Minor Arcana

In the Minor Arcana we have 16 face cards, four representing each of the elements, in each of the four suites, which also represent the four elements. The King is Fire, the Queen is Water, the Knight is Air, and the Page is Earth.; no matter which suit they are in. These represent the four personality types: phlegmatic - water, melancholic - earth, sanguine - air, and choleric - fire; multiplied by themselves. So, if you look at the King of Cups, for instance, he is the fire of water, which is to say he is a choleric-phlegmatic personality type. If you looked at the Queen of cups, the water of water, she would be just phlegmatic. Of the sixteen, twelve represent both the signs of the zodiac, and corespond to the major Greek gods. The other four represent the cusps that fall on the quarters of the year, and also corespond to a major greek god

Choleric.......Fire/Wands...... Zeus(Sagitt), *Hera, Ares(Aries), Heracles(Leo)

Sanguine.......Air/Swords...... Apollo(Gemini), Athene(Aquarius), Hermes(Libra), *Artemis

Phlegmatic.....Water/Cups...... Neptune(Cancer), Aphrodite(Pisces), *Eros, Dionysus(scorpio)

Melancholic....Earth/Coins..... *Hades, Demeter(Taurus), Hephaestus(Capricorn), Persephone(Virgo)


*four cusps, at solstices and equinoxes -

Pisces/Aries - water of fire - Queen of Wands - VE - Hera

Gemini/Cancer - Air of Water - Knight of Cups - MS - Eros

Virgo/Libra - Earth of Air - page of swords - AE - Artemis

Sagitt/Capri - Fire of Earth - King of Coins - WE - Hades


Choleric: A person who is choleric is a doer and a leader. They have a lot of ambition, energy, and passion, and try to instill it in others. They can dominate people of other temperaments, especially phlegmatic types. Many great charismatic military and political figures were cholerics. On the negative side, they are easily angered or bad-tempered. - Testosterone

Melancholic: a person who is a thoughtful ponderer has a melancholic disposition. Often very kind and considerate, melancholics can be highly creative – as in poetry and art - but also can become overly pre-occupied with the tragedy and cruelty in the world, thus becoming depressed. The temperament is associated with the season of fall/autumn (dry and cold) and the element earth. A melancholic is also often a perfectionist, being very particular about what they want and how they want it in some cases. This often results in being unsatisfied with one's own artistic or creative works and always pointing out to themselves what could and should be improved - Melatonin

Sanguine: A person who is sanguine is generally light-hearted, funloving, a people person, loves to entertain, spontaneous, and confident. However they can be arrogant, cocky, and indulgent. He/She can be day-dreamy and off-task to the point of not accomplishing anything and can be impulsive, possibly acting on whims in an unpredictable fashion. - Serotonin

Phlegmatic: While phlegmatics are generally self-content and kind, their shy personality can often inhibit enthusiasm in others and make themselves lazy and resistant to change. They are very consistent, relaxed, rational, curious, and observant, making them good administrators and diplomats. Like the sanguine personality, the phlegmatic has many friends. However the phlegmatic is more reliable and compassionate; these characteristics typically make the phlegmatic a more dependable friend. - Estrogen


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Temperaments#Temperament_Blends
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humorism