Universal Waite Tarot |
Different traditions have different astrological
correspondences when it comes to the Court Cards. For instance, the Book-Tsystem attributes the cardinal attributes (initiating things) to the Queens, fixed (maintaining
order) to the Kings, and mutable (being able to adapt and transform; disseminate) to the
Knights. Each court card is also linked
to the elements, with Pages with Earth, Knights being associated with Fire,
Queens with Water, and Kings with Air.
Following this system, we end up with Leo being associated with the King
of Wands (Fire of Fire). It’s actually
more complicated than that, though, as each court card ruling from 20° in one
sign to 20° in the next. This means that
Leo is associated with the Knight of Pentacles (Fire of Earth) as well – but I
stick to the card on the cusp of Leo, the King of Wands.
Shadowscapes Tarot |
In this image from the Universal Rider Waite, we can see
symbols of the lion on the wall behind the King of Wands’ throne. The Shadowscapes’ King of Wands contains
lions too, representing the fierce pride of the king. He’s the alpha male, king
of his pride, and not afraid to go after whatever he wants. Confident, strong, bold – and graceful, too.
Thoth Tarot |
Crowley followed this tradition too, in his Thoth deck. Although he chose to have Princes rather than Kings we can see the power of the Sun, as Leo’s ruler,
coming through in this image, not to mention the lion pulling the chariot. The
Sun King rides! Like the child, or
children, often seen in the Sun card this figure is naked, symbolizing freedom and
openness. He feels no need for
protection. He holds a phoenix-headed
staff in one hand, the phoenix being the bird that burns and rises from the
ashes – another symbol of renewal, much like the child in the Sun card. Here we
have the master of creativity – nothing standing in his way. There’s strength here too – a combination of
Strength and the Sun, if you like.
Sharman-Caselli Tarot |
Other decks follow a different convention. They keep the Knights as carriers
of mutable qualities, but have the Queens taking on the ‘fixed’ attributes and
the Kings the ‘cardinal’ ones. This
gives us the Queen of Wands as the Leo card.
That combination of fire and fixed-ness suggests a mix of fiery enthusiasm
and optimism, but there are some boundaries this Queen won’t cross. She’s not
going to take risks – not in the way that the roving, changeable Knight or the
dynamic, ‘go-getter’ (cardinal) King might. But
she’s quite likely to be able to look after a number of things at the same time
– she can compartmentalize very successfully, and can make herself available to
whoever needs her. And given all the
mythology (see my previous post, ‘Leo in the Major Arcana’) linking women with
lions, it feels appropriate that it should be the Queen, rather than one of the
other Wands court cards, with the link to the sign of Leo!
Druidcraft Tarot |
In this image from the Sharman-Caselli tarot, we can see
lions decorating her throne, as well as a lion-coloured cat at her feet! Even
in the Druidcraft tarot, which tends to follow a more druidic wheel of the
year, the Queen of Wands has a rather lion-like cat under her throne... and
although the Universal Waite’s Queen’s cat is black, those lions adorn her
throne too.
Druidcraft
Tarot created by Philip Carr-Gomm
and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by
Connections
Shadowscapes Tarot created by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law and Barbara Moore, published by
Llewellyn
Sharman-Caselli Tarot created by Juliet
Sharman-Burke, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections
Thoth Tarot created by Aleister
Crowley, illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris, published by US Games Systems, Inc.
Universal Waite Tarot created by Mary Hanson-Roberts & Pamela
Colman-Smith, published by US Games Systems, Inc.
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