Is there a card that you never quite 'get' or relate to?

Since I spent the first four decades of my tarot journey uncontaminated by the RWS deck, I find it relatively easy to decouple myself from the images (which don't always convey Waite's meanings) and just go with other modes of interpretation. The Thoth meanings are generally reliable, and the Golden Dawn's are OK for the most part. Where I like the RWS is for directional reading, and also for situational awareness, but not so much for the individual card narratives. Some that I don't "get" when trying to blend the scenes with the esoteric back-story are the 6 of Cups, the 6 of Swords, the 6 of Pentacles and the 2, 3 and 4 of Wands.

Barleywine said:

"Ask and ye shall . . . probably wish ye hadn't." This is the write-up I did on the subject. WARNING: Dense Crowleyism ahead!

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oh thank you thank you. Temperance is one I struggled with for a bit too. I did a fair bit of reading around the etymology of 'tempering', alchemy and so forth. The modern meaning of the word has skewed a bit, and diluted the meaning of the card.

Funny how different things are - perhaps it's our personal baggage, knowledge of literature, experiences of reading the cards - who knows?

Seven Pentacles always makes such sense to me - Pents on the whole I feel I really grok. Wands I have a lot more trouble with.

Connections between cards and the story - well that's a whole nother can o'worms. Sometimes I'll see it in a glance and a story unfolds all by itself. Sometimes I'm like, 'these pictures have nothing to do with each other, mean nothing and I am totally clueless.'

euripides said:

Seven Pentacles always makes such sense to me - Pents on the whole I feel I really grok. Wands I have a lot more trouble with.

Connections between cards and the story - well that's a whole nother can o'worms. Sometimes I'll see it in a glance and a story unfolds all by itself. Sometimes I'm like, 'these pictures have nothing to do with each other, mean nothing and I am totally clueless.'

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Yup to all of the above! Specially the Pents bit. I really dig Pents! (Clearly we have a lot in common, Euripides! Touchstone included!)

Depending on the day or the question, it could be any card, but 7 of Pents is often a head scratcher for me too. Maybe because I look at it and I get a certain feel and yet every time I read about other people's reactions/interpretations of that card, it's so different from my own that I end up feeling rather dubious about it, whether it's my own interpretation or someone else's, no matter the question or context.

Maybe this visual for the Seven of Pentacles, from the Hidden Realm deck, will help...? Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

Padma said:

Maybe this visual for the Seven of Pentacles, from the Hidden Realm deck, will help...? Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

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So true. And yes, that adage certainly applies here. Thanks! I'll keep this in mind.

Michellehihi said:

2 and 3 of wands... I never saw the difference

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Same here. I can get the 2 sometimes but the 3 I almost wish wasn't even part of the deck. That and the Page of Swords.

The pages.

Yes, sometimes they can come up as young people but, with the exception of the page of wands, I've never had them represent a message. And if they are a *new* maturing energy, in what way are they different from the aces ?

samantha said:

The pages.

Yes, sometimes they can come up as young people but, with the exception of the page of wands, I've never had them represent a message. And if they are a *new* maturing energy, in what way are they different from the aces ?

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The Aces are the "root" of the elemental energy, not yet manifested, the Pages are that energy embodied. The former is a potential or nascent beginning, the latter is an active expression.

Barleywine said:

The Aces are the "root" of the elemental energy, not yet manifested, the Pages are that energy embodied. The former is a potential or nascent beginning, the latter is an active expression.

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Thanks for this BW

"not yet manifested" has, largely, not been my experience here tho I agree it could be. I've had the ace of coins, for example, sum up where a relationship was currently at; for me a solid initial foundation.