Meet the Cards: Child of Water

Generally, all Pages:

• Learning, Wondering, Beginning.
• Express the Earth aspect of their suit, or element.
• Correspond to the Tens.
• Symbolize the student, apprentice, or servant.
• Serve as a catalyst of change.
• For additional info on the Children check out Tarot Elements’ post: Pages and Princesses.

What I See:

I love the sense of wonder I get looking at this image. I remember being that little girl standing in the cold water seeing my first starfish. Light is dancing on the water making the rocks and shells almost look like jewels. I can hear the waves rippling around her. I can smell the musty scent you only encounter by the ocean. I can taste the salt in the air.

Who am I kidding? I’m ready to run away to the beach, LOL.

General Water element/Cups suit:

Please refer back to the Ace of Water

Light (upright) Reading:

Embrace your emotions and imagination/dreams.

• Keywords: Sympathetic, Tender, Intuitive, Aesthetic, or Affectionate.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

Beware of being oversensitive.

• Keywords: Naive, Indolent, Promiscuous, Fluffy-Bunny, or Daydreaming.

Plots:

Perhaps a family vacation. A first trip to the ocean. Or maybe, weave your story around an ocean biologist. An Eco-terrorist? What about a beach clean-up group?

How about a retelling of Atlantis, or some other underwater society? Perhaps your MC can talk to the marine animals.

Water is the emotional element, perhaps your MC is experiencing first love. Or maybe they’ve been disappointed by love? Perhaps that child is your MC’s inner child.

• Child Themes: Curiosity, Hope, Innocence, Opening, Trust, Beginnings, Novelty, Growth, Study, or Apprenticeship.

Characters:

“I imagine a life filled with love, art, and spirituality.” ~Joanna Powell Colbert

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Clergy and Priestly class.

MBTI:  INFP (Introverted Intuitive Feeling Perceiving)

The nine-point personality enneagram can also be useful for character building.

Children/Pages/Princesses are E9: Mediator, Peacemaker, and/or Preservationist

• Self Image — I am content
• Passion — Indolence, Laziness, or Accidia
• Virtue — Diligence
• Narcissistic Trap — Self-abasement
• Avoids — Conflict
• Speaking Style — Monotonous or Rambling

E9 people are instinctive, spontaneous, and intuitive. Their “gut” feeling is the center of their awareness. They are often direct or territorial. They are concerned with power, ruled by aggression, and may be troubled by self-doubt or self-blame.

Additionally, look up one of the Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) for personality traits.

• Careers: Student of the Arts and Humanities, Social Work, Healer, Psychic, Puppetry, Writing and Poetry, Acting, Non-Profit Organizations, Volunteer Services, and Design Student.
• Recreation: Surfing, Scuba-Diving, Swimming, Yoga, Gymnastics, and Anything fun which enables them to find emotional release.

Image: Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide

Meet the Cards: Ten of Water

What I See:

This is one of my favorite cards. Typically, the image shows a man and a woman overlooking a couple of children playing. It has always given me a sense of happily-ever-after (or at least for right now). This image is more primal to me. We have the salmon who swim downstream to the ocean just to struggle upstream to lay their eggs in the same spot they hatched only to die. We see that here. We have the living salmon in the water and the decaying ones on the bank. This makes me think of a Billy Ray Cyrus song, one line in particular, “All gave some and some gave all.” I definitely get a sense of trying one’s best.

General Water element/Cups suit:

Please refer back to the Ace of Water

Light (upright) Reading:

You are feeling balance within the cycle of life.

• Keywords: Unity, Domestic Harmony, Optimism, or Wholeness.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

Beware of feeling overwhelmed, it’s okay to ask for help.

• Keywords: Delinquent Behavior, Impermanence, Smothering, or Overflowing Emotions.

Plots:

Perhaps a play on the descent and return of the salmon cycle? Or even a story with that at its center. How about a visit to fish ladder? Or a dam? Perhaps your hero/ine works for Fish and Wildlife.

How about a generational story? Or returning to one’s roots?

For you horror folks, how about a serial killer? I don’t know about you, but that kind of looks like a body dump site to me.

• Ten Themes: Transition, Transformation, or Endings and Beginnings.

As I mentioned above, traditionally, this is a card of home and family. Perhaps, Home Sweet Home is your theme. How about a marriage? A family with young children?

How about a promise? Or a goal?

