“Movement Cards” of the Waite-Smith Tarot
AUTHOR’S NOTE: While contemplating the Waite-Smith (aka “RWS”) 6 of Swords as a card of transition from one mental state to a more promising one, I decided to identify the other RWS images that signify movement as a consciously-applied force and not merely a consequence or byproduct of other factors. Some of the best examples are the court cards, in which only the Knights display an obvious trajectory; the immobile Kings and Queens are seated and half of the Pages are idly standing about, perhaps considering a step forward but not yet taking it. Various degrees of acceleration, stagnation and deceleration are evident in the cards. Here I will graphically lay out my view of the subject for the whole deck, with commentary as necessary. (All images are from the Waite-Smith Centennial Edition, copyright of U.S. Games Sytems, Stamford, CT.)
My first step was to exclude cards that either display no single individual capable of rational, self-directed motion or that have a primary figure standing or sitting passively and looking straight out of the scene (or nearly so) with nothing more than posture to suggest a purposeful direction. By their body language they may be hinting at where they plan to go but they aren’t actively engaged in traveling there. (It’s worth mentioning that — while they imply rising or falling trends — I’m not counting “up” and “down” as directions.) These are cards of momentarily “being in” a particular state rather than passing from one condition into another; they may promise significant changes “for good or ill” but they don’t automatically deliver them, in which case the advice would be “Don’t hold your breath waiting for something to happen.” More than half of the Major Arcana fit this description; in action-and-event-oriented readings I often think of them as “archetypal wallpaper.” (Note that I did not disqualify cards like the 8 of Wands and the Chariot that are specifically defined as portraying “movement,” but I did sideline the Tower despite its volatile reputation since it is more like an uncontrolled explosion or collapse than a deliberately-planned action with a goal in mind.) See my additional comments at the end of the essay.
The second iteration was to remove cards with seated or standing figures that are not in the midst of “stepping out,” either toward the future (right) or toward the past (left). The urge to “get out of the gate” and move along one path or the other may be implied by gaze, posture or gesture but mobilization isn’t specifically illustrated. Progress is either suspended or occurs at a very slow rate of achievement, and there is a prosaic tedium to many of the scenes. In some cases the subjects may desperately need a jolt of momentum that they can’t readily produce. Many of the Minor Arcana and half of the court cards — those that are more about posturing or positioning — fall into this category, and the Aces are a special case that presage action but don’t initiate it. From the Major Arcana, I included the Magician, Strength and the Star in this group as expressions of latent “Will, Concentrated Force and Inspiration.”
The third cut was to de-select cards showing figures that seem to be “marching in place” (an old military concept); their movement is more involuted than outwardly projected, thus they exhibit no great potential for either making headway or retreating. Examples of this mode are the 4 and 5 of Wands, the 3 of Cups, the 3 of Pentacles and the World. (If you’re wondering about the 4 of Wands, it reminds me of those movie sequences that show an ominous figure charging toward the camera, but the scene keeps looping back so the apparition never quite arrives; I’ve previously described the figures as “promenading around the castle grounds” rather than heading for the portal.)
This left me with five Major Arcana, six court cards and ten Minor Arcana as indicators of either advancement or regression in the circumstances of the reading. Not all of these are obvious; for example, the man in the 7 of Cups seems stalled but the point is that he can’t stay that way and must decide, while the two Pages have one foot off the ground and can’t remain unbalanced for long either. As mentioned above, the Chariot is “movement personified” even though it seems static. The Fool and the Hermit are both at the brink of a precipice and need to step back (Alejandro Jodorowsky describes the Hermit as blindly but steadfastly “backing into the future” while keeping one prudent eye on his “back trail,” and we could perhaps envision the Fool in the same predicament.)
When applying this model to interpretation, I would treat cards that are gesturing or moving to the right as being pulled toward the future, either in anticipation of leaving or in the act of departure, while those gesturing or facing to the left are being dragged back into a prior condition which they must either resist or engage. (The Knights of Wands and Swords seem especially intent on rousing “sleeping dogs” from the past.) Cards that make no apparent commitment in one direction or the other would be read as predicting steady-state conditions for the duration of the forecast. This goes against conventional wisdom that the Wheel of Fortune always brings change and the Tower denotes radical change, but both come under my premise that the Major Arcana convey background themes that may create the opportunity for important developments but don’t necessarily “pull the trigger” on them. My focus here is on cards that impart movement in a specific direction, not those that only rearrange the landscape.
POSTSCRIPT: I should mention that I built this around Isabel Kliegman’s idea of “separation” cards that have distinct foreground and background features that set the drama apart from the environmental backdrop. These are projecting (or primary) and receding (or secondary) emphases rather than “past-or-future” trajectories, one immediate, highly personal and subjective, the other persistent, impersonal and objective. This may be a stretch but it inspired my thinking.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on May 6, 2023.
