Tarot Reading What is the deeper romantic and emotional truth of this connection during our separation, and what future potential truly exists between us?
Reading Performed 05/25/2026 at 10:21 PM
Click or scroll down for the meaning of each position and the interpretation of its card.
Querent
The querent is the card that this user felt represented them or their situation best.
The Hanged Man
Card Meaning When Upright
Wisdom, prudence, discernment, trials, sacrifice, intuition, divination, prophecy.
Card Description
The figure of a man hangs head down from a gallows, to which he is attached by a rope around one of his ankles. His arms are bound behind him, and one leg is crossed over the other. The gallows from which he hangs forms a Tau cross, while the figure—from the position of the legs--forms a cross. There is a halo around the head of the apparent martyr. It should be noted (1) that the tree of sacrifice is living wood, with leaves on it; (2) that the face expresses deep entrancement, not suffering; (3) that the figure, as a whole, suggests life in suspension, not death.
Visual Layout
Card One
Ace of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
The evil side of wealth, bad intelligence; also great riches.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
A share in the finding of treasure.
Card Description
A hand extending from a cloud holds up a pentacle.
Card Two
Nine of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Signifies strength in opposition—if attacked, the person will meet that attack boldly. Possibly delay, suspension, adjournment.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Generally speaking, a bad card.
Card Description
A man leans upon his staff with an expectant look, as if awaiting an enemy. His build indicates that he may prove a formidable opponent. Behind are eight other staves—upright, in orderly arrangement, like a fence.
Card Three
Queen of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Evil, suspicion, suspense, fear, mistrust.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
An illness.
Card Description
A dark woman who seems to display greatness of soul and grave intelligence contemplates her symbol, as if she sees worlds within it.
Card Four
Judgement from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Weakness, cowardice, simplicity; also deliberation, decision, sentence.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings (When Upright)
The Last judgment. I have spoken of this symbol already, the form of which is essentially invariable, even in the Etteilla set. An angel sounds his trumpet per sepulchra regionum, and the dead arise. It matters little that Etteilla omits the angel, or that Dr. Papus substitutes a ridiculous figure, which is, however, in consonance with the general motive of that Tarot set which accompanies his latest work. Before rejecting the transparent interpretation of the symbolism which is conveyed by the name of the card and by the picture which it presents to the eye, we should feel very sure of our ground. On the surface, at least, it is and can be only the resurrection of that triad--father, mother, child-whom we have met with already in the eighth card. M. Bourgeat hazards the suggestion that esoterically it is the symbol of evolution--of which it carries none of the signs. Others say that it signifies renewal, which is obvious enough; that it is the triad of human life; that it is the "generative force of the earth... and eternal life." Court de Gebelin makes himself impossible as usual, and points out that if the grave-stones were removed it could be accepted as a symbol of creation.
Card Description
A great angel is surrounded by clouds. He blows a trumpet with a banner displaying and a cross. Beneath, the dead are rising from their tombs—a woman on the right, a man on the left, and between them their child, whose back is turned. In the background are more dead who are restored. All the figures stand as one in the wonder, adoration, and ecstasy expressed by their postures. This card represents the accomplishment of the great work of transformation, in answer to the summons of the Celestial, heard and answered from within.
Card Five
Five of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Disorder, chaos, ruin, discord, recklessness.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Troubles in love.
Card Description
Two beggars in a snowstorm pass a lit stained-glass window.
Card Six
Two of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Conformity and the equilibrium it suggests, courage, friendship, peace in a state of arms; to some extent, harmony: however, swords do not generally symbolize benevolent forces in human affairs.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Gifts for a lady, influential protection for a man in search of help.
Card Description
A blindfolded woman balances two swords upon her shoulders.
Card Seven
Nine of Cups from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Truth, loyalty, liberty; good business.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Good business.
Card Description
A stout man has feasted to his heart's content. An abundant supply of wine is behind him, as if to show that the future is also assured. The picture offers the material side of assurance only: it does not reflect the spiritual.
Card Eight
Seven of Cups from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Desire, will, determination, project.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Success, if accompanied by the Three of Cups.
