by Marcus Katz
Reading tip: This is the “alarm bell” card, and it indicates that something beyond the present moment is calling upon us. It is important to look at the minor cards in a reading where this card appears to see what manner of calling is being made. If there is a significant amount of court cards, it may be that these aspects of ourselves are looking to find expression, breaking through into our awareness.
The World: 21
The Design
The design of the World as depicting a female figure is kept consistent throughout most traditional, esoteric, and mystical decks, including the Waite-Trinick tarot—this version is left virtually unchanged. The wreath or vesica piscis symbolises the womb, and the whole is a symbol of the entrance into life, and the return to new life. Waite says of this card that it is the “rapture of the universe when it understands itself in God.”118
Key Symbols
A naked woman with a long purple sash crossing her body: From neck to toes, she balances on her right foot, left foot raised and bent; she holds a wand out in each hand, arms lifted slightly. This is the soul’s presence in the world of sensation, intoxicated by the joy of being through the senses. Waite argues that this figure is not “truth”; rather the Star card shows that state, more naked than the veiled figure here in this card. So it can represent being blinded by passion, particularly if the Devil card is also in the reading.
A green wreath: According to Paul Christian (quoted by Waite in PKT), the wreath should be flowers—roses, to be specific. Here we see that Waite was not closely looking at Pamela’s art, or there was a deviation from his original text; he writes, “It should be noted that in the four quarters of the garland there are four flowers distinctly marked.”119 There are no flowers on Pamela’s garland at all, although when Waite developed his second Tarot with Trinick ten years later, he designed the garland as seventy-two rings, comprising the 72-lettered name of God.
In the corners of the image are four portraits: Enveloped in white clouds are the head of a man, head of an eagle, head of an ox, and head of a lion. These are the four living creatures of the Apocalypse, attributed to the Evangelists in the Christian tradition. Here they carry the weight of this card’s protective nature and the closure or ending symbolism.
In a reading: The World card indicates the termination of one cycle and the commencement of a new beginning.120 Whilst everything has come together and ended, nothing ever ends in the World. This is not the cyclic and ever-turning process of the Wheel, which is time; the World is the space in which events happen, run their course, and find their conclusion. This card signifies that all things come to an end, and every beginning comes from an ending. The nature of the beginning is determined by the other cards in the spread; for example, the Tower, the Emperor, the Knight of Swords, and the Ace of Wands would indicate a rapid beginning, whereas Temperance, the Moon, the Knight of Pentacles, and the 5 of Pentacles would signify a slower and more challenging new start.
Key words and concepts: Synthesis, beginning (following an ending).
Waite: The World, the High Priestess, and Temperance in particular should be compared under Waite’s conception of the Shekinah, the divine feminine presence of God. The World, much like the Fool (as Christ or the human spirit) is a keystone of Waite’s mystical system. It symbolises the pure feminine nature, the Temple of Nature, the perfection of innocence (the Fool), the Isis of nature, the Shekinah, the Anima Mundi, and the soul of the world.121 It is the gateway to all mysteries, the entrance to the spiritual path. He left the World in the same position on the Tree of Life in his secret correspondences as the original Golden Dawn map, between Yesod and Malkuth, on the lowest path of the Tree of Life. This path is the last reach of divinity, and the first we enter on our return. It is hence “birth,” “entrance,” and a portal to a new life. If we compare this with the Ace of Pentacles, we see how that Ace shows the more mundane “new start,” whereas the World shows the bigger picture of every new start.
Colman Smith: For Pamela, the World card seems to be a straightforward execution of the divine feminine, although it has been said that she depicted Florence Farr in this figure. Farr was a leading light of the Golden Dawn, ran her own secret Sphere Group within the Inner Order, and at one point ran the Order and its teaching activities. A formidable, talented, and well-respected woman, she would have been the ideal model for the attribution of synthesis in the World card. In fact, she would also have been a good model for the card because we learn from her that nature teaches us in every aspect of life.
Secret significance: The World is all that is, ever was and ever shall be, and is never fully revealed.
Reading tip: The World is synthesis, so it brings together all the other cards in a reading. If it appears in the conclusion or result position of a fixed spread or at the conclusion of a nonpositional or freeform spread, it bodes well. It is better aspected at the extreme ends of any reading or in the centre (say, of a Celtic Cross) where it can function as an axle or switching point of energy. The World card is the Cosmic Alternator, generating all existence.
Conclusion
In this chapter we have unpacked the major arcana as teaching devices of the initiatory system. To Waite, who was clearly more involved in their design, the twenty-two major arcana were the tarot. The minor cards and court cards he saw as appendices for gaming and fortune-telling, for neither of which he had time. The Pictorial Key was a hasty work in which he passed over the minors and spent most of his text on the majors, caught between his oaths of secrecy and the pressing need to highlight the significance of his “rectification” of the tarot. In the latter, he has been proven successful not by his words, but his works. The Waite-Smith tarot remains the most emulated and popular deck a century later, and whether Waite felt unrecognised for his tarot revival is irrelevant at least to his accomplishment of that very thing.
