Tarot of Marseilles This card shows a woman pouring liquid both onto dry land and into the water. Eight stars shine above her, symbolising the fact that seventeen can also be seen as 1+7=8. The number eight can also be seen as an infinity symbol, and the stars were believed to be made of an everlasting substance. The eighth Tarot card is Justice, associated with duty, good conduct, virtue, and consequence. Seventeen was an unlucky number for Italians, and it was also considered unlucky by Pythagoreans, who called this number "the Barrier". According to the Seeress of Prevorst, seventeen symbolises the participation in two worlds, celestial and terrestrial. Henry Blanquart agrees that it "represents the junction between the material world and the spiritual world". According to Jâbir Ibn Hayyân, alchimist and Sufi, the number seventeen represents the balance of each thing. The Greeks called this number "antiphraxis" meaning "interposition" bec...

Tarot of Marseilles Temperance is habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion. It means being able to control oneself, and not letting onself get swept up in the moment or lead astray by fickle passions. The card shows an angel carefully pouring water from one jug to another. Water is a substance which can be difficult to contain, it leaks and it splashes and it runs away. This is a good metaphor for our emotions, which can overwhelm us at times. We break into tears, we stress out, we boil over, and we simmer with anger. The Angel of Temperance is able to contain the running water of emotion and prevent it from spilling. Water is also something we use to cool off. A cold shower or a glass of water can help us when we are feeling hot and bothered. This card is about recognising those instances when our emotions are getting the better of us and we need to calm down. In Hinduism, the concept of dama means discipline. Five types of self-restraint are taugh...

Tarot of Marseilles Thirteen, that dreaded number, is considered unlucky by many, but why? The number is associated with the moon in all cultures, because there are approximately 12.4 lunations per solar year. This means that there are always twelve lunations in a year, from which we derive our twelve months, but there is one lunation which straddles the old year and the new year. Thirteen therefore represents an inbetween time. In the Anglo-Saxon calendar, the number of full moons was counted from winter solstice to winter solstice. Most of the time there would be twelve full moon but sometimes there would be thirteen. If there were thirteen then an extra month of the year was inserted at the time of the summer solstice, making the summer a whole month longer than usual. The Summerland is a concept of an afterlife paradise where good souls live inbetween incarnations. This concept was devised in the 19th century by a Spiritualist called Andrew Jackson Davis. The concept of a Summ...

The Pythagoreans considered the number seven "worthy of veneration". It was associated with the seven celestial spheres of Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. There are four cardinal directions, plus an up and a down, which equal six directions. The seventh direction is inward. Eastern philosophers teach that the body has seven chakras, also known as "wheels". The spectrum of visible light is typically divided into seven colours. There are seven notes in a musical scale. There are seven days in a week. Seven represents the outside influences in our lives, such as the planets, chakras, colours, and sounds. To me, the Chariot card represents the driving forces which influence us in our decision making. The charioteer is the Will, pulling on the reigns of life in order to travel in the direction which we feel drawn to. It represents the drive to find one's purpose in life. This card is about seeking guidance, as well as feeling guided or pulle...

This adorable card shows a bare-bottomed Cupid eclipsing the sun as he prepares to shoot an arrow at a couple who have come before a witness to make their vow of marriage. By a wonderful conjunction of mathematical coincidences, the number six is both the sum (1 + 2 + 3) and the product (1 × 2 × 3) of the first three numbers. It is therefore considered “perfect.” This card represents the "perfection" produced by the union of two halves. The perfection of the number six is told of in the Bible, as it takes God six days to perfect his creation before he takes one last day to rest. This story is of course derived from Chaldean and Sumerian mythology. Six was considered the number of completion, harmony, love, creativity, and the physical senses. Psychic perception is sometimes called the "sixth sense". Psychic simply means "of the mind" as "psyche" is Greek for "consciousness". There is a classic tale where Psyche personified falls in...