The four Court cards dominate and control the pips of their own suits and play an important part wherever placed. The suits of Money and Cups denote the home and family life and are considered benign, while Money represents friends, partners, or strangers, and Swords may mean any one of them as desired by players; but the last two suits are usually deemed material or malignant, being the opposite to the benign suits. In general, Rods represent enterprise and glory; Coins denote investments or transactions; Cups typify love and happiness; while Swords seem to call for hatred and misfortune.
Then the number of each of the cards betokens something, for, dealt in four packets with three cards in each one of the heaps, a singleton is left for the fourth packet. The first pile should contain an Ace, Deuce, and Tray, which portend commencement. That is to say, if Rods are the suit these three cards tell of the beginning of an enterprise. If the suit is Cups they mean the beginning of a love affair, and in the same way hatred or a quarrel is denoted as beginning if the Sword suit is used, while Ace, Deuce, and Tray of Money announce the inception of a business transaction.
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Early Italian Tarots
Pip and Court Cards of the Rod Suit
| 49 Seven of Rods 50 Eight of Rods 51 Nine of Rods | 52 Ten of Rods 53 Knave of Rods 54 Cavalier of Rods |
The second packet includes the Four, Five, and Six, which denote inertia, stoppage, opposition, concentration.
The Sevens, Eights, and Nines represent balance, poise, or result, and the Tenth card means uncertainty.
Each number has the same value or meaning. That is to say, an Ace of Rods means the beginning of an enterprise, the Deuce that the enterprise is arrested, while the Tray signifies that the enterprise having been established, can be continued.
The Ace of Money is the commencement of fortune, the following two cards mean opposition and good fortune. The Ace of Cups the dawn of a love affair, the Deuce opposition to it, and the Tray consent. The Ace of Swords means enmity, the Deuce that the enmity is arrested, and the Trey declares open rupture or war.