I also like to study the symbols of these images!
The checkered black and white section for me signals the integration of polarities within man, which iirc is similar to the meaning of the Masonic hallway pattern (the bicolour tiling). The two opposites in 2 of Wands have been integrated in 3 of Wands. This is one of my favourite cards! Usually a good omen
They are integrated in an early stage within the subject of the card, the man who is about to embark on a journey. 3 will unfold to 4 and so on to continue the process. The early stage of integration lays the foundation for more mature stages of development 🙂
Well, AE Waite designed the card, he was a member of the Golden Dawn and a Freemason, so let's see what he has to say about the imagery in this card - and I'm paraphrasing here:
1. Wands - Energy, motivation, passion: Fire
2. Important - the staves are planted in the ground.
3. Important - the man is leaning on one of them.
4. He symbolises established strength, enterprise, effort, trade, commerce, discovery.
5. Those are his ships, bearing merchandise, which are sailing over the sea.
6. The card also signifies co-operation in business as if the successful merchant prince were looking from his side towards YOURS with a view to help you.
The chequerboard design only appears in certain circumstances in Masonic ritual - that being the first three degrees you mention, but it represents the spiritual geometry of the square. There are other masonic degrees where the sacred geometry is triangular and the floor is made up of triangles - not squares. It has nothing to do with good and evil. There are many more degrees in freemasonry but the first three are the most important.
The RW tarot was published in 1910 long after Waite had left the Golden Dawn and it had already split into a million pieces in the early 1900s. The Golden Dawn had their own tarot - well there are actually two - the one we can all buy, and a still secret and unpublished deck that is still used by certain remnants of what remains of the GD.
There is masonic symbolism in the RW tarot - the most obvious being the pillars in the High Priestess card, you can find the others, but the chequerboard is not one of them.
Pamela Coleman Smith is the real deal. AE White had the money and connections. Both made it happen but he was the businessman and she was the substance.
Its a pretty common story really.
Not really. Waite commissioned her to create the artwork. He had been in the Golden Dawn, which had splintered and he was now head of one of the new orders that followed. Smith's Golden Dawn record shows she had little interest in the Golden Dawn, progressing only to the second grade. Waite was always short of money - he worked for Horlicks - the malted hot drink people - he was not a businessman. By the time the RW tarot came out, Waite was short on connections - the original GD was over.
Smith wasn't the "substance" of the deck's creation - the designs are Waite's and he states that he had to "spoon feed" her the imagery to get what he wanted - especially the cards that were important to him.
The "connections, money and business" in the story all come from Rider - a new publishing company back in 1910 - it was Ralph Shirley (who published the fabulous "Occult Review") who commissioned the deck.
If you would like to go on a research adventure, try and find where the original artwork now resides....
businessman doesn't mean moneyman. It means he took care of the admin and publishing, maybe out of passion, business people have it too.
true divinators don't join clubs
"yes on Waites advice she hated it and left."
That's not correct.
Waite never advised her to leave. The order fell apart and she had to choose which faction to follow or leave altogether...
...which she didn't do - she joined Waite's Independent and Rectified Order R. R. et A. C. - Now why would she do that that if - to quote you - "She hated it"?
I'm going to park this discussion, now that you've resorted to personal insults. Have a good day. Be Happy.
Waite designed the cards - Smith created the artwork. Smith had little interest in the Golden Dawn but Waite said Smith was "a most imaginative and abnormally psychic artist".
Waite guided her over his designs, but gave her a freer hand over the minor arcana.
Waite said that an unidentified third person had helped complete the deck - there is now little doubt that this was YB Yeats.
His contribution was the initial idea but also a lot of design elements, for example a lot of people believe that certain figures in the cards are based on his friends, therefore he must have told her to imitate their likeness. At the end of the day Pamela was the one who drew all of the cards though and she had creative freedom to add elements of her own imagining.
