tarot & handwriting: your writing slant

In my previous post, Tarot and Your Handwriting, I compared the symbolism of the four tarot suits to the four handwriting types. In this follow up post, we're examining writing slant and the tarot cards that might reflect this symbolism.

Slant is an important variable in handwriting. It reflects emotional expression and how the writer faces life situations. This is an observation of outer personality rather than inner personality so it shows how the writer will be perceived by others, not necessarily how they feel inside.

There are three basic slants in handwriting: vertical, left, and right. The vertical slant doesn’t lean forward or backward. Upstrokes and downstrokes are more or less straight. These writers demonstrate a head-over-heart attitude. They are open to the experience of the moment but keep their emotions under control.

 We can see this intellectual control depicted in cards like The Emperor, Justice, and the King of Swords whose characters face forward. When these cards appear in your readings, they are showing you there’s a need to take emotional control and get clarity and perspective on your situation.

In the left slant, the handwriting looks as if it’s reclined, leaning backward. These writers maintain even more emotional control, at least outwardly. However, they can be charming in social situations while still remaining emotionally aloof. What you’ll realize is that they never really share much of themselves in conversation. Nothing personal at least. It reflects a person who feels different from others.

We can see elements of aloofness and isolation in tarot cards like The Fool, The Hermit, and The World where the characters look and move toward the left. The Fool stands alone on a craggy hill, possibly about to take a leap. The Hermit secludes himself seeking knowledge and wisdom. The main character in The World lives in her own little bubble which is usually illustrated as a wreath encircling her. 

Finally, the right slant looks as if it’s racing forward toward something. This slant is all about emotional expression and the farther right it leans, the more outwardly expressive the person is. This writer is who the phrase “TMI” (too much information) was made for. They tend to overshare their feelings and ideas and may be seen as impulsive. The limitation of this writer is that they can be swept up in spontaneous action and emotions without really seeing things clearly or thinking things through.

We can see this spontaneity and forward movement in cards like the 6 of Wands, the 10 of Wands, and the Knight of Cups. In the 6 of Wands, the main character is swept up by the energy of the crowd. In the 10 of Wands, the character is so caught up in his work that he can’t see where he’s going. And the Knight of Cups follows his emotions wherever they lead him.