Cups are Air & Swords are Water | Picard Tarot Suits

We probably all know about Tarot decks that swap the air and fire elements between the swords and wands... but have you ever heard of decks that switch water and air; swords and cups?
I discuss this and my thoughts about it in this video, enjoy.
Thank you again, Kasia!
Check out her video here showing the beautiful Thomson-Leng Tarot: • Thomson Leng tarot- wh...
Picard deck: noreahbrownfie...
El Gran Tarot Esoterico: www.aeclectic.n...
Balbi Tarot: www.aeclectic.n...
My name is Anna and I'm a Tarot reader from Amsterdam, I upload in English and in Dutch.
All of my videos are about- or related to Tarot and have a strong "explore and decide for yourself"-vibe, so if you like that, don't forget to subscribe.
Decks mentioned: Centennial Rider Waite Smith, Eudes Picard Tarot, Thomson-Leng Tarot, El Gran Tarot Esoterico, Balbi Tarot, Thoth Tarot
If there are any questions or requests regarding Tarot content, ask away.
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xx - Anna
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[@habibiyaeini3]

I love this topic ha! Emotions and the mental are definitely connected somehow, head and heart. To have them working together to gain stability in life and to manifest. The mental suit to gain control of the ego and mind which involves emotions. And a goal of the cups is to control the emotions which will involve the mind. I heard this somewhere and it makes sense to me although I don’t really have a deep understanding of it all, it’s fascinating

[@AstralLadyTarot]

Love that :)

[@calypso_lazuli]

I have grown obsessed with Eudes Picard’s system ❤ I didn’t even notice the air/water observations in the Rider-Waite deck until I saw this video! And you brought up some interesting points here because ever since I studied the Picard system, I totally see swords as water and cups as air even in normal decks, it’s so trippy 😂 If you think about it in the natural state of a cup, it’s empty, and a sword can cause pain, so the elements switched with these two suits aren’t that odd… But, the reason Picard switched the suits had a lot to do with how he used “The Houses” as an astrologer which was a system that was previously used before the modern version, though I need to research this more because I heard this in passing on another video and I could have misinterpreted something. Also he terms the major arcana as “causes” (celestial based) which I’m assuming is the metaphysical and physical representation of the planets, zodiac and elements… and the minor arcana as “affects” (terrestrial based) possibly representing indirectly “the houses”, whereas in the GD system it’s the decans?!? I need to look more into this but that’s what I’ve been hearing around esoteric Spanish circles on KZbin.

[@AstralLadyTarot]

Oh interesting! Since this video I did cull this deck because I really see cups as water etc. This research sounds satisfying though

[@calypso_lazuli]

@@AstralLadyTarot 😂😂😂 That’s hilarious.. I think too where I have some trepidation is Qabalistically the suits go from fire, water, air and earth and if you include the card suits: round = passivity, pointed = active (according to esotericism, I’m guessing), and so Eudes Picard’s system through Qabalah, creates a complexity there, yet Aleister Crowley did a similar switch with the elements of the court cards to match the four worlds but he switched the two active elements of fire and air which may be easier to consider than to switch an active and a passive suit … I’d wonder if air = cups would it then be considered “active”?! Though, I still see it as “passive” considering the general status of the cup suits 😂😂😂 A lot to take in my friend ❤️❤️❤️ I love your videos by the way, I was just studying the Eudes Picard system yesterday and dived into KZbin to clarify some things and came across this video in the process!! Edit: Looking further into this today, it appears that Eudes Picard’s system is relating tarot majorly to astrology and only secondarily to (Hermetic) Qabalah. Though I can not find any information on relating the minor arcana to Qabalah but he does give Hebrew letter correspondences to the major arcana according to the French Estoteric system… “curiouser and curiouser”…

[@AstralLadyTarot]

@@calypso_lazuli Crazy stuff! Even without esoteric correspondences... anything pointy is phallic and anything round is... well so you have active and receptive right there

[@calypso_lazuli]

