AUTHOR’S NOTE: In a recent post I mentioned that the Hierophant, due to his conventional and conservative appointment, can be viewed as an example of “maintaining the status quo.” (I’ve also called it the “don’t-rock-the-boat” card.) There are a number of other cards that convey a similar sentiment.

Because the Major Arcana represent an archetypal progression in modern terms and a triumphal procession in historical language, the majority of them are mobile rather than stationary. However, a few come close to meeting my definition because they embody equilibrated forces or intrinsic composure. These include the Magician, the Priestess, the Empress, the Emperor, the Lovers, Justice, Temperance and the World since they seem the most emblematic of an unruffled posture that promotes stable circumstances.

I would add the Hanged Man, but it seems that his immobility is externally imposed and he won’t remain in suspension forever. The Star and the Sun are constants, but they are as much about aspiration as they are about steady-state radiance, while the nature of the Moon and the Wheel of Fortune is changeable. Death is transformative; Strength, the Tower and Judgement are too dynamic to stand still. Similarly, the Hermit seeks the heights and the Devil treads the depths. The Fool and the Chariot are on a mission.

Although the Aces are unmoving, they harbor the generative seed and are therefore only briefly dormant. With a handful of exceptions, the Fives, Sevens, Eights, Pages and Knights of the Minor Arcana are at least marginally kinetic, while the binary Twos with their give-and-take and the expansive Threes are growth-oriented.

At their most basic, all of the Fours exhibit a stubborn resistance to change, making them one of the primary exemplars of the “status-quo.” Their keynote is “stability.”

The four Tens, because they are the last card in their suit, are as settled as it gets. It would take a major upheaval to motivate them.

Because they are seated on their thrones, the Queens and Kings suggest preservation of the norm, but I see the Queens as more representative because they aren’t concerned with wielding their power.

In the suit of Wands, which is action-oriented, after the Four and the Ten only the Two and Six are relatively unassertive; the Nine might be included, but its inactivity is only a temporary respite.

Beyond the Four and the Ten, the suit of Cups presents the Two, the Six and the Nine as the desire to stand pat and not budge from their comfortable languor. The Seven might qualify but its lassitude is only a transitory condition that gives way to fermentation followed by uneasiness and uncertainty.

The suit of Swords adds the Two to the Four and the Ten; the rest are anxiety-ridden and intent on avoiding any delay in their escape from restriction.

The suit of Pentacles supplements the Four and the Ten with the Six and the Nine as instances of material success and contented complacency.