Sherlock Holmes Card of the Day: 4 of Deduction

The Sherlock Holmes Card of the Day is:

FOUR OF DEDUCTION

(4 of Pentacles)

In The Sherlock Holmes Tarot by John Matthews and Wil Kinghan (Sterling Ethos), the suit of Deduction (represented by a question mark) is comparable to the suit of Pentacles. The quotation chosen to represent the entire suit of Deduction is from The Sign of Four: “So much is observation. The rest is deduction.”

The Holmesian Wisdom for the Four of Deduction is: “I presume nothing.” This is a quote from The Hound of the Baskervilles, specifically, from Chapter 12 - Death on the Moor.

The scene on the card is from the story of The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax. In the story, an Australian conman called Henry Peters tries to pawn a jewel belonging to Lady Frances (after drugging her and putting her in a coffin!) As the deck’s creators note: “It is Peters’ greed that brings him down, making his story a fitting one for the classical associations for this card.”

Keys for this card, upright, are: “conscientious ambition, material gain, possessiveness, selfishness, spiritual miserliness.” Reversed meanings: “obstruction, limitations, delays, things are clogged up, financial ruin, failure in exams.”

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. An example from “The Game” for the Four of Deduction: “Clinging to your resources. Being careful. Unwillingness to give compliments or encouragement.” Examples from “The Fog”: “Being careless or profligate with money. Time to be generous with others. Breaking monopolies or institutional blockades.”

As a card of the day, the Four of Deduction calls our attention to the physical, material realm – to something that we value greatly and wish to protect or keep. The card can represent a positive attitude toward our health, a desire to improve or maintain a state of health. It can refer to the fear of losing material wealth or perhaps the need to be more careful with our money or possessions.

Journey Through My Decks: Queen of Pentacles (Disks)

Gilded Tarot

QUEEN OF PENTACLES

The Gilded Tarot deck and book set. 

Deck by Ciro Marchetti. 

Companion book by Barbara Moore. 

Llewellyn Worldwide

On this card: "A stately woman holds a pentacle with quiet pride. Her face is self-satisfied, almost (but not quite) smug." (Moore)

In the book that accompanies this deck, Barbara Moore tells us that Pentacles represent the element Earth, the physical world, money, and resources. She notes that the Court Cards are like actors on a stage set by the Major and Minor Arcanas: "They provide personality, representing either other people involved or aspects of ourselves."

The Queen of Pentacles wears an emerald green robe (health, fertility, prosperity) and a purple gown (power, royalty, imagination, mystery). The other color we notice in her clothing is blue (spirituality, the unconscious, tranquility, truth, thoughtfulness).*

The Queen of Pentacles is accompanied by a peacock, sacred to the Greek goddess Hera (in Roman myth, Juno). In his book Dictionary of Symbols (Chronicle Books), Jack Tresidder tells us that the peacock is an emblem of royalty, spiritual power, and apotheosis. In Rome, it was the soul-bird of the empress and her princesses, just as the eagle served that purpose for the emperor. In Western art, the peacock often symbolizes pride (as in the expression "proud as a peacock"). However, in most cultures, the bird had a wholly positive meaning related to rank and dignity.

In Book T**, the Queen of Pentacles rules "from 20 Degree Sagittarius to 20 Degree Capricorn." The Sun was at 27 degrees Sagittarius. I often consider the Queen of Pentacles as a significator card for myself, along with the Queen of Wands (Fire for Sagittarius).

In The Tarot Court Cards: Archtypal Patterns of Relationship in the Minor Arcana (Destiny Books), Kate Warwick-Smith presents clear polarities in her discussion of the Queen of Pentacles.

Supporter: Healer.............................Detractor: Abuser

Resource: Self-Care.........................Challenge: Self-Destruction

As a Daily Card, the Queen of Pentacles encourages me to examine how I experience and express the traits associated with her -- positive, negative, and neutral. She may also be calling my attention to another person in my life who exhibits these characteristics.

* My color associations are based on several sources and personal study over a period of time.

** Book T - The Tarot, Comprising Manuscripts N, O, P, Q, R, and an Unlettered Theoricus Adeptus Minor Instruction. A Description of the Cards of the Tarot with their Attributions; Including a Method of Divination by Their Use. A public domain manuscript.

Old English Tarot: 10 of Cups

In today's blog entry, Helen Howell continues her exploration of cards from the Old English Tarot by Maggie Kneen (U.S. Games Systems, Inc.)

Old English Tarot

5 of Coins

by Helen Howell

The Old English 10 of Cups has a sort of tranquility to its image but the one thing it doesn’t show us like its traditional brother the Rider-Waite, is any connection to relationships.

In the Rider-Waite we see a man and a woman together and two children playing happily to the side of them. This image hints at happiness and harmony within relationships or family life. Emotionally, because that is what the Cups suit represents, this is a time for contentment. Everything in your world is working as it should be.

Now although the Old English does not show us that combination of harmony within relationships, it does show us harmony. A woman sits playing a harp. I can just hear those notes floating into the atmosphere, soothing to the ear. The player and her music are in harmony with each other. If you look closely at the image you will see a dove sits on the top of the harp. Doves very often are associated with spiritual matters or seen as messengers, but they can also represent peace and here in this image, it does seem to appear to me to symbolise for us inner peace.

Now when I look at this image and put those symbols together I get the feeling of contentment and the joy the music can bring. I’m left in no doubt that the message here is one of emotional peace, happiness and contentment with life as it is.

For me this was one of the easier images in the Old English Tarot to lend an interpretation to.

LWB says:
Happy home and family life, pleasure, contentment, love.
Reversed: Loss of friendship, unhappiness, quarrel.

Sherlock Holmes Card of the Day - Ace of Deduction

The Sherlock Holmes Card of the Day is:

ACE OF DEDUCTION

(Ace of Pentacles)

In The Sherlock Holmes Tarot by John Matthews and Wil Kinghan (Sterling Ethos), the suit of Deduction (represented by a question mark) is comparable to the suit of Pentacles. The quotation chosen to represent the entire suit of Deduction is from The Sign of Four: “So much is observation. The rest is deduction.”

The Holmesian Wisdom for the Ace of Deduction is “There should be no combination of events for which the wit of man cannot conceive an explanation.” This quote is from The Valley of Fear. Holmes himself makes this statement.

Keys for this card, upright, are: “accomplishment, contentment, happiness, prosperity, wealth, good fortune, profit, a new phase of life.” Reversed meanings: “materialism, greed, meanness, misuse of wealth, fool’s gold.”

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. An example from “The Game” for the Ace of Deduction: “You consolidate resources and marshal the facts. Abundance, attainment and fulfilment are available.” Examples from “The Fog”: “Learning the hard way. Money difficulties or responsibilities trouble you.”

As a card of the day, the Ace of Deduction encourages us to observe, analyze, and sift the evidence in order to understand what is happening in the area of resources, money, responsibilities, or other things that fall under the purview of the Earth element. We can used this understanding to form the basis of a new phase or direction in life that will lead to success.