SIGHTSEE THE TAROT is a YouTube video series that takes you on a tour of the tarot, from discovering new books and tarot thought leaders to workshopping classic tarot spreads and tinkering with particular tarot decks. Series Page: tinyurl.com/sightseethetarot Your Host: BENEBELL WEN [benebellwen.com] Self-Help Journaling Prompts with Transformative Tarot Counseling Counseling is the practice of interacting with others in an affirming and supportive way. In this installment of Sightsee the Tarot, we will explore the tarot as a psychological self-help tool by journaling and applying core counseling techniques. In the process, learn how the four stages of personal transformation through counseling mirror the four stages of magic. Use this handout for journaling through Card 1 (either The Magus or The High Priestess), Card 2 (The Hanged Man), Card 3 (The Empress), and Card 4 (The Emperor) as guided in the Self-Help Journaling & Tarot Counseling episode of Sightsee the Tarot. The Transformative Tarot Counseling Spread CARD 1 CARD 2 CARD 3 CARD 4 Subject Known/ Conscious Unknown/ Unconscious Next Step First Stage of Magic: Divination [Know Thyself] Second Stage of Magic: Evocation and Vision Third Stage of Magic: Invocation and Divine Union Fourth Stage of Magic: Initiation [Empowerment] The Transformative Tarot Counseling Spread is cited from Introduction to Transformative Tarot Counseling: The High Art of Reading (Katrina Wynne, 2012). The imagery of the four cards that Self-Help Journaling & Tarot Counseling prompts you to work through, featured in the video, are from The New Era Elements Tarot by Eleonore F. Pieper, Ph.D. (U.S. Games, 2018). Psychology-based card attributions provided in this handout are from Jung and Tarot: An Archetypal Journey by Sallie Nichols (Weiser Books, 1980), to be reprinted as Tarot and the Archetypal Journey: The Jungian Path from Darkness to Light (Weiser Books, 2019). Page 1 of 10
CARD 1: Subject Key 1: The Magus or Key 2: The High Priestess How does your selected Key signify who you are? What can you see that you share in common with this selected Key? What is your emotional and intuitive first impression of this Key? Note: Listen to your inner voice instead of drawing from studied card meanings. Identify three symbols or details on the Key s imagery that tug at your attention. Describe one symbol or detail from the card s imagery What does this symbol or detail signify to you? Free-write what specific meanings come to mind. Your inner voice is now speaking, prompted by this Key. What message do you hear? Page 2 of 10
Connect Your Personal Impressions to Card Knowledge: How do the insights of your Key s ascribed meanings as provided during the workshop video and the psychological attributions noted below apply to you? Key 1: The Magician (Magus) Creator and trickster The archetype of the magic effect Possesses both the gifts of miracles and of deception. This is mastery over the science of hidden relationships. The magician arranges demonstrations for us and performs magic before our eyes, if we attend those performances. (Nichols) There is an attitude of hopeful expectancy. Key 2: The High Priestess Feminine godhead; essence of the great paradox The archetype of esoteric knowledge This is the master of mysteries; refinement of spiritualization. This is the archetype of performing magic in secrecy, behind a veil. The moon power encoded into Key 2 reveals the Hand of the Great Goddess that rules over us all. This is connecting in an emotional way to knowledge, world events, and culture. In summary, what is this tarot card telling you about yourself, who you are, your character strengths, and your character weaknesses? Page 3 of 10
CARD 2: Known Key 12: The Hanged Man Name the personal crisis that the Hanged Man represents for you right now. Name the aspects of your fate or external circumstances that feel out of your control. What is your emotional and intuitive first impression of the Hanged Man? Note: Listen to your inner voice instead of drawing from studied card meanings. Identify three symbols or details on the Hanged Man s imagery that tug at your attention. Describe one symbol or detail from the card s imagery What does this symbol or detail signify to you? Free-write what specific meanings come to mind. Your inner voice is now speaking, prompted by this Key. What message do you hear? Page 4 of 10
Connect Your Personal Impressions to Card Knowledge: How do the insights of the Hanged Man s ascribed meanings as provided during the workshop video and the psychological attributions noted below apply to you? Key 12: The Hanged Man Suspense; bound and confined by the Grasp of Fate; dramatization of the personal trial This is the archetypal situation of enforced inactivity. There is suspension or passivity mid-stream. The themes here are of being thwarted, frustrated, or confused. There s inertia at the mid-point. Jung theorized that the unconscious within you will always produce an impossible situation and thrust you into that situation to force you to bring out your very best; otherwise, you will always stop short of your personal best. The Hanged Man is that impossible situation. The Hanged Man is also the individual conscience in opposition to the collective viewpoint and because you are the contrarian, you re subjected to difficult trials. In summary, what is the Hanged Man telling you about your current fears and anxieties? What have you been frustrated about lately? Name all that is holding you back from getting to where you want to be in life. Identify some of the negative habits you have that you want to change this year. Page 5 of 10
