Advanced Tarot Techniques, Part 3 - Elemental Dignities
Cross-Post Edition: Deepening Readings with Elemental Dignities
Today’s advanced tarot technique lesson covers the concept of elemental dignities.
A while back I asked my subscribers if they would like to see any topics in the future, and Phil responded asking for this little known tarot technique.
When Phil requested this topic, I immediately agreed. I did not have a working knowledge of this, so I invited him to tackle it with me in this cross post.
Say hello, Phil! 👋
Hi Experimental Intuitives 👋🏼
I am absolutely delighted to be here, writing and working with the brilliant Erica.
I am a baby Substacker (3 months now); 67 years old (next month); retired British ex-Pat in beautiful SE Spain, reading and writing about Tarot in between serving three cats, and looking after my wife and our wonderful cavehouse.
Have read Tarot for about 20 years, on and off, and think of myself these days as a Tarot student… so have loved this opportunity to learn more about and work on Elemental Dignities with a true Tarot Expert!
Glad you are here with us, Phil!
After some convincing from my tarot circle, I finally broke down and purchased “Holistic Tarot” by Benebell Wen. As you can see from the picture, this book is not just a book - its a comprehensive textbook for all things beginning, intermediate, and advanced tarot over 896 glorious pages. Honestly, my mind shook with fear when I saw the mountain that is this book.
What I found inside was a wonderful resource of tarot theory broken down to the smallest detail. The elemental correspondence discussion is what I needed in my life. The breakdown of elemental dignities broke it wide open for me. It’s a technique I admittedly did not use in my practice. I found that I already employed some of the techniques on an intuitive level, such as counting the elements represented in the spread to see the dominant energies. I have a knowledge of the elemental correspondences covered in Part 1 of this series, but this is a level up. Cozy up with hot tea and get your tarot deck out for this lesson.
Basic Overview of Elemental Dignities
The technique of using elemental dignities deepens readings because it identifies the elements corresponding to each card of the major and minor arcana. This part was covered in lesson 1. This methodology traces back to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
This methodology takes into account the strength of the relationship between pairs or triads of cards using elemental interactions. Cards of different elements in a spread interact with one another, and depending on the pairing can either weaken (ill-dignified) or strengthen (dignified) the interpretation. When we see dignified and ill-dignified pairings or triads, one must pay attention and determine which cards are irrelevant and toss them out.
The minor arcana are simple in terms of elements:
Wands are Fire
Cups are Water
Swords are Air
Pentacles are Earth
The major arcana is not so clear, but Benebell Wen helps us out with a nifty chart for simplicity (p. 443):
There are a two cards which could be assigned to other elements (Judgement and The Magician), however, this is Benebell’s perspective.
The elemental dignities are as follows:
Weakened (Ill-Dignified): a direct conflict with one another and considered ‘in flux”.
Wands/Fire and Cups/Water
Swords/Air and Pentacles/Earth
Strengthened (Dignified): these pairings intensify and support one another, moderately strong (friendly). Does not take into account the “good” or “bad” of specific card interpretation.
Wands/Fire and Swords/Air (Active)
Cups/Water and Pentacles/Earth (Passive)
Neutral: somewhat friendly, impact is ineffectual.
Equal amount of Wands/Fire and Pentacles/Earth
Equal amount of Swords/Air and Cups/Water
Dominant, Same Element:
If the cards are the same element facing off, the effect of that element on the card meanings intensify, meaning they can increase the “good” or “bad” of the cards depending on the interpretation.
Another way to look at these elemental dignities is provided by Benebell (p. 438) if you are a chart person:
Taking all of these crazy rules, I converted them into a downloadable chart you can snag with a neat and clean view:
Tarot Spreads Using Elemental Dignities
Phil and I are going to tackle this technique with two examples. The first method for triads is called a bridge. The second method discussed by Mary K. Greer using card modifiers as resolutions. We will use the same three cards for both methods showing how the interpretation shifts focus.
Phil’s Interpretation Using the Bridge Method
OK… The starting point is to look at the central card as the focus, and the other two cards as the influencers. So… if the central card bridges the relationship between the other two, what does that tell us about this spread?
Imagine (but not too hard! 😀) a Batchelor-party thrown by the central card, and his two best friends, ok? Let’s look at how it is likely to come together…
Our focus/bridge card, the Five of Swords is Air elementally, corresponding to a masculine1 ‘active’, energy. Great! Someone who can think it all through… although, looking at the image, we might fear that he’ll get a bit carried away… but, no worries, he has two mates helping, doesn’t he…? 🤔
The Seven of Wands corresponds to a passionate, creative Fire energy ready to meet any challenges. Another ‘active’ masculine energy, one who will definitely stand his ground, argumentatively, if necessary 😀
The other mate, the Four of Pentacles, has a feminine ‘passive’, practical Earth energy. Someone else who will very likely hold their ground, but this card hints at simple stubbornness, and passive aggression will probably be the key here.
