Pip cards - how to read them

[Diana]

Reading the pip cards can seem quite daunting. (The so-called and misnamed unillustrated cards). Particularly if one does not take into account RWS sort of set meanings. I can understand that it can seem daunting. And understandably so. Myself it took a long time to even consider using them for my readings. I'm still shaky at times.

So I thought a thread on this topic could be useful. And to start with, I want to give a link to what I think is a really fine introduction as to how to approach these pips. For people both new to reading pips and also those not so new.

https://tarot-heritage.com/cartomancy/r ... pip-cards/

[Joan Marie]

Reading the pip cards can seem quite daunting.

Thanks for this. I avoided the TdM for a long time because of the pips but lately I'm really dying to understand it.

I would be really interested to know how people found their way with the pips. When I read interpretations of them in readings I find what people can see in them to be so intriguing.

[archimedes]

I see a grid of meanings, suits across numbers. Here are my thoughts, some Biblical and some Pythagorean; I'm currently ignorant of Kabbalah.

Ones: Unity, wholeness. The single point. Being. It took a long time for 'one' to be integrated into a number system, as it was regarded as whole and uncountable.
Twos: Dyad. Vesca Piscis, The line. duality, balance, even tension. duplication.
Threes: Triad, the geometrical plane. trinity. Harmony God, spirit and manifestation; father, mother, child; Two as one in three.
Four: Cosmos, three dimensions. The base of the pyramid. Earth, stasis; all is fixed, rooted, immovable.
Five: conflict, unbalance; the five-pointed star, becoming. The five wounds of Christ, the five Elements.
Six: Resolution, respite, movement forward. The number of humankind.
Seven: Physical and spiritual completeness; uniqueness. Also, escalation.
Eight: The octave. The square redoubled. Physical effort, material growth. Infinity: possibility.
Nine: The cube. Perfect geometry. Reward. Solidity. The idea comes into space. Manifestation.
Ten: Tetractys, all things, the perfect triangle four, three, two, one. The number of the cosmos + the number of humankind.

[Diana]

Sometimes the kind of information about numbers that archimedes gives examples of in the above post have always got me stumped. I nod my head sort of wisely in acquiescement when I hear about "the base of the pyramid", and "five wounds of Christ" and "number of the cosmos" and "geometrical plane". Sure, this is probably all right and valid. But how does this help me when I'm reading the cards ? That's what I've always wondered.

[fire cat pickles]

I think there are several ways to read pips. The trick is to find a system that works for you.

Lee Bursten was *supposed to have a book out that follows his method laid out here:
https://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=165645

You may find that interesting.

There's of course the Kabbalah method that you mentioned (I can't seem to steer away from that one, unfortunately).

Lately I've been studying the good-old fashioned decan system of RWS favor to help me out with pips, partly to get away from the relying solely on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life schematic, although this would still play a role in readings.

I can still see the Pythagorean system being tied up with the Trumps, also, and since I can't divorce the reality of the Trumps-reflecting-the-minors, there will always be a little bit of that thrown in the mix as well.

I can't seem to preclude some cartomancy/hedgewytchery meanings from pips, either. It's a hodgepodge.

[Diana]

Carole Sédillot in her book Ombres et Lumières du Tarot has nice little list of the numbers from 1 to 10 that I've always found helpful and practical :

1. Fire, Beginnings, Point, Unity, Primal Cause, Manifestation, Contains 'the all', Active, Masculine.
2. Water, Duality, Opposites, Reflection, Receptivity, Passive, Feminine.
3. Air, Dominates the duality, Causes movement, Trinity, Active, Masculine.
4. Earth, Matter, Concretization, Construction, Equilibrium, Realization, Passive, Feminine.
5. Ether, Number of man, Evolution, Protection, Faith, Spirituality, Active/Passive, Masculine.
6. Hesitation, Search for harmony, Beauty, Decision, Choice, Passive, Feminine.
7. Victory, Energy, Success, Perfection, Active, Masculine.
8. Infinite, Material, Transformation, Judgement, Balance, Money, Rigor, Passive, Feminine.
9. Results, Accomplishments, End of a cycle, Inner action, Knowledge, Active, Masculine.
10. End of a cycle and beginning of a new cycle, Summing up, Using one's experience, Renewal, Return to Unity, Totality.

