The Actors and the Plot: The Dramatis Personae of the Tarot
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’ve always felt that the purpose of working with the tarot on a regular basis is to acquire wisdom and thus to become more savvy day-by-day. Our daily experiences are often a product of our mental state, except to the extent that we’re in thrall to the agenda of someone else, either individually or collectively. We may choose to do or not do something, and thus reap the consequences one way or the other. We therefore develop a persona that conveys our habitual way of decision-making. Call it our “signature” response, which can range anywhere from active engagement to flat-out refusal to engage. Through divination, the cards of the tarot can aid us in defining what we’re facing in a specific situation, who we want to (or perhaps must ) become in confronting it and what we should do or avoid doing from a pragmatic perspective.
Most writers on the tarot — both traditional and psychological — consider the trump cards to be the lead characters in the “pageant of life” with the court cards as understudies and the minor (or “pip”) cards, when they count at all, as bit players. The cards with human figures on them are obviously the “dramatis personae” of the title, but any of them can have a say in the matter. Over the years, as I’ve moved away from psycho-spiritual mysticism and toward the frankly predictive analysis of circumstances, I’ve changed my opinion on all of this. I’ve demoted the Major Arcana to stage managers, elevated the Minor Arcana to the role of essential plot advancement and cast the court cards as walk-on “extras” in our private drama.
My premise here is that the Major Arcana give us the “lay of the land” for upcoming conditions in the sense of what we’re likely to face: for example, the High Priestess could indicate that we will come up against a mystery; the Lovers might convey an important decision; the Chariot will often deliver an opportunity for success; the Hermit and Hanged Man a chance to ponder without acting; the Wheel of Fortune a major change; Death an ending of some kind; the Devil a temptation; the Tower an upset; the Moon a confusing interlude; the Sun a bout of good fortune and happiness; the World the conclusion of a matter, usually in a satisfactory way.
My current thinking on the Major Arcana is that they show the background theme, atmosphere or environment of the matter, the stage-setting against which the production will play out rather than important plot twists in their own right (I just haven’t seen the latter occur very often in over 50 years of reading the cards). The timing may be ripe for their entrance, but the action usually occurs on a smaller scale while they prompt the players sotto voce from the wings. In other words, they create the promise that the other cards fulfill.
The court cards can offer us a “mask” to put on as we enter the situation. We all wear them from time-to-time: we have a “work” mask, a “parent” mask, a “spouse” mask, a “friend” mask, a “being seen in public” mask. The only time we take them off is when we’re alone or sleeping. This one is our “Thalia and Melpomene” mask (the Muses of theatrical comedy and tragedy). Conditions represented by a particular trump card might respond favorably to adopting the persona of a given court card as we come to grips with them. For example a Page might advise being nimble, flexible and natural, open to whatever comes.
The Minor Arcana are the “nuts-and-bolts” cards of everyday affairs. They can show us the details of a problem and suggest the tools to conquer it. They may advise us to become a “fixer,” sympathizer, cheerleader, caregiver, benefactor, disciplinarian or any number of other roles. If they have people on them, those figures can personify a type of behavior or an attitude to consider adopting. (But once again, any card can serve this purpose as long as we’re able to “anthropomorphize” it.)
The “script” for all of these manifestations is provided by the three-card daily draw. To get the most from it, I suggest separating a deck into three sub-packs: Major Arcana, court cards and Minor Arcana. Shuffle them separately and deal one card into each of the categories, a trump card for “squaring off” with an issue, a court card for “personalizing” our reaction to it and a minor card for “engaging” with it.
Here is an example reading; the question is “What can I expect to face tomorrow and how should I respond.” (I didn’t use reversals for this exercise, but you certainly could.) The story-line implies that I will get off to a slow start on my projects (it could be that I’ve overlooked something), and that oversight will urge me to “give the slacker — me — a swift kick,” but ultimately I will decide to be cagey and sneak up on the objective with wily finesse (or maybe I’m just seeking a place to dump my tools and head back inside for a nap while the Knight of Wands is beating up on the Hanged Man).
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on October 4, 2023.