So… let’s look at how they will likely work together…
Our Five of Swords is in charge, and his intellectual Air will enable him to work out the details, whilst the creative Fire of the Seven of Wands should help him create an exciting and energetic party… these two elements strengthen each other, so should work very well together… and then… there’s the Four of Pentacles…
The Earth energy in this card should offer a helpful balancing influence to the active energy of the other two. He will be the one who will ask the, “Yes, but how much will that cost?” and “How… exactly… do you plan to hire Madison Square Garden for four nights?” questions 😂
Elementally, Earth and Swords energies weaken each other, and Earth and Fire have a neutral impact on each other, therefore this Four of Pentacles is likely to really irritate our Five of Swords, and have very little impact on the Seven of Wands. In short, he is going to be a ‘drag’ as far as the other two are concerned.
So, at best… the creative Fire energy, plus the analytical Air energy, plus the practical budget management of the Earth energy should provide for an exciting, well-planned event within budget…
… at worst, though, the Fire energy will push for an over-the-top solution; the Air energy will spend more time managing them than organising; and the Earth energy will end up sitting moaning in a Madison Square Garden corner at the chaotic, wildly over-budget, party… muttering darkly, “I told them, I did, I told them it would be like this!”
Erica’s Interpretation Using Mary K. Greer’s Resolution Modifier
This method takes the first two cards, Seven of Wands and Five of Swords, read as an elemental pair. The third card is then included as a “resolution” to the pair’s interaction. Let’s see how this plays out!
Taking the Seven of Wands and Five of Swords together, the elemental properties are Fire versus Air. Consulting our chart, these cards are dignified, meaning they strengthen one another. The “resolution” card, the Four of Pentacles is Earth, which is neutral to the Seven of Wands (Fire) but weakens the Five of Swords (Air).
The Four of Pentacles (Earth) as a “resolution” is an interesting twist. This card’s elemental interaction with the Seven of Wands (Fire) is neutral, so I can eliminate this card interaction altogether. However, our resolution card’s Earth (active) element is ill-dignified with the Five of Swords (passive). Therefore, I would not read this card as significant as it does not overpower the triad and ranks lower (3 vs. 5/7). Armed with this analysis, we can now read the triad based on the card’s meanings and how they interact via the elements, keeping in mind that our modifier card has very little influence.
Two different methods, yes? They hold similarities but the road to get to the signifiers is different.
Using Triad Groups to Identify Significant Cards
This technique is more in line with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn methodology, where significant cards are discovered by triad grouping, ignoring the insignificant ones altogether, based on the elemental dignity relationships. Phil and I will read these two groups of triads using the same methodologies as the prior example.
When we pulled these cards, the only thing I changed was to place a major arcana in the middle of each triad. The flanking cards of each group were pulled organically. It just so happens that both groups have the same elemental relationships for this method. Fascinating!
Phil’s Interpretation Using the Bridge Method
Before reading these two triplets for their elemental correspondences, I like to get some general impressions about what I see… so…
The first impression is that the Six of Swords, and the Three of Wands have their backs to us contemplating something in the distance.
The second impression is that both central focus/bridges are major arcana cards, suggesting a significant time for the Seeker.
The third impression is that the remaining two figures, the King of Cups and the Eight of Pentacles are sitting, and facing the future… hmmm… 🤔… with these three things in mind, let’s look at the elemental energies in these two triplets…
In the first triplet our focus is on the passive Earth energy of III·The Empress, sceptred manifestation of love, nurturing and fertility, our literal archetypical Earth Mother.
On her right is the well-dignified passive energy, of the also sceptred, Water-y, King of Cups, sat on his throne with a Cup of something lovely, in his right hand (🍷?). They could almost be enjoying a quiet moment together in their throne room.
On her left is the active, ill-dignified Air energy of the Six of Swords punting his swords and passengers to a far shore, seemingly leaving the throne room behind.
This triplet shows the major arcana Empress elementally unable, or unwilling, to be influenced by the potentially weakening influence of the departing minor arcana Six of Swords… critical analysis, and communication, can take a break for now 😀
The well-dignified, strengthening, relationship here is with the King of Cups… the Empress has plans right now and the King’s listening skills and intuitive understanding are much more preferable to critical analysis… the King may well advise, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it... whatever the Swords may say!”
In the second triplet, the focus card is XII·Hanged Man, also a passive Water energy, not sat, but unable to move freely; his impact on his surroundings is minimal as he patiently, and meditatively, plumbs his emotional depths.
The Eight of Pentacles, covers sitting duties in this triplet whilst he sits crafting Pentacles, engaged in the almost meditative, repetitive, routine of carving. The passive Pentacle Earth energy is well-dignified in relation to the Hanged man.
To their left is the active, ill-dignified, Wands Fire energy. Standing, looking into the distance, is the Three of Wands, meditating on the physical/commercial outcomes in the real world of their initiatives.
