Elemental Associations & Tarot Decks 

After reviewing my Tarot decks (which are not many) my association with the elements remained like this:After reviewing my Tarot decks (which are not many) my association with the elements remained like this:wands - Dreams of Gaia Tarot, Swords - Dreamingway Tarot, Cups - The Goddess Tarot and earth Druid Craft tarot. Thank you for this exercise 💫💕

Love the decks shown ! Thank you.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!Very interesting! Have a nice day!

I found this video so thought provoking! Thank you 🙏 am now busily going through my decks 🤗

I would definitely agree with all your elemental associations, except for The Wild Unknown (my favourite deck!), which I see as an Earthy deck. Maybe this is in part due to the exclusive use of animal symbolism, which seems to me to have a close association with nature and Earth. I also have a visceral response to some of the cards too....particularly the Five of Swords, The Nine of Swords and the Death card which seem to take me to a place of the natural cycles of death and decay....a kind of experience of being swallowed up and reintegrated into the Earth, only to be rebirthed and recycled anew.😏

Just a fabulous video. You have expressed the properties of the elements so clearly and poetically.

Lisa! I am so excited to hear you will be at Readers Studio!!! Yes, I will definitely look you up!!! Also such exciting news about your book!!! Congratulations !!! See you in April! Liz

I really enjoyed this, thinking about the overall energy of a deck is definitely something I've done more in the last 6 or so months. I often start with considering how I feel when using the particular and what draws me to choose it, which can often be an extension of how I experience the artwork. Your experience of the artwork sounded like a part of this for you also. The Wild Unknown is one my all time favourite decks, one I use the most and still I find myself flitting between fire and air. However when considering the movement depicted and the visceral response this would lend itself more to fire for me. In doing this is then allows that analytical conscious exploration to ensue and so even thinking about it more has been an interesting reflective experience. I haven't done this with all my decks yet but one that popped into my mind for the water suit and my personal experience with it is the Lioness Oracle Tarot. Initially I don't think I'd have picked this but after working with it over time, it's really felt like a deck woven by the emotional processing tarot can evoke. The galactic vibes only add to this for me when I think about looking at the stars. I agree with you these associations are such a personal thing. If you have this deck I'd love to know your association. I'm off now to ponder the elements of some decks I haven't already :)

Thank you for this video! As a newbie to tarot, one of the things that make me understand the tarot more (there are endless layers!), is the way others speak about their own interpretation of the feeling, the textures, the symbolisms etc. As a counsellor, I find the tarot amazing in the way it opens us up, and helps us clarify what's going on in our lives - it's such an amazing tool for self exploration, play, connectivity to life, to our community, to ourselves. So thank you for your videos, I'm hooked!

This was very interesting. I've definitely thought of some decks in my collection this way, when thinking about why it is that I'm consistently drawn to certain decks either for certain types of questions or, perhaps even moreso, at certain times of the year. It's so interesting how this will vary person to person so much... without ever having owned it, I would've very quickly thought 'air' for Linestrider, though that is I imagine based on its sparseness and white space more than anything else, but I'd also definitely characterize Pagan Otherworlds as *so* earthy, no question for me on that one. I am going to see if I can find decks I'd associate with each suit on my shelf. I have suspicions about which elements will be more and less represented. Then, perhaps share my findings - I hope to hear others' thoughts on this too. [Also... So exciting about your book! I've had it preordered on Amazon for quite some time. Can't wait.]

Loved this! :) I've been working on picking a few decks to represent elements lately - I find it interesting that I assigned similar qualities to The Fountain Tarot and the Pagan Otherworlds. I totally get how you're seeing the others as well. I also think, with regard to The Textured Tarot, that the 'tactile' textured nature of the artwork brings about that physical sensation of 'touch' which I associate with the earth element... just a thought that I had while watching.

