His Calling Card - Paul Fenton-Smith

A glimpse of the emotional baggage Mr Right may be carrying lies in his calling card. Clairvoyant Paul Fenton-Smith offers insights into the different types of men revealed in the ancient cards of the tarot and how to attract or avoid them.

The tarot presents four basic types of men, including their positive traits and their shadow sides. While a potential partner may present as a focused, generous man who is an excellent role model to his children, his shadow may contain a greedy, self centred tyrant or an Olympic grade sulker whose currency is petulance. Take a look below and see if you recognise anyone you know.

Men come is all shapes and sizes, with different temperaments and tastes. Despite the advent of the SNAG, the metrosexual and other versions of modern man, men have basically have remained the same for hundreds of years. When a fourteenth century set of cards clearly describes basic types of men and is still applicable today, it’s safe to assert that men haven’t changed that much.

The King of Wands is sporty, passionate, enthusiastic and forthright. This is the man to take to a match, a race, an afternoon of skydiving or a weekend away camping and white water rafting. He thrives on a challenge, is naturally competitive and enjoys the great outdoors.

Not blessed with tact or discretion, it’s best for his partner to avoid asking him “Does my bum look big in this?” He’s usually cheeky, bold and keen to do the chasing in love relationships. He enjoys a conquest but can take longer than the other types to settle down into a long term love relationship as he loves his freedom. ‘More is better’ is often his attitude, whether it be driving a fast car or guzzling a margarita.

The shadow side of the King of Wands reveals a man who is often restless, undisciplined and impatient. He sometimes lacks self discipline and can explode into rage when his plans are thwarted. This is the guy who overtakes you on the inside lane because you aren’t driving  over the speed limit.

The negative King can be a magnet for fights, often lacks the awareness to know when to stop drinking and usually spends his money faster than he earns it.  His restlessness and his lack of discipline cause him to start his own business, but he is often bankrupt soon afterwards.  He can be a bully and difficult to negotiate with when his temper is aroused.  Avoid this man if you don’t like loud arguments, temper tantrums or being bullied.

The King of Cups is a soft, gentle, patient man. Although shy at first, he reveals himself slowly to those he trusts. Artistic, naturally creative and sensitive to the needs of others, he understands how to keep romance in a relationship to make it work. He combines compassion with practicality, and is suited to careers in counselling, natural therapies, research and the arts.

He’s a man many women seek; someone who listens.  He is usually thoughtful, kind to children and animals and sentimental by nature.  He loves the ocean and more passive leisure pursuits such as reading, snorkelling, watching films, painting, writing or playing a musical instrument.

The negative King of Cups is more commonly known as the ‘King of Sulking.’  He can freeze you out with a look. Kevin, a negative King of Cups refused to utter one word to his wife for four years after an argument.  They continued to live together, communicating only through the children or a note pad on the kitchen table.

He remembers well every perceived misdeed, harbouring a grudge long after an incident has generally been forgotten.  He is attracted to drugs or alcohol to numb his emotional pain and can retreat into depression when creative projects fail.  Often a failed artist or musician, he is a master of passive aggressive behaviour.  He’ll accompany you to a friend’s wedding and make it known how much he detests being there.  It’s as though it is raining only at his end of the table.  He may suffer in silence but his silence echoes around the room contributing a strained air to proceedings.  Avoid this man if you don’t like having to guess what you have said wrong, done wrong, not said or forgotten to say.  He won’t tell you, but his attitude will.

The King of Swords is curious, talkative and intellectual in his approach.  He understands that the way to a woman’s heart is through her ear and so he is usually keen to start a conversation. He is witty, quick to sway an argument with fine logic and is naturally curious about people and life.

Preferring to keep his hands clean in his work, he favours a career in medicine, the law, writing (non-fiction) or business administration.  This man can sell ice to Eskimos and matches in hell. If he’s late for a date he’ll have an excellent excuse, although it may be a compete work of fiction. Michael, a King of Swords works in the human resources department of a large company and his job involves reading job applications.
“I particularly like reading resumes. They offer some of the best fiction writing I’ve seen.”

An entertaining guest at a dinner party, this King can converse on almost any subject with ease. He is adaptable, usually precise in his work and his thinking and is adept at writing reports if his job demands it.

When negative, the King of Swords can be notoriously loose with the facts, adapting them to suit his own needs. He’ll take a story which was told to him and re-tell it as his own, embellishing it to suit his audience. He can lie to you without blinking and blithely makes promises he has no intention of keeping. He is usually unreliable, duplicitous and adept at talking money out of your pocket into his own.

If you catch him out on a lie, he’ll brazen it out. His chief weapon is the carefully phrased justification. It can be a challenge to him to convince his partner that his love affair with another woman was merely his way to remind himself how lucky he was to with his partner in the first place. He is often drawn to politics for the mental challenges it presents.

Avoid this man if you like a partner to mean what he says and say what he means. If you prefer actions to promises, this man may disappoint you.

The King of Pentacles is practical, conservative, reliable and generally less adventurous than the other types. He thrives on stable routines, resisting changes in job or home environment because he believes ‘better the devil you know that the one you don’t.’ He is usually hard working, patient and traditional in his approach to life.  He establishes set routines, prefers to travel to the same place to holiday each year and is good with animals. Trent’s routines are so well established that when he arrives at his local restaurant on Friday evenings, the waiter knows where to sit him and what he’ll order. “When you’ve found what you like, why change it?” is his attitude.

This King is suited to running his own business. He detests being told what to do. Usually disciplined with money, this is a man who saves all he can, invests wells and plans for a financially stable retirement. He’s often already thinking about financing his retirement in his twenties. He enjoys nature, country life and gardening, although his career may limit his gardening efforts until retirement.

When negative, this King desires money, often hoarding it away in secret places in case his relationship ends. When angry with his partner he can cut off the funds, using the threat of poverty as a punishment. He is often work addicted, unable to relax when on holiday and perceives material wealth as the most important measurement of success. After an argument he’ll often go to work or retreat to his study or shed to work off his anger.

The negative type often takes shortcuts to financial success, investing poorly and losing everything he has in the process.  He usually reaches mid life to discover that he doesn’t like his career but that it is financially impractical to start again. He habitually resists change and  is more relaxed at work than at home. Avoid this man if you don’t like waiting until he’s in a good mood before asking for enough money to buy a pair of shoes.

To sum up:

King of Wands

King of Cups

King of Swords

King of Pentacles

Each type of man offers distinct qualities, and finding a compatible partner depends on which qualities are most important to you.  If you are a book lover and a film buff then the King of Wands is probably likely to be out playing sport while you’re sobbing to yourself as you watch a romantic film at home. If you love action and adventure then you might find the King of Pentacles too routine, especially when he arranges the annual holidays by booking into the same room in the same hotel as last year.

If love relationship partners were dance partners, you need to find someone who prefers your type of dance. If he waltzes and you tango you’ll tread on each others toes. If you were to group the four types into four dances they might be as follows.

Wands
Hip hop, street dancing and Latin dancing styles such as the tango or the samba.

Cups
A slow dance in a gentle embrace to a romantic song.

Swords
Any dance where you change pace or partners regularly to maintain interest.

Pentacles
A waltz or a traditional structured dance where both partners have taken lessons.