Approaching Eden
I mentioned in my working decks post that I’m starting to use the Tarot of Eden, and today I wanted to share my preliminary explorations. I like to respect a creator’s intent when I work with a deck, so I try to understand that intent and make informed choices about how I will use their creation. Some decks are easily adapted to different reading styles and interpretations without butchering the creator’s vision, and others, like the Thoth for example, I find to be more suited to reading within the framework of its philosophy and design. Fortunately, although Eden differs from many modern Tarots in a few notable ways, I think its unique features are flexible. The designers wanted to create a multicultural Tarot deck that respects people, animals, and the art of divination. I think that as long as I remain true to those themes, I will have success with this pack of cards.
The Tarot of Eden is a pip deck (which is one of the reasons I chose to work with it). It also numbers Strength as 11 and Justice as 8. These qualities are reminiscent of a Marseilles style deck. Although the multicultural illustrations are vastly different, this deck borrows a lot from older traditions where astrological, Kabbalistic, and other occult correspondences are not present. Since this deck doesn’t explicitly state any correspondences, I will probably continue to use the Golden Dawn’s. (Elemental associations are visually implied in some cards, but there is no mention of the elements in the guidebook, and the visual cues are a bit inconsistent across the suits.)
The descriptions of the trump cards typically conform to familiar themes from other modern Tarots, even when the imagery and symbols used to convey the concepts is nontraditional. Several cards do feature some deviations, but overall they retain familiarity and even offer a few unique and compelling nuances, which is always a treat. As I continue working with the deck, I hope to internalize many of the unique meanings and symbols in the trumps. I especially enjoy that the Tower uses the less common title of “The House of God” and Death “The Card with no Name.”
The pips are a bit less straightforward. Numerology seems to influence their meanings, but it isn’t the system of numerology that is commonly associated with modern decks. For example, the fives are associated with change, not conflict, and instead the sixes have more troubling connotations. To turn things upside down even more, the 10 of Swords “announces good times.” Themes of stability remain in the fours, but once again the details deviate from tradition among the suits. Overall, it appears that Eden’s formula is to apply the numeric theme to the suit theme to arrive at some of the major interpretations. However, this is not explicitly stated and there is no breakdown of numeric associations. Because of these unspoken but evident differences in the numerology and my struggle to discern a consistent theme for the swords and wands in the guidebook, the pips are a bit muddled for me.
The guidebook states that swords represent “obstacles, difficulties, rivalry, and delay,” and the wands “stand for action, possibilities, hypothesis, and your free will.” This makes it sound like the wands will adhere to their typical fire based associations and the swords their air based associations. Instead, the meanings seem to mix ideas from both suits and add some new ones. Cups stick close to the emotional realm and coins to the financial as usual.
From a visual standpoint there is also some crossover and swapping of common color and elemental associations. The sword courts have fire in them, but there is also a nod to air with the inclusion of winged figures. The sword cards being red and the wands being gold hints at the suit elements being swapped, but the wand courts have more earth based elemental imagery. Water seems to be the consistent element in the cups at first glance, but the Page of Cups is among a flock of birds. Coins, understandably, are the prominent symbol of the suit of coins, and less elemental symbolism is found. Whether you look by element, color, or suit theme, there is some crossover both visually and within the guidebook for the pips, which presents some challenges whether you want to use the guidebook’s meanings or other common Tarot systems.
Because the Tarot of Eden is a thoughtful deck and its guidebook is not mere generic tuckbox fodder, it is important to me to understand the systems applied to the pips. Exploring an alternate system of numerology is tempting since I’ve never liked associating 5 with conflict and I think that the common associations for 7-10 are a bit indistinct. I’m hoping to be able to discern what system Eden uses so that I can find matching resources.
For now, as I mentioned previously, I will use the routine Golden Dawn associations. I think that if I get the hang of another system of numerology over time, this deck will be a great application, but I don’t think mastering an alternate system is necessary before using the deck for readings.
Additionally, it’s worth noting that this deck is designed primarily for use with the trump cards. The deck’s creator states that the pips are subordinate to the trumps and they describe and influence a trump’s meaning. The spreads and techniques provided in the guidebook are for use with the trump cards, and sometimes a few pips are drawn to expand upon an important spread position. Because of this, the trumps have very detailed descriptions while the pips are more spartan. This approach to the structure of Tarot is one that has largely fallen out of fashion over the years, but it is an intriguing method that I find worthy of experimentation.
As I move forward I think it will become easier to decide what I wish to incorporate from this deck’s unique perspective, and what I will choose to preserve from my standard and familiar practice. What are your thoughts and methods for working with a deck that ascribes to systems and methods that vary from your own? Do you still use your methods, or do you use the creator’s when you work with that deck? Does it depend on how different a deck is or what elements are different? I’d love to hear your thoughts.