ToP Kings - Need Some Observations

TheLovers2

Hi:

I absolutely love this deck. At present this is my working deck and although, I move around, I have a very strong feeling this will continue to be at the very top of my deck favorites.

I haven't had it long. I'm still studying it; spending time with it. However, I am having trouble with the Kings. If they're talking and I'm sure they are; I must not be hearing. I'm at a loss and don't get much when I look at the Kings. It's only the Kings - none of the other cards. The others are rich and give me so much.

What are some of your thoughts, feelings re: any of the Kings of ToP? Maybe, I just need some sort of jumpstart on them.

Help!

Thanks.

TL2
 

baba-prague

Oh, I am not sure I should be the person to start this really, but to begin with the most straightforward (I think) the King of Wands is a bit of a performer. He likes to be noticed and followed - he's quite showy at heart. He is quite eccentric but within limits (wouldn't do to forget his position). He rather likes his reputation for being odd and unconventional, but at heart he mostly does stick to the rules.

Some thoughts:

He is in the most public square in Prague.
His wand is very large and bursting with life - a real show-piece as much as anything functional.
He is standing in front of a building that was very much meant to be seen and appreciated (it is really on show - it's also on the "Royal Route", so at important moments many, many people would pass this house and see the elaborate decorations).
He is rather flamboyantly dressed - yet he is a little stocky and in some ways looks quite establishment (although it would never do to tell him that). However, the overall impression is of someone very strong and very alert.
His faithful follower (a courtier figure) is very proper in some ways but he is wearing a weird "monkey beast" on his helmet (strange, strange, very strange) - the kind of oddity that the King probably likes.

Does any of that "kick start" this king? Think of the rather theatrical older man who has in fact become very respectable but rather likes to maintain his former reputation as a bit of a wild and unconventional boy about town.

I will now retire and see what others have to say :)
 

TheLovers2

baba-prague:

Thank you. Actually, this King was giving me the most trouble next to King of Cups, so this really does help a lot. He is indeed different; I haven't seen one quite like him and didn't know quite how to take him.

Being eccentric myself (as I'm sure a lot of people are on here) I will probably relate to and enjoy him quite a bit. I have no doubt he will be my favorite King of the deck.

I am going to look forward to hearing about K of Cups, K of Swords and finally K of Pentacles. I have my book and it is wonderful, but, I want to look at my cards and pick up nuances and intuitively read, as well. It's an important aspect of my reading style - intuition - along with the book.

When I saw your post, I got my cards out and examined the King of Wands closer, considering your thoughts. Thank you so much.

Also, I've sent you a PM.

TL2
 

Jewel-ry

Hi there TL2,

I have been away and have only just got back to the boards today. I just read your post and thought I would put in some links to the Kings already covered and then I realised that we hadn't done any!!!

So, I shall make it my task this weekend to do at least one.

I'm really glad you like the deck, it is one of my favourites too and of course it helps to have baba around at times as well.

Good luck

:)
 

TheLovers2

Jewel-ry:

Thanks so much. I will look forward to it.

TL2
 

janomalee

King of Pentacles

There is a building in the background of the King of Pentacles that reminds me of the Hancock Tower in Chicago. It is the bluish rooftop with the two gold things on it. It reminds me of business and commerce. It makes me think of the money aspect of the suit of Pentacles. It reminds me that this King is a serious businessman, despite his elaborate robes.
 

jema

I got the King of Cups today as my daily card and here are a few thoughts. (from the tarot journal)

Fire of Water.
Sitting at the edge of the water but not actually looking at the water. A hard grip on his cup. Perhaps afraid of losing it? The cup has a closed lid, careful not to show or let out any kind of emotions. A boat with the sails down...
He is so occupied with being King/fire that he cannot enjoy the Cup/Water/Emotions.

Karen writes: Repressed imagination.
Q of the Day: What holds me back?

Not much perhaps, but all I wrote for today.
 

TheLovers2

Thanks, Jema.

That's interesting. When I pull a card for the day, I'm looking for a message, obviously, but, I may need to ask myself questions as well, in relation to the cards I've pulled. I never do that. I need to probe more on the one card pulls.

Your take on the KoCups is interesting to me, the things that stood out to you in the card would not have occurred to me, though, I do look for nuances -- whatever stands out or speaks to me in a card. It is always interesting to see what other people are getting or picking up. I liked it. :)

TL2
 

punchinella

Hello everyone!

I'm writing from the 'closet' & cannot pull cards out for examination while I write . . . so these comments are from memory only.

Am I wrong, or does the King of Wands actually have two wands in his possession? If so: I'm not sure he's a guy I'd want to trust!

Personal Reflection on ToP King of Pentacles:

One morning last winter I drew this card. I had been doing volunteer construction work in a karate dojo, under somewhat confused circumstances. Pulling the card in the morning, I thought "oh good, a solid day at last" . . . No. ToP was far more literal than that. I found myself, quite unexpectedly, in the 'court' of the Sensei for whom I had been working. The confusion of my circumstances was, by chance, brought to his attention that day. Sitting rigidly upright, & donning--as he spoke--a golden toque of the most brilliant shade imaginable, he calmly passed a by-the-books judgment that, in retrospect, permanently changed things for me. It was SOOOO the ToP card. It was the very QUINTESSENCE of the ToP card. He was rigid; he was unbendable. His heart was in the right place (as Karen, I believe, writes . . . ) but to him, the law was the law was the law . . . period.

And the cap was (heehee) just the crowning part of that image.

I never saw it before that day, & never saw it again.

It's hard to make the story as definitive as the experience. Oh well! I thought I'd share it anyway, for purposes of common--does Rachel Pollack call it accretion?? For me, the ToP King of Pentacles will never be other than my own Sensei X, sitting on his bench. --Ramrod straight amidst the squalor of a construction zone; laying down the law itself in a shockingly brilliant yellow toque.

:) :) :)
 

baba-prague

I'm not sure that the King of Wands is exactly someone to trust. We saw him as someone who is definitely insistent on being centre of attention (and usually he effortlessly is so). He is fine when he is the one being admired and followed, but less predictable when expected to follow someone else (which basicallly he can't do). I think of him very much as a great "Lord" of the British theatre gracefully - grand, eccentric, amusing, interesting, but very much aware of his status. So - someone who you may love to meet, but may also be irritated by in some circumstances.

Still, I like him for the fact that his commander-in-chief wears a monkey on his helmet - I mean, you have to like that really!