Card Description
Cups holding strange visions are presented to a figure in the foreground, as if offering a choice.
Card Nine
Ace of Cups from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
False-heartedness, changeability, instability, revolution.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Unexpected change of position.
Card Description
A hand extending from a cloud bears a cup pouring out four streams. Calm water lies beneath, and on it are waterlilies. A dove bearing in its beak a communion wafer marked with a cross descends to place the wafer in the cup. Dew falls around the cup on all sides.
Card Ten
Four of Cups from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Weariness, disgust, aversion, imaginary annoyances; also mixed pleasure.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Contrarieties.
Card Description
A young man sits under a tree, contemplating three cups on the grass before him. An arm extends from a cloud to offer him another cup. His appears discontent, as if the wine of this world had barely satisfied him. Another wine—a fairy gift—is now offered to the vagabond, but he sees no consolation in it, either.
Card Eleven
Queen of Cups from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Good, fair woman; honest, devoted woman, who will do service to the Querent; loving intelligence, and from it the gift of vision; success, happiness, pleasure; also wisdom, virtue; a perfect spouse and a good mother.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Sometimes denotes a woman of equivocal character.
Card Description
She is beautiful, fair, and dreamy; as if she sees visions in her cup. This is, however, only one of her sides; she sees, but she also acts, and her activity feeds her dream.
Card Twelve
Queen of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
A dark woman, from your hometown or country; she is friendly, chaste, loving, and honorable. If the card beside her signifies a man, she is well disposed toward him; if a woman, she is interested in the Querent. Also, love of money, or certain success in business.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
A good harvest, which may be taken in several senses.
Card Description
Emotionally and otherwise, the Queen's personality is dark, charismatic, magnetic.
Card Thirteen
Two of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Elation and recreation; also news and messages in writing, as obstacles; agitation, trouble, entanglement.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Troubles are more imaginary than real.
Card Description
A young man dances with a pentacle in either hand. They are joined by an endless cord: the number 8 on its side.
Card Fourteen
The Magician from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Skill, diplomacy, subtlety; sickness, pain, loss, disaster, the traps of enemies; self-confidence, will; the Querent, if male.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The Magus, Magician, or juggler, the caster of the dice and mountebank, in the world of vulgar trickery. This is the colportage interpretation, and it has the same correspondence with the real symbolical meaning that the use of the Tarot in fortune-telling has with its mystic construction according to the secret science of symbolism. I should add that many independent students of the subject, following their own lights, have produced individual sequences of meaning in respect of the Trumps Major, and their lights are sometimes suggestive, but they are not the true lights. For example, Eliphas Levi says that the Magus signifies that unity which is the mother of numbers; others say that it is the Divine Unity; and one of the latest French commentators considers that in its general sense it is the will.
Card Description
A youthful figure in the robe of a magician, having the appearance of divine Apollo, with a smile of confidence and shining eyes. Above his head is the mysterious sign of the Holy Spirit, the sign of life, like an endless cord, forming the figure 8 in a horizontal position. About his waist is a serpent-sash, the serpent appearing to devour its own tail. This is familiar to most as a symbol of eternity, but here it indicates the eternity of attainment in the Spirit. In the Magician's right hand is a wand raised toward heaven, while the left hand is pointing to the earth. This dual sign indicates the descent of grace, virtue and light, drawn from things above and passed to things below. The suggestion throughout is therefore the possession and communication of the Powers and Gifts of the Spirit. On the table in front of the Magician are the symbols of the four Tarot suits, signifying the elements of natural life, which lie like tools before the adept, and he uses them as he wills. Beneath the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley (see Song of Solomon 2:1), changed into garden flowers, depicting the culture of self-improvement. This card signifies the divine motive in man, reflecting God.
Card Fifteen
The High Priestess from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Passion, moral or physical ardor, arrogance, surface knowledge.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings (When Upright)
The High Priestess, the Pope Joan, or Female Pontiff; early expositors have sought to term this card the Mother, or Pope's Wife, which is opposed to the symbolism. It is sometimes held to represent the Divine Law and the Gnosis, in which case the Priestess corresponds to the idea of the Shekinah. She is the Secret Tradition and the higher sense of the instituted Mysteries.
