What about that snail.

Something that has always bugged me is the snail on the 9 of pentacles. I love this card and really connect with it on a personal level. I was reading through some threads today and someone asked about the snail. I am a little obsessed with the snail so I always turn to the 9 of pentacles first in any new tarot book. I had never seen it discussed or expained. Just, hey look there's a snail.

Untill......
I bought the book Tarot and the Tree of Life by Isabel Radow Kliegman.
At last, not only is the snail mentioned but actually explained.

She says "It's a snail.Yuck! What is he doing on the card? No not yuck. He's part of the natural world. She accepts him in the same way she accepts the bounty of the garden and the falcon. He is welcome. He's part of it all. He's part of us. You can't be at one with nature unless you are at one with all of nature, and being at one with the nature "out there" is a metaphor for being at one with your own internal nature. If you can't enjoy a garden unless it is free of pests, unless each leaf and flower is perfect, you will never enjoy a garden. Similarly, if you cannot accept yourself because of your flaws and failings, if you cannot accept yourself as worthy of abundance and love unless you are perfect, you will never enjoy yourself. The snail represents our human failings; the serenity that the lady's demeanor expresses is the peace that comes from really being comfortable with yourself, really liking yourself just as you are."

Alot to get out of a snail. But I'm happy with the explaination. In my own mind I always saw the snail as saying- things aren't always as perfect as they seem. There might be a little snail just waiting to slim up you beautiful grapes. There will always be those little irritations so accept them and enjoy life anyway.
So I guess I wasn't so far off on my interpretation.
.

I'd be interested to know of any other book that explains the snail, or what your own insights are. I'm a sucker for obscurity. Nameste

A snail has an essential role on the garden. Using it to represent some sort of fault, seems disingenuous. It equates a lesser role with failure, or a flaw. I know of office buildings where the workers look down upon the janitor, because of his lesser role in the building. Does that imply that he is less of a person, that his morals and ethics are automatically flawed because of his lesser role?

Sandra A. Thomson, in her "Pictures from the Heart" book states that the snail......"Appearing mostly at night, snails are a lunar symbol, therefore a symbol of feminine energy and the cycle of death/rebirth, ending/beginning, continuity, and fertility. Because of its shell, it is linked to the symbolism of the spiral and to self-sufficiency...... represents slow and steady progress made in the journey 'home'(towards enlightenment)

Hi lark,

If you go to the sticky at the head of the Using Tarot Cards Forum then scroll down to Minor aracana - nines, there's a fascinating thread similarly entitled.

Eve

Thank-you Aoife, that was a big help to me.

You see I have to look at a snail in the context of my life. I'm a gardener and snails are a pest to a gardener. They slime up your lettuce and you can't eat it. I respect all life and see it as necessary in the big scheme of things. I'm an organic gardener because of that belief. I don't view a snail or any creature as lowly or lesser. Their knowledge and wisdom far exceed mine. My garden snails were well able to outwit any organic attempt to get them out of the lettuce. I finally just let them have the lettuce bed.

And all of this leads me to a question. In the thread, RW 9 of pentacles and a snail. Mojo said " The Egyptians used the snail to symbolize eternity and the vastness of the universe. Also the tendency of life to start off broad and grand and to eventually spiral down to it's basics as we get older. That along with Gerbear's description from Pictures of the Heart are wonderful and insightful peeks into the meaning of the snail. I'll be adding them to my notebook.

But what if someone put you on a desert island with the nine of pentacles and said , tell me what this means?
I don't know anything about Egyptian Hieroglyphs, or moon symbols, or ancient beliefs. I only know my own snail experiance.
Is that wrong?
This has made me very sad.
I didn't mean to offend.
I was a cook and dishwasher for years. I know how it feels to be looked at as flawed because I was preceived as having a lesser role than others around me.

So I'm confused, should we follow our intuition and life experiances when interpreting a card or look through a book to find the answer?
I think that the Tarot and the Tree of Life book validated my gardening experiance so I thought it was a good explanation.
I thought if someone else sees what I see I must be on the right track.
So I stopped there.
Should I have punched snail into a search engine and learned about every other cultures belief about the snail? Maybe.
But then the card isn't personal to me- it's way out there in some strange culture that I can't connect with. And I believe I have to learn my own myth first before I can adopt someone elses.
I hope I don't sound narrow minded. I truly believe in the joy of learning new things.
I don't know.
Like I said I'm confussed and sad about the whole thing. And truly didn't mean to offend. Nameste



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Oh lark, you sound so disheartened.

lark said:

Should I have punched snail into a search engine and learned about every other cultures belief about the snail? Maybe.
But then the card isn't personal to me- it's way out there in some strange culture that I can't connect with. And I believe I have to learn my own myth first before I can adopt someone elses.

.

Click to expand...

For what its worth, I entirely agree with you!

My intuition is precious, it has grown with me and has been shaped by my experiences and understanding of the world. For sure, I want to remain open to learning but in the process I refuse to doubt what my intution tells me in the here and now.

Gebear, I'm at a loss to understand how it could be considered disingenuous to consider the negative aspects of a symbol - or for that matter, a snail. Nor do I understand the analogy you offer.

Lark I think books are important to give us a starting point. Then we need to go on from there. Each deck is a book and we all learn how to read it in our own ways. Your intuition is very important in reading the cards both for yourself and others. Blessings, wolfen

Everything about the Tarot is Symbolism, The Snail means that she can go at a snails pace, slow and steady. Most people I know cannot afford the luxury of doing this, with bills and work. Debt is the modern slavery of our society today. People HAVE to work, and some even hold down several jobs. In the nine of pentacles, she is free. truly free to do what she wants. SHe can travel, enjoy life at a snails pace. slow and easy.

The Snail = 1.618033963

Which relates to both the Falcon and its handler in myriad of ways.

Begin at your knuckles. Measure the individual finger joints. What is the ratio between them? What is the ratio between the distance from your mouth to chin in relation to the distance from mouth to nose?

What is the size difference between each spiral on a snail cross section?

1.618033963 is referred to as the ‘golden ratio’. It repeats itself in all living things. It is also represents the ratio between Fibonacci numbers.

Mojo once said, “Falcons are wild creatures and master hunters. To tame any bird of prey to hunt on command takes incredible discipline and patience on the part of the trainer. There must exist absolute trust between the falconer and her bird. One single slip up could result in disaster. The expert handler exudes confidence at all times in the field of play. It is an amazing sport”

The snail is a reminder of successful relationships, both personal and mathematical…and your attitude at and towards work – is a relationship…

I'm gonna say something really repulsive to you guys... here in portugal we eat snails. It's usual in the summer, people going through the fields looking for them, and then cook them, and eat them. For us, snails are not discusting, they're a part of the nature. I personally love snails, because they're slow and steady (my favourite animal is the turtle - see any similarities?).

In the 9 of pentacles I see the snail just like matfav does: "SHe can travel, enjoy life at a snails pace. slow and easy."

The fact that it's slow, doesn't mean it's stupid or inferior... do you remeber the tale about the race between the rabbit and the turtle?

Anjo