Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot

by Marcus Katz

  Write a few lines of a screenplay using these components. If you wish, you can include a few stage directions or set descriptions.159

  FLIGHT 888

  Act I

  FADE IN

  INT. GALLEY CABIN OF THE STARSHIP

  A perfectly white room with various panels and buttons, each with an icon for food or water. We PUSH IN to the door, which slides up and

  CUT to:

  INT. LIFEPOD HALL—CONTINUOUS ACTION

  A long hallway in which a hundred lifepods are laid out in rows. A uniformed woman, MARGO, is sat on a control chair. She looks down at her feet where we see a rabbit, BLINKY.

  MARGO

  (to BLINKY)

  I know, I know. You shouldn’t be out. But it isn’t like you are going to escape, is it? We’re all in this hutch together.

  (sings slowly and tunelessly)

  “When you wish upon a star, you can go very far.” Or something like that. OK, Blinky, it’s feeding time. Let’s get everyone looked after, shall we?

  In scripting such scenes and dialogue, we can deepen our appreciation for the cards as characters and scenes in narratives. Here we see that the Queen of Pentacles is not really invested in the vision of the Star card, but it is essential to ensure that we get to reach our vision in good health. The combination of the Queen of Pentacles and the Star card in a reading, particularly if the Tower appears (as it will do in our script above when the Starship galley explodes!), would indicate the need for self-care when working towards a goal, particularly to prepare for any sudden shocks in the project.

  When we take the cards into unusual combinations, we practice being able to answer any question given to us as a reader, and to see the flexibility of the cards to provide a representation of any scenario, no matter how unusual or unique.

  Group Version: Whose Line Is It?

  To play this as a group, you’ll need two to four volunteers to choose a court card and an adjudicator who will select a minor arcana card for the situation.160 The adjudicator should endeavour to make the scene as amusing or extreme as possible; the 4 of Wands should be the biggest party on the planet, or a backstage pass to an Abba reunion concert (with bonus points for sneaking in Abba song quotes).

  Allow time for the court cards to get into role, and select a major card for the first style (see following list). So we pull the Strength card—a martial arts style movie. This can involve the characters talking in “pretend dubbing” or on a secret mission, backstage at the Abba concert.

  Then give them the scene and theme and a few minutes to act it out.

  As the scene progresses, select another major card and change the style. The characters get bonus points if they transition smoothly into the next style without breaking their plot, dialogue, or action. So suddenly the martial arts movie may turn into a sensual movie, just as our characters meet Abba …

  Here is another example. We sometimes give our players a prop such as a cup, a few toy swords, coins and sticks to add to the fun.

  On the Beach

  Court cards: Page of Cups and Queen of Swords

  Situation card: 8 of Swords

  Theme/Style card: The Hermit

  This is a nice straightforward example; we have a beach scene with constraints and a survival theme. Surely our two characters are shipwrecked.

  The two players told us they were on a deserted beach. A storm is in the distance. Debris is strewn across the shoreline. They described themselves as Mrs. Smith, a sharp-looking woman, dressed in what remains of business attire. The player acting as the Page of Cups held a cup and described himself as Tad, a bedraggled youth.

  The adjudicator had already given them the style of a survival film and they started acting out a walk along the beach.

  MRS. SMITH: Are you going to carry that all day?

  TAD: [Turns beaker upside down, making the sound of pouring out seawater and pretends that a fish has fallen out. He lifts it up and waggles the imaginary fish.] Damn, I’d grown close to Roger.

  The Adjudicator pulls the Empress card and immediately changes the style by yelling “Nature Documentary!”

  TAD: [Holds up imaginary fish to group]

  MRS. SMITH: [Adopts David Attenborough nature documentary voice] And here we see the Roger Fish, a shy retiring creature that only lives in cups. However, it has a unique survival instinct and when removed from its cuppy home, plays dead for a moment only to suddenly grow to the size of a small whale in a matter of moments. Let’s see, shall we?

  TAD: [Starts to mime the fish growing to the size of a whale and it being on top of him]

  … and so on.

  We have a lot of fun with these games, and whilst they offer amusement they can sometimes teach us more than we think. When we consider the Queen of Swords and the Page of Cups in combination with the Hermit and the Empress, we get a sense of that dynamic in this game.

  The Page of Cups can let the surprises of his own emotional world overwhelm him when he tries to be more like the Queen of Swords, and intellectually superior. We cannot be a hermit to our own nature—the Empress. Otherwise we will find ourselves as “fish out of water” inside our own selves, which may overwhelm us.

  These games teach us more in experience than we can often explain verbally.

