If Chesed acts as the demiurge, the creator of the actual, physical world of Genesis (for example), it makes sense that its first act would be to lay down that important law, so essential for the building of a universe, that of the interplay of Chochma and Binah, although in a less abstract and more real form.
Lower down, the next step is to create a base for feeling, emotion, the soul within the shell, and so we have Luna in Cancer, as the Four of Cups, Lord of Luxury. Luxury in this case refers perhaps to the actual experience of existence, the division of the point. The RWS card shows this to be a certain self-indulgence, and so does the Thoth, and perhaps it is, as you have a Something building a shell for itself out of Itself, while it is disconnected from Itself by a world (did anybody understand that sentence?). I suppose one could call the Four of Cups "holy masturbation," forgive the expression.
Even lower down, in the world of Yetzirah, we have the mind as a thinking, actual reality, in its most perfect manifest form, before Geburah comes along and wrecks everything (by causing it to Desire). This is the Lord of Rest from Strife (Truce, by Crowley). Rest from Strife is misleading, as the strife hasn't begun yet, that comes in the Fives, yet here we have the perfect ideal of "thinking," although right now we aren't thinking of anything yet. While the RWS card shows a tomb, which is definitely reminiscent of rest, this only shows more fully the meditative, spiritual aspects of this card. The attribution of Jupiter in Libra, not to mention the double Jupiter we have because it is Chesed emphasizes the balanced, thoughtful aspects.
Lower down, we have one of the most creative attributions, Sun in Capricorn (imagine the Sun shining down on the Lord of the Gates of Matter, i.e., the Devil). This is where the idea of actual
existence is created on a manifest level. The Lord of Earthly Power is in interesting name for this, since it is Power in a manner that we can understand, as this is where things actually happen. The
real power, though, is higher up, in the creation of basic laws; thunderstorms, earthquakes, creating the universe is peanuts compared to that.
The Fours are very reminiscent of the Aces, they show the actual working of the Ace below the Abyss, the Ace in an actual form we can "use" and that "exists." Something to keep in mind, perhaps I read this somewhere, is that the astrological attributions become more important the lower you go in the Worlds and on the single Trees. While the Fours are below the Abyss and thus "real," they are still high enough to possess a certain purity of intent and purpose. Why did I write all this? No idea, but when analyzing a card I find it immensely beneficial to look at the other cards related to it, whether numerically, astrologically or ideologically.
Waite's "almost on the surface," seen from this point of view,
could refer to the fact that this is indeed the first emanation below this Abyss, real and manifest yet still abstract.
