Trump-Card Functionality: A Learning Exercise
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Here is a two-part learning exercise with a dual purpose — to study individual cards that have been giving us trouble during interpretation, and to examine their effects in combination with other cards as a way to better understand their practical functionality. This essay is a couple of months old and the narrative of the second reading proved to be the prophetic one since everything went smoothly. Anyway, back to the plot . . .
A fitting example from my own experience involves Temperance and the Hierophant. I spent many years trying to work my way around all of the alchemical symbolism associated with Temperance in order to find a more practical interpretation for it (for me, it doesn’t simply mean “moderation” since tempering something used to mean making it tougher and more durable). Once I accomplished that I set about applying the same scrutiny to its numerological counterpart, the Hierophant. I thought this would be good case study to illustrate my ideas.
In two separate readings on the same topic, I placed the “focus card” (Hierophant or Temperance) as the overarching theme above a randomly-drawn three-card line and then examined the interaction between that card and each of the cards in the spread to see how it might influence them in the narrative. Then I performed a “quintessence” calculation for the three “line” cards and compared the focus card to the resulting “quint” card (which is always a trump card). Since both the Hierophant and Temperance have something to do with “teaching,” I decided to ask a question of that type for each one.
At the time of the readings, a major snowstorm was coming my way and it was shaping up to be a big one. In the first reading the Hierophant was the trump-card focus; it is thought of as a “wise teacher,” and its signature qualities are those of conservatism, dogma and traditional values. Since it also has an astrological connection to sober, pragmatic Taurus, I asked “What practical lessons will I have to learn from this situation?” The Hierophant and the Empress are elementally friendly Earth cards that both partake of the nature of Venus, so potent natural forces were central to the upcoming event. It looked like “the handwriting was on the wall.”
The “snapshot” synopsis of the story-line was “If I’m going to avoid running afoul of Mother Nature (Empress), I better stay light on my feet (Page of Wands) to “ride the lightning” (10 of Swords).” The 10 of Swords suggested some kind of trouble, possibly with my snowblower that hasn’t been “tested in combat” yet this winter, and since the earthy Hierophant is elementally hostile to the airy Swords card, I was thinking it might jam up with snow like it did last winter even though I adjusted it over the summer. The Page of Wands implied that I’d better prepare to expend the energy and get out the snow shovel. The Lovers as “quint” card made me think I would be enlisting the local plow guy to clear the driveway (he is “on-call” in a standby status), although I would prefer not to have to do that since the Hierophant is also elementally hostile to the Lovers, suggesting worry about the expense.
In the second reading, Temperance was related to finely-tuned judgment and the virtues of the “higher mind” through its correspondence to Sagittarius, and I’ve always considered it a card of finesse and of judiciously applied force (neither too much not too little). It’s teaching is more abstract, so I asked “What broader or more general lesson will I be given?”
I liked this reading much better since everything was elementally friendly, implying a smooth evolution. The number Two embodies the idea of “reciprocating force,” and in the suit of Fire this may have signified a single-cylinder gas engine like that of a snowblower; as a sympathetic Fire card, Temperance had nothing bad to say about this, so I figured I would have the energy to meet any challenge. Judgement is also a Fire card that has to do with “taking a major step in the right direction;” with fiery Temperance supporting it, I felt like nothing could stop me. The Prince of Swords is another card of well-honed judgment, an Air card with which Temperance is also cooperative. The Lovers was once again the “quint” card, so it seemed like the rational decision of the Page of Swords should be to go ahead and hire the contractor; elementally agreeable Temperance wouldn’t protest, and if the snow became especially deep and heavy this would definitely be the best thing for my well-being as shown in the 2 of Wands.
This was the path I chose and it turned out to be successful since the snow was only moderate and I was able to clear it myself (although I did line up the plow guy). It appears that the lesson was to stay calm and not overreact while still preparing for the worst.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on February 26, 2024.
