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Archive for the ‘Tarot Major Card Meanings’ Category

Many people consult me for a reading when they wish to get pregnant. Mostly women pose the question, but men have also been known to ask about potential pregnancy if they and their wife/partner are looking to start a family.

Tarot High priestess Empress World cardVarious card combinations suggest pregnancy, but never forget to seek medical advice from your doctor or consultant. Always seek appropriate guidance from a health professional when deciding to start a family and never rely entirely on a tarot reading.

Many people view having a child as a benevolent gift from whichever deity they worship. This is true, because human life is sacred and special, but we also have to play our very human part in creating the child.

The first, and probably the most important card for pregnancy, is The High Priestess. She rules the unknown, the mysteries of life, and things that go on behind the scenes which we have no knowledge of. She therefore rules conception.

In order to gain a conception we need fertility. The Empress rules fertility as she is Mother Nature. The Queen of Batons represents the fertile woman and the King of Batons rules the fertile man. The 3 of Batons rules active fertility. Any combination of these cards alongside The High Priestess is very positive for conceiving quickly as we have both conception and fertility depicted.

The World Cards represents physical birth as well as rebirth. In an ideal world we’d like to see the combination The High Priestess, The Empress and The World all in a row. That shows an easy pregnancy and a perfect birth.

This is all well and good but we also have to make sure that actually do the deed and have sex with our partner. It takes two! Very often women say to me, ‘We’ve been trying for a baby for a year, but nothing’s happened.’ However, the cards on the table show that they only have sex with their partner every couple of months or so, which doesn’t really offer very high odds of conception. The Ace of Batons is THE sex card, and the 3 of Batons is a pretty good second. So the combination of Ace of Batons and High Priestess is also good for conception.

Tarot ten of Batons

Another card that is very important is the 10 of Batons, which symbolises being over- burdened. For the physical body is depicts weight gain and therefore also the carrying of a child. The mother is literally burdened by the weight and responsibility of the child growing within them. For once the woman wants to see herself getting bigger!

The cards I’ve mentioned are the nuts and bolts of reading tarot for pregnancy. There are many other tarot combinations that will also show it, but these are the basics.

Tarot Knight of CupsAlongside these there is one incredibly special tarot card that always gives me goose-bumps when it turns up in a question concerning pregnancy. The Knight of Cups. This card symbolises that a child is waiting for the right time to be born through the questioner. It’s a very spiritual card. It’s a message from the child’s spirit, saying they want this person as their parent. Very often The Knight of Cups appears when the couple have been having problems conceiving, but it shows that the child is on its way. I saw The Knight of Cups for one of my clients who already had two children by IVF, as a natural conception simply had not been possible. When I told her that she would have a third child by natural means she laughed, and claimed it was impossible. Within six months she sent me a text to say she had fallen pregnant without any IVF. She is now the proud mother of three mischievous boys.

Have you seen any unusual tarot combinations connected with pregnancy?

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New blog post on my sister site ToniAllenBooks

Marseille and Waite Magician

Marseille and Waite Magician

Ever wondered how to use Tarot cards to time when something will happen? Now you can find out in my series of articles Tarot and Timing Events. The second post is all about interpreting The Magician in relation to timing future events.

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I’ve never been a great fan of the Waite deck. Perhaps that’s because my first introduction to tarot cards was through the symbols on the Marseille deck; and because they’re ancient symbols I’ve always classed them as the real deal. Sure, I’ve studied the Waite deck, but I’ve never felt comfortable with it. I’ve never been happy about his ‘correction’ and thus transposition of Strength and Justice. Let’s remember, he was in The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a secret occult society, where only those in the inner sanctum were permitted certain knowledge. So why did he suddenly publish such a big ‘secret’ for the masses to discover? Or was he trying to confuse us and make the tarot unusable as the sequence is out of synchronisation?

The big Strength/Justice debate is for another post, because today I want to explore the symbolism of The Fool and how reading the card using the Waite deck you can get a vastly different interpretation than by using the Marseille deck.

Let’s start by looking at the two symbols side by side.

Marseille and Waite Fool

Marseille and Waite Fool

To fully understand the Marseille tarot image we need to know a little bit about medieval lifestyle and symbolism. Nearly everyone thinks the dog has bitten the Fool and ripped his trousers. Bad doggie! Not so. In medieval times villages had a dog that would bark and shoo away strangers, which is what the dog in this picture is doing. It’s a warning, not an attack. The dog is saying ‘you’re not welcome here, you’re an outsider.’

