Each of the four suits of the minor arcana have a bias in meaning. These are:
The ace cards symbolize the beginning or seed (raw) state and the ten cards the point of transition from one level to another. In other words the numeric order symbolizes levels of refinement. It is these cards that associate numerically with the ten sephira of the tree of life and we can symbolize this in I Ching format using a decagram:
------ 10 Transition (refined) [Kingdom] {The Gentle}
(world of action)
------ 9 [Foundation] {The Arousing}
------ 8 [Honour] {Keeping Still}
------ 7 [Victory] {The Joyous}
------ 6 [Beauty][manifestation of archetypes in formation]
------ 5 [Severity] {The Abysmal - Water}
------ 4 [Mercy] {The Clinging - Fire}
(world of formation)
------ 3 [Understanding] {Pure yin - Receptive}
------ 2 [Wisdom] {Pure yang - Creative}
(world of creation)
------ 1 Beginning,Seed (raw) [Crown]{T'ai Chi}
(world of archetypes)
This 'path work' is definitely temporal, there is no route from 1 to 3 as there is in the tree of life diagram, although the association of trigrams to positions suggests a correlation with the different possible ordering of the trigrams on the base template (binary sequence vs traditional sequence).
Each suit is a path of refinement through the basic elements and their associations. Using this as a key, we can derive card to hexagram pair relationships. In the decagram, we found that trigrams were associated with 8 of the 10 lines, 2-3-4-5-7-8-9-10. We can use this by applying this sequence to row 5 of the I Ching. template In this row there are 32 cells (five-line symbols). Under each cell are two hexagrams, part of row 6. The meanings of these hexagrams should be associated in some way with the meaning of the associated numbered card for the element associated with row 2 (fire, water, air, earth).
As an example, let us consider the sixteen hexagrams associated with a digram. We will consider the digram of Lesser Yin; associated with Fire and the suit of Wands. From this are derived the trigrams The Arousing and The Clinging.
24,27,42,03,51,21,17,25,36,22,63,37,55,30,49,13
For card numbering and the I Ching we have 2-3-4-5-7-8-9-10
applicable to row 5 (counting right to left).
24,27,42,03,51,21,17,25,36,22,63,37,55,30,49,13
10 10 09 09 08 08 07 07 05 05 04 04 03 03 02 02
Starting from the right:
13 Fellowship with Men & 49 Revolution
Card 02 (Form,Fertility,Cooperation) of Wands
Normal - "Sign of achievement in business and plans"
Reverse - "Foundations laid may not bring desired results"
30 The Clinging & 55 Abundance
Card 03 (Seed,Life,SelfExpression) of Wands
Normal - "Someone willing to give assistance; partnership
or cooperation possible"
Reverse - "Talents, skills, efforts being wasted; new direction
needed"
37 The Family & 63 After Completion
Card 04 (Foundation,Solid,Discipline) of Wands
Normal - "Harmony, peace, and satisfaction"
Reverse - "Positive improvement; well on the way to achievement"
22 Grace & 36 Darkening of the Light
Card 05 (Uncertainty,Activity,Freedom) of Wands
Normal - "Opposing energies create agitation"
Reverse - "Harmony and a sense of peace will prevail"
17 Following[Believing] & 25 Innocence
Card 07 (Soul development) of Wands
Normal - "You are well blessed with inner strength"
Reverse - "Plumb your own depths and feel the strength within"
51 The Arousing & 21 Biting Through
Card 08 (earthly progress) of Wands -
Normal - "Acceleration in your affairs;movement, news coming in"
Reverse - "Apprehension creates an insecure feeling"
42 Increase and 03 Difficulty at the Beginning
Card 09 (attainment) of Wands -
Normal - "You are able to maintain control of your interests.
Must use discretion in any forthcoming venture"
Reverse - "Not applying yourself; you lack initiative."
24 Return & 27 Corners of the Mouth (Hungering)
Card 10 (transition emphasis) of Wands -
Normal - "You have been under pressure and experienced many
changes in life."
