While going through some tarot blogs I’m subscribed to, I found Joanna Ash’s lovely Sun Goddess Tarot blog from the recent February blog hop. She’s also a numerologist and she came up with a card combination that I found utterly fascinating—a three-card spread for cards that all reduce to the same number.
The example illustrated from Joanna’s choice was for the number 4 (Fool = 22 = 4, Emperor = 4, Death = 13 = 4), and her insights are amazing (read the blog here).
Here’s my take on the visual relationship of the figures:
When you look at the spread, the Emperor is sitting there so straight and looking outward toward us, totally focused, whereas both of the other cards are moving in opposite directions away from the Emperor. In the Fool’s case, it may just be because he’s a fool and doesn’t want to listen to his mentor, even though there’s quite a leap in front of him. 🙂 And Death? Why does Death move away from the ordered and controlled world of the Emperor? Because Death is dissolution, chaos, loss of order and control. There’s even a kingly personage underneath Death’s horse (so we know who wins in the end…or do we?)
These three cards represent the great circle, then, Birth, life on Earth and the illusion of structure, Death and dissolution, and then, of course, Birth again. Neat!
I note that Joanna began with the Fool and put the Emperor in the middle, with Death at the end (0/22, 4, 13), but you can also see what message arises from a different ordering.
So, your challenge is to take a look at the other trios in the Major Arcana (hint: there are three more) and lay them out to see what story they tell.
I would love to hear from you about your results. Comments are open!
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