AUTHOR’S NOTE: That’s a rhetorical question because every card carries an elemental “charge,” whether by suit or astrological association: Fire and Air are positive; Water and Earth are negative; none are neutral. But for the sake of argument, I’m proposing that some cards are decidedly less emphatic in their normal expression than their peers. The rest have a mission to complete, a dog in the fight, or an ax to grind in one way or another.

At the top of my list are the Aces. They are often misconstrued as representing a “first step” in any endeavor, but in reality they signify the Pythagorean “point,” which exhibits no mass, momentum or direction; they convey formless potential energy waiting to be triggered. While the Ace is often interpreted as a favorable card, it provides nothing more than the chance to seize an opportunity. Of its own accord, it initiates nothing.

Next would be the Tens because they represent the “last gasp” of the elemental energy as they close out their suit. Movement ceases and inertia reigns all the way through the Ace of the next suit.

The Twos are locked into a binary “pendulum swing” and, unless something interrupts their travel, they will stay that way until the kinetic impetus is exhausted.

The Fours spell “stability,” and they aren’t about to sacrifice it for incidental or meaningless change.

As a reflection of balanced harmony, the Sixes would be more even-keeled if they were not shoved from behind by the disruptive Fives and yanked forward by the unsettled Sevens; as it is they get only a moment’s rest.

The Nines are often considered the “perfection” of their suit, while the Tens are more of an afterthought or postscript. When a form of energy has achieved its maximum potency, there is nowhere to go but down.

Among the court cards, the placid, patient and contemplative Queens come closest to neutrality in their demeanor, at least until offended. The low-profile Pages are a distant second, but they have one foot out the door and could be off on a quest in the blink of an eye.

The trump-card population offers quite a few examples of nonpartisan behavior. The obvious choice is the impartial Justice, followed by the High Priestess, who is above playing favorites; the Wheel of Fortune that turns both ways; the even-handed Temperance; the serene Empress; the stoic Hermit, who is immune to distinctions of polarity; the Hanged Man, who is the poster-child for detachment; the Magician, for whom the position of routing authority between Heaven and Earth is unassailable; and the Hierophant, who is unmoved by secular priorities and is interposed “between the planes” in a manner similar to the Magician.

The practical application of these considerations lies in the engagement of their avatars with the other cards they accompany in a reading. Because these functionally “neutral” cards are not insistent on pursuing an agenda, they are unlikely to deliver the kind of provocation associated with their more dynamic fellows. I would gladly take any of them when the overall thrust of the spread is toward “not rocking the boat.”