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 Air

What I See:

Looking at this sets my feet moving. I think of traveling and vacations. I think of my bucket list. There is a sense of continuing cycle in that Canada geese fly south each winter and return each spring. Yet there is also a feeling of change, of starting a new chapter in the book of our life.

We have a sense of sunset here, too. A transitioning from the bright light of day to the dark of night.

Many beliefs speak of birds carrying the souls of the dead. In fact, this card reminds me of the Wild Hunt tales I grow up on.

General Air element/Sword suit:

Please refer back to the Ace of Air.

Light (upright) Reading:

It may be bittersweet but it is time to let go.

• Keywords: New Beginnings, Rebirth, Liberation, or Silver-Lining.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

Beware of resisting progress.

• Keywords: Failure, Hitting Rock-Bottom, Affliction, or Back-Stabbing.

Plots:

A retelling of the Wild Hunt myths (and there are many). A hunter? A fire festival? A New Year (whether a calendar date or a seasonal one) celebration? A solstice? All Hollow’s Eve?

Perhaps your story is paranormal and that transition from day to night plays a key role. Is that a storm moving in? Perhaps the birds are fleeing.

How about travel? Or maybe, crossing things of one’s bucket list. Perhaps the seeing off of children, of becoming an empty nester. Perhaps moving on after divorce, or the death of a spouse?

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

Okay, typically, this card has a rather gruesome image. Definitely one for you horror folks. All ten swords have landed in a man, pinning him to the ground under a dark sky. (Think of the final scene in 300.) Murder, crimes of passion, or war plots come to mind. Maybe a theme of pain or grief yet with the promise of the sun rising again on a new day?

Characters:

Embrace change.

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Nobility, Warrior, and Political class.

Additionally, look up one of the Air signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) 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: Ten of Earth

What I See:

I see a lot in this image. We have a nurse stump/log which speaks to the endings and beginnings theme of the tens. A tree falls and as it decays it gives new life to moss and ferns and fungi and tree seedlings.

I get a sense of journey’s end whether you look at the physical or symbolic. It even looks like the man is walking toward the light. “Light at the end of the tunnel” anyone? Or, on the spiritual side, “going into the light.”

I have mixed feelings about the man being alone. On one hand, it looks like he’s out on a peaceful afternoon stroll through the woods. On the other, I wonder where his family and friends are. I want to step up next to him, linking my arm through his, and ask him to tell me a story as we walk along the path.

General Earth element/Pentacles suit:

Please refer back to the Ace of Earth.

Light (upright) Reading:

Past wisdom shines new light on your life.

• Keywords: Tradition, Comfort, Abundance, or Inheritance.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

Beware of feeling trapped, or seeing the glass half empty.

• Keywords: Family Troubles, Suffocating Traditions, Dependence, or Excessive Materialism.

Plots:

How about a storyteller? An elder passing on his history to the next generation? Perhaps, a first-time grandparent holding that grandchild (or great-grandchild!) for the first time. Or maybe, a grandparent caring for/raising a grandchild? A governess or nanny?

Maybe retirement? An ending to working for a living and a beginning to living for a living.

It’s hard to look at this image and not think about an end of life. Transitioning from the physical plane to the spiritual or metaphysical. Perhaps a ghost story, or life-after-death tale.

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

Typically, this card shows three generations of a family. According to Tarot for Writers by Corrine Kenner, “The Ten of Pentacles suggests the richness of family life.” Perhaps a tale of inheritance, whether monies or wisdom or experience or values or beliefs. Perhaps a story around a family tradition.

Characters:

Passing our knowledge to the next generation.

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Merchants, Business, and Professional class.

Additionally, look up one of the Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) 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: 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: Ten of Fire

Generally, all Tens:

• Express transition of their suit, or element.
• Reflect the themes and wisdom of the Wheel of Fortune.
• Symbolize an ending, and a beginning.
• Can be any point of death and rebirth, the Ordeal, the Dark Moment, or All is Lost; the character’s re-dedication to the change in their arc; that point in which the character has everything to lose; or the final push toward the end.
• Are the “dark night of the soul” mentioned in the Numbers in Tarot post.
• Tarot Notes hasn’t done her Tens post yet as part of the Take a Number series. (I’ll add the link when she does.)

What I See:

Fire can be so frightening. Yet it is often just what nature needs to reestablish itself. I think of the Phoenix. I also get a sense of chaos. The wind is whipping the flames higher and further afield. I imagine the forest animals are running, staying just ahead of the flames. The smoky clouds feel a bit oppressive. I think of crawling along the floor under a smoke cover to safety. Are the firefighters on the scene? Was the fire set on purpose? Or is this a naturally occurring fire?

General Fire element/Wands suit:

Please refer back to the Ace of Fire

Light (upright) Reading:

Seedlings grow up from the ashes.

• Keywords: Perseverance, Patience, or Home Stretch.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

Remember to trust the cycle.

• Keywords: Overload, Pressure, Encumbered, or Onerous Burdens.

Plots:

A fire. A forest fire. Firefighters, firemen. Perhaps, a story focused on running for safety, whether you use the fire or some other danger?

The smoke could be exhaust, perhaps a landing ship started the fire? What if the fire is a result of weaponry?

