Understanding Tarot: Personality and Soul Cards

You can learn more about yourself by learning to identify your personal Tarot cards that are based on your date of birth. It's an easy process that you can use for yourself, family, and friends. Once you find out which cards are yours, then you can refer to the list of Major Arcana cards in my previous blog where there are simple descriptions of the individual card meanings.

Calculating your Personality and Soul Symbols using the Tarot is done adding the month, day, century and year of your birth together. In most cases the total can then be reduced to only two major arcana numbers which then become the Personality and Soul Cards. Occasionally the reduction will get a birth date that reduces to three numbers, such as a Sun, Wheel, Magician (19 = 10 = 1). The Personality Card has to do with how you express yourself externally while The Soul Card is how you experience life on a Soul or internal level. The Personality card may be more of how others see you while the Soul card is more of how you see or experience yourself.

For example, if you were born on Dec. 8, 1950 , you add 1950 +12 + 8 = 1970. You then add 1 + 9 + 7 + 0 which equals 17. The number 17 is The Star in the Tarot which is the personality card. It is then reduced to 8 (1 + 7) which is Justice or the Soul card.

In the event that your numbers add up to 22, then your personality card would be The Emperor (4) and your Soul Card The Fool (0).

If your final total equals a double digit number higher than 22, reduce it to a single digit, Your personality and soul card will be the same. Example is 12 + 24 + 1940 = 1976 = 23= 5 (Hierophant). This means you have a double emphasis in this life on the area specific to the card.

Another way to use the Tarot to better understand yourself is to calculate your Year or Growth Card.This is done the same way as above except you use the current year instead of your birth year. For example, our Dec. 8th birthday could then be used with 2009 (2009 + 12 + 8 = 2029) to arrive at the reduced number 13. The 13th Major Arcana card is Death which implies that beginning on 12-8-2009 a one year cycle would begin focused on transformation and letting go.

Have fun!

Candle illustration by Paula Becker www.paulabecker.com

The Sunday Morning Fool

The Fool and the Abbot

It so happened that a Fool and an Abbot sat down to have a meal together. All went well, good food and lively conversation, until finally it was time for dessert. The server set two steaming pieces of apple pie on the table, one much larger than the other. The Fool immediately grabbed the larger piece and began to gleefully gobble it up. The Abbot was horrified!

“How can you be so rude!” he exclaimed. “Where are your manners, where is your sense of fairness, morality, generosity, kindness, respect?”

The Fool was caught quite by surprise. Putting down his fork, he slowly thought about what the Abbot had said. After a moment he began to understand the Abbot’s point.

“Do you mean to say that if I hadn't gone first, you would have taken the smaller piece?” he asked incredulously.

“Well, of course I would have” stated the Abbot emphatically. “I have respect for others, and a generous and kind nature which is the result of many years of meditation and hard work.”

The Fool took another moment to take in what the wise Abbot had told him, and then looked down at the table where the two half-eaten pieces of pie now sat. A broad smile came over his face as he took in the whole situation.

“Well”, he said, “It looks like we’re in luck; it turns out that we both got exactly what we wanted!”

Illustration 19th century engraving of Will Somers, King Henry VIII's jester

Understanding Tarot: Intro to the Major Arcana

"The Tarot is a symbolic map of consciousness and an ancient book of wisdom that reveals to us visually and symbolically the creative ideas and states of consciousness that appear in all cultures. The 78 symbols are portraitures and archetypes of inner and outer experiences that are prevalent within human experience....that function as a universal language where an individual's internal and external worlds intersect and attempt to dialogue with each other. In any kind of inner work, whether it be in dreams, meditation, contemplation, guided imagery, or creative visualizations, symbols appear as signposts or keys and they function as containers, revealers or concealors of meaning to enable us "to penetrate into the deeper mysteries of life"".

