The Women of the Tarot A Tarot Essay by Don McLeod

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1 The Women of the Tarot A Tarot Essay by Don McLeod Tarot is filled with images of women and goddesses. In this essay we will look at some of these powerful women and discover the influence they have on the reader of the cards. In the Major Arcana there is a lovely assortment of beautiful women shown as main characters in cards such as, The High Priestess, The Empress, the maiden in Strength, Justice, The Star, and, of course, the dancing lady in the card called, The World. These are archetypal images: powerful symbols holding deep, meaningful qualities that we can all associate with. When you look at these cards you might think to yourself that they are just pretty pictures, but they are more than that. These symbolic designs are affecting your subconscious mind whether you realise it or not. These are images of Goddesses. These are the key players in the drama of the world s myths and religions. These are the representatives of important women you will meet in your life; and these are milestones of your spiritual development. There are many women featured in the Tarot, and they are all important and powerful figures. Even if they only appear in the background of an image, they have something to say to us. And there is one woman who is on every card in the Tarot. Her influence underlies every single image in the whole deck. Her energy is in each and every card. Her name is Pamela Colman Smith, known to her friends as Pixie. Pixie was born in England, but she had a much darker complexion than her parents, who were American, which suggests that she might have been adopted. Her father had business ties with Jamaica, and the family moved there when she was 10 years old. They lived in Jamaica for several years. It was in Jamaica that she learnt the folklore that became such an important part of her life. Her mother died around this time, and her Jamaican nurse told her the stories of the land and people. When she was 15 she moved back to Brooklyn and during her schooling she was encouraged to study art. By the time she was 19 she had a feature exhibition which was reviewed in the New York Times. By the age of 21 she had gone back to London to become a writer and illustrator and she managed to publish four books, three of which were hers entirely two included hand-coloured prints and one of the books was a series of Jamaican folk tales with line drawings. In that year she also toured with a theatre company. This theatre training obviously paid off as she created a Jamaican character and she used this as a way of making money. In the Nelson Evening Mail (New Zealand) on 4 May 1907, Pixie was mentioned in the following way: Miss Pamela Colman Smith, who made such a success in London a year or two ago as a storyteller, is now enchanting America with her quaint art. She recently entertained Mark Twain, and he was so delighted that he laughed like a child the whole time. In the weird dialect of the Jamaican negroes a sort of cockney English with Spanish colouring, a rhythmic rising inflection at the end of each sentence, and barbaric words and idioms sprinkled through it that must have come directly from the voodoo worshippers of the African jungle she tells fairy folk-tales of de long ago before time, when Queen Victoria didn t yet rule over we.

Pamela Colman Smith in the attire of a Jamaican story-teller. Photo taken by Kate Pragnell, in 1912.

2 Pamela Colman Smith in the attire of a Jamaican story-teller. Photo taken by Kate Pragnell, in Pixie spent several years working with this theatre company where she helped with costume design and stage design. One of the members of this theatre group was its business manager, Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula. Pixie illustrated his last novel, Lair of the White Worm. Pixie also did some illustrations for the poet William Butler Yeats. It was Yeats who introduced Pixie to the occult society The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Arthur Edward Waite (the designer of the modern Tarot) and Aleister Crowley were members at the time. (1901) Soon after her initiation into the Golden Dawn, the Order broke up into two groups. Many of the Golden Dawn members, including Pixie stayed with Waite s side of the group. At this time Waite was designing a new Tarot deck which he asked Pixie to illustrate. Pixie worked on this set of Tarot drawings in a small studio in London s Chelsea district. She was 31 years old at the time and had become a small, slightly plump woman with an exotic appearance. She worked on the Tarot card project for about seven months. A full coloured set of 80 cards had to be ready for publishing in December Tarot cards plus the designs for the back of the card and the nameplate. Not one of the 80 original drawings for the cards has been found. This is probably because the Rider & Sons Publishing archives were destroyed during World War II bombing raids.

