Direction and the four suits

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 24 Jan 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

similia	24 Jan 2005
I remember each the four suits are attribute to a direction on the compass, but I can't seem to find where I read it. Any input would be much appreciated. PS also are different attributions used with different decks? I'm especially interested in the Thoth, but Golden Dawn generally also.

willowberry	24 Jan 2005
Hmmm.... I think these are the seasons: Wands = spring Cups = summer Swords = autumn Pentacles = winter As far as the directions go, I think Pents are north, Wands are south, Swords are East and Cups are west. I was taught this by my tarot teacher ages ago and it was based on the four corners, e.g if pentacles are earth then the direction is north as you would call the corners - 'hail guardians of earth, watchtowers of the north...' Hope this is useful to you!!!! love Willowberry xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Fulgour	24 Jan 2005
On the Compass of the Zodiac the directions are: NORTH Cancer (Water) Summer SOUTH Capricorn (Earth) Winter EAST Aries (Fire) Spring WEST Libra (Air) Autumn The Zodiac Compass of the Astrological Lodge of London: http://www.amrep.org/images/pericles/Zodiac.gif The Chaldean Decanates of Early Modern Tarot: http://www.skyscript.co.uk/heritage/im/decans.gif Aries: Queen of Wands and 2 3 4 of Wands Taurus: King of Pentacles and 5 6 7 of Pentacles Gemini: Knight of Swords and 8 9 10 of Swords * Cancer: Queen of Cups and 2 3 4 of Cups Leo: King of Wands and 5 6 7 of Wands Virgo: Knight of Pentacles and 8 9 10 of Pentacles * Libra: Queen of Swords and 2 3 4 of Swords Scorpio: King of Cups and 5 6 7 of Cups Sagittarius: Knight of Wands and 8 9 10 of Wands * Capricorn: Queen of Pentacles and 2 3 4 of Pentacles Aquarius: King of Swords and 5 6 7 of Swords Pisces: Knight of Cups and 8 9 10 of Cups

Sophie-David	24 Jan 2005
Hi Similia I don't think there's one right answer to this question, except what feel right for you. There are many different interpretations of direction, and they may or may not have a logical connection with the season you associate with each suit. Elemental attributions are also quite various: Cups is usually Water, Pentacles is Earth, but Swords are either Air or Fire and Wands are either Fire or Air. The pattern which feels right to me is: Cups - Spring - East - Water Wands - Summer - South - Fire Swords - Fall/Autumn - West - Air Pentacles - Winter - North - Earth Michele Jackson has a fun and friendly Tarot course which discusses these topics, among others: http://www.confederatelinux.com/ebook/pdf/occult_Tarot_Cards.pdf Cheers David

similia	25 Jan 2005
Thank you all so much for your help.

Umbrae	25 Jan 2005
Swords: Air – East - Spring Wands: Fire – South - Summer Cups: Water – West - Autumn Pentacles: Earth – North - Winter

Clau	25 Jan 2005
To me it depends on where is the world are you. I'm very far south from the Equator, so NORTH for me is heat, sun, summer, fire, wands. SOUTH is cold, winter, earth, pentacles. the other two are the same as Umbrae's Blessings, Clau edited to say: Ooops! I just noticed you're an Aussie, so we're in the same hemisphere, just across the big pond.

Fudugazi	25 Jan 2005
In another thread, jmd posted this link: http://www.tarotpassages.com/kpentsdmindon.htm An article by Daana Minton, an Australian scholar, that discusses the original attributions of directions to the suits in the naïb cards that gave rise to our minor suits, and the special character of the King of Coins. As you can see from the extract below, this attribution forms part of a cosmological system, and linked to philosophical/political ideals that led to some shifting of cosmological game-posts between the Muslim and Christian worlds! There's an interesting comment about intellectual verbal displays using Moorish cards. In 1375, at exactly the time when card-play is first mentioned in Europe, a world-map was created in the maritime centre of Majorca. Majorca had long been held by Muslims and still had a large population of Muslims, Jews, Berbers, Spaniards and others. ... On the Atlas’ worldmap, across North Africa, four Moorish governors appear. They bear, as heraldic emblems, devices used as suit-signs in early tarot packs. The presence of these ‘suit-sign’ devices is given added importance by the fact that a number of early European references to cards or card games speak of them as Saracen or Moorish quarters, or they speak of the card-play as a ‘joc’ – a term which then had very specific connotations in the south-western Mediterranean. It referred to a form of verbal exercise, a display of learning and memory, which was begun from a set quaestio (as question or ‘quest’ which the player then had to answer – usually in verse). As they appear on the Atlas Catala, the four Moorish governors bear the signs of: rod, sword, coin, and whip [cup] . By reference to near eastern traditions which were also in operation in Muslim North Africa - these can be recognized as allusions to: Orion - rod; Ursa minor - sword; Qut b. suhail [southern celestial pole] - pressed gold; and Pleiades -cup/whip. That pattern [e, n, s, w] for the Moorish quarters, informs us, in turn, that the deputy rulers symbolize the cardinal directions. They are arranged by reference to Orion which, in the near east, was known as ‘the Central One’ (al Jawzah) and was identified as the star of old Pharaonic Egypt. Though when we look up to the sky, the Pleiades appear to the right of Orion, but in those days it was a common practice to envisage the stars as looking down upon the earth and to reverse the east-west line when depicting the constellations and their relative positions. This put the Pleiades to the ‘west’ of Orion but more importantly, Arabs saw the westering of the Pleiades [after orion had sunk under the earth] as meaning the time of increase for the Arabs. As primary indicators for the quarters of direction, the four emblems may be understood, too, to refer to the quartering of the year by its seasons: Orion with its flourishing rod for spring; Ursa minor as the sword of the bitter north wind for winter; Qut b. Suhail [the pole of the south] for summer and the Pleiades (westering) for autumn - the time of harvest. (That original pattern of geographic and temporal direction was sometimes altered, deliberately, by the Christian west, but the alteration affects only the hearts/Pleiades suit and we need not deal with it here.) In Australia, under a different sky, you'll have to reinvent the attributions - using whatever criteria seem the most in tune with tarot!

