Scattered Elements

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I just came across a radical departure from the typical “Fool’s Journey” motif for the Major Arcana that I find intriguing since it relies on the hierarchy of elements shown in the four “magical implements” of the Magician. This led me a related topic: whether the cards pulled for a spread can be positioned to align with the elemental procession, thereby forming a more cohesive narrative. I created an approach that explores this possibility, along with an example reading.

Prior to the occult revisionism of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn that brought the Fool to the forefront, the trump-card sequence began with the Magician and typically ended with the World (while the unnumbered Fool was allowed to wander freely among the ranks, occasionally landing in the 22nd or 21st position depending on the authority being invoked). In The Tarot of the Bohemians, Papus observed that the allegorical symbols (other than the upraised wand in his hand) are scattered randomly on the Magician’s table, and the task over the next 21 cards is to gradually organize all four into the tidy “elemental cross” displayed at the four corners of the World card. The path to self-realization thus became one of exercising the Will of the Magician rather than succumbing to the rambling peregrinations of the Fool, however organic we might assume them to be.

This has all kinds of metaphysical and philosophical potential when reconsidering the order of the trumps according to element. The four classical elements of Empedocles — Fire, Water, Air and Earth — suggest to me the first four stages of alchemical transmutation: calcination (purification by burning); dissolution (infusing and moderating); separation (segregating and refining); and conjunction (recombining and perfecting). A strong case can be made for equating Wands, Cups, Swords and Coins to this model, and also for bringing the Major Arcana under the same conceptual umbrella.

As I use them, each trump card has an element associated with it: the three primal elements (Air, Water and Fire) and the twelve zodiacal elements of the Sepher Yetzirah, accompanied by the elements derived from the seven signs ruled by the associated planets. This gives me the following distribution when aligning the traditional order of the trumps with the elemental pattern:

Core Principle: Discriminating and Refining
Magician: Air (Mercury, ruler of Gemini)
Lovers: Air (Gemini)
Justice: Air (Libra)
Star: Air (Aquarius)
Fool (Primal Air)

Core Principle: Imbuing and Renewing
High Priestess: Water (Moon, ruler of Cancer)
Chariot: Water (Cancer)
Hanged Man (Primal Water)
Death: Water (Scorpio)
Moon: Water (Pisces)

Core Principle: Collecting and Condensing
Empress: Earth (Venus)
Hierophant: Earth (Taurus)
Hermit: Earth (Virgo)
Devil: Earth (Capricorn)
World: Earth (Saturn, ruler of Capricorn)

Core Principle: Rectifying and Propagating
Emperor: Fire (Aries)
Wheel of Fortune: Fire (Jupiter, ruler of Sagittarius)
Strength: Fire (Leo)
Temperance: Fire (Sagittarius)
Tower: Fire (Mars, ruler of Aries)
Sun: Fire (Sun, ruler of Leo)
Judgement: Fire (Primal Fire)

Like the implements on the Magician’s table, the order of the cards in the series is elementally displaced and appears to exhibit no practical sequencing in light of the alchemical paradigm described above. In any kind of rational Universe, reducing a thing to its constituent parts for the purpose of analysis is not going to be the last step in the deductive process but the first, prefatory to reformulating, refining and recombining. This brings me to the crux of the essay.

In a practical reading scenario, when we receive a chaotic scatter of elemental associations in the spread, we may wonder whether the querent is “placing the cart before the horse” in the situation. If we aren’t too invested in our preliminary narrative, we might reorganize some or all the cards in the array so they display a more sensible elemental progression (while retaining the sequential integrity of the cards within their element). In this scheme, the Fire cards are relocated to the beginning to convey initial awareness of the basic desires and impulses that are driving the matter; the Water cards follow, suggesting how this outlook might be enlarged to absorb and reconcile any conflicting impressions; the Air cards come next to indicate how we might “order our thoughts” for a rational ranking and weighing of our options under the circumstances; and the Earth cards arrive last as the “bottom line” in terms of how things will work out in a pragmatic sense. Although I’m somewhat resistant to this notion since I believe the cards always fall the way they do for a reason, I can certainly see this innovation as a fall-back approach when the initial forecast seems completely incomprehensible; consider it my answer to “clarifiers.”

Here is an example reading showing both perspectives. The question I asked was “What are my prospects for improvement in physical well-being given the exercise program I’ve embarked on?” (Note that it is not useful to apply Elemental Dignities to the reformulated spreads because they create forced combinations; unless an element is absent, they will always run “Fire-Water-Air-Earth.”)

The initial reading suggests that unbridled optimism (Ace of Cups) will run head-on into harsh reality (10 of Swords) that eviscerates any unwarranted self-confidence (Emperor), resulting in a retreat into callow pretense (Page of Swords) and “success unfulfilled” (7 of Coins).

I shifted the fiery Emperor to the head of the line and left everything else as-is.

What I now have is unwavering resolve (Emperor) supported by emotional enthusiasm (Ace of Cups) that together are poised to overwhelm mental resistance (10 of Swords) and lack of commitment (Page of Swords), but nevertheless I probably won’t receive the desired results in full measure (7 of Coins). I suppose those Swords will have their “pound of flesh” even if they won’t help me take it off. Still, this sequence hangs together better than the first one even if the outcome remains “meh.” (For some strange reason, both readings are suggestive of a certain politician’s hypothetical fate: falling short of the goal after legal vicissitudes that begin to make the Page of Swords look like an emasculated pretender to the throne; can you say “cut down to size?”)

Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on January 15, 2024.