3 When the cards were published, they had minimal marketing and only a few occultists took notice and most of them were stuck in long-running feuds. The general public did not know what to do with these novelty cards. Tarot was considered to be a French custom, not English. It was only when the New Age movement discovered Tarot in the late 1960s and 1970s that they became popular. There is little known about the last 35 years of Pixie s life. We know that she died in 1951 in Cornwall, but the location of her grave is unknown. She was in debt and all of her possessions were auctioned off. Except for a few art exhibitions during her early career, which had a small amount of success, most of her artwork has disappeared. Pixie would probably have been forgotten except for the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Deck. I mentioned that Pamela Colman Smith is on every card in the Tarot. That s not just because she drew and painted every detail on the cards, but because her signature is in the corner of every image. Let s have a look at the other women of the Major Arcana: The High Priestess, The Empress, the maiden in Strength, Justice, Star, and, of course, the dancing goddess in the card called The World. What do we notice about The High Priestess? She is young representing purity. She is robed in blue a peaceful colour so she has a clear mind. Behind her is a screen filled with images of pomegranates (laid out in the pattern of the Tree of Life) pomegranates are symbols of the Goddess Persephone. Behind the screen is a calm ocean, so she exudes the spiritual qualities of calm and poise. She sits at the entrance to the Temple of Solomon, with the book of Hebrew wisdom on her lap. Torah is the word for Jewish scriptures or teachings so this represents a keeper of secret knowledge or special wisdom. This card represents intuition & spirituality. She wears the crown of Isis, so she has links to Goddess energy. She is our introduction to the Tarot s Divine Feminine with the emphasis on divine. But there are many more Goddesses to come. The very next card is The Empress. This is a card of manifestation. She is the strength of the earth. The Empress is earthiness and connectedness. She is voluptuous, earthy, sensual, and full-figured. In today s terms she d be called a plus-sized model a Goddess with curves in all the right places! She, too, has images of pomegranates on her dress. This time the pomegranates have their stems pointing down, so that they are in the shape of the symbol for female, which is also the symbol for Venus, the sigil on her heart-shaped shield. This shield is not a defensive shield, it s more of a banner something she can hold aloft and say, This is who I am I am woman hear me purr! Even behind the cushion, the abstract pattern is really a series of Venus symbols joined together Waite is saying that The Empress is not just giving an outer show of being a woman and a mother figure every part of this card supports this idea and tells us she is all about comfort and softness and femininity and desire in its most loving form. She s up-front about being a woman, and from her innermost nature she radiates the Divine Feminine and in this case the emphasis is on the feminine part of the words Divine Feminine.

4 These characters The High Priestess and The Empress are archetypal images. An archetype is a symbol that occurs in mythology, fairytales, and religions. Archetypes are as old as mankind. They are symbols of the collective unconscious. They are universal symbols or images that express concepts that affect us, and have meaning to us, even if we can t put those feelings into words. They are primordial principles. All archetypal images are ingrained in our understanding even before we are old enough to think and reason. They are universal images archetypes are found all over the world and all cultures resonate to them. Some of the usual archetypal characters are the hero, the warrior, the mother, and the father figure. Carl Jung said this about archetypes, It is only possible to live the fullest life when we are in harmony with these symbols; wisdom is a return to them. This is where Tarot comes to play its games with us. Tarot is full of archetypal symbolism. Find harmony with the characters in the Tarot and wisdom is yours. The High Priestess is a virginal goddess of spirituality. Do you want to tap into pure spirit? Then meditate on the High Priestess! She is a symbol of the mysteries. The Empress is, of course, a mother figure. She is THE Mother figure the embodiment of creative energy. We all have mothers. Some of us are mothers. When you think of the positive aspect of mothering, what words or feelings come to mind? When you were a child, what qualities did you want your mother to have? She was supposed to be someone who was kind, compassionate, a listener, someone to hold you when you were not feeling well, someone who would protect you, to love you regardless of your faults and failings... When you see The Empress card, think of her as a mother and all of these meanings can be seen in her. By connecting with the women of the Tarot by merging with them you align yourself with their energies and you become changed. No one can think of a mother s love and not feel something. Not all of us had positive experiences with our mothers, but in the universal scheme of things, that has to be overlooked. When you connect with the force of motherhood whether you are male or female you embrace the empowering, idealised, authentic Great Mother of us all! When you look at The Empress, unless you see and feel a mother staring back at you with all of a mother s love and expectations, then you are just reading Tarot cards, you are not a Tarot Reader. And when you see the Great Mother in the card called The Empress you become touched by her presence and you give a reading from a different place a different mind-set. You are giving a powerful and empowering interpretation from the cards, and you become more than when you first sat down and shuffled those cards. Strength: The maiden in the card called Strength is closing the lion s mouth. Why? The lion represents the primal beast in each of us our physical or mundane urges and desires. The Strength card shows us that even though women are seen as the gentle sex with passive qualities, they have an inner strength, and in their own gentle, quiet way they can overcome difficulties. This is a card of courage, motivation, and a subtle power that we can draw upon whenever we need it. Justice is another card showing a woman as the main character. You could be forgiven for wondering if this figure is a woman the character called Justice has very short hair and a cold, and rather stern expression, unlike the feminine imagery usually associated with the women of the Tarot. However, the virtues are always portrayed in female form and this card Justice is

