Tarot: The Horse

In my recent post about the Magician I wrote about a strange parallel to him in John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. Now I have found another parallel and so am uncharacteristically surrounded by a veritable stable of horses, since horses aren't exactly lacking in the tarot deck.

I hadn't thought of all the horses having thoughts and opinions up till now. In my humble opinion the Knight of Wands horse has exactly the same expression as Princess Diana in her famous early-nineties interview.

The Knight of Swords' horse is far less coy and is almost the personification (or rather horsification) of the get-to-it energy of the Knights. I hadn't thought about it till today but the horse does the actual work in each of the Knight cards, directed by the knight, who is relatively inactive in comparison.

On the other hand both the Knight and the horse are at rest in the Pentacles Knight, which may go with the suit's heavy, earthy nature. It is however a contemplative rest while the Knight has a good look at his Pentacle. I wish I knew more about horses because I may then be able to make something of the colour.

I have a soft spot for the Knight of Cups's horse, which looks to me like it would be a gentle soul, but then you would be if you have to carry a man carrying a chalice full of water! In real life I'm frightened of horses, cows and other farm animals.

But the comparison which made me start this post was this one. It is unfortunate that the picture was taken in the Queen's stables, because I've always attributed some very sarcastic thoughts to the horse in the 6 of Wands!

In Marseille-style decks the Chariot is drawn by horses rather than the sphinxes in the RWS-influenced decks, and in the Jodorowsky deck I do love the way the horse on the right is winking!
Oh buggrit I've trodden in something...