introduction to the court cards of the minor arcana

Translation by Kitos Digiovanni from smallcabin.org

The Court cards of the minors are for synthesizing the polarity of numbers; activity and passivity, indicated by odd and even numbers respectively, are represented, on the one hand, by teh Knights and the Kings, and on the other hand, by the Pages and the Queens. Human representation has been used to mark a plane elevated over that of the numbers, a plan where responsibility and freedom are to be found in acts.

More abstractly, one might say that the figures symbolize a synthesis of the quality of the numbers on a plane superior to that of the four Aces and that they are an adaptation of unity - the principle of ten numbers - to the Universal, in which Man finds himself situated.

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The conscious quaternary, formed by the figures, implies a terrestrial value and an evolutionary value, the first symbolizing the state of Man in the physical world, and the second, the need he has to disengage himself from the material in order to evolve.

This is indicated by the quaternary of Pages who are distinct from that of the Knights, which differ themselves in turn from those of the Queens, as these later do from the Kings.

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These figures are characterized in the following way: THE PAGE, in his elevated form, is a point of departure representing consciousness, not yet with the breath of life, and enclosed in the immobility of 4; this is why it is conscious Chaos, ready to act, a potential under pressure. He is equally an annunciator and his costume and his attributes symbolize the character of an announcement.

More elementarily, he points to things in power and in the process of being carried out, without having sufficient force himself to act because of his own passivity.

The four Pages denote internal workings in the sense particular to each card. This is clear from the spin on each of their symbols. The Pages are represented by, in order, a very long sword, a large baton, a deep cup, and by two coins; no other court card has a doubled symbol.

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The KNIGHT is that Chaos which emerges from his own immobility under the influence of the spirit as it evolves. The figure is on a horse and not on foot, showing therefore that the principle of the Page is carried along in its evolution. From this it results that, not being his own master, he cannot direct his horse unless he maintains his balance.

In its basic class, it is essentially active; it transmits and acts, pursuing the directives of the Page.

To complete its evolution, the Knight must be in attendance of THE QUEEN who represents spiritual passivity, along with wisdom and temperance, since the feminine principle, by reason of its passivity, maintains the calm and the equilibrium necessary to receive wisdom. A fertilizing and thus creative, principle, which, in its elementary sense, brings the contributions of the Knight to light.

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The three preceding figures permit the ultimate realization of THE KING, the principle of strength and power resulting from the fusion of the the passive element, the Queen, and of the active element, the Knight. The King represents domination over all the planes - the cosmic plane, for example, over the elements.

In its elemental principle, it is a director.

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The court cards of the minors consist of a mix of Universal laws - ones which the set of four obeys - and the laws of matter which it directs. These cards are therefore placed last, since they are mediators.

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The Tarot consists, therefore, of three series relating to combinations of numbers: the first, formed by the Major Arcana, represent the action of the Universal over the combinations of the numbers; the second, formed by the Minor Arcana from 1 to 10, indicate the combinations of the numbers in themselves, and the third, formed by Court of the Minor Arcana, specifies Man's reactions to the combinations of numbers.

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