[contents]
Six
The Minors and
Courts Unpacked
Further evidence for Smith’s independence in the creation of the Minor
Arcana can be gleaned from the fact that many of the characters and symbols
that she incorporated in the pips are modelled on her own paintings
that she completed years before receiving the commission.122
Unknown Author
In this chapter we will unpack the meaning and significance of the minor cards using Waite as our primary reference and also referring to Pamela’s card designs. As we know, Waite had little interest in the minor cards, so we have looked more to Pamela’s theatrical background to decipher the symbols she deliberately placed throughout. At the time and in her circle, most of these images would have been immediately recognised, particularly because in several she incorporated actors of the time or her friends.
Our hope is to unlock the many secrets that have long been the source of guesswork and obscure esoteric explanations; you will learn why there is a snail on the 9 of Pentacles; why the figure in the 7 of Wands has mismatched footwear, and the name of the character on the 9 of Pentacles—even the obscure flower that is the source of Pamela’s 2 of Pentacles.
We will also see how Waite’s text and Pamela’s illustrations vary quite dramatically in the minors, and how sometimes a symbol overlapped both worlds, adding rich complexity to the image. Waite said the minors belonged to fortune-telling, and in his “rectified” deck were “furnished with figures or pictures to illustrate—but without exhausting—the divinatory meanings attached thereto.”123 However, there appears to be some requirement to go to a lengthy exposition on the “vague intimations which seem to exceed the stated divinatory values.”124 It seems to us that Waite was covering the fact that his text and Pamela’s designs were at significant variance in some places. He repeated the placing of the minors into the fortune-telling category, and in a rather convoluted manner writes:
It is desirable to avoid misconception by specifying
definitely that, except in rare instances—and then only by accident—the variations are not to be regarded as suggestions of higher and extra-divinatory symbolism.125
This appears to be a disclaimer that any esoteric references found in the minors have come from Pamela and are accidental, not designed by him. When we look at several clearly “esoteric” symbols we will indeed find that they are rather more pastiches or cartoons of the specific esoteric symbol they appear to be portraying. This is most evident on the 2 of Cups and the 7 of Cups, where alchemical symbolism is somewhat misrepresented. Contrary to what Waite says, this sort of indirectness can also be found in the majors, where geomantic or astrological symbols are not represented in a structured manner.
Having said that, we see clear indications of some esoterica; the pentacles are clearly arranged in a Tree of Life on the 10 of Pentacles. However, again, there appears to be no holding to strict representation; the Tree is somewhat condensed to make room for the scene, rather than the scene being firmly drawn to the proportions of a Tree of Life. Other symbols will—without a discovery of hidden notes from Pamela—always remain open to interpretation; the two trees on the 9 of Pentacles could be simply stylistic and harmonious elements, or they could be deliberately placed to represent the two trees in the Garden of Eden. The beauty of the deck is that mysteries will beget mysteries.
In revealing the background and most likely explanation for Pamela’s choice of symbolism, it is not intended that we forever enshrine one particular meaning for a card. It is always the case that the symbols are fluid and can be read in any context, changing their meaning in the light of a situation, a question, and the reading’s actual oracular moment. We do hope that learning the story behind the cards will bring you closer to the images and their original design, deepening your readings.
In a later chapter, we will demonstrate a Celtic Cross that uses the newly discovered sources in this book to show how this understanding can enrich a reading.
The order of the minors follows Waite’s version, working “upwards” through the Tree of Life, i.e., starting from the ten of each suit to the Ace. For each court card we provide a brief list of keywords for the card as a person, a part of oneself, or an energy in a situation.126
–The Suit of Pentacles–
King
The figure calls for no special description; the face is rather dark, suggesting also courage, but somewhat lethargic in tendency. The bull’s head should be noted as a recurrent symbol on the throne. The sign of this suit is represented throughout as engraved or blazoned with the pentagram, typifying the correspondence of the four elements in human nature and that by which they may be governed. In many old Tarot packs this suit stood for current coin, money, deniers. I have not invented the substitution of pentacles and I have no special cause to sustain in respect of the alternative. But the consensus of divinatory meanings is on the side of some change, because the cards do not happen to deal especially with questions of money.
Divinatory meanings: Valour, realizing intelligence, business and normal intellectual aptitude, sometimes mathematical gifts and attainments of this kind; success in these paths.
Reversed: Vice, weakness, ugliness, perversity, corruption, peril.
Person: Strong, ambitious, instinctual, and well-grounded.
Part of self: Inner strength
Energy: Bullish
The King is partly inspired by the Sola Busca King of Discs, where we also see the PAX, sign of peace, which Pamela was minded to place on the 6 of Swords.
57. Sola Busca King of Discs. (Wolfgang Mayer edition, issued by Giordano Berti, 1998.)
Queen
The face suggests that of a dark woman, whose qualities might be summed up in the idea of greatness of soul; she has also the serious cast of intelligence; she contemplates her symbol and may see worlds therein.
