Most of us are aware of the idea of birth cards and year cards based on the numerological reduction of your birth date. For an insightful and very thorough look at these, check out Who Are You in the Tarot? by Mary K. Greer (Weiser Books, 2011).
I found an interesting alternative personal card method in the Golden Dawn Magical Tarot mini-kit booklet by Sandra Tabatha Cicero and Chic Cicero (Llewellyn Publications, 2000). (The deck has been republished without the booklet, and I don’t know if this part is included in the new LWB.) It’s called “Your Personal Tarot Formula,” and it’s based on astrology (sun and ascendant/rising signs) and numerology. Let’s try it with Arcana Stones and see what happens!
Everyone knows their sun sign! If you don’t know your ascendant, try one of the many places on the internet that will calculate your chart for free. (You need to know an approximate time of birth to find your ascendant.)
(I have paraphrased the operations and added my own expanded meanings for the keys.)
If a number is greater than 22, add the digits together. Fool = 22, but, because some of the operations are subtracting, you could also end up with a 0, which would also be Fool! Subtract in any order to get a positive number.
Your Personal Tarot Formula
Individuality Key = Sun sign stone. The real you; your significant traits and potential.Personality Key = Ascendant stone. How you present yourself to the world and how you’re perceived.
Problem Key = Individuality plus Personality. The work to be done or lesson to be learned in this lifetime; what you don’t know.
Solution Key = Difference of (subtract) Individuality and Personality. What you need to learn to solve the problem.
Means Key = Difference of (subtract) Problem and Solution. How to pursue the Solution.
Integration Key = Add all five other cards. How all the keys work together to take you to a higher level.
In case you don’t have your Arcana Stones booklet handy, here are the sign-stone attributions to get you started. (Note that all the keys can be any stone except Individuality and Personality. They must be one of the stones listed below because they are always signs, never planets or elements.)
Aries = 4-Emperor-Carnelian
Taurus = 5-Hierophant-Orange Calcite
Gemini = 6-Lovers-Rhodochrosite
Cancer = 7-Chariot-Amethyst
Leo = 8-Fortitude-Tiger Eye
Virgo = 9-Hermit-Fluorite
Libra = 11-Justice-Aventurine
Scorpio = 13-Death-Mahogany Obsidian
Sagittarius = 14-Temperance-Rose Quartz
Capricorn = 15-Devil-Hematite
Aquarius = 17-Star-Blue Lace Agate
Pisces = 18-Moon-Mother of
Here’s my Personal
Tarot Formula in Arcana Stones:
Individuality = Cancer = 7-Chariot-Amethyst: I feel like I always need to have a goal in mind, or at least a path laid out to follow, especially in my intellectual life. When I think about the Holy Grail being made of amethyst, I am reminded that I’m sure that there is a fundamental good or at least a basic reality that means more than just survival or “getting and spending.” (See the next key!) This doesn’t seem to have much to do with Cancer, but I’m reading the stones, not the astrology!
Personality = Taurus = 5-Hierophant-Orange Calcite: I am a very moralistic person. I often find myself determining the nature of something based on whether it’s right or wrong. It seems like that’s just how my mind works . . . I have always been interested in learning about religions and spirituality. And I’ve always been interested in learning about anything! I’ve spent my whole life reading, studying, and learning. As far as it being how people see me, probably one of the reasons I identify so strongly as a student is because my mom (a Gemini) always encouraged me and made a big deal out of the fact that I was a good reader and a school lover since kindergarten and before.
Problem = 7 + 5 = 12-Hanged Man-Sodalite: Maybe this is the sum of the previous two keys because they are about having a plan, and that plan is probably based on a traditional, or at least conventional, understanding of the world. So what happens when things don’t happen as expected? I get hung up! My life so far is what happened to me while I was making other plans! Maybe the lesson I have to learn is that it’s not shameful that things don’t turn out the way you planned. You just have to keep trying until you get a bit closer and closer to where you want to be.
Solution = 7 – 5 = 2-Priestess-Moonstone: Spirit, true spirit is the answer, not somebody’s traditional interpretation thereof. So my impulse toward religion and morality is taking me in the right direction. I just need to learn my own truth, not someone else’s.
Means = 12 – 2 = 10-Wheel-Botswana Agate: Buddhist scriptures teach that we are lucky to be born as humans, lucky to live at a time and place where spiritual teachings are available, and lucky to have our basic animal needs met so we have the opportunity consider spiritual things. I am one of these lucky beings. This luck is the means by which I will get from hanging around disappointed with where I am to recognizing the truth that the disappointment is teaching me.
Integration = 7 + 5 + 12 + 2 + 10 = 36 = 9-Hermit-Fluorite: This really does bring all the other insights together. My interests have exposed me the invaluable tools of meditation and mindfulness. I also don’t need to be afraid of being alone in the pursuit of the lessons I need to learn.
Visually, the keys increase in transparency as they progress downward, hopefully indicating that things will become clearer and clearer as I move forward on my personal path.
Well, what do you think about “Your Personal Tarot Formula”? Intrigued?
No comments:
Post a Comment