Reverse - "Talent, ability, skills etc., used in the wrong way"
These, at times, striking similarities suggest a common base. As we have seen in the major arcana on the tree of life, this pattern of correlation continues. Below is listed the full hexagram/minor arcana associations. The hexagrams are in their Fu Hsi order (binary):
CUPS (EARTH) Hexagrams (RECEPTIVE BASE)
02 02,23
03 08,20
04 16,35
05 45,12
(KEEPING STILL BASE)
07 15,52
08 39,53
09 62,56
10 31,33
DISKS (WATER) (ABYSMAL BASE)
02 07,04
03 29,59
04 40,64
05 47,06
(GENTLE BASE)
07 46,18
08 48,57
09 32,50
10 28,44
-----------------------------------------------------MID POINT
WANDS (FIRE) (AROUSING BASE)
10 27,24
09 42,03
08 21,51
07 25,17
(CLINGING BASE)
05 22,36
04 37,63
03 30,55
02 13,49
SWORDS (AIR) (JOYOUS BASE)
10 41,19
09 61,60
08 38,54
07 10,58
(CREATIVE BASE)
05 26,11
04 09,05
03 14,34
02 01,43
As one goes through the associations, it is the generic patterns of meaning that I am attempting to show. These 'meanings' occur in the same positions on the template diagram (see the Template diagram for for the generic form). Since different systems (i.e. I Ching, Tarot etc), when placed on the template show correlations in meaning, this adds creedence to the author's argument that there is a template of meaning within the brain.
Where there is no apparent match, then either the card text has become corrupted or missassociated or there just is NO association.
The concept of corruption is evident, for example, in the association between the Major arcana card of "The Hermit" with the I Ching card "Darkening of the Light". The latter is pretty explicit in form and deals with hiding one's light within oneself until times change (hiding one's preferred path). The former, in it's modern form shows the image of a hermit holding up a lantern to show the way. In it's original form this card showed a hermit shielding the light of the lantern behind his cape. The association between hexagram and card is through path 20 which has the possible generic association of the clinging trigram as inner with ALL other trigrams as outers, implies guidance of some sought.
The hexagram is also associated with the minor arcana 5 of wands which has an interpretation of "Opposing energies create agitation"(p82 Connolly).
As suggested above, the paths to Kether (Crown) and Tipareth (Beauty) hold within them specific as well as generic meanings. The nodes are symbolic of all the base forms and thus have no specific trigram association since trigrams are bias to process. A possible manner of association is:
Path Card Generic Specific
path 11 The Fool - Pure Yang (01)
path 12 The Magician - Pure Yin (02)
path 13 The High Priestess - ALL generic trigrams. --
path 15 The Emperor - Creative based hexagrams. 01
path 17 The Lovers - Receptive based hexagrams. 02
path 20 The Hermit - Clinging based hexagrams(Guidance/Direction).30
path 22 Justice - Abysmal based hexagrams(Security). 29
path 24 Death - Joyous based hexagrams(Stimulation/Reflect). 58
path 25 Temperance - Arousing based hexagrams(Inspire). 51
path 26 The Devil - Keeping Still based hexagrams(Restraint/Think)52
Those hexagrams with The Gentle as base, are associated with node
10 which is also the node 1 (Kether) for the next level.
These associations suggest possible mismatches. For example, the
cards for paths 24 and 25 have subtle implications that associate more
with the alternative trigrams:
(24)Death(Transition) --> Arousing (path25)
(25)Temperance --> The Joyous (path24)
I hope that the associations between the I Ching and Tarot, together with those made earlier with the Qabalah, have helped to emphasize the point that there seems to be a common origin to these systems. The fact that we can link them all to the template is exciting but I also think it possible that there is more to this in that the symbolisms used may have originated in some previous culture with that culture developing these symbols within the context set by the template.
If this were NOT the case, then the strong associations link directly with the template - demonstrating a common neurological system of classification of extreme power.