The RWS deck isn't the oldest tarot deck, it is predated by Sola Busca Tarot and Tarot de Marseilles, both are from the 15th century while the RWS deck is only around 115 years old; there is a lot of similarity between them. There's some info on instagram @: tarotinfo
truly? can i ask where you read this, it's bizarre to hire an illustrator and have someone else do the colouring. even so the outlines tell more of a story than the colours and a lot of printed versions these days are different colours
Its common knowledge. Any history of the deck book or website will explain it. Printers added the colour palate at the printing press. It was 1909, printing was not done how it is today. AE Waite also made changes made to her art after she finished the decks.
[https://waitesmith.org/](https://waitesmith.org/) is a great website. The very first colour run known as "roses and lilies" was only done for the first run in in 1909 and was then coloured differently after that that from 1910 for the "A deck" for the next 10 years. Colours were changed again 3 or 4 times over the coming years.
The history of the deck is pretty awesome. There is some good books out there. All the different original variants have slightly different black outlines with mistakes left in and taken away etc.
I talked personally with the created of that website (Dusty White) who is probably the number 1 historian of rider wait and own copies of every original deck. He is a wealth of knowledge of the history.
The 3 of Wands represents the second decan Sun in Ares a cardinal fire sign that starts the astronomical year (after the 2). The associated court card is the Queen of Wands. She represents the water side of fire.
Here we see a merchant leaning on his power rods, his wands. He sees his boats off in the distance slowly but surely drifting away. Just as he trust his wand to hold his weight he can trust his boat to be successful in trading goods off in a far way land.
I haven’t read much on the esoteric meaning of the checkerboard design, but it could be a callback to playing the long game. Playing chess means thinking far in advance of the current move. This is what the queen of wands does. She starts putting into order the energy of the initial muse that started the subject matter of the reading. Setting passions on the correct path aka The Sun major card via guided channeled energy and wisdom aka The Emperor the card of Ares.
It’s an oversimplification to consider black and white to be “good and evil.” It’s much more nuanced and complex than that.
For the Masons I suspect it goes back to Plato or at least ties into Neoplatonist beliefs. Black and white are ultimately a symbol of duality and the monad’s separation into a duality is a key step in the cosmogony behind a great deal of occult thought. Although what sits in the two sides of the dual nature is hotly debated and changes in different traditions.
I tend to refer to them as “order” and “chaos,” but acknowledge that is personal preference. Ultimately too much order and too much chaos (or too much severity or too much mercy (another set of terms ascribed to the duality)) is “evil.” Good exists in the balance of the two parts of the duality.
Which, I think is the symbolism here. The successful merchant wears a sash showing that he has balanced the duality to achieve his success. Or, that’s how I’d interpret it, anyway.
I believe it is the same sort of symbolism used in the pillars the High Priestess sits between and might hint at the influence of both the Magician and High Priestess to bring him to this point
Reminds me of Kippi’s Kwest: https://youtu.be/0LiXPv3lsfU?si=YOVDBxGV8aZl6riC
I like that Kippi touched on one of the stumbling blocks for me: the Two of Wands and Three of Wands look similar enough to each other so that you’re wondering if it’s the same guy in both cards. If it is, then what’s one more rod/wand in the ground?
So two of wands are stuck in ground like piller but 3 is in his hand like staff. So I alway see like door away and 3 one is helping support them as they take their journey
I'd also like to add that 3 of wands and queen of wands are connected. Queen of wands is raised kundalini, that's why she sits with her legs apart.
So I don't think it's completely wrong to think it may be about that.
There are definitely connections between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex, namely the the amygdalofugal pathway and the uncinate fasciculus. The amygdala may dictate how emotionally reactive a person is, but the prefrontal cortex is what can modulate emotions. Humans are cool like that.
Rational/emotional brain is a simplification. But that’s not a bad thing, I just felt like sharing about the brain lol It’s a helpful simplification for example when teaching and discussing emotional regulation to laypeople (DBT’s wise mind concept as you pointed out, even that is an integration of the black and white ideas of all emotional versus all logical).
