The Mythic Tarot Workbook by Juliet Sharman-Burke

Author:Juliet Sharman-Burke
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria
Published: 2010-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

EXERCISES FOR THE MINOR ARCANA

Whether the Major and Minor Arcana were actually conceived of together or separately is not known: the answer is shrouded in the mystery of the Tarot’s origin. All we can do today is look at the way they work together in harmony. While the Major Arcana signify the larger archetypal forces at work in each human being’s life, the Minor illustrate the more specifically individual aspects of those archetypes. The Court cards act as a bridge between the two by describing various archetypal personality types. By now you will have become aware of the Court cards and astrological personalities, with which you are most closely identified.

The Minor Arcana flesh out the broad patterns which influence everyone’s life at some time or another. They expand the psychological description as indicated by the Major Arcana, and give clues to possible coming events. To make each suit more vivid and dramatic, a myth has been selected which reflects the suit’s individual character and runs through from Ace to Ten. Although strictly speaking the myths do not have any connection with the Tarot, they do aid in understanding the cards and thus make them easier to remember in the course of readings. More importantly, however, each suit and myth develops a theme around a particular sphere of human experience. As we have seen, the suit of Cups relates to feelings, Wands to creativity, Swords to the intellect and Pentacles to the material world. Each myth tells a story relating to each of these four realms of experience. Although the myths may sometimes appear inapplicable to modern life on the surface, their underlying themes are profoundly relevant. Psychologically, mankind has not altered so very much in the course of the centuries. People still fall in love, as did Eros and Psyche in the myth which unfolds through the suit of Cups. People still embark on adventurous enterprises, as did Jason and the Argonauts in the myth describing the suit of Wands. Families still have horrendous battles, the evils of which are still visited upon the children, as illustrated in the myth of Orestes, connected with the suit of Swords. People still need to establish material security and create solid lasting forms, as did Daedalus, the master craftsman, whose myth relates to the suit of Pentacles. Although we might like to think we have changed a lot over the centuries, we may well be surprised to discover how closely these myths parallel our daily lives and experience.

In order to acquire a more meaningful picture of the Minor Arcana, it will help enormously to do some exercises on them yourself. You might, for example, picture yourself as the hero or heroine of each suit. Can you imagine yourself as heroic Jason, anguished Orestes, lovelorn Psyche or wily Daedalus? Try to imagine yourself as part of each story. How would you feel in each situation? Do the mythological adventures reflect the more mundane patterns in your own life? Another exercise might be to write your own myth, using the suits, their numbers and divinatory meanings as your outline.

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