Swedish Witch / Jolanda Tarot - King of Wands

Luna's Crone

It definitely looks like a back with a magnifying glass. i think i am having a hard time seeing it as a head because it still looks so a live.
 

Sztar

One more thing I just noticed. Is he sitting on a stage? Look at the slats of wood. To me, it suggests a raised platform. This makes a lot of sense for the King of Wands--fire indicates spirit, inspiration, charisma, which could indicate acting. A person represented by such a card could be an actor or someone with a flare for the dramatic. Perhaps even melodramatic.
 

Luna's Crone

It is a platform or stage! and that is not a head, look close under the horse and blacket, you can see her feet. the horse on the right is turned sideways. he is not standing faceing straight ahead.
 

Sztar

It is a platform or stage! and that is not a head, look close under the horse and blacket, you can see her feet. the horse on the right is turned sideways. he is not standing faceing straight ahead.

To me it looks more like he's sitting, and those are his feet. Otherwise the woman is at a very strange angle anatomically speaking.

I think the trick is in the interpretation. What's the interpretation if it's a woman's bust instead of a severed head? What's the interpretation if the head isn't decapitated and those are the woman's feet at the bottom?

The way I see it, there's no wrong answer as long as the symbolism means something to you.
 

Luna's Crone

To me it looks more like he's sitting, and those are his feet. Otherwise the woman is at a very strange angle anatomically speaking.

I think the trick is in the interpretation. What's the interpretation if it's a woman's bust instead of a severed head? What's the interpretation if the head isn't decapitated and those are the woman's feet at the bottom?

The way I see it, there's no wrong answer as long as the symbolism means something to you.

but for those of us a bit whimpy this kinda study, its great to have feedback. I have a tendency to get excited about discoveries, and apparently it now includes tarot cards as well.
 

Sztar

but for those of us a bit whimpy this kinda study, its great to have feedback. I have a tendency to get excited about discoveries, and apparently it now includes tarot cards as well.

Well, I wouldn't call your studies "whimpy"! :) That's the purpose of a study group, right? To practice and learn about things we don't know about!

Personally, I know next to nothing about Thoth. Sometimes when I look at a card from this deck, at first I feel baffled because the image and associations feel so foreign. To deconstruct possible meanings I start with what I know about RWS. Then I look up various Thoth meanings, which are usually similar or related but perhaps have a different emphasis. Then I think of possible associations with the cards' traditional meanings and further extend that to what it might mean to me.

I think as long as you can find some link back to the traditional, general meanings it doesn't matter if your interpretation of the symbolism is 100% correct (in the sense that the author/artist definitely meant exactly what you came up with).

The only "rule" (IMO) is that we should look for a link to the traditional or generally understood meaning. Maybe not at first or your might stifle the brainstorming process. But in the end, I try to bring it back to the Tarot system. For example, the King of Wands could be a lot of things within the context of a fiery, masculinized person, but he can't be something totally unrelated like a youthful, dreamy woman, right?

Anyway, I was thinking about what the card might mean if the woman was standing in front of him. Is he towering above her? Dominating her? Those interpretations would be equally valid for the King of Wands. It's not the only facet of the King's personality, but I could see that potential in someone who falls into this personality type.
 

rylla

The only "rule" (IMO) is that we should look for a link to the traditional or generally understood meaning. Maybe not at first or your might stifle the brainstorming process. But in the end, I try to bring it back to the Tarot system. For example, the King of Wands could be a lot of things within the context of a fiery, masculinized person, but he can't be something totally unrelated like a youthful, dreamy woman, right?

I believe this is very important and it would be good to keep it in our minds. This deck has an original, unique and challenging interpretation (to the reader) of tarot but I strongly believe that the artist based his work on the traditional tarot cards' meaning.

Those feet couldn't be the feet of the King of Wands (instead of a woman)? I see the woman head as being a bust. There is that saying that: 'turns a woman head' (at least there is that saying in my culture) meaning conquering a woman. Maybe that bust is simply there to show that this King has success with women.

I can't decide if I see a cat or a bat. To complicate things, the symbology of a bat is (symbolism.wikia.com):

Bats symbolize death and rebirth. Sometimes, they are known as the "Guardian of the Night." It is largely misunderstood and so therefore many of its symbolic meanings are inappropriately fear-based. The bat is a symbol of rebirth and death because it is a creature that lives in the belly of the Mother (Earth).

ETA If those feet are of a woman that maybe is not a bust (but a full woman!). Some book refer to King of Wands as a married man.

Sorry. It has to be a bust (according how the man's hands is holding her)
 

Libra 58

I have never noticed that the woman shall be dead. Since the King is represented as the Sun God Ra, she has always been an Egyptian woman for me, sitting by his feet.

She represents the earth mother and deep inside her is the fire, the magma. So the yellow ball is some kind of a volcano and the red streams are magma on the picture.
This it says in the book under the "Witch medicine" part, but I don't understand it at all since I'm not a Wicca.
 

rylla

I have never noticed that the woman shall be dead. Since the King is represented as the Sun God Ra, she has always been an Egyptian woman for me, sitting by his feet.

She represents the earth mother and deep inside her is the fire, the magma. So the yellow ball is some kind of a volcano and the red streams are magma on the picture.
This it says in the book under the "Witch medicine" part, but I don't understand it at all since I'm not a Wicca.


That's a valuable info Libra 58

Is she than perhaps his muse?
 

Luna's Crone

i just got both of my decks out and looked at them with a magnifying glass and i say its a cat at the front of her headress and he is holding the head. maybe that is blood running down the big snowball.