The Mentor's wisdom is grounded in personal experience, which gives it great power, for the Mentor understands that wisdom without the filter of personal experience has no soil in which to take root. The Mentor may have the ability to speak with authority, but has not yet left a mark upon the world.

When a Mentor card appears in a spread, it may stand for the Querant, in which case it indicates solid, tangible progress and the beginning of respect and recognition from others. It may also stand for someone else in the Querant's life, such as a leader or a teacher who can offer the Querant advice--a person whose knowledge, experience, or abilities are worthy of respect. In the latter case, it may signal that it is time for the Querant to approach such a person for guidance.

The Mentor of Ribbons

The Mentor has learned much, and with her new knowledge comes a new-found sense of empowerment and freedom. She is confidently seated at the edge of a bathing area and is brushing her hair up into a ponytail. She has a towel wrapped around her waist and other girls curl up at her feet in bathrobes or modestly in towels listening to what it is she has to say.

This card, when it appears in a reading, indicates that the Querant is now actively on the path toward realizing a dream, a career, or an ambition. The tools have been learned; now it is up to the Querant to use those tools to develop a position of leadership and authority. This card may also indicate that others are beginning to look to the Querant to guide them on their own paths toward realizing their dreams; while the Querant's dream may not yet be complete, his or her skills are now being recognized by others.

In situations where the Querant does not feel that he or she is making progress toward a dream, this card may indicate that the time has come to do something--to make a bold and assertive action to make the dream real.

The Mentor of Chains

Within a narrow, confined booth, the woman, still wearing her long robes, is seated. The walls around her are lined with hundreds and hundreds of keys of all kinds, each dangling from a small hook. Three young women, all bound in chains, kneel at her feet and beckon to her. The Mentor holds a key in one hand, and is bending over slightly to hand it to one of the young women at her feet.

The Mentor of Chains has freed herself, and by doing so has learned a great deal about the chains that bind others. She is both a guide and a catalyst; others see her freedom, and come to her for guidance on freeing themselves.

This is a powerful card, which symbolizes both freedom for the Querant and the Querant's ability to help and guide others. When this card occurs in a reading, it indicates that the Querant has gained some degree of control over his or her own personal chains, and that other people are beginning to recognize and respond to the Querant's ability to harness and channel change toward a desired end.

The Mentor of Books

Seated at a large desk, filled to overflowing with papers and notebooks, a woman types earnestly on a manual typewriter. All her attention is focused on her work, and the floor next to her is heaped with crumpled pieces of paper, rejected pages she has discarded. A neat sheaf of typewritten pages, the product of her work, is stacked carefully next to the typewriter.

The Mentor of Books has learned a great deal, and is now a writer herself. Other people recognize her knowledge, and her books are read far and wide. Similarly, this card indicates the Querant has begun to be recognized for his or her knowledge. No longer a student, the Querant is now in a role of expressing himself or herself, and beginning to rework his or her ideas. Other people are beginning to recognize the Querant's success, and respect the Querant's knowledge.

Others may perceive the Querant's success as luck or innate talent. They don't see the dozens of discarded pages for every one page that is published. Praising the Querant's inborn talent or implausible-seeming luck, far from being a compliment, is actually a gaffe; others have not recognized the hard work, adapability, and willingness to risk or experiment that have carried the Querant to this success.

The Mentor of Tentacles

A beautiful woman sits in a large chair with a high back. She wears a robe, which she has parted, revealing her breasts. Before her, several schoolgirls, also naked, are being molested by tentacles in every imaginable way. As she watches, the seated woman touches herself; one hand cups her breast, and the other slides between her legs.

The Mentor of Tentacles has attained a degree of mastery over her own responses; she understands her body well, and knows how to pleasure herself.

Taken literally, the Mentor of Tentacles represents mastery of a skill, particularly a physical skill.Taken more symbolically, it represents mastery over our physical selves, or a deep knowledge and understanding of our bodies. However, just as the Mentor seems unconcerned with the experiences of the people around her, the Querant may be immersed in his or her own experience to the exclusion of others, which may appear to be selfish to those around him or her. It warns us, too, not to find our own pleasure at the expense of those around us.