Who Are You in the Tarot

7/30/2019 Who Are You in the Tarot

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PATHWAYS MAGAZINE ONLINE ARTICLE

By Geraldine Amaral

Mans main task in life is to givebirth to himself.~ Erich Fromm

Tarot Cards operate throughsymbolic, non-rational and sub-conscious aspects of aware-ness. This is the same statefrom which dreams communi-

cate to the conscious mind. TheTarot deck is a visual map ofour psyche and a symbolic sys-tem that offers insight and newperspectives in every aspect ofour lives: matters of the heart,career and nancial matters,personal motives and spiritualdevelopment. This Tarot mapshows the spiritual growth andevolution of each one of us.These symbols emanate from

the unconscious and show us atemplate for our lives. We seeexamples of both our day-to-dayliving experiences (as displayedin the Minor Arcana) as well asthe themes in our spiritual jour-ney (as portrayed in the Major

Arcana) in these universal im-ages.

Furthermore, each one of ushas a variety of personal iden-tity cards in the 78 cards of

the Tarot Deck. These identitycards, which are based on apersons birth date, reveal in-formation about our inner andouter selves and help us to un-derstand the various stages inour development and function-ing. Most of these Tarot iden-tity cards are referred to as theLife Time Tarot Cards. They areeasy to calculate.

Accessing Your Intuition: Pathways Magazine, Winter 2008-09

Who are You in the Tarot?

Birth Card

To determine your Birth Card(also the same as your BirthNumber), you would add themonth, day and year of yourbirth in a column (see example).If your birth date is March 12,1955, you would add the num-bers:

312

19551970

Then add the integers across,like this: 1 + 9 + 7 + 0 = 17. Inthis case the birth number is 17and therefore, the Birth Card isthe Star Card. You can furtherreduce this number as follows:add 1 + 7 = 8. This reducednumber, related to your birthnumber and card, is part of your

birth energy. In this case, thereduced number is the Strengthcard, Key #8 of the Major Arcana. Some authors considethis second card to portray thelessons and challenges in youlife path. Generally speakingthese Birth Cards are the primary symbols of our karma for thislifetime. Karma is the accumu-lated pattern of life experiencesprior to birth. It shows your path

in this lifetime, with suggestionsas to both strengths and weak-nesses. The Birth Card is youessence. It may also show thegifts you brought into this lifetime. Also, some authors seethe Birth Card as representingour souls purpose.

Current Year CardTo determine your Curren

Year card, add the month and

day of your birth to the currenyear. Example: For a birth dateof March 12:

312

20082023

Then add the individual inte-gers again: 2 + 0 + 2 + 3 = 7. Inthis case, the Current Year card

corresponds to Key #7 of theMajor Arcana, the Chariot cardThe current year card shows youthe overall theme of the year. Itsinuence is felt from birthday tobirthday. In the example abovethe Chariot card is the year cardfrom March 2 of 2008 to March2 of 2009.

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Astrological CorrespondenceCardsThere are also cards that corre-spond to your astrological sign.These are as follows:

Aries would correspond to theEmperor - Headstrong, deci-sive, showing initiative, inde-pendent, self aware, logicaland rational

Taurus would be The Hiero-phant - Protective, stubborn,loyal, resourceful, productive,stable, traditional

Gemini would be The Lovers -

Loquacious, two-sided, outgo-ing, rational, intelligent, skillful,communicative

Cancer: The Chariot -Domestic, nurturing, private,protective, sensitive, secure,proactive

Leo: Strength - Dramatic,optimistic, fun-loving, proud,creative, demonstrative, warm,

compassionate

Virgo: The Hermit - Organized,practical, industrious, discrimi-nating, critical, analytical, ef-cient, spiritually minded

Libra: Justice - Harmony-seek-ing, irtations, balancing, diplo-matic, fair-minded, karma

Scorpio: Death - Intense, se-

cretive, muddy, transformative,regenerating, renewal, sym-bolic change

Sagittarius: Temperance -Adventurous, inquisitive, philo-sophical, expansive, searchingfor meaning, good mixing ofingredients

Capricorn is The Devil -

Competent, status-conscious,acquisitive, accomplished,structured, organized, aware ofinner issues

Aquarius is the The Star -Philanthropic, idealistic, cre-ative, original, rebellious, agentof change, positive energy,hopeful

Pisces: The Moon - Dreamy,sensitive, intuitive, compas-sionate, sacricing, idealistic

Court CardsAnd the last Tarot identity

cards we will include in our ex-

plorations are the Court Cards.There are lots of ways to ascer-tain the Court Card that repre-sents oneself, but my favoriteway to nd this correspondenceis to choose it, by a process ofelimination. Begin by removingall 16 of the Court Cards fromyour Tarot deck. That would bePage, Knight, Queen and Kingof each suit (Cups, Wands, Pen-tacles and Swords). The goal

is to select the Court Card thatyou most identify with. Begin byipping through these 16 cards,one at a time. You may want tostart by eliminating those cardsthat are least like you. Dontworry about what the CourtCards mean or what you mayalready know about the mean-ing of a card, just look at theimage and respond from yourintuition. Keep eliminating cards

that are NOT like you. Placethese in a separate pile for now.What characteristics did youuse in the elimination process?

