kittiann
This is one of the more 'different' cards I've found in the Lo Scarabeo Tarot. While its wheel-like carvings seem to be mostly taken from the Thoth deck, and the Golden Dawn title of 'the Lord of Material Works' is expressed, as in the RWS, by a carver working on a grand carving, that's where the similarities stop for me. There doesn't seem to be any Marseilles influence here, aside from the configuration of the coins, which is an upward pointing triangle (a configuration found in the 3 of pentacles in both the Thoth and RWS as well).
The carver in the LS is alone on the card, symbolizing for me a person who enjoys working on their own rather then consulting with others. He's also very young-seeming, unlike the carver in the RWS card whom Rachel Pollack describes in 78 Degrees of Wisdom as a 'master in his craft'. Another curious element is the green substance that seems to be covering the stone he's working on: is it moss, or a forest plant? Perhaps this is an old stone slab a boy found, and is working in secret to practice his craft on? I'm not sure what the various states of the circles represent; if they are esoteric symbols or not? I've never encountered them before that I recall. The roses and lilies that appeared on the Ace of Pentacles in great profusion now appear on this card, the flowers of love and rebirth respectively, but there is only one of each and this time the lily is on the left and the rose appears on the right. The ground at the young man's feet is covered in rocks and rubble, suggesting either bits of rock that he's chipped off, or lending further weight to the idea that he's practicing his skills somewhere off of the well-beaten path.
If I had to assign this card a keyword, instead of using the GD's 'Material Works', I think I'd go with 'Practice'. When I see this card, I picture a young man, maybe an apprentice or hoping to be an apprentice, coming out to the rocky mountain ruins where there are large smooth stone slabs. He stands one upright, and begins to carve the part that is free of moss and other detritus. He practices different techniques. He likes to do this on his own, perhaps because he's embarrassed to have others see his work, even though it looks precise and well-executed. Or maybe he just likes to work on his own. The duality of the rose and lily symbolize the duality of the material work he is doing and the inner change that is taking place in him because of it. Work, as my mother used to say, builds character!
The carver in the LS is alone on the card, symbolizing for me a person who enjoys working on their own rather then consulting with others. He's also very young-seeming, unlike the carver in the RWS card whom Rachel Pollack describes in 78 Degrees of Wisdom as a 'master in his craft'. Another curious element is the green substance that seems to be covering the stone he's working on: is it moss, or a forest plant? Perhaps this is an old stone slab a boy found, and is working in secret to practice his craft on? I'm not sure what the various states of the circles represent; if they are esoteric symbols or not? I've never encountered them before that I recall. The roses and lilies that appeared on the Ace of Pentacles in great profusion now appear on this card, the flowers of love and rebirth respectively, but there is only one of each and this time the lily is on the left and the rose appears on the right. The ground at the young man's feet is covered in rocks and rubble, suggesting either bits of rock that he's chipped off, or lending further weight to the idea that he's practicing his skills somewhere off of the well-beaten path.
If I had to assign this card a keyword, instead of using the GD's 'Material Works', I think I'd go with 'Practice'. When I see this card, I picture a young man, maybe an apprentice or hoping to be an apprentice, coming out to the rocky mountain ruins where there are large smooth stone slabs. He stands one upright, and begins to carve the part that is free of moss and other detritus. He practices different techniques. He likes to do this on his own, perhaps because he's embarrassed to have others see his work, even though it looks precise and well-executed. Or maybe he just likes to work on his own. The duality of the rose and lily symbolize the duality of the material work he is doing and the inner change that is taking place in him because of it. Work, as my mother used to say, builds character!
