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Numbers and cycles in tarot
The major arcana cards in tarot show a
life-cycle: a journey every person
travels to come to their true self. It
shows a development through several
stages and you're never done learning!
When you have completed one cycle, you
can start the next… Isn't that great??
Okay, giggle, when in the thick of it,
it can be a bit hard to see the
plussides of the big rollercoaster of
life… LOL
I personally find these cycles in life
very true (and frustrating too). I also
recognize the small cycles within the
greater cycles: you have to summersault
through the bigger processes in life.
The importance varies but all are
essential to the process. The tarot is
all that: continual change and continual
development.
So this explanation appeals to me.
I have some objections though, see end…
*=*=*=*=*
MAIN CYCLE
Three main cycles can be distuinguished
in the major arcana:
The cycle of the world above (Arcana I
up till and including IX)
The cycle of the world below (Arcana X
up till and including XVIII)
The cycle of rewards (Arcana XIX up till
and including XXI)
The card of the Fool is the intermediate
one: both the begin and the end. It is
the one that makes the circle round.
Since it does not have a real number, it
doesn't count in the
cycle-explanation.
The World Above is dealing with the personal development, gathering knowledge and wisdom. It also indicates the development of a child through adolescence to young adulthood.
The World Below is the cycle of the adult person. The adult has to prove that the wisdom gained earlier has become a part of him. This is a much more demanding cycle, you have to stay balanced while you have to deal with issues that are thrown your way. In this cycle you have to confront and overcome your fears, you have to let go of the old.
The Reward Cycle closes off the earlier cycles. Maybe you still have to dot your i's and cross your t's, but basically you have battled and won. There is time to enjoy your victory and yet, when having risen to this level, you see other roads ahead that are beckoning. There are roads leading higher and so, when you are ready, you can start a new journey, by becoming the Fool again.
NUMBER CYCLE
Within these main cycles other cycles
can be distuinguished. They come in
threes as well. With every the World
Above Cycle and the World Below Cycle
there are 3 different levels, thus
leading to 3 times 3: 9.
There
are:
The creating cycle
The forming cycle
The aspiring cycle
(note: I had difficulties finding the
right words for forming and aspiring.
Read forming also as "designing,
shaping" and read aspiring also as
"aiming, striving".)
Within the World Above cycle, this leads
to:
1: Magician (I), 2: High
Priestess
(II) and 3: Empress (III) are the
creating cycle;
4: Emperor (IV), 5: High Priest (V) and
6: Lovers (VI)
are the forming cycle;
7: Chariot (VII-7), 8: Justice (VIII-8)
and 9: Hermit
(IX-9) are the aspiring cycle.
Within the World Below, this leads
to:
1: Wheel of Fortune (X = 10 = 1+0=1), 2:
Strength (XI
= 11 = 1+1=2), 3: Hanged Man (XII – 12 =
1+2=3) as the creating cycle;
4: Death (XIII = 13 = 1+3=4), 5:
Temperance (XIV = 14
= 1+4=5), 6: Devil (XV = 15 = 1+5=6) as
the forming cycle;
7: Tower (XVI = 16 = 1+6=7), 8: Star
(XVII = 17 =
1+7=8), Moon (XVIII = 18 = 1+8=9) as the
aspiring cycle.
The Reward Cycle only has the creating
cycle: 1: Sun( XIX = 19 = 1+9=10 =
1+0=1), Judgement (XX = 20
= 2+0=2) and the World (XXI = 21 =
2+1=3)
The Creating Cycle cards are fairly
preliminary: the enthusiasm of new
ideas, just a start is enough for these
cards, there is no need to accomplish
yet.
The Forming Cycle is the Work
cycle: blood, sweat and tears. You are
being confronted with reality in these
cards.
The Aspiring Cards are the completion of
the work, they do need ambition and
perseverance to get the work done: hard
work but with results.
INNER CYCLE
Yes, yet another cycle weaving through
all other cycles…
Input-cards
Blackbox-cards
Output-cards
The Input cards are the first cards of
the Number Cycles:
I Magician - IV Emperor – VII Chariot –
X Wheel of Fortune – XIII Death – XVI
Tower – XIX Sun
These cards are the
beginning cards, a start where all
options are open still.
The Blackbox cards are the second cards
of the Number Cycles:
II High Priestess – V – High Priest –
VIII Justice – XI Strength – XIV
Temperance – XVII Star – XX
Judgement
These are the assignment-cards,
difficult cards where you have to
complete a task.
The Output cards are the last cards of
the Number Cycles:
III Empress – VI Lovers – IX Hermit –
XII Hanged Man – XV Devil, XVII Moon,
XXI World.
