Decision Spread - Acolyte Combination

FreeMoon

Hi

I have done a decision spread to see if I should stay living in my current city or more interstate.

In the advantage position of relocating and moving interstate I drew The Hierophant The Devil and The Tower all upright and I shuffled before drawing each card ( so they weren't drawn one after the other if the top of the deck).

Soooo I feel this is quite a significant message - I'm interpreting this as if I do relocate it will be a renewal of life a transformation - a new way of life a complete breakdown of current way of living and a release from current systems and life habits, beliefs etc. Does anyone else have any thoughts???

When I was hunting the web for some help with interpreting these cards together (I use that method I can't remember the name but where you use 3 cards for each position in a spread) I found that in this combination all 3 cards are Acolyte Cards and together they can mean "your individuality is being subsumed to a higher cause in an epic surrender of self to ideal. This may or may not be a good thing, but it is something to be aware of.". I have not heard of Acolyte Cards before and can't find any further info on their combination (just the quoted sentence) - can anyone help?
 

rwcarter

Moderator Note

Welcome to Aeclectic, FreeMoon!

As Aeclectic is a learning forum, can you tell us how/where each card plays into the interpretation you gave?
 

FreeMoon

The Heirophant - traditional systems and fixed values needing to conform to rules.
The Devil - unhealthy attachments and shadow self
The Tower - sudden change and transformation.
I interpret the tower as forcing a sudden change that transforms the current values and belief systems that I have relating to current quality of life including work and social - and any unhealthyy habits and attachments that may be contributing to these current values etc

Thanks!
 

rwcarter

I have never heard of the term "Acolyte Cards" before. One thing I caution folks about is that just because it's written (whether in a book or on a website), doesn't make it gospel. Keep what resonates and discard what doesn't. If that term doesn't resonate with you, discard it and move on.

As for the three cards you drew, the Hierophant could mean the tried and true, the Devil could mean being stuck, and the Tower could represent liberation. The Hierophant and Devil together could point to societal or familial pressures to maintain the status quo. So as the advantage to relocating, those three cards could be pointing to a necessary "shaking up" of your life that needs to occur, since the Tower usually speaks to a false foundation that needs to be torn down so that a true foundation can be rebuilt.

Rodney
 

Curious1

I hadn't heard the term before either. However, according to this site (http://varioustarotdeckss.blogspot.com/2011/03/major-arcana-notes-fron-keencom.html) here are what Acolyte cards are:

"The Tarot deck has a grouping known as the Acolyte Cards. The Acolytes are a pair of subservient individuals in the card's foreground. The Hierophant is the first Acolyte Card, numerically, in the Tarot. The Acolytes are the two priests who kneel before the Pope. Following him are The Lovers Card, which illustrates a man and a woman surrendering to their love for each other; The Chariot, which shows two sphinx submitting their control of the riddle of fate to the chariot's driver; The Devil, who has two prisoners chained to their self-destructive cycle of pleasure-seeking; The Tower, which shows two previously comfortable homesteaders randomly disrupted from their domicile; and one card from the Minor Arcana, the Six of Pentacles, which is the card of giving or receiving charity. If The Hierophant appears in your reading along with another Acolyte Card, your individuality is being subsumed to a higher cause in an epic surrender of self to ideal. This may or may not be a good thing, but it is something to be aware of."
 

FreeMoon

I have never heard of the term "Acolyte Cards" before. One thing I caution folks about is that just because it's written (whether in a book or on a website), doesn't make it gospel. Keep what resonates and discard what doesn't. If that term doesn't resonate with you, discard it and move on.

As for the three cards you drew, the Hierophant could mean the tried and true, the Devil could mean being stuck, and the Tower could represent liberation. The Hierophant and Devil together could point to societal or familial pressures to maintain the status quo. So as the advantage to relocating, those three cards could be pointing to a necessary "shaking up" of your life that needs to occur, since the Tower usually speaks to a false foundation that needs to be torn down so that a true foundation can be rebuilt.

Rodney
Thanks Rodney - your interpretation more clearly articulates my assessment of the cards and does resonate in terms of my current circumstances. Moving interstate would be a completely new start - I know absolutely no one who lives there and would require a significant change in life style - which i was hoping would bring positive changes [emoji1]
 

FreeMoon

I hadn't heard the term before either. However, according to this site (http://varioustarotdeckss.blogspot.com/2011/03/major-arcana-notes-fron-keencom.html) here are what Acolyte cards are:

"The Tarot deck has a grouping known as the Acolyte Cards. The Acolytes are a pair of subservient individuals in the card's foreground. The Hierophant is the first Acolyte Card, numerically, in the Tarot. The Acolytes are the two priests who kneel before the Pope. Following him are The Lovers Card, which illustrates a man and a woman surrendering to their love for each other; The Chariot, which shows two sphinx submitting their control of the riddle of fate to the chariot's driver; The Devil, who has two prisoners chained to their self-destructive cycle of pleasure-seeking; The Tower, which shows two previously comfortable homesteaders randomly disrupted from their domicile; and one card from the Minor Arcana, the Six of Pentacles, which is the card of giving or receiving charity. If The Hierophant appears in your reading along with another Acolyte Card, your individuality is being subsumed to a higher cause in an epic surrender of self to ideal. This may or may not be a good thing, but it is something to be aware of."
Thanks curious1!!
 

Thirteen

I hadn't heard the term before either. However, according to this site (http://varioustarotdeckss.blogspot.com/2011/03/major-arcana-notes-fron-keencom.html) here are what Acolyte cards are:

"The Tarot deck has a grouping known as the Acolyte Cards. The Acolytes are a pair of subservient individuals in the card's foreground. The Hierophant is the first Acolyte Card, numerically, in the Tarot. The Acolytes are the two priests who kneel before the Pope....This may or may not be a good thing, but it is something to be aware of."
Well, now you've got me curious, Curious1 :D as to why there is no mention of the 6/Wands, with cheering people adoring their victorious leader, or 5/Pents with two poor people subservient to the will of the rich church, or 5/Swords with the man who lost the swords subservient to the winner...if subservient people (or beasts) in the image is the way this person is defining acolyte cards.

If they're supposed to be really acolytes (by definition someone who serves and helps a spiritual leader during a religious service), then I'm not sure we can argue that the two folk being tossed out of the tower are acolytes ;) In fact, he seems to be stretching the meaning of the word, considerably, in several of those cards.

But I do agree that there are, literal, acolytes in the Hierophant card. Robed, kneeling and everything. And that the Hierophant card, at least, could indicate a message that one should follow and serve someone in religious services or traditional rites. As for the others...I'm more dubious. I rather think that the devil doesn't have acolytes, he has addicts. And while we could argue that as being the same thing (and I would certainly agree that his two addicts reflect both the Lovers card and the Hierophant's card), I suspect those serving a priest in church services would strongly disagree :D
 

Curious1

Yep. Even though the site addy says "various tarot decks" it is obvious which deck, or clone of it, they're using without regard for other decks that have very different pics/images for those same cards.