Michael Sternbach
Am I getting this right that one of the things we are looking for is a scheme that combines two of the Major Arcana to form a Minor? If so, we can derive the 36 numbered Pips from the Trumps by using their astrological correspondences according to the Golden Dawn system (I will be referring to their Thoth names in the following as these are the ones that come naturally to you and me). For instance, the Three of Wands equals the Sun in Aries, so that would be the Trumps XIX and IV combined.
The Aces belong to the Fifth Element or Spirit, which as such is represented by The Magician. The other elemental cards are The Fool = Air, The Hanged Man = Water, The Aeon = Fire, The Universe = Earth, so you would simply combine each of those with The Magician. That The Magician is also representing Mercury doesn't need to concern us, since we won't combine Mercury with any of the elements (only with signs) to derive any of the other Pips, so there will be no crossover. The Universe also has a second attribution, which is Saturn, but this doesn't need to bother us either here, as we combine The Magician as Spirit and The Universe as Earth with each other to get to the Ace of Disks.
Things get a little trickier when we consider the Courts. For instance, the Prince of Cups is Air of Water, so we would think of the combination The Fool/The Hanged Man, but the Queen of Swords is Water of Air or The Hanged Man/The Fool, that's the same combination, even though in reversed order. I don't think that we can simply swap the two constituents of a mathematical element in this scheme (as far as I understand it). Moreover, in four cases we would have combinations of an element with itself, such as Air of Air (The Fool/The Fool) for the Prince of Swords.
We could work around most of these difficulties by assuming the planets to be equivalents to the elements though, as is done both in traditional astrology and Tarot. Thus we consider Mars = Fire, Venus = Water, Jupiter = Air, Saturn = Earth, and these are at once the elemental attributions of The Tower, The Empress, Wheel of Fortune, The Universe.
So we now understand the Prince of Cups to be Fortune (Air/Jupiter) combined with The Hanged Man (Water), whereas the Queen of Swords is The Empress (Water/Venus) combined with The Fool (Air).
The only problem we are still left with seems to be that Earth of Earth (Princess of Disks) is the Universe combined with itself.
The Aces belong to the Fifth Element or Spirit, which as such is represented by The Magician. The other elemental cards are The Fool = Air, The Hanged Man = Water, The Aeon = Fire, The Universe = Earth, so you would simply combine each of those with The Magician. That The Magician is also representing Mercury doesn't need to concern us, since we won't combine Mercury with any of the elements (only with signs) to derive any of the other Pips, so there will be no crossover. The Universe also has a second attribution, which is Saturn, but this doesn't need to bother us either here, as we combine The Magician as Spirit and The Universe as Earth with each other to get to the Ace of Disks.
Things get a little trickier when we consider the Courts. For instance, the Prince of Cups is Air of Water, so we would think of the combination The Fool/The Hanged Man, but the Queen of Swords is Water of Air or The Hanged Man/The Fool, that's the same combination, even though in reversed order. I don't think that we can simply swap the two constituents of a mathematical element in this scheme (as far as I understand it). Moreover, in four cases we would have combinations of an element with itself, such as Air of Air (The Fool/The Fool) for the Prince of Swords.
We could work around most of these difficulties by assuming the planets to be equivalents to the elements though, as is done both in traditional astrology and Tarot. Thus we consider Mars = Fire, Venus = Water, Jupiter = Air, Saturn = Earth, and these are at once the elemental attributions of The Tower, The Empress, Wheel of Fortune, The Universe.
So we now understand the Prince of Cups to be Fortune (Air/Jupiter) combined with The Hanged Man (Water), whereas the Queen of Swords is The Empress (Water/Venus) combined with The Fool (Air).
The only problem we are still left with seems to be that Earth of Earth (Princess of Disks) is the Universe combined with itself.