Written by: Andrew Cowie, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
I have a near lifelong fascination with the Tarot, dating back to the 1980s when I was mesmerised by the inclusion of these mysterious and colourful playing cards within the opening titles of Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected. The entire title sequence, with its eerie theme tune, sinister dancing silhouettes and spinning roulette wheels, seemed to offer a tantalising glimpse into a forbidden world of dark temptations and arcane knowledge.
Tarot has attracted a great deal of bad press over the years, thanks in no small measure to Hollywood portrayals linking the cards to sinister occult practices. But I would ask you to set aside any preconceptions you may have of Tarot cards as a fortune telling device and to view them instead as a powerful psychological counselling tool, because the real reason these mysterious playing cards were first invented was not for divination but for the global communication of universal philosophical truths.
According to the late Paul Foster Case (1884-1954), widely regarded as the world’s leading authority on the subject, Tarot cards were invented around 1200AD in the city of Fez in Morocco, which was at the time the literary and scientific capital of the world. Wise men from across the globe would meet there to share knowledge and ideas and they devised the Tarot as a universal language to overcome the barrier presented by the many different tongues in which they spoke. Languages and terminology may differ from one country to another, but the language of pictures is universal. These great adepts, therefore, devised a “book of pictures”, within which were encoded the fundamental laws of nature and creation, with each archetypal image linked to a specific number and a letter in the Hebrew alphabet.
Swiss psychologist Carl Jung believed that the Tarot, like the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching, provided a doorway to the unconscious mind. According to Jung, beyond the personal unconscious, there is also a collective unconscious – a part of the unconscious mind that is shared by all humanity. The collective unconscious contains archetypes and ideas that are not rooted in personal experience. They arise spontaneously in the mind, especially in times of crisis, and often appear in our dreams.
Mythology bases its stories on these archetypal characters and situations. Jung saw the Tarot as “an alchemical game” through which a person could accelerate their personal evolution towards becoming their “Higher Self” – a process he termed “Individuation”. The images of the Tarot cards, he argued, were an external representation of the archetypal themes and characters imprinted within the collective psyche of humanity.
A standard Tarot deck consists of seventy-eight cards divided into two distinct sets or arcanas – a word meaning “hidden truth” or “secret knowledge”. The Minor Arcana is made up of fifty-six cards divided into four suits – usually swords, wands, coins (or pentacles) and cups – similar to modern playing cards. Each suit contains ten numbered cards and four court cards. The remaining twenty-two cards in the deck comprise the Major Arcana – a set of symbolic images portraying man’s archetypal journey through life and ascent towards enlightenment. These images are specifically designed to stir the pot of our subconscious and arouse our inner recognition of the archetypal themes contained there.
One of the most widely misunderstood cards in Tarot is the Death card which traditionally depicts a scythe-bearing Grim Reaper. This is one of the most frequently used images in film and TV portrayals of the Tarot, such as the James Bond movie Live and Let Die, where it is invariably deployed as a melodramatic plot device to forecast a character’s untimely death. This card was never intended to refer to physical death, however, but rather to the archetypal cycles of new life arising from the death of the old.
A close examination of the image will reveal the tell-tale shoots of fresh growth emerging from the soil fertilised by the disembodied heads, hands and feet. The symbolism is clear – new life emerges from the ashes of the old. Another clue comes from the sun in the background which is situated in the east of the picture. Its position tells us that the sun isn’t setting, it’s rising. Contrary to first impressions, the scene depicts a new dawn. This is not a scene of death at all, but rather one of regeneration.
The key to reading the cards is an understanding of the symbolism behind them. Although the images may vary from one deck to another, certain elements of the symbolism remain consistent. Many of the elements will already be familiar to you, even if you don’t consciously recognise it. For example, the colour red is a common symbol for danger, passion and anger. Warning signs are traditionally displayed in red so when we see a red sign we immediately take notice because on an unconscious level we’ve recognised it as flagging a potential hazard.
Similarly, the images used in Tarot relate to archetypes that have been used for hundreds of years and are therefore instantly recognisable. For example, the image of the Empress is a universal mother figure whilst the Emperor is a symbol of male authority and power. Because many of these images are so familiar to us, we react to them unconsciously. When someone reacts to a Tarot card in a certain way, they are responding to the archetypes contained in them. So even if you have no previous experience of Tarot, you can still recognise the archetypal themes and glean insights from them simply by looking at the cards. A true archetype is universally understood and transcends culture and faith.
Tarot can be thought of as a mirror in which we see every aspect of our life and personality reflected. This makes it a fantastic tool for meditation. Simply by concentrating on a card, and allowing the images to flow, you’ll begin to build a powerful sense of connection, and insights will start to bubble up naturally from your subconscious. The Tarot is a guide to help you draw upon the wondrous resources of your own intuition.
Contrary to the impression created by Hollywood, you do not need any special magical powers or hereditary gift to be able to read the Tarot. Its wisdom is available to anyone, provided they approach it in the right spirit.
I personally have found the Tarot to be a hugely helpful tool in helping me to better understand the nuances of my own personality and the various experiences to have befallen me throughout my life. It has made me more accepting of the cycles of fluctuating fortunes which we all face, and has enabled me to learn valuable lessons in times of adversity. It forms one of the key tools used by us at Phoenix Coaching & Therapy and our esoteric training academy AMHOP. If you’re serious about learning Tarot, particularly its use as a psychological counselling tool, then we recommend enrolling in a full course. You can contact us at Phoenix Coaching & Therapy or AMHOP for details.
Andrew Cowie, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Andrew Cowie is a transformational life coach, psychotherapist, and author dedicated to helping people overcome adversity and achieve their full potential. He came to the world of therapy after a 20-year career in newspaper journalism was brought to an abrupt end by severe burnout. In the course of his own recovery, he was introduced to meditation, mindfulness, hypnotherapy, yoga, martial arts, and NLP. He went on to retrain some of the world's leading spiritual and personal development teachers to become an expert in these fields. Andrew has since dedicated his life to passing on this knowledge, synthesizing the various disciplines into one overarching system blending ancient spiritual practices with the latest cutting-edge techniques from the field of modern psychology. He is the owner of Phoenix Coaching & Therapy and the founder of its associated 'magical training school' The Ancient and Mystical Hermetic Order of the Phoenix (AMHOP). His debut book Rise Like a Phoenix was published in 2021 and is described as a manual for personal regeneration. Andrew works with clients worldwide and is passionate about mental health and exploring the latent potential of the human mind.
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