Hanson - Robert Tarot: Ace of Pentacle.

Ann Yu

This is my opinion. I feel that Ace of Pentacle in this deck is more difficult to read than The Rider Waite's. Because the meaning of the Rider Waite's one is much more obvious. We can see immediately that there's a hand coming out of the cloud offering a coin, a pentacle of a rather big size. That must be standing for good luck and fortune. There is garden to be seen, a very well taken care of garden, blooming roses and white lilies, symbols of purity of the soul. Through the gate we see a road that will take us up the mountain. Yes, the mountain is the point here. That means it's leading us to the pinnacle.
And in the Hanson Robert, well... I can see the big coin, but why isn't there a hand? And I can see the lilies too but there's no mountain. So I feel it's quite unclear. It's just the personal idea. I'm still an amateur beginner. Hope I'll get more help from you guys. Thank you so much!
 

thorhammer

You make a good point, Ann Yu, but I think that in this card the colours and . . . stylisation are very important. The colours in the sky suggest sunrise, or even the big bang, to me. There is a sense of burgeoning (what a great word!), of coming forth, coming into being from a state of endless possibility. Which is, of course, what the card is all about.

So there are really three elements in the card - the clouds/sky, the lillies and the pentacle. In fact, we have a movement through a spectrum of actuality; from the fecundity of the clouds, through the growth and realisation of the lillies, until there is the miraculous coming into being of the pentacle, the fruit of labour, of the earth. The pentacle itself is a paragon of pentacle-ness, being large, shiny beyond belief (compare it with those in the subsequent numbered cards) and presents a perfect example of what can become.

I get a barely-containable thrill of excitement and anticipation when I gaze at this card. It's all there, about to happen, ready for me to press the "GO" button! It's a gift, a promise. There is encouragement, telling us that anything is possible right now.

\m/ Kat
 

Morwenna

I rather like the fact that in this deck the aces are not being proffered by a hand; they stand (or rather float) on their own. They're more portraits of a concept than representations of things. This pentacle seems to be borne up by the lilies, as if they stood for the usual hand, and it makes sense because the pentacle is a symbol of the element earth and the lilies arise from the natural earth. Together the lilies and the cloud form a visual frame for the pentacle. Actually, the effect reminds me of an old-fashioned hallway mirror. There may be something in that! It's something that just hit me now.
 

MaxZorr

If you look at the lilies closely they are actually cradeling the penticle as if they actually giving you this gift from the earth.

MaxZorr
 

GryffinSong

I just got an RWS as reference, and had to pull it out for comparison. I much prefer the Hanson Roberts. The hand, to me, gets in the way of the pure pentacle-ness of the ace. The HR ace boils it all down to the flowers, the clouds, the luscious color, and that shiny, rich-looking pentacle. I feel the earthy possibilities, and actually feel that it allows many more interpretations without the hand. With the hand (as per RWS) it seems to emphasize the money aspects of pentacles. But pents are more than that, and the HR interpretation allows me to see earth, growth, plants, and groundedness, without it HAVING to be about money.