-quadrant chart showing willpower, perception, force, and matter as Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles (location 860 for Kindle readers.) This may be something very elementary to those who study the Golden Dawn system, but I hadn't really absorbed it before and find this "quaternary of positive science" to be an interesting idea. She said they're derived from Papus, so there he is again! I guess I should seek him out?
She assigns The Magician to Earth instead of Air, and while I get what she says about her reasons, I'm more inclined to see him as Air myself. But then again, I've been influenced by some TdM and historical decks & studies to see the Magician in more of a manipulative and cunning light, for good or bad, and I see those as mental qualities.
But to be honest, I rarely think about the elemental associations for the Majors! Maybe that will change as I work through the book.
Chapter 5 -- The elemental designations for the suits were nothing new to me. Although she says people don't always agree, I think Wands/Fire, Cups/Water, Swords/Air, and Pentacles/Earth are the most common, and what the average tarot reader probably uses. I did really like the 4-quadrant chart showing willpower, perception, force, and matter as Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles (location 860 for Kindle readers.) This may be something very elementary to those who study the Golden Dawn system, but I hadn't really absorbed it before and find this "quaternary of positive science" to be an interesting idea. She said they're derived from Papus, so there he is again! I guess I should seek him out?
She assigns The Magician to Earth instead of Air, and while I get what she says about her reasons, I'm more inclined to see him as Air myself. But then again, I've been influenced by some TdM and historical decks & studies to see the Magician in more of a manipulative and cunning light, for good or bad, and I see those as mental qualities.
But to be honest, I rarely think about the elemental associations for the Majors! Maybe that will change as I work through the book.