Angeles Arrien Introduction to The Tarot Handbook with reference in quotes to ML von Franz

Tarot is a complex system which serves as a mirror to us of our internal processes. There are many places to begin in discussing the Tarot including its history, usage and applications; I have chosen to start with a brief description of each of the 22 Major Arcana cards. The 22 cards from The Fool to The Universe depict the Journey of the Soul through a single lifetime including all the many lessons we learn as we move from birth to death before we start the cycle over again in our next life.

The symbol for this blog is the Ouroboros or Serpent eating its tail. This ancient symbol represents cyclicality in the sense of something continuing to re-create itself by returning to its source. The drawing depicts the young child leaning comfortably on the skull, signifying the natural cycle of birth and death. We journey through each lifetime only to die and then be reborn in the next as the cycle continues. The Tarot is a cogent illustration of this process and has been used for self reflection and divination for hundreds of years.

THE MAJOR ARCANA

0 The Fool The Walker between the Worlds, Radiance
1 The Magician Communication, Creation, Magic
2 The High Priestess Intuitive, Perception, Oracle
3 The Empress The Great Mother, Nurturer
4 The Emperor Leadership, The Pioneer and Builder
5 The Hierophant Teacher, Counselor, education
6 The Lovers Duality of Relationships, Dark and Light, Unification
7 The Chariot The Principle of Change, movement
8 Justice Adjustment, The law, Karma
9 The Hermit The seeker, introspection, The Crossroads
10 The Wheel of Fortune Abundance, Prosperity, Cycles
11 Strength Courage, Power, fortitude
12 The Hanged One Principle of Letting go, release, surrender
13 Death Transformation, change
14 Temperance or Art Creation, integration, synergy
15 The Devil Temptation, entanglements, what we are "chained" to
16 The Tower Purification, de-structuring, self awareness
17 The Star Hope, vision, healing, self-esteem
18 The Moon Choice, illusion, mutability, truth
19 The Sun Collaboration, Teamwork
20 Aeon or Judgment Understanding, Actualization, Coming to terms with
21 The World/Universe Self Actualization, expansion, Big picture

Next Blog: Personality and Soul Cards. I will also be exploring these individual archetypes in greater details in upcoming blogs.

Drawing circa 1400

Exploring Archetypes: The Fool

I'm apricot dawn and adamant noon,
quicksilver chameleon, full howl at the moon.
Prince Frog-In-The-Well, glad jack of no trade,
a walkabout madman, I'm beds left unmade.
Diamond-draped beggar, coyote's sharp bark;
I'm merry-go-lightly and bells in the dark.
I'm zero that circles all that will be.
I'm newborn and know-naught,I'm spirit set free.

Fools Walk by Cyndi Kirkpatrick (a work in progress)


He is the Walker between the Worlds, the Shaman or Alchemist who is comfortable being both somewhere and nowhere. He is the moment after death and before birth, he is the seeker within all of us. He is both everything and nothing.

The Fool Archetype is aptly represented as the number 0 in Tarot cards and is the moment before birth when the soul is about to embark on the earth bound journey. There is great joy and abandon in this symbol as the Fool literally is about to step off a cliff with a smiling face, unaware of what may come in the future but really not caring much about that at all. He is limitless creativity, spontaneity, and enthusiasm. He reminds us to enjoy being in the moment and to take a leap of faith! He is not foolish or foolhardy or rash, but is open to all possibilities, to anything and everything he may encounter. He has the capacity to give birth to new forms.

Young children readily embrace the energies of the Fool archetype as they dance, play, sing, and enjoy life without fear. They do not look ahead, but instead look at their own feet! This is where I am today, I am alive! As adults we can, like the symbol of the yipping dog in the Fool tarot card, constantly be worried with all the distractions of daily life, and forget our playful nature. Bringing the Fool archetype into our lives on a daily basis creates more joy and yes, fun!


With the Fool energy we can feel light-hearted and refreshed, ready for our new adventure...

Mantras for the Fool Archetype:

"I am curious and without fear"
"My life is unfolding with ease and grace"
""I am experiencing delight in every moment"

"I welcome the day whatever it may bring!"

Tarot card image from the Rider Waite Deck