International Icon - Knights

I got all four of the knights out and was going over elf’s post about a possible connection with the Death card when it occurred to me that these four Knights could be represented at different times of the day. Just line them up and look at the colouring and then look at the movement.

Knight of Swords - first thing in the morning…more white indicates a purity and the innocence of a new day…looks fresh and breezy and the birds get up early too!

Knight of Wands - mid-day… hot, energetic…the card has a real glow to it…just look at that sky…the movement one of confidence .

Knight of Cups - late afternoon…the sun has begun to sink, and its getting cooler…the colours have a darker tone...and the pace slows a little.

Knight of Pentacles - very dusky and shadowy…darker tones still…and a very solid looking Knight…movement - stopped

Am I stating the obvious? Not having ever studied any RWS decks I may be pointing out the obvious here but since I dont know if I dont ask I would be interested in any opinions or thoughts.

I don't think you're stating the obvious Jewel-ry - those correspondences work with the seasons too.

Swords - East, air, beginnings, dawn, spring
Wands - South, fire, summer, mid-day
Cups - West, water, autumn / fall, dusk
Pentacles - North, earth, winter, night.

That's how I see things anyway......

The flora in the RWS deck doesn't quite tally with those correspondences but since they're the one's I've become familiar with for magical work, they're the ones I use.
I think the IIT tarot will be easier to use these correspondences with because of the lack of detail, leaves, flora etc....

Love

Sulis xx

Swords - East, air, beginnings, dawn, spring
Wands - South, fire, summer, mid-day
Cups - West, water, autumn / fall, dusk
Pentacles - North, earth, winter, night.


Great correspondance list Sulis.
And, yes Jewel-ry, I like what you said in your post...

The idea I was toying with is that the Knights are sort of like Death's assistants. Part of their job is to fight, to make war upon others and in so doing help to dispatch people so that Death can then collect them...

So that they each have their own energy too, the way they move in the card.

I am very, very drawn to these knights and often find myself just staring at them.

The Knight of Pentacles draws me totally into the card. I now see him as a surveyor...a very methodical person. Someone who contemplates in great depth. The pentacle looks like a moon and the light of the card...moonlight. Now why is that? Can anyone see a connection to the moon here? And why is the background of his title coloured orange?

jewel-ry said:

The Knight of Pentacles draws me totally into the card. I now see him as a surveyor...a very methodical person. Someone who contemplates in great depth. The pentacle looks like a moon and the light of the card...moonlight. Now why is that? Can anyone see a connection to the moon here? And why is the background of his title coloured orange?

Click to expand...

I hadn't even noticed that the background to this guy's title is coloured orange - isn't that strange.

I love the colours in this card - it's so dark. The darkness in this card makes me think of groundedness and solidity, it's impenetrable.
The pentacle he's holding does look like the moon, probably because the sky is so dark, the pentacle almost glows with a soft light - can't for the life of me think of any connection this bloke has with the moon though...
I like your surveyor analogy, he does look like that; like someone who contemplates his next move.
I love the chunkyness of his horse.
The more I look at this deck, the more I like it...

Love

Sulis xx

Alongside this idea of the Knights as Death's assistants.

What if the Knights somehow also show things like...

Knight of Swords: A Mental struggle that is very much at it's peak
Knight of Pentacles: An Earthly/Material struggle that has resolved or come to a rest
Knight of Wands: A Creative struggle that is connected to the sexual
Knight of Cups: An Emotional struggle that brings in a new level of understanding...

I just keep thinking about the fact that Knights are warriors. They are meant to be fighting battles, even tho they might have gotten the title by default. There seems to me, and only since getting this deck, that the Knights are really about more than "a young solid/creative/loving/intellectual man".

So hence the word struggle...that the Knight is sent out by the King to do something. A knight has a task or a quest. A knight is usually the active principle of the court, isn't he?

The king is more managerial.....

And when Knights battle, the end result is killing and that's where Death comes in.


I don't know...does this strike anyone else?

Just looking at the pictures:

Knt of Cups: Looks to be on a quest, having found the Grail...or so he thinks.
Knt of Swords: In the battle. Fighting. Ready to kill.
Knt of Pentacles: Payday! Job done, examining reward.
Knt of Wands: In planning stages, giving the pep talk, building energy.

I don't know where I ever got this idea from...and maybe in reality it is not true...
But I got the idea in my head that the Knight's protect the Queen.
She is the one who sends them out to do her biding.
They are the first body guards of sorts.
Not in that they stick right by her side, but they protect the messages she sends to others, her reputation in the country, her honor in battle, the material possession entrusted to them. ect.

So sometimes I look at them as what do they bring......what is their special talent and ability to be used and celebrated by the Queen.

In this deck especially their essence is so right out there!

I put the Queen and her Knight together this morning to play with the idea of them.
They told so many stories as I just sat there contemplating them.
Look how the Queen of Swords seems to be handing the sword to the Knight of Swords.
And how the Knight of Cups seems so eager to deliver his message of love for the Queen of Cups ...who looks a liittle sad. ( a lovers spat she needs him to fix?)
How the Queen of Wands holds out her sunflower to the Knight of Wands who is hurrying as fast as he can to get to her.
"He may be a little scattered but he's got spirit," she says.
The Queen of Pentacles has a heavy harvest sitting on her knee, but the Knight of Pentacles can carry that bounty to all her kingdom in a dependable way...she knows he will not disappoint.

So I could rattle on for a long time, but just wanted to talk a little about the Knights.
I haven't even gotten to the colors which are the most important thing to me anyway....
But i really love all your observations.....

Sulis said:

Swords - East, air, beginnings, dawn, spring
Wands - South, fire, summer, mid-day
Cups - West, water, autumn / fall, dusk
Pentacles - North, earth, winter, night.

Click to expand...

Please excuse me by the parentesis!
I have no the International Icon Tarot, is in my wishlist, but reading that it gives this correspondences i don't know...
I mean, for me they always were:

Wands- East, air, beginnings, dawn, spring
Cups- South, water, summer, mid-day
Pentacles- West, earth, autumn/ fall, dusk
Swords- North, air, winter, night

Or those at the top are just your ideas about?

Dear ArcanoMáximo,

The International Icon comes with no booklet, so nobody tells you what correspondences are implied. Shucky darn, you can use any old thing.

But the colors…OMG…Color and Form. You draw your own correspondences.

Get the deck – get it off your wish list.

Thank you Umbrae,
i really wish have it but isn't in local stores and i have no how to order it from Internet...
But i keep the hope yet!
Thanks!