Characters:

You have given your best.

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Clergy and Priestly class.

Additionally, look up one of the Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) for personality traits.

For more information on the Tens in general, please refer back to the Ten of Fire.

Image: Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide

Meet the Cards: Nine of Water

What I See:

There’s a whispiness to her that makes me think of spirits wandering. I have a sense of her rising from the sea, breathing life into the Selkie myth. The colors bring to mind the ocean after a storm. Or maybe, the calm before the storm.

Seeing the light. With her arms open wide, whether spiritually or physically or emotionally, she is embracing fulfillment. The book says she’s standing in a sea cave but the edges are blurred enough she could be standing on the banks of a stream in a forest. I love the duality of that.

General Water element/Cups suit:

Please refer back to the Ace of Water

Light (upright) Reading:

All is well.

• Keywords: Happiness, Wishes Fulfilled, Sensual Pleasure, or Bliss.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

Beware of shutting down your emotions.

• Keywords: Extravagance, Superficiality, Hedonism, or Addiction.

Plots:

With that shining light, perhaps a life after death story. How about a ghost story? Maybe a tale about a medium or tarot reader? There’s an otherworldly feel to the image so perhaps time-travel or aliens or shifters.

With her arms outstretched like that, perhaps she’s a shaman or some other spiritual guide. Maybe she’s on a vision quest?

How about a mythic helper who seems ordinary? (Perhaps refer back to The Writers Journey by Christopher Vogler for mythic archetypes.)

• Nine Themes: Self-mastery, Solitude, Wisdom, Experience, or Completion.

Typically, this card shows a barkeep/innkeeper leaning against a wall lined with cups. Perhaps your character is a bartender? Or maybe, you use a bartender to extract your character’s secrets.

Tarot for Writers by Corrine Kenner points out that the bartender could be looked at as a “low-rent High Priestess” — perhaps a story lurks there.

Characters:

Harmony with the Divine.

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Clergy and Priestly class.

Additionally, look up one of the Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) for personality traits.

For more information on the Nines in general, please refer back to the Nine of Air.

Image: Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide

Meet the Cards: Eight of Water

What I See:

We have the Water element with the woman swimming in the river (also in the colors). It appears as though the woman is going against the current. I have a sense she’s staying true to herself. She has a determined set to her face. Is she pushing her endurance? Or just intent on reaching the shore? And I wonder what’s going through her mind.

This plays to character arc, water representing emotion, and the journey our characters should travel through our pages. Of course, that we should learn and grow in our actual lives as well.

General Water element/Cups suit:

Please refer back to the Ace of Water

Light (upright) Reading:

You have courage and strength and determination.

• Keywords: Cleansing, Spiritual Quest, Travel, or Moving On.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

Beware of letting the past prevent change.

• Keywords: Indolence, Energy Drain, Escapism, or Avoidance.

Plots:

Perhaps a story about pursuing one’s dreams. Or the search for something missing? Perhaps an emotional journey. Or a spiritual quest? A pilgrimage?

Maybe running away?

A camping trip? A lazy spring afternoon? Cooling off on a sizzling summer day? Training for a swimming event?

• Eight Themes: Taking Action, Energy, Self-directed Movement, Empowerment, or Transforming Vision into Reality.

Typically, this card shows eight cups in the foreground with a man walking away toward mountains in the distance. Perhaps a theme comparing material wealth to spiritual or emotional relationships. Or of overcoming obstacles?

Characters:

Staying true to yourself and your path.

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Clergy and Priestly class.

Additionally, look up one of the Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) for personality traits.

For more information on the Eights in general, please refer back to the Eight of Earth.

Image: Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide

Meet the Cards: Seven of Water

Generally, all Sevens:

• Express self-knowledge of their suit, or element.
• Reflect the themes and wisdom of the Chariot.
• Symbolize focus and goals.
• Can be the plot point turning into the final act; the character’s re-dedication to the path; or anytime “saying no to the good, in order to say yes to the great” applies.
• Begins the final set of mini-dramas, representing conscious choice, mentioned in the Numbers in Tarot post.
• For additional info on Sevens check out Tarot Notes Take a Number series on Sevens.

What I See:

Besides the obvious water behind the man, the colors are the first Water element feel I get as I look at this card. The various containers are the next items to capture my gaze. Each piece of glass is unique, yet similar in purpose…rather like us humans, joined by our humanity yet uniquely individual.