How about a retelling of the Phoenix myth? Maybe, that isn’t a fire…

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

Typically, the card depicts a laborer carrying a load of ten wands. The wands aren’t laying neatly but are tangled. Perhaps, a theme of good intentions going awry?

Characters:

Release what is done and make way for what is to come.

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Peasant or Servant Class.

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

All Tens are E1: Perfectionist and/or Reformer

• Self Image — I am right
• Passion — Anger
• Virtue — Serenity
• Narcissistic Trap — Perfection
• Avoids — Vexation
• Speaking Style — Teaching or Moralizing

E1 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 Fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) for personality traits.

Image: Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert from Llewellyn Worldwide

Meet the Cards: Nine of Earth

What I See:

We have the emotional element in the water behind her. The intellectual element with the bird flying across the image. And, of course, we have the physical element — Earth. The setting is peaceful yet the greenery seems to act as a boundary, or protection, between the field and water. I understand this is the author/artist herself. She looks happy and content. I imagine there’s a scent of lavender on the breeze. She’s alone but doesn’t appear lonely. I get a happily-ever-after feeling looking at this card

General Earth element/Pentacles suit:

Please refer back to the Ace of Earth.

Light (upright) Reading:

You are at peace and enjoying the bounty of your life.

• Keywords: Prosperity, Good-Fortune, Protection, or Self-Mastery.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

What do you need to be secure? Embrace what you already have.

• Keywords: Entrapment, Loneliness, Incompleteness, or Self-Indulgence.

Plots:

How about a farm/farmer? Herbs? Farmer’s market? Florist? It almost looks like an estate, perhaps, lady of the manor. A refuge?

Prosperity, perhaps through investment or inheritance. Or maybe, taking advantage when opportunity knocks?

Protection, perhaps a security fence or walled garden. Or maybe, a glided cage is still a cage? What about a marriage of convenience? An overprotective parent or spouse?

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

Characters:

Grateful for home and the putting down of roots.

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Merchants, Business, and Professional class.

Additionally, look up one of the Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) 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: 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: Nine of Fire

What I See:

My first thoughts are of peace and power. Having just talked about chakras, my eye is drawn to that part of the image. I see him drawing power from Mother Earth up through his chakras to burst back into nature. Yet, there’s also a sense of an aura in the glow around him, speaking to the Fire element. The cave, a sacred one according to the book, gives us the Earth element and grounds him. Renewal.

General Fire element/Wands suit:

Please refer back to the Ace of Fire

Light (upright) Reading:

You are at peace with yourself and where you are at in your life.

• Keywords: Fortification, Self-Protection, Discipline, or Determined.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

It’s time to reconnect spiritually.

• Keywords: Wounded, Boredom, Adversity, or Impracticality.

Plots:

An eastern themed story? A story exploring yoga, health, healing, meditation, and/or chakras? A spiritual quest?

That aura looks like a transporter devise, perhaps an alien? A god? Ascension to a higher plane of existence? Maybe some kind of power transfer?

The Crown Chakra looks like an actual crown, perhaps royalty?

How about some steampunk? Maybe the chakras are gears?

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

Typically, this card shows a warrior type man with wands at his back. A wounded warrior? A live to fight another day theme? A last stand?

Characters:

A being of light and of flesh.

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Peasant or Servant Class.

Additionally, look up one of the Fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) 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: Nine of Air

Generally, all Nines:

• Express the mastery of their suit, or element.
• Reflect the themes and wisdom of The Hermit.
• Symbolize completion.
• Can be the resolution of a plot point such as the crisis or climax; the character’s mastery of the change in their arc; or the conclusion of any trials either in the plot or with the character.
• Are the conclusion of the final set of mini-dramas mentioned in the Numbers in Tarot post.
• For additional info on Nines check out Tarot Notes Take a Number series on nines.

What I See:

I love seeing images in these cards I’ve seen in real life. The petroglyph seen in the upper left corner is She Who Watches. A sense of protection washed over me as I viewed this image in rock. (Here’s the legend.)

The stormy clouds seem to reflect an inner turmoil. Grief even. There’s a deeper sense of soul-searching to this image than the Three of Air. We’ve moved beyond pouring out our thoughts onto paper. That looks like it might be a standing stone which are often sacred spots and give me a sense of grounding.

General Air element/Sword suit:

Please refer back to the Ace of Air.

Light (upright) Reading:

Don’t dwell on ‘could haves’ or ‘should haves.’

• Keywords: Soul-Searching, Shadow-Work, Prayer, or Mind-Healing.

Shadow (upside down or reverse) Reading:

Beware of being crushed by grief.

• Keywords: Nightmares, Guilt, Suffering, or Depression.

Plots:

How about a retelling of the She Who Watches legend?

This particular card definitely speaks to the ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ so perhaps exploring depression, or melancholy. The eyes in the corner could mean a haunting, real or imagined or dreamed. Perhaps a nightmare?

How about loneliness? A mother’s grief? Pain?

Perhaps, she has traveled to a sacred spot for a premonition. Or maybe focus on the power of three times three (the nine).

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

According to Tarot for Writers by Corrine Kenner, the Nine of Swords is historically said to “suggest that someone’s suspicions or misgivings about a shady character were well-founded.” Perhaps a mystery or thriller?

Characters:

Open compassion for others.

• Suit Archetype/Feudal Class: Nobility, Warrior, and Political class.

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

All Nines 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 Air signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) for personality traits.

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