Wands | Swords | Cups | Pentacles

Wands (other names: rods, staffs, clubs, sceptres) The wand is the symbol of Air...it symbolizes, in addition to the air we breath, all gases. It also represents intellect, learning, teaching, knowledge, and enlightenment. (to name a few) In stories featuring magic users, the magical wand is almost always a part of the wizard's or magician's paraphernalia. The sheperd's crook is used as a guide. A staff can be helpful in climbing. A scepter is a sign of rulership, normally belonging to a king or queen. Wands are often shown as living wood, leading some to attribute it more to earth than air. The growth of leaves on the wands, however, is the fertility of the mind and spirit rather than growing wood. Wands, in divination, usually have to do with the function of the mind: ideas, thoughts, deductions..ect.. Top

Swords (other names: none that I've come across though I'm sure there are many) This suit, like the planets Mars and Saturn, is often maligned in books which express modern esoteric thought. Even the Waite Tarot deck (one of the most common) is designed to show to show negative interpretation Just as Saturns restiction is misunderstood, so is the cutting edge(or edges depending on the sword)of the sword considered negative to many. As death is feared by those who see it as an end, so is the action of the sword misinterpreted becuase it can cause pain. Its true that a sword can slash, main and kill. It can also cut bonds and bring freedom. It can defend. Its very presence can be a deterrent to evildoers. A sword is the result of, and can therefore represent, a very hefty purification process. Its creations depends on tempering and buring away of impurities. So does its strength The sword is the weapon of Fire. The suit of Fire represents: will, action, passion, energy..ect.. Top

Cups (other names: chalices, and probably others I'm unaware of.) From chalices to cauldrons, cups symbolize the element of Water and all that implies. Water symbolizes all liquids, the emotions, the sea, the womb, the Mother, cleansing. In divination , the suit of cups usually symbolizes emotion or intuition. It can also have to do with scrying. Top

Pentacles (other names: pentagrams, orbs, disks, and coins) The pentagam, long associated with the Craft, symbolizes the five elements: Air, Earth, Fire, Water, and Spirit -- The Symbol shows spirit manifesting the other four, or the four aspiring to Spiti. The pentacle is an Earth symbol in the Tarot, and it is said that Earth contains, Air, Fire and Water. Pentacles are usually interpreted as relating to money but they also relate to physical well-being, or lack there of. Top