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TAROT
I've been a professional tarot card reader since 1986. I love tarot cards
because they've show me how to walk a continuous spiritual path by applying
the universal symbols of tarot. On a more practical level, tarot can also
provide very clear and accurate answers to specific questions. When I do a
tarot reading, I ask the person receiving the reading to prepare three
questions for the cards. These questions can be on any topic that is
important to them - from the most spiritual and esoteric to the most
material and mundane - but over the years I've observed that the
most-asked question is about relationships. A relationship question can be
about a lover, spouse, family member, or co-worker; but always seeking the
details of how we interact with others and why. Is this a karmic
relationship? Why are we together? What is our future together?
The second most-asked question is about
career choices. This is a serious question because it effects how we spend
most of our waking hours. Career questions also answers money questions
because a main source of income is often through work. The third question is
usually about health or the best place to live. But people can ask anything
to the card; where to go on holiday, schools for their children, what to
select for a major in college, questions about their pets, information about
relatives, connection to those who have passed on, spiritual path and
teachers, or whatever arises to be answered and examined.
TAROT and CHAKRAS
Elevate your questions by raising them to the highest form possible. Too often
tarot cards are used to answer questions that are based on fear, such as
"Does my boyfriend still want me?" The heart is not present. But the same
question asked as "What can I do to develop the best in our relationship?" can
offer a creative vision. The statement, "I don't like my boss" can be addressed
to the tarot as "How can the problems I experience with my boss help me to grow
and become aware?"
To help you elevate your questions to fully
comprehend tarot as a tool for spiritual healing, become familiar with the
ancient Hindu system of the seven chakras. (Chakra means wheel in Sanskrit.)
Each chakra represents different energy patterns in our body. When all seven
chakras are balanced, we can attain our highest level of energy and creative
potential.
The first chakra, located at the base of the
spine, correlates to basic survival issues. In times of war or extreme illness,
this chakra is strongly activated. Once survival issues are resolved,
procreation can occur through the second chakra, the genital area, which
channels sexual and creative energy. The third chakra, located in the solar
plexus, represents power and the pursuit of material gain. Most people in the
world, consumed with the mundane challenges of everyday existence, live in these
three lower chakras.
It is the fourth chakra, the heart center of
love, caring, and compassion that introduces the realm of transcendence and
spirituality. Fourth chakra was personified as the loving kindness of Buddha,
the sacred heart of Jesus Christ, the merciful goodness of the Chinese goddess
Quan Yin; and in religious and spiritual disciplines that emphasize living from
the heart, such as "Love they neighbor as thyself".
Moving upwards from the heart, the fifth chakra
is located in the throat. This chakra is associated with the spoken work and the
power of words to heal (and harm). The sixth chakra, also referred to as the
"third eye", is located between the eyebrows. It is associated with creative
vision and clairvoyance. Inspiration comes down to use through the seventh
chakra, the crown center. In our modern technological environment, many of us
have closed the seventh chakra to avoid being overwhelmed by external stimuli.
But in a peaceful, meditative environment, we can open the seventh chakra to
receive spiritual guidance.
Working with the magic of tarot symbolism
brings us to the heart center, above the mundane realities of the first three
chakras. On a higher metaphysical level, working with tarot cards can open up
the seventh chakra of divine inspiration and the sixth chakra of creative
vision. Insight communicated through the fifth chakra, tempered with compassion
of the fourth chakra, can create a tarot interpretation of the most effective
healing alchemy.
FOUR ELEMENTS OF TAROT
There are 78 card in the tarot pack. 22 are Major Arcana cards. Arcana means
secret, or arcane. 40 cards are Minor Arcana cards, which are numbered Ace
through 10 and represent the four elements fire, water, air, and earth. 16
cards are the Court cards, or royal figures, which are divided into 4 Court
cards for each of the 4 elements. They are depicted as a King, Queen,
Knight, and Page in most tarot decks.
The King represents mastery, power, and strength. The Queen embodies her
element with depth and maturity. A Knight denotes action, quest, and
movement. The Page represents exploration, seeking, and learning.
Karmic cards of destiny are the Major Arcana, Aces, and Court cards. Cards
of choice are 2 through 10 of the Minor Arcana.
In tarot, the four elements are
symbolized by a wand, cup, sword, and pentacle (disk). The four elements
also correspond to four directions and colors: south red, west black, east
yellow, and north white. The four colors also represent the races of
humanity. The four elements of fire, water, air, and earth are found in many
magical and spiritual systems such as the Native American medicine wheel,
the four corners of European pre-Christian ritual, the four elements of
alchemical schools of medieval Europe, and the four elements of astrology.
Alchemy is to change our bases selves into gold -- radiant and rare. By
combining the elements we can transform reality.
