We have been talking about all kinds of things in my month long Tarot Clinic:

reversed cards, the Tarot numbers, reading pairs and card combinations, interesting spreads from Alejandro Jodorowsky, and delving deep into the Celtic Cross (and more).

This class was inspired by my current obsessions, which include being open to others’ obsessions. That’s how I roll 🙂

I want to bring to you now an idea that may be sacrilegious in some Tarot circles:

that the Major Arcana cards do not tell a story, and do not have a pattern — not in the way these things are usually understood. There really is no Fool’s Journey. Instead, we have chaos.

🙂

Why does this make me smile? I don’t know. It just does.

But also because years ago, when I first got interested in Tarot, I kept trying to understand this STORY that the Tarot books kept telling me existed. This story that was the underpinning. Fool’s Journey. Hero’s Journey. Aunt Millie’s Journey. Now I love a good journey story as much as the next person, but it just didn’t make sense to me and I kept trying to make it make sense.

That we go from… The Fool to the Magician to the Empress to the…  As though it were a traceable understandable series of life stages and graduations IN ORDER. And maybe I misunderstood. Maybe. But I kept trying. And then I gave up. And didn’t revisit the issue until I started reading Yoav Ben-Dov’s book Tarot: The Open Reading. I don’t know Mr. Ben Dov but I shamelessly plug his book because I think it’s wonderful.

Here is one brilliant paragraph:

the cards in the major suit, which express and reflect the infinite complexity of life, can also be thought of as a system on the edge of chaos. They show some degree of order and structure, but also chaotic irregularities and pattern-breaking. Therefore it might be pointless to look for an ultimate structure behind them. The only pattern in the cards is the cards themselves.”

Amen. I can align myself with this. And yet I will also nod my head and smile when other Tarot readers and authors (including myself!) talk about moving from the Devil to the Tower to the Star.

Can we have both? How do you feel about this issue? Are you comfortable with chaos?

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P.S. Are you interested in receiving a personal Tarot/Astrology reading from me? My September Back to School Special is on! Please Email me for details. Also I have a NEW Astrology class starting in October. How the October ECLIPSES will affect you. Click here to get in touch.