Tarot by bluemoon
Hi!originally by HH:- The important point is to ask why there are four suits, and just four suits in tarot? [/quote]I do not know exactly why there are four suits in Tarot
However, I do know that human psychology has been identified as having four basic but distinct types since at least the time of the ancient Greeks
The Greeks saw all life as being composed of the four elements of fire, air, water and earth (in varying measures) and these elements are, of course, used in systems ranging from astrology to the western magical tradition
In the 5th century B.C
, Hippocrates correlated the elements with bodily fluids (or humours) and linked them to personality types as choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic and sanguine
In the 20th century, many researchers working in different branches of the analysis of human temperament identified four basic types that are recognisable as our traditional elements
The psychologist Jung identified four functions as thinking, feeling, sensation and intuition and four basic attitudes as extraverted, introverted, perceiving and judging
Myers and Briggs built on this work and identify four basic clusters of personality types depending upon the various combinations of the functions and attitudes
Friedman and Sperry similarly assert that there are four basic sets of human behavioural traits according to the combinations of type A or B temperaments with left or right brain thinking dominance
In linking body type analysis with temperament, Abranavel and King identify four basic groups: pituitary, thyroid, adrenal and gonadal while, in the field of physiognomy, Mar likewise works with four basic facial types which are square, triangular, oblong and round
Again, from the graphological perspective, Mendel operates with four handwriting styles that are correlated to personality types: angular, thread, garland and arcade
At the end of the century, psychologists Greco and Turner use a cultural analogy in their classification of the four basic human temperament types as non-stop north, exact east, sunny south and wild west
Finally, it is not without significance that work done in identifying the four nucleotides of DNA (which carries genetic information) by Watson and Crick as well as that of Nomi and Besher on the four blood types is now also being applied to the study of human temperament
* The idea that human psychology may be classified in four basic types is, then, a long-standing one historically with many contemporary applications
To my mind, it is entirely appropriate that the Tarot, which seeks to provide insights into human psychology and personal development, should also operate consistently with that idea
* Turner, D
and Greco, T
The Personality Compass Element, 1998
ISBN 1 86204 285 3
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by bluemoon