The Sequence of the Four Suits in a Tarot Deck

Did you know that there is a “correct” sequence of the four suits in a Tarot Deck? I didn’t either! Back in the day, I thought that the suits came packed in the order favored by the deck creator or publisher. In fact, I would order the suits in a way that I preferred: Wands, Swords, Cups, and Pentacles. Turns out I was wrong! There is actually a method to the madness! There is a very good reason why the sequence of four suits in a Tarot Deck is: Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles. And that reason lies within the basic structure of the Tree of Life in Kabbala. Let’s find out more, shall we?

When you begin to study the Kabbala as it relates to the Tarot, no doubt, you’ll encounter the Tree of Life. It is a symbolic depiction of how the Universe was formed, and how the energies flow from the Unmanifest to the Manifest world. Following a zig-zag ‘Lightning’ pattern (that we see in The Tower Card), the energy moves from one stage to the next, finally culminating in our Material Reality. Each such stage is called a Sephirot.

Sequence of the Four Suits: The Four Worlds on the Tree of Life

As the divine cosmic energy moves downwards, it begins to change. It starts to evolve, if you will, into a more tangible form, with every step and stage. These are broadly classified into “Four Worlds”. Let’s take a quick look at each of these, one by one.

1: Atziluth

As the energy moves from an Unmanifest form to a Manifest form, the first stage of its development is the formation of the Primordial energies. This stage consists of the first 3 Sephirot of the Tree of Life (in the order of their appearance): Keter, Chesed, and Binah. This is the stage where everything is pure energy, and all the other Sephirot evolve from this energy. It is here that the Archetypes really take form. This stage is also associated with the first letter of the Tetragrammaton, Yod. All of these energies are fiery in nature, being made up of Primal Fire. This is why, the very first world on the Tree of Life, called Atziluth, is associated with the element of Fire.

2: Briah

Now that the primordial soup begins to ‘cook’, the energy moves downwards to take on a more tangible form. This triad of Sephirot (in order of their appearance) are Chesed, Geburah, and Tipareth. This is a world made up of pure intellectual energy, and is therefore the Creative world. Everything is pure creative energy just swirling around. This is associated with the second letter of the Tetragrammaton, Heh, which is Primal Water. This is why, the second world on the Tree of Life, called Briah, is associated with the element of Water.

3: Yetzirah

Once these creative juices begin the flow, the world actually starts to take form in a more meaningful way. The three Sephirot that make up this world (in their order) are Netzach, Hod, and Yesod. The basic building blocks behind creation take on a more tangible form in this stage. This is the Formative world. It is associated with the third letter of the Tetragrammaton, Vau, which is associated with Primal Air. Hence, the third world on the Tree of Life, called Yetzirah, is associated with the element of Air.

4: Assiah

Finally, all the energies culminate into one tangible shape and form. This world is made up of the last Sephirot on the Tree of Life, i.e. Malkuth. This is a world that is a physical manifestation and representation of all the energy forms from before. This the Physical world that we live in. This world is associated with the final Heh of the Tetragrammaton, and is associated with Primal Earth. This is why the fourth, and final world on the Tree of Life, called Assiah, is associated with the element of Earth.

Sequence of the Four Suits: Jacob’s Ladder

The Theory of the Four Worlds has an interesting interpretation! It is said that each of the Sephirot, contain an entire Tree of Life within it. And many such trees connect to one another, and form a type of “Ladder” made up of these Trees.

These Four Worlds are divine realms through which the pure formless energy of creation becomes more and more tangible, ultimately creating our physical reality. The pure formless energy thus transforms into our material world.

This ladder-like representation also describes how the Four Worlds are connected to each other. They follow the same sequence as we saw before, and culminate into the Material World.

The “Ladder” imagery association owes its origins to a story from the Bible. In that story, Jacob (one of the Patriarchs of the Bible) falls asleep and has a very interesting dream. In the dream, he sees a ladder connecting the Heaven and the Earth. The Angels of God are climbing up and down that ladder.

Of course, this story is interpreted in various ways by many people. But this is why the ladder-like structure of the interlocking Trees of Life is also called “Jacob’s Ladder”.

Just as the ladder seen by Jacob was a means for divine energies to come down from the Heaven and also for them to go back to Heaven — so does the Tree of Life describe the pathway for the divine energies to have descended from heaven to take form as the Earth, and thus can be a way for us to ascend from the Earth to the divine realms.

Sequence of the Four Suits : The Association with the Tarot Elements

Naturally, by now, you must be asking how it all connects with the Tarot! And I’m sure that many of you have already seen the connection!

Each world connects with an element: Atziluth with Fire, Briah with Water, Yetzirah with Air, and Assiah with Earth. And each suit of our Tarot Deck connects with one of these elements! Wands connect with Fire, Cups with Water, Swords with Air, and Pentacles with Earth.

Since each of these elements appears in a specific sequence on the Tree of Life, one can say that this is also the sequence of the four suits in a Tarot deck! First we have Wands (Fire), then we have Cups (Water), and then we get Swords (Air), and finally Pentacles (Earth).

Quite a long-winded answer to a seemingly simple question, isn’t it?

In Conclusion…

There’s always a good reason for many things or systems that we find as we go deeper with our study of the Tarot. Kabbala is one such system that is one of the major formative keys to going deeper with our study and understanding of the Tarot. This system provides a lot of the basic framework for the Tarot system. If you have ever wondered why certain things about the Tarot Cards are the way they are, then you may very well find their answers within the Kabbala. Among other things, I found out why the sequence of the four suits in a Tarot deck is Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles.

Of course, this is not the only thing I discovered! Check out my Numbers in Tarot series to see how Kabbala also plays a role in deriving the meanings of the Numbers.