Wednesday, April 1, 2015

A to Z Challenge -- A -- BLADE, BREATH, AND CARD


A Symbol for Air
AIR -- One of the four Elements.  It is associated with the East. The color that is associated with it is yellow.  The wand is the ritual tool that is associated with it.  Wind magic, divination, travel, and intellectual/mental stimulation are all ruled.  Psychic powers, dreams, and wishes are also associated with this element.  On the altar, a feather is the most usual symbol placed there because winged animal and insects are represented by this element.  It is a projective element.  It is masculine in nature.

ALTAR -- This is the one of the most basic things. It's the place where ritual tools are set to perform ceremonies, sabbats, and esbats. Most altars are split into three sections. The left for the Goddess, the right for the God, and the center is usually a working area belonging to both.  Elemental representations can also be found in the central area.  Most altars are set up facing North or East.  They can be as elaborate or as simple as desired.

AMULET -- This is an object used to deflect specific (like negative) energies away from a person.  It's used as a protective object that is magically charged.  Many things can be an amulet including stone, wood, sachet of herbs, and a host of other things.  It all depends on what is needed to be deflected.

APRIL -- This comes from a Roman word Aprilis and perhaps refers to aperire. It means "to open" in Latin, which most likely means the opening of buds and blossoms. Plus, it may refer to Aphrodite a.k.a. Venus. This was the time of fertility. The Veneralia was celebrated by the Romans on the first. It honored Venus.

ATHAME -- Pronounced ah-Tham-ee, Ath-ah-may, ah-Thaw-may.  This is a ritual tool.  This knife is usually double edged and most likely will have a black handle.  It is consecrated and cleansed of negativity before use.  It is never, never used to cut physical objects. It is one of the symbolic God items and therefore usually placed on the right side of the altar.  

ARCANA -- This is what the two halves of the tarot deck are called.  There are 22 major arcana (e.g. The Tower, The Lovers, The World) and 56 minor arcana.

There are four suits in the minor arcana. Cups, pentacles, swords, and wands are the most recognized ones, but there can be named differently.  For example, wands can also go by rods, staves, or spears.

They predate the modern playing card decks, but a modern 52 card deck can be used in a similar fashion as tarot.


Disclaimer: None of these pictures belong to me.  I found them on Google.

29 comments:

  1. I remember trying to learn tarot once a long time ago. The Arcana thing was so cool. I wish I remembered it better.

    Good luck with the 2015 A to Z Challenge!
    A to Z Co-Host S. L. Hennessy
    http://pensuasion.blogspot.com

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    1. I did too! I still have my deck somewhere, but haven't used it in years.

      Loved your first post too!

      thanks for stopping by!

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  2. I have never really believed in tarot, but it has a very important place in culture, and it is great for storytelling :)
    Nice post! Happy A to Z!

    @TarkabarkaHolgy from
    Multicolored Diary - Epics from A to Z
    MopDog - 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary

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    1. Tarot does have it's place in history.

      thanks for stopping by!

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  3. I have a couple of tarot decks, but never have mastered them :)

    Interesting selection of 'a's.
    Sophie
    Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles
    FB3X
    Wittegen Press

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  4. Thank you. I tried to get a variety of things both familiar, unfamiliar, and in between.

    I have never mastered my deck either.

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  5. Looks like you're going to have some interesting posts during the A to Z Challenge. It all sounds very interesting and one of the other blogs I visited today was writing about tarot cards as well. :-)

    Cait @ Click's Clan

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    1. Thank you. I hope they will be all interesting. Thanks for stopping by.

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  6. I have more than 20 different decks of Tarot and Oracle cards. I used to do readings at a shop but I prefer just using them for myself. Peace to you.

    Happy A to Z'ing!

    Morgan,
    A Poet's Kitchen
    Playing with Words
    StoryDam

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    1. Wow! That's a lot of decks! Hope your day peaceful as well.

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  7. Very cool.
    I don't think April in Michigan is going to have much budding or opening though. =(

    ~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
    Member of C. Lee's Muffin Commando Squad
    Story Dam
    Patricia Lynne, Indie Author

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    1. Ourstis too much so! A frost may come and attack the buds.

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  8. Fascinating theme and lots of great A words. Good luck this month! :)

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  9. Such an interesting post. I had no idea Air was associated with the East. I feel like I need to mentally file that away for future reference. :)

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    1. There's a lot more coming! Hope you find more tidbits that you fancy.

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  10. Excellent info! I had no idea about the arcana. I feel like I should know this. Now when I start back on my magic novel, I know where to go for my research. Here!!!

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    1. Aw! Thanks! I'm glad you found something that fascinated you.

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  11. It seems we have several things in common, djinnia! ☺ This is what I love most about the A-Z Challenge - meeting people you can relate to. Cheers!

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  12. Lot of info going on here. It's funny, but I didn't think air would be masculine, when you think of "airy fairy". Look forward to learning more!

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    1. Yeah, I know, but I could have expounded a lot more. Was showing restraint because I'm a motormouth in both speaking and writing!

      Glad you stopped by.

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  13. I didn't know that about the divisions on an altar - I'd heard of some of the rest at some point or other, but I didn't know that. Thank you for a very interesting post.
    Tasha
    Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

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  14. I like the definition of April, and the association with spring.

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  15. There are so many interesting things in the world. I like that April means "to open." Things are budding here, flowers beginning to bloom.

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    1. Things are budding here too only it got below freezing after weeks of warm weather.

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  16. That's very intriguing. Wonder why the Gods are on the right and the Goddesses on the left? Is it to leave the male's weapon arms free?

    Best wishes,
    Nilanjana.
    Madly-in-Verse

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