[archimedes]

Carole Sédillot in her book Ombres et Lumières du Tarot has nice little list of the numbers from 1 to 10 that I've always found helpful and practical :

...

These are good. Interesting that here the human number is 5, while it's 6 in the Pythagoran. I think the key there is to choose whichever system feels most intuitive/meaningful to you.

... "the base of the pyramid", and "five wounds of Christ" and "number of the cosmos" and "geometrical plane". .. But how does this help me when I'm reading the cards ?

I think it depends on what you've got in your personal suitcase of symbolism. I'm a bit of a wannabe maths/history nerd so for me the idea of the point, line and plane is meaningful. The line is the shortest distance between two points; stop procrastinating and make a choice, or find the quickest, most straightforward solution. The plane is that line swept sideways, like a wide brush; we can see more, a sweep of colour - commitment; a broad beam of light or heat, revealing thought, a map, covering territory; we have all the knowledge we need.
The four is fixed - though enough force on one side and it shears. You've staked a claim, an argument well supported, emotions in equilibrium, validated.
and so it goes.

This is how I think, anyway.

[Diana]

NUMBERS PLUS THEIR ELEMENT

I would like now to mention something that is very helpful when reading the pips. And this is to look both at the NUMBER and the ELEMENT and see how they fit. For this purpose, I'll copy (with some tweaks) a post I made on Aeclectic a million years ago.

I took the example of the 10 of Swords. I did this to show that the 10 of Swords of the RWS with a guy lying prostate, probably dead, with 10 Swords sticking out his back, should be put out of one's mind. Swords are not necessarily tragic This is what I was talking about in my first post - that if one wants to start out fresh with the non-scenic decks, one needs to put aside the meanings that so many people have become accustomed to.

So here goes with the 10 of Swords and its element and number :

What is a 10?
What is a Sword?

That is what we have to look at.

What is a 10?

A 10 is the first number with two figures. The only one that integrates so perfectly the yin/yang aspect (1 and 0). 10 is the number of perfection, in the Pythagorean system and I assume most others. It's the number that includes both the divine and the human. The Tetrakytis : 1+2+3+4 = 10. The All, the Absolute, Harmony. The 1 is the beginning, the 0 is Ouroboros, the snake that bites it's tail - the principle of Eternity.

A ten is the end of a cycle, and the beginning of a new one. Don't forget the Wheel of Fortune.

Now, what happens when this 10 gets associated with the Swords, or rather, the Element of Air? (If one considers it to be Air of course as most, but not all people do.)

What is Air? Air is the breath of Life, the breath of Spirit. Air raises our consciousness higher and higher away from material realms. Air can penetrate everything - even the tiniest little nook and cranny (so can Water, by the way). Air needs no support in order to exist - it is highly independent. Air is the first thing a human being needs in order to live. It is more important than water and food.

Air in Tarot relates often to creativity, to ideas, to intuition. It is not the most practical of the elements (the most practical is the Coins). The Air element allows man to discriminate between the true and the false. The Mental is wide awake.

Now I ask you: When you put a 10, and the Element Air together, what do you get?

Do you get a guy lying flat on his stomach like in some melodramatic B-series sitcom? Or do you get someone who has reached a state where he is ready to accomplish great new projects ? Someone who has reached such a state of mental dynamics that all he has to do is to reach out his hands and DO. This card is one of the most powerful of all the minors.

There are dangers inherent in this card. Dangers that the person may NOT put into action what they have achieved on the mental level, will stagnate and will waste all their potential. Then their minds will start rotting. One can also read the cards reversed in the TdM, so of course there will always be the possibility that it is negative. But it's not negative to start out with. Also, this card can bring along a sense of responsibility, and it would be wise to retain some humility.