We often talk about refilling the well and this is a great visual of that. I also get a sense of making a choice. What made him choose that goblet over any of the other containers? There’s also a feeling of commitment…he’s drinking down the entire contents.

General Water element/Cups suit:

Please refer back to the Ace of Water

Light (upright) Reading:

Let your intuition guide you and make a decision.

• Keywords: Creative Visualization, Imagination, Variety, or Dreams.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

Beware of indecision. Take action, you can change course once you’re moving forward again.

• Keywords: Debauchery, Delusional, Temptation, or Self-Deception.

Plots:

A refilling the well tale comes to mind. Following dreams. Choosing action, or one path over another. Perhaps a ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ story?

There are seven birds and seven containers, perhaps seven is a reoccurring theme in your story? Seven days of the week. Seven virtues. Seven colors of the rainbow. Seven musical notes in a scale. Seven Chakras. Seven Alchemists’ metals. Seven deadly sins. Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Seven tests for your MC to master?

How about a genie-in-the-bottle tale? A glass bottle collector?

Perhaps, your story is exploring the darker side. Is he a drunk? Maybe your MC is paralyzed by fear or unable to make a decision and move forward in life, career, or a relationship?

• Seven Themes: Initiation, Focus, Inner Work, Setting Intentions, or Self-awareness.

Typically, this card shows a man’s back to us with seven cups floating in/on clouds. There’s more of a daydream feel to it, perhaps, your character is lost in daydreams. Perhaps the cups are awards or trophies. Or, maybe, ‘all that glitters is not gold’?

Characters:

Commit to you dream.

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Clergy and Priestly class.

The personality enneagram, a nine-pointed array of personality types, might also be a useful reference for character building.

All Sevens are E7: Epicure, Enthusiast, Visionary, Dream, and/or Generalist

• Self Image — I am happy
• Passion — Gluttony, Over-indulgence, or Charlatanry
• Virtue — Sobriety
• Narcissistic Trap — Idealism
• Avoids — Pain
• Speaking Style — Garrulous or Story-telling

E7 people are ruled by their head. They need to understand the pattern of events, where all the pieces fit in the puzzle of life, and are often detached from their emotions. Their objectivity may hide feelings of isolation or confusion.

Additionally, look up one of the Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) for personality traits.

Image: Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide

Meet the Cards: Six of Water

What I See:

Greeting the dawn? Celebrating in the twilight? I love the realness of the women’s bodies. I don’t get a sense of embarrassment at being too heavy or too short or too whatever. I get a sense of love and joy and togetherness. The water element feeling comes from more than the obvious water of the river, or sea. We see it in the colors, the sense of motion in the ripples seen in the water, and the women standing waist deep. No, dancing. There’s even a seal seeking to join in. According to the book, this is a Summer Solstice celebration of “mermaid” sisters. I rather like that image.

General Water element/Cups suit:

Please refer back to the Ace of Water

Light (upright) Reading:

You are fully present in the moment.

• Keywords: Nostalgia, Harmony Restored, Courting, or Decorating.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

You may be nostalgic, beware of brooding about the past.

• Keywords: Dwelling in the Past, Clinging, Immaturity, or Vanity.

Plots:

With that seal as the sixth member of the group, I can’t help but think of a Selkie story. How about a mermaid tale? Is this a group of friends? Sisters? Cousins? Or generational…grandmother, mother, daughter? Perhaps a Maiden-Mother-Crone story?

How about a cleansing ritual? Perhaps one of the women is getting married, or just had a child. Or maybe one of the women is washing away her grief.

Perhaps this is an act of magic? Perhaps the women are opening a whirlpool into another time, or dimension? Maybe this is a fountain of youth story.

What about a message in a bottle story?

• Six Themes: Reciprocity, Collaboration, Peak Experience, Interaction, or Community.

Characters:

You are experiencing joy through your close connections.

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Clergy and Priestly class.

Additionally, look up one of the Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) for personality traits.

For more information on the Sixes in general, please refer back to the Six of Fire.

Image: Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide

Meet the Cards: Five of Water

What I See:

Reflection. Whether the woman is depressed or grieving or regrets something, I get the sense of inner thoughts. She’s taking stock, reevaluating, and perhaps hoping for divine intervention. According to the book, she’s holding a scrying bowl.

