Getting to know 'air' - using swords only?

*Cecilia*

Hi there,

At the next sabbat (Ostara), I want to start working with the element of air only, as some kind of project (at the following sabbat, this will change into fire, then water, then earth).

I haven't used my tarot deck a lot and so I thought... maybe I could include it in my project. The idea would be to focus on the minor arcana cards corresponding with the current element I'm working with.

I thought of doing a tarot spread at the start of my project, laying out three cards, asking:

1. What do I need to let go?
2. What do I need to keep?
3. What do I need to grow?

I was thinking of using only the swords-cards for this (and later one other set, depending on the element), but... maybe the amount of cards would be way too low to come to a good result.

What would you guys do? I was thinking about reducing my plan to only 1 card, or maybe add the major arcana to the swords-cards to have more cards to work with.... but that would kind of defeat the purpose of only working with one element...

Suggestions are very welcome! =)

Blessings,
C'
 

NatKat

Hi there,

At the next sabbat (Ostara), I want to start working with the element of air only, as some kind of project (at the following sabbat, this will change into fire, then water, then earth).

I haven't used my tarot deck a lot and so I thought... maybe I could include it in my project. The idea would be to focus on the minor arcana cards corresponding with the current element I'm working with.

I thought of doing a tarot spread at the start of my project, laying out three cards, asking:

1. What do I need to let go?
2. What do I need to keep?
3. What do I need to grow?

I was thinking of using only the swords-cards for this ... maybe the amount of cards would be way too low to come to a good result ... <<snip>>

Suggestions are very welcome! =)

Blessings,
C'

Interesting idea. LOL I would fear doing readings only with Sword cards ... so many unpleasant cards in that suit. EEEK!

Perhaps more fun and less distressing to play some tarot "games" with sword cards. For example, start w/ Ace swords (for example) and then randomly pick other cards from the deck and compare and contrast them to Ace swords. Are they synergistic? Antagonistic? etc. These types of games are from Dusty White book and YouTubes. He has loads of them which you could adapt to your project.

I don't know how advanced you are at tarot. First step is to memorize classical meanings ... THEN play the creative "games" which make the meanings your own.

Learn the timing of the sword cards such as 2-3-4 swords = cardinal air = libra, etc. etc. DuQuette relates swords to Winter and Pents to spring ... I follow his system but there are several schools of thought. In any case, that is my favorite way to work with suits and elements.

Best of luck with your project!
 

*Cecilia*

sounds like a good idea, thanks!

I choose the elements more or less corresponding with a sabbat, so not with a season... so I won't be paying that much attention to how the elements or the cards relate to the season that I'm in.
 

Hemera

I like your idea. :thumbsup:
The Swords can be problematic, yes. But I think a lot depends on the deck you choose to work with. Not all decks have negative Swords.
You can also decide to see only the positive in each card. (Eight of Swords could warn you not to rush into anything stupid, for example..)
Of course you can find both positive and negative advice in all of the cards. I think what I´d do would be to try to find both positive advice and a warning in each card I pull. I think adding Majors to the game would be a good idea. It would add depth to the reading and I don´t think it would defeat the idea of one element only. It could be a Significator card to the reading.
 

*Cecilia*

Thanks, Hemera... could I just ask: what exactly do you mean by 'significator'? I'm not familiar with the term (and google translate doesn't help me out here... I'm not a native speaker of English).

Do you mean you would pull one major card separate from the others? Or shuffle them with the swords and later with the pentacles etc. as a 'stable factor' of do you mean something else?
 

Herodotus

I've done this before with only pentacles. It worked fine, as long as I chose a spread with less than ten cards in it.

I would be willing to do it again with another suit, even if that suit is swords. Although, when I did this, I used a Marseille deck to avoid pictures or keywords coloring the reading. I figured that, with so few cards to choose from, I shouldn't restrict their meanings. With that in mind, the swords wouldn't be so negative.

When I talk about elements, I use each suit for each respective element, and reserve the majors for the fifth element, aether. I don't think that means you shouldn't add those to the element you're working with, since aether (or spirit, as its commonly called) is present in everything. But I would keep that in mind if I were to add them to an element reading.

Just my two cents.
 

AJ

I like your idea. :thumbsup:
The Swords can be problematic, yes. But I think a lot depends on the deck you choose to work with. Not all decks have negative Swords.
.

and not all deck show swords as air...
 

Krystophe

You might find the Hallowquest study by John and Caitlín Matthews interesting. It's included in the companion book to their Arthurian Tarot. I don't actually have the deck itself, but I've referred to the Hallowquest material and found it adaptable to other decks. It's a study that focuses on each suit, individually.
 

Hemera

Thanks, Hemera... could I just ask: what exactly do you mean by 'significator'? I'm not familiar with the term (and google translate doesn't help me out here... I'm not a native speaker of English).

Do you mean you would pull one major card separate from the others? Or shuffle them with the swords and later with the pentacles etc. as a 'stable factor' of do you mean something else?

You´ll find an answer in this thread, post #3.
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=77111

I can´t explain it very well because I´m not a native English speaker either (There are lots of us here in AT, so luckilly we need not worry :thumbsup:)
I think there are many ways to use a Significator in a tarot reading. You are the boss of your reading & study, so you get to decide what it means to you. For me a Significator can be a summary of a reading -or maybe a kind of a "totem pole" around which I read. Sometimes it describes the person or the situation I´m reading about.

and not all deck show swords as air...
Oh yes, quite true :p
 

*Cecilia*

thanks all! =)