Answers may include hair color,gender, age, facial expressions,personality traits conveyed inthe image, and the like.

Once you have whittled downthe selection process to a few

cards, proceed to choose onecard that is most like you andone card that is least like youThis second card may repre-sent some aspect of your shad-ow (personality traits you wouldrather not acknowledge to your-self or to the world). Once youhave selected both these cards

jot down some initial thoughtsyou might have about how therst card is like you and how thesecond card is not like you. Therst Court Card that you select-ed, that most resembles you, isoften called the Signicator. It isthe Court Card that embodiesyou physically.

Determining Your DNA TarotCard

If there is such a thing as aDNA Tarot card, how would youdetermine it? And of what valuewould it be to you? It is believedthat we carry our DNA (Deoxy-ribonucleic acid) in every cell ofour body. DNA is passed fromparents to child, and it is oftencompared to a set of blueprints

or even a recipe. It contains theinstructions needed to build oth-er components of our cells aswell as instructions for how theentire being develops and func-tions. It is the container of ourgenetic makeup. If you watchany of the CSI TV programs, youknow that DNA identies an in-dividuals unique genetic make-up. It is sometimes referred toas the molecule of heredity.

Tarot cards are also a blue-print, providing a recipe forhow we experience our lives-- the images contain the ingre-dients that capture our humancondition from childhood ex-periences, adolescent educa-tion, marriage, nance, issuesaround confronting death and soon. For example, the Empresscard portrays the template, or

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archetype for mother while the Emperor shows us the template forfather. On some level, each Tarot card contains the DNA possibili-ties, or blueprint, depicted in the card.

To determine which Tarot card is your DNA card, place all ve ofidentity the cards that you have just calculated or chosen in a row,as follows:

Now slowly and carefully lookat each of these ve cards. Withwhich card do you most reso-nate? Which card points to youridentity at a deep level? Whichcard best shows you what is in

your protoplasm? Choose thecard that best captures who youare at this cellular level of yourbeing. Take that one card nowand set the others aside. I callthis your DNA card it captureswhat you came into lifetime car-rying with you. It shows you yourpath, your work, your mission,so to speak your soul purpose.It shows you the energies youbrought into this life time when

you were born. It helps you tounderstand both your strengthsand your weakness, and yourpurpose here on earth. You maywant to begin by simply journal-ing with this card, writing downany preliminary ideas you haveabout what it means to you andhow it might be manifesting inyour life right now.

I dont really believe in theseidentity cards from a predic-

tive point of view. I dont thinkthey lock us into any particulardestiny or path in life, but I dond them to be helpful, usefuland even inspirational. Theyenable us to expand our self-awareness, our consciousnessof who we are. We are inter-ested in using the cards for self-understanding because it leadsto self-empowerment. In other

Birth

Court CardCurrent Year

Court Card

Astrology

Court CardMost Similar

Court CardLeast Similar

Court Card

words, by learning more aboutmy own personality, I can cometo a better understanding of mystrengths and weaknesses. Imay also learn what inner be-liefs and patterns are operating

in some life difculty. From whatmy DNA card shows me aboutmyself, I can also improve myrelationships by understandingthe ways in which parts of my-self are projected onto others.

Carl Jung said that the pathto healing and wholeness isachieved by integrating all theparts of the self. A fully integratedpersonality seeks to understand

and accept all parts of himself orherself. That is our goal in work-ing with the DNA card learningto integrate allparts of the selfThe Tarot gures correspond toJungs theory of archetypes, andit is these archetypal images inour unconscious that we needto recognize and understand ifwe are to achieve self-realiza-tion. Dont worry about whatyour DNA cards means justlet the images, the symbolismand the metaphors on the cardscommunicate to you. Exploringyour DNA card is an attempt tohave awareness, a conscious-ness about ourselves. We can

never change anything aboutourselves until we make it con-scious. Once made consciouswe can then observe ourselves and only then begin to makechanges.

You can explore the energiesof your DNA Tarot Card evenmore, with the Who are YouTarot spread below:

Who are You Tarot SpreadBegin this reading, like any other casting of the cards, with shuf-ing and deep breathing. You may want to light a candle and be sureto bless the deck, invoking the highest and best spiritual energiesfor the reading. Place your DNA card as the rst card. The remaining cards will be selected randomly. Lay the cards out one-by-onestudy them carefully. I recommend that you keep this spread out foa while. Let it cook see what happens.

