Celebrating World Tarot Day
Jung, Tarot, Archetypes and what makes Tarot Amazing
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The cards are simply paper stock, the colors are often primary, but the images are powerful and sometimes enigmatic. When you look at them, something profound within your psyche that touches the collective unconscious is activated. There's a sense of communication, message, and wisdom. You can feel it, but it seems indecipherable. You know there's something powerful here, but you can't articulate it.
Some images convey knowledge, empowerment, and even love, while others terrify. The entire spectrum of the human experience is displayed in the cards. The deck presents a microscope to examine the innermost regions of the human body, mind, and soul, as well as acting as a telescope extending our vision and knowledge far out into the cosmos and into the unseen realms of the divine.
We are speaking, of course, about The Tarot, a jewel in the crown of Western Esotericism—a system of divination, self-exploration, psychic knowledge, and psycho-spiritual insight. The Tarot is an authentic Western flowering of philosophical and spiritual thought and understanding birthed in European Christendom, founded upon the mystical traditions of Judaism and Christianity and informed by the echoes of the ancients in the Classical World of the Mediterranean and the Egyptians.
The Tarot began as a humble set of playing cards, condemned by the Church because they were commonly used for gambling. This condemnation is fortunate because the first reference to the specific cards in the deck is from a sermon on the evils of gambling that lists them.
The earliest list of the 22 cards, which have become known as the Major Arcana, is given in a sermon against their use by a monk writing in Latin around 1450‐1470 A.D. This sermon is sometimes called the Steele Sermon as it belongs to the collection of Robert Steele. - Marcus Katz
Somehow (there are theories, but it is not entirely clear how), an ordinary deck of playing cards morphed into the divinatory system we now know as Tarot.
Archetypes in the Tarot
Archetypes are strange things. Plato knew them, as did Jung, Von Franz, Hillman, and others. You probably know them already, even if you are unaware of them.
What is an Archetype?
You'll find definitions such as this one.
Jungian archetypes are a concept from psychology that refers to a universal, inherited idea, pattern of thought, or image that is present in the collective unconscious of all human beings. The psychic counterpart of instinct, archetypes are thought to be the basis of many of the common themes and symbols that appear in stories, myths, and dreams across different cultures and societies. ~ Wikipedia
Even more fundamental is this definition
The original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies: prototype ~ www.merriam-webster.com
One of my favorite biblical scholars who plums the depths of biblical mysticism, Margaret Barker, has a deeply profound interpretation of archetypes which she lays out in her book Temple Mysticism, an introduction. She begins with Plato, Socrates, and the Timaeus in which
...true reality and every object or quality in the material world is a copy of the eternal Form, which is, in effect, its essence. ~ Margaret Barker
She goes on to note,
The state where the Platonic Forms exists sounds very like the holy of holies: beyond space and time, the state of true knowledge, and on the outer surface of heaven...The mystery of the holy of holies was not accessible to ordinary human senses, just as the state of the Forms was visible only to the mind.
Further along in her work is my favorite insight about archetypes and how they have come to be in our world.
In the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (also referred to as the Angelic Liturgy, are a series of thirteen songs, one for each of the first thirteen Sabbaths of the year, contained in fragments found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Songs were found in 10 fragmentary copies: nine at Qumran and one at Masada, thought to have been written around 100 BCE. ~ Wikipedia) The tsurot in the holy of holies were "engraved," presumably their way of describing a distinct entity in a state without time or matter (an archetype)... [An ancient] hymn declares, "Everything is engraved before you, an inscribed record of the perpetual seasons, and the record of the cycles of the eternal years and their sacred seasons"...There are many of these "engraved things" in the Hebrew scriptures, and they include not only objects but also the laws for human behavior...In later texts, the engravings were on the throne itself. [Here, I must pause to insert one of my favorite connections; Mary, Mother of God, and Isis, the divine feminine, is the throne on which God and the Pharaoh sits. Let that sink in for a while]. Then, as the angels sang the Sanctus, all the holy names engraved on the throne flew off and became the heavenly host...In other words, as the great angels sang 'Holy, Holy, Holy' ...the names on the throne became the angels who filled the creation with glory...John (from the gospels) may have known that the engravings on the throne...became separate beings as they heard the Sanctus. ~ Margaret Barker, Temple Mysticism, an introduction
This is why I often equate "angels" with archetypes, particularly in astrology, with each planet having its ruling "angel," "deity," or archetype, in the Tarot when angels appear, such as Temperance, and in Nature with nature spirits like the genius loci of a place actually being an "angel" or archetype.
All this is to point out that Platonism mixed with Jewish and Christian mysticism had a huge and lasting effect on early Christianity and permeated the Western mind in philosophy and religion and therefore found its way into Tarot.
