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The fantasy piece I’m currently working on is deeply seeped in the elements. Angela Wallace’s Elemental Magic post last week made me realize I never did cover the elements during my Using Tarot in Writing series.

So, let’s call this an addendum to my series 🙂

You may want to catch up on the earlier installments before continuing with this one.
Part one, Introduction
Part two, Plotting and Brainstorming
Part three, Character Circle
Part four, Character Creation
Part five, The Hero’s Journey
Part six, Creating a World
Part seven, Tarot 101

Fire

  • Active
  • Masculine energy
  • Spontaneous, Inspired, Enthusiastic, Outgoing, Passionate, Visionary, Dramatic, Instinctual, and Self-centered
  • Tarot: The spiritual experience, the driving force behind work and passions
  • Suit: Wands (wood burns) in a Tarot deck (Clubs in a regular deck)
  • Court Cards: King = Father
  • Trumps: Emperor, Wheel of Fortune, Strength, Temperance, Tower, Sun, and Judgment
  • Signs: Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius
  • Colors: red and orange
  • Direction: South
  • Fire can bring about new life or destroy the old
  • Fire and Water: Fire can show Water how to be in the moment. At its worse, it’s a hapless situation, Water often dousing Fire.
  • Fire and Earth: Fire can make Earth feel needed. At its worse, Fire can become frustrated with slow-moving Earth.
  • Fire and Air: Fire helps Air from being all talk. These two always astonish each other.
  • Fire and Fire: A fantastic adventure as long as they don’t burn each other out. At its worse, Fire’s temperament will turn into a struggle for dominance.
  • Fire trusts in life’s journey, is often a catalyst, and is able to bring out spontaneity in others. Fire often acts on gut feelings. Fire’s lust for life is contagious, spreading to those around them, but it’s equally important for Fire to have a cheerleader. Fire is often stubborn but if Fire is open to what the other Elements can teach then Fire is as nourishing as sunshine.

Water

  • Passive
  • Feminine energy
  • Intuitive, Emotional, Imaginative, Nurturing, Dreamy, and Secretive
  • Tarot: Emotional affairs, well suited to love and relationships
  • Suit: Cups or Chalices in a Tarot deck (Hearts in a regular deck)
  • Court Cards: Queen = Mother
  • Trumps: High Priestess, Chariot, Hanged Man, Death, and Moon
  • Signs: Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces
  • Colors: blue
  • Direction: West
  • Water can heal and purify
  • Water and Earth: Water opens Earth to deeper emotions. These two have a satisfying romantic relationship.
  • Water and Fire: Water can add emotion Fire’s passion. At its worse, Fire is like an annoying alarm clock.
  • Water and Air: Water helps Air make deeper emotional connections and Air helps Water put their feelings into words. These two are a strong motivating force.
  • Water and Water: Acutely understanding of each other. At its worse, Water can lose a sense of boundaries, and self.
  • Water is slow to trust, can border on psychic, and is ruled by their intense feelings. Water often pads everyday life with emotional meaning. Water can be quickly shaped by their relationships and needs alone time to stay true to themselves.

Air

  • Active
  • Masculine energy
  • Analytical, Curious, Thinking, Intellectual, Social, and Detached
  • Tarot: Thought and communication (swords and spades “have a point to make”)
  • Suit: Swords (swords cut through the air) in a Tarot deck (Spades in a regular deck)
  • Court Cards: Prince (Knight) = Son
  • Trumps: Fool, Magician, Lovers, Justice, and Star
  • Signs: Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius
  • Colors: yellow and white
  • Direction: East
  • Air is the breath of life, it blows away strife and carries positive thoughts
  • Air and Earth: Air can be liberating for Earth. At its worse, Earth ties Air down.
  • Air and Fire: Air helps Fire be more logical and Fire gives Air a sense of purpose. These two are a dynamic combination.
  • Air and Water: These two bring balance between feelings and thoughts.
  • Air and Air: A meeting of the minds. At its worse, these two can become coolly distant.
  • Air leads with logic, offers clarity from a higher position, and is social. Air is perceptive to cultural trends and attitudes. Air can maintain a balanced mind-body with yoga and meditation will calm the static.

Earth

  • Passive
  • Feminine energy
  • Practical, Useful, Structure, Productivity, Tangible, Grounded, Sensual, Tactile, and Dependable
  • Tarot: The physical, material, and financial realities
  • Suit: Coins or Pentacles in a Tarot deck (Diamonds in a regular deck)
  • Court Cards: Princess (Page) = Daughter
  • Trumps: Empress, Hierophant, Hermit, Devil, and World
  • Signs: Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn
  • Colors: green and brown
  • Direction: North
  • Earth is all aspects of life: birth, life, death, and rebirth
  • Earth and Water: Earth can guide Water toward a goal. Water nourishes Earth.
  • Earth and Fire: Earth can guide Fire by a mastery of structure and is energized by Fire. At its worse, Fire can burn them both.
  • Earth and Air: Earth offers practicality to Air. At its worse, Air finds Earth stuffy and talks circles around Earth.
  • Earth and Earth: A world of things to see, touch, hear, and taste. At its worse, these two will fall into the trap of not living for today.
  • Earth is intimately attuned to nature, often falling into the “all work, no play” cycle, and are realists. Earth can stifle inspiration, faith, or purpose. Equally, Earth is balance for the idle dreamer, assessing and organizing the tangible.

All that being said, it is unfair to say one element weakens (or strengthens) another exclusively. There are degrees. In Tarot, what appears to be a weak combination could be the last grain of hope. That friendly pairing could be disastrous.

When you do a spread, no one card is more important than the others. A Water card influencing a Fire card…

Water getting the heat of Fire definitely is not happy, for the most part it just feels disturbed and hates the intruder. It can be, though, that the placid Water just needs a wake-up call to drag its behind out of dreamland, but it still won’t be delighted by the annoyance.

…is different from a Fire card influencing a Water card.

Fire and Water is a hapless combination, they simply do not get along with each other. In some rare instances it could be that the Water provides an emotional base for the imbalanced Fire, but in 99% per cent the Fire simply gets weakened or even extinguished.

Connections within connections. The more I study tarot, the elements, and the zodiac/astrology, the more I find similarities!

Do you think your sign/element is true to your personality?

Note: images and quotes from Raven’s Tarot Site