Playing Cards Suits: General Descriptions 

According to Richmond, the heart and diamond represent the 'light' energy of the cards, and the club and spade represent the 'dark' energy.  Though Richmond related the concepts of light to beneficial and dark to problematic, I do not follow his lead here.  Rather, in a very general way I see the light cards as being reflective of conscious processes, with the dark cards being reflective of subconscious processes.

Hearts
  • The heart represents the initial imprint inscribed into the conscious being as life first emerges.  Life initiates from a divine drop of nectar that drips down from the pineal gland and lands in the center of the pool of love in the heart.
  • A love vibration ripples out from the heart and creates 3 concentric circles, essentially standing waves about a central point of concentration.  This central point contains the wisdom of the entire life process.
  • Any deviation from this center point takes us out of the heart and puts us directly into the realm of choice, the lower 3 chakras.  The goal of life is to create a bridge between any chakra location and this central point of the heart.  A childlike youth will be the reward, an unhealthy karmic pattern the bane.
  • Returning to the center always accentuates harmony.  It is to this central point that we return upon death, so any deviation from it will be recounted.
Hearts
  • The club represents the mental projection of ego, an identification of self that emerges as a result of conscious awareness. 
  • As the first ring out from the source, the mind takes on the duty of mentally creating thoughts as a way of defining the way it sees itself.  This is the world of ideas where forms are created.
  • A feedback mechanism is in place where the thought is issued out the 3rd chakra voice, which creates a 2nd chakra feeling to be later analyzed and purified by the 5th chakra listening.  
  • If the ego is committed to listening, the feeling will be integrated through the intuitive mechanism of the heart.  Here is where the poison is removed from the nectar and the eternal soul is nourished.
  • If the ego instead is in judgment, an experience will show up as a direct reflection of the intent to judge, such that the shadow-self becomes visible through another.  Here is where the poison of the Vishuddha (5th chakra) has to be burned in the central fire of the Manipura (central 3rd chakra).
Hearts
  • The diamond provides access to creator through the physical experience of individual desire, or feeling.
  • The body is the vehicle for the soul, and the desire of the creator is satisfied due to the experience offered through this body.
  • Desire is purified as a result of the adjustment of feelings that are triggered due to relationships.
  • When the personal desire is aligned with the soul desire, relationship becomes an avenue to awaken in us the value of life.
  • Difficulties arise in relationship as a direct reflection of our own shadow self, revealing the 3rd chakra intention.
Hearts
  • The spade represents the soul, or root cause for our existence. Due to that, there is an innate desire to uncover all patterns in need of adjustment or purification. The body is the vehicle.
  • Transformation is indicated here, and avoidance of this duty will almost always lead to ill health.
  • Through diligence and an undying urge to serve, a rebirth will often be achieved such that any pain or sorrow incurred will in turn be cherished.
  • This transformative process is always at work and the more it is embraced the less painful anything appears. This is the place where we rarify the seed of our next creation.

Playing Cards Numbers: The Power of 4

The numbers are the first of the archetypes to emerge from the void.  All other archetypes like the suits, planets, etc. are extended from the numbers and represent access points to the deeper wisdom contained within the number.  The basis of this system is rooted in the field of number.  Therefore, any aspect of this system (or of nature in general) can be analyzed in terms of number.  In this sense, number represents the fundamental construct that underlies the manifest world.  There are two main aspects of the numbers that are carried out to infinity, that being the odd and even sequences:

  • Zero is actually the container for number rather than a number itself.  It represents the boundary that surrounds our visible world, essentially the arena within which creation unfolds.  From the great void, the '0' coalesced to contain the emerging One. 
  • One is the creative force of spirit that works to animate the visible world.  The birthing process for the '1' is two-fold, though both processes happen simultaneously.  As the active, creative force concentrates into a single point of consciousness, the '0' congeals as a barrier to contain this single point.

Since the creation of the '0' and the '1' are Dependant upon each other they cannot be separated, though they can be analyzed independently.  Where the '1' represents the creative force behind creation, the '0' represents the space within which creation occurs.  This discussion of the zero and the one is an abstract subject, though it does underscore a fundamental principal of nature: Duality.  However you choose to see it—positive/negative, active/passive, yang/yin—the workings of duality are indicated.  The zero and one are dualistic aspects of Spirit, where zero represents the void ('no thing') and one represents unity ('all things').  There is actually no separation, the zero and one are different polarities of the same concept.  Separation does not occur until the abstract becomes tangible. 

