major arcana
Empower Yourself With A Tarot Meditation
The Tarot is so much more than just a method of fortunetelling. Tarot can be used as a tool for meditation just as much as it is an aid for divination.
For example, you can meditate on one of the cards in the Major Arcana, to connect with that specific card’s archetypal energy. Connecting with the card’s energy can not only help you find the answers you need, but more profoundly it can also invite that energy into our life.
Every archetype can awaken within us certain a type of personal power. The Magician can inspire us to become more quick on our feet, as he is mercurial in nature. The High Priestess connects us more deeply with our intuition and higher self. The Tower can bring an immediate closure to a negative situation we cannot stand anymore, and so on.
Let’s focus on The Empress card with a more detailed analysis, to demonstrate how we can utilize her in meditation.
Symbolism Of The Empress
The Empress is the number 3 card in the Major Arcana of the Tarot. She is the archetypal queen and symbolizes all the riches of femininity. She is related to the planet Venus and the zodiac sign of Taurus, representing affectivity in all its fullness.
As an earthly partner of the Emperor, her archetype represents the earthly plane achievements and pleasures of the physical body, including motherhood. There is also a connection between the Divine Feminine or Divine Mother archetype, represented by this card, and the Earth as Gaia, our nurturing mother.
The Year Of The Emperor
During my psychic Tarot readings, I often ask my clients for the month, day, and year of their birth, so that I can equate their Tarot lifetime archetype and current year cards. Tarot numerology has always been spot on in my readings, and it has also been accurate on a grander level, when looking at the current year in general.
The year 2019, when added across calculates as 2 + 0 + 1 + 9 = 12, which reduced equates to 1 + 2 = 3. These numerological calculations of 12 and 3 correspond to two cards in the Tarot.
The first is The Hanged Man (12), that often shows up in s spread when there is a sacrifice to be made, hold-ups, the need to let go of hang-ups, seeing life from a different perspective, or an overall feeling of waiting in general. This state of limbo is often seen as a voluntary sacrifice for a greater cause on a more macrocosmic level.
The Empress card (3), represents fertility, pregnancy, motherhood, female entrepreneurship, or mother to the son in the Hanged Man card.
What could these two cards be saying on a numerological level about 2019? I thought about this on New Year’s eve, as we were crossing into 2020. What sacrifices did we make on a personal level in 2019, as well as on a worldly level?
It appears there was a division of opinions on a mass scale, about many different topics, as well as a need for us to look at the ‘hang-ups’ that we were holding onto, and to see them from an outside perspective. Humanity, as a whole was in a way, on hold and pregnant with what we will give birth to this year, in 2020.
Let The Tarot Speak To You
I can remember, like it was yesterday, the first time I picked up a deck of Tarot cards and it spoke to me. As I recall, it was the Four of Swords card that was my first introduction to the deck. What it revealed to me at the time was daunting. “You don’t do this often enough…and we are going to show you how,” the card said.
I was surprised and intrigued! So, I pulled another card. This time it was one of the Major Arcana cards. Death, to be exact. This time the card said, “Changes are coming, and you must do it and not be afraid. We will get through this together, but you have to let go of the old in order to embrace the new.”
This, mind you, was all happening during my first Saturn Return around age 29. I already had ‘all hell breaking loose’ as it was. I’d left a ‘good job,’ which I hated. My mother did not understand and, since she worked for the government, even called her friends at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)…because I was thinking of leaving town. I actually did leave, but turned around and came right back, but that’s a story for another day.
So, my Saturn Return was complicated enough, and it was about to get even more so. Talking Tarot cards, indeed! But so it was that they spoke to me. And that was how I got to know each of them, along with much further reading and studying, of course. But nothing can give you the true feel for a Tarot card, but a Tarot card itself.
The cards continued to communicate with me throughout the years, and eventually they decided it was time I share what they say with others. So, here we go with three of my favorite examples of what they have to say.
Making The Tarot Work For You
The Tarot can be used to gain greater understanding, improve our intuition, and predict what may happen in our lives. But what many fans of the Tarot often do not appreciate, is that the Tarot can also be used productively in everyday life.
The Tarot is a mystical tool that will work differently for everyone. In fact, the meaning and message of the cards will be unique to every situation. For example, if you’re the type of person who typically notices patterns in nature, from images in clouds to numerical patterns, such as license plates, then Tarot will be a natural connection for you.
Language Of The Tarot
When reading Tarot, it is always important to consider each card in the context of the spread. Each card has differing meanings, based on the context of the whole.
For example, the Three of Swords represents heartache, sadness, loss, grief. However, let’s say it comes up along with the Chariot, which represents moving forward with success. Together, the context of these two cards might shift to something like moving beyond sadness. However, this meaning might shift even further, based on the rest of the cards in the spread.
Reading single cards only, would be like trying to convey a message with just one word. Instead one should think of a Tarot spread as representing a full sentence, while each card represents a word in that sentence. Continue reading
Tarot For Everyone
Even if you’re not already practicing divination, chances are you know something about the Tarot. This is one of the oldest divination tools known to man and, with its countless individual variations, presents an opportunity for anyone wanting to know more about them self to find out.
Before you start a Tarot reading always clear your thoughts and focus on your questions when shuffling your cards. If you’re wanting to read cards, or have them read for you, you’ll want to invest in a good deck. It’s important to choose one which reflects your taste and personality. If you’re just starting out, the classic Rider-Waite deck is a always a good choice.
Every Tarot deck contains 78 cards of Major Arcana consisting of 22 cards and Minor Arcana consisting of 56 cards. Study one card at a time to learn its meaning. A good book on the subject can also help. Continue reading