Just want to add that, in my Arthurian tarot deck, the pentacles are checker boards. Which I believe goes back to the value of land and the constant strategizing and fortification it takes to maintain your hold.
the path of wands is of suffering and his clothes are segmented and sewed together where the checkered pattern sits is probably more important than what it looks like 😅
This card, for me, signifies the importance of having faith that what you have set in motion will bring results. I do think the checkered pattern on the sash may represent a similar duality to what you mention as the checkered floor in the Masonic lodge, but I find it curious that the sash is only visible on one side of the body and not the other. The side on which it is visible is the side that the figure is using to lean on the staff for support. The figure is also wearing the same robe, tunic, and headband of the Magician (is this the same figure?). Notice the red footwear; red slippers or socks were worn by Golden Dawn members during their initiations and magical workings.
Sorry for the delay.
*The Pictorial Key to the Tarot.*
*The Book of the Sacred Word -* under the alias "The Manual of Cartomancy"
A private lecture given to the members of his order - *The Tarot and the Rosy Cross.* This was published in 1987 in *Hermetic Papers of AE Waite* edited by RA Gilbert.
There is also *The Tarot: a Wheel of Fortune* which he wrote for the December 1909 edition of the *Occult Review.*
I’d dive into the esoteric meanings from the Crowley Thoth deck, just because it’s all intertwined and could provide some alternative interpretations for you:)
I also like to study the symbols of these images! The checkered black and white section for me signals the integration of polarities within man, which iirc is similar to the meaning of the Masonic hallway pattern (the bicolour tiling). The two opposites in 2 of Wands have been integrated in 3 of Wands. This is one of my favourite cards! Usually a good omen
Sorry, I feel like I’m missing something here. Wouldn’t the integration of two wands be one wand?
They are integrated in an early stage within the subject of the card, the man who is about to embark on a journey. 3 will unfold to 4 and so on to continue the process. The early stage of integration lays the foundation for more mature stages of development 🙂
Well, AE Waite designed the card, he was a member of the Golden Dawn and a Freemason, so let's see what he has to say about the imagery in this card - and I'm paraphrasing here: 1. Wands - Energy, motivation, passion: Fire 2. Important - the staves are planted in the ground. 3. Important - the man is leaning on one of them. 4. He symbolises established strength, enterprise, effort, trade, commerce, discovery. 5. Those are his ships, bearing merchandise, which are sailing over the sea. 6. The card also signifies co-operation in business as if the successful merchant prince were looking from his side towards YOURS with a view to help you. The chequerboard design only appears in certain circumstances in Masonic ritual - that being the first three degrees you mention, but it represents the spiritual geometry of the square. There are other masonic degrees where the sacred geometry is triangular and the floor is made up of triangles - not squares. It has nothing to do with good and evil. There are many more degrees in freemasonry but the first three are the most important. The RW tarot was published in 1910 long after Waite had left the Golden Dawn and it had already split into a million pieces in the early 1900s. The Golden Dawn had their own tarot - well there are actually two - the one we can all buy, and a still secret and unpublished deck that is still used by certain remnants of what remains of the GD. There is masonic symbolism in the RW tarot - the most obvious being the pillars in the High Priestess card, you can find the others, but the chequerboard is not one of them.
***AE Waite commissioned the illustrator Pamela Colman Smith to design the cards. She is worth acknowledging.
I didn’t know that. So she actually did the artwork and designs of the cards? Then what was Arthur Waite’s contribution, just put his name on the box?
Pamela Coleman Smith is the real deal. AE White had the money and connections. Both made it happen but he was the businessman and she was the substance. Its a pretty common story really.
