Sixes
SIX OF COINS
There is a myth that the pelican feeds its babies with its own blood, a myth that became a symbol of Christ giving his blood for mankind. Generosity, nurturing and unconditional love make the world beautiful. Unfortunately, I doubt any human has ever experienced or been able to express unconditional love. Maybe that’s the real myth.
Oh my, how cynical of me, but a bit of cynicism in regard to the Coins suit is healthy I think as worldly matters are never perfect. I think: “A hand up, not a handout” as they say in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Assistance is there, but don’t think someone is going to give their blood for you.
This looks more like a gryphon than a pelican to me. What Place doesn’t tell you in the book, and I found in the Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend, is that the full myth states that the pelican becomes angry with its young and kills them, and then resurrects them with its blood. Not quite the feelgood myth of unconditional love, but worldly and realistic, much like the death of Jesus.
SIX OF SWORDS
A mother protects her daughter, moving in the same direction of the sword tips. A go-with-the-flow card and the sense of a stronger or higher person looking after you, which Place refers to as a higher source, meaning God I suppose.
I once tried to win a deck online by doing a reading for someone on a forum, and I got this card from the Tarot of the Saints, and matched it with some other cards from different decks. I was scared of the man I was reading for and I kept thinking this was me depicted fleeing in the card. I didn’t win, for which I was most grateful.
Perhaps a notion here that your higher power might also be your own intuition?
SIX OF CUPS
Jesus washes Peter’s feet with love and humility. This card concerns nostalgia or old memories in the Rider-Waite tradition, in the sense of remembering childhood dreams or not letting past glories keep you stagnant.
Robert Place has very brief write-ups for the Minors, which is a shame as this one needs a bit of clarification to my mind. What was he thinking? I’m not sure.
There is a sweetness here of caring for good friends, and not letting position determine how you interact with people. Perhaps a remembrance of younger days when you met people with trust and affection? Not the rabbi or teacher, but simply a friend caring for another friend with love, as Jesus would have done before he became revered. Remember where you came from and who you were perhaps?
SIX OF STAFFS
I always think of this in any deck as the Victory card. The one I remember best is from the Victoria Regina tarot with dear Bertie riding high on his victory steed.
Here is Jesus riding into Jerusalem triumphant with people lauding him and throwing palm leaves before him, and thinking of the betrayal and loneliness as well as physical pain that was soon to come for him, it gives a sense of fleeting victory. The applause dies, people forget you, they lie about you, it all winds down to bitter rejection and The Judas Kiss, and hours of blinding pain and emotional wounds.
Yikes. Something to remember amid the accolades of Victory.
Victory can also be the pleasure of enjoying the Self, without worrying how other people treat you or what they say about you. That’s a quiet way to remember this card as well.
Tags: Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend, Jesus enters Jerusalem, Jesus washes Peter's feet, pelican mythology, Six of Coins, Six of Cups, Six of Staffs, Six of Swords, Tarot of the Saints
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