Sulis	26 Jan 2005
Umbrae wrote: Swords: Air – East - Spring Wands: Fire – South - Summer Cups: Water – West - Autumn Pentacles: Earth – North - Winter I use these correspondences too :) Love Sulis xx

similia	26 Jan 2005
Ah, these were all unexpected answers. I had assumed that Earth and Air would be opposites (one the same axis), as would Fire and Water. It seems I was the only one but! ;) I'm now wondering do wiccans vary the directions/element relationships depending on location? I've been reading Lon Milo Duquette's book on the thoth, and I didn't see any mention of compass directions, only the princesses were attributed to a different 1/4 of the earth each. I might need to get out a globe, and see how those correspondences line up with all your suggestions. I am used to thinking of directions and elements from a Chinese 5 element perspective which is of course very different. (Fire=summer, Water=winter, Wind = spring and Metal = Autumn, all revolving around Earth) Thanks so much all

WolfyJames	26 Jan 2005
Personaly I use: Cups - water - east - spring - sunrise Wands - fire - south - summer - noon Pentacles - earth - west - autumn - sunset Swords - air - north - winter - night

Sophie-David	26 Jan 2005
Hi Similia Umbrae and Sulis presented what I believe is the most common Wiccan practice. These links discuss some of the various Wiccan options, mentioning that different traditions can have quite definite views about what is right, that location often does have an influence, and it is common for the southern hemisphere to put Fire in the North and Earth (or Wind) in the South: http://groups.msn.com/WitchesAndAngels/thequarters.msnw http://www.witchesway.net/links/quarters.html Again, I would say that the correct answer - both in Wicca and Tarot - is the one which works for you! I do like Umbrae and Sulis's directions, but my dreams and conscious imagery insist on putting Cups/Water in the East, even though I live right on the edge of the Pacific, with thousands of miles of ocean just to my west. :) David

Michelle	26 Jan 2005
I was taught : Wands - Summer- Fire - South Cups - Spring - Water - West Swords - Autumn - Air- North Pentacles - Winter- Earth - East

similia	26 Jan 2005
Thanks again, especially to Sophie-David for the great links. I live on the east coast of Australia, so for me water is east, mountains are west, hot is north, and cold is south. I guess that makes: North: Wands South: Pentacles: West: Swords East: Cups. This is the exact opposite of what seems to be the most common arrangement, (which I guess makes sense if it was used/designed by those living on the west coast of Europe). Now I have an understanding of why the elements would be placed at a given direction, which is much more than I had before (and much more useful than learning a graph). Now to decide what suits me (and perhaps what suits my deck...) Edited to correct typo

Sophie-David	26 Jan 2005
Woops Similia, I think you may have made a typo: in the list your Cups are mountainous and your Swords are watery. Or maybe I'm confused :confused:- thats easy too! Cheers David

RedMaple	27 Jan 2005
similia wrote: Now I have an understanding of why the elements would be placed at a given direction, which is much more than I had before (and much more useful than learning a graph). Now to decide what suits me (and perhaps what suits my deck...) I think once you've found what is comfortable for you, it creates a kind of sacred geography for the Tarot. I often order my decks and set each suit in its direction, the Majors in the center. I also do this with a new deck. It seems to help me learn and bond with the deck. I am on the northeast coast of North America, so for me, Cups (Water) is East, Wands are South, Air(past the mountains to the plains where Air is often seen in its most powerful form, the tornado) is West, Pentacles are North as are our mountains (winter).

similia	27 Jan 2005
Sophie-David wrote: Woops Similia, I think you may have made a typo: in the list your Cups are mountainous and your Swords are watery. Oops, at least someone is on the ball! Now corrected to make sense :)

rota	29 Jan 2005
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rota	29 Jan 2005
What's interesting me most about this thread is that different people are using correspondences that seem to be internally consistent with each other according to different sets of rules. Here's the setup I use (for what it's worth): Wands - Fire - Aries, Leo, Sagittarius - West - Oil - Red Pents - Earth - Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn - North - Corn (wheat) - Golden Swords - Air - Gemini, Libra, Aquarius - East - Salt - White (silver, pearl) Cups - Water - Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces - South - Wine - Blue (edited to add colors)

The Direction and the four suits thread was originally posted on 24 Jan 2005 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.