“…Tarot had its origins and anticipation in profound patterns of the collective unconscious with access to potentials of increased awareness uniquely at the disposal of these patterns.” – van der Post

I use tarot a lot in my dream work. I found a Jungian tarot interpretation, actually it was a gift from a dear friend. It was her copy for a long time and was so beat up she bought herself a new one and said why don’t you look at this and see if you like it. I still have the original one she gave me. It’s even more beat up from all of my use. But I love every coffee stain she left in it, all the dog-eared pages and the peeling front cover. Every time I open it I think of her and the door she opened for me.

It’s The Tarot Handbook by Angeles Arrien, and it is brilliant. A psychological, anthropological slant heavy with symbology. The tarot cards really represent different archetypes, which Jung describes as the major representations of different aspects of the psyche. Mother, father, wise old man, are all different aspects of ourselves. The scope of it is really amazing and this book really plumbs those depths.

There is a card I have been pulling a lot lately. I think that’s because I’m being repeatedly put in situations where I have to decide which way I am going to behave. It’s #18 the moon. This whole card under Angeles’ interpretation is about the battle between being your authentic self vs. your dutiful self. This applies so much to me personally, but it is just as applicable in our culture. We all make choices everyday between what we really want and what we feel we have to do. I think this has partly inspired the movement of living with less, from minimalism to tiny houses. There is a desire to have a more meaningful life rather than more things. This falls right in line with this card. What are the right choices for our authentic self? This is a question that deserves a thoughtful answer. And everyone’s answer will be different.

“The ultimate work to be done each day is to choose whether we will support our authentic self or support our false persona or dutiful self.” This is the battle. A lot of times what we really want to do does not gain much cultural recognition. It seems out there, and what would our friends and family think of us if we stepped outside the boundaries of what they are use to? Jung said something similar, “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” We can’t become who we are really meant to be if we don’t take some risks. It is all about the choices we make and whether they support our true selves. Are we going to be who we really are or are we going to fake it? And who are we if we don’t live who we really are? This is the hard work, Arrien calls it the “karma card, karma meaning work that needs to be done.” Consciously deciding how much of our real selves we’ll live takes a lot of guts.

She goes on to say, “Choice has three functions. It is through choice that we can 1) create new realities, 2) sustain and maintain current realities, or 3) release and let go of realities that no longer serve us.” Life is just that, deciding which reality we are going to live in. Is it going to align with who we really are or is it a way of just getting through life. And if we are just getting through each day where is the real substance of our life?

Our lives have meaning, we need to express that meaning in our own way. These are the things we need to determine for ourselves. Everyone’s authentic life will look completely different. There is joy in discovering what really belongs to us, what belongs in our world.

It doesn’t all happen at once, it’s a long, twisty road. But it will most certainly never happen if we don’t even look for our answers. If we don’t take the time to uncover our individual gifts. Tarot cards help me do this, but there are many ways to look inside. What will help you make a choice to be authentic? Even for just one moment of your day?

All of these small choices define our lives, they shape who we become and how we live. (If you want more on Jungian Tarot pick up Sallie Nichols Jung and Tarot An Archetypal Journey, it’s so good!)

So who are you going to be today?

kb