The Aces: Seeds of the Minor Arcana

Concertina Tarot is nearly here! She's due to arrive in early November, and if you want to be among the first to see her, the email list is where she arrives first.

Now, before she gets here, let's have a look at where her Minor Arcana begins.

Every suit in the tarot has to start somewhere, and in Concertina Tarot that somewhere is the Aces. Before the drama, the victories, the heartbreaks and the harvests, there's just a simple stirring and the sense that something is about to begin.

Think of the Aces as seeds. They carry potential, inspiration and the first flicker of an idea. The tree and the fruit come later, and they only grow if you tend to them. That part is on you.

Ace of Wands. The spark

Pure fiery passion. The Ace of Wands arrives with heat and momentum, it has an urgency that makes you want to start something immediately. But fire without fuel burns out fast. This card can be all bark and no bite if there's no commitment behind it. 

In the Concertina illustration, the Ace of Wands is a box of matches. Nothing has been lit and nothing is burning, but the means to start a fire is right there. 

Ace of Swords. The big idea

The Ace of Swords offers a new way of thinking, a new way of speaking and a clean cut through a problem you've been circling. It's an innovative card, but without a plan, even the sharpest idea is just hot air.

Here, the Ace of Swords is a needle and thread. The idea that something can be made whole, but only once someone actually picks it up and starts stitching.

Ace of Cups. The feeling

This one's all heart. It represents new feelings and the intangible sense that something meaningful is brewing, but feelings can leave as quickly as they find us, which is exactly why the Cups suit spends the rest of its arc learning what to do with them.

The Ace of Cups reminds me of a watering can. Leave the water sitting in the can and it goes stagnant. Pour it out and you can grow a garden.

Ace of Pentacles. The ground

The Ace of Pentacles is a little different. As an earthy Pentacles card, it's the most grounded of the four. There's something tangible here, a real opportunity. Even so, work remains. The seed planted in the Ace still has to grow into the abundant grape vine we see in the Nine of Pentacles. The Ace gives you the soil. The vineyard comes later.

Fittingly, the Ace of Pentacles shows seeds. The most literal of the four, and the one that makes the whole metaphor plain, everything in this suit starts as something small, buried, and entirely dependent on what happens next.

The illustrations

Each Ace in Concertina Tarot shows the most basic tool needed to create something in its suit. A box of matches, a needle and thread, a watering can and a handful of seeds. These are all Just the starting point, the rest of the Minor Arcana will tell the rest of the story.