Oh, The Difference A Little Color Makes!

As a newbie Tarot enthusiast, of course I bought a tried and true Rider-Waite deck. I figured that it would be good to have the original to refer to when learning all the different meanings of the cards. I disliked them the minute I opened the deck and looked through them. :/ They just fell flat for me. I was really disappointed (mostly in myself, I think) with them. They just didn't speak to me like some of my other decks.

I put it down to them being old fashioned, or something. Figured I was a 'New Age' kinda gal and just couldn't connect to them for that reason. LOL! Not true. Turns out that it was simply their lack of color that was limiting my inspiration from them. My son and I were at Borders looking for a book for him, when I came across the Radiant Rider-Waite Deck. Oh, what a difference. These images popped out at me almost immediately. My son and I sat in the coffee shop and shuffled through them with growing excitement at each card.

I pulled out the 5 of Swords and pushed it across the table at my son. I asked him what he thought he was going on in that card. He nailed it right away! He said, "He won the sword fight and he's laughing at them." LOL! Children are so in touch with their intuition. He didn't even hesitate or think about it. Just blurted out what he felt about the image. :D

Here is the original 5 of Swords:


And the 5 of Swords from the Radiant Deck:

What Tarot Card Are You?

You are the World

Completion, Good Reward.

The World is the final card of the Major Arcana, and as such represents saturnian energies, time, and completion.

The World card pictures a dancer in a Yoni (sometimes made of laurel leaves). The Yoni symbolizes the great Mother, the cervix through which everything is born, and also the doorway to the next life after death. It is indicative of a complete circle. Everything is finally coming together, successfully and at last. You will get that Ph.D. you've been working for years to complete, graduate at long last, marry after a long engagement, or finish that huge project. This card is not for little ends, but for big ones, important ones, ones that come with well earned cheers and acknowledgements. Your hard work, knowledge, wisdom, patience, etc, will absolutely pay-off; you've done everything right.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

The Chariot

I think this card is my favorite Major Arcana card. First off it's the card of my personal number, which is seven. To get your personal number, you add up all the numbers in your birth date. For me it's: 1+8+1969=1978, 1+9+7+8=25, 2+5=7. To me, this card is all about mastering the powers of opposites, and getting them to work together as a driving force. These opposing forces are enemies, but you have control over both of them... within yourself.

The card above is from the Legacy of the Divine deck. The woman driving the Chariot in this card seems to be driving to victory through rough waters. The light she shines directly in front of her from her staff, appears to be pointing the opposing forces in the direction she wants to go. To me, this card is somewhat telling in the fact that the white horse looks like it's starting to head towards the direction of the light, while the dark horse is trying to go off to the left. lol! The dark horse is always the difficult one, no?

The Chariot card corresponds to the astrological sign of Cancer, which just happens to be my rising sign. :) There's so much to like about this card! It's so balanced and 'in control'. It must have taken a lot of discipline, hard work, trial and error and determination to get those two harnessed and able to work together.

I think the song 'Chariot' by Gavin DeGraw could actually be about this card. :D AND it even mentions the Ace of Cups! See if you can spot where. ;)

Staring at a maple leaf
Leaning on the mother tree
I said to myself we all lost touch
Your favorite fruit is chocolate covered cherries
And seedless watermelon ohhhh
Nothing from the ground is good enough
Body rise
look what's over me

[Chorus:]
Oh chariot, your golden waves
Are walking down upon this face
Oh chariot, I'm singing out loud
To guide me
Give me your
Strength

Remember seeking moons rebirth
Rains made mirrors of the earth
The sun was just yellow energy
It is a living promise land
Even over fields of sand
Since it's filled my body, covered me
Bringing back
More than a memory

[Chorus]

You'll be my vacation away from this place
You know what I want
Holding that cup,
It's pouring over the sides
You make me wanna spread my arms and fly

[Chorus]

Give me your strength (Chariot)
Give me your strength (Chariot)
Give me your strength (Chariot)
Give me your strength (Chariot)

Give me your strength,
Give it to me (Chariot)
Give me your strength,
Give it to me (Chariot)
Give me your strength,
Give it to me (Chariot)
Give me your strength,
Oh chariot