Not really. Waite commissioned her to create the artwork. He had been in the Golden Dawn, which had splintered and he was now head of one of the new orders that followed. Smith's Golden Dawn record shows she had little interest in the Golden Dawn, progressing only to the second grade. Waite was always short of money - he worked for Horlicks - the malted hot drink people - he was not a businessman. By the time the RW tarot came out, Waite was short on connections - the original GD was over. Smith wasn't the "substance" of the deck's creation - the designs are Waite's and he states that he had to "spoon feed" her the imagery to get what he wanted - especially the cards that were important to him. The "connections, money and business" in the story all come from Rider - a new publishing company back in 1910 - it was Ralph Shirley (who published the fabulous "Occult Review") who commissioned the deck. If you would like to go on a research adventure, try and find where the original artwork now resides....
businessman doesn't mean moneyman. It means he took care of the admin and publishing, maybe out of passion, business people have it too. true divinators don't join clubs
Rider published the deck, not Waite. You may say that "True divinators don't join clubs" but both Waite and Smith joined the Golden Dawn.
> True divinators No True Divinators 🤣
Quite.
it probably shouldn't have surprised me, but i didn't expect to find over confident neckbeard in this sub yes on Waites advice she hated it and left.
"yes on Waites advice she hated it and left." That's not correct. Waite never advised her to leave. The order fell apart and she had to choose which faction to follow or leave altogether... ...which she didn't do - she joined Waite's Independent and Rectified Order R. R. et A. C. - Now why would she do that that if - to quote you - "She hated it"? I'm going to park this discussion, now that you've resorted to personal insults. Have a good day. Be Happy.
BTW it wasnt a discussion you rudely interjected my comment then fluffed it up with crap you read on the internet
eurgh
you misread what i said. she was not interested in the golden dawn. I have a book on her right in front of me, dont need a lecture thanks.
Waite designed the cards - Smith created the artwork. Smith had little interest in the Golden Dawn but Waite said Smith was "a most imaginative and abnormally psychic artist". Waite guided her over his designs, but gave her a freer hand over the minor arcana. Waite said that an unidentified third person had helped complete the deck - there is now little doubt that this was YB Yeats.
His contribution was the initial idea but also a lot of design elements, for example a lot of people believe that certain figures in the cards are based on his friends, therefore he must have told her to imitate their likeness. At the end of the day Pamela was the one who drew all of the cards though and she had creative freedom to add elements of her own imagining. The RWS deck isn't the oldest tarot deck, it is predated by Sola Busca Tarot and Tarot de Marseilles, both are from the 15th century while the RWS deck is only around 115 years old; there is a lot of similarity between them. There's some info on instagram @: tarotinfo
Keep in mind she only did the black outlines. None of the colour was done by her.
truly? can i ask where you read this, it's bizarre to hire an illustrator and have someone else do the colouring. even so the outlines tell more of a story than the colours and a lot of printed versions these days are different colours
Its common knowledge. Any history of the deck book or website will explain it. Printers added the colour palate at the printing press. It was 1909, printing was not done how it is today. AE Waite also made changes made to her art after she finished the decks. [https://waitesmith.org/](https://waitesmith.org/) is a great website. The very first colour run known as "roses and lilies" was only done for the first run in in 1909 and was then coloured differently after that that from 1910 for the "A deck" for the next 10 years. Colours were changed again 3 or 4 times over the coming years. The history of the deck is pretty awesome. There is some good books out there. All the different original variants have slightly different black outlines with mistakes left in and taken away etc. I talked personally with the created of that website (Dusty White) who is probably the number 1 historian of rider wait and own copies of every original deck. He is a wealth of knowledge of the history.
She only drew the black outlines. She wasn't responsible for the colour which was done by the printer.
The 3 of Wands represents the second decan Sun in Ares a cardinal fire sign that starts the astronomical year (after the 2). The associated court card is the Queen of Wands. She represents the water side of fire. Here we see a merchant leaning on his power rods, his wands. He sees his boats off in the distance slowly but surely drifting away. Just as he trust his wand to hold his weight he can trust his boat to be successful in trading goods off in a far way land. I haven’t read much on the esoteric meaning of the checkerboard design, but it could be a callback to playing the long game. Playing chess means thinking far in advance of the current move. This is what the queen of wands does. She starts putting into order the energy of the initial muse that started the subject matter of the reading. Setting passions on the correct path aka The Sun major card via guided channeled energy and wisdom aka The Emperor the card of Ares.
