Four Score

© Copyright 2011  Judy Jennings


Four seasons.  Four directions.  Four corners.  Four square walls.  The qualities found in the number four are forces that help to secure us in the world around us.  Numerology assigns the number four the values of calculating intelligence, order, organization and attention to detail.  There are four suits in the Tarot as well, called the minor arcana.  

The cards numbered four in the minor arcana all refer either to the celebration of accomplishment or a period of reevaluation.  The fourth card of the major arcana, The Emperor, is about the powers of the personality.  All of these relate to our well-being in the material world.  

Paul Foster Case wrote about the connection of the Tarot with the ancient Hebrew Kabbala.  In that discussion he posits that the sacred Hebrew word for the Universal Life-Force translates to a four-letter word when written in English lettering.  That word is pronounced Jehovah and written IHVH.  Each of those letters represents a different universal force, and those same qualities are also reflected in the four suits of the Tarot.  Once again we see ancient knowledge hidden amongst the cards.

The fourth major arcana moves us from the formation of a healthy psychological foundation that was shown in the first three cards and into a stage of interaction with the world around us.  You might say that The Emperor represents the face with which we greet the world.  This is a card that speaks to the personality issues of all of us, despite the strong gender assignment of the image.  The Emperor embodies the setting of boundaries, steady growth and  gifted management ability.  The forces that come together in this card form the platform on which our achievements in the world are built.