In a spread, The West Wind sets the weather: harmony, agreement, and acceptance governing the situation it touches.
— The divinatory art of the 52-card deck —
The 4 of Hearts is the gentlest weather in the deck. In the Playing Card Oracles it is The West Wind: an atmosphere of compassion and warmth, like Spring breezes — a mood of understanding in which opposing sides find common ground and lovers find comfort.
The West Wind emanates an atmosphere of compassion and warmth. Like the breezes of Spring that carry the intoxicating fragrances of tender buds, this wind of the Heart suit has a gentle persuasion — lifting spirits and inviting us to put worry and conflict aside.
As westerly currents pass over the fields, flowers nod their heads gently in turn and grasses softly sway in a symphony of quiet agreement.
The mood here is understanding. Under the influence of this card, opposing sides discover common ground, and lovers find comfort in each other’s arms.
In a spread, The West Wind sets the weather: harmony, agreement, and acceptance governing the situation it touches.
As an energy, it is the moment to reconcile — negotiations soften, quarrels lose their wind, tenderness becomes easy. Move the conversations that need warmth into this weather.
It also carries the literal direction of West, useful in this system’s directional readings; and like all Fours, several winds together in a spread mean scattered energies blowing different ways.
Traditional cartomancy reads the 4 of Hearts around changes and journeys in the affections. The Playing Card Oracles reads it as weather — the kindest wind that can blow through a spread.
In this system, the Fours are the four cardinal winds. Each Four outlines a playing field wherein events unfold according to the disposition of the wind that governs it; the lessons of the number are organization and completion.
In the Playing Card Oracles it is The West Wind: a mood of harmony, agreement, understanding, and tenderness — the gentle Spring wind of the Heart suit, under which opposing sides find common ground.
Each Four is one of the four cardinal winds — North, South, East, West — each with its own temperament, as in ancient folklore. The suit signs form fence posts outlining a playing field where events unfold according to the governing wind’s disposition.
One of the best for the mood of love: under the West Wind, lovers find comfort in each other’s arms. It promises atmosphere rather than events — the weather in which love does well.
The full grammar of the deck — geometries, timing, and the voices of all fifty-two — lives in The Playing Card Oracles: A Source Book for Divination.