Marseilles - Valet de Deniers (Page of Coins)

I remember as a child that even in the game of Tarot there was a specific ordering in which the suits were to be held - even though, from a game-point-of-view, it made absolutely no difference! First were placed Deniers (Coins/Diamonds), then Bastons (Wands/Clubs), followed by Coupes (Cups/Hearts), then Espees (Swords/Spades), and finally the Major Arcana.

If we accept some kind of 'correctness' (for whatever reason) to this order, the very first of the sixteen Courts becomes, then, the Page of Coins - the only Court card to omit a space for its title. Though perhaps by initial 'error' on the part of the artist, it remains an integral part of the Marseilles deck.

In most Marseilles decks, this is the only Court to have two Coins: one in his hand, the other possibly and seemingly within the confines of the soil - buried, and hence awaiting new germination. This is iconographically also connected by linking this card with the only other card of the Tarot which bears no written title: card XIII of the Major Arcana (Death).

The Page's stance is virtually a mirror image of I-the Magician - even to the detail of his lower hand. Yet they also both share a gaze which either turns away from the sequence (if ordered left-to-right) or alternatively faces into the sequence (if ordered right-to-left).

In fact, placing the Courts in the order indicated (Page of Coins through to the King of Swords) reveals quite astounding parallels in imagery with the first sixteen cards of the Major Arcana - ie, those preceding celestial depictions. Only V the Pope is possibly displaced 'up' to the eighth position!

But I suspect I have already written sufficient controversial comments to await varied responses!

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Thanks for picking me up, Diana.

I believe that in my attempt to shorten my post, I may have given the impression that I strongly connect this Court to either of the Majors mentioned: I do not.

Rather, I was merely pointing out that both this card and especially the two mentioned Majors have various similarities of iconic representation. I suspect its 'similarity' to I the Magician has already been made reasonably clearly enough. To XIII, the similarity includes this sense of 'awaited re-birth/germination', or, in other words, the awaited new gift which will germinate and transform new life. In appelation, it is also 'clearly' linked by its own peculiar omission of a title, as in XIII.

In the case of the Major Arcana, the situation is being focussed on. In the case of the Court, the person (or his/her way of expressing it) is indicated.

In a nutshell, this card may very often indicate that effort applied and then left to its own processes will permit germination. As I often personally also make use of the MBTI, I also associate this card with, often, aspects of introspection upon the particular 'facts' of the situation at hand.

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Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
try an online test to see what comes out of it for you here:
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm
i tried several some time ago and they all said INTJ for me, dunno what court that would be though.
its fun to try anyway, and when you recognise the style of others, it can be quite helpful when you have to work with others.

kaz

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I suppose I'd better attempt to answer Diana's question as to why I chose 'to start the study of the minors with the Courts' - though we are all free, of course, to begin a thread for each and any card !

As for me, the courts more or less suggested themselves. I had a number of decks spread on the table, pips with pips, then courts with courts, and this time, I seemed to be far more drawn into various comparisons amongst the Courts - especially with some of the peculiarities of the Hadar rendition, which, though beautiful, made me pay even more attention to certain details included in other decks (for example, and in terms of this thread, the card's very title).

Possibly, even if this had not been the case, I would probably have started with the Courts, as we began our overall discussion with the Major Arcana: in some manner, I place the Courts 'between' the pips and the Major Arcana.

But please, do begin a separate thread on any (or even all!) of the pips!

Nice thread starter, j.

I never really looked at this card before, and I think I'm going to appreciate being encouraged to scrutinize the courts and pips in much greater detail. The deck, after all, is 78 cards, not 22.

The Valet de Deniers -- the servant of money (Dios, what an appropriate name) looks at that coin the way God looked at the world right after he made it. The coin he has buried (can't believe I never noticed it before) strongly emphasizes the earthy and material nature of the suit. Coins are generally easy to interpret because they're so solidly grounded in material, and if he appears in a reading, I generally see the Jack of Money as a young entrepreneur of either sex, a youth who's out to conquer the material world, and one whose ambition, while healthy, is his or her most salient trait. I have a hard time not seeing the court cards as person-types, and almost always interpret them as individuals who play, or will play, a role in the querent's life.

Also, like the two of you, I see the courts as occupying a sort of middle tier between the trumps and pips.

In the thread 'Marseilles again (Study Group)?', Moonbow* mentions and asks about the Page of Coins in its context of sometimes being considered the Magician's or Basteleur's apprentice.

In the first post of this thread, I made mention of the visual similarity of this card and the Magician. In many ways, it seems that the four elemental implements which are often indicated (even if not in a quite literally obvious manner) upon the Magician's table are here somewhat implied (at least to reflective interpretation) by the fourfoldness often depicted in the quartering of the Coin. Also, whereas the Basteleur at times holds a smallish 'coin' in his lower hand, the Valet holds a large one in his upper hand. Whereas for the Magician the whole act is focussed upon all his working tools, being able to work and tranform them at Will, the Valet is working on the Coins, somewhat duplicating, but with this implement only, what the Magician has already mastered for all... (but it is also worth remembering that the Magician is but taking his first step upon his spiritual journey).

In these ways, then, the Magician may be seen as a Valet accomplished in the arts of Magic (or prestigitation) which the Valet works in a more elementary form. The Higher Magic, however, is also indicated: the 'planted' Coin will metamorphosise by the Spiritual act of Will applied to it from on High, deep within the Earth's bosom.