Card Description
She has the lunar crescent at her feet, a horned circlet on her head with a globe at its center, and a large solar cross on her chest. The scroll in her hands is inscribed with the word Torah, signifying the Greater Law, the Secret Law, and the second sense of the Word. It is partly covered by her mantle, to show that some things are implied and some spoken. She is seated between the black and white pillars—labeled B. and J.—of the mystic Temple. The veil of the Temple is behind her, embroidered with palms and pomegranates. Her clothing is flowing and gauzy, and her mantle suggests light—a shimmering radiance. She is the Secret Church, the House of God and man. She is the spiritual Bride and Mother, the daughter of the stars and the Higher Garden of Eden. She is the Queen of the borrowed light, which is the light of all. She is the Moon nourished by the milk of the Celestial Mother. In a way, she is also the Celestial Mother herself—the bright reflection of the moon. She is the Spiritual Bride of the Just Man. When the Just Man reads the Law (Torah), she gives the Divine meaning. There are some respects in which this card is the highest and holiest of the Major Arcana.
Card Sixteen
The Heirophant from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Fellowship, good understanding, consensus, excessive kindness, weakness.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings (When Upright)
The High Priest or Hierophant, called also Spiritual Father, and more commonly and obviously the Pope. It seems even to have been named the Abbot, and then its correspondence, the High Priestess, was the Abbess or Mother of the Convent. Both are arbitrary names. The insignia of the figures are papal, and in such case the High Priestess is and can be only the Church, to whom Pope and priests are married by the spiritual rite of ordination. I think, however, that in its primitive form this card did not represent the Roman Pontiff.
Card Description
He wears the triple crown and is seated between two pillars, but not those of the Temple guarded by the High Priestess. In his left hand he holds a scepter ending with the triple cross. With his right hand he gives the well-known ecclesiastical sign of esotericism, distinguishing between the surface and concealed parts of doctrine. At his feet are the crossed keys, and two priestly ministers in albs (priestly robes) kneel before him. He is the ruling power of external religion, as the High Priestess is the prevailing force of the esoteric power.
Card Seventeen
Ace of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Triumph, the excessive degree in everything, conquest. It is a card of great force, in love as well as in hatred. The crown may carry a much higher significance than usual in fortune-telling.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Great prosperity or great misery.
Card Description
A hand extends from a cloud, grasping a sword, the point of which is encircled by a crown.
Card Eighteen
Seven of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Plan, attempt, wish, hope, confidence; also arguments, a plan that may fail, annoyance.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Dark girl; a good card; it promises a country life after a competence has been secured.
Card Description
A man quickly carries away five swords. Two others remain stuck in the ground. A camp is close at hand.
Card Nineteen
Seven of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Cause for anxiety regarding money someone wants to borrow.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Impatience, apprehension, suspicion.
Card Description
A young man leans on his staff, and looks intently at seven pentacles attached to a plant on his right. It looks as if these were his treasures, and as if his heart were there.
Card Twenty
Temperance from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Thrift, moderation, frugality, management, settlement.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Temperance. The winged figure of a female--who, in opposition to all doctrine concerning the hierarchy of angels, is usually allocated to this order of ministering spirits--is pouring liquid from one pitcher to another. In his last work on the Tarot, Dr. Papus abandons the traditional form and depicts a woman wearing an Egyptian head-dress. The first thing which seems clear on the surface is that the entire symbol has no especial connexion with Temperance, and the fact that this designation has always obtained for the card offers a very obvious instance of a meaning behind meaning, which is the title in chief to consideration in respect of the Tarot as a whole.
Card Description
A winged angel, with the sign of the sun on its forehead, and on its breast the square and triangle of the septenary (symbolism of the number seven). The androgynous figure pours the essences of life from chalice to chalice. It has one foot on the earth and one on water, illustrating the nature of the essences being poured. A direct path leads to heights on the horizon, and above shines a great light, through which a crown can be vaguely seen. Here is some part of the Secret of Eternal Life, as available to man in this existence.
