A big part of learning about Tarot is doing readings for yourself. You might start with a single card, and then work your way up to spreads of different sizes. As I shared on my Instagram account, the first spread I did was a 10-card Soul Purpose layout from Biddy Tarot. I figured it was a great way to dive in and learn about many cards at once - and it was. But it also took me several hours to look up their meanings and felt pretty overwhelming, so I’ve gone back to single cards and 3-card spreads for now.
The one I want to share here is inspired by owlandbonestarot, and the positions are
1 - Where I am, 2 - What I want, and 3 - What I need.
The cards I pulled were, in order,
Key 5: The Hierophant, Key 3: The Empress, and the Knight of Wands.
Today, I thought I’d pull aside the curtain on how I go about interpreting the cards in terms of process, and where my Type and intuition comes in.
Interpreting with Intuiting (the cognitive function)
My interpretation process generally goes from the outside in, very much aligned with my ENFJ Type preferences. As someone who uses N or Intuiting to process information, I start with an overall impression, probing with my mind’s eye whether I can discern a hidden pattern or pick up a vibe, before paying attention to the individual cards. On the contrary, someone with an S or Sensing in their Type code would be more likely to start interpreting the cards from the ground up, focusing on one particular symbol first and then zooming out. There is no right or better way to do it, it’s just worth bearing in mind that we as readers bring our own stuff to the table as much as the seeker does. Obviously when you’re reading for yourself, that shouldn’t present much of an issue.
What I noticed first about the cards was they were all pretty low on the higher side. What do I mean by “low on the high side”?
Quick Anatomy of Tarot 101
The 22 major arcana cards generally describe the soul’s or archetypal journeys, the 40 minor arcana pip cards (1-10) show general life situations throughout four suits (or domains, or cognitive function lenses), and the 16 court cards usually represent individuals or personalities. Arcana, of course, means “secret, mystery, specialized knowledge, or secret essence” (Merriam Webster).
So, the cards I pulled are two major arcana, indicating significant natural forces and/or mental/internal changes influencing my life developments, and one minor arcana court card, indicating somewhat lesser physical/external changes I might experience or want to pursue.
We can talk about the numerology of the arcana in greater depth at another time, for now suffice to say that excluding Key 0: The Fool, the remaining 21 major arcana cards can be split into thirds, and both Hierophant and Empress are in the lower third of the archetypal journey. And yes, the Knight is a court card, but not as evolved as the Queen or King, hence all cards are at the lower end of the higher sides.
This tells me the changes and influences are significant, and will have an important effect on my experience, but also that it’s all still in the beginning stages, and there’s still movement in (hopefully) upward directions.
Making Meaning
All three represent certain archetypes or personalities, and may point to people in my environment, or aspects of myself as the seeker. Since the spread and question are about me, I’m going to go with the latter - although as a relationship coach, I always have in the back of my mind that our experiences are shaped in part by those around us as well. No person develops or ever lives truly in isolation, even The Hermit needs a crowd to get away from. ;-)
The Hierophant is traditionally seen as someone of organized religions, dogma, and tradition. When this archetype of a learned holy person appears in a spread, it is usually seen as a sign or invitation to get back into a traditional religious practice, or join a structured spiritual community. As a personality, he reminds us of the ISTJ type, comfortable with convention, rules-based, reliable, conservative, and a stickler for tradition, but of course you don’t have to have ISTJ preferences to be a religious scholar.
Now, this card is in the “Where I am” position, and while the above description does not resonate as an invitation nor describes my personality, it is the perfect card to confirm that I am currently in a phase in my life where I’m learning about a new set of spiritual beliefs in the form of studying the available books and traditional wisdom about Tarot. My teachers in this case are Benebell Wen, Rachel Pollack, and Brigit Esselmont, but also new Tarot community friends I’m finding on Instagram.
The Empress is traditionally seen as the mother archetype, a nurturing, beautiful, abundant woman. Many decks show her as pregnant, literally speaking to fertility, sensuality, sexuality, and creation. She’s peacefully rooted in Mother Earth, and perfectly in sync with natural cycles and seasonal movements. Her personality correlates to ESFJ types in many ways, leading with extraverted Feeling for harmonious relationship, nurturing, taking care of others, but of course you don’t have to have ESFJ preferences to be the epitome of femininity.
This card is in the “What I want” position, and again, the literal traditional meaning does not apply to me, and in a way, I am feeling like I’m sitting pretty comfortably already. Downtown Brooklyn may not be the greenest, lushest part of the world, but I nurture many of the ideas I have and things I want to create (including this Substack). I love taking care of and nurturing others, not just my friends but also my coaching clients. But it’s true, I do want more nature, and would be thrilled with the opportunity to nurture more ideas and people. Maybe the card is inviting me to step into that energy more, starting by mothering myself, embracing my femininity, relishing in more sensual experiences like grass under my naked feet, or fresh strawberries bursting flavor onto my tastebuds. Definitely going outside more, after many months of winter temperatures and a few recent weeks of house-bound illness.
As an aside, I want to acknowledge that it irks me that the cards - despite a few ambiguous figures - mainly assign nurturing qualities to the female characters. It’s so important that modern interpretations make a point of including the feminine within a man, and the masculine within a woman, as Jung also explained in his model of the psyche, and the anima/animus inferior function in his personality model. I feel like nowadays we should really make efforts to move away from this binary, and e.g., normalize the many fathers who nurture their babies. Alas, we’re dealing with archetypes, and our collective unconscious is still very much rooted in dualities and binaries. Just making the point that when interpreting cards, it’s something to be aware of.
Last but not least, the Knight of Wands is traditionally about passion, determination, and inspired action to the point of impulsiveness. Knights are usually depicted on a horse and on a mission, taking risks, forging ahead. This one’s personality is described as highly energetic, spontaneous, but also ambitious, which might remind us of the ENTP type. They lead with extraverted Intuiting, which is the brainstorming champion, ideas pop-corning all over the place, often starting loads more projects than they could realistically ever finish.
In the “What I need” position, it resonates in that I need to get my ideas out of my head and out in the world, like writing this post. I am currently very passionate about learning Tarot and embracing that intuitive, warm, creative expression of my Intuition and Feeling preferences. Yet the card also warns me not to storm ahead with so much energy that I might burn out and not “finish”. Although when it comes to learning and practicing Tarot, I don’t think there’s ever a finish line, per se.
Considering the surrounding cards, this one is the reminder to balance the head-heavy learning and studying with the heart-lead loving and embracing, letting things unfold in their own sweet time. Undertaking this journey with energy and passion, striking all the irons while the fires are hot, but also appreciating the consequences and checking whether they nurture and support this phase of my softer, sensual, creative expression.
Whew! That felt like a deep yet somehow still incomplete description, so if you’ve read this far, you’re also kinda nerdy about this stuff, aren’t you! ;-) Well, I’m glad to have you here, so please feel free to leave a comment, and subscribe to make sure my next post reaches you as well.