  The Dramatic Styles of the Majors

  The Fool: Comedy/Slapstick

  The Magician: Reality show

  The High Priestess: Mystery, whodunnit

  The Empress: Nature documentary

  The Emperor: War film

  The Hierophant: Biblical epic

  The Lovers: Tear-jerker

  The Chariot: Car heist/Racetrack

  Strength: Circus/martial arts

  The Hermit: Survival

  Wheel of Fortune: Gambling/casino

  Justice: Courtroom drama

  The Hanged Man: Betrayal/Revenge

  Death: Ghost/Zombie

  Temperance: Diplomacy

  The Devil: Sensual

  The Tower: Disaster

  The Star: Science fiction

  The Moon: Dream or psychological horror, black comedy

  The Sun: Coming of Age/Teen

  Judgement: End of the world/Apocalypse

  The World: Travel/Foreign movie

  Reading the Play

  As we have seen, Pamela’s design took inspiration from the Sola Busca deck. There are nine cards in particular that are direct inspirations for their Waite-Smith equivalent; however Pamela translated this source through her theatrical perspective. In effect, she took the myth and movement of the Sola Busca and found corresponding stories, scenes, and narratives to represent them.

  We can use this in our readings by paying particular attention to the body language of the figures and interpret them not as characters in themselves but as actors portraying roles. It was said of William Gillette that he could convey intensely complex feelings by even his stance and silence.

  If we take a look at the 7 of Swords in the original Sola Busca image, we see a young male figure, naked apart from a wreath crown upon his head, in the act of stepping over a round Roman shield known as a “parma,” which is emblazoned with the initials S. P. Q. R. In doing so, he appears to straddle three swords, and clasps one firmly in his hands. On his back are three swords held upright by a bag. Giordano Berti says of this card:

  Leapfrog a shield with arms in hand: A landslide win can bring misfortune, Boast. Useless and dangerous challenge. Damage to one’s image.

  We see clouds in the backdrop of the card.

  If we then look at how Waite describes this image in PKT, he says that it shows “a man in the act of carrying away five swords rapidly: the two others of the card remain stuck in the ground.” He then tells us that the design is uncertain in its import, beca
use the significations are widely at variance with each other (PKT, 240).

  We should then consider this body posture, how the actor—if this were a play—would be using this posture and movement to quickly convey suspicious activity, stealth, secrecy, and many other emotions. We can then bring these emotions to our reading for deeper readings.

  Let’s take this approach to a simple three-card reading and lay out three cards:

  What not to do

  The middle path

  What to do

  Card one: What not to do, 8 of Pentacles

  Do not have too much focus, commitment, and pride in work. This may seem odd advice and against common sense. So let us take a look at what we should do.

  Card three: What to do, 2 of Cups

  Here we have two actors we can either read together or choose one as the protagonist. You can do this by asking yourself which character you most identify with. If the answer was the male character, describe his actions and body language, and you may see that his stance is one of extending himself forward, one foot placed in front of the other; it is not a sturdy position and is somewhat dainty in appearance. He holds the Cup with his left hand and reaches out with his right to touch the other cup. These actions of the actor in the card gives the impression to the audience of a man who has a strong female nature, not overtly masculine. We could read this as an act of giving or exchange.

  This now makes sense of the “what not to do” advice of the 8 of Pentacles—we should not become too wrapped up in work life at the expense of our relationships.

  Card two: The middle path, the Emperor.

  Here we have an actor who is in character of a mature leader. The look on his face is confident but severe. However, his gaze is slightly to the left, which could imply that he is not giving you his undivided attention, as he has his whole empire to consider. His posture is very upright and firmly fixed, and he is positioned in a very symmetrical way. He holds props that denote his elevated status.

  In the advice given in relation to the middle path, this could recommend maintaining a state of self in relating to others; you can be of service to others but still maintain the upper hand and be in charge of your own affairs. It also counsels thinking of the bigger picture, not being lost in our work—the warning of the 8 of Pentacles.

  Quick Reading Practice: Yes/No Answers

  To practice using the Waite-Smith cards (or any other deck), you can use these two quick spreads taken from Minetta, writing in 1896, slightly ahead of the Waite-Smith tarot.161 They are both designed to determine a simple yes/no answer, so you may like to test them out.

  A note on significator cards: In many readings, particularly older cartomantic methods, a card is selected in advance to stand for the querent. This is the significator card. There are many various methods of selecting a significator, based on appearance of the person, gender, age, astrological considerations, or numerology of their name, etc. In this method, we adopt Waite’s own suggestion, that you simply pick a Queen or King card as you please.162

  Another Way of Having a Wish

  Place a card for your significator on the table. Shuffle the cards and wish. Draw five cards, placing the first face down at the head of your significator, the second at the feet, the third on the right, the fourth on the left, and the fifth on the card representing yourself.

  If the 9 of Cups is one of the five, you will obtain your wish; if, however the 9 of Pentacles is drawn, you will not have your wish. This can be done three times, but it is very much luckier if the wish card is drawn the first time.

  By Fifteen

  Shuffle your cards, having placed the significator on the table. Take three cards from the top of the pack; place them at the head for luck, three at the feet for the past, three on the right for the future, three on the left for the obstacles, and three on yourself for what is immediately crossing your path. It is a lucky omen if the 9 of Cups or the Ace of Swords, right way up, crowns your significator.

