Numerology and stuff

How Cards are Broken Down ( Minor Arcana)

The Minor Arcana, Pips or small mysteries, is broken down into four different groups each consisting of 14 cards, 10 of which are numbered Ace to 10 with the remaining 4 of each Suit un-numbered. These un-numbered cards are known as The Court Cards. The Minor Arcana is strongly affected and influenced by the the Elements which govern the individual Suits – Wands/Fire, Cups/Water, Swords/Air & Pentacles/Earth. The Minor Arcana is composed of the Four Suits of Tarot and this is where knowledge of the Elements and their associated Zodiac or Sun Sign come into play.

While the Major Arcana deal with archetypal energy, spiritual learning, karma and inherent aspects of our self that influence all we do and how we behave, the Minor Arcana deal with the everyday side of things. The flux and flow of life is represented in the Minor Arcana. The Minor Arcana will tell us what is happening, whereas the Major Arcana will tell us why it is happening. The Minor Arcana will tell us what we are experiencing on a day-to-day basis and the situations we get ourselves into. It is through the Minor Arcana the Major Arcana expresses itself. Whatever the Major Arcana wish to express becomes manifest in The Minor Arcana. The Minor Arcana effectively bring to life the often abstract world of the Major as it plays out its driving energy in how we think, act, feel and behave on a day-to-day basis.

Wands – The Element of Fire – Aries, Leo, Sagittarius

Cups – The Element of Water – Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio,

Swords – The Element of Air – Aquarius, Gemini, Libra,

Pentacles – The Element of Earth – Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn

There are fourteen cards in each Suit. The cards are numbered 1 (Ace) to 10. The remaining four cards in each Suit are not numbered and are known as the Court Cards. The Court Cards are the Page, Knight, Queen and King. The Court Cards represent archetypal characters or personalities. In a reading they can be people surrounding the querant or the querant themself.

They are the actors in whatever drama is going on around the querant. The Court Card personalities carry the energies of their particular Suit governed by their Elemental and Astrological Associations.

By understanding the story behind each Suit we will get to know the cards much easier than viewing them as 40 individual, stand-alone cards. Once you understand how the governing Element and Number of each Suit is likely to affect each card this again assists in the learning process. When we combine the above with a growing knowledge of Symbolism and Colours, much more can be predicted. So let us now explore the nature of the Four Suits and the characters or actors (personalities of the Court Cards) in each Suit who will undertake the individual journeys from Ace to 10.

Once you have completed your study of The Four Suits, I do hope that you will have a better understanding of how the governing Element of each Suit and its Number has affected the journey of the characters from Ace to 10. We must always remember that each Suit is represented by a particular Element and its associated energy. Each Element behaves in a certain manner which as we go through the cards becomes quite predictable.

You will notice that each Suit appear to be extreme in how they approach life. This is because each Suit behave only in the way they instinctively knows and that instinct is based on the Element that governs them. Their challenge is to find a way to interact with and integrate the energies of each other's Element in order to find just the right balance of mind, emotions, body and spirit. That indeed is our challenge too?

When we then apply Numerology, Colour Meaning, Symbolism and Archetypes to the four personality types we can glean much information from the cards before one traditional meaning is ever looked at.