When matter and antimatter particles collide, both are destroyed, but all is not lost. The energy released is transformed into new and different particles. This process is an elegant metaphor for the battling but playful energy of the 5 of Wands. In creative clashes, a great amount of energy is released and this is fertile ground for new ideas or breakthroughs. Though the conflict may be high-voltage, it always retains a certain lightness. This is a card of rising to the challenges of life, riding the waves like a surfer. It encourages us to use our abilities to the utmost to keep moving forward.

5 of Cups – Particle decay
Particles do not actually decay in the sense of physically falling apart. They are simply changed into other, lighter particles through the effects of the weak force. This process is irrevocable – the particle can never return to its original form. In the suit of Cups, the combative energy of the fives is experienced as a distressing sense of loss. In any conflict there tends to be a winner and a loser and the 5 of Cups focuses is on what is lost. There is a tendency to forget about what has been gained – or transformed. When a particle decays, it has gone forever. This 5 is about recognising and acknowledging the finality of loss, but it also gently reminds us what has been gained.

5 of Swords – White Dwarf

A star dies when it has used up its supply of hydrogen fuel. In the case of medium-sized stars like our sun, the outer layers are thrown off and the core collapses into a tiny, bright, planet-sized object known as a white dwarf. Compared to a full-sized star, a white dwarf seems puny and insignificant. The 5 of Swords expresses the fives’ energy of combat through this kind of comparison. There is always a winner and a loser with the 5 of Swords, for this is victory at someone else’s expense. This is the card of the bully and his (or her) victim. The fives’ energy of battle takes its most negative form, with the emphasis on winner-takes-all overriding any sense of fairness or morality.

5 of Pentacles – Leptons
There are six varieties of lepton. The commonest is the electron, one of the fundamental particles within an atom. Another two varieties of lepton, the muon and tau, are unstable and quickly decay into other particles. The remaining three, all varieties of neutrino, are very stable but almost massless (see the 4 of Swords). Neutrinos float freely around the universe, but electrons tend to be bound into atomic nuclei. This contrast between freedom and limitation expresses the fives’ energy of conflict in Pentacles. Here the battle is against physical reality itself. This is often experienced as a sense of lack or scarcity – traditional decks often show beggars in the snow. We may be able to imagine infinity and abundance, but material reality has limits. This card symbolises the struggles we endure when our infinite spirits collide with the very finite nature of the physical body and the everyday world.

Electroweak theory unifies two different forces in the universe – the weak nuclear force and the electromagnetic force. Often showing a wedding, the 4 of Wands represents a similar kind of unification on a human scale. It represents success on the level of joint human endeavour. Many aspects of our selves or our situation have been brought together and are working in harmony. The stabilising energy of the four is at its best in Wands, grounding the fiery, forward-looking energy of the suit to create something real and lasting.

4 of Cups – Extra particles
All particles in an atomic nucleus are made up of quarks and leptons. There are six varieties of quark and six types of lepton, but atoms contain only three out of these twelve particles – two kinds of quark and one variety of lepton. The other quarks and leptons are unstable and decay rapidly into these three essential particles. What is the point of all those other extra particles? No-one knows. A similar sense of puzzlement, pointlessness and frustration is characteristic of the 4 of Cups. It’s possible to have too much of a good thing; in Cups the heavy energy of the four slows the flow of energy necessary to get the best out of this emotional suit. The result is boredom and stagnation. The 4 of Cups alerts us that we have become too passive and have forgotten to appreciate the many ways in which we are blessed.

4 of Swords – Neutrinos
Neutrinos are particles with little mass and no electrical charge that rarely interact with other particles. In fact, they pass through the Earth all the time without doing anything! The un-reactive, laid-back neutrino characterises the restful quality of the 4 of Swords. Here, the stable energy of the four has a quieting effect upon the mental energy of Swords. This is a time for reflection and recuperation. Time alone spent in quiet contemplation and meditation will be beneficial, but this is not a recommendation to slump down in front of daytime TV!

4 of Pentacles – Elliptical Galaxy
Elliptical galaxies are very old galaxies that contain a lot of dying stars. No new stars are being created as most of the fuel needed for star birth has been used up. Things are slowly grinding to a halt. The 4 of Pentacles inflects this winding-down of energy as a stubborn holding-on to the status quo. The fixed energy of the four becomes a little too fixed in the earthy suit of Pentacles. A refusal to move forward and embrace change is characteristic of this card, with the resulting fear of scarcity and sense of stagnation.

It may be obvious that stars cluster together in galaxies, but galaxies themselves also form large groups or clusters. In fact some of them are mind-bogglingly huge, containing a thousand or more galaxies each with billions of stars. This is the universe on its grandest scale. The 3 of Wands is about vision. It takes an effort of thought to even imagine the size of a galaxy cluster, and similarly this card demands that we let go of our self-imposed limitations and think big. Let your wildest dreams be your guide and think outside of the box.

3 of Cups – Star Cluster
On a smaller scale than galaxies, stars form dense and beautiful clusters. Their mutual gravity pulls them together so that the fate of one star affects the rest. The best-known star cluster is the Pleiades, visible to the naked eye in the constellation Orion. The effect of one star upon another in the cluster is mirrored in the group synergy of the 3 of Cups. This is the card of like-minded friends and collaborators, the people who – outside of our love partners – we actually chose to be with. This group energy can express in anything from holding a party to a collective brainstorming session to embarking on a collaborative project to playing a team sport.

3 of Swords – Red Dwarf
A red dwarf is the runt of the litter where stars are concerned. About half the size of our sun and neither big nor powerful enough to shine brightly, it’s easily outdone by brighter companions in the night sky. Here, the synthesis of the threes is expressed as pain and the hurt, though internalised, usually has an external source. Someone, sometime, has plunged a knife into your heart. The 3 of Swords shows us that it is time to become conscious of where we are hurting, and to allow the pain to work itself out so that we can heal.

3 of Pentacles – Atomic structure
An atom is not a undifferentiated lump of matter but a grouping together of different subatomic particles; a nucleus of protons and neutrons (which are themselves made up of quarks), orbited by one or more electrons. The simple, elegant, fundamental structure of the atom can teach us much about building a solid and suitable foundation for our creative endeavours. The 3 of Pentacles takes the exciting vision of the 3 of Wands, makes a concrete plan, and sets about putting that plan to work.

The Quantum Tarot is published this month by Kunati.

  In any tarot deck, the Minor Arcana comprise the number cards from Ace to Ten in each  suit. There are four suits, just as there are with playing cards. Suit names vary but the Quantum Tarot follows the convention of the well-known Rider-Waite-Smith tarot, calling the four suits Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles.