they shall look upon him whom they pierced

The jack of hearts, or knight of cups in the commonly-configured tarot deck, is one of the most dramatic cards in the pack, and one of the two or three most disturbing concepts among the suited cards.

Among readers who use a standard playing-card deck, this jack signals the need for personal sacrifice of some kind, and is sometimes called "The Christ card," or "card of spiritual sacrifice."

Like the crucifixion story, this image contains resonances with very early pre-civilized human psychology, including the instincts which  prompted our Neolithic ancestors to practice  human sacrifice.

The symbols in the frame, drawn from Mexican crucifixion iconography, echo this instinct as well as the passion story: the crown of thorns, hammer and tongs, the ladder and nails are there along with the sacred, still-living heart, the lily, and the Chi-Rho symbol of the early church, shown in obverse and reverse. The death's head and spilled wine, symbolizing the sacrificed blood, complete the symbolic content of this picture, along with the uncut loaf which contains the message of the prophecy found in John 19:33 "Not a bone of his body shall be broken."

The body language of the jack himself betrays no visible injury, but his expression communicates inner anguish: "They shall look upon him whom they pierced" (John 19:37 and Zechariah 12:10).

Sacrifice takes many forms in our lives, from the relatively mild  abstentions of Lent to self-flagellation or mutilation in hopes that such sacrifice will speed redemption. This urge to "give something to God" in exchange for something the sacrificer desires is basic instinct, and the idea of sacrifice, small or huge, might be moderate or extreme, but remains deeply potent, even in our debased and degraded modern post-industrial-age lives.

Click on the image for a larger view. Photo and tarot card "The Jack of Hearts" © 2001, 2013 by Dave B, a.k.a. catboxer.