  Past, Present, and Future Spread

  Place a significator card that you feel represents you or your querent face up on the table. Then shuffle the remaining cards in the deck and divide into three piles, face upwards. Then interpret the top three facing cards. Take the remaining cards and draw two cards placing them face down upon the significator card. Next place a card above the significator card and one beneath, then to the right and left, as to form a cross layout. Then put a card at an angle to the right of the top card, and then continue to place the cards down in this order until you have used up all of the cards remaining. All being well, there will be five cards at the top arm of the cross, ten on the significator, and four each on the other arms of the cross.

  What the positions of these cards in the spread tell you about the timings of the reading.

  The five cards over the querent card of the reading tells us that something is going to occur of significance imminently.

  The four cards on each of the piles to the right of the querent show events and conditions in the near future. The four cards on the left of the querent speak of past events. The four cards at the base indicate plans and obstacles to the situation.

  The Four Fans

  A quick way of reading the cards

  First the querent shuffles the deck well and then hands the tarot cards to the reader, who spreads them face down on the table. The reader then asks the querent to draw eight cards intuitively and give them to him/her to spread out into the shape of a fan. This process is followed three more times, until we have four fan-shaped spreads.

  Fan 1: That you will gain

  Fan 2: That you will lose

  Fan 3: That you may have

  Fan 4: That you would choose

  Read the sequence of cards as the storyboard of a play or film as we have covered in this book.

  The Celtic Cross Revisited

  In this section, we will conclude by seeing how this new information on the Waite-Smith deck informs a Celtic Cross reading.

  Influence: Five of Pentacles

  In PKT, Waite describes the 5 of Pentacles as “two mendicants in a snow storm pass a lighted casement.” Taking this further and being fully aware that “mendicants” are not entirely helpless beggars who have no control over their lives—that it is a spiritual lifestyle choice—this card is now given more of a positive take. Therefore the 5 of Pentacles in the “influence” position of the reading informs the reader that the querent is in control. They have sacrificed material advantage to gain a spiritual one. This card can also indicate the temporary deferral of material reward, for example taking on a program of study, volunteer work, savings, or long-term investments.

  Obstacles: Temperance

  In the obstacle position of the Celtic Cross, we have Temperance. Our new perspective puts emphasis on the presence of Iris, the messenger of the gods. The obstacle therefore in this reading is disappointment in others. It is a card of seeking contentment in oneself; this person has given to others, in an unbalanced way. Waite says that “if the card in this position is positive, then the obstacle is lesser and can be overcome.”

  Aim: 2 of Pentacles

  This is the position to which the querent must aim. This card cautions against being tricked by “false Mercury” and aiming to see what the situation truly is, not the false hopes presented by another.

  Resources: The Fool

  This position of Resources in the Celtic Cross informs us of the resources and qualities that the querent possesses to take them forward into life. It is what guides the Fool along the way; it is total belief in the now, the belief in the guidance of a greater Creator power. As Waite says, “The sun, which shines behind him, knows whence he came, whither he is going, and how he will return by another path after many days” (PKT, 153). It is the “all-seeing eye” that looks over everything; it is godlike in nature
. It is effectively saying have faith in the process and all will be well.

  Recent Past: 9 of Cups

  The 9 of Cups in the position of the Recent Past, when taken into account his identity as Falstaff, is not merely a self-satisfied lover of life and all things indulgent. He has a propensity to be untrustworthy. He is also a bit of a Terminator-like character, in that when you think he is finished off, and out of your life, he suddenly comes back to life and claims the honour of the day. Falstaff in character in Henry IV pretended to fall down dead and then arose, to claim a deed that was not his own. Never trust a man who possesses too many trophies. If you have anything of value, then nail it down, as this person will take it! This position speaks of trusting somebody too easily in the past, and being let down; this could result in losing faith.

  Near Future: 5 of Wands

  This is a card in which Pamela shows us that sometimes the task itself is as much to be enjoyed as the accomplishment. So in this position of the Celtic Cross, the querent needs to foster this attitude in order to move forward into the future happily.

  Self-image: 9 of Pentacles

  In this position of the Celtic Cross, this is how we see ourselves, or how the querent sees themselves. This interpretation, from a Pamela perspective, makes much more sense, in that the 9 of Pentacles speaks of Shakespeare and Rosalind from As You Like it. It is here that Rosalind professed that it is better marry a snail than a man. This advises working upon your own self-sufficiency and that will shelter you from the external world.

  Appearance: 7 of Swords

  In this position in the Celtic Cross is the outward appearance we or the querent gives to the world; it is the mask we wear to get through social engagement. The 7 of Swords tells us that other people are observing that time itself is sneaking around you unawares. They see what you do not—that time is slipping away from you. It could be that we give off an air of not taking responsibilities too seriously, but that this is an act put on to appear in charge.