FIRE |
The exciting, masculine element fire represents will, drive, destiny, creativity, and spirit in action. In tarot, the symbol for fire is a wand, a blazing wand of power. The suit of clubs in a regular playing deck represents fire. Fire is the phallus ejaculating the seeds of creativity. In Chinese medicine the element fire is associated with the heart. Fire myths are Prometheus bound, Satan and his flames, and the Phoenix that rises from its own ashes. The fire signs of astrology are Sagittarius, Aries, and Leo. |
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Water |
The element water is the nurturing, feminine element that represents emotions, intuition, spiritual belief, faith, and love. In tarot, the symbol for water is a cup, a round cup that holds water. The suit of hearts in a regular playing deck represents water. Water is the essence of life, the sea of fertility, the amniotic fluid of the womb, and the womb of the Ocean Mother from whom all life emerged. According to the ancient Chinese, water is the most powerful element for it can flow around any obstacle in its path without changing essence. Water myths in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition are the quest for the fountain of youth, Jonah in the belly of the whale, Noah and the ark, the waters of St. John the Baptist, and the waters of the holy grail. The water signs of astrology are Pisces, Cancer, and Scorpio.
The wands and cups suits of the tarot have a larger symbolic significance. The mixture of fire and water is an alchemical balance of emotion put into compassionate action, or action inspired by strong compassion. One defines the other and creates a balanced polarity of yang (masculine) and yin (feminine); the harmonious blend of day and night, light and dark. This cycle continues, just as high noon becomes midnight and summer solstice becomes winter solstice. The interplay between masculine and feminine elements is the essence of life. Tarot imagery shows the balance of male and female, fire and water, dark and light, and yang and yin. Death occurs when yin and yang separate.
In alchemical script, the symbol for fire is a triangle and the symbol for water is an inverted triangle. Superimposed one upon the other, they create the six-pointed star of the cabalist Hebrew mysteries, the Seal of Solomon (Sulyman). |
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AIR |
The masculine element air represents the mind, mental activity, communication, intellect, thoughts, and ideas. In tarot, the symbol for air is a sword that can cut through matter with clarity and swiftness. The suit of spades in a regular playing deck represents air. The Tower of Babel, the wing-footed messenger god Mercury, the Excalibur sword, and the smoke of the peace pipe are air myths and symbols. The air signs of astrology are Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. |
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EARTH |
The stable, feminine element earth represents the material world, health, wealth, tangible goods, and the concrete reality of Mother Earth upon whom we walk. In tarot, the symbol for earth is either a pentacle or disk. Earth myths and stories are the minotaur of ancient Crete, the golden calf, Atlas carrying the world on his shoulders, Persephone in the Underworld, and the goose that laid golden eggs. The earth signs of astrology are Virgo, Capricorn, and Taurus.
Together air and earth have a male and female polarity just as fire and water are polarized. The mixture of air and earth is the alchemical balance of making ideas reality and changing physical reality through ideas, values, thoughts, and beliefs. Western medical research has found a link between life outlook (air) and physical health (earth).
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MAJOR ARCANA
The 22 cards of the Major Arcana cards are the trump cards that tell the story of the Fool's journey. They are a richly symbolic pattern of a very old mystery.
They are: Fool, Magician, Priestess, Empress, Emperor, Hierophant, Lovers,
Chariot, Justice, Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Strength, Hanged Man, Death,
Temperance, Devil, Tower, Star, Moon, Sun, Judgement, and World. For
more information about the Fool's journey, read my book Introduction to
Tarot, or purchase The Complete Tarot Kit that contains
Introduction to Tarot, along with a tarot journal, pop-up reference
guide, spread sheet for the cards, and both the Waite-Rider and the Crowley Thoth tarot decks.
TAROT and LITERATURE
To better understand myth and
symbol, read Memories, Dreams, and Reflections by Carl
Jung (Vintage Books). Then read classic literature and great
novels to understand tarot archetypes. Tarot archetypes come to
life through characterization in literature.
The one card that my students
and clients have the most problem understanding is the Hanged
Man. The novel Things Fall Apart by Nigerian
author Chinua Achebe explains the many levels of the Hanged Man.
To understand the Queen of
Swords, read Pushkin's "The Queen of Spades," which is perhaps
the best short story in world literature, in The Complete
Prose Tales of Alexandr Sergeyevitch Pushkin. To
understand the subtle nuances of the the Minor Arcana suit of
Cups, read the Diaries of Anais Nin.
Study the classics, seeking
Major Arcana archetypes hidden in the pages. Could an aspect of
the Magician lurk in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray?
Is the Tower the card for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein?
If you actually sit down and read it, you will discover a
classic of Romanticism more suited to the Lovers than to the
Tower. It's obvious which tarot archetype inspired Leo Tolstoy's
short story "The Three Hermits."
Read collections of short
stories too, such as Best Short Stories by Guy de
Maupassant. Each of de Maupassant's stories can correlate to a
tarot card. Try to match each story with a card. The modern
Italian author Italo Calvino did just that in The Castle of
Crossed Destinies. He illustrated his book with two medieval
Italian tarot decks to create short stories.
Stick with the classics. Find
the hidden archetypes as you read. If you are interested in a tarot card
reading, send me an email at
susan@susanlevitt.com or call me at 415.642.8019. Please keep in
mind time zone differences if you are not calling from the Pacific time
zone. Thanks.
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