AUTHOR’S NOTE: In an r/tarot sub-reddit thread, someone asked about an old post (not one of mine) that gave definitions for the trump cards as “people.” It’s more common to treat the court cards as representing other individuals involved in the querent’s circumstances, but I was intrigued by the idea that one of the Major Arcana can show the same thing when it appears in a spread position that refers to another person. I decided to make my own cut at it in the following list, and added my court and minor card “allies” to each trump; when they both appear in a spread there can be a doubling of emphasis on any shared properties. The task I set myself was to come up with a one-word “typology” for each trump card based on its chief astrological and elemental qualities. My commentary is at the bottom.

The Fool: An untested personality (Ally: Ace of Swords – Primal Air)
The Magician: An innovative personality (Ally: Knight of Swords – Air of Air)
The Priestess: A secretive personality (Ally: Queen of Cups – Water of Water)
The Empress: A gracious personality (Ally: Queen of Pentacles – Water of Earth)
The Emperor: An authoritative personality (Ally: King of Wands – Fire of Fire)
The Hierophant: A conservative personality (Ally: Page of Pentacles – Earth of Earth)
The Lovers: A dependent personality (Ally: Page of Swords – Earth of Air)
The Chariot: A motivated personality (Ally: Knight of Cups – Air of Water)
Strength: A self-confident personality (Ally: Queen of Wands – Water of Fire)
The Hermit: A wise and prudent personality (Ally: King of Pentacles – Fire of Earth)
The Wheel of Fortune: An expansive personality (Ally: 6 of Wands – “Victory”)
Justice: A judgmental personality (Ally: Queen of Swords – Water of Air)
The Hanged Man: A patient personality (Ally: Ace of Cups – Primal Water)
Death: A grave personality (Ally: King of Cups – Fire of Water)
Temperance: An adaptable personality (Ally: 9 of Wands – “Strength”)
The Devil: An opportunistic personality (Ally: Knight of Pentacles – Air of Earth)
The Tower: A volatile personality (Ally: Knight of Wands – Air of Fire)
The Star: An optimistic personality (Ally: King of Swords – Fire of Air)
The Moon: A moody personality (Ally: Page of Cups – Earth of Water)
The Sun: A resourceful personality (Ally: Page of Wands – Earth of Fire)
Judgement: An uncompromising personality (Ally: Ace of Wands – Primal Fire)
The World: A determined personality (Ally: Ace of Pentacles – Aggregate Earth)

The court-card assignments were derived from the dual elemental qualities developed by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and in part from Aleister Crowley’s “moral characteristics.” The Aces were aligned with the trumps representing the Primal Elements: Air/Fool, Water/Hanged Man and Fire/Judgement along with their aggregate, Earth/World. The Wheel of Fortune and Temperance represent evolutionary rather than revolutionary change.The Wheel of Fortune allies with the 6 of Wands, associated with the solar sephira Tiphareth and Jupiter in Leo (Six was the “Second Perfection” of the ancient Greeks), while Temperance is attended by the 9 of Wands, associated with the lunar sephira Yesod and Moon in Sagittarius (Nine was the “Third Perfection”). Temperance occupies the 25th path, which unites these sephiroth on the Tree of Life.