Egipcios Kier * 40 Premonition

The title of card 40 is Premonition, which refers to an intuitive feeling that something is about to happen. The central image features a man attempting to prevent a woman from proceeding in the direction she has chosen. He reaches out to stop her, just as her hands go up in alarm, indicating he may have had a premonition of danger seconds before she recognized it herself. The man is dressed in a short kilt, a shirt, and an elaborate wig, and he holds a mysterious item resembling the Egyptian ankh, a symbol of life. The woman is bare-breasted, wearing an elaborate wig, a long skirt, and ankle bracelets.

At the bottom of the cartouche, there is an oval shape containing hieroglyphs that portray a sieve and mouth, suggesting the man may have initially hesitated to warn her, censoring himself before speaking. The top half of the cartouche features a green circle containing two cobra heads, a celestial letter formed by three lines and two circles, a hieroglyph that may represent either a spark of flame or a golden raindrop, and the Hebrew letter Tav (ת), the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

The title line of the card includes the symbol for Uranus, the Latin letter L, and the number 4. Uranus, which was not seen by humans until the invention of the telescope, represents sudden insights and breakthroughs. The letter L may originate from the symbol for a shepherd's staff, and the number 4 symbolizes stability—an intriguing concept in a card about intuition and seeking intuitive guidance.

Stuart Kaplan offers a different interpretation, stating that the couple depicted in the card is approaching a temple to seek insight into their future and have their fortunes told. The woman’s raised arms indicate she is pleading for divine guidance. Kaplan explains that Egyptians relied on temple oracles and dreams to divine the future, just as the biblical Pharaoh relied on Josef for the interpretation of his dreams. Throughout history, divination practices have introduced an element of useful randomness to decisions, such as encouraging hunters to vary their hunting grounds to avoid making animals wary of certain areas.

Kaplan assigns the following upright meanings to the card: premonition, foresight, prophetic dreams, extrasensory perception, oracular speech, divination, using tarot or other methods of fortunetelling, and revelation in the form of visions. The reversed meanings involve delusions, a tendency to let chance govern one’s life, an inability to make independent decisions, misinterpretation of dreams or omens, and being a false prophet. Kaplan also states that the object carried by the man represents the sun's orbit and eternity. The hieroglyph at the bottom of the cartouche signifies "to be wise." The stability and dependabilty of the universe pointed out by the number 4 is echoed here.

In Judaism, prophecy pertains to significant matters and messages from God intended to guide society; it does not provide guidance for a single individual unless that individual's influence extends to the larger society. Josef possessed a gift for interpreting dreams and also the ability to implement them, using them as early warnings to solve impending problems. For example, after foretelling a seven-year famine, he swiftly provided a solution. (One cannot help considering later ramifications of that advice to Pharaoh, such as the people of Egypt selling themselves to Pharaoh to obtain food for survival, or the eventual enslavement of Josef’s own family being by a new dynasty.)

An intuition is only as useful as the ability to navigate the issue at hand. We all experience intuitions or premonitions that we wish we had heeded. However, it is equally important to consciously take practical action based on that knowledge. This man in this image seems to hesitate to speak up about his intuition.

At times, intuition may seem like unconscious awareness. For example, a woman might jump out of a vehicle just before it’s hijacked because she unconsciously noticed someone approaching in the mirror. Another example might be refusing to recognize the evident signs of a friend’s antisemitism. In one case, your body’s wisdom urges you to act on your intuition, while in the other case, your heart and mind hold you back from accepting your knowledge.

Brazilian tarot scholar Nelise Carbonare Vieira identifies this card as the Page of Cups, which signifies open-mindedness, lack of expectations or preconceptions, divination, creativity, synchronicity, and possible pregnancy. Reversed, it can mean a creative block or emotional immaturity. The traditional Page of Cups also resembles the biblical Josef, gazing into the silver cup in which he divined the future.

To fully benefit from our intuitions and premonitions, we must be more attentive to the world around us and more aware of our feelings. Card 40, Premonition, emphasizes the importance of acting on intuitive insights and transforming them into wise actions. While intuition can guide us, it is our conscious decisions and practical steps that determine the outcome.