Projection and Reflection: Trump-Card Pairs and Triplets
AUTHOR’S NOTE: While reading The Tarot of the Bohemians by “Papus” (Gerard Encausse) I came across an interesting approach to correlating the Major Arcana that was new to me. This is the last of my essays from the book unless I read it again at some point in the future.
In line with his “positive-negative-neutral-transitional” architecture for the numerical development of a series of four cards (both trumps and pips), he proposes that each card projects a creative or progressive influence on the one that follows it in the series, and is reflective or receptive regarding the energies of the one preceding it. Papus describes this as a positive/negative dynamic, in which each card (in relation to its partners) performs an active role when casting forward and a passive role when looking back, giving on one hand and receiving on the other.
This has intriguing parallels to the ideas of Paul Fenton-Smith in his Tarot Masterclass: a reversed card harks back to the card preceding it in the same series; it has “one foot in the past” with unfinished business to resolve regarding the affairs of that card. (For example, the energy of a reversed 6 of Pentacles “didn’t get something right” when it passed through the 5 of Pentacles and must revisit that earlier scenario.) I believe there is much to recommend this premise.
Below is a graphical presentation of the model using the first four trumps; the rest of the quaternaries shown in my earlier post will follow suit). The active role is depicted by the upright card of the Fournier Tarot de Marseille in the top row and the passive role is displayed by the reversed card of the Fournier Spanish Tarot below as a “mirror” of the card to the upper-left of it. This creates a reciprocal flow (shown by the arrows) that can indicate a range of incomplete or unfulfilled actions, one of the standard meanings of reversal. In each case, the respective role is played out in accordance with the card ahead of it (to the right) or the card behind it (to the left). The active mode projects its shadow ahead and the passive mode sits in the shadow of the one behind.
In any reading situation where the two trumps of a set are adjacent, it would be worthwhile to consider the “active” and “passive” side of each one and draw conclusions about the overall emphasis. Activation of one mode or the other could very well be dependent upon the rest of the cards in the layout; a largely active matrix of associated cards could invoke the “active” side of the trump in sympathy, and vice versa for a largely passive matrix. In practice, I do not use reversals with the TdM, so the “reversed” qualities will have to be assumed as always being present in theory.
Taken in triplets, there will the potential for a “+++” array, a +-+” array, a “+-” array, a “-++” array, a “-+-” array, and a “-” array in each triad. The challenge will be how to determine the dominant factor in each population; the best way may be to take into account the character of the rest of the cards as above. A predominantly “+” set will be largely unstinting and forward-looking in its function, while a mostly “-” group will be grudging and regressive.
While the three cards of a set will seldom appear in their natural order in a spread (unless doing a majors-only reading), when they do the same logic can be applied as for the two-card sets: look at the full range of active and passive potentials among the three cards and decide how they operate under the circumstances. In thinking about it, if the cards appear in sequence but are separated by other non-trump cards, they could be considered a “splayed” set that exhibits the same qualities in the scenario, acting as a separate “stratum” of influence.
Further Food for Thought: I don’t see why we can’t treat any card in a spread (not just a trump) as “casting its shadow on the card ahead of it” and “sitting in the shadow of the card behind it.” This seems like a perfectly reasonable way to approach any interaction between two adjacent cards from an active/passive perspective. If they are of favorable “dignity” by suit, number or inherent nature, the active flow would be unimpeded, but if they are of “ill dignity,” the passive shadow would loom larger and threaten progress.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on February 15, 2024.
