Editor’s Note: Regular participants on this page are familiar with the contributions of Sarah Taylor. For years I’ve been wanting to run a feature on tarot, and when I found out that in addition to being an excellent writer, Sarah is a professional card reader, I asked her to step up — and she did. This is her third article, which looks at the role of synchronicity as a channel for expression and organizing principle in reading tarot. Future editions will cover how to work with cards on your own, how to choose a deck and specific cards. We will take direction from readers who comment, so please let us know what you think. You can visit Sarah’s website at this link. –efc
By Sarah Taylor
Now that we’re on the third article in our series on tarot (you’ll find article one here and article two here), we should be familiar with the basic structure of a typical deck of tarot cards –- major and minor arcana; court cards and Ace through ten. We’ve also got them in the spread we’ve chosen –- whether one card or two, a Celtic Cross, a Tree of Life reading or something else.
But… hang on a minute here… just how is this going to work? What makes sure that the cards best suited for this reading are the ones that we pick from the deck? What guides them to be assigned to a particular position in the layout?
In fact, if we’re going to start asking those questions, we might as well go back further. What made us choose that particular layout in the first place? No, go right back to the beginning. What made us choose that particular deck? Heck, why did we choose to interest ourselves with tarot in the first place, and why has this interest brought us to this discussion here?
I believe the answer is synchronicity.
But what is synchronicity? The idea of synchronicity was first discovered and introduced into public consciousness by psychologist Carl Jung in the early part of the twentieth century. This was followed by his paper entitled Synchronicity -– An Acausal Connecting Principle, published in 1952, in which he wrote:
The problem of synchronicity has puzzled me for a long time, ever since the middle twenties, when I was investigating the phenomena of the collective unconscious and kept on coming across connections which I simply could not explain as chance groupings or “runs”. What I found were “coincidences” which were connected so meaningfully that their “chance” concurrence would be incredible.
According to the Wikipedia entry on synchronicity, “Jung was transfixed by the idea that life was not a series of random events but rather an expression of a deeper order.” In other words, at its most basic, synchronicity can be seen as a universal organising principle that seeks to reconcile the conscious and the unconscious.
Remember, this takes us back to our previous two articles. In the first, we looked at the idea that tarot weaves a narrative about our lives: “what happens on the surface, and what lies beneath”; and in the second we saw how the cards were the repository for archetypal content –- the larger spiritual themes that govern our thoughts, feelings and actions. We also introduced the idea that we need do nothing except trust in this law as the basis for an effective reading: this organising principle never disappears… though we can choose to ignore it.
So if we apply the law of synchronicity to a reading, we know that we will get the card, or cards, that we most need, because they are the ones whose meanings are seeking expression through this organising principle. If we apply this law to the particular deck that we have chosen, then it could be that the deck, through its history and imagery, has activated certain channels of communication that might otherwise have lain dormant: our attraction to it has, literally, turned us on. If we apply it to the matter of why we chose tarot as something that interested us in the first place, then perhaps it is because we have our own archetypal patterns that plug into this medium more readily than they do others. All demonstrate synchronicity in action.
However, while synchronicity is a universal organising principle, faultless in design, sometimes it helps us to be structured in our approach in order to harness it effectively. Human as we are, our interpretive skills need to be honed and sharpened to cut out the static that often accompanies such communications.
One of the ways we can do this is through the use of card positions and meanings.
Last week, part of the discussion centred on tarot spreads. Card positions are the components of a spread: they direct the information down certain channels, for the most part predetermined by the type of spread we choose, which then helps us to build a clearer and more coherent picture.
How? Imagine that you have shuffled your tarot deck, and you have picked three cards, and you simply put them on the surface in front of you, with no thought to the order that you drew them, nor to any particular aspect that each card might refer to. Now imagine that you have the same three cards, but this time you lay them face up, one by one, in a row from left to right, the left card referring to the past, the middle to the present, and the right to the future. Keep in mind that the cards aren’t only the same for both situations; but that the idea that is seeking expression is the same too.