Wonderful! !!! I never think of this except with my Aquarian. And also I believe at least to me the Thoth is airy too. I believe I do that association because all the mental work that took. to associated the paintings all the intricate concepts and symbolism involved and all the reviews that Crowley made to the paintings of Frieda Harris. That is why I put it in the mind realm. The ideas realm.

Lisa, this is a fascinating exercise in exploring one’s own sense of the elements and how a deck expresses them as a whole. I can see your point for all the decks you shared, and am looking forward to making these associations for myself with my decks. Also, I CANNOT WAIT to read your Tarot book!! 😱😍😍😍 I’m so excited about it!! No chance of advance copies for NWTS, I suppose? Scraps of page proofs? 😆 Anyway, I wanted to throw in a comics industry term here to describe how I see the Wild Unknown’s wands-y energy being expressed: “emanata.” Basically, lines drawn around an object or person to express an emotion or energy. I paused this video on the Ace of Wands, and it’s a perfect example of emanata - the way the lines “emanate” from the wand to represent the way it’s practically bursting with potential energy and power just waiting to be given an outlet. This card is an obvious example, but in general all the line work in this deck gives me the same feeling - the feeling that each image is slightly “squirmy” with energy that wants to jump out of the card and into my life. I guess the Raven’s Prophecy feels the same - like the images have just “burst forth” from the void behind them, freshly manifested. Thanks for this fun idea of trying to assign a dominant element to each deck! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I’m trying to find a deck you used once briefly in a video, all I can remember is it had really cheery colours and it was delivered to you directly from the people who designed it, when it arrived the family had signed the box, it arrived later and you sent an email and the family said “yes I’m about to post that to you” I’ve been searching all morning! I would love it if you could remind me of it. Thank you, love you channel

I would have thought of the wild unknown as earthy, but now that you pint out the fieryness of it, that makes sense. For me it's earthy because it basically makes me think of the forest and shamanic energies (which would be earthy and spirit-y IMO) PS I really want all these decks now. I only have the wild unknown from this list.

Lisa, you are so wonderful. I was in an awful car wreck recently and I’ve been feeling so disconnected from spirit in general and Tarot specifically. This is particularly sad because I was SO connected and had just begun to read professionally and was so confident and spiritually aligned. Now I’m just feeling so fragile in the world. This was a lovely video and really sparked my passion again. Thank you and I’m soooo excited for your book. 😊

A really interesting video. I don't typically think of the elements of my decks only the suits and courts. I too see the Knight as Fire and King as Air and I am wondering if the elemental switcharoo has anything to do with the decks where the Knight replaces the King and the Prince stands in for the Knight i.e. Knight, Queen, Prince, Princess? The Knights always feel the most active of the courts to me. I'm definitely going to consider trying to identify my decks by elements now... Thanks!

I definitely think Dame Darcy is a watery deck :)

I'm very excited to read the book! There are advance egalleys on Netgalley, and I downloaded it the other day (I have a librarian account). I will post a review to Goodreads as soon as I have a chance to sit down with it and read it thoroughly. :)

Kings as air and knights as fire makes more sense to me too, as knights are more active and kings are more connected to mental/airy energy. Plus I put swords in the north and it makes sense that kings would be "at the top" kings are more removed and "above it all." I actually have a deck where all the kings are levitating above the earth on their thrones while the queens feel really powerful and grounded. (The Gilded Tarot)

The Aquarian and The Pagan Otherworlds are very similar because both very sparse decks. Not many details leave it feeling spacious. But, The Aquarian is (as she said) detached tarot. You are observing what's going on but not participating (that can be a good thing if you are WAY too deep in your own perspective and need an unbiased party telling you the outsider's view of things). It's detached, sperated and very impersonal in a very airy way. Meanwhile The Pagan Otherworlds is a type of space that invites you to walk into the imagery and take your time, stopping to pick up the dusty dirt and just _feel_ it. It's a deck with no voice, but that's the purpose. It's leaving space for you to think. Not speak, but think. It's a deeply contemplative deck, showing you then leaving you be.