The known (Card 2) and unknown (Card 3) factors at play in your life right now, per this self-help journaling exercise, are rooted in the numerology of 3. Reflect on how the themes associated with the numerology of 3 apply to you. 3 Key 12: The Hanged Man Key 3: The Empress Fruition; developmental phase toward personal greatness. You ve got the concept, but now it s time to implement and execute. Enough thinking, more doing. This is the next step after conception. You are in the gestation phase. Time to use your assets and resources to bring your concept or goal to fruition. The number three pushes you toward manifestation. Lean in to your own originality and transcend old canons. Enough thinking, more doing. When you hear your inner voice say those words to you, what exact circumstance or situation in your life right now do those words pertain to? What is it that you ve already developed, but it s mid-stream at the moment, and you seek to bring it to completion? Brainstorm what assets and resources you have access to that can help you bring what you named in the preceding prompt to fruition and completion. What old canons, old ways of thought, or old habits do you seek to release from? Page 6 of 10
CARD 3: Unknown Key 3: The Empress When you look at the Empress, which of the four do you think of first: (a) the mother figure in your life, (b) motherhood, (c) Mother Goddess, or (d) the growth of your creative potential? Specify the exact thoughts that come up based on which of the four you chose. What is your emotional and intuitive first impression of the EMpress? Note: Listen to your inner voice instead of drawing from studied card meanings. Identify three symbols or details on the Empress card s imagery that tug at your attention. Describe one symbol or detail from the card s imagery What does this symbol or detail signify to you? Free-write what specific meanings come to mind. Your inner voice is now speaking, prompted by this Key. What message do you hear? Page 7 of 10
Connect Your Personal Impressions to Card Knowledge: How do the insights of the Empress card s ascribed meanings as provided during the workshop video and the psychological attributions noted below apply to you? Key 3: The Empress The Great Mother; The Great Nurturer; Needs Being Taken Care Of; Madonna Archetype This is the Directive of Venus, which is Love. The Empress bridges the gap between creative inspiration and material productivity. This is the Giver of the Harvest. The Empress symbolizes your key to prosperity and abundance. It symbolizes the reservoir of strength that you can personally draw from to ensure your victory and your accomplishments. In summary, what is the Empress telling you about your inner motivations and unaddressed desires? What is the Empress revealing to you about how you can find joy and personal wellbeing? Adjudicate your own current willingness to initiate change and self-reflect on that willingness. Exercising the full breadth of your own wild imagination, gaze at The Empress card from The New Era Elements Tarot deck again: What is beyond that dark entranceway? Page 8 of 10
CARD 4: Next Step Key 4: The Emperor When you look at the Emperor, which of the four do you think of first: (a) the father figure in your life, (b) fatherhood, (c) your role and responsibility as a leader in a particular social group, or (d) the heavy sense of personal responsibility you feel? Specify the exact thoughts that come up based on which of the four you chose. What is your emotional and intuitive first impression of the Emperor? Note: Listen to your inner voice instead of drawing from studied card meanings. Identify three symbols or details on the Emperor card s imagery that tug at your attention. Describe one symbol or detail from the card s imagery What does this symbol or detail signify to you? Free-write what specific meanings come to mind. Your inner voice is now speaking, prompted by this Key. What message do you hear? Page 9 of 10
Connect Your Personal Impressions to Card Knowledge: How do the insights of the Emperor card s ascribed meanings as provided during the workshop video and the psychological attributions noted below apply to you? Key 4: The Emperor Father of Civilization; Rite of Passage; Personal Sovereignty; Achieving Personal Wholeness This is the archetypal situation of personal sovereignty, of humankind becoming civilized. The Emperor is the archetypal impetus for a new era or the start of a new cycle, one that begins with The Emperor, who is Logos, the Word and the Mind. The theme here is intuition becoming organized and structured into science and reason. The Emperor is the achievement of personal wholeness and sovereignty. This is the exploration of adulthood, independent thought, autonomy, and the rite of passage everyone must go through from the sheltering nurture of the Great Mother into self-governance, self-sufficiency, and self-reliance. The theme here is self-determination. In summary, what is the Emperor telling you about a rite of passage you re going through at the moment toward greater personal sovereignty and achieving personal wholeness? What is the message here about how to organize and structure your intuition into science and reason? Fascism: A system of rule that forcibly suppresses opposition. Going on gut impulses, freewrite on what immediately comes to mind when you think of fascism. Then think about where fascism exists in your personal life and identify those circumstances. Page 10 of 10