Question: how important are the numbers on each tarot card? Answer: extremely important.
Always pay attention to the numbers of the cards. Look for progression, regression, repetition and correlation between Majors and Minors.
Let the numbers modify or expand on the basic card meaning. For example: the Three of Swords. It’s too easy to get sidetracked by the whole broken heart thing. Three is an unbalanced number and therefore modifying the Swords essences of communication and thought with an unbalanced increase (increase, growth and expansion are qualities of three), you are going to end up with tangled strings of misunderstanding. Therefore when I see the Three of Swords, I immediately think of crossed wires and people all talking at once and no-one is listening. This inevitably leads to break-ups, break-downs and, yes, maybe broken hearts.
It’s a good thing to remember that all the odd numbers are unbalanced (imagine splitting nine sweeties into two piles), so there is always the possibility of a negative niggle in them. Take the Nine of Cups – a pleasant card, you probably agree. Nines are nearing completion, the goal is just about met. The qualities of the number nine include awareness and awakening, so the happy, smug git in the Nine of Cups isn’t going to be sitting there for too long. There are lessons to be assimilated and the cycle is about to start again. Change is on the way.
I put together a couple of tables with suit and number qualities as they appertain to the the Minor Arcana in Tarot & Numerology. There is also a link for a downloadable PDF tarot meanings cheat sheet, again for the Minors.
