Majors in Lemniscate/figure 8

[Mallah]

Not sure if this belongs here or under "spreads". It's a layout for meditation, much like 7x3.

Take out your majors (this works best with old school majors with Justice at 8 and Strength at 11).
Set aside the Fool and the World.**

Put the rest in order, I thru XX.

Lay them out in a figure 8 (lemniscate pattern) with X (wheel) and XX (Judgement) crossing in the center. Keep the upper (or leftmost) ring with the bottoms facing out. When they cross in the center, the lower ring's bottoms will naturally face in. I like Judgement crossed on top of the wheel when I lay this out.

Place the fool in the center of the top, outer facing ring.

Place the world in the center of the bottom ring.

Adjust it so it's all nice and pretty and even. 10 in the upper ring, 10 down below.

Now, lets look at what we have.

The lemniscate is traditionally featured in several places in the Tarot: Especially The Magician (the first in line in the upper ring) and Strength (the first in line in the lower ring). It also appears often on the 2 of coins.

A lemniscate has one ring that moves clockwise...the other ring counterclockwise. One series of images has often to do with outerdevelopment in our world as we grow up (I thru IX) and the other series of images is complimentary/simultaneous going on internally.

Study the pairs, moving out from the center cross:

Magician-Sun
Popess-Moon
Empress-Star
Emperor-Tower
Pope-Devil
Lovers-Temperance
Chariot-Death
Justice-Hanged Man
Hermit-Strength
And crossing in the center, Wheel-Judgement.
(and fool-world each a "goose egg" in the center of their respective rings)

Look for similarities and polarities. Reciprocities, Compensations and Compliments in the pairs.
They are so obvious. Note also (especially if you have used a Marseilles Deck) that Strength and The Hermit stand one-off from the center juxtaposition, and stare right at it. Notice also that the Angel's Cross (on the flag) Crosses the Wheel. One is X (a cross) and one is XX ( a double cross).

Now I ask...those of us who have read many Tarot Books...where did I learn this? I knew about it years ago, and i bet i got it out of a book. Pretty cool huh? Anyone else see this before?

**Edited to revise the layout: Re-include the fool and the World: The crossing point now becomes the World over the Wheel. They both feature the 4 beasts/kerubs if you are using RWS. If not, then the "ribbon" which the world wears makes the shape of the hebrew letter Kopf, which referrs to the wheel. Further, the Wreath is tied with two lemniscate ribbons, and the very word "lemniscate" comes from the latin for decorated with ribbons" (remeber she also wears ribbons.). The pairs around the lemniscate remain the same, as above, execept the world is now paired with the wheel and the fool is paired with judgement, which i think makes total sense!

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***********1**********8************
**************0******9*************
***************10/21**************
*************11*****20************
**********12**********19**********
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*************14******17***********
***************15**16*************
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Mallah

 

[Mallah]

I sort of think the cards are hinting that they like to be laid out this way. With the various ancient lemniscates in the designs, and then X being the wheel (single cross) and XX being the Judgement, (double cross) and there's a single cross on the Judgement card and a double cross on the Wheel (the two intersecting sets of four spokes)...and this is right where the lemniscate crosses itself...and the inner and outer worlds cross over each other! Wheel represents change, and so does Judgement! Wheel shows rising and falling, and so does Judgement.

It just goes on and on.

 

[Ivy Rhiannon]

Interesting way of looking at the cards this way. I'll have to try it.

However I do have a few questions...what do you mean the old way with old school majors? did they change the position of the strength and justice card? Are there more like this? Does anyone know why? Sorry I have just never heard of this...

 

[Mallah]

The RWS i believe is the first deck to put Strength at #8 and Justice at #11 prior to that it was reversed. It was changed in that deck and many spinoffs in the past century. The original reasoning was astrological, and while it's become very standardized, it's by no means universal. If you read the reviews on decks in the Decks part of A.T., almost every review will report on whether it's Strength8/Justice11 or vice-versa. Some folks have a definate preference.

So that's what I meant about "old school"....decks prior to what was it...1910?

 

[Ivy Rhiannon]

Oh how interesting. I wonder why the rws changed it. It's funny how many new decks blindly follow something like that without question. Thanks for the answer Mallah!