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by
Beth Owl's Daughter
Credits:
Top row - Rider-Waite Tarot, U.S. Games
Middle row - Daughters of the Moon, Ffiona Morgan
Bottom row - The Blue Moon Tarot, Julie Cuccia Watts
In this series of articles, I have been
discussing how the Tarot profile cards can offer illumination
and insight. Specifically,
your profile can identify characteristics of your present
life's personality, as well as the soul identity and karmic
tasks you are working with, from life to life.
(To review the method for calculating your profile,
please see Part One).
These life lessons are often referred to
as the Fool's Journey -- a metaphor describing the sequential
progression of the trumps of the Tarot (the Major Arcana).
This progression seems to parallel the stages of life,
from The Fool, who is the unborn potential, to the Magician,
representing manifestation, and so on, culminating with card
Twenty One - The World.
Each of us, according to the wisdom of the
Tarot, is challenged to move through these lessons, during
the different phases of our lifetimes.
But each of us also has a special resonance with certain
phases of that journey which is uniquely our own, and this
is what can be learned from the profile.
In the beginning of the Fool's Journey,
we work with the karmic tasks that are related to birth, primal
masculine and feminine power, security, learning basic lessons,
rules, and so on. This
work is typical of the formative years of our youth.
Now we are ready to move into the next phase and, just
like coming into adolescence, things get more complex.
If your date of birth reduces to fifteen
and/or six, you are in the Lovers profile.
The Lovers profile represents a big step in what psychologists
call "individuation," the process of establishing
your own independent personality and values. The Lovers is
about the discovery of "Other," and the compelling
power that coaxes us to leave the security of our nest.
If you are in the Lovers profile, you are
very sensitive to the needs of others, and work well with
groups of all sizes.
You have a gift for synthesizing ideas, and diverse
opinions. You
are skilled at integrating paradox, opposition, and even conflict
into smooth, cohesive wholeness.
The Lovers has to do with understanding
that life is a series of choices you can make, based either
on fear or love. By
choosing the path of love, you can let go of fear, and move
forward to higher levels of creative potential.
A key lesson for you is that the people you choose
to be intimate with (both romantically and otherwise) are
a direct reflection of, and also have a great impact on, how
you feel about yourself.
Take care to choose wisely.
Some of the famous Lovers of the world have
included H. G. Wells, D. H. Lawrence, Elizabeth Barrett Browning,
Albert Einstein, Charles Schultz, John Lennon, Jessie Jackson,
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, and Ram Dass (Richard Alpert).
If you have teenagers, you know that hard
on the heels of discovering love comes the urgent demand for
using the car. In
an almost silly, but accurate parallel, the next step after
the Lovers is the Chariot.
If your birthday numbers reduce to sixteen and/or seven,
you are in the Chariot profile.
Your profile deals with mastery, will, and
choosing your own path.
You are a born leader, and you take your responsibilities
and obligations very much to heart.
If your profile is the Chariot, you need
goals and purpose, or else you can feel bogged down and stuck,
which is something you truly dislike. You have very high ideals, and you are fiercely protective
of the people and causes that you care for.
You can balance the contradictory forces in your nature
by learning to keep a firm grip on your inner guiding principles. You may benefit greatly from meditation or spiritually focused
martial arts.
Historic Chariot people include Galileo,
Gertrude Stein, Aleister Crowley, Bruce Lee, Joseph Campbell,
John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, and Joan Baez.
The Chariot's lessons deepen and lead to
the next step in the journey.
If your birthday numbers reduce to seventeen and/or
eight, you are in the profile of Strength.
People with the Strength profile are learning
about self-esteem and working with the lessons of courage.
If you are an Eight person, you know that true strength
comes from within. By
achieving harmony and balance with your own nature, you have
the strength to persevere in the face of adversity, and actively
choose your destiny.
Yours is a wisdom born of experience, even
hardship. Your
will and desire are as one, and you have an inherent lust
for life that gives you extraordinary courage and endurance. You know that true strength can be gentle, and while Chariot
people are focused on pushing forward, your power lies in
your ability to grow and nurture in harmony with the power
of nature Herself.
The Strength profile overflows with visionaries
and artists like Ludwig von Beethoven, Edgar Cayce, Maria
Montessori, Rembrandt, Pablo Picasso, George Orwell, Paul
Gaughin, Bob Dylan, Timothy Leary, Aretha Franklin, and Diane
Keaton and George Harrison, to name a very few.
Only our last basic profile, The Hermit,
has given the world more great achievers.
Does this seem contradictory?
After all, isn't a hermit probably the least interested
in fame? So it
would seem, but there is much more to the Hermit than a cartoon
figure of a solitary recluse living in isolation. If your month, day and year of birth reduce to 18 or 9, you
are in the Hermit profile.
It is the Hermit's ability to seek and find
his own personal truth and unwavering integrity, no matter
how lonely it may be, that can lead to greatness.
Hermit personalities are not necessarily more introverted,
although they invariably need significant periods of solitude
to feel connected to their inner wisdom.
But they are called by their unique visions, and public
opinion is of much less importance to them than to the other
profiles we've seen.
It is their inner truth and wisdom that sets them apart.
If you are in the Hermit profile, you have
a strong sense of purpose.
You have felt, since you were rather young, that your
life is for a reason, and it is your mission to fulfill that
destiny. You
may be quite gifted in the mystical arts and yet you can be
very logical and analytical.
You are happiest when you are able to serve the greater
good, and are an exceptional teacher, facilitator, and guide
for others.
As mentioned, there are more luminous Hermit
people than any other profile.
Some of them include Nostradamus, Johann Bach, Auguste
Rodin, Gandhi, Kahlil Gibran, Ella Fitzgerald, Rock Hudson,
Allen Ginsberg, Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Castaneda, Dustin Hoffman,
and Elvis Presley.
This
completes our overview of the nine basic themes of the Fool's
Journey. Next
time, we'll examine the ways that other layers of meaning
may exist for some profiles, and how to determine what shadow
lessons may be challenging you on your personal path.
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