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The Magician & The Wheel of Fortune The Sun Ones & Nines In The Numerical Tarot:The Fives
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THE FIVESIn the 5s of Pentacles and Cups, we see two more examples of cards The Numerical Tarot would veiw as positive and "good" but that appear negative or even bad. It's not quite clear to me why these fives have been singled out as being so hopelessly bad, but in a balanced deck, like The Numerical Tarot, this lack of symmetry and lack of balance is corrected. For now we will deal with the symbols given to us.The number five is a pivotal point on the number line, and as such becomes an important number to the idea of control. On the negative side this control is in trouble or, not in control. On the positive side it is (or should be) affirmative, or in control.In the 5 of Wands, we have what The Numerical Tarot would consider a correct example of negative control, five young men mixing it up at the midpoint of the number line. In creating such a conflict they symbolize the physical aspects of competing over the final, central, or pivotal point of the theoretical model existence put forth in the book All Things Are Numbers and elsewhere on this site. At best we see them as just that, competing - they are rivals, meeting a challenge. At worst however, they are seen as antagonistic, arguing and fighting, in a state of total anarchy.Next, in the 5 of Swords, we see a man who has successfully defeated two other opponents and taken their swords from them. In causing such defeat, he symbolizes the less tangible, more emotional equivalent to the competition seen in the 5 of Wands, that of winning or loosing. At best he represents winning domination. At worst he represents a shallow victory or, in the case of the other two men, a crushing defeat. Thus we see how this man has taken the vulnerability of the 4 of Swords, defeated it in the 5 and sent it into exile in the following 6 (4/5/6).On the ameliorate side, we should have two examples of affirmative control. Again, if this deck were laid out properly, the 5 of Pentacles would have the same young men as the 5 of Wands, only now they would be shaking hands, working together as a team, i.e. cooperative mates instead of antagonistic rivals. At best they would represent agreements, cooperation, and conformity - an alternating five that governs effectively. At worst they would represent manipulation, and excessive governmental control.But instead this deck has chosen to illustrate this card with two people, down and out, perhaps the victims of manipulation, or perhaps the victims of the alleged miser in card 4, and looking for alms in card 6 (4/5/6). They are peasants who are lost. They are not in control, but urgently seek it. They need salvation to get back on their feet and regain the control they had. Perhaps they will find what they need in the church they are passing. Or maybe they will find it in the following 6 of Pentacles card.Moving on we see, in the 5 of Cups, how the issue is not one of winning or loosing, but security vs. insecurity. Here, though, we see what looks like the bad side of this card being illustrated. The man in this card is upset, over the spilt cups in front of him. To The Numerical Tarot he symbolizes the rigidity of a person who is in fact too secure. This man is living in a rut. He has been so accustomed to having five secure cups in front of him, that the loss of three might just as well mean the loss of all. He becomes so preoccupied with his loss, that he doesn't even acknowledge the other two cups still intact. At best we could say that he is safe and secure, proud and righteous. At worst he is upset and doesn't know what to do. He is emotionally lost and guilt-ridden. He symbolizes something that has gone wrong instead of right.ON THE MATRIX - On the matrix of inter-related ideas used by The Numerical Tarot, we see how the ultimate in-betweeness of a 5 doesn't really fit into the same scheme of cards with equidistant partners as seen in every other card. But, because all cards are capable of representing all aspects of extremes and in-betweens, the fives do contain divisions between action and emotion. But because there are no opposing cards to delineate these separations they are simply understood as co-existent within each card.BACK TO MAJORS - In relating these cards to the Majors we associate the arguments of the 5 of Wands, and the loosing in the 5 of Swords to the need for temperance within a core, and thereby relate these cards to the card of Temperance. And in restoring the 5 of Pentacles to that of cooperative mates and the 5 of Cups to a secure and safe life, we associate these cards to the control of the Hierophant card.IN THE ISOMORPHIC TAROT DECK, a controlled exchange is symbolized by two people shaking hands. While on the negative side we see two people arguing and wrestling for wands. In the suit of Roses, temperance is seen in the equipoise of an eagle. While on the negative side, a flying demon creates nothing but trouble.IN THE NUMERICAL TAROT DECK, (UNDER CONSTRUCTION, COME BACK LATER!) |
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