DNA Card

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8

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1. Current Strengths: Positiveattributes that need to be em-phasized or focused upon

2. Current Weaknesses: Nega-tive characteristics that need tobe embraced or released

3. My Birth Right and PersonaPower: That which is within myreach that I can seize and re-claim

4. My Cleansing: That whichI can slough off to allow me to

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step forward into new opportu-nities; baggage that is bringingme down and hindering my de-velopment that I can release

5. My Gifts and CreativePotentials

6. What I Have That Can HelpOthers

7. What Makes Me Unique

8. What I need to do toEmpower Myself

9. What Helps Me Achieve #8(This is an action step)

At the entrance to the templeof Delphi in ancient Greece, itsays, Man, know thyself andthou will know the universe andthe Gods. Perhaps as you in-vestigate your identity cardsyou will know more about your-self as well as have a glimpseof the wisdom of the cosmos.Erich Fromm said Mans maintask in life is to give birth to him-

self. With your Tarot DNA cardyou can continue the journeyof birthing your Self, of havinga new perspective and con-sciousness about who you areand why you are. May you knowthe unconditional love that Spirithas for you on your journey!

NOTE: Once you have cal-culated your Birth and CurrentYear Cards, see below for anabridged meaning for each Ma-

jor Arcana card and how it mayimpact you.

Major Arcana Defnitions

The Fool - 0:Fresh energy, new possibilities,unlimited possibilities; naivet,immaturity; point of choice ordecision

The Magician - I:Concentration; focused atten-tion; manifestation; originality,creativity; invention; self-con-dence

High Priestess - II:Intuition; hidden information;inner knowledge; sound judg-ment; unconscious wisdom;guardian of the truth; intuitivewisdom, psychic ability

Empress - III:Fertility, abundance; creativ-ity; motherhood, feminine inu-ence; the Great Mother; the cre-ative spark

Emperor - IV:Authority; reason; organization;worldly power; stability; mascu-line inuence; leadership, logic

Hierophant - V: Belief system;spiritual gateways; higher laws; inspiration; reli-gious or spiritual leader; dogma,convention, formal rituals

The Lovers - VI:Point of decision or choice; love,harmony, trust; sex, but with aspiritual implication; inner reso-lution of conicts, marriagewithin oneself

The Chariot - VII:Success and victory but onlythrough diligence; overcomingadversity through personal re-sponsibility and the will; deter-

mination, perseverance

Strength - VIII:The gentle path towards pow-er; forgiveness and compas-sion; strength, courage, convic-tion; spiritual courage; tamingones wild side, accepting onesshadow

The Hermit - IX:Wisdom and counsel, especial-ly spiritual in nature; meditationvigilance; spiritual growth in sol-itude or quiet; search for innerlight; spiritual healing; ndingones own inner spiritual guid-ance

Wheel of Fortune - X:The cycles of life; the courseof events; the end of one cy-cle, start of another; good orbad luck, depending on nearbycards; allows you to see the bigpicture; may help in reframinglife experiences; nding centerof serenity no matter what is oc-

curring externally

Justice - XI:Absolute fairness, total impar-tiality; reasonableness; properbalance; just reward; exact nu-merical center of Major Arcanacards; personies the law ofreciprocity

The Hanged Man - XII:Seeing from a new angle; tran-

sitionary period; reversal of themind in a particular matter orway of life; a new and differentperspective

Death - XIII:Change; transformation; releaseof old, making way for newend of a familiar or comfortablemode; purication; paradox

Temperance - XIV:

Successful combinations; har-monious blending of forcesmoderation, self-control

The Devil - XV:Enslavement or bondage byfalse ideas and illusions; spiri-tual lack or depravity; personi-cation of the shadow; negativeor destructive life patterns

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The Tower - XVI: Awakening;revolution; shattered miscon-ceptions; complete, suddenchange; unexpected events;might be bolt of lightning be-cause of pride, arrogance oregocentricity; painful progress;a breakthrough of some kind

The Star - XVII: Guiding intel-ligence; change for the better;hope, promise, optimism, faith;being open and vulnerable; un-conditional self acceptance

The Moon - XVIII: Things thatare hidden; illusions; obscurity;

deceit, false beliefs; mispercep-tions and misunderstandings;breakdown in communications

or perceptions; subterfuge, hid-den agendaThe Sun - XIX: Source of life;liberation; attainment; truth;happiness; warmth, healing, joy;contentment; devotion; pleasure

derived from simple thingsJudgment - XX: Breaking outof limited thinking or restric-tions; limited by past, but notbound by past; ability to tune into appropriate course of action;implementing your action plan;need to forgive or atone for pastmistakes; rejuvenation, rebirth,renewal; immortality or resur-rectionThe World - XXI: Crystalliza-tion; the fullness or the apex;the perfect niche; harmonious

synchronicity; completion; success; fulllment; synthesis

Geraldine Amaral is the co-au-thor ofTarot Celebrations: Hon-oring the Inner Voice, publisherofCelebrating the Tarot Journaland creator of Tarot 1-2-3, aninstructional video. She con-ducts a series of unique andcreative Tarot classes in theWashington DC area, utilizingJungian and archetypal psy-chology. You can contact her at703-671-7421 [email protected] visit her website at

www.Tarotcelebrations.com.

2008 Pathways Magazinewww.PathwaysMagazine.com

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Who Are You in the Tarot