Barleywine
Back in the '70s when I first started working with numerological correspondences in the tarot, the only method I knew to associate cards numerologically was by reduction: adding the digits of a two-digit number to create either a smaller two-digit number or even a single digit. Upon joining AT, I got a hint of another way, called "numerological transcendence," by which the last number in a two-digit number is considered a "higher order" of its original single-digit version.
The Devil as the 15th trump card is a good example. By reduction, it connects to the Lovers (1+5=6), and it can be seen as a corruption of the innocence of the Lovers, since there are many similarities in the two images. On the other hand, by transcendence, the last digit, "5," refers back to the Hierophant. My impression in looking at the RWS version of the two cards is that there is a strong visual correspondence there as well; the Devil suggests a spurning of the Hierophant's staid conservative values.
Similarly, the Sun can be related by reduction to both the Wheel of Fortune and the Magician, while by transcendence it connects to the Hermit. Since the Magician, the Hermit and the Sun all have a "singularity" about them, I see convergence between them. This adds a whole new mode of interpretation to my toolbox, so I think I'm going to use both where applicable.
Any thoughts from those who figure both reduction and transcendence into their interpretations?
The Devil as the 15th trump card is a good example. By reduction, it connects to the Lovers (1+5=6), and it can be seen as a corruption of the innocence of the Lovers, since there are many similarities in the two images. On the other hand, by transcendence, the last digit, "5," refers back to the Hierophant. My impression in looking at the RWS version of the two cards is that there is a strong visual correspondence there as well; the Devil suggests a spurning of the Hierophant's staid conservative values.
Similarly, the Sun can be related by reduction to both the Wheel of Fortune and the Magician, while by transcendence it connects to the Hermit. Since the Magician, the Hermit and the Sun all have a "singularity" about them, I see convergence between them. This adds a whole new mode of interpretation to my toolbox, so I think I'm going to use both where applicable.
Any thoughts from those who figure both reduction and transcendence into their interpretations?