The cards of the Lesser Arcana present to us the vibrations of Number, Colour and Element---that is the plane on which number and colour function. Thus, in the Ten of Pentacles we have the number Ten and tertiary colours, citrine, olive, and russet, working in Malkuth, the material plane. Whereas in the Ten of Wands we have the number Ten and the tertiarties working in pure energy. In these cards, the Sephirah is indicated by the colouring of the clouds; the plane by the colouring of the symbols.

The four honours of each suit taken in their most abstract sense may be interpreted as:

Potential Power...................................The King
Brooding Power................................The Queen
Power in action..................................The Prince
Reception and Transmission...........The Princess

All these cards are coloured according to their elements plus the Sephirah to which they are attributed. With the Greater Arcana, the Trumps, however, we are given the Keys to divine manifestation, each one an individual force to be considered independently. It must never be forgotten that the Trumps are, intrinsically, glyphs of cosmic not human forces.

0. The Foolish Man. This card as usually presented shows a man in motley striding along, heedless of the dog which tears his garments and threatens to attack him. In this is seen only the lower aspect of the card, giving no hint to the Divine Folly of which St. Paul speaks. But in the Order pack, an effort is made to reveal the deeper meaning. A naked child stands beneath a rose-tree bearing yellow roses---the golden Rose of Joy as well as the Rose of Silence. While reaching up to the Roses, he yet holds in leash a grey wolf, worldly wisdom held in check by perfect innocence. The colours are pale yellow, pale blue, greenish yellow---suggestive of a spring day.

I. The Magician. It represents the union and balance of the elemental powers controlled by the mind. The Adept dedicating the minor implements on the Altar. The paths of Beth and Mercury link Kether the Crown with Binah, the Aimah Elohim. The Magician, therefore, is reflected in the Intellect which stores and gathers up knowledge and pours it into the House of Life, Binah. The number of the Path, 12, suggests the synthesis of the Zodiac, as Mercury it the synthesis of the planets, The colours yellow, violet, grey and indigo, point to the mysterious astral light surrounding the great Adept. It is a card linked with the name Tahuti and Hermes as the previous one is with Krishna and Harparkrat or Dionysius.

 

II. The High Priestess. The High Priestess rules the long path uniting Kether to Tiphareth, crossing the reciprocal Paths of Venus and Leo. She is the great feminine force controlling the very source of life, gathering into herself all the energising forces and holding them in solution until the time of release. Her colours, pale blue, deepening into sky blue, silvery white, and silver, relieved by touches of orange and flame, carry out these ideas.

III. The Empress. She is an aspect of Isis; the creative side of Nature is suggested here. The Egyptian trilogy, Isis, Hathor and Nephthys, symbolised by the crescent, full moon, and gibbous moon are represented in the Tarot by the High Priestess, Hathor. The Empress, Isis, takes either the crescent moon or Venus as her symbol. Justice, Nephthys, takes the gibbous moon.

Isis and Venus gives the aspect of Love, while Hathor is rather the Mystic, the full mooon reflecting the Sun of Tiphareth while Yesod, transmitting the rays of the Sun in her path Gimel. In interpreting a pratical Tarot it is often admissible to regard the Empress as standing for Occultism. The High Priestess for religion, the Church as distinguished from the Order.

The Empress, whose letter is Daleth, is the Door of the inner mysteries, as Venus is the door of the Vault. Her colours are emerald, sky-blue, blue-green and cerise or rose-pink.

IV. The Emperor. Here we have the great energising forces as indicated by the varying shades of red. It may be noted here that the red paths remain red in all planes, varying only in shade, Thus Aries, the Emperor, the Pioneer, the General, is blood and deep crimson, red, pure vermillion or glowing fiery red. He is Ho Nike, the Conqueror, hot, passionate, impetuous, the apotheosis of Mars, whether in love or in war. He is the positive masculine as the Empress is the positive feminine.

V. Hierophant. The High Priest is the counterpart of the High Priestess. As Aries is the house of Mars and the exaltation of the Sun, so Taurus is the house of Venus and the exaltation of the Moon. He is reflective or mystical aspect of the masculine. He is the thinker as the Emperor is the doer.

His colours, unlike the Emperor, vary considerably. Red, orange, maroon, deep brown, and chestnut brown, suggest veiled thought, interior power, endurance, contemplation and reconciliation. This card frequently indicates the hidden guardianship of the Masters.