I’d suggest that most tarot readers would prefer to work with the second, structured, type of reading. Why? Because we have access to a method that helps to clarify what is being said; it assists us in accessing meaning faster; and it works.
Anyway, the argument is somewhat beside the point: we automatically start organising seemingly random things into patterns so that we can understand them. For example, we would have to look at one card first over the two others; and we would probably look at the other two before going back to the first. Which means we have already structured them, albeit very simply. The way that we approach things invites structure, so it makes sense to go with the flow and work within a structured framework.
Therefore, by remaining mindful of the law of synchronicity, and by employing a systematic approach to our readings, we can assign whatever meanings to the cards that we feel best fit with the question, and best answer the call of our intuition. We can go with the kind of three-card past-present-future reading that I referred to above; we can do a six-card relationship spread where half of the cards refer to the querent, and the other to their partner; we can work with the Celtic Wings layout that Eric has designed, based on the card positions of the classic Celtic Cross; or we can assign our own positions to any number of cards we choose -– though choose wisely so that you are able to weave a narrative from them: the cards lend themselves to story.
No matter what we opt for, we have offered a channel to what calls for expression, and synchronicity takes care of the rest. It is then up to us to interpret that message with clarity and detachment.
Hi Sarah, Yes I think that is correct on both counts. I’m trying to impove my ‘wait and see’ skills (intense Scorpio, Capricorn rising, lots of Virgo) but I think I can admit to an attachment to certain outcomes, especially afer a pretty soul shattering 18 months or so! When I spotted that this was the case is when I stopped using the tarot, just to try and rebalance. Px
… in fact, I’m going to add to that. Have you had a sense of a need for a particular outcome when you did your readings? Was there an attachment, or pull, that you could feel before you’d even started laying out the cards?
Hi patti. Thank you for your question. My first thought in response is also a question: How many times, over these past few months, have you done a reading on the same subject? In other words, how many of your readings have essentially been about the same thing, even if you have taken pains to word your questions differently?
— S
Sarah, I’ve come to your article rather late this week (it’s been busy above and below). Greatly enjoyed it and what a nice addition to PW! I use tarot regularly but have put it aside for the last few months because I felt my own attitude towards it was becoming a bit negative and obsessive. I didn’t seem to be in the right head space at all. I began to wonder if, rather like the Abraham Hicks stuff that Eric sometimes refers to, there isn’t an issue with the ‘vibiration’ one presents when doing a reading. If your questions are always coming from a position of lack or worry or negativity do you think it affects the reading? Maybe that’s not a very clear question, but essentially in addition to synchronisitically getting the cards you need, do you think we sometimes get the cards we (unconsciously) expect?
Ryan – It has always been a goal of mine to get a discussion going about tarot that very much brings it into a psychological, or therapeutic, paradigm. I think it has largely been viewed as the domain of clairvoyants and psychics, and I’m very happy to be part of a different approach.
Have you read the first two articles in this series? These do cover the basics of getting started – but moreso from an internal perspective. If you apply these principles, however, it will make your choice of deck and layouts a lot more simple.
— S
Thank you Sarah!
So very giving of you to respond to all our questions:)
of course! makes perfect sense. Thxs, Sarah.
Sarah-
I’ve always been confused by (and probably somewhat skeptical of) the concept of a tarot reading, but you’re starting to clear some things up.
I’m starting to realize that, as Eric has stated, tarot and astrology are dialects of the same language. They are both dynamic tools for understanding the vast concept of synchronicity.
I’m interested in starting to explore tarot on my own, so I’m hoping that your next articles will cover how to choose a deck and get started.
Len – I’ve found that the issue of trust in yourself as well as trust in the message is a key part of a reading. In fact, when I mentioned checking ego at the door in the previous post, it’s not just the ego associated with grandiosity, but the ego that says that you’re not able to do it. (Though they’re the same thing, really.) And a lot of practice doesn’t hurt either!
emily – The Ace of Swords is a powerful card, isn’t it? I think there’s a point where therapy and the idea of divination intersect – hence my various references to Jung, who really was the pioneer of the idea of spirituality in psychology when he introduced the concept of the “collective unconscious” (Wiki it here if you’re interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_unconscious). When you look at tarot from the perspective that we are all connected, then I think that divination and therapy meld.