Does the Fool care that he’s an outsider and doesn’t fit in their society? Not at all. The fact is that his trousers aren’t ripped at all. In medieval times each leg of men’s hose/trousers were held up separately and if you wanted to do the modern day equivalent of sticking two fingers up at someone you’d drop one side of your hose and show them your bottom. It’s a poo poo. It’s saying ‘Up yours,’ and ‘I don’t need to be a part of your society.’

If you look closely at the image of the Fool you’ll note that he’s walking on firm ground and using his stick to lean on and guide him. In tarot a stick is a baton/wand and this symbolises that he’s relying on his own nature to see him through. His head is tilted up slightly and there’s a suggestion of pride in being himself. He knows who he is.

He has a bag slung over his shoulder (and please don’t get too bogged down in the fact that he’s holding in his left hand and it’s over his right shoulder, because this image is redrawn from a wood-block and stencil deck, and those wood-carvers made many, many minor mistakes, which they later fudged over) and we don’t know what he has in that bag, apart from the fact that it’s what he needs to sustain him. Most likely food for his journey. It’s a secret, but he’s travelling light and has everything he needs to get by.

This version of the Fool shows him to be independent, a free spirit, a free thinker, and unburdened by the need for physical possessions.

Now let’s look at the Rider Waite Fool.

Waite Colman-Smith Fool

When looking at the Waite deck it’s useful to know, not only that Waite was a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, but that the artist Pamela Colman-Smith was an illustrator, mainly of posters and children’s books, and also designed theatre costumes. This gave Colman-Smith a rich background of stories to fire her imagination; and it’s said that she was natural story-teller, which would have made her popular in the days before T.V. and radio.

Waite-Smith have their Fool holding his head high too, but so much so that he isn’t paying any attention at all and is about to walk off a cliff. Suddenly personal pride is turned into vain arrogance, and stupidity. Well, they do say that pride goes before a fall.

There’s no naked bottom poo-pooing going on here, in fact the Fool is well dressed, and quite a dapper fellow. Waite described them as “gorgeous vestments.” The little dog is now white and cute looking, not a threat at all, with a much greater suggestion of it being a faithful friend who’s barking and warning him of the danger ahead. The dog has become the voice of his conscience, warning him to wake up and pay attention. Yet the Fool is oblivious, happy in his own tra-la-la world. Waite describes this as, “His countenance is full of intelligence and expectant dream.” Personally I’m not so sure of the intelligence, but I will agree with the dream. If we’re focused on our internal visions then we are not paying attention to the world around us.

He no longer leans on a stick, so there’s no suggestion that he relies on his own true nature, instead he holds a white rose high in his left hand, most likely a symbol of his beliefs; possibly The Societas Rosicruciana of which Waite was a member.

The other symbol of importance in the image is the radiating sun up in the top right hand corner. If you give a group of people a piece of paper and ask them to draw mountains and the sun, most of them will position the sun up in the top right hand side of the image. Now, why is this? As human’s we unconsciously acknowledge the right as going forwards, and the left as going backwards. Future and past. Therefore placing the sun to the right is a sign of hope and a desire to go forwards, while if it’s positioned on the left there’s a desire to re-live the past. The Waite-Smith Fool’s sun is positioned to the right, but the Fool is facing away from it and heading to the left, the past. He is turning his back on the future. By comparison the Marseille Fool is walking to the right, towards the future.

Arthur Edward Waite was a very clever man, and I often wonder if he was trying to hoodwink us with these designs and hide the truth, or whether he let Pamela Colman-Smith get on with creating pretty pictures and then made up interpretations for them. In The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, which was originally published as a pamphlet to go with the boxed set of cards, Waite says, “His act of eager walking is still indicated, though he is stationary at the given moment; his dog is still bounding. The edge which opens on the depth has no terror; it is as if angels were waiting to uphold him, if it came about that he leaped from the height.” Personally I don’t buy into his explanation for the Fool looking like he might step over the edge at any moment. It’s a poor excuse.

Unlike Crowley, who was very vociferous about teachings, Waite liked to keep his cards close to his chest and wrote very little about each tarot card design. He never wrote anything about why the cards had the images Pamela Colman-Smith designed and his explanations in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot are at times flaky to say the least. Let’s face it, Waite didn’t like to share his secrets, or at least he wasn’t in the habit of sharing them on paper.

With any tool we use we have a choice of manufacturer, quality and design. It’s the same with Tarot. We’re all individuals so we choose the pack of Tarot cards that appeals to us at a personal level, and using Tarot is a highly personal experience. If you read the image alone and are not familiar with the meanings of numbers and how the system of tarot works as a whole, then you will end up seeing the Fool as foolish and dreamy if you use the Waite deck, and bold and free if you use a Marseille deck. Ultimately, the choice is yours…but I know which I prefer.

