The twos are related to the High Priestess. As such they indicate duality but, more importantly, they indicate instinctual knowledge. Aces are undirected energy; the twos are, in a sense, the knowledge of what the direction for that energy should take. Thus:
Two of Cups
This card of two people looking into each other's eyes is one of the easiest to read - it is recognition of love, of a friend or soul mate. It predicts that you will find someone who 'knows' you, and you, in turn, will 'know' them. It is a very Romeo & Juliet card. So, there is the direction for that swelling of emotion within you, toward this other person.
Foundation: Wheel of fortune
Basic Tarot Story
From out of hiding comes the Fool, into the sunlight, as if being pulled up from some low, dark point on a wheel. It is time for a change. Staff in hand, he heads back out into the world, expecting nothing. But, strangely, things seem to happen to him as the hours go by, good things. Wandering by water wheel a woman offers him a drink in a golden chalice, and then urges him to keep the cup, just because she likes him; as he wanders by a windmill, he stops to watch a young man swinging a sword; when he expresses his admiration of the weapon, the young man presses it into his hand, insisting that he take it.
And finally, when he comes upon a rich merchant sitting in a wagon, right over one of the wheels, the man hands him a bag of money. "I like giving away money," explains the Merchant, "and I decided, just randomly, that the tenth person who walked past me today would get this money. You're the tenth." The Fool hardly thought he could still be surprised, but he is. It is as if everything good that he ever did in his life is being paid back to him, three-fold. All luck this day is his.
Basic Tarot Meaning
With Jupiter as its ruling planet, the Wheel of Fortune is all about big things, luck, change, fortune. Almost always good fortune. Almost every definition of this card indicates abundance, happiness, elevation, luck. A change that just happens, and brings with it great joy.
Observations
As much as the Tarot is about what a Querent can do to change their life or self, there are cards that admit that sometimes you just get lucky. This card can mean movement, change and evolution, but its primary meaning always seems to say that such changes will seem to come out of the blue, a stroke of good, unexpected fortune. The person you're reading for is going to get that money, that job, that promotion, that special person, that break they've been waiting for. Call it Karmic payback for all the good things they've done in life, destiny or just luck, but whatever lotteries are out there, large or small, they've just won one.
Situation: night of swords
Knights or princes are the spirit of the teenager, all about changes. Knights are never still; as the pages/princesses suggest messages, the knights/princes suggest movement, travel.
Elementally, they are Air moving and flowing like that element. As a person, they're likely to stand for a young adult or someone who acts very like a teen. Their beliefs are purer than of adult, less cynical and more fierce. In this they are most knight like: powerfully, almost unquestioning loyal to a kingdom or cause.
Too smart for his own good, this young man is also too talkative. He's engages in flame wars on a dozen internet chat sites, he questions his teachers, he likes to play devil's advocate and argues with his friends and family just for the sake of arguing. This sharp mind and sharp tongue can, in the negative, lead him to spread gossip or nasty rumors just to see what will happen. If there's anything this knight will fight and die for, it is for freedom of information and speech.
Recent Past: 8 of coins
Eights are about moving, taking action, as Strength is a card of courage and transformation. It's very easy to let things stay as they are inside yourself or without (though, as the Eights warn, it's easy but damaging). It is much harder to gather up the willpower and mental strength to make a real change. A scary change. Like the Strength card, it is scary to approach that lion, but you can alter the relationship you have with it.
An apprentice works on eight pentacles. This is the apprentice card. It is a card of starting over, doing something new or perhaps just expanding. Apprenticeship can be scary or demoralizing, like in all those cliched movies where the Kung Fu youngster has to carry water and sweep floors before he can do the real stuff. Similarly, this card predicts, if not a tough time, a time of learning and mistakes, doubts and just hard work. The Querent needs to be told to keep up their courage, to either make this move into a new job or to stick with it if they've already made the move. Being an apprentice (or an apprentice again) will teach (or re-teach) them how to persevere.
The message of all Eights is that movement, a change of place, home, job or situation can lead to an internal transformation. All that is needed is the strength to go through with it.
