Earth 4    Metal 4    Water 4 
  Wood 4    Air 4    Fire 4
  IV The Universal Father

FOUR

Four is the number of foundation, of solidity, of dependability. Earth is a natural Four element; Metal and Wood are as well. that's because it  is the nature of those elements to be strong, steady and reliable. With those elements, humanity created the built environment upon which we so rely.

Because of its strong, foundational nature, the energy of Four can be at odds with other elements that, because of their inherent qualities, are essentially fluxional. Four does not go with the flow. Four does not even go much at all. Four is solid; Four is stationery. Four is a delight to see when what you are hoping for is stability, something you can rely on, a sense of dependability. But when it shows up in the world of Feelings/Water or the Land of Imagination/Spirit/Fire then you are looking at something that will seem more like limitation or stuck-ness.

EARTH : Earth is the most powerful element in Four. It's potential for heaviness and solidity render it a natural. The Four of Earth, though, and precisely because of that, is often associated with a sense of greed and of holding on when holding on is no longer appropriate. It is associated with accumulation and with having things, but often in a way that is limiting. Earth Four can indicate, under the right circumstances, a solid material fund that you can count on being there for you, but there is always that cautionary overtone of surrendering to avarice.

METAL : Metal, too, is strong as a Four and also hints at good fortune although, because Metal is the element of the will, it implies a strength of purpose necessary to accomplish such a thing and can, in most instances, stand for just that: a strong sense of resolve, one that cannot be assailed.
Because the nature of Metal is not as gigantic as that of Earth, the implication of stuckness when it shows up is not as prevalent...but with Four, it's never to be entirely forgotten.

WATER : Water and Four are not a natural match, not by any means. Water, considered to be the most dangerous of the elements when considered in Five Element Theory, always finds a way to move and Four is the very essence of immobility. Water Four is uncomfortable at best and can be downright annoying, pointing at an inability - for whatever reason - to move through certain feelings.
Ddepending on the company it is keeping, the Four in Water can spell boredom or even depression although, on a rare occasion - one you'll recognize by the situation and accompanying cards - it can speak to the necessity of cooling your jets for a bit. Every card has an up-side!

WOOD : Wood Four is a dandy card, a comfortable companion for the groundedness of Four, yet not ever stuck because of its inherent nature, which is growth. Wood just may be the perfect partner for Four, offering the best of the element and the best of the number to really shine because when you can have both a formidable root system and continued growth and movement at the same time, then you have an embodied simile for life on Earth, and what's better than life on Earth?
When Wood, as the element associated with personal growth and transformation, meets Four, the number of stability, what you have is support for transformation. It feels good. And, yes, it can feel too good and can cause you to perhaps stop and smell the roses just a little longer than you may need to, but because maturation is built in to the process of Wood, you'll move soon, you'll have to.

AIR : Nature, as you've no doubt heard, abhors a vacuum. (Me too, but that's another matter.) So, as you might suspect, Air and Four are not the best of friends. Air, being the element of Mind at its most elementary function - ie, thinking and not shutting up - and Four being the energy of standstill, the resultant effect is one of an endless loop that you can't seem to step out of.  A sense of caution and/or something that can provide clarity would be good to consider when Air Four shows up.

FIRE : Fire, too, is at odds with Four because, as with Water, the natural condition of Fire is one of freedom. Coop it up and  not only is it a less than satisfactory environment, it bears the potential of being a terminal one for without an air supply to urge it on, Fire...just...goes...away.

AETHER : No problems here! Aether works with everything because Aether is part of everything. Aether is always the best of the numbers it represents because it feeds life. So the Four in Aether, The Universal Father, represents the concept of support at its most desirable: strength and security.
In older decks, born of a patriarchal matrix, Aether Four was usually pictured as the "Emperor," problematic at best for what, surely, must be obvious reasons. Aether, the integral Spirit that pervades all of Life As We Know It Now, has no down sides. Life is what we chose to make of it and is not handed down to us like some kind of edict from above. At the level of Life there are no kings and queens, no emperors and empresses, not even any presidents or secretaries of state, there are only Fathers and Mothers. And while Fathers and Mothers have their problems, in the Aetheric state, the ideal rules...so to speak!