The Three of Wands is the only participant in this triplet with an external view of the world; but their influence on the other two is ill-dignified and, consequently, minimal. Any attempt to weaken/influence the Hanged Man major will be unsuccessful.
The strengthening influence from the Eight of Pentacles on the Hanged Man, offers him stability, in-the-moment mindfulness, reflection on the task in hand, and an ongoing dedication to patiently pursuing an understanding of the best way forwards.
Putting these two triplets together, we can see that the active elements in the Seeker’s life are backs-turned, almost ignoring, their passive bridges and elementally unable to have any real impact on them.
Both bridges are very well-supported by sympathetic elemental energies in the other two cards, rendering, overall, a sense of a passive situation in which nothing very much seems to be happening, and actually, in this spread this feels ok; as the well-dignified elements are looking towards the future, this adds a positive energy to the Seeker’s overall passive cards. So…
… as both active cards are waiting on something (6S on arrival at the opposite bank, and 3W their ships to come in) indicating a liminal position for the Seeker, a key question for them might be, “What’s on pause for you right now?” 🕯️
Taken overall, these cards suggest the Seeker use their downtime for nurturing their own personal growth (Empress) by suspending unhelpful activities to make time for profound self-reflection (Hanged Man); ensuring they process that properly (8P) and emotionally fully master their findings (KC).
Erica’s Interpretation Using Mary K. Greer’s Resolution Modifier
Six of Swords (Fire/Active) - Empress (Earth/Passive) - King of Cups (Water/Passive)
Taking our pair the Six of Swords and Empress, we have a weakened (ill-dignified) relationship. Since we are looking for significant cards, majors will always trump minors. I suspect we may be throwing out our Six of Pentacles.
Let’s see what else is in play! Our resolution modifier, King of Cups* also has a high ranking in comparison to our Six of Swords. Together, they are considered neutral (somewhat friendly, ineffectual). So it appears our friend the Six of Pentacles is out. The card simply is not strong enough to influence the triad. Our King of Cups when paired with The Empress, however, gives us us a dignified relationship - they strengthen one another! These two are signifiers.
*The King of Cups has an additional element based of his royal rank, but for simplicity I did not use it. The next lesson will cover this topic.
Three of Wands (Fire/Active) - Hanged Man (Water/Passive) - Eight of Pentacles (Earth/Passive)
Our pair of Three of Wands (Fire/Active) and Hanged Man (Water/Passive) are, once again, weakened (ill-dignified). Our major arcana trumps minor, so the Three of Wands is not welcome to stay. Our modifier Eight of Pentacles (Earth/Passive) is neutral to the Three of Wands, and a higher number, so the Three of Wands is out. Our resolution card Eight of Pentacles strengthens the Hanged Man, so these two cards are signifiers.
So what do we do with all of this? What we have left of our six cards are:
Empress (Earth/Passive) - King of Cups (Water/Passive) / Hanged Man (Water/Passive) - Eight of Pentacles (Earth/Passive)
Do you see that both triads generated a pair of Earth/Water!? I swear I did not plan it that way. At this point, I would simply group all four cards together as one reading to interpret based on their meanings.
Thank you for reading to the end of this lesson on Elemental Dignities. Both Phil and I thank you! This topic is not a commonly employed method, but I think it can be a powerful way to identify significant cards in spreads. This goes deeper, but I think we’ve confused you all enough for one day!
May’s advanced tarot lesson will cover elemental court cards with . We are both very excited to create a special post with a short lesson, custom tarot spread, and a very special blind tarot reading challenge between the both of us.
Phil and I both thank you for taking the time to read our lesson on Elemental Dignities. We love comments from our subscribers. Please let us know:
How did you enjoy this lesson?
Give it a try and let us know how it went for you! How did it change they way you read pairs and triads?
What topics would you like to see in future posts? Put your requests in the comments! Keep us busy…. 😁
Catch up on the Advanced Tarot Techniques Series:
Advanced Tarot Techniques, Part 1 - Elemental Tarot Spreads
Before we begin this lesson in tarot elemental correspondences, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to my new subscribers and followers. I truly appreciate all of you for joining my circle. Blessed Be.
Advanced Tarot Techniques, Part 2 - The Celtic Cross Leveled Up
My adaption on the traditional 10-card Celtic Cross spread has evolved over the years. I cannot directly trace why my 10-card spread became what it became, but it is what it is. 25 years of using the cards will do that – you find what works and stick with it. However, since starting
Advanced Tarot Techniques, Part 4 - Court Cards
Today’s advanced tarot lesson continues our exploration of elements. Jenna Newell Hiott from Spirit Connections will be offering her expertise in today’s post.
These energies should be thought of as those traditionally associated with the elements, and are not intended to represent gender stereotyping.
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Loved this Erica and Phil. Loved this deeper dive into the elements, the way you both explained this and the examples given! I got a lot out of this and OMG I might just have to purchase the Holistic Tarot.
Love the thoroughness of your post! Every time I try to organize cards into categories my brain starts spinning and everything just kind of meshes and flows together 😂 this helps!