This scene makes me think of the beaches along the Pacific NW coast. You don’t lay out and tan. You only swim if the weather is balmy, you have a wetsuit on, or you’re crazy, LOL. I’ve always referred to the beaches as ‘mood beaches’ and they are great places to walk and think.

There is a sense of loneliness but it feels like she went off on her own for a purpose. This is one of the rare cards where both the light and shadow keywords seem to apply no matter which way the card is drawn.

General Water element/Cups suit:

Please refer back to the Ace of Water

Light (upright) Reading:

Let healing flow, moving you out of the gloom.

• Keywords: Renewal, Healing Rifts, Forgiveness, or Crossing Bridges.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

“Being say may have become a habit that’s hard to break.”

• Keywords: Betrayal, Abandonment, Disappointment, or Regret.

Plots:

With that gray fog, perhaps weather plays a key role in your story. How about a setting along a beach or riverside? There’s a boat in the distance, perhaps your MC has been lost at sea, or abandoned.

Perhaps, your story focuses on the supernatural — witches, shapeshifters, etc. How about a vision quest? Or a simple camping trip?

• Five Themes: Challenge, Crisis, Conflict, Instability, or Change.

The traditional depiction of this card is similar in that we see a man gazing out over a river under a cloudy sky. There is more a sense of loss with the man’s head bowed. Perhaps, a study of grief?

In the background is a bridge, or a boat in this case, which often symbolizes a connection between worlds. Perhaps, even dimensions.

Characters:

Direct your gaze inward.

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Clergy and Priestly class.

Additionally, look up one of the Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) for personality traits.

For more information on the Fives in general, please refer back to the Five of Air.

Image: Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide

Meet the Cards: Four of Water

What I See:

I imagine a pilgrimage — according to the book that is the Chalice Well in Glastonbury, England — and refilling of the emotional well. We have the overlapping circles, creating the mandorla as talked about in The World post, bisected by a sword. The sword makes me think about Arthurian legends. And I’m back to the holiness of the Chalice Well, where Joseph of Arimathea is said to have put the cup that collected Jesus’ blood. Wells are said to be a gateway to the spirit world. I must say, with the history surrounding this well, I’d agree. And that greenery. It doesn’t seem to be just a reflection on the water but rather a living thing reaching out of the water toward the pilgrim at its edge.

General Water element/Cups suit:

Please refer back to the Ace of Water

Light (upright) Reading:

It’s time to replenish you emotional well.

• Keywords: Invitation, Introspection, Unforeseen Solutions, or Omen.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

Get out of your rut by counting your blessings.

• Keywords: Discontent, Emotional Distance, Apathy, or Lethargy.

Plots:

This card screams sacred space. Perhaps your story focus on a sacred location. Or maybe the pilgrimage to a sacred location? With the well’s history, perhaps a retelling of a myth or legend.

Perhaps your focus is the woman. Happy or sad? Perhaps she’s scrying?

• Four Themes: Sacred Space, Structure, Boundaries, Limits, Foundation, or Stewardship.

Traditionally, this card depicts a man sitting under a tree with three cups in front of him and one held aloft by a cloud. This could mean your MC is bored or discontent. Perhaps s/he is in the valley after a turning point in your story.

Perhaps you see Odin in that man sitting beneath a tree. Odin climbed the World Tree, even losing an eye. How about a retelling of that story?

According to Tarot for Writers by Corrine Kenner the Four of Cups is a card of disappointment. I don’t see that here, but rather a card of reflection.

Characters:

Take a pilgrimage to a sacred place.

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Clergy and Priestly class.

Additionally, look up one of the Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) for personality traits.

For more information on the Fours in general, please refer back to the Four of Earth.

Image: Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide

Meet the Cards: Three of Water

Generally, all Threes:

• Express harmony, flow, and abundance of their suit, or element.
• Reflect the themes and wisdom of the Gardener.
• Symbolize manifestation.
• Can represent Act Three, the resolution of your story; syntheses; if you break Act Two into two parts, this can represent Act Two-Part Two, the attack; antithesis; it can be a plot point such as the Debate or Refusal of the Call to Adventure; or the reluctance to change step of your character’s arc.
• Are the resolution to the first set of mini-dramas mentioned in the Numbers in Tarot post.
• For additional info on Threes check out Tarot Notes Take a Number series on Threes.

