Ancestral Path Deck- 5s have different meanings?

I wasn't sure whether this belonged in the decks thread or here, so could a moderator please move it if it's not in the right place?

It seems as though the 5 of cups is the 'usual' meaning. the 5 of sacred circles is not the usual meaning as I have come to understand it, though, and nor is the five of staves, or the 5 of swords.

Instead of the usual financial difficulty implied by the 5 of pentacles, the 5 of sacred circles seems to imply searching for purpose or spiritual retreat. I suppose it's not a million miles away.

In the 5 of staves, we have people working together towards a common goal, rather than the strife indicated in so many other decks. I can see the connection betweeen these to meanings as well, it could be seen as a more positive slant on the usual interpretation.

Finally, the five of swords indicated youthful enthusiasm or naivitee rather than 'defeat' or getting the better of someone unfairly.

Obviously I have missed out a lot of detail here in favour of brevity, but you get the general idea. If anyone has any thoughts or feelings on this, I would love to hear them!

Zoe

The Ancestral Path follows a different method than other decks. The creator of the deck goes from the tens to the aces, whereas in most decks it's the other way around. If you have the book that goes with the deck, I think it will help you a lot to study with that.

Yes it says something like that in the LWB, but it doesn't seem to work that way either. Many of the cards have the 'normal' meanings. Take the Staves for example: 10 is related to burdens etc., eight of staves: swiftness, six of staves: victory and so on. It seems as though certain cards just have a different meaning, and the fives in particular, with the exception being the 5 of cups.

I might try to get the book though, thanks for the advice.

Zoe

This is a good example of why a beautiful deck sometimes goes OOP and doesn't become a classic. Although it's a beautiful deck, it's not that easy to figure out. I think the easiest way for a lot of people to use it is to just read it intuitively rather than trying to associate it with any other tradition.

I had trouble with this one also; which is why I had it up for trade. I couldn't get to grips with some of the cards and how some meanings were relating to certain traditions and others were not. I don't have the book and it all seemed a bit too much of a headache.

LB

I absolutely love this deck, though, so I'd love to get my head round it. In fact it's the only deck I have which I don't somehow dislike in some way- and I have quite a few now. Not as many ans some members of this forum, but more than I set out to have. I am a bit perplexed by the different meanings of the Ancestral Path, but I don't want it to put me off completely as I have not found another deck which I could like as much. It is a shame, though, that it doesn't follow the traditional meanings all the way, as the rest of the deck seems to pretty much. It does seem odd that it's basically a traditional deck as far as reading is concerned, but there are these random departures from accepted interpretations. All I can think of is that this is the artist's own experience of interpreting these cards and she has stuck to that rather than using the more accepted meanings.

Zoe

She is a member here, Zoe, so maybe she will step in somewhere.

And the book would probably be a help also. As I always say, I don't think that any deck is impossible to break [except, maybe, the Enochian]

LB

I haven't worked with the Ancestral Path for a few years now, but this was the deck that I thought would be 'the' one for me because I really got the meanings... at the time. I remember finding the Sacred Circles a suit to get my head around, but once I did that it made so much sense to me. Stick with it and work with it, it's really the best way. Julie Cuccia-Watts is a member of Aeclectic so perhaps she can help, although she is no doubt busy with current projects. The book is great and mine is well thumbed.

The best Hanged Man of any deck, and the Fool...

Moonbow*

Edited... and the Tower, excellent!

Moonbow* said:

The best Hanged Man of any deck, and the Fool...

Click to expand...

I second that. And I also like the size and shape of the cards.

LB

OK, wish I had more time to delve into the deck again, but perhaps you need to expand your keywords for the cards you are having a bit of difficulty with. Five of Swords.... defeat. This card show a young Samurai who idolises his mentors. He has ambitous thoughts because he is still learning, but he doesn't notice two Samurai swords behind him... and a good Samurai is never parted from his sword. Think about it, the RWS depiction is someone who has defeated his enemy, but the feeling is short-lived and twisted. It's about learning, and also learning from mistakes. Sometimes the winner is the person who loses because he is the one who learns the most.

Not sure if I've made this any clearerf!?