Card Twenty One
Three of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Established strength, enterprise, effort, trade, commerce, discovery: those are his ships, bearing his merchandise, at sail.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
A very good card; collaboration will favour enterprise.
Card Description
A calm, stately figure looks from a cliff's edge at ships passing over the sea. His back is turned. Three staves are planted in the ground, and he leans slightly on one of them.
The Meanings of these Tarot Cards
Card One
Ace of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
The evil side of wealth, bad intelligence; also great riches.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
A share in the finding of treasure.
Card Description
A hand extending from a cloud holds up a pentacle.
Card Two
Nine of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Signifies strength in opposition—if attacked, the person will meet that attack boldly. Possibly delay, suspension, adjournment.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Generally speaking, a bad card.
Card Description
A man leans upon his staff with an expectant look, as if awaiting an enemy. His build indicates that he may prove a formidable opponent. Behind are eight other staves—upright, in orderly arrangement, like a fence.
Card Three
Queen of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Evil, suspicion, suspense, fear, mistrust.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
An illness.
Card Description
A dark woman who seems to display greatness of soul and grave intelligence contemplates her symbol, as if she sees worlds within it.
Card Four
Judgement from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Weakness, cowardice, simplicity; also deliberation, decision, sentence.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings (When Upright)
The Last judgment. I have spoken of this symbol already, the form of which is essentially invariable, even in the Etteilla set. An angel sounds his trumpet per sepulchra regionum, and the dead arise. It matters little that Etteilla omits the angel, or that Dr. Papus substitutes a ridiculous figure, which is, however, in consonance with the general motive of that Tarot set which accompanies his latest work. Before rejecting the transparent interpretation of the symbolism which is conveyed by the name of the card and by the picture which it presents to the eye, we should feel very sure of our ground. On the surface, at least, it is and can be only the resurrection of that triad--father, mother, child-whom we have met with already in the eighth card. M. Bourgeat hazards the suggestion that esoterically it is the symbol of evolution--of which it carries none of the signs. Others say that it signifies renewal, which is obvious enough; that it is the triad of human life; that it is the "generative force of the earth... and eternal life." Court de Gebelin makes himself impossible as usual, and points out that if the grave-stones were removed it could be accepted as a symbol of creation.
Card Description
A great angel is surrounded by clouds. He blows a trumpet with a banner displaying and a cross. Beneath, the dead are rising from their tombs—a woman on the right, a man on the left, and between them their child, whose back is turned. In the background are more dead who are restored. All the figures stand as one in the wonder, adoration, and ecstasy expressed by their postures. This card represents the accomplishment of the great work of transformation, in answer to the summons of the Celestial, heard and answered from within.
Card Five
Five of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Disorder, chaos, ruin, discord, recklessness.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Troubles in love.
Card Description
Two beggars in a snowstorm pass a lit stained-glass window.
Card Six
Two of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Conformity and the equilibrium it suggests, courage, friendship, peace in a state of arms; to some extent, harmony: however, swords do not generally symbolize benevolent forces in human affairs.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Gifts for a lady, influential protection for a man in search of help.
Card Description
A blindfolded woman balances two swords upon her shoulders.
Card Seven
Nine of Cups from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Truth, loyalty, liberty; good business.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Good business.
Card Description
A stout man has feasted to his heart's content. An abundant supply of wine is behind him, as if to show that the future is also assured. The picture offers the material side of assurance only: it does not reflect the spiritual.
Card Eight
Seven of Cups from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Desire, will, determination, project.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Success, if accompanied by the Three of Cups.
Card Description
Cups holding strange visions are presented to a figure in the foreground, as if offering a choice.
Card Nine
Ace of Cups from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
False-heartedness, changeability, instability, revolution.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Unexpected change of position.
Card Description
A hand extending from a cloud bears a cup pouring out four streams. Calm water lies beneath, and on it are waterlilies. A dove bearing in its beak a communion wafer marked with a cross descends to place the wafer in the cup. Dew falls around the cup on all sides.
Card Ten
Four of Cups from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Weariness, disgust, aversion, imaginary annoyances; also mixed pleasure.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Contrarieties.
