Ace of Wands |
Cups |
Swords |
Disks
Knight of Wands |
Cups |
Swords |
Disks
Queen of Wands |
Cups |
Swords |
Disks
Prince of Wands |
Cups |
Swords |
Disks
Princess of Wands |
Cups |
Swords |
Disks
The court cards of the Tarot (king, queen, knight, page) differ quite a bit in their nomenclature between classical Tarot and Crowley's Book of Thoth. In Crowley's system, most of the cards are retitled. This retitling may seem arbitrary at first, but if you look at the Qabalistic significance of each card, the logic becomes clear:
Sephirah | Classical | Thoth |
---|---|---|
Kether | Ace | Ace |
Chokmah | King | Knight |
Binah | Queen | Queen |
Tiphareth | Knight | Prince |
Malkuth | Page | Princess |
Chokmah and Binah are the active and passive principles of the Supernal Triad. As such, they stand in the place of the Yod and first Heh of יהוה, the generative male and female principles from which the universe is created. Chokmah cannot be the king, because there is only one King — that which sits above Kether. Rather, Chokmah receives and executes the King's Will; it is, therefore, a knight.
Tiphareth and Malkuth are the defining Sephiroth of their respective worlds, Yetzirah (Formation) and Assiah (Action). Subsidiary to the Knight and Queen, they are the Vau and second Heh in יהוה, the act of creating (an active principle) and the creation (a passive principle). They are necessarily male and female, so the Page — a male — will not do; yet they are not master and servant but rather brother and sister: ergo, Prince and Princess. For he is ever a sun, and she a moon.
Liber AL I:16
In all of this, the Ace, neither male nor female, stands alone in Kether, the highest Sephirah. It is the bridge between that which is Above and that which is Below; and, being One, is the seed from which all other numbers proceed. It is also the embodiment of the other four cards, containing the entire יהוה within itself.
...But of course, now that we've laid that all out so clearly, we will confuse it by pointing out that the four court cards also each associate with one of the worlds; and the Knight associates with Atziluth (Archetype), whose one Sephirah (Kether) the Ace controls. So in that respect, the Ace and Knight are identical. Similarly, the Sephirah Chokmah, being Two, associates with the twos as well as the Kings, so One equals Two and the Knight is both of them.
The Perfect and the Perfect are one Perfect and not two; nay, are none!Liber AL I:45
No one ever tried to claim this mysticism thing was easy. Mystification, now, that's easy; but to be able to dish it out like this takes years of study, thought, and contortionism.
Read more about: