(Excerpted from Tarot and Psychology: Spectrums of Possibility) By Arthur Rosengarten
John was an affable and easy-going 48 year old typesetter. He had survived five marriages and five divorces, two grown kids, and 18 years of sobriety after an otherwise impressive career as an alcoholic, heroin addict, and polydrug abuser that began from the precocious age of eleven up until ‘hitting bottom’ by the toppled age of thirty. His three marriages that came (and went) after he stopped using had each followed a self-described familiar pattern: “they asked for more than I could give, it got too hard, I split.” His first two marriages, from which two children were born, had been simply too chaotic and drug-infested for him to clearly recall.
Now, however, and for the past 3 years John had found happiness with Julie, a different breed of woman than he had previously known. Julie was twelve years younger, a survivor herself of one divorce, and a briefer stint with alcoholism, though now with seven years of sobriety as well. As expected, both had come from alcoholic families. Both had benefited from AA. But as for the relational situation now, Julie was clearly the more worried of the two. She, unlike John, was a go-getter and a self-asserter. She was completing her Master’s degree in counseling and worked in several high-powered treatment facilities. She was the doer of the pair, but he was the nurturer and emotional anchor. She valued these qualities in a partner tremendously and was convinced they would not be found in another.
Compounding matters, Julie now desired to be married with children. In fact, she had made up her mind, it had been her life-long dream, and she was not to be denied. This development was more than a little anxiety-provoking for John. He, to the contrary, had suffered through the trenches of child-rearing, was now pushing 50, and shared little of her enthusiasm for “daddying up” once more. What were they to do?
They had tried every maneuver of problem-solving they could muster. For the past year, both had tormented over the problem, searching their souls for guidance. They had tried praying for clarity and resolution. They had tried discussing the issue almost daily with each other. She tried brief therapy. He tried the power of positive thinking. They both tried couple’s counseling. All to no avail. They even tried breaking up (for about a week), but it wouldn’t last. There was only one thing left they figured– move in together and become engaged (the wonders of the rational mind!). They found a new apartment and changed zip codes. They even set a wedding date. They were encouraged by their guru. They were still terrified.
Friends and family had given up trying to persuade them otherwise. From the outside it appeared like madness: he was too old, his track record spoke for itself; she was too headstrong and uncompromising, they were moving on different tracts, the combination seemed doomed. However there was no denying it– their hearts wanted to be together– even as their heads saw the ruin and damnation written on the wall. Perhaps the clearest sign of their painful and chronic ambivalence was the four times they had set up, canceled, and then rescheduled his ‘reverse vasectomy’. That’s ambivalence. Even the surgeon was growing suspicious and began to question the advisability of the procedure. I suggested that perhaps it was time for a Tarot reading. They agreed. What was there to lose?
They came to my office the following week. “So, are you really ready to caste the fate of your relationship to the gods of Tarot?” I kidded them, as the nature of our rapport made it possible for such jests to be made half-seriously. Nervously they laughed, but obviously they were aware of the agenda. I felt equal to the task as well, having grown to trust the veracity of Tarot under such complex circumstances, knowing full well that whatever emerged in divination would likely be eminently workable and relevant (even if uncomfortable at first). And also time-released. Sometimes weeks might pass before the true implications of a reading became fully conscious, but in the least, important seeds would be planted in the unconscious today.
Unceremoniously, we prepared the cards together and I then asked, somewhat rhetorically, if a question had been formulated for the reading? Their answer was quick and to the point: “Should we get married?” exclaimed Julie, of course, but with slight trepidation detected in her voice. At this point, there was little else that mattered to them. This familiar circumstance–being at the end of one’s rope–as all diviners know, often marks the perfect station from which to embark upon a Tarot reading. An intervention outside of one’s conscious control is thus called for.
I instructed the couple in their own sequential drawing of the cards, rotating between his selection and hers, so that responsibility for what is received falls squarely back to the querent(s) themselves. I find this increases the subject’s ownership and interest in the prognostication. Additionally, I have made a practice of myself blindly selecting a final (11th) card called ‘gift and guide.’ This last modification serves two functions in an extended reading: (1) it points to interventions and influences that occur outside the subject’s own sphere of causality (i.e. an encounter with the “other”), and (2) it creates a place in the reading where linkage is established and acknowledged between reader and readee, thus underscoring the co-created aspect of the reading. Tarot divination unlike astrological charting or psychological testing, requires the here/now relational field between reader and querent. In this way it is closer to psychotherapy and ballroom dancing.
We then spent the remainder of the therapy hour reading the cards, exploring both his and her personal associations and their implications to each card, along with the oracular message as a whole. If nothing more, the procedure encouraged a calm, thoughtful and much needed dialogue over issues that often became unmanageable when pursued under the heavy artillery of premarital warfare. On the following page is an interpretative summary of the spread broken down into clusters (discussed in next chapter). Card phrases are taken directly from Appendix A. After each cluster grouping, I have written the most salient comments that were conveyed (through the interpreter) by the cards themselves.
Interpretation By Cluster
(Should We Get Married?)
- (1) The Core
Present Situation: 9 of Wands— “Power and victory; strength in opposition; creative power; psychic alignment.”
Obstacle: 2 of Cups— “Emotional reciprocity–coming together on heart level; falling in love; union, the loving relationship.”
Comment: While there is currently much creativity and energy in your commitment to proceed, the underlying connectedness of your union (which has previously been your great strength) is currently blocked and must be attended to first.
- (2) Above and Below
Goals: 8 of Swords—”Self-imposed ego; cognitive distortions; to be bound and blinded by one’s own negative thoughts.