*******

For beginners and more experienced tarot readers I have two books available in many popular formats.

Ever wondered what the Fool tarot card means in a tarot reading about sex and relationships? Find out in…

Sex & Tarot

Sex & Tarot by Toni Allen

Sex & Tarot by Toni Allen

Sex & Tarot from iTunes

Paperback via Lulu (possibly best price)

Kindle UK  Kindle US Paperback Amazon UK  Paperback Amazon US

Also on Nook and other platforms

The System of Symbols, a new way to look at tarot

System of Symbols cover

Available from Kindle UK  Kindle US ITunes

Paperback via Lulu (possibly best price) Also on Nook and other platforms.

*****

If you’ve enjoyed this article please follow my blog so that you’ll be kept up to date when I post new articles and tarot interpretations. If you’re not on WordPress come along and follow me on Facebook ToniAllenAuthor or @listansus. Come along and follow me anyway, it would be great to meet you.Toni Allen Logo

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The Moon is a major tarot card and sits at number 18

Marseille Tarot MoonIn the foreground of the Moon card you will see a crayfish in a pool of water. It is said that this is stagnant water; and when water is putrid nothing can live in it. Water symbolises the emotions, so here we are referring to stuck or painful emotions.

The crayfish symbolises the individual. Each of us has a hard ego shell which we erect to protect the self/spirit, in the misguided belief that it can damaged or hurt.  In truth it is only the ego which experiences pain. Due to the impurity of the water the crayfish must leave or it will die.

Beyond the water we see the path that the crayfish (oneself) must follow in order to go past the Moon to the Sun which shines behind it. On the path one initially encounters two dogs which symbolise those who would like us to stay as we are and will therefore try and force us to remain in the stagnant emotions.  Beyond the dogs are two towers, one already damaged. These represent false ego identities which we might be tempted to try and hide in along the way. Beyond the Moon is the Sun, and a promise of hope and “light at the end of the tunnel.”

In a tarot reading the Moon card represents fear. However painful the emotional situation might be it is always terrifying to break away from a habitual way of being. Stagnant emotions/water creates bondage.

A prime example of the Moon card in practice is when someone wants to leave a negative relationship.  The first thing they do is go and discuss it with their closest friends and family, symbolised by the howling dogs, who come up with a list of obstacles and reasons why they should not leave. “How will you cope on your own?” “How will you afford to do that?” “Where will you go?” “You must stay and give the children a father.” All of these arguments push the questioner back into their stuck emotional situation, now compounded by added fears and uncertainties. According to everyone around them the journey is too hard and too risky, and therefore they are bound to fail.

Terror roots us to the spot. As the emotions experience further damage we become Waite Tarot Moonmore fearful and less able to take the initial step towards change.

Once past the dogs we might hide in a false ego, a temporary sense of being okay, until we have the courage to take the final step and experience happiness again.

When the tarot Moon card appears in a spread there is always fear. Sometimes it is quite literally a fear of the dark, or a fear of the unknown, but always a fear based on a previous negative emotional experience.

One client whom I worked with for many months always had the Moon card prominent in her readings. She was convinced that she was being watched in her house at night, and that someone might be prowling in her garden and a threat to her. Always the cards came up with the Page of Swords, a devious character; and always the cards pointed towards it being someone she knew.  Every time she feared the “watcher” she phoned her boyfriend to come over and stay, and the fear held them together, bonded them into a co-dependant relationship. “I don’t want him staying all of the time,” she said, “But I’m too frightened to be on my own.” Everything pointed towards the culprit of her night time fears being her boyfriend, but for many months she remained in denial, unable to believe that her rescuer might in fact be her stalker.  As friends became more worried about the situation they encouraged her to phone him, have him stay more often or go and live with him.  Eventually she caught her boyfriend out and proved that for many months he had been deliberately creaking and crunching outside in the middle of the night so that she would become dependent on him.

Not everyone’s Moon card experience is so macabre, yet we all feel the same intensity of fear; whether it be changing jobs, taking a driving test, or moving home.

Toni Allen Tarot MoonFor one of my clients the Moon card symbolised her and her husband’s desire to immigrate to Australia, and the dogs were clearly her family, most especially her children. The children did not want their parents to go and live across the other side of the world so continuously made their parents feel uneasy and guilty about the situation. However, the Moon card also represented the children’s fear of being alone and abandoned, and they were unconsciously projecting their own fears onto their parents.