Card Description
A young man sits under a tree, contemplating three cups on the grass before him. An arm extends from a cloud to offer him another cup. His appears discontent, as if the wine of this world had barely satisfied him. Another wine—a fairy gift—is now offered to the vagabond, but he sees no consolation in it, either.
Card Eleven
Queen of Cups from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Good, fair woman; honest, devoted woman, who will do service to the Querent; loving intelligence, and from it the gift of vision; success, happiness, pleasure; also wisdom, virtue; a perfect spouse and a good mother.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Sometimes denotes a woman of equivocal character.
Card Description
She is beautiful, fair, and dreamy; as if she sees visions in her cup. This is, however, only one of her sides; she sees, but she also acts, and her activity feeds her dream.
Card Twelve
Queen of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
A dark woman, from your hometown or country; she is friendly, chaste, loving, and honorable. If the card beside her signifies a man, she is well disposed toward him; if a woman, she is interested in the Querent. Also, love of money, or certain success in business.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
A good harvest, which may be taken in several senses.
Card Description
Emotionally and otherwise, the Queen's personality is dark, charismatic, magnetic.
Card Thirteen
Two of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Elation and recreation; also news and messages in writing, as obstacles; agitation, trouble, entanglement.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Troubles are more imaginary than real.
Card Description
A young man dances with a pentacle in either hand. They are joined by an endless cord: the number 8 on its side.
Card Fourteen
The Magician from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Skill, diplomacy, subtlety; sickness, pain, loss, disaster, the traps of enemies; self-confidence, will; the Querent, if male.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
The Magus, Magician, or juggler, the caster of the dice and mountebank, in the world of vulgar trickery. This is the colportage interpretation, and it has the same correspondence with the real symbolical meaning that the use of the Tarot in fortune-telling has with its mystic construction according to the secret science of symbolism. I should add that many independent students of the subject, following their own lights, have produced individual sequences of meaning in respect of the Trumps Major, and their lights are sometimes suggestive, but they are not the true lights. For example, Eliphas Levi says that the Magus signifies that unity which is the mother of numbers; others say that it is the Divine Unity; and one of the latest French commentators considers that in its general sense it is the will.
Card Description
A youthful figure in the robe of a magician, having the appearance of divine Apollo, with a smile of confidence and shining eyes. Above his head is the mysterious sign of the Holy Spirit, the sign of life, like an endless cord, forming the figure 8 in a horizontal position. About his waist is a serpent-sash, the serpent appearing to devour its own tail. This is familiar to most as a symbol of eternity, but here it indicates the eternity of attainment in the Spirit. In the Magician's right hand is a wand raised toward heaven, while the left hand is pointing to the earth. This dual sign indicates the descent of grace, virtue and light, drawn from things above and passed to things below. The suggestion throughout is therefore the possession and communication of the Powers and Gifts of the Spirit. On the table in front of the Magician are the symbols of the four Tarot suits, signifying the elements of natural life, which lie like tools before the adept, and he uses them as he wills. Beneath the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley (see Song of Solomon 2:1), changed into garden flowers, depicting the culture of self-improvement. This card signifies the divine motive in man, reflecting God.
Card Fifteen
The High Priestess from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Passion, moral or physical ardor, arrogance, surface knowledge.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings (When Upright)
The High Priestess, the Pope Joan, or Female Pontiff; early expositors have sought to term this card the Mother, or Pope's Wife, which is opposed to the symbolism. It is sometimes held to represent the Divine Law and the Gnosis, in which case the Priestess corresponds to the idea of the Shekinah. She is the Secret Tradition and the higher sense of the instituted Mysteries.
