Many of you know that I enjoy working with round tarot cards. The Motherpeace, Daughters of the Moon, Songs for the Journey Home, Star That Never Walks Around, Circle of Life, and Cloisters decks are all lovely and their shape reminds me that a tarot consultation is a circle of sorts, a conversation that matters with the card layout as our consciously created centre.
People often ask me about the various orientations one can get with round tarot cards. Not only is there upright and reversed, there’s also the possibility of various degrees of tilting to the left or right. Karen Vogel and Vicki Noble, the Motherpeace artists and writers, see a tilt to the left as less of the card’s concept being expressed and a tilt to the right as more of it being expressed. Some folks think of a round card as a complete cycle of lunar phases with reversed as “dark moon”, upright as “full moon”, with the other positions as being new moon, quarter moon, etc., letting us know if the energy depicted in a card is waxing, waning, in its fullness, dormant, or somewhere in between any of these.
When using rectangular cards, I see upright as obvious, conscious, external, giving, and so forth. I see reversed as subtle, unconscious, internal, receiving, and so forth. So, for me, a round card that’s tilted indicated that the concept is experienced both externally AND internally, consciously AND unconsciously, privately AND publicly, etc. It reminds me to observe and listen to the outer world for the card’s message and to be aware of that mirrored in my inner world. Also vice-versa. For example, my card for today, from the Motherpeace Tarot, is the 6 of Cups, tilted to the right. My sense of the card is that both my external friends and my own intuitive guidance are reliable, that I’m comfortable in my relationships with others and in my relationship with myself, that it’s good to give and receive pleasure today.
So there’s my twist on the nuances of round cards. Any thoughts from you?
the only round deck i have is motherpeace and it’s definitely like two more decks with the variations on right and left —- i love the details that they give with the directions
maybe i will start inventing sideway orientations on my rectangle decks
as i write this, i look at my gaian card of the day and it’s six of water — i drew it reversed this morning but it was actually lying sideways (my desk is super-wee) so it’s going left
what really pops out is mister seal
i’m feeling a little lonely right now but too tired to deal with anyone in person or on the phone — so it’s maybe more like i’m happy knowing my people are just a shout away
muttering on here feels fluid (maybe the glass of red wine talking a little, too) and relaxed like the seal looking over at the wet sunset ladies
seal was my greatest companion when i lived in kitsilano beach, vancouver
i was so ecstatic walking by the sea and fully awake in my art there that i didn’t need much connection with humans
there was a seal i would see, who lived at the bottom of my street
in this card, he feels literally like my right hand man
swimming beside the circle soothingly
xo