Egipcios Kier - 68 Speculation and 51 Advice

As I shuffled the Egipcios Kier after my morning ritual, two cards fell out of the deck: 68 Speculation and a card we've seen before, 51 Advice.

The first card, titled 68 Speculation, reminds me of Betzalel Arieli’s Three of Pentacles, which emphasizes the biblical precept of keeping accurate weights and measures, as well as the virtue of being honest in all your dealings. The Speculation card depicts a man weighing a stack of six coins on one side of a scale, with a statue of an ox is on the other side. The ox head shape is the origin of the Hebrew letter Alef, which I explored in an earlier post.

The word speculation can refer to investment, but it also means reflection and attempting to sort through information to make a good decision. At the top of the cartouche framing the image, three symbols appear: a curved hook with a small circle at its top, a hieroglyph of a snake, and the Hebrew letter Vav, which means ‘hook.’ At the bottom of the cartouche is a fly, which in Mesopotamian culture represented a malevolent demon lurking in foul places.

The card's title field includes the astrological symbol for Venus, a double LL (reflecting the deck's Spanish origins), and the number 5, alluding to chaos or adventure.

Kaplan’s commentary corrected my first impressions of some images. The hieroglyph at the top represents a snail while the one at the bottom depicts a bee. I was too literal in my understanding of the image: the ox represents the man's entire herd.

Kaplan points out that cattle were significant in ancient Egyptian culture with the government maintaining a national herd tended by foreign captives and enslaved Egyptians. This reminded me of Josef’s role as Pharaoh’s counselor, eventually leading to government control of the “means of production” with the people obliged to sell themselves into slavery in order to obtain grain for food during a long drought.

Kaplan reminds us that deities Amen and Hathor were represented with bull and cow heads, underscoring the spiritual significance of cattle. (Cattle seem to have been of significance in many ancient and prehistoric human cultures.) In ancient Israel and presumably other ancient cultures, ritually sacrificed male animals for the benefit of gods and people, while female animals were kept alive to provide milk and offspring and because female herd animals exhibit less aggression toward their owners and other members of the herd.

Kaplan notes that bee’s were considered sacred, believed to have been formed from the tears of the sun god, Ra. Ancient Egyptians were avid bee keepers, using honey for culinary and medical purposes. I wonder whether their culture, like that of ancient Israel, had a prohibition on offering honey in their sacred spaces.

Kaplan presents these upright meanings for card 68 Speculation: ingenuity, hard work, progress, successful dealings, speculation, and wealth. His reversed card meanings include anxiety, impatience, uneasiness, and imprudence.

The second card, 51 Advice, raises the question of whom to trust for wise counsel. How do we assess their advice? Together, these two cards highlight the importance of balanced judgment, hard work, and seeking reliable guidance. They encourage us to navigate decision-making with wisdom, sincerity, and a discerning mind. By embracing the upright meanings of 68 Speculation and remain cautious of the potential pitfalls highlighted by 51 Advice in its reversed state, we can pursue our goals with integrity.

Nelise Carbonare Vieira associates Egipcios Kier card 68, Speculation, with the Page of Pentacle, which upright signifies awe, opportunity, learning, scholarship, focus, or a message. Reversed, in may indicate a lack of planning or progress, and lack of understanding of what is valuable.