Zoe – you’re welcome! I would take the “or both” answer to your question. Because I work from the point of view of the collective unconscious, there is a point where the personal becomes connected to the whole, which I believe is the wisdom “out there”. Eric and Len emphasise this in a lot of their writing. And – ah! – those relationship readings! I’d advise anyone who wants to have one to seek out a third party rather than try and do one themselves … but I’m not a particularly good follower of that advice myself! 🙂 Finally, I don’t think there’s any mistake in the evolution of the cards as a relationship evolves. If there is a connecting principle, then the cards are – as always – a reflection of where we are.
aword – thank you! I tried Eric’s spread too – I loved that there were safety valves built into it to check the integrity of the reading. The problem when you’re working with the unconscious is that it is – well – unconscious. So we all have built-in design systems to keep it hidden. Psychoanalysis would refer to these as defences, i.e. denial, projection, reaction formation, etc. That’s why you go to therapy – because bringing it to consciousness is difficult and challenging … and that’s why it is often better to have a reading done by an uninvolved third party. By design, you will frequently not pick up the obvious, even when it is right in front of you. But someone else can. Whether or not you choose to hear what they’re saying … well, that’s a different matter! 🙂
aquarius – you’re welcome. I bought a friend the Tarot of the Witches a few years back and did a couple of readings from it. It’s not one I would ordinarily use, but it worked in that situation – probably because I was doing the readings for her.
Hi Sarah,
I love your article, it is nice to learn more about Tarot. As a young person I had a deck called “Tarot of the Wiches” When I found the Voyager deck 20 years ago I startet to do Tarot on a regular base and synchronicity to me is the key word,
thank you
Hi awordedgewise,
I am using tarot cards since years for fun but also to confirm what I think about a situation and to get hints how to proceed .
This works pretty well. There are longer periods I always get the same cards. In the 90s, a difficult time in my life, I had a period I always would pick the tower and somhow dark cards.
Now I have a period when I get the guardian, breakthrough and sensor etc…. (I use the voyager deck) I love it and it gives me strenghth to hang in there in times of doubt. I do not really use it as a divination tool.
i see my post is a bit vague, by reader I mean “me”. As in do the spreads just reflect what is my head at the time? Similar to aword’s post.
Thank you Sarah,
I used Eric’s spread last week along with your previous articles – my first (and only) reading was astounding…….ly accurate.
And a little, well, frustrating – I experienced what I always do with Tarot – it confirms what I already (think I) know (in any given moment).
Now with a deeper understanding of syncronicity, perhaps I can allow it to help me learn more of what I do not think I already know – that is, what I am not seeing without the tool – which of course, is the purpose for looking. (Not to predict, but to find the holes, the spaces, the blind spots – which then allows for finding potential shifts and solutions. Yes?)
Great article again, thanks!
Sarah Thank you! I just reread your earlier posts and then this one, so it’s starting to take shape. I am impatient, so I sometimes rush into a spread or new interest and hope it just sings out to me. Reading your introductions to tarot makes me feel grounded.
One question-I wonder how much Tarot is reflection of what is going on in the readers mind? Or, is there some other wisdom “out there” that we are tapping into? or both?
I notice that sometimes in relationship query spreads ( and you were right earlier about doing multiple relationship spreads-oh us lovelorn!) that in the optimistic and hopeful states of a new relationship I get a positive reading. And then later, when the projections fade…the spread is much less charged and romantic.
Or, perhaps I am just reading that way……
Thank you thank you!
Zoe
Sarah,
Thank you. Your writing is something to envy. Working to become tarot-fluent but the breakthrough is yet to be found. Probably something to do with the “attitude” factor you cited in part two. Got persistence and your blogs on my side.