Thus it is no surprise that in its early stages, the playing cards that came to be the Tarot contained images of archetypal figures, The Empress, The Emperor, The Pope, The Angel, The Devil, Death, The Fool, and others. The deck also contained virtues, which could be construed as archetypes, especially when personified, as they are patterns of ideals, thoughts, and behaviors. Things like Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance. Other archetypes, such as The Sun, The Moon, The Star, and The World, also appear.
When considered part of the vice of gambling and suppressed, a deck of commonplace playing cards with archetypal imagery reasserts itself (as archetypes often do when they want to be present) as a method of conversing and gaining wisdom from the divine. A strange and mysterious transformation that makes perfect sense to anyone well acquainted with archetypes and how they exert influence.
World Tarot Day
Today on World Tarot Day, I'd like to tell you how Tarot came into my life and why it has become such an essential part of what I do personally and professionally.
The Roots
First, many of you already use and love the Tarot and probably Oracle cards. Growing up, I was vaguely aware that 'gypsies' used cards and crystal balls to tell fortunes. However, I was only aware of the name Tarot for those cards in my 40s. At that point, the prevailing opinion around me was either Tarot was "dangerous and satanic" or "utter nonsense." Neither is true.
In 2015 I began my study of Jungian depth psychology (interestingly, something else you may hear labeled dangerous or nonsense, again, not valid criticism.) My introduction to and deep interest in archetypes brought me closer to the Tarot. It began with SoulCollage© and the suggestion from some facilitators that your SoulCollage© cards, particularly the Council Suit, were like the Tarot. They were archetype cards that you created rather than then standardized ones in Tarot. That made sense to me and felt safe at the time as concerns about Tarot still lingered in the back of my mind.
It's a Calling
If the Tarot wants to speak through you, it will find a way into your life. Over the next several years, I studied and worked with archetypes in courses through JourneyPath Institute and during personal work. This path continued to draw me closer and closer to Tarot. Yet Tarot seemed inscrutable. There were so many cards, 78 to be exact, each with its own meaning. So I read a few books and took an Intuitive Tarot Reading course. The major arcana, the archetypal cards, were easy enough to at least partially understand, but the minor arcana was overwhelming.
During this period, I was obsessively collecting Oracle Card decks which I could easily intuitively read because no existing historical structure, knowledge, or method was necessary.
I continued to weave the Major Arcana of the Tarot into my work, usually in conjunction with archetypes, until I saw advertised a course called A Jungian Perspective on the Tarot. I was intrigued and excited. I enrolled in both Levels 1 and 2. Shortly after that, I took the plunge, followed an inner call, invested in myself, and signed up for an eight-month-long Jungian Tarot Readers Certification course.
If you had told me even a few years ago that I'd be where I am today, I never would have believed it. A surprising change of career, life path, belief system, or what have you often follows a significant shift that seemingly comes out of nowhere yet always has roots.
I will share with you why a Jungian approach to the Tarot was so compelling for me and what that is.
Putting the Tarot into a Jungian framework allowed everything to fall into place for me. Suddenly the cards, all 78, became understandable, as did the structure of the entire deck.
The Jungian Perspective
Jungian depth work saved my faith and my sanity during a tough time in my life. The creative process of depth work and Jung's insights into the human psyche/soul helped me make sense of things in a way that had previously eluded me. Studying Jungian psychology gave me deep insight and understanding into myself. This framework applied to Tarot opened up hidden knowledge and mysteries I had only dreamed about.
I want to highlight three ways looking at Tarot through a Jungian lens amplifies and illuminates the Taort's inherent power.
The Jungian principles applied to the Tarot presented here are based on my notes and classwork with Dr. Ken James and reflect his deep understanding of both Jung and Tarot, which I was fortunate enough to receive during his courses.
Transcendence and Individuation
In Jungian Tarot, we recognize the symbols of the Tarot as products of the transcendent function, which can act as allies. Tarot is a visual oracle, and we trust the images. The symbols on the cards are transpersonal, archetypal principles that help us organize our experiences. Viewing and using Tarot this way allows us to understand the flow of our lives and supports our individuation. Individuation means becoming fully integrated, healed, and whole within our Self. As you move towards individuation, you are bringing together all of the divided parts of yourself and enabling them to work together as a unified whole. Exploring through Tarot is a powerful way to nurture this inner work. During a Jungian Tarot reading, you find meaning by discovering correspondences between prevailing outer conditions and what's happening in your unconscious. The external world and your inner world come from the same source, and the source of those worlds is intuitive.
So, the first principle of Jungian Tarot is that its source and power come from a source beyond the personal, allowing the Tarot to act as a guide and ally as you move towards greater wholeness in your being.
