OK, while playing with the whole "Seven Stations" thing, I happened to think of the Minors. Ten pips plus four courts equals fourteen cards per suit, which is divisible by....
SO, just for fun, what would happen if we laid the minors out in a similar fashion?
02 - 04 - 06 - 08 - 10 - KT - KG
01 - 03 - 05 - 07 - 09 - PG - QN
So we now have seven pairs of cards. Now, let's rotate it so we can label with the "Seven Stations:"
Your Origin: 01 / 02
Your Inspiration: 03 / 04
Your Power: 05 / 06
The Turning Point: 07 / 08
Your Transformation: 09 / 10
Your Epiphany: PG / KT
Your Goal: QN / KG
Well, right off the bat we can see that OF COURSE the 01 / 02 pair is going to work for "Origins" and it seems reasonable that King / Queen would be "Goal." Page / Knight as "Epiphany?" Well... as the first two of the Courts, in the progression wouldn' they be the ones with the fresh new perspective from the lessons of the pips? Not too great a leap. But what about the others? and does each half of the pair represent something? Masculine / Feminine? Material / Spiritual? Positive / Negative?
Why don't we plug in a suit or two and find out? I'm trying to keep an open mind here and not "force" anything. I don't want to impose my pattern on the cards and apply twisted logic or build arguments for too many bizarre correspondences - but let's just give it a whirl:
Wands:
Your Origin: 01 / 02 Spark of Passion, First Step of Endeavor
Your Inspiration: 03 / 04 Signs of Progress, Ceremony
Your Power: 05 / 06 Competitiveness, Victory
The Turning Point: 07 / 08 Defense against Adversity, Rapid Development
Your Transformation: 09 / 10 Angst of Persistence, Burden of Success
Your Epiphany: PG / KT
Your Goal: QN / KG
The Courts are left as an exercise for the student.
They seem to fit -- while not necessarily compelling, they don't refute the idea either.
Let's try Pentacles:
Your Origin: 01 / 02 Root of security / Balancing resources
Your Inspiration: 03 / 04 Diligent Professionalism / Conserving Resources
Your Power: 05 / 06 Poverty / Generosity
The Turning Point: 07 / 08 Contemplative Hiatus / Learning New Skills
Your Transformation: 09 / 10 Independence & Confidence / Material Success.
Your Epiphany: PG / KT
Your Goal: QN / KG
This seems to have some interesting correspondences - but what's this under Your Power? Poverty/Generosity make a nice little Yin/Yang, but how is that Your Power? Understanding of the polarity? Hmmmm. Need to think this over. Still, the Seven Stations method hasn't completely broken down either. Shall we continue?
Cups:
Your Origin: 01 / 02 Love, love, love, love.
Your Inspiration: 03 / 04 Celebration & Socialization / Boredom & Disillusionment
Your Power: 05 / 06 Regret / Reminiscence
The Turning Point: 07 / 08 Daydreams & Visions / New Horizons
Your Transformation: 09 / 10 A Wish Granted / Lasting Love & Friendships
Your Epiphany: PG / KT
Your Goal: QN / KG
This is again a little tricky, but I don't know if we're reaching too far yet. Your Inspiration and Your Power both contain at least somewhat "negative" cards (4 and 5), but with the pairings they have each become part of a yin/yang again. If you substitute "Motivating Factors" for "Inspiration," that one hangs pretty well for me. And the "Your Power" pair? Aren't they two different and complementary ways of contemplating the past? As a "Cups Person's" Power, what could that signify? Their ability to judge their experiences not by what was gained or who "won," but by the feelings they took away from the experience? Works for me. Again, the Seven Stations didn't necessarily hit this one out of the ball park, but it did provide some food for thought.
OK, and for the sake of completeness:
Swords:
Your Origin: 01 / 02 New Idea / Dilemma
Your Inspiration: 03 / 04 Heartbreak / Rest
Your Power: 05 / 06 Aggression / Seeking Refuge
The Turning Point: 07 / 08 Trickery / Paralysis
Your Transformation: 09 / 10 Despair / Finality
Your Epiphany: PG / KT
Your Goal: QN / KG
Well, this isn't a very cheerful Path, is it? But then again, life is full of ups and downs and obstacles, and that's what the Swords suit is about. I do see a lot of polarities in the pairs of cards, and the progression of the stations seems to add some interpretive structure...
* * *
And as I write this, I see what I should have been doing all along. I should be looking in terms of Paths, not stations! Bear with me.
01 - 03 - 05 - 07 - 09 - PG - QN
02 - 04 - 06 - 08 - 10 - KT - KG
Stations: Origin, Inspiration, Power, Turning Point, Transformation.
Wands:
Path 1: Spark of Passion, Signs of Progress, Competitiveness, Defense against Adversity, Angst of Persistence,
Path 2: First Step of Endeavor, Ceremony, Victory, Rapid Development, Burden of Success
Pents:
Path 1: Root of security, Diligent Professionalism, Poverty, Contemplative Hiatus, Independence & Confidence
Path 2: Balancing resources, Conserving Resources, Generosity, Learning New Skills, Material Success.
Cups:
Path 1: Love love, Celebration & Socialization, Regret, Daydreams & Visions, A Wish Granted
Path 2: Love love, Boredom & Disillusionment, Reminiscence, New Horizons, Lasting Love & Friendships
Swords:
Path 1: New Idea, Heartbreak, Aggression, Trickery, Despair
Path 2: Dilemma, Rest, Seeking Refuge, Paralysis, Finality
NOW we're cookin' with gas!
The ODD numbers reflected in each Suit's first Path are the masculine, "Active" energies, whereas Path 2 (the even numbers) are the feminine or "Passive" energies. I remember that much numerology. In fact, I DO think I've seen this kind of analysis done somewhere before. But add in the Stations and it may provide some extra nuance to each step of the Dual Paths for each Suit.
And as a side note, I don't remember ever really seeing a discussion of the pip progression of each suit being the "Court's Journey," just as the Majors have been described as the "Fool's Journey." Instead of being FORCED to be Signified as a Queen of Swords or a Knight of Pentacles by our birthdate or hair color or adding up some numbers derived from our name, shouldn't our character as it arises from Nature and Nurture (Our innate qualities modified by our environment?) That's why I love using the Meyers-Briggs system to identify our Court cards.
But my point is this: Maybe each of the Paths as shown above is the JOURNEY undertaken which caused someone to BECOME the Princess of Cups or the Knight of Wands, who will then mature into Kings and Queens.
Whew. Although we can expand a great deal upon many of the ideas covered in this rough outline, I think I've certainly covered a lot of territory today. Maybe there IS a book in this.
TTFN,
dangerdork