Challenges/ Opportunities: Ace of Swords
Aces are the root force. They are the spark. Relate them to the Magician, who presents the tools to the Fool. They have no purpose yet, but are filled with raw potential. They are the active energy of the suit ready to be used. They can also indicate direction or season, though which stands for which is often debated. Here are the "usual" directions and seasons. If, however, they don't feel right to you, the reader, use whatever works best.
East/Spring
The mind awakening for new challenges. This usually indicates that the person's mind is feeling sharper, clearer. They want to talk, want to discuss or write. The breeze stirs through the trees and the flegling thinks of trying out its newly feathered wings. The sword is lifted, and the querent wants to test its edge.
Near Future: 9 of swords
Nine is a card of completion (so is Ten, but we'll get to that). Like the Hermit, who connects to the nines, it is a card where something is finished and the person in turn steps back to look on what he's done, earned, or gained. Nines are among the most powerful cards, usually granting the Querent what it is they, like the Hermit, are seeking.
A man wakes from a nightmare, nine swords on the wall. It can be a good thing to find what you seek, except when it comes to ideas, words or problems. Find too many of them and they will overwhelm you. We all know this card, it is the one where we wake up at night and go over our troubles, problems, worries, thoughts, what we said, what others said. The Querent must be told that while their problems may be real, they're blowing them out of proportion, making them worse, nightmarish. They are spending too many sleepless nights alone and awake with these words, ideas, problems. What they are really seeking is to wake from this bad dream - which they can do by realizing that it is a bad dream - most of it is in their head.
Blocks & Inhibitions: 8 of swords
Eights are about moving, taking action, as Strength is a card of courage and transformation. It's very easy to let things stay as they are inside yourself or without (though, as the Eights warn, it's easy but damaging). It is much harder to gather up the willpower and mental strength to make a real change. A scary change. Like the Strength card, it is scary to approach that lion, but you can alter the relationship you have with it.
A woman is tied and blindfolded within a cage of swords. This is the "damned if you do, damned if you don't," card. The Querent is in a situation where they're afraid to move. If they move, they'll get cut. However, the ropes that bind them, the blindfold over their eyes, are their own fears, keeping them still, immobile. And so the longer they stay, the more they constrain and entrap themselves. Ever been in a situation where you're afraid to say anything, so afraid that you second guess yourself, end up saying nothing, tying yourself in knots? But speaking up is going to get you cut to ribbons? That's this card. The Querent must have the strength to endure the cuts, else they'll stay trapped. They must move, for the longer they let the situation continue, the worse it will get.
The message of all Eights is that movement, a change of place, home, job or situation can lead to an internal transformation. All that is needed is the strength to go through with it.
As the aces were the pure, elemental spark of the suit, the tens are the element of the suit complete. Not as in the nines, which are physical completion, but in a transcendent fashion. It is the ultimate good or bad of that element.
A man dead with ten swords in his back. It is a nasty looking card. Sometimes everything just... goes... wrong. And this is a card that lets the Querent know that, yes, things are as bad as he fears. The troublesome swords can't get much worse than this, with bad things said about the Querent, ruin of their lives. But as the fellow in the card indicates, the swords have done their worse. You can't be more dead. It is over.
The element of Queens is water and, not surprisingly, they are a reflection of the Empress. In this they signify the creative force. One way to think of the court cards is this: The Kings are the motivating force (Fire = the sun waking up the sleeping Earth). The queens are the ones who make it real (water = rain bringing forth life from the earth). The Knights spread the idea of the Kingdom (wind = spreading the seeds). And the Pages, of course, are the fertile soil in which all of this can grow.
When Queens appear they signal a time of growth and development, a time when the Querent is making things real. Developing a romance, psychic powers, or the growth of a family.
Standing before the waves of an ocean, a fellow deftly juggles two pentacles. Is the meaning quite clear now? Yes, the instinctive knowledge of how to juggle finances, a check book, or jobs. As with the swords, you can't keep at it forever, but it is a good use to put your money or hard work to until your ship comes in. Which is what the background waves are all about - keep juggling, relief is on its way.
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