These are the result-cards, after all
your hard work in the Blackbox.
I have to think long and hard about the last cycle, I think it is becoming a bit artificial there. For example I have difficulties seeing the Devil as an output card, or it should be that all the suppressed stuff is coming out. . The book explains this (away) by saying that the World Below cards are an upside-down world, saying that the more positive cards such as Strength, Star and Temperance are slow and arduous… hmmm. While the difficult cards give impulses to enormeous growth, leading to a reward. Yes, undoubtably, but it still is the toughie, upside down or not. And the breakthroughs are symbolized by the more pleasant cards The World Below cards also look a bit odd in an input-context, such as Tower. The Star would be a blackbox while I feel it to be rather optimistic and hopeful. Moon seems more of a blackbox to me: moon dealing with emotions hidden below. Imho Moon always says something about bringing hidden aspects to the surface, that which is hard to expose. Again, darkness that is being exposed: output in a way I guess. Can't quite put my finger on it, but something is a little pearshaped here. I think the number thing has been extended one stretch too far…
OVERVIEW:
Nr. Arcanum Main cycle Number
Cycle Inner cycle
Position:
I Magician W. Above
Creating Input 1
II High Priestess W. Above
Creating Blackbox 2
III Empress W. Above Creating
Output 3
IV Emperor W. Above Forming
Input 4
V Hierophant W. Above
Forming Blackbox 5
VI Lovers W. Above Forming
Output 6
VII Chariot W. Above Aspiring
Input 7
VIII Justice W. Above Aspiring
Blackbox 8
IX Hermit W. Above Aspiring
Output 9
X Wheel of Fortune W. Below
Creating Input 1
XI Strength W. Below
Creating Blackbox 2
XII Hanged Man W. Below
Creating Output 3
XIII Death W. Below Forming
Input 4
XIV Temperance W. Below
Forming Blackbox 5
XV Devil W. Below Forming
Output 6
XVI Tower W. Below Aspiring
Input 7
XVII Star W. Below Aspiring
Blackbox 8
XVIII Moon W. Below Aspiring
Output 9
XIX Sun Reward Creating
Input 1
XX Judgement Reward Creating
Blackbox 2
XXI World Reward Creating
Output 3
Gently meet, Brigit,
You make some excellent points. There is certainly a place, and a very important place, for the scholarship of others in this study. For one thing, reading someone else's thoughts can spark our own thought processes, and give us perspectives other than our own. I am not one to say that the only thing you need to know about a card is what you see on it, or what your instinct tells you.
But. Because of the very nature of Tarot, the things YOU see and the things YOU feel are the *most* important. External sources can give you a frame of reference. They can give you much and excellent food for thought. But unlike most academic studies, Tarot is an internal subject. Reading about a card is excellent, so long as doesn't take the place of, or overwhelm, your own thoughts and feelings. To put it another way. most of the research you will do on any card, or even on any combination of cards, will always come from within yourself.
Now, being logical and empirical, you will ask--as you should--but how, if each interpretation is unique to the interpreter, can this work as a universal symbol system? And how can anyone read for another, since the reader's reaction to the cards will be different from the seeker's?
Well, first of all, keep in mind that much of the symbolism used in the Tarot is drawn, albeit perhaps unintentionally, from archetypes that speak ot us on very deep racial memory levels. (by racial, I mean human.) So, whenever anyone sees the High priestess, certain images will come to mind. There will ve variations in the way those images are interpreted, sure--or pictured, which is why there are hundreds of decks--but certain ideas will be there. The same is true for just about every card, especially in the major Arcana.
Reading then, becomes a development of expertise in pattern recognition. We see the interplay of images and the energies they represent within the spread, and using the context of the placing statements, we can come to some conclusions.
To summarize. Scholarship is a fine thing, and extremely valuable. That is why, for example, every Tarot enthusiast and teacher I've ever known owns every book on the subject they can beg, borrow, buy or steal. But unlike empirical sciences, that scholarship is only the beginning of the study.
What I think is most helpful, especially in this environment, is how you approach the Tarot. We're not doing research projects. We're learning a very lovely, living evolving language, and each person who embarks on this study helps that language evolve.
When I first started studying some 30 years ago, I depended heavily on the work of others. Now, it is an adjunct to my own, inner process.
Gently part,
Sunraven
READINGS TIPS
From: "Darrow's"
Greetings Everyone,
I have just recently joined the list.
Have a little tip to add:
If you are doing a spread, and the Moon Card falls next to or on top of the Sun Card,
I usually interpret that as an eclipse, and it is usually amazingly accurate!
Love & Light,
Patricia
