Tarot is a Profound Source of Insight - Page 17
Tarot Articles and Blogs
Learn how Tarot cards and their meanings influence your life here and now
Iconology of the Chariot Cards
Introduction Figure 1 shows the seven extant Chariot cards from the 15th/16th centuries. The Chariot card was number eight in the type B ordering. The Chariot on the early cards appears as a 2-wheeled chariot pulled by white horses. Read More »
Iconology of the Angel Tarot Cards
IntroductionFigure 1 shows the Angel cards that have survived from the 15/16th centuries. The imagery is remarkably consistent across the cards, showing one or two angels blowing trumpets and figures rising from graves. Read More »
Iconology of the Lovers Cards
Introduction Six examples of the Lovers card have survived from the 15th/16th centuries (Figure 1). In the type B ordering, the Lovers cards are number seven.The imagery is quite consistent and shows a young couple with a cupid hovering above. One card shows three couples with two cupids. The last card (lower right) is a fragment but probably also had the typical Cupid above. Read More »
Iconology of the Temperance Cards
Introduction The six Temperance cards surviving from the 15th and 16th century are shown in Figure 1. In the ordering we are adopting here, the temperance cards are numbered six of the trumps. Read More »
Iconology of the Fortitude Cards
The ninth Tarot trump according the type B ordering is the virtue Fortitude and the five surviving cards from the 15th/16th century are shown in Figure 1. Two of the cards show a woman in a long tunic holding or breaking a pillar. Read More »
Iconology of the Wheel Cards
Introduction The six surviving Wheel of Fortune cards (#10) from the 15th/16th century are shown in Figure 1. The same basic theme appears on all of them. Read More »
Iconology of the Hermit Cards
IntroductionCard number 11, the Hermit, has five survivors from the 15th/16th century (Figure 1). All of the images show an old bearded man. Read More »
Iconology of the Hanged Man Cards
IntroductionFive of the extant 15th and 16th century Hangedman cards (#12) are shown in Figure 1. There is an additional fragment (Kaplan Volume 2, p. 286) that shows only the lower right hand corner of a card and does not add much. Read More »
Iconology of the Devil Cards
Introduction The reader may be surprised to find the Devil numbered 14. But this is the number that has probably the best argument for being the original. The various orderings of the 15/16th century cards are discussed in some detail by Dummett (1980). Read More »
Iconology of the Tower Cards
The early Tarot imagesThere are five surviving images of the Tower from the 15/16th centuries (Fig. 1). Four of the towers are square with doorways and four show rocks, hail, or masonry falling. Read More »