When the tarot Moon card is reversed one feels unable to face the challenge of fear. There is usually what I call a “yes, but” situation. I saw this for one woman who was nursing her elderly mother and had become totally trapped, even to the point of hardly ever being able to leave the house. “Yes, but if I put my mother in a home all of my inheritance will be eaten up,” she said.“I live in my mother’s house and I will have to sell it to pay for her care and have nowhere to live.” The fear of poverty and destitution kept her trapped in an emotionally fraught situation.

Fear creates illusion. When frightened we are more likely to imagine the worst.  Moonlight literally takes away all of the colour from life and leaves us only with black and white, hence everything we see becomes distorted and not as we know it; which is why the night can be so frightening.

When we experience the fear of the Moon card we need to take courage, ignore our well-wishers and tread our own path, for only we know, in our own hearts, what is right for our highest good.

*******

For beginners and more experienced tarot readers I have two books available in many popular formats.

Ever wondered what the Moon tarot card means in a tarot reading about sex and relationships? Find out in…

Sex & Tarot

Sex & Tarot by Toni Allen

Sex & Tarot by Toni Allen

Sex & Tarot from iTunes

Paperback via Lulu (possibly best price)

Kindle UK  Kindle US Paperback Amazon UK  Paperback Amazon US

Also on Nook and other platforms

The System of Symbols, a new way to look at tarot

System of Symbols cover

Available from Kindle UK  Kindle US ITunes

Paperback via Lulu (possibly best price) Also on Nook and other platforms.

*****

If you’ve enjoyed this article please follow my blog so that you’ll be kept up to date when I post new articles and tarot interpretations. If you’re not on WordPress come along and follow me on Facebook ToniAllenAuthor or @listansus. Come along and follow me anyway, it would be great to meet you.Toni Allen Logo

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The Death card is a major tarot card and sits at number 13

Last night I was trying to decide which tarot card to write about next when I received the sad news that someone I know had passed away. I knew him from motorcycle events that I photographed, so he wasn’t an intimate, but he did live locally and often I’d bump into him in the supermarket and he’d always greet me with smiles and stop for a chat. I liked him. He was funny and jolly, an excellent business man and over the years treated the lad he was training up like a son, mentoring and guiding him. In a complex world where we often rush past people and never speak, I classed this man as my friend.

I received the news from a Facebook group announcement and was immediately struck by a tightening in my solar plexus. A friend of mine was round watching the Moto GP I’d recorded for him and I waved my hand and said, “Pause that for a minute.”

Once the background hum of motorcycles was silenced I said, “You know Ian, with the turquoise bike? He’s died.”

Stunned my friend said, “What? You’re kidding.”

I shook my head and for a full minute we sat in silence. It was a silence filled with both shock and respect, an unrehearsed pause in life to mourn our friend.

Immediately our thoughts sprung to his apprentice and simultaneously we said, “His mate will be gutted, lost without him.”

How strange that we both said the same words at the same time, that our thoughts quickly travelled away from the dead and towards the living; the one left behind.

This is how death affects us all. We mourn our loved one, tuck them away in our heart and know that we will miss their company, their smile and their laughter. Then we consider how everyone else will cope with that loss, how those closest to them will manage, and whether they need our support. A gaping hole is left where that person used to stand which in time is filled with memories and acceptance.

For a few minutes my friend and I discussed Ian’s life and what a nice guy he was; then we both needed time for our own thoughts and feelings, to assimilate the loss. Eventually I turned back to Facebook and posted my comment and sentiments of sadness under the photo of Ian doing what he loved best, riding his motorbike.

Toni Allen Tarot Death 13

Toni Allen Tarot Death 13

In a tarot reading it is extremely rare for the Death card to actually mean a physical death, in fact hardly ever for the person asking the questions. However, it can mean that the questioner has recently suffered bereavement, as I have with my friend, and that it’s a time of loss and coming to terms with the hole left in one’s life. In all the years I’ve been reading tarot I have mainly seen the passing of life depicted in riddles and cryptic messages, which have only been fully understood after the event. If the Death card is symbolising death, then it will nearly always be what I term ‘an appropriate death,’ in that the individual referred to is already very old or seriously ill, and that the questioner is aware of this.

If I had done a reading in connection for my friend I may well have seen this as he died from an illness not an accident.

