thinbuddha said:
I think using numerology as a system for interpreting pips is superior to using the Major Arcana I to X for one big reason: what makes those 10 arcana so important that they need to be represented 5 times in a single deck? Yeah, I know- there are differences because of the suits, but it still always bothered me.
I'm
very glad you posted that because I've been touting that method, telling people to relate them to the Majors I-X. It worked for me because what I was actually doing was using the Majors as a mnemonic device to recall the numerological meanings. I just never consciously thought about it, so I didn't explain it. But of course, one would relate the II's to a receptive state of gestation rather than a female pope! The number vibration, not the picture!
You are wrong about one thing, though. The values repeat in the four suits, and TWICE in the Majors. That's six times. If you read the Courts as combined values, that's seven times.
I even devised a system that I used for a while (OK- for about 3 days) where one would add the numbers of the card, and any cards directly adjacent to it to get the Major that you would use to interpret it (in a given spread). For example, if you had a 7 cups with a 9 wands and a 7 coins on either side of it, you would end up with 7+9+7=23 = I Magician. For reasons that should have been obvious to me, this turns reading a large spread into more of a math problem than a intuitive act. The only reason I describe this method is not because I endorse it (I DO NOT) it is to illustrate the lengths I went to to avoid the unhappy situation of using I through X to describe the pips.
I have a system noted down someplace that someone designed, that uses Papus in combination with astrology. Fascinating, (and brilliant, I think!) but cumbersome for similar reasons.
So yeah- if you are going to use a system, I think that some sort of numerology might be the way to go. But some people don't use such a system. You might be better off letting your vision be open to seeing something that "isn't really there". I think that intuition trumps any system out there, if you can do it. I can only do it maybe one time in 10, but I think you can get better at it with practice.
I like Jodorowsky's numerology. You get a basic, reliable framework and you can bring as much intuition into the picture as you like.
In short, it's like this:
1) beginning of a new cycle, everything in potential
2) accumulation, preparation for action
3) creative explosion, profound transformation
4) equilibrium, stability
5) new ideal, temptation to go further
6) aperture, pleasure, doing what one enjoys
7) action in the world
8) perfection, receptivity
9) positive crisis, new construction
10) end of the cycle, completion of the experience (permits the start of a new cycle)
Even numbers are receptive energy and odd numbers are active, so the polarity reverses at each stage.
The numbers are not reduced in this system, thus, L'Imperatrice and Trump XIII are two sides of the same coin and both come under the 3 (which fits like a glove,IMHO) rather than saying "13: 1+3=4" the way you would do in conventional numerology.
Valets carry both II and III, Reynes both IIII and V, Roys both VI and VII, and Cavaliers both VIII and VIIII.
Very easy to remember and works like a charm.