A study in raspberry

Titania's Star Tarot, 2003

The scan looks darker than the card in real life, the 9 of Swords from the curious Titania's Star Tarot (Quadrille 2003): a field of pale lavender, a 10-pointed star in a darker shade, with 9 lurid magenta scimitars ranged in three triangles over all. Weird.

Titania says in her book that 9 is 'the most optimistic side of Aquarius' and that it is the number that is always concerned with wishes. She then goes on to say that the 9 of Swords 'points to frustration with friends, and a tendency to be let down by them' and that its key word is doubt.

I wonder why there is a 10-pointed star instead of 9-pointed star. I wonder why it's pink. I wonder how a person could ever get Titania's interpretation from this card. If you didn't know, how would you know? When I see decks like this one, I always wish I could sit down with the deck creator and just ask them to go through with me their thinking behind it, and reveal to me the little secret, private meanings that the symbols have for them, because I am convinced that everything that goes into a deck means something special to its creator, particularly in a deck like this one.I don't know why, but this deck just shouts at me, 'Created by a witch who knows exactly what she is doing, whether you do or not.'

If I were doing a reading with this deck for someone, I'd call upon my own knowledge of the 9 of Swords and suggest that they may be feeling stressed or worried, perhaps with troubled sleep. Depending on the cards around it, though, it could be saying not to expect the worst when there's no evidence of trouble--and in that case, it could represent a pessimistic state of mind that needs addressing.