Everything which is born is destined to die; although the logical understanding of this doesn’t necessarily make it any easier to come to terms with emotionally. Our very first death is our birth, as before birth we are at one with the mother, safe and nurtured. Our passage into the physical world is an initiation into the human condition of duality and fear. We find ourselves alone, separate from all that had sustained us, and likely to die without care and attention.  

Note that the Empress who symbolises Mother Nature sits at number 3 showing the interrelation between birth and Death at 13.

When many people come for their first Tarot reading they have extreme anxiety about seeing the Death card in their reading.  Suspicion and modern day hype have created a myth around the card which instils fear, fear and more fear.  In truth the card depicts transformation and life itself.  Everything which is born is destined to die, whether that be a human being, a pet, a business, a relationship, or a daisy in the field.

Marseille Tarot Death 13

Marseille Tarot Death 13

In tarot the Death card is equivalent to Old Father Time, and in medieval cards death was sometimes depicted holding an hour glass.  Each man’s life is as long as his life, no more no less. We are born, learn to walk, transform from child to adult, give up our ego consciousness to find unity through sexual expression, marry, have children, move house and retire.  All of these and many, many more are symbolised in tarot through the Death card.  The Ages of Man is a classic symbol, depicting a youngster through to old age, and right at the end is death himself, waiting to greet us all.

For one man the Death card symbolised his impending retirement, and the end of an era. Surrounding cards showed his trepidation and extreme fear of loss of identity once his long term business title was removed.  “I’ll be a nobody,” he said fearfully. “I feel dead inside already.”

The tarot card sequence representing this was the King of Coins –  a man who has a strong business identity and gains self-worth and recognition from the position holds at work. The Death card – the ending of this position. The Moon card – His fear at going forwards into the unknown.

For one single mother the death card represented that her children were growing up, preparing to take exams, leaving school and going on to university.  She saw this growth stage as highly positive for everyone and welcomed the change. “I’ve already initiated an Open University course,” she said. “The children are disorientated by the change in me, the idea of their mother studying and not always being available to prepare meals at odd times and fill the washing machine up all of the time.”

The tarot card sequence representing this change was the Ten of Batons – overburdened by responsibility to others. The Death card – showing that those responsibilities were coming to an end. The Three of Coins – Studying under a master.

This particular client continued to consult me for both tarot and astrology during the entire three year period of her transformation process.  Astrologically she was experiencing Uranus transiting conjunct her natal Sun, which also represents an extreme death and rebirth of the ego identity.

During a tarot reading the surrounding cards will always describe what type of death is taking place.

Here are some examples:-

Two of Cups reversed followed by the Death cards symbolises falling out of love with someone or something and knowing that the emotional connection is dead.

Seven of Coins reversed followed by death symbolises work that was tedious and unrewarding coming to an end.

Ace of Coins followed by Death symbolises a contract coming to an end.

The Devil followed by Death symbolises an end to guilt or bad habits.

The card that follows Death in a reading will show what happens after the ending brought about by the Death card.

So let’s follow through with our earlier examples.

With the Two of Cups reversed and Death we might see The Fool depicting the sense of freedom we feel once we have let go of someone we no longer love.

3 card tarot spread

3 card tarot spread

After the Seven of Coins reversed and Death we might see the Three of Coins symbolising study and learning, so that once we have learnt our new skill we can go out and find more rewarding work.

After the Ace of Coins and Death we might see the Two of Batons showing that for a while doors of opportunity are closed to us.

After the Devil and Death we might see the Page of Swords representing the person who drew us into bad habits tempting us back.

When the death card is reversed it symbolises that either, the questioner is stuck and holding on to something which is over, or needs to end, or that something is being ended against their wishes. In such situations the questioner often recognises their own dilemma yet cannot see a way around the situation. One of the most common scenarios is when someone has a well- paid job which no longer satisfies their needs. To end the job would near enough mean financial ruin, yet all the time they hang on to it even though they feel they are dying inside.

Waite Tarot Death 13

Waite Tarot Death 13

Ending a long term relationship is another common example in which the death card reversed comes up. Moving on in such a situation is often complex due to the fact that children and joint resources are often involved. Some individuals are extremely courageous and walk away with nothing in order to find a more wholesome life, while others hang on bitterly until the children leave school. Neither solution has an ideal outcome because whichever choice is made the person for whom the relationship has died will inevitably go through a grieving process.

One woman had the Death card the right way up symbolising that her divorce had just been finalised. Throughout the reading she intermittently sobbed.  “I can’t understand why I’m crying,” she explained. “I don’t love him anymore.” Her tears were a natural part of the grieving process for something that had died, and of letting go. 

