Therapeutic Tarot: Confront Your Bias
A NEW WAY TO THINK OF OLD IDEAS
When you think of tarot cards, do images of fortune tellers and magic come to mind? If so, you are not alone. Many cultural and spiritual practices employ tarot cards as a form of divination and modern pop culture has no shortage of allusions to the more mystical properties of tarot. The roots of the modern tarot deck can be traced back to the early fourteenth century in Italy. While, at the time, these cards were purely kept as collection pieces amongst the noble classes, as they were often inlaid with gold, by the eighteenth century the practice of using the cards for the more arcane purpose of divination became widespread. It is interesting to note that while these original cards were filled with Western, Judeo-Christian Symbolism, it was the Anglican church that provides the first historical record transforming the cards from an innocuous pastime to something to be feared, something evil.
Did you know a regular pack of 52 playing cards was the forerunner to the modern tarot deck?
What if we choose to look past the ingrained, prejudiced bias and enlist tarot cards as a tool in our therapeutic “backpack” of skills? Instead of trying to scry the future, we can use the cards, and their meanings as prompts, as ways to engage with parts of our personality we may not normally think about or give enough attention to.
BREAKING DOWN THE DECK
When you get past the mystery, bias, and maybe even fear surrounding tarot cards, the idea behind them is pretty simple. They call on our ancient shared mind and tell the story, first named by the Greeks, of the Hero’s Journey and the archetypes. These stories and archetypes are deeply rooted in the study of psychology as described by Carl Jung.
Carl Jung was a Swiss-born psychiatrist and psychoanalyst active during the early part of the twentieth century. As he worked under the belief that there exists certain universal truths within the collective unconscious of all humans, Jung developed his archetypal system as a tool to pry deeper into the psyche and better understand the conditions of humanity. He began with the Persona or the mask we wear around others, projecting to them what we wish for them to see. This is countered by the Shadow which represents all the traits we see as undesirable in ourselves and are therefore worthy of being repressed. Next, the Anima/Animus represents the feminine and masculine qualities within each person. Now, if one can balance the previous archetypes, one can reach Jung’s goal of Self or the true amalgamated and balanced being. It is this Self, that is a struggled creation of personal integration, that will be honed further as it steps into the final archetype, the Hero. The Hero is the symbolic journey of life. It takes the Self and leads them on a journey of discovery and growth; the same journey of discovery and growth found within the tarot deck.
The story, or journey, told with 22 Major Arcana cards begins with the hero (The Fool) starting in life on their own. As we progress through the story, each card represents a major life event. This includes the development of our relationship with nature and spirituality, the acquisition of wisdom, the push and pull of external forces, falling in love, and many more pivotal developmental moments leading to the ultimate completion of the journey and life.
The remaining cards, the Minor Arcana, are typically more reminiscent in appearance to the modern deck of playing cards we are used to. Unlike the broad archetypal themes of the Major Arcana, this section of the deck asks us to examine the day-to-day tasks of life. These cards allow us a way to investigate tasks, people, relationships, and decisions in a more micro-sense.
THERAPEUTIC TAROT
Now that we have a basic understanding of what stories make up the deck, let’s give it a try as if we were in session. We would begin with a relaxation exercise as the cards were shuffled and you calmed and prepared your mind, permitting yourself to be as introspective as you wish. Then, (drum roll) I would ask you to draw three cards. The three cards that turn up are the Three of Swords, The Empress, and the Five of Coins. At this point, we turn to ‘the book’ (almost every tarot set comes with a book to help you look up traditional meanings and interpretations of each card). We start with the Empress card.
Did you know Star Wars, The Matrix, and The Wizard of Oz are all examples of the Hero’s Journey?
The Empress is all about allowing oneself to embrace the riches of life: Comfort, Love, and Generosity. Knowing this, we can begin by discussing the riches of life we are already aware of and thankful for. We could continue to expand that worldview to include new people, situations, and events that are part of our therapeutic story. Further, we could discuss any schemas that might make you hold back from accepting the comfort, love, and generosity of Others; and those are just a few jumping-off points for one single card. The possibilities are endless. We would continue to do the same exercise for the next two cards.
When it comes to tarot cards everyone tends to have a bias one way or the other about them. This is not a groundbreaking revelation, it is human nature. We are intrinsically drawn to or repulsed by that which we do not understand. As the weird fiction writer H.P. Lovecraft said, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown”, but what kind of life is to be lived if we live only in fear? Instead, when we face our fears and challenge our assumptions, suddenly the world and our perceptions of a fully integrated form of well-being are allowed to present itself to us. Therapeutic tools are all around, we just have to let ourselves see them.
