Leo in the court cards

King of Wands (trimmed):

© Universal Waite Tarot

Different traditions have different astrological correspondences when it comes to the Court Cards. For instance, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn chose to assign cardinal attributes (initiating things) to the Queens, fixed (maintaining order) to the Kings, and mutable (being able to adapt and transform) 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.

In this image from the Universal Waite Tarot, we can see symbols of the lion on the wall behind the King of Wands’ throne.  

King of Wands (trimmed):

© Shadowscapes Tarot

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.

Prince of Wands (trimmed):

© Thoth Tarot

The Thoth deck follows the Golden Dawn convention, of course.  Instead of Kings, though, he chose to have Princes, just to confuse us – but 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, 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.

Queen of Wands (trimmed):

© Sharman-Burke/Caselli
Beginners Guide to the 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’ 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!

Queen of Wands (trimmed):

© Druid Craft Tarot

In this image from Juliet Sharman-Burke's Beginners Guide to the Tarot, we can see lions decorating her throne, as well as a lion-coloured cat at her feet! 

Even in the Druid Craft 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.

Beginner’s Guide to the Tarot created by Juliet Sharman-Burke, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli, published by Connections

Druid Craft 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

Thoth Tarot created by Aleister Crowley, illustrated by Lady Frieda Harris, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Universal Waite Tarot created by Mary Hanson-Roberts & Pamela Colman-Smith, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Letting Rome burn - Margarete Petersen's Father of Flames

Father of Flames (trimmed): ©Margarete Petersen

Margarete Petersen’s Father of Flames sits astride a wall while a fire rages all around.  He looks inscrutable, rather than charming or persuasive!  I think of Nero, above it all while Rome burns... although clearly there's no fiddling going on here, and I suspect the motivation is somewhat different!

Petersen writes, in her accompanying boook, “Originating from the flame, my mind is a firework...”, and about being “part of the cycle of dissolution and renewal”.  This strikes me as rather Ten-of-Wands-like, but as a King he would be the final card in the suit, so there's an even more marked ending of a cycle here. As with other Fathers/Kings in this deck, she talks about cleansing and giving structure.

I can see the ‘end of a cycle’ aspect in the roaring fire, but then most of the Flames cards have a fire or flame in theme, so if it wasn’t for the ‘King’ sitting on the wall ‘above it all’, I’m not sure the fire helps much with the interpretation.  His pose does suggest a belief that he can do whatever he wants, even if he’s not actually doing anything at the moment!  Independent and master of all, resolute. Not so sure about the magnetism that is often associated with the King of Wands - what do you think?

A little nod to Mr Sinatra here....

 

Flames leap all around -

Above them, untouched, free to act

I do it my way.

 

Margarete Petersen Tarot, AGM-URANIA, 2004. 

Aries in the Druidcraft - court cards

Different traditions use different astrological correspondences when it comes to the court cards. These correspondences often (but not always!) depend on how cardinality, fixity and mutability have been assigned.  As Aries is the cardinal Fire sign, I’m looking for the Wands court card that’s associated with cardinality. 

The Druidcraft, although not created specifically with astrology in mind, seems to follow the ‘Kings as cardinal’ convention. The hints are in the imagery of the King of Wands -  the arms of his ‘throne’ are decorated with rams’ heads, and he wears red, the colour of Mars (Aries’ ruler) and of Fire.

Detail from ‘King of Wands’, 

Druidcraft Tarot

 ©Will Worthington

As an Aries figure, the King of Wands represents an active leader, someone who wants to inspire and initiate.  Will Worthington’s King looks as though he’s ready for action – his feet and staff/wand are firmly planted on the ground, his shield at his side.  He could launch himself forward using his staff or wand to help him move, rather than as a symbol of power (as might the Emperor/Lord).

 He could represent someone who’s ambitious, even competitive – although his real skill lies in his ability to encourage and inspire others.  Mars, as the ruler of Aries, adds a restlessness and tendency to impatience to this King - but also a strong sense of belief and confidence in himself and his abilities.  We think of the King of Wands as a natural leader – another Aries quality – who attracts people through his vitality and sense of fun and adventure.  

The shadow side of the King, still thinking in terms of Arien qualities – apart from a tendency to be impatient – is that he could become bored quite easily.  He’s the cardinal Fire sign, so will be great at getting things going but may find it difficult to maintain that creative drive through to an end.  He’s a King, a leader, but may find the responsibility of leadership a burden.  Inspiration and encouragement of others are his forte, rather than the sense of obligation to meet their demands or expectations.  Having said that, he’ll be the one to take risks in order to implement or initiate change – or encourage others to do so.

Druidcraft Tarot created by Philip Carr-Gomm and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, illustrated by Will Worthington, published by Connections