DruidCraft Tarot - Cernunnos

Dancing Bear

6 Haunted Days said:
I can see where you are all coming from in the interpertations of card 13....I agree with most all of it.

I think what it boils down to...is for me....is that using the God Cernunnos on that card just doesn't fit. Period.

Miss 6

I noticed you had Greenman as you avatar, and am assuming on a pagan/druid side (your beliefs and upbringing) you are unable to fit Cernunnos into this position, which is traditionally the Christian Devil.
I was raised with Druidism teachings also, and i at first it felt odd..

But after this thread and sitting down and thinking about what Cernunnos had to teach the Druid, and why he was and still is so Worshipped..I came up with this..

Cernunnos taught the druid to become one with the land to embrace our animal instincts of.Cernunnos the God of all things wild..animals , forests alike.


To me in this Tarot deck it is saying we can embrace our animal instincts as these Lovers have , Embrace all things wild and our past from which we come without being all consumed, Cernunnos is a reminder that there once (and still is) a belief system that says its ok to Lust, it is ok to want money, It ok to want material possession, Cernunnos in history is normally depicted with a bag of coins also.and also in the Hunting position of the Druid, Sat down with legs crossed. Druids never accumulated more than they Needed.. Cernunnos is of the old Law, Cernunnos reminds us of the old values, to not over accumulate, Not to be obssessed and feel the need to possess... as the christian devil card also suggests when drawn, but both creatures, are opposites...

Cernunnos was worshipped and nothing to be feared but followed...Cernunnos was the keeper and protector of the forests and it animals,including the Druid... he was the law of Nature. Cernunnos was and taught balance..

The Christian Devil represents Evil and is taught to be feared, and has nothing to do with keeping,and protecting but to enslave and overrule..
So to me they both teach the same thing but take different angles in doing so.

To me the druid way was a lot gentler way of seeing life as compared to the Christian way. Both lot of teaching are profoundly different in a lot of ways, Druids were taught to become one and live with Nature, Christians of the time conquered and manipulated Nature..

If we look at how the devil and why he was created, the traditional meaning to the card gets blown out of the water for me too!

But going by the Traditional Meanings and the Druidcraft reasoning behind Cernunnnos, I cant understand in a way,.. they both get to the same point but taking a completely different approach to get to the same thing..

Not to be obsessive, possesive, and greedy.. stay Humble.

I hope that makes sense to you and you are able to enjoy this deck from a Druids view, but have similar meanings to the tradional cards, but just come in through a different angle.

Take Care

DB xxx
 

coyoteblack

By the way great job on this card DB. I was looking back for this information for the improve druidcraft spread. ( I had to catch my breath for a week ) and irony being what it is you seem to have converted miss 6 to defend the Ame issue the way you did .
 

le fey

ah...wish I'd thought to look here for this discussion.

Per the question of how to portray 'evil' in the deck if not by borrowing from Christian theology to get the Devil, isn't the answer simply that every card in its negative aspect can pertain to something that might be regarded as evil or lead to evil choices without suggesting that evil comes from something out there and apart from our own decisions?

It would make no sense for me for a spiritual philosophy to have to step outside of that philosophy in order to drag in a concept that isn't a part of that philosophy.

Cernunnos can depict an approach to evil - becoming so wrapped up in one's desires and drives that you fail to see beyond them to how they affect you and others. (The sleeping lovers are, I think, so sated from their own lovemaking, they've passed out - too full of it to be aware of anything at all.)

But the 4 of Cups can depict an approach to evil as well - inability to muster up any emotion, including compassion. The King of Swords can depict an approach - selfishnes by virtue of declaring one's own ideas and beliefs to be of primary important. Even the Star - wasting oneself on ethereal hopes rather than actively working to good.

There doesn't need to be one card to describe evil. The cards - like life - are neutral. Meaning comes from context.
 

coyoteblack

le fey I could not have said it any better if I tried 1,000 times. If you read the entire thing you can see how willow's argument was already dont by miss 6 .

I have to admire miss 6 and her ability to step out side of her self and see this from a new point of view.
 