In a reading do not be afraid of fully exploring how to interpret the Death card. All endings are a transition to the next phase of life, and without finishing one thing we can never start anything new.

*******

For beginners and more experienced tarot readers I have two books available in many popular formats.

Ever wondered what the Death card means in a tarot reading about sex and relationships? Find out in…

Sex & Tarot

Sex & Tarot by Toni Allen

Sex & Tarot by Toni Allen

Sex & Tarot from iTunes

Paperback via Lulu (possibly best price)

Kindle UK  Kindle US Paperback Amazon UK  Paperback Amazon US

Also on Nook and other platforms

The System of Symbols, a new way to look at tarot

System of Symbols cover

Available from Kindle UK  Kindle US ITunes

Paperback via Lulu (possibly best price) Also on Nook and other platforms.

*****

If you’ve enjoyed this article please follow my blog so that you’ll be kept up to date when I post new articles and tarot interpretations. If you’re not on WordPress come along and follow me on Facebook ToniAllenAuthor or @listansus. Come along and follow me anyway, it would be great to meet you.Toni Allen Logo

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The Devil is a major tarot card and sits at number 15.

Marseille Tarot the Devil

Marseille Tarot the Devil

With so much misrepresentation of the Devil in tarot it is often difficult for students to decipher the cards true meaning.

At number 5 we have the Pope or Hierophant, symbolising clear communication with ones higher self, while here at number 15, the second cycle of tarot, we find the Devil representing negative thoughts, habits and behavioural patterns.

The Devil stands on a pillar representing the physical realm that we are all bound to.  Chained to this pillar are a male and a female figure which represent the duality that binds us to life and rebirth until we reach self-realisation.

The symbol explains how through temptations in the physical world the Devil binds us into life time after life time of bondage to lower levels of existence.

In practice we experience this as bad habits and feelings of guilt.

All of us have a propensity to fall back on habitual behaviour when we feel stuck, ineffectual or unhappy.  This can be anything from smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, taking drugs, over indulgence in chocolate, unconsciously choosing painful relationships (because we are familiar with them), over working, gambling, stealing, lying, sexual excess, abstinence, laziness … the list is endless.

In medieval times the Devil is shown pitch-forking the ‘sinners’ into the mouth of hell, creeping up to steal someone’s soul at the moment of death, and generally wreaking havoc when we’re out trying to have a good time. The message is loud and clear. Be good or the Devil will take you.

In life many things are pleasurable and highly satisfying in moderation. We all need food to sustain us, but when it becomes our evening habit to sit down and eat three large bars of chocolate self-restraint has flown and we are under the power of the Devil. Temptation is all around us. Have another beer. Go and have lots of sex without ever forming a relationship. Tell lies until everybody is suspicious and has learnt not to trust you. We all have our excuses for this repetitive behaviour, but until we listen to our higher conscious, as symbolised by The Pope, we stay locked in and chained down by the Devil.

TemptationA vicious cycle is set up because the more we fall back into habit the more guilt we experience, and the more guilt we experience the more we require the habit to sooth us.

Toni Allen Devil tarot card

Toni Allen Tarot

Often we experience this as other people “making us feel guilty.”  This process often starts in early childhood when we are threatened with withdrawal of love if we continue our “bad” activity, and offered punishment if we persist.  This early programming sets up a cycle of guilt every time we endeavour to tread our own path of self-discovery.

The Devil reversed symbolises breaking away from these old habits and making ourselves a clearer channel for our highest good so that we cease to be locked into these habitual patterns of activity.  I have often seen this in readings where the questioner is consciously seeking to address their drinking, smoking or eating habits.

The negative side of the Devil reversed in when the individual has no remorse or guilt of any sort.  Sometimes people are completely unaware that their actions have caused harm to others.  On a general level this type of individual presents as  inconsiderate.  On a deeper level I have seen it in readings for people with criminal tendencies, or where they are already in therapy having treatment for deep psychosis. Without a sense of conscience, which the Devil offers, an individual is likely to become both dangerous and evil.  

When drawing Tarot cards as hints and tips for your creative writing the Devil is your baddie. Here’s someone who will do evil things and have no remorse. It’s your psychotic killer, or the lover who believes that keeping you close is for your own good, and nothing to do with their own sense of inadequacy.

In one reading a woman had the Devil representing her feelings of bondage and guilt while nursing her elderly mother.  She had been brought up to respect her parents yet hated the lack of freedom which her overwhelming sense of duty brought with it.  “I shall feel so guilty if I don’t look after her myself,” she said, even though she had enough resources to pay for a nursing home for her mother, or employ home help.

