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| From The Sacred Path Deck |
| Let's look at the Elements |
| In the tarot, the four suits of the Minor Arcana are cups, swords, wands, and pentacles. Each suit represents one of the four Aristotelian Elements--Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Some say that these elements in turn correspond to modern thought in physics, which finds that matter exists in four states--solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. The four elements are also represented in astrology, earth based religions, angelic magic, and other spiritual or metaphysical systems. Anything that presents itself again and again, and that has existed for centuries deserves a look. At least in my humble opinion. We'll look at the four elements, aka the four directions, primarily as it helps us with tarot, since that is our primary interest here. But, I will offer some general info as well. Each Element corresponds to a direction, a color, a plant, an animal, an angel, a season of the year, an aspect of human expression----the list is extensive. So we'll keep this simple. Lets look at each tarot suit and their correspondences. WANDS: This suit corresponds to the FIRE element. Its direction is south and its season is summer. One good way to remember all of this is that they all represent HEAT. Wands or rods, being wood, can burn--an easy way to remember its associations. A lot of books on the tarot say that the suit of wands represents the career and how one expresses courage in their life. I also associate the word ACTION with this suit. In astrology, the three fire signs are Aries, Leo, & Sagittarius. SWORDS: This suit corresponds to the AIR element. It's direction is east and its season is Autumn. Swords represent our intellect--thoughts, ideas & communication. You've heard it said that someone has a "sharp" mind--its a good way to remember that swords are associated with the mind. Air, like your thoughts, cannot be seen; and like your thoughts, it is invisible. In a tarot reading, swords represent ideas and thinking, the planning stages. Certain negative energies or events can be indicated by swords. Think for awhile on why this might be so. I use the keyword IDEA for this suit. In astrology, the three air signs are Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. CUPS: This suit corresponds to the WATER element. It's direction is west and its season is spring. Cups and water represent our emotions, especially LOVE. Remembering that the cup is a container for the water is a good way to recall this symbolism. This element is also associated with the moon because of the relationship between the moon and the ocean tides. In astrology, the water signs are Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. Because the sun sets in the west, it is barely illuminated or understood, and it is called the "Direction of Mystery" in some Native American traditions. My keywords for this suit are EMOTION & MYSTERY. Pentacles: This suit corresponds to the EARTH element. Its direction is north and its season is winter. Many tarot books say that this suit represents HEALTH and MATERIAL NEEDS. A deeper understanding is what we need to feel nurtured and how we nurture others. One keyword for this suit is EFFECT. The air is the idea, fire is the action, water is the emotion, and EARTH is what bears the EFFECTS of the other elements--it can represent the end result. A pentacle, or in some decks, a coin, is round--and that's how you can remember the association of this suit with the earth. In astrology, the three earth signs are Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn. Okay, you've heard of word association?------black/white, dog/cat, bacon/eggs, man/woman, etc. Well, once you work with the elements and their correspondents for awhile, you will immediately make associations in your mind. You'll aso notice that the elements and other types of symbolism will run through many metaphysical skills. The knowledge and immediate associations won't come overnight, you'll have to study. In terms of the Tetragrammaton--the four Hebrew letters that make up the Divine name. Each suit of the tarot is associated with one of the letters---Yod, Heh, Vau, and yaweh. Yod is primal energy and is associated with wands. Heh represents the emergence of energy into form and is associated with the suit of cups. Vau represents stabilization of form and it is associated with swords. Yaweh is completion of energy into form asn is associated with the suit of pentacles. Let's say you've laid out a a bunch of cards for a friend and there are mostly cups---many of which are reversed, and a lot of pentacles. Water and earth make mud--this person is mired in their own thoughts and feelings. These are both feminine elements, the person is in an idealistic and romantic phase and may not be thinking clearly. If you are good with an accounting software, you can make a correspondence chart to keep beside you while you are learning. Good luck in your studies. |