5 associated with Themis, the Goddess of Justice, so this is definitely a female image. Representing the concept of Justice as a seated woman with a sword and scales was a wellestablished device in religious art many centuries before to the Tarot was invented. I assume that Waite and Pixie portrayed Justice as a woman with masculine features because Justice is supposed to be equal to all it shows the fairness and equality that is implied by the meaning of this card. It reflects the concept of balance as represented by the scales. Temperance is another androgynous figure. This angel is neither male nor female, so we can t include him/her in this discussion. The Star is another card featuring a Goddess. This is Ishtar, Queen of the Heavens, whose symbol is an eight pointed star. The woman is naked to represent freedom and natural expression. Waite calls The Star The Great Mother. Finally, we come to the last card of the Major Arcana The World. In this image we see a female figure draped in a violet sash, dancing in an oval wreath. This dancing figure is similar to the image of the Hindu God Shiva, whose dance of bliss is also a dance of death, representing both the creation and destruction of the universe. Maybe this Tarot Dancer is showing us the ballet of the stars and planets in the universe. The white wands in the woman s hands show that she has the power to create her own reality. The purple sash signifies the attainment of spiritual wisdom. It s a lovely way to end the sequence of cards known as The Major Arcana. But we haven t really finished talking about the Major Arcana. Women also feature in lesser roles in other cards of the Major Arcana. We have the lady in The Lovers, the girl in the card called Death, the unfortunate lady chained to The Devil, and woman falling from The Tower. Even though we only see her face, a woman is portrayed in the card called The Moon, and a woman rises from the grave in Judgement a biblical scene representing the Last Judgement. As far as main characters go, all of the women in the Major Arcana cards have a very positive role in the Tarot. In the Minor Arcana women pop up all over the place, as you would expect from cards describing everyday life. But there are some very special cards showing women in the Minor Arcana the Queens! The Queens Here we have a significant series of images showing powerful women of the Tarot. These women know who they are and they know how to express their true nature. They each embody an aspect of the ideal woman. If you brought together all of the qualities of the four Queens, you end up with an idealised state of womanhood, which is the Feminine Divine. These Queens have a commanding nature and they radiate authority and accountability, albeit with a sense of subtlety befitting the essence of the feminine. The Queen of Cups The focus of the Queen of Cups is relationships. She is deeply concerned about her own relationship, and the emotional ties of others. She acts as counsellor to others and she expresses her feelings openly. She is supportive and empathetic. This Queen considers herself to be a healer of hearts and bodies, and is devoted to family, friends, and the concept of romantic love. The Queen of Pentacles

6 The Queen of Pentacles is practical, resourceful, and down-to-earth. She is an Earth Mother who loves food, gardening, and the security of a happy home. She is a successful business woman and enjoys decorating her home in a stylish manner. This Queen has the patience and determination to bring prosperity into her life. The Queen of Swords This Queen combines intelligence with wisdom gleaned from her many life experiences. She is a walking encyclopaedia of current affairs and trivia too. If there is a problem that needs to be solved, she will use her communication abilities and strategies to work out a solution. She sees things as they are and loves to tell you all about it. Because she s a thinker, not a feeler, she can seem cold and distant, but she is decisive and level headed and you always know where you stand when talking to this Queen. The Queen of Wands The Queen of Wands is a woman of passion and action. She has energy and personal power and knows how to use them to her advantage. Her boldness is alluring. She is motivated and creative, but sometimes her restlessness with everyday life forces her to travel to distant lands. Blending all of these qualities together brings us back to Goddess energy as a whole. We take the Cup and Sword and Pentacle and Wand, which are the elements of water, air, earth and fire, and we fuse them with the spirit of Tarot and they become the Goddess. If you spend time contemplating the women of the Tarot, you will align yourself with Goddess energy. This is the true magic of the Tarot. Don McLeod 2014

There are 6 rules to remember

There are 6 rules to remember Elemental dignities Elemental dignities describe how Tarot groups interact with eachother through the 4 elements (4 suits) Air, Water, Earth and Fire (Swords, Cups, Pentacles and Wands). There are 6 rules