HP Tarot - 4 Comfort

(2008) 5 1/2" x 10 1/2" Pencil on Paper. Processed and framed in Photoshop.

The 4s of all the suits carry a measure of crystallization, of hardening and consolidation of the creative flux of the previous cards. The planetary ruler of the 4s is Jupiter, the old Roman ruler of the gods, but power is only one aspect of this dominance, the term "jovial" also derives from it, and so the cards tend to show also a certain mental relaxation and ease of mind that comes with stability and quiet. The number 4 gives you the four points of a square, one of the most stable geometric shapes of all.

Emotionally stability give us comfort, we settle into routines, we enjoy quiet domesticity, but all of that comfort or "gemuetlichkeit"as it is so nicely called in German bears the danger of being stuck in a rut, of getting so settled and so comfortable that our satiety turns to ennui.

For an image I chose four nice fat pewter tankards ready for a round of butter beer among friends. What could be more comforting? But Winky's choice of using butterbeer to dull her emotional pain shows the underbelly of this kind of comfort very well. This is a card that can offer respite if a situation is well controlled or get us stuck in a quagmire if it isn't.