This type of guilt is laid on by the desire to be ‘good,’ and the fear of how society will point the finger and accuse us of being ‘bad’ if we don’t fall in line with how everyone else says things should be done.

*****

For beginners and more experienced tarot readers I have two books available in many popular formats.

Sex & Tarot

Sex & Tarot by Toni Allen

Sex & Tarot by Toni Allen

Sex & Tarot from iTunes

Paperback via Lulu (possibly best price)

Kindle UK  Kindle US Paperback Amazon UK  Paperback Amazon US

Also on Nook and other platforms

The System of Symbols, a new way to look at tarot

System of Symbols cover

Available from Kindle UK  Kindle US  iTunes via Lulu   Paperback via Lulu (possibly best price) Also on Nook and other platforms.

*****

If you’ve enjoyed this article please follow my blog so that you’ll be kept up to date when I post new articles and tarot interpretations. If you’re not on WordPress come along and follow me on Facebook ToniAllenAuthor or @listansus. Come along and follow me anyway, it would be great to meet you.Toni Allen Logo

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The Tower tarot card is a major card and sits at number 16.

Toni Allen Tarot the Tower

Toni Allen Tarot the Tower

Throughout our lives we all strive to obtain and retain a sense of self and individual identity.  This starts at The Emperor and our feeling of I Am.  We draw people, places and things to us that help us to maintain what we believe to be our identity.  Piece by piece, brick by brick, we build this ego personality, which here in the Tower is represented by the Tower itself.Then something happens that shatters our carefully created self-image and we discover that it was all an illusion. The Tower crumbles.

In The Tower card this sudden occurrence is symbolised by lightning striking, as if God himself has metered out some divine intervention. The two figures being ejected from the Tower are symbolic of our dual nature, our ability as human beings to know good from bad and right from wrong.

In life there are two distinct ways in which The Tower is experienced. One is when something unexpected happens to us, and the other is when someone else deliberately undermines our personality and therefore damages and destroys our self-confidence.

With the first example we directly experience this as a deep shock and trauma.  One man had the Tower as the initial central pivot point of his reading.  From the spread it was obvious that he had experienced such trauma that he now didn’t know who he was at all.  Literally he had lost his identity.  He explained to me that a few months ago his mother had died and that along with his three brothers, whom he was in business with, he had gone along to the reading of the will.  In her will his mother had declared that he was not his father’s child but the son of a family friend.

This had instantly been a shock for the man, but when his three brothers turned and pointed at him saying, “You are not blood, we do not want you in the business”, his world had completely fallen apart. In a matter of seconds he had lost his identity, his family and his work.

The first thing that this client needed was treatment for shock, so I recommended the Bach Flower remedy Star of Bethlehem. The other thing that he required was time to assimilate the changes, lick his wounds and recreate his feeling of “I am.”

Here are a few examples of when I have seen the Tower depict shock:- Finding out

Marseille Tarot The Tower

Marseille Tarot The Tower

that one’s partner is having an affair.  Sudden loss of a loved one.  Accidents. Divorce.

For many people the break-up of a long term relationship results in The Tower. One’s identity has been built on being that person’s partner, on the shared friendships, the shared dreams and the shared income.  With the loss of the relationship comes the loss of everything else.

Shock shuts down the heart chakra.  This creates feelings of numbness and an inability to experience emotions. In tarot the heart chakra is symbolised by the Ace of Cups.  Often you will find the Ace of Cups reversed close to The Tower card in a reading symbolising the broken heart.  If the trauma is recent then this is a very natural reaction, but if the trauma is from years ago then it symbolises that the individual has not yet been through all of the stages of grief. Often crying is what is needed, and you will often find that a person stuck in shock has not yet cried, or cried enough, over their loss.  The letting go is symbolised by the Star Card.

The other side of The Tower is when one person deliberately sets out to undermine another.  The cause behind this is often jealousy, and if the two people are in a relationship it can arise from a fear of abandonment.  This fear is rooted in the unconscious idea that if the partner achieves more then they will no longer want to be with someone who is not such a high achiever. In a reading see if this Nine of Coins reversed is close to any card symbolising the partner as this often refers to a person who fears being abandoned and is highly insecure.

During a reading I have seen The Tower depict a husband or wife who criticises or constantly puts down their partner. Instead of the Tower blasting the personality apart in one fell swoop it is someone slowly chipping it away, bit by bit, instead.  The partner takes on the role of God and will often say things like, “if only you did this or that,” “I don’t think you’re capable”, “You’ll never achieve that,”  “You’re so stupid.”

