The key to understanding the Hermetic Court Arcana is knowing the
Elemental (and secondarily, the Astrological) attributions, and also the characteristics of the
card ranking representing personality types. (click
here to review the Elemental meanings)
There are considerable differences between Hermetic (Thoth derivatives) and
Classical deck interpretations of the Court Cards: each requires a different
interpretation.
Note: It is not simply a matter of mapping the Thoth Knights to Waite-Rider Kings
(or alternatively Knights to Princes) to arrive at a parallel
meaning.
Attributions of Court Cards:
Each Court Card's Rank (Knight, Queen, Prince, Princess) has an Elemental attribution.
Each Court Card's Suit also has an Elemental attribution.
Each Court Card is the combination of 2 Elementals and also has astrological attributions.
Elements have effects on each other when paired, some work well together, others weaken the other.
The resulting meaning, is generally expressing: Personality traits, specific people, relationships or types of experiences.
|
Thoth |
Elementals | Tetragrammaton |
Combination Effects |
Waite |
Psyche |
| Knight | Fire | Yod | Fire and Water are enemies | King (or Prince in some systems) | Will |
| Queen | Water | Heh | weaken each other | Queen | Emotions |
| Prince | Air | Vav | Air and Earth are enemies | Prince (or King in some systems) | Intellect |
| Princess | Earth | Heh | weaken each other | Page | Senses |
ELEMENTAL DIGNITY RULES
The Four Elements interact with each as follows:
1. Fire and Water are enemies; they weaken each other.
2. Air and Earth are enemies; they weaken each other.
3. All other combinations are friendly; they strengthen each other.
4. Fire and Air are active.
5. Water and Earth are passive.
Waite |
Meaning | Elementals | Combination Effects | Thoth | ||
| King | Fire | Fire | Fire and Water are enemies | Knight | ||
| Queen | Water | Water | weaken each other | Queen | ||
| Prince | Air | Air | Air and Earth are enemies | Prince | ||
| Page | Earth | Earth | weaken each other | Princess |
|
Court Card |
Knights | Queens | Princes | Princesses |
|
Court Card |
Kings | Queens | Knights | Pages |
| simple meanings | mood | change | messages, opportunities |
|
Planetary and it's attributes |
|
| Sun - energy of life | |
| Moon - the Reigning Need of the Personality; how the Sun's energy is expressed in Personality | |
| Mercury - Mind; Nervous System, Movement, Communication | |
| Venus - Romantic, Relational, Social, Aesthetic Concerns | |
| Mars - Applied energy, assertion, aggression | |
| Jupiter - Expansion, enthusiasm, and optimism (benefits) [higher mind] | |
| Saturn - Ambition, Necessary Controls | |
| Uranus - Intensification, Eccentricism, Individualism | |
| Neptune - Creative Visualization; Camouflage | |
| Pluto - Perspective; Empowerment (transformation rebirth) | |
|
Element |
FIRE | WATER | AIR | EARTH |
|
Court Card |
Knights | Queens | Princes | Princesses |
Wands - Fire |
Fiery part of Fire | Watery part of Fire | AIRY part of Fire | EARTHY part of Fire |
|
astrological |
Two-thirds Sagittarius, one-third Scorpio | Two-thirds Aries, one-third Pisces | Two-thirds Leo, one-third Cancer. | |
Cups - Water |
Fiery part of Water | Watery part of Water | AIRY part of Water | EARTHY of Water |
| astrological | Two-thirds Pisces, one-third Aquarius | Two-thirds Cancer, one-third Gemini | Two-thirds Scorpio, one-third Libra | |
Swords - Air |
Fiery part of AIR | Watery part of AIR | AIRY part of AIR | EARTHY of AIR |
| astrological | Two-thirds Gemini, one-third Taurus | Two-thirds Libra, one-third Virgo | Two-thirds Aquarius, one-third Capricorn | |
Disks - Earth |
Fiery part of EARTH | Watery part of EARTH | AIRY part of EARTH | EARTHY of EARTH |
| astrological | Two-thirds Virgo, one-third Leo |
Two-thirds Capricorn, one-third Sagittarius |
Two-thirds Taurus, one-third Aries | |
| FIRE | WATER | AIR | EARTH |
The Court Cards: Elemental/Astrological Attributions
In the Sign planetary associations:: Positive (+) is often described as Masculine; Negative (-) described as Feminine
| FIRE | WATER | AIR | EARTH | ||
| Aries -- Leo -- Sagittarius | Cancer -- Scorpio -- Pisces | Libra -- Aquarius -- Gemini | Capricorn -- Taurus -- Virgo | ||
| Cardinal | Aries +mars | Cancer -Moon | Libra +Venus | Capricorn -Saturn | |
| Aries - Ego importance, assertive,
exerting force, being number one [adventurous, perceptive, personal focus to life] impulsive selfish |
Cancer - emotional and domestic security [seeks popularity] tenacious, sensitive, clinging |
Libra - to please and gain appreciation
socially; being popular, fair, attractive[reformers, prophets, idealists; sensitive,
humanitarian, truth, beauty] co-operatively, lazy |
Capricorn - making things happen;
organizing, strategizing and deploying resources, ambition, worldly [power, hardworking, serious...but an ascent is possible into spiritual/householder] prudent, cautious, suspicious |
||
| Fixed | Leo +Su n | Scorpio -Mars, Pluto | Aquarius +Uranus [+Saturn ] | Taurus -Venus | |
| Leo - seeks recognition, respect, love and honor,
ego triumph, Will generous, proud, theatrical |
Scorpio - control by knowing; get to the
bottom of things; research; being significant, self-sufficient, right [mysterious ++ occult, yoga (Tantra) >> profound insight] passionate, sensitive, anxious |
Aquarius - Innovation, social outreach,
humanitarianism (mw) [self-negation or sacrifice; no charisma] democratic, unconventional, detached |
Taurus - Keeping things as they are, or
making them as they should be, to maintain structure, organization and
security [stable, enduring, strong sense of relationships, happy home life] resourceful, thorough, indulgent |
||
| Mutable | Sagittarius +Jupiter | Pisces (mw) Neptune [-Jupiter] | Gemini +Mercury | Virgo -Mercury | |
| Sagittarius - Opinionated;
self-assertion to know what is proper; affecting thought; idealistic mutable [harmony, moral or higher mind disposition, conventional] freedom, straightforward, careless |
Pisces - Feeling, understanding, having
compassion and identifying the ideal; working with the intangible [intuitive, mutable, sentimental, past, ceremony, music, amorphous, weak confidence] imaginative, sensitive, distracted |
Gemini - diversity, communication,
cleverness, inquisitive, wit, and the idea of being scintillating,
clever [energy] logical, superficial |
Virgo - refinement, discrimination, being
exact, cerebral, correct, accuracy practical, efficient, critical |
||
| FIRE | WATER | AIR | EARTH |
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Last modified:
December 20, 2012
Updated: December 24, 2012 03:13:56 AM