AUTHOR’S NOTE: One of the oddest puzzles facing the esoteric neophyte upon first exposure to the Golden Dawn’s “Chaldean” wheel of astrological correspondences for the tarot is “Why on Earth don’t the twelve zodiacal court cards line up precisely with the 30-degree span of their designated signs? Why the offset?” For some strange reason, they “back up” (Lon Milo DuQuette’s term for it) into the last 10 degrees of the previous sign (a partition known as a decanate or “decan” for short), and forfeit the last 10 degrees of their own sign to the next court card in the counterclockwise progression of seasonal astrology. It implies that they must take one last sip of the “hair of the dog that bit them” – a kind of “fortifying” libation symbolized by the previous element – before they can rise from their preoccupation with the past and get on with present and future business. It suggests a hesitation to promptly commit to the year ahead (or maybe just a nagging “hangover”).

When interpreting the court cards as either the querent or someone else involved in the matter, these composite influences allow for a more refined “personality profile” that partakes of additional qualities. However, the elemental match is occasionally discordant. For example, the Queen of Wands must haul the dregs of the 10 of Cups along with her as the series unfolds, and the Queen of Swords is similarly encumbered with the 10 of Pentacles at her back.* At least the Queen of Cups and the Queen of Pentacles are coupled with the elementally compatible 10 of Swords and 10 of Wands, respectively. An equivalent mashup holds true for the Kings (Thoth Knights) and Knights (Thoth Princes) as shown in the above diagram. Although I understand the apparent justification for it, I’ve never found this “split-level” concept entirely convincing.

These dualities can also be considered from a diurnal (or clockwise) perspective. Suppose that it’s the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and zero degrees of Aries is rising on the Eastern horizon at dawn. The bossy Queen of Wands sits atop the first two decans of pugnacious Aries at this moment in time, but one-third of her bulk has already passed over the Ascendant and must tolerate the slack ways of the last decan of Pisces. The Golden Dawn tried to “ease the pain” of the transition by assigning fiery Mars to the 10 of Cups, but it is also ill-at-ease in Pisces. No matter how you slice it, Fire and Water aren’t going to cooperate unless you’re trying to generate steam (and even then you must prevent them from mingling directly).

For her part, the Queen of Swords is descending over the Western horizon and embracing the realm of Earth, with the 10 of Pentacles dogging her footsteps and soiling the hem of her robe (although this is minimized by nimble Mercury as ruler of Virgo, and of the last decan in particular). I doubt that she has reconciled herself to the “swords-into-plowshares” paradigm; that will have to wait for the less punctilious King and Knight of Swords. Another random impression I get from the Queen of Swords/10 of Pentacles merger is “the “plumbing is backed up;” as Water of Air, the Queen may succumb to “clogged drains” that will really hamper her fluidity of expression (like someone trying to talk with a bad head cold).

This discussion has led me to the realization that those of the twelve court cards that bridge incompatible elements are perhaps more schizophrenic than the rest. Apart from the two Queens mentioned above, this population includes the King and Knight of Swords (dominant Air battling subordinate Earth) and the King and Knight of Wands (primary Fire struggling with secondary Water). The segue isn’t smooth and the hand-off can be messy. In a reading it would be tempting to treat these six as restless and conflicted compared to their peers, while the other zodiacal court cards are more-or-less sympathetic to their foreign “house-guests” (another DuQuette metaphor) and make the best possible use of them.

I wrote a more elaborate essay on the subject back in 2018. Rather than trying to quote from it, I’ll just link it because it’s worth revisiting in its entirety. But I will offer this amusing snapshot of the Queen of Wands to draw you in: as Water-of-Fire she is imperious and petulant at the same time like Alice’s Queen of Hearts but more easily distracted. (“Off with their heads, right after I take my nap!”)

Those Fractured Court Cards

*As a responsible astrologer I should mention that the signs of the zodiac don’t physically move through the heavens, except with glacial slowness signified by the “Precession of the Equinoxes.” The Earth’s rotation and its travel around the Sun create the illusion of daily and annual motion for all other zodiacal and celestial phenomena as seen from the planet’s surface.