@@AstralLadyTarot Found the answer 🤗🤗🤗 It’s in the instruction book of “El Gran Esotérico” sold separately (here’s my translation from Spanish to English): “The minor arcana is divided in 2 groups of 28 cards each. Divided into points: swords and wands, and the other by curves: cups and coins, one is active the other passive. According to the synthesis of Papus, the minor arcana is Yod-He-Vau-He.. Yod- Wands He- Cups Vau- Swords 2nd He- Coins….” So, I’m assuming, by process of elimination because the elements were not mentioned in that paragraph yet they are distinctly associated to the suits from within the deck, that the element adjusts to the suit, so cups is passive in turn so is air, and swords is active in turn so is water, which actually does make a lot of sense.. omg Eudes Picard has sent me into some rabbit holes today 😂😂😂

[@ThatOneLazyNerd]

There is a Thompson Leng reproduction available on Tarot Collectables. Theres a fellow Tarot Tuber that has both that AND the 1930s decks and says the one from Tarot Collectables is an almost SPOT ON representation of the original. Also the Thompson Leng deck is what i would call a continental deck masquerading as an RWS clone. If you notice for instance the 4 of swords looks alot like the RWS 5 of wands. Also the whole suit of wands in the TL is set up with the continental pips. (ie: Holy light, Etteilla, Knapp Hall, and decks of that same esoteric system). I really like your videos Anna. Good work. Im looking forward to your TarotThon video.

[@AstralLadyTarot]

Great thank you! Who is the person who has these decks? I’d love to see a comparison. Tarothon is going to be so much fun

[@ThatOneLazyNerd]

@@AstralLadyTarot Her channel is Melissa Zupan. She hasnt done the video yet i dont think but shes the one who recommended the Thompson Leng from Tarot Collectables.

[@ThatOneLazyNerd]

@@AstralLadyTarot And im excited for your video for TarotThon. Looking at all 3 systems as if they were one system is something i want to use as the base for a deck that uses the system of TAROT and can be read by readers of ANY system. TdM, RWS, Thoth, Continental. Whatever. The continental system is really overlooked i think.

[@jamesfeeney623]

So thought provoking! I hadn't heard of systems that swapped cups and swords elemental attributions, the way you investigated these ideas was so well done and balanced 😌 The Picard is beautiful 😍 You're tempting me to get a copy 😂 Many thanks Anna, this was great 💚

[@AstralLadyTarot]

Quite beautiful, I agree!

[@alessiolagreca2609]

The title and the 22:22 (video length) made this video a huge synchronicity to me, and this happen almost with every video :) I really enjoy listening to you

[@78puertas]

Hello, Anna. Nice video. Your Spanish pronunciation of 'El Gran Tarot Esoterico' is correct :-) Apart from the Balbi and the Esoterico, other decks I know that follow the Suits elements or the graphic depictions are: - The very deck created by Eudes Picard and that can be seen in his book. - Crystal Tarot - Eclectic Tarot - Egyptian Tarot Deck, Comte C. de Saint-Germain - Grand Tarot Belline - Ibis Tarot - Knapp-Hall Tarot - Universal Wirth Tarot - Yeager Tarot of Meditation Some of them aren't fully 'Picardian' ^_^, but the idea is there too.

[@AstralLadyTarot]

There are a lot out there! Thank you so much for sharing this list! The Picard minors are beautiful

[@500richardson]

Lately I've been reading books on Marseille Tarot by Camelia Elias.She likes to associate batons with air(like wind in the treetops),swords with earth( spades for digging),coins for fire(molten metal), and cups with water. I really like her approach to tarot but prefer the more traditional associations. I do appreciate that all these discrepancies, inconstancies in tarot and qabalah really forces us to come to our own unique understanding of how it all fits together.

