Intro to the archetypes

[ricdaw]

Inspired by the question of how to apply the knowledge of archetypes and your sharing of experience with tarot, I read online about tarot for divination (which is new to me), and learned that one can do a 3-card spread of past, present and future.

So, I did a spread for myself and got this: Wheel of Fortune (Past), Strength (Present) and Sage (Future).

Using my understanding of the archetypes based on Ra's materials, I had the following brief amateurish interpretation (my first attempt at this sort of reading). Although the interpretation is so general that it could apply to almost anyone, for me, I'm experiencing a personal drama that I feel the general script below is pretty spot on.

Past: Wheel of Fortune

Feeling it is no longer tenable to hold on to an environment as it presents a blockage to personal growth. Take the plunge to change the environment for better or for worse.

Present: Strength

Dealing with the situation arising from the changing environment. Experiencing fear/courage in the face of the uncertain future that lies ahead.

Future: Sage

Becoming a more balanced mind/body/spirit complex and a purer channel of love/light of the One Infinite Creator. Learning/teaching from the past lesson.

Hi fiatlux0!

Sorry about the belated reply; been busy.

It looks like you are using just the Majors for your divination (which is how I started too, because learning 78 cards all at once seemed insurmountable).

With the majors, the messages a pretty big.  In a spread where all 78 cards are being used, the majors are like MESSAGES IN CAPITAL LETTERS.  

You have a good interpretation of your three-card spread.  Here's mine, just for the fun of comparing.

Past: Wheel of Fortune.  The universe seems to be confronting you with some (seemingly) random events and catalyst.  (But we all know that there is no such thing, right?!)  Think good or bad luck, depending on the events.  Because the NOW card is Strength, I can safely say that the catalyst is challenging you to the utmost.  Strength is the card that shows how to survive and thrive from catalyst, even the most unpleasant kind.  It is about that inner strength to turn even the worst adversity (see that lion?) and to tame it by how you interpret the events/circumstances and feel about them.  A simple version of the concept is making lemons into lemonade.  But Strength shows real character development.

FUTURE:  The sage is walking forward in wisdom.  You are going to learn something really important from this Wheel of Life catalyst. It's going to become a life-lesson that you will carry forward to other circumstances. The card shows how well the lesson is grounded in you.  And while the universe like to "test" people on lessons, if you have really grokked the teaching, it is not much of a test, and then that will stop.  The sage shows a successful outcome.  

A good reading!

To add a level of complexity to the use of the abbreviated deck for the three-card readings (using majors only) I recommend adding the extra dimension of orientation.  Shuffle the cards by also spinning them around, or reverse one pile every shuffle, so that the cards are in mixed up/up-side-down orientation.  When you deal out your three cards, leave them in the same orientation as they fall.

My way of reading reversed cards is not typical.  Many (most?) tarot readers have adopted ANOTHER 78 meanings for the cards when they show up reversed (the very idea of memorizing more meanings just made me depressed).  But I see orientation as a clue as to source.  An upright card is external.  A reversed card is internal.  For example, I described that Wheel of Fortune card as a bunch of external catalyst confronting you.  If the card had been reversed, it would have been internal catalyst instead.  Things like depression, guilt, grief, etc.  They may have initially been caused by an external event, but the bulk of the catalyst is thinking about and working on the problem internally.  There isn't the same kind of constant external bombardment.  If the Wheel catalyst was a significant other doing something wacky, an upright Wheel card says that the wackiness continues.  You are confronted by that external catalyst over and over.  But if the card were reversed, you got that catalyst, but now all the heavy lift is about you thinking about it, e.g. "hey, maybe I should leave this relationship."  That kind of inner work is the kind of wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night kind of catalyst that the Wheel can express too.  (In the larger deck, the 9 of swords is uniquely that kind of meaning, btw).

So for Strength, the card is already about an inner process; developing the inner strength to overcome the adversity of the Wheel card.  So how to interpret an already internal card in the two orientations?  Well, an upright version has you demonstrating that strength publicly.  Showing the "turn the other cheek" mentality.  Showing calm in the storm.  Laughing out loud at the adversity and maybe even saying to your friends the lemons/lemonade quote.  In reverse, the power of Strength is magnified.  Internal squared.  So I would interpret reversed Strength as being about Forgiving another person their trespasses, even without ever telling them.  It means total Acceptance too.  It is the power of the inner work that yields the same kind of transformation.

Last card, Sage.  Right side up, demonstrating wisdom.  Sharing it with others.  Acting on it.  Reversed?  Totally getting the lesson.  knowing it is a lesson and knowing that you have figured it out.  The kind of thing that makes you overall an older and wiser person.

So there you have the same three cards, but with the added complexity of orientation, you can see how there is more nuance and texture to the reading.

Keep up the readings.  Practice makes all the difference.

Rick