The Sherlock Holmes Card of the Day: Ace of Analysis (Cups)

The Sherlock Holmes Card of the Day is:

ACE OF ANALYSIS

(Ace of Cups)

In The Sherlock Holmes Tarot by John Matthews and Wil Kinghan (Sterling Ethos), the suit of Analysis (represented by a magnifying glass) is comparable to the suit of Cups in traditional decks.

The quotation chosen to represent the entire suit of Analysis is: “There are fifty who can reason synthetically for one who can reason analytically” from A Study in Scarlet. This comment is made, as you might expect, by Sherlock Holmes himself. It is prefaced by the following: “In solving a problem of this sort, the grand thing is to be able to reason backwards. That is a very useful accomplishment, and a very easy one, but people do not practise it much. In the every-day affairs of life it is more useful to reason forwards, and so the other comes to be neglected.” I love that.

The Holmesian Wisdom for the Ace of Analysis is: “I can see only two things for certain … It’s the chain between that we are going to trace” from The Valley of Fear. The card shows Sherlock Holmes contemplating a slew of papers that holds the answers to a puzzle. His analytical mind detects a pattern which only he can see.

Although “analysis” may seem more like a Swords/Air quality than Water/Cups, the creators of this deck refer to the “leap of intuition” that often enables Holmes to “connect one detail with another.” Intuition is very much a Water quality, and it can add much to our efforts to interpret something logically or mentally.

Keys for this card, upright, are: “abundance, clarity, nurture, healing, gladness, emotional faculties, fertility, restoration from barrenness.” Reversed meanings: “change, instability, exchange, bartering, false-heartedness.”

The book that accompanies this deck also provides interpretations for each card under the headings “The Game” and “The Fog.” The former elaborates on the upright keys, while the latter expands on reversed meanings. Examples from “The Game” for the Ace of Analysis: “piercing the mystery… intuition… healing a rift within a group, family or nation… responding to hidden factors.” Examples from “The Fog”: “a lack of understanding holds you back… an inability to express your feelings… a blockage or misunderstanding leads nowhere… forgiveness is required.”