Card Description
She has the lunar crescent at her feet, a horned circlet on her head with a globe at its center, and a large solar cross on her chest. The scroll in her hands is inscribed with the word Torah, signifying the Greater Law, the Secret Law, and the second sense of the Word. It is partly covered by her mantle, to show that some things are implied and some spoken. She is seated between the black and white pillars—labeled B. and J.—of the mystic Temple. The veil of the Temple is behind her, embroidered with palms and pomegranates. Her clothing is flowing and gauzy, and her mantle suggests light—a shimmering radiance. She is the Secret Church, the House of God and man. She is the spiritual Bride and Mother, the daughter of the stars and the Higher Garden of Eden. She is the Queen of the borrowed light, which is the light of all. She is the Moon nourished by the milk of the Celestial Mother. In a way, she is also the Celestial Mother herself—the bright reflection of the moon. She is the Spiritual Bride of the Just Man. When the Just Man reads the Law (Torah), she gives the Divine meaning. There are some respects in which this card is the highest and holiest of the Major Arcana.
Card Sixteen
The Heirophant from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Fellowship, good understanding, consensus, excessive kindness, weakness.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings (When Upright)
The High Priest or Hierophant, called also Spiritual Father, and more commonly and obviously the Pope. It seems even to have been named the Abbot, and then its correspondence, the High Priestess, was the Abbess or Mother of the Convent. Both are arbitrary names. The insignia of the figures are papal, and in such case the High Priestess is and can be only the Church, to whom Pope and priests are married by the spiritual rite of ordination. I think, however, that in its primitive form this card did not represent the Roman Pontiff.
Card Description
He wears the triple crown and is seated between two pillars, but not those of the Temple guarded by the High Priestess. In his left hand he holds a scepter ending with the triple cross. With his right hand he gives the well-known ecclesiastical sign of esotericism, distinguishing between the surface and concealed parts of doctrine. At his feet are the crossed keys, and two priestly ministers in albs (priestly robes) kneel before him. He is the ruling power of external religion, as the High Priestess is the prevailing force of the esoteric power.
Card Seventeen
Ace of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Triumph, the excessive degree in everything, conquest. It is a card of great force, in love as well as in hatred. The crown may carry a much higher significance than usual in fortune-telling.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Great prosperity or great misery.
Card Description
A hand extends from a cloud, grasping a sword, the point of which is encircled by a crown.
Card Eighteen
Seven of Swords from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Plan, attempt, wish, hope, confidence; also arguments, a plan that may fail, annoyance.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Dark girl; a good card; it promises a country life after a competence has been secured.
Card Description
A man quickly carries away five swords. Two others remain stuck in the ground. A camp is close at hand.
Card Nineteen
Seven of Pentacles from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Reversed
Cause for anxiety regarding money someone wants to borrow.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Impatience, apprehension, suspicion.
Card Description
A young man leans on his staff, and looks intently at seven pentacles attached to a plant on his right. It looks as if these were his treasures, and as if his heart were there.
Card Twenty
Temperance from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Thrift, moderation, frugality, management, settlement.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
Temperance. The winged figure of a female--who, in opposition to all doctrine concerning the hierarchy of angels, is usually allocated to this order of ministering spirits--is pouring liquid from one pitcher to another. In his last work on the Tarot, Dr. Papus abandons the traditional form and depicts a woman wearing an Egyptian head-dress. The first thing which seems clear on the surface is that the entire symbol has no especial connexion with Temperance, and the fact that this designation has always obtained for the card offers a very obvious instance of a meaning behind meaning, which is the title in chief to consideration in respect of the Tarot as a whole.
Card Description
A winged angel, with the sign of the sun on its forehead, and on its breast the square and triangle of the septenary (symbolism of the number seven). The androgynous figure pours the essences of life from chalice to chalice. It has one foot on the earth and one on water, illustrating the nature of the essences being poured. A direct path leads to heights on the horizon, and above shines a great light, through which a crown can be vaguely seen. Here is some part of the Secret of Eternal Life, as available to man in this existence.
Card Twenty One
Three of Wands from the Vivid Waite Smith Tarot Deck
Card Meaning When Upright
Established strength, enterprise, effort, trade, commerce, discovery: those are his ships, bearing his merchandise, at sail.
A. E. Waite's Secondary Meanings
A very good card; collaboration will favour enterprise.
Card Description
A calm, stately figure looks from a cliff's edge at ships passing over the sea. His back is turned. Three staves are planted in the ground, and he leans slightly on one of them.