[@AstralLadyTarot]

Wow, that all sounds even crazier to me! Really everything is out there

[@ShaunPatrick78]

I suppose the elemental corespondents could make sense. The empty cup containing air is like our lungs containing air . Breathing in oxygen and out carbon dioxide . Our breath like the caterpillar / butterfly Swords are forged in fire but then are cooled by quenching it in oil or water . Swords draw blood and the tears of our enemies

[@AstralLadyTarot]

Yep, agree

[@debs8934]

It makes sense since our thoughts affects our feelings and vice versa. thank you!

[@fattima7913]

I just got the Universal Wirth tarot from LoScarabeo this deck have the Picard system for the minors and Wirth made all the Majors. I'm trying to find a book that explains both authors but so far I just found a French book 🙄 Kelly made a video of this swap elements, eudes picard worth watching 👍🏽

[@3ofcupseclectictarotdaniel796]

In my beginning days of tarot maybe in March, I bought my first tarot book in a used book store . I bought David Fontana's Essential Guide to the Tarot. I fell in love with the cards in the book and quickly hunted a deck down. The book is a quick reference that's very easy to use almost too basic . It encourages numerology because of the pips but is not Marseille in its images . I Ignore that little fire /air distinction in the book. I ultimately suspect it was a typo because the paragraph in the book is basically cut and pasted the same on each wand or sword page. It hasn't stopped me from using the deck or the book. It was my first deck with pip cards that didn't have people in it. And started me interested in a Marseille.

[@AstralLadyTarot]

I love Marseille

[@staralpha3585]

I actually own a deck "Tarot de Marseille" by Piatnik which is Tarot Rhenan(?) which is a reprint of the historical deck of Ignaz Krebs from 1780s i belive and it refers Coins to the element of fire and Wands to earth... Interesting as well

[@AstralLadyTarot]

Very interesting! Do you read with it in that sense?

[@staralpha3585]

@@AstralLadyTarot It's strange for me, still the meanings are kind of(?) the same, but the "coin-fire" will be a symbol of the sun and this also means the same earthly "money thing and all kinds of sustainability" and wands are actually wands- like a magickal staff that is made from wood (earth) but it still a symbol of fire and sort of will. So it's just one more mindfuck/

[@AstralLadyTarot]

@@staralpha3585 Haha sounds like it! Interesting though

[@claramartin613]

I love this video...last week in another tarot chat, I was commenting about El Gran Tarot Esoterico de Maritxu Guler as an example of the extrange, for me, relation between swords and water. Someone replied saying that the apparent reason for this choice was that the water is considered in astrology a deep and dangerous element and for this reason is a perfect match for the swords ( I do not know much about astrology). I am still wondering about the bad reputation of the swords. Why the representation of the human mind should be so painful in nearly every card. Thank you for your lovely video.

[@AstralLadyTarot]

Picard was an astrologer, this could very well be the reason why! I definitely don't read air as only negative ;) Air is part of the whole, why should this part be all "bad" like you said!

[@ConnieIsMijnNaam]

Another Eudes-Picard based deck is a very strange one. The Universal Wirth Tarot from lo Scarabeo. It is supposed to be an Oswald Wirth deck. I hate the illustrations of the (Wirth-based) majors. But the minors in this deck are very interesting Eudes Picard minors!

[@AstralLadyTarot]

Thank you! It's hard to find pictures of this deck online

[@mysticrosetarot888]

Take a look at Kelly’s “the truth in story” YT channel. Do a search and she compares the Picard tarot along with a few ToDM inspired decks. The elements for the Swords and Wands are reversed in a few decks but then again it’s based on how you want to interpret this in a reading.

[@AstralLadyTarot]

@@mysticrosetarot888 Lovely! I did find the deck by searching on youtube. The minors definitely look better than the majors :)

[@fierceandpretty1365]

I’d just ignore the system ”rules” and read it as I do normally. The more I learn about Tarot the more I think that ”pick your system and stick with it” idea 😅 And as you said the brain and the heart are connected in every human. Mindfuckery indeed. But hey...I survived 🤓 Don’t know that is it the Thoth system that drives us Thoth lovers even deeper with elemental stuff. For me atleast it is the foundation of it.