Waite Tarot the Tower

Waite Tarot the Tower

Many people live within these abusive relationships until they quite literally reach breaking point.  Often people suffer an abusive relationship for many, many years, the ego identity too crushed to believe that they would be capable of making it on their own.

I have also seen this side of The Tower in both work situations and teaching situations. In both cases it often occurs due to inherent jealousy.  In a reading the Three of Swords will depict the jealousy and bad feeling coming from the person who is undermining the individual.

Sad as it is I have often done readings for people who are studying on a spiritual path and it is their tutor, or master, who is undermining their abilities.  These types of teacher fear that the student will surpass them and somehow steal their glory.  When I see this in a reading I know that the spiritual student has great capability, otherwise the master would not fear them making progress.  It also happens in educational establishments of all sorts, again where the teacher has to “know best”.  In this kind of situation look out for the three of coins close by, as this symbolises teachers and teaching.

When the Tower is taken to symbolise the past and childhood it can depict either: a) childhood abuse, generally of a mental or “smacking” type, rather than sexual abuse, or b) birth trauma.  

With childhood abuse the Tower depicts blows to the body or ego identity, and only alongside specific surrounding cards would it indicate that the abuse had a sexual nature.  These shocks get stored in the body, create post-traumatic stress and also long term feelings of inferiority.

Shock from birth trauma can not only create feelings of inferiority but also contribute to a long term feeling of loss, grief and a sense of “not belonging”.  Very often such people find it difficult to find a sense of fulfilment within their lives and underestimate their own achievements.

Interpretations for tarot cards adjust and metamorphose with the age in which we live, and in recent years the Tower has come to represent the dramatic destruction of the twin towers on September 11th. I most certainly did not foresee the tragic events, although for about two months leading up to Sept 11th I had a lot of clients laughing and saying ‘impossible!” when I looked into their futures and judged that they would not travel, not publically perform their music, that their company would not be worth half as much in a few months’ time, and so on. All of these predictions came to pass after September 11th.

After the events of September 11th I have seen the Tower in readings for people who have been influenced and affected by the terrible events. Even though I live in the UK some of my clients lost loved ones, while others have had their working lives changed due to the world events which followed.

Marseille Tarot Tower Reversed

Marseille Tarot Tower Reversed

When the Tower card is reversed in a reading it symbolises the questioner’s refusal to crack up under strain, pressure or shock.

Very often it depicts that someone has armour plated themselves in order to survive a situation. I saw this clearly for one woman who was nursing her sick mother.  Due to her mother’s dreadful illness she had become “not herself at all,” as my client described it, which included swearing at her, yelling abuse and going into lengthy sulky silences.  My client admitted “bricking herself in” against the onslaught, yet knew that mostly all she wanted to do was to burst into tears. She accepted that there would be a time, in the future, when her mother eventually passed away, that the constant shocks would have to be released.

If shock remains locked in it results in all kinds of physical ailments, especially stiffness within the body.  Often when a client has a variety of ailments which doctors have diagnosed as “stress” and the Tower card is reversed then I will start to take cards for their past to work out where the shock originated from.  It is quite amazing how the human psyche manages to cleverly cloak and shield us from shock so that we can continue to function.

For one young man we traced the blocked shock back to when his father left his mother.  Never before had he taken the situation to be a shock, yet he clearly recalled how each day he was upset when his father didn’t come home after work. “I never cried,” he admitted.  “My mum needed me and I had to be a man.”

Toni Allen Tarot Ace Cups Reversed

Toni Allen Tarot Ace Cups Reversed

For one woman the Tower card reversed appeared when we were looking at her romantic situation.  She desperately wanted a fulfilling relationship yet found it impossible to trust and feel love back from any partner.  The Tower reversed implied that her heart chakra was blocked which was the cause behind the lack of loving sensation she experienced.  We took cards for her past and the Ace of Cups reversed (broken heart) next to the Ten of Coins (family) indicated that her family had been unable to exhibit positive affection due to their own problems.

On a very mundane level if the questioner is asking about buying property and the Tower card turns up representing the property they intend to buy then it literally indicates that the building is on shaky ground, that the foundations may be at fault or that it is in need of extreme renovation.  I see a lot of people who are property developers and these folk generally just smile at me and say, “I know it needs a lot of work, my dear, that’s why it’s a good investment for refurbishment.”  One man even roared with laughter.  “That’s what I intend to do,” he said. ”Raise it to the ground and build something new.”

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Sex & Tarot by Toni Allen

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