Tarot Cards and the Language of the Unconscious

The system for using Tarot cards for self-exploration and as a way of examining life themes is, unfortunately, often shadowed by erroneous associations with black magic and such like. For example, consider the "Death" card: it does not refer to physical death but rather external

 

 

 transformation - i.e., the destruction of some aspect(s) of our old lives to make room for the new. Similarly, "The Devil" card pertains not to violence or hatred but rather sexuality (creative energy in its most raw and earthy form), and procreative energy. 

Most of the symbols within the Tarot revolve around the same four elements outlined by the alchemists of antiquity: Earth (Disks), Air (Swords), Fire (Wands), and Water (Cups). Like the Tarot itself, the Alchemists were often mocked and derided by "enlightened" minds that failed to understand the real intent of their work. They were, therefore, forced to perform their research under extremely repressive and fearful conditions thanks to the Medieval Church and the Inquisition. As a result of these pressures, their quest for spiritual expansion had to be recorded in coded language in order to protect it - and themselves. To the uninitiated, the Alchemists were searching for a way to transmute "base metals into gold". But in reality, the aim of their work was wholeness and spiritual union with the Divine (the soul's true gold).

I would propose two reasons why inner work often seems obscure and esoteric to western minds. The first relates to what I've mentioned thus far: that the explorers of the inner realms have, throughout our history, been forced to cloak and enshroud their findings in mystery in order to protect themselves. The second reason is that the inner world does not follow the same laws as our logic-brains. Its logic is the poetry of dreams.

The entire Surrealist movement in the early twentieth century was based upon methods of releasing conscious control over one's art and allowing the unconscious to express itself. The surrealists assumed that any material derived from the unconscious held inherently greater value than that which was produced by the intellect. Their approach was perhaps unbalanced, their philosophy biased. Returning to the Tarot, we can see illustrated in such cards as "Art" and "The Lovers", with their mystical wedding of opposites, the necessity of our conscious and unconscious minds working together rather than existing at odds.

Again we are dealing with a coded language that communicates certain insights to the initiated and appears as something entirely different to those unfamiliar with its symbolism. So how does a person new to any kind of inner work approach methods like Tarot, numerology, and astrology? By keeping an open mind and trying to shed any kinds of superstitious notions that cling to them. Then, over time, the symbols begin to speak to us and we understand, intuitively, what they are telling us. We become fluent in their language.

Author:  Seth Mullins