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The Daughters in the Haindl Tarot roughly relate to the Pages in more traditional Tarot decks. (Although really I think it’s a mistake to try and make the Haindl court cards fit into the standard court card template – they don’t take well to being pigeon-holed.)
Pages are sometimes thought of as messengers and this made me wonder about the Daughters and what messages they bring me.
Radha, the Daughter of Wands, shows me how to enjoy life. She tells me to play, dance, laugh, and love – to appreciate beauty and music and art in all its forms. She reminds me that life is something to be enjoyed.
Brigid, the Daughter of Cups, shows me that I am part of something much bigger than myself – something that existed before I was born and that will keep on after I die. She reminds me to honour the connection with my past, my ancestors, and the places I come from. She tells me to care for and celebrate my family and cultural ties.
The Daughter of Swords, Isis, shows me how to learn and to listen. Learning isn’t something that just happens in formal education – it’s something that we do every day, every time we meet a new person or find ourselves in a new situation. Isis tells me to be open, honest and humble, and to remember that everyone can teach me something.
White Buffalo Woman, the Daughter of Stones, tells me how to value my material possessions and to see them not just as possessions but as gifts that help me live my life. She teaches me that it’s not just sacred items that should be cherished, but everything I have, from the shoes that protect my feet to the house that shelters my family. She makes me want to get rid of everything I have that I don’t value.
A little while back, I was browsing an old Aeclectic Tarot Forum thread about the Haindl and found a list of keywords for the court cards that had been posted by Lee Bursten. These keywords are actually taken from the Quest Tarot, which is based on the Haindl, but I think they work very well with the Haindl cards themselves.
I love the court cards in the Haindl, I think they’re the best part of the deck. However, it does take a bit of effort to get to know them which is why these keywords are so helpful. Here they are:
Mother of Wands: CREATOR. Untamed energy.
Father of Wands: INTELLECT. Keeper of tradition.
Daughter of Wands: LUXURY. Sensual creativity.
Son of Wands: CHARISMA. Sensual hero.
Mother of Cups: MOTHERHOOD. Oldest truths.
Father of Cups: FATHERHOOD. Sacrifice for knowledge; harsh authority.
Daughter of Cups: CONNECTION. Keeping alive the inner flame.
Son of Cups: SEEKER. Courage to act responsibly.
Mother of Swords: MYSTERY. Gentle protectiveness, with something held back.
Father of Swords: LEADERSHIP. Harsh, fair analysis.
Daughter of Swords: CONFIDENCE. Dedication.
Son of Swords: FAIRNESS. Compassion.
Mother of Stones: PERCEPTION. Serene creativity.
Father of Stones: GUARDIAN. Quiet helper.
Daughter of Stones: POSSIBILITIES. Explaining the sacred in daily life.
Son of Stones: ADVOCATE. Articulating ideals.
This was originally posted on the Archer Tarot blog on February 6th, 2008.
In the Haindl, the suit of swords is associated with the South, Egypt and the element of Air. Rachel Pollack writes that this card depicts the Egyptian creation myth. The water represents the female Nun and the mound is the male Atum. According to my quite hefty Encyclopedia of World Mythology, Nun was the “personification of the watery abyss that existed at the beginning of time and which contained the potential for all life.” Strangely, there doesn’t seem to be an entry for Atum so either he wasn’t very popular or he didn’t really do anything except be a mound.
Rachel Pollack explains that Haindl’s addition of the sword represents “the divine mind activating nature, a scene similar to the Michelangelo painting in the Sistine Chapel, where a spark leaps from the fingertip of God to the finger of Adam.” So there is a strong link in this card to creation and animation, perhaps even fertilization.
The card shows a double-edged sword descending from the sky, amidst thick cloud and swirling waves. The tip of the sword connects with a small mound, a hill, which is clearly seen through a break in the waves. It is as if the sword has cleared the way.
Most decks I own depict the sword pointing up – a symbol of truth, righteousness and justice. In those decks the clean, pure element of air is emphasised. In the Haindl, the sword points down and connects with the earth. It is also surrounded by water. The element of the card is air but there is also water in the waves and earth in the mound. There is red around the base of the mound which could indicate fire. There is a sense of the water and the earth receiving the sword.
To me, there is something biblical about this image – a mighty sword descends from heaven and parts the waters, like the parting of the Red Sea. One word or command can make the impossible possible.
Some possible interpretations:
- Finding peace/stillness/clarity amongst noise/chaos
- Illumination, shining a light on something, highlighting
- Pinpoint precision, clarity
- Intelligence applied to some particular “earthly” situation
- Pure thought, higher ideals applied to daily life
- Rationality amidst confusion/illogic
- Mighty power, influence
- Cutting through/piercing/penetrating
- Activating something dormant, sparking off something new
3 of Swords – Mourning
Believe it or not, the 3 of Swords is one of my favourite cards in the Haindl – for its powerful yet simply imagery. This is one of those cards where I appreciate Hermann Haindl, the artist. The 3 of Swords in many decks depicts a heart pierced by three swords, or some scene designed to show heartbreak, betrayal, etc.; but next to Haindl’s those cards seem crude and overly explicit. This image makes me feel sad when I look at it. Like any great work of art, it has been created not to show or tell, but to evoke feeling in the viewer.
The background is taken from a painting of cats hunting mice (the same as is used for the background of the 10 of Wands). Rachel Pollack writes that “the detail is so close we lose a sense of the original painting”. When I look at the card, I see a damp wall in an old, empty house. The card is titled “Mourning”. It is a card of tragedy and ghosts. Empty houses are always sad because a house is designed to be a home – to hold people just as a heart is designed to hold love. The teardrop in the centre of the card seems to come from the wall itself, as if the house is crying.
The arrangement of the swords is also sad. The single sword is separated from the others. The space between, with the teardrop falling, speaks of a division that is too painful to cross. Things said, things left unsaid; whatever the situation, it feels too difficult and painful to make things right. The image speaks of isolation and loneliness. It used to be “us”. Now it’s just me.
2 of Swords – Peace
Last night, I had a couple of hours to myself so I turned off the computer and sat down to read. Before I started reading, I drew the 2 of Swords from the Haindl.
The 2 of Swords is not only one of my favourite Haindl cards, it’s one of my favourite cards in most decks. I find it very calming. In the Haindl, it is called Peace and it shows a winter scene. Everything is stillness. Two swords are suspended in the centre of the card, between two rock faces. Beyond the swords, tall cypresses line a snow-covered path that leads into the distance and a small, cold sun (or moon) hangs low in the overcast sky.
Despite the cold, the card invites me to go for a walk down that snow-covered path. It is a card of time-out and contemplation. Choosing to spend my time reading instead of working or aimlessly surfing was a deliberate choice made in favour of the kind of peace shown in this card. Over the last day, my online interactions had become confrontational – a storm in a tea-cup which had quietened down but not altogether disappeared. Things were peaceful again but the tension was still there, like the two opposing rock faces in the card. It felt like a good time to let it be.
Interestingly, the card on the bottom of the deck was the 2 of Cups. Whereas the beautiful peacock can represent attraction, the 2 of Swords shows the opposite – like two negative poles, or oil and water, the rock faces seem to repel each other. And the two peacekeeping swords hang in between.