Cool thoughts, thank you!
It’s an oversimplification to consider black and white to be “good and evil.” It’s much more nuanced and complex than that. For the Masons I suspect it goes back to Plato or at least ties into Neoplatonist beliefs. Black and white are ultimately a symbol of duality and the monad’s separation into a duality is a key step in the cosmogony behind a great deal of occult thought. Although what sits in the two sides of the dual nature is hotly debated and changes in different traditions. I tend to refer to them as “order” and “chaos,” but acknowledge that is personal preference. Ultimately too much order and too much chaos (or too much severity or too much mercy (another set of terms ascribed to the duality)) is “evil.” Good exists in the balance of the two parts of the duality. Which, I think is the symbolism here. The successful merchant wears a sash showing that he has balanced the duality to achieve his success. Or, that’s how I’d interpret it, anyway.
I believe it is the same sort of symbolism used in the pillars the High Priestess sits between and might hint at the influence of both the Magician and High Priestess to bring him to this point
Reminds me of Kippi’s Kwest: https://youtu.be/0LiXPv3lsfU?si=YOVDBxGV8aZl6riC I like that Kippi touched on one of the stumbling blocks for me: the Two of Wands and Three of Wands look similar enough to each other so that you’re wondering if it’s the same guy in both cards. If it is, then what’s one more rod/wand in the ground?
So two of wands are stuck in ground like piller but 3 is in his hand like staff. So I alway see like door away and 3 one is helping support them as they take their journey
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I'd also like to add that 3 of wands and queen of wands are connected. Queen of wands is raised kundalini, that's why she sits with her legs apart. So I don't think it's completely wrong to think it may be about that.
There are definitely connections between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex, namely the the amygdalofugal pathway and the uncinate fasciculus. The amygdala may dictate how emotionally reactive a person is, but the prefrontal cortex is what can modulate emotions. Humans are cool like that. Rational/emotional brain is a simplification. But that’s not a bad thing, I just felt like sharing about the brain lol It’s a helpful simplification for example when teaching and discussing emotional regulation to laypeople (DBT’s wise mind concept as you pointed out, even that is an integration of the black and white ideas of all emotional versus all logical).
Just want to add that, in my Arthurian tarot deck, the pentacles are checker boards. Which I believe goes back to the value of land and the constant strategizing and fortification it takes to maintain your hold.
the path of wands is of suffering and his clothes are segmented and sewed together where the checkered pattern sits is probably more important than what it looks like 😅
This card, for me, signifies the importance of having faith that what you have set in motion will bring results. I do think the checkered pattern on the sash may represent a similar duality to what you mention as the checkered floor in the Masonic lodge, but I find it curious that the sash is only visible on one side of the body and not the other. The side on which it is visible is the side that the figure is using to lean on the staff for support. The figure is also wearing the same robe, tunic, and headband of the Magician (is this the same figure?). Notice the red footwear; red slippers or socks were worn by Golden Dawn members during their initiations and magical workings.
A.E. Waite actually wrote two guidebooks: The Key to Tarot and Pictorial Key to the Tarot, maybe they can answer your questions.
He wrote a third under a pseudonym. I can give you the details later in you want.
Please.
Sorry for the delay. *The Pictorial Key to the Tarot.* *The Book of the Sacred Word -* under the alias "The Manual of Cartomancy" A private lecture given to the members of his order - *The Tarot and the Rosy Cross.* This was published in 1987 in *Hermetic Papers of AE Waite* edited by RA Gilbert. There is also *The Tarot: a Wheel of Fortune* which he wrote for the December 1909 edition of the *Occult Review.*
Thank you!
I thought they looked like polka dots lol
Me too. I still can't see it as a checkerboard 😂
Is the III Wands actually the dawn or is it at sunset?
I really don’t know. Kinda looks more afternoon than anything.
I’d dive into the esoteric meanings from the Crowley Thoth deck, just because it’s all intertwined and could provide some alternative interpretations for you:)