The Fool is the card of infinite possibilities. The bag on the staff indicates that he has all he need to do or be anything he wants, he has only to stop and unpack. He is on his way to a brand new beginning. But the card carries a little bark of warning as well. Stop daydreaming and fantasizing and watch your step, lest you fall and end up looking the fool.
The Fool almost always stands for you alone, no one else. The Fool represents a time of newness, a time when life has been 're-started' as it were. You will feel that you are back at square one, whether that be in romantic affairs, or career, at your job or in intellectual pursuits. Far from being sad or frustrating, you will feel remarkably free, light-hearted and refreshed, as if you are being given a second chance. This can bring you youthful energy.
In addition, you likely have no idea where you're going or what you're going to do. But that doesn't matter. For the Fool, the most important thing is to just go out and enjoy the world. To see what there is to see and delight in all of it.
Unfortunately, in this childlike state you are likely to be overly optimistic or naive. A Fool can be a Fool. This is the card likely to turn up when you are thinking of investing your money in a new, can't miss business. Like the Fool, you're so busy daydreaming of what might be that you're ignoring what is. You're about to fall right off a cliff. You need to listen to that watchful little dog, which might be a concerned friend, a wise tarot reader, or just your instincts.
As a card, the Fool ultimately stands for a new start. When it turns up, you might be about to make a move, not just to a new home, but a new job, a new life. There's more than just change, renewal, and a brand new beginning in the Fool, there's also movement, and a fresh, exciting new time.
The Magician
The Magician is the male power of creation, creation by willpower and desire. In that ancient sense, it is the ability to make things so just by speaking them aloud. He represents the gift of tongues, a smooth talker, a salesman. Also clever with the slight of hand and a medicine man - either a real doctor or someone trying to sell you snake oil. The 4 suits laid out before him remind us of the 4 aces, which in the Tarot symbolize the raw, undeveloped, undirected power of each suit. When the Magician appears, he reveals these to you. You will be given a vision, an idea, a magical, mental image of whatever it is you most want: the solution to a problem, an ambitious career, a love life, a job.
The Magician represents someone who is eloquent and charismatic, both verbally and in writing. He is clever, witty, inventive and persuasive. People listen and agree with him. He also has an interest in science. He might be, in fact, a doctor or scientist or inventor.
It's important to remember that the Magician can as easily be clever as skillful, a trickster as well as a magician. This is someone with a magnetic personality, someone who can convince people of almost anything. For better or worse, his words are magic.
Most importantly, the Magician card stands for something being revealed. It is indicative that insight is about to be obtained. The person this card is referring to is about to discover something new, or can be enlightened with a new set of ideas.
The High Priestess
The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know in order to make a decision about a problem or a job, an investment, love, career, family, etc.
And, finally, there is, behind her throne, the curtain that leads to the deepest, most esoteric and secret knowledge; the pomegranates that decorate it remind us of Persephone, who was taken down into the land of the dead, ate its fruit, and became the only goddess allowed to travel to and from that strange land. Which indicates that when you get the High Priestess, you're going to be learning some very odd things. Very odd.
If there is a card that symbolizes the tarot reader is it the High Priestess. A woman (or man!) of psychic powers, intuition and secret knowledge. Where the Magician is about revealing, the High Priestess is about keeping things hidden behind the curtain. Things you know, but don't tell.
This could be a time of solitary investigation and the passing on of secret knowledge. Things kept secret will be revealed to you. Likewise, these secrets might come to you psychically by way of visions or powerful instincts. Insights may be found in crystal balls, tea leaves, dreams or conversations with spirits.
The High Priestess could also represent a spiritual woman, a nun or astrologer, a teacher of archaic knowledge, or just a reclusive relative who knows a lot of family secrets. She is a repository of obscure knowledge, a walking library with uncanny instincts and insights. She may, as well, come across as cold, unpredictable, even scary.
As a card, the High Priestess is about knowledge. Insider knowledge from some old expert being the best. All secret knowledge is hers.
The Empress
The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold things.
The Empress card is one of the easier trumps to read. She's Mother. Generally, Mother in a good sense. Patient, loving, giving, generous. If she is representing you, you can feel like a mother hen, worried about your children, new business, new creation, new romance. Male or female, you want to dote and hover and fret over every little sneeze and problem. If the Empress represents someone related to you, well, it might well be your Mom, or a woman who's very motherly toward you.
Of course, the Empress can also signify the worst aspects of an attentive Mom; she can smother, not know when to let go, be possessive and jealous of those who would take away her baby. It is important for you to realize that plants can die from over-watering as easily as neglect.
This card tells you that if you want your new romance, new career, new business, new creation to grow into all it can be you have to pay attention to it, baby it and be willing to let it take those first steps when it is ready. Most of all, like any pregnant mother or good gardener, you have to be patient. All things need time to gestate and sprout.
The Emperor
The Emperor is filled with enthusiasm, energy, aggression. He is direct, guileless and all too often irresistible. Unfortunately, like a baby he can also be a tyrant. Impatient, demanding, controlling. In the best of circumstances, he signifies the leader that everyone wants to follow, sitting on a throne that indicates the solid foundation of an Empire he created, loves and rules with intelligence and enthusiasm. But that throne can also be a trap, a responsibility that has the Emperor feeling restless, bored and discontent.
The Emperor card asks 'Who's the boss?' It is an important question. The meaning of the card includes being in control over your environment, your body, your temper, your instincts, your love life. This is not the time to give into the unconscious, not the time to let yourself be controlled by others wants and needs. It is a card that gives you permission to be aggressive, brave, bold and in command. The Emperor could be a father or father figure, leader or employer, either a demanding tyrant or a charismatic king. If you are the one the card is representing, you should think about whether your Empire has become an unwelcome chore and if it has, are you now a bad leader, demanding, unreasonable, or unhappy. It might be time to abdicate the throne.