What I See:

Okay, my heart melts for sea otters. I adore this card. It reminds me not to take life too seriously, to make time to play, and to go with the flow. I see family, maybe three generations. The one at the back seems to be laughing, finding joy in the simple things. The colors are soothing. The water looks cool (something I’d really like to jump into right about now as our temps are in the triple digits). This card just screams, “grab your friends and go have fun.”

General Water element/Cups suit:

Please refer back to the Ace of Water

Light (upright) Reading:

Share joy and happiness grows.

• Keywords: Celebration, Friendship, Playfulness, and Toasting Success.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

Shift your energy to choose joy in difficult situations.

• Keywords: Overindulgence, Hangover, Promiscuity, and Gossip.

Plots:

I know Selkies are seal-shifters but I can see a Selkie story develop from this card. Perhaps a habitat story? I definitely get a generational feel with the three animals, perhaps your story follows three members of a family. How about a family reunion story?

Maybe your story revolves around the local swimming hole. Perhaps a tale of friends. Or of coming home again? Maybe it’s as simple as a story about spring/summer break.

Typically, this card shows three women, perhaps a Triple Goddess story. Or three sisters? How about a retelling of the Three Graces or Three Norns? Or perhaps the Three Virtues?

• Three Themes: Harmony, Abundance, Ease, Manifestation, Productivity, or Expression.

Characters:

Embrace your carefree and mischievous side.

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Clergy and Priestly class.

The personality enneagram, a nine-pointed array of personality types, might also be a useful reference for character building.

All Threes are E3: Performer, Producer, and/or Achiever

• Self Image — I am successful
• Passion — Deceit
• Virtue — Truthfulness
• Narcissistic Trap — Efficiency
• Avoids — Failure
• Speaking Style — Wooing or Inspiring

E3 people are relationship oriented. They are concerned with what others think of them, image and prestige. They see themselves as being for others and often believe they know what’s best. They dislike being alone and may feel sad or inadequate.

Additionally, look up one of the Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) for personality traits.

Image: Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide

Meet the Cards: Two of Water

What I See:

Compared to last week’s couple, their power and passion, this is a peaceful card. The lotus tattoo symbolizes purity and spirituality. There’s a comfort in the image that speaks to me of a long lasting friendship. Water is emotion, two is a test of choice, and the dog makes me think of unconditional love, the resiliency of love. I think of the choice to start, continue, or end a relationship. I get a sense of finding joy in the little things, like a fur baby’s kiss. We can’t see it but the waterfall implies a pool behind the woman and I imagine it’s a soothing spot to meditate.

General Water element/Cups suit:

Please refer back to Ace of Water.

Light (upright) Reading:

A deep heart connection brings healing and joy.

• Keywords: Romance, Reciprocity, Healing, and Renewal.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

Fear prevents you from sharing your heart with another.

• Keywords: Infidelity, Secret Affairs, Resentment, and Inequity.

Plots:

This is a relationship card whether you explore a love, a friendship, or a partnership. A new love — perhaps your story explores firsts…first smiles, first dates, first kisses. An old friendship — maybe your story is about a friendship that has stood the test of time. The breaking down of a partnership –how about the ups and downs of business partners?

How about soul mates or reincarnation? Typically, this card has a caduceus with a lion’s head at the center. According to Tarot for Writers by Corrine Kenner the lion is a symbol of recreation and procreation. Perhaps your story involves a soul waiting for a body to be born into. Or perhaps it’s light vs. dark battle for a soul? How about a couple struggling with infertility?

Perhaps an animal or animal rights story? A shifter?

• Two Themes: Balance, Attraction, Receptivity, Duality, Reflection, or Choice.

The Lotus flower flourishes in shallow ponds and near the edges of larger bodies of water. It grows up from the soil, through water, and then into the air. In this way, the flower, metaphorically as well as literally, connects the three spheres of earthly existence – land, sea, sky – and embraces the metaphorical associations attributed to each. The lotus, as such, acts as a symbolic tie which demonstrates the contiguous interdependence and unity of all things – a string by which everything is metaphorically tied. ~VagabondJourney.com

There’s a story in that quote somewhere, I just know it, perhaps your story?

Characters:

Kindred spirits are more than the sum of their parts.

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Clergy and Priestly class.

Additionally, look up one of the Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) for personality traits.

For more information on the Twos in general, please refer back to the Two of Fire.

Image: Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide