The Tarot¶
by S. L. MacGregor Mathers, originally published 1888.
Meanings¶
Riches, Fortune, Opulence, Magnificence, Grandeur.
Reversed¶
Surprise, Astonishment, Event, Extraordinary Occurrence.
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot¶
by Arthur Edward Waite, originally published 1910.
Description¶
A tall man looks from a battlemented roof over sea and shore; he holds a globe in his right hand, while a staff in his left rests on the battlement; another is fixed in a ring. The Rose and Cross and Lily should be noticed on the left side.
Meanings¶
Between the alternative readings there is no marriage possible; on the one hand, riches, fortune, magnificence; on the other, physical suffering, disease, chagrin, sadness, mortification. The design gives one suggestion; here is a lord overlooking his dominion and alternately contemplating a globe; it looks like the malady, the mortification, the sadness of Alexander amidst the grandeur of this world’s wealth.
Reversed¶
Surprise, wonder, enchantment, emotion, trouble, fear.
General Book of the Tarot¶
by A. E. Thierens, originally published 1930.
Meanings¶
Melancholy, sadness, surprise, astonishment, consternation, terror, fear, enchantment, trouble, but also on the other hand riches, fortune and magnificence.
Theory & Astrological Associations¶
Air on the Second house, that of Taurus, which explains at once the latter significances ascribed to the card by some authors; the other category of definitions derives from the earthy nature of the Second house, which, put into the tone of the airy element, may cause something of the oppression, which the heaviness of this fixed and earthy house exercises on the mind. It is the impression of heaviness, of a load on the back, which easily may attain the more concise form of a fear, a gloom, a feeling of being downcast, impotent, weak and not able to resist circumstances. So it may signify the pressure of material conditions, the responsibility imparted by riches, but also projects or conceptions of an economical nature and the idea of capital and capitalising. Further the combination of the principles of air with the house of Taurus must give music, and we may be sure that this card always has some significance in that way and in the sphere of art intellectually and in general. This is a very important significance.
Conclusion¶
Music, art, artistic ability in general; capital, riches, heavy responsibility, pressure, obsession, melancholy, fear, weakness, impossibility or material power (on one side and on the other), gloom, dullness, ‘spleen,’ impotence, subjection to material circumstances; attitude of ‘wait and see’; the future is for those that can (afford to) wait. Country life.
Click here to check out Tarot products at Amazon!