Divinatory meanings: Opulence, generosity, magnificence, security, liberty.
Reversed: Evil, suspicion, suspense, fear, mistrust.
Person: Deeply intelligent and resourceful.
Part of self: Inner resources.
Energy: Experienced long-term planning.
Pamela would have been familiar with many regal figures through her set design work, theatre experience, and the cabinet cards that were prevalent at the time. This ideally suited her to quickly design the court cards.
58. The Queen in King Richard II (Mrs. F. R. Benson) from Shakespeare, Complete Works, intro. H. G. Bell (1899). (Courtesy of authors, private collection.)
Knight
He rides a slow, enduring, heavy horse, to which his own aspect corresponds. He exhibits his symbol, but does not look therein.
Divinatory meanings: Utility, serviceableness, interest, responsibility, rectitude—all on the normal and external plane.
Reversed: Inertia, idleness, repose of that kind, stagnation; also placidity, discouragement, carelessness.
Person: Reliable and hardworking individual who is resilient.
Part of Self: Dedication and persistence.
Energy: Enduring.
Page
A youthful figure, looking intently at the pentacle which hovers over his raised hands. He moves slowly, insensible of that which is about him.
Divinatory meanings: Application, study, scholarship, reflection. Another reading says news, messages and the bringer thereof; also rule, management.
Reversed: Prodigality, dissipation, liberality, luxury; unfavourable news.
Person: A young person or somebody who is youthful in outlook and appearance.
Part of self: Simple common sense and studiousness.
Energy: Laidback confidence.
On the tunics: The pages of pentacles and swords wear unadorned tunics, whereas the pages of the cups and wands bear the adornments of their respective elements: lotus flowers for the water of the cups, and salamanders for the fire of the wands. Whether there is any specific reason for this, we do not know.
Ten
A man and woman beneath an archway which gives entrance to a house and domain. They are accompanied by a child, who looks curiously at two dogs accosting an ancient personage seated in the foreground. The child’s hand is on one of them.
Divinatory meanings: Gain, riches; family matters, archives, extraction, the abode of a family.
Reversed: Chance, fatality, loss, robbery, games of hazard; sometimes gift, dowry, pension.
This is the outcome of the planning of the 3 of Pentacles, and the deferred income and hardship of the 5 of Pentacles.
We see here the family together under the arch bearing the flag of Winchelsea. All the risk and hardship has passed.
The secret of this card is the young child who looks out at us with one hand placed on one of the dogs. We think of him as the young Fool who will soon start his journey with his dog on the path of return.
59. Stained-Glass Flag of Winchelsea, photograph by authors.
Nine
A woman, with a bird upon her wrist, stands amidst a great abundance of grapevines in the garden of a manorial house. It is a wide domain, suggesting plenty in all things. Possibly it is her own possession and testifies to material well-being.
Divinatory meanings: Prudence, safety, success, accomplishment, certitude, discernment.
Reversed: Roguery, deception, voided project, bad faith.
In the 9 of Pentacles we see most Pamela’s artistry and expression far exceeding Waite’s cursory notion of the card as “a woman, with a bird upon her wrist … .” Whilst he provides meanings such as “prudence, safety, success,” Pamela provides us so much more.
The image is modelled on Rosalind in As You Like It. This role was never played by Ellen Terry (much to her regret in later years) so Pamela might have been most influenced by Ada Rehan, an Irish actress well-known at the time for the role. A cabinet card image of Rehan j
ust thirteen years prior to the deck shows the similarity to Pamela’s depiction, down to the same flowers on the dress.
60. Ada Rehan as Rosalind. (Courtesy of authors, private collection.)
It is, however, the snail upon the image that provides us the link:
As You Like It
(Act III, scene II)
ROSALIND: Nay, an you be so tardy, come no more in my sight. I had as lief be wooed of a snail.
ORLANDO: Of a snail?
ROSALIND: Ay, of a snail, for though he comes slowly, he carries his house on his head—a better jointure, I think, than you make a woman. Besides, he brings his destiny with him.
ORLANDO: What’s that?
ROSALIND: Why, horns, which such as you are fain to be beholding to your wives for. But he comes armed in his fortune and prevents the slander of his wife.
61. The Snail on the 9 of Pentacles. Reproduced by permission of U.S. Games Systems.
The snail here on the 9 of Pentacles clearly connects with the concept of self-sufficiency and one who is able to support themselves. It can also be connected with the self-reliant personality, depicted by Rosalind on this card. Here, as in many of the designs, reading further about Shakespeare’s characters—in this case, Rosalind—will deepen your appreciation of the card in everyday reading. Rosalind is a strong and complex woman who has to disguise herself as a man for part of the play to achieve her ambitions.
Eight
An artist in stone at his work, which he exhibits in the form of trophies.
Divinatory meanings: Work, employment, commission, craftsmanship, skill in craft and business, perhaps in the preparatory stage.
