|
by Beth Owl's Daughter
In the past several articles, we have seen how there is a shadow side to
a person's Tarot profile. This additional dimension shows the hidden
factors that are the challenges within a person's soul and personality.
For some people, the hidden factors are not so hard to see, and in fact,
are an integral part of their persona.
(To refresh your memory about how to determine your profile numbers and
to understand more about the single digits of these combinations, please
refer to the previous articles in this series.)
 For people whose birth date numbers reduce to 14/5 through 18/9, the
cards involved are called the Nighttime cards; cards that show a night
sky. This is symbolic of the "dark," unrecognized aspects of ourselves.
Please bear in mind that, unlike usage made popular in Star Wars movies
and so forth, the "dark side" as viewed by the Tarot is not evil,
corrupt, or without value. In fact, it is in the dark and difficult
places that we are most likely to become empowered with a deep knowledge
of who we are and how we are strong.
From the Death card, discussed in the last article, the Fool's Journey
moves into the beginning of night. For people whose date of birth
resolves first to 14, then 5, your personality card is XIV, Temperance.
The Temperance card shows a setting sun, indicative of your ability to
walk between the worlds of light and shadow. Temperance personalities
are powerful healers and teachers, deeply spiritual in nature, and adept
at finding unique ways to combine various, sometimes contradictory
elements, in order to cleanse, purify and heal.
Your challenge may be about reconciling your idealism with the real
world. Two of the famous 14-5's who failed to find that balance were
Adolf Hitler and Mao Tse-Tung. Similarly, you may sometimes feel you are
out of place, born into the wrong time, or like a fish out of water. If
so, you must learn to accept that this reality is the one you are in, and
you may as well rise to the occasion with creativity and compassion --
for yourself as well as others.
Some of the more successful and famous 14-5's include Charles Darwin,
William Faulkner, Clark Gable, Albert Camus, Marlon Brando and Walter
Cronkite.
The next combination may be one of the most challenging. Unlike in
Temperance, where there is a juggling of idealism with reality, the next
lesson for the Fool's Journey is the temptation to abandon hope and faith
entirely. The XV card in the Tarot is The Devil. As Tarot expert Mary
Greer describes, "this lord of the material world, feared as dangerous to
self and society, is represented by the devil as pictured in the Middle
Ages--a composite taken from the gods of suppressed religions,
demonstrating that it is easier to twist and distort such a force than to
get rid of it."
Make no mistake. People with this combination are not satanic in any
way, nor evil. They do, however, have much to consider about what they
keep hidden or repressed. People with the 15-6 combination are dealing
with their fears as a deep part of their life's work. They are often
painfully aware of the hypocrisy between what society says and what it
does. This may lead to a deep sense of irony, even an absurdist point of
view. Interestingly, many of the most famous 15-6 people were artists
associated with "The Theater of the Absurd," which questioned whether our
brief lives have meaning at all. They include Sartre, Beckett and
Fellini. Other famous 15-6 people have dedicated their lives to healing
nihilistic cynicism by working for a reconciliation with Nature, and
acceptance of ourselves as natural beings. They include Elizabeth
Kubler-Ross, Ram Dass (Richard Alpert), D.H. Lawrence, and Buckminster
Fuller.
As the Fool moves through his fears, he takes the next step. The Tower,
card XVI, is another deeply challenging card. It is about cutting out
anything in your life that is unhealthy, undesirable, unwholesome for
your spirit. Tower people with the 16-7 combination are extremely
forceful, often facing tremendous odds, flying in the face of public
opinion. Their shadow aspect is to beware of pride or arrogance. You
may find yourself, like other famous 16-7s, concerned with discarding
what is outdated, neurotic, or even destructive, and what to keep and
build upon. They include Galileo Galilei, Feodor Dostoevesky, William
Morris, Dylan Thomas, and Joan Baez.
The 17-8 combination is the next step on the Fool's Journey. At this
point, the soul has been challenged by difficulty on many levels. It is
almost as if, after the complete collapse of all our props, we are left
in the deepest part of the darkness. But it is only there that we are
able to see our Star. Card XVII, The Star, is about finding the courage
to be yourself, and acknowledging your connection to divinity.
One of my favorite quotes is from songwriter John Barlow, who said,"Groundless hope, like unconditional love, may be the only kind that
counts." The gift of the Star is finding hope in the heart of darkness.
Even in the face of difficulty, Star people know they are co-creators of
their own fate, and are able to persevere. Having been stripped clean of
pretense and vanity, 17-8 people may present a cool exterior to others,
but inside they burn with the light of creativity and inspiration. The
shadow aspect of their profile is that they may be so intensely involved
in altruistic ideals, they have trouble developing individual relationships.
Many visionaries and artists have been Star personalities, including
Rembrandt, George Orwell, Alexander Graham Bell, Pablo Picasso, Timothy
Leary, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell.
With the final profile combination, the pattern is complete. The Moon is
card XVIII, where the inner processes have brought the seeker to the
realization that all answers are to be found within. The Moon represents
intuition and completion of karmic tasks. If you have the 18-9
combination, it is your responsibility to evolve into higher levels of
consciousness. You are profoundly intuitive, and may be fascinated by
the mysterious and the occult. Your challenge is to learn to understand
the cycles of your subconscious and to bring to light the dreams and
intuition that guide you.
Famous 18-9s include Nostradamus, Johann Bach, Mahatma Gandhi, Kahlil
Gibran, Carlos Castaneda, and Jimi Hendrix.
And what of the last three cards of the Major Arcana? After the Moon,
the Sun returns, and with it success and happiness. It is a part of the
Magician combination, which we discussed in our first installment.
Likewise, Judgment, which is the wake-up call to the soul from the Higher
Good, is a part of the High Priestess profile. And the World, where all
loose ends are completed and the journey ends, is a part of the energy of
the Empress.
But in the heart of the journey's end is the genesis of the next. Even
as we reach the attainment of the World, of full knowledge and connection
to our spiritual destiny, and all the pieces finally fall into place, the
deck is shuffled once more, the energy clears, and the Fool steps
forward. It is a new beginning.
In keeping with new beginnings, please visit next time, when I'll begin a
new series that focuses on some of the many spreads used in the Tarot,
starting with one of the oldest and most popular layouts, the Celtic Cross. |