6 Haunted Days

Thank you CB :) Dancing Bear's little essay did start a thought process and search for me. I know I can (as most people) become a bit "set" in my spirituality and worship. I realized I was being much too narrow-minded and stubborn concerning my views of Cernunnos 's placement and meaning within this deck. Cernunnos and all he represents is much broader and many layered than the Greenman or Protector of the Forest aspects. I was regulating the more Saturian and darker aspects to his father the primal chthonic All-Father, when I should know the lines between them disappear and blend....they are one at most times. Hence the light and dark in this card and image.

These are of course my views, and anyone can have any view they want of a particular deity...but working within the framework and vision of this deck, I think this is what the creators were going for.

The whole debate about evil, the nature of it, what it is (coming from a pagan's perspective as in this is a pagan deck) etc. and Willow's views would fit better into the othe thread in spirituality.

Miss 6
 

emeraldmist

Cernunnos

This is my first time taking part in the Druidcraft Tarot discussions here so if I am going about this wrong please let me know.
I have not long started studying these cards but Cernunnos in particular has gave me some problems understanding for similar reasons others have said in previous posts, eg; I cannot relate this card to the devil at all.
When I looked at this card my first impressions without looking at the meanings given by the book were .... cernunnos was a gaurdian figure who had perhaps came to the lovers as a vision/dream.He was protecting them. He stands in the centre of the light in the forrest as though he is the light. My first instincts on the lovers were that they were innocent, happy, fullfilled, and at one with nature. The forrest is thriving with lots of beautiful green shades. The couple seem connected to Cernunnos as the man also has a horned headdress so they appear to be connected with nature, at home in it. This is what I feel when I look at the card , so my problem begins when I go to the book and other books and read the meanings associated with the card. I just cannot get the image and the meanings to connect.I cannot see this card as representing the devil and a over indulgance in material things. I am stuck therefor when it comes to the meaning to put to this card within a reading. Is there something that I am missing, does anyone else see a different message in the card?
 

coyoteblack

This card more then any other has caused confusing thoughts. The key to remember is the devil is not a pagan and/or druid concept.

There is not devil in this deck . Instead this deck is trying to tell you: instead of being obsessive and or abusive with the passion's of life in the devil card use the same energy and live life to the fullest .

Just be care full if the energy is abused you can be left very vulnerable enough so that a huge horned god is standing above you and you don't even see him.
 

emeraldmist

re cernunnos

Yes, that makes sense that you could be so unaware and caught up in your own thing that you wouldnt even notice the horned god behind you. We could become so carried away with ecstasy ( of material belongings, good things in life or of a sexual nature )that we may not notice other important things going on around us. Thanks for your insight that has helped me a lot.
 

Frayling0

Just got my Druidcraft... this is possibly my favourite card in the deck.

Without reading through the rest of the thread, I'll put down my uncontaminated thoughts!

When I looked at it, I saw two smiling figures, glowing from their encounter, and lost in their love/lust. Looming in the background is a horned shadow, clearly a malignant figure. The couple are oblivious to what is going on around them, too wrapped up in each other. I would immediately read this card as a warning, and as a card of awareness in all things. Look around, look at the people and events unfolding around you. Lovely card...
 

Eyebright

To me this card has come to represent a warning. Cernunnos steps in when I am too wrapped up in the material world to see that I'm getting materialistic, obsessed, addicted etc.
Too lost in the pleasure of buying more decks that I don't notice my dwindling bank balance that won't cover all my bills for this month (as a very close to the truth example!)

He is a guardian of the earth's animals, and of course we people fall into this category! Yes there is a time for enjoyment of all the earthly pleasures on offer, but we can't let it go too far so that we forget our responsibilities.

Materialism will blind us to the magic and divinity present in the world. Just like the lovers in this card, missing out on an amazing opportunity to commune with the Lord of the Forest. We need to look around, be more open and aware of what is all around us, don't get lost selfishly in our own lives and problems.

I really like this card, it's a fresh take on the traditional Devil card of the RWS that I find more appealing and fits better with my thoughts on its meaning. I don't think I believe in true evil, and I have never associated the Devil with it as such.