The zero reflects into the tangible as the Two.  Like the zero, two is always potentially pregnant, awaiting to birth the creative force of spirit.  This is a passive force, accessed as a function of the self-reflective nature of the subconscious.  The emergence of two however causes the one to realize itself through self-reflection, revealing that one has a tangible nature as well.  This internal revelry causes the one to reach out, wanting to touch itself in some way.  And true to its nature, one impregnates the two who births their son: Three.  At this point we are starting to see the overwhelming power that One holds within itself. 

It is the seeking nature within One that then becomes the dominant paradigm of the three.  Like the One, Three cannot help but create.  This is an innate desire, the highest form being the desire to seek creator—or unity.  As a rule, all odd numbers align with this innate desire and are involved with the conscious mental processes, often playing an active or creative role.  Equally, all even numbers carry the same potentiality of the zero, essentially providing the space necessary for creation to play out.  The zero is linked to the subconscious and to all processes that are self-reflective, often, but not always, playing out in the background as a passive role.

Playing Cards Numbers: General Descriptions:

Below is a list of some common generalities that have been associated with the numbers.  The odd numbers are colored yellow to indicate that they represent the active principle of nature, the creative ability and obligation associated with evolution.  The even numbers are colored blue to indicate the passive principle of nature, the force within nature that responds to and makes physical its creative ability.

 

0
  • Positive - Womb, uninhibited, boundless space, unlimited time, innocent.
  • Negative - spacey, unaware, foolish.
   
1
  • Positive - Masculine, will, sensation, unity, the father, active, newness, initiator, God consciousness, oneness, electric.
  • Negative - self-centered, quitter.
13
  • Positive - Authority, Transformation of the material to the spiritual, realization of our mortality, detachment, universal movement, radical change, frequency shift, active principle of humanity.
  • Negative - Combativeness, Antagonism.
2
  • Positive - Feminine, desire, polarity, feeling, duality, reproduction, the mother, union, balance, magnetic, cooperation.
  • Negative - moody, emotional.
12
  • Positive - Complex connectedness, larger patterns, Prometheus, receptivity, union of inner and outer, incubation of the life seed, principle of birth, spiritual nature of man, promise of immortality.
  • Negative - Judgmental, insecure, excessive discipline, self-richeous.
3
  • Positive - Intention, trinity, thinking, movement, triangle, flow, rhythm, integration of polarity, the created one, divine love within humanity, creativity.
  • Negative - indecisive, scattered.
11
  • Positive - Justice, youth, exposure of core, self-directed, removal of masks, new beginning based upon past achievements, self-made man.
  • Negative - Complex life processes, irresponsibility.
4
  • Positive -Intuition, manifestation, relationship, order, natural cycles, solid foundation, stability, discernment, architect, discipline.
  • Negative - Domineering, manipulative, jealousy.
10
  • Positive - Completion, full circle, unconditional love, mirror to the unmanifest, alignment with essence, true identity, window of the '0', luck or fate, grace.
  • Negative - superiority complex, edgy
5
  • Positive - Soul, core purpose, change, the senses, sacred center, sex, striving toward spirit, listening, variety, freedom.
  • Negative - Escape, restless, dissatisfied.
9
  • Positive - Initiation, tidying up loose ends, greater cycles, maturity, wisdom, inner light, truth.
  • Negative - Overwhelm, hubris.
6
  • Positive - Divine law, higher mind, karma, comforter, harmony, balance, divine mirror, union of heaven and earth, divine love within nature, perfection, synchronization.
  • Negative - Inertia, lazy, avoidance of duties, procrastination, monotony.
8
  • Positive - Power, balance of lower forces, taming the forces of nature, evolving to higher nature, mastery, balance of cause and effect, harmonic resonance.
  • Negative - Oppressive, excessive, manipulative.
7
  • Positive -control over passions, mystical alignment, perfection of spirit, union of God and nature in man, self-acceptance.
  • Negative - Critical, shallow, suspicious.