Foundation: Knight of Pentacles reversed— “dense, unrooted, expedient, overidentified with appearance.”
Comment: Your ability to set positive future goals for the marriage, to visualize and invest in your future together, is severely hampered by worry, negative thinking, cognitive distortion. This negativity is founded upon too great a concern for security and material appearances at a time when you indeed are somewhat unrooted and ungrounded.
- (3) Cause and Effect
Past Cause: King of Swords—“Impartial and objective knowledge; the judge at court–makes unbiased judgments based on objective facts and presented information; command and authority.”
Present Obstacle: 2 of Cups—[same as Cluster 1]“Emotional reciprocity–coming together on heart level; falling in love; union, the loving relationship.”
Future Effect: Page of Wands reversed—“fear of commitment, inadequate personality, or Magician’s apprentice.”
Comment: There was an important time in the past when you saw yourself and the world around you clearly and objectively. You took command of your life and saw the errors of your ways. You must now bring this same objectivity to what currently impedes your heart connection, hasten to restore the loving aspect of the relationship, and together examine your shared fears of commitment.
- (4) Self and Other
Ego Identity (How we see ourselves?): 7 of Swords— “Carrying a conflict at the expense of a friendship or relationship; martyrdom and betrayal; scheming while in confusion.”
Object (How others see us?): The Hermit— “Wisdom seeker/spiritual journey; fiercely independent and determined; archetype of The Wise Old Man; cares little for outside approval; values aloneness; ‘seeks his own salvation with diligence (Buddha)’; path of individuation; introspection and self-containment, strong sense of self.
Comment: You see yourselves as divided between your current conflicts and the loss of some former trust or friendship in the past. Issues of martyrdom and betrayal now fill your ‘self talk’ and need to be confronted and expressed directly to each other before they can mend. Others view you two as extremely independent, committed to your spiritual beliefs, and in little need for outside approval or social conformity. They may not understand your mission, but they respect it.
- (5) Anticipation and Resistance
Fears and Hopes: 9 of Cups reversed— overindulgence, consumption, and addiction, or self-satisfaction.”
Present Obstacle: 2 of Cups— [Same as Cluster 1 and 3]“Emotional reciprocity–coming together on heart level; falling in love; union, the loving relationship.”
Comment: The current strain in your relatedness has to do with fears around previous addictive behaviors. There is also hope this relationship can provide great physical pleasure and emotional fulfillment. Indulgence, however, must be differentiated from over-indulgence. You will need to discuss and resolve these concerns soon to restore the current critical tension in your heart connection.
- (6) Resolution and Wisdom
Outcome: 7 of Cups reversed—“lack of options, failure of imagination, or else active awareness of subpersonalities.”
Gift and Guide: 10 of Cups—“Falling in love; intoxication, bliss, larger than life (inflation); ‘rainbows in the sky’ (impermanence).
Comment: You will need to be more imaginative in resetting the possibilities available to your relationship. You have a tendency to spin your wheels without making forward progress. There are many different parts to your personalities, and you will do well to develop many aspects of your selves not simply in your relationship, but in other aspects of your life as well. This will help bring a proper balance to your lives. You should trust the power of your feelings for each other and view them as both a gift and a guide. The intoxication will not last however, but it is an indication of the strength of your attraction, a testament of your love.
_____________________________
It should be noted that each comment above is extrapolated directly from the card’s spectrum of meaning within the context of the question and spread position. Making such determinations precisely and consistently will be discussed in detail later in this book. As is often the case, this reading did not so much reveal new material as confirm what was already felt, sensed, believed, avoided, and denied by the questioners. The fact that such information arrived through a purely random means underscores its importance to the subject. This fact should not be underestimated. The reading’s manner of communication was notably absent of blame or exaggeration, as its source was nonpersonal and transcendent. Of course the full-bodied style and presence of the reader, and the unique interactive field established in divination between reader and querent(s) will be explored in the next chapter.
How Tarot did this–by what strange “twist of fate,” luck of the draw, or magic has this particular complex feedback arrived–will be closely examined when we turn later to the theories of synchronicity and nonlinear time. The skeptic, naturally, will attempt to debunk the reading as being so general and universally applicable that it arises less from divined intelligence than from divined hucsterism. He should be reminded however that a myriad of radically different comments would natuarlly issue forth from any different set of cards. The skeptic, too, will be properly addressed in Chapter IX. For now, it is perhaps enough to know that John and Julie were greatly relieved by the Tarot’s message, and grateful for the experience. A clear sorting through of the issues had taken place, and an agenda to foster continued exploration and communication was established. I myself was left with the distinct impression that their next appointment with the urologist would be their last.
Six weeks after the reading the following announcement arrived to my office in the mail:
When John and Julie fell in love,
God said, “Thou Shalt Not Part.”
Now they joyfully ask you to attend,
Their wedding of the heart.
I expect this couple will consider returning for follow-up Tarot readings, as they say, after the honeymoon. As we can clearly see, the Tarot Method certainly provides a shared window of reflection and exploration for intimate partnerships. Hopefully, these three quite different vignettes have each in their way given the newcomer to Tarot an initial impression of its application in psychotherapy. We are now ready to examine the Tarot Method more closely which will be the subject of the following chapter.
Notes
1 Arrien, Angeles, The Tarot Handbook: Practical Applications of Ancient Visual Symbols, Arcus Publishing Company, 1987, p. 20.
2Giles, Cynthia, The Tarot: History, Mystery, and Lore, Simon and Shuster, 1992, p. 133.
3Ibid.