Psychic Structure
The second aspect of Jungian Tarot reading involves overlaying Jung's model of the psyche onto the structure of the Tarot deck. This is extremely helpful during reading to tap into the full measure of what the cards are saying. In addition, this facilitates engagement with non-rational forms of knowledge and more profound levels of consciousness in a safe way. Thus intuitive ways of knowing can speak powerfully through the images. In this way, the Tarot allows connection with things we cannot usually attain on our own.
The realms of experience through a Jungian lens are the personal realm seen in the minor arcana, illuminating personal events and situations. The court cards show relationships in the world and within the psyche. Finally, the collective archetypal realm is found in the major arcana. Viewing the Tarot through this structured perception is invaluable for achieving deep, meaningful readings.
Synchronicity: matter + psyche meet
Finally, we must explore how the Tarot works from a Jungian perspective. The Tarot operates on the principle of synchronicity using two methods. First, a receptive mode focuses on using the cards to clarify an issue. For example, a question is presented, and the cards will speak; this is the format of a typical Tarot reading. Then there is an enactive mode allowing one to meditate on the cards to facilitate active imagination and pathworking. This is usually a meditative activity done alone, with openness and intention.
In either case, how do we know the cards that reveal themselves are meaningful and not just a chaotic and random selection?
Synchronicity happens when the Tarot cards (matter) and psyche meet at a point of meaning, evoking synchronicity with the cards. The hermetic axiom, as above so below, describes this well. Simply put, synchronicity is when the Tarot cards meet the psyche's inner world through the question asked and reveal the answer through the symbols on the cards.
Tarosophy
Beyond a Jungian perspective on Tarot there is something called Tarosophy developed by Marcus Katz and Tali Goodwin. This approach provides an even larger framework and broader foundation for my work with Tarot. I have found so much value in this approach that I am currently working through a two-year Tarot Heckademia Degree-style course offered by The Tarosophy Tarot Association. A potent brew of many subjects that interest me is folded into this course, including but definitely not limited to Tarot & Psychology, The Anglo-Saxon Oracle, Runes, Symbolism, Numerology, Mythic Journey, Tarot & Kabbalah, Tarot & Astrology, Tarot & Alchemy.
Tarot is not just a deck of 78 cards; it is a real place – a place where your mind meets the mysteries and your imagination floats over the landscape of time itself, gaining insight into your past, present, and future. It is into this magical place that we travel together, using the cards as our map and compass.
Tarot is a wisdom tool – Tarosophy – to engage life, not escape it.
We teach methods of Tarot to divine your life and make your way better through it – understanding more along the way.
We do not teach Tarot to pass the time nor distract you from real-world issues.
Our aim is to restore the spiritual dignity of Tarot.
Tarosophy is a comprehensive approach to the Tarot that weaves it into the Western Esoteric tradition.
You can discover this approach to Tarot for yourself through two fantastic books by Marcus Katz, Tarosophy: Tarot to engage life, not escape it and Tarosophy Squared: Recovering the Spiritual Dignity of Tarot.
Personal Experiences and Reflections on Tarot
The most important thing from my personal experience reading for myself and clients is that the cards never lie. The Tarot is a conduit to knowledge that comes from a Divine source. It is truly an ally offering insight, help, and answers when life is complex, confusing, or painful.
As a visual oracle Tarot activates the ancient power of symbols and archetypes and allows the querent to enter into realms within themselves and in the larger reality that yields profound wisdom that can be applied to life circumstances.
My psychological and spiritual approach to the Tarot steers away from fortune telling, predicting the future with certainty or guarantees, and focuses on connecting with the knowledge that resides within the soul and in the divine realms always available to us.
I've seen the Tarot bring to light wonderful insights, clarity, and even specific actions and new understanding for a client.
I have made profound realizations about my health, spiritual life, relationships, gifts, and abilities through working with the Tarot.
Readings
You may be wondering if I offer Tarot readings. I often use Tarot with my existing Depth Work Clients and recently have expanded that to include stand-alone Tarot readings for anyone and Tarot Coaching packages too.
I meet with clients via Zoom and a two-camera system so you can see me and the cards as they are laid out during the reading.
You can find information about that on my Hedge Mystic site HERE and on my website HERE.
Ask Me Anything about Tarot
Use the comment section to ask me anything about Tarot, and I will answer to the best of my ability.
Happy World Tarot Day!
Thank you for being here; you are always appreciated and loved.
Oh I hadn’t heard of Tarosophy before! But I’ll be excited to learn more about this thanks to the books you recommended.
I had Substack read your post aloof on my drive home and it was a very informative way to pass the time while stuck in Rush Hour! Thanks! 🧡
Great article, especially weaving in the archetypal foundations. Thanks for sharing it! I love the Tarot and the learnings contained within. I trained with the voyager deck (James Wanless), and have now moved to the Witches Wisdom Deck by Phyllis Currott.