The Psyche, Numerology and the Tarot: A Psychological Reading Method

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This reading template and methodology were developed by me using a colleague’s translation of psychologist John Beebe’s archetypal model into tarot. In adapting it to my own analytical style, I made some changes to apply personal preferences, knowledge and experience. The matrix of Major Arcana cards supports a randomly-drawn four-card reading that will lean either toward the overt “persona” side of individuality on the left, or the covert “shadow” side on the right. The distinction can be made in a couple of ways, one through the use of reversals in the center column, another through the natural affinity of the random cards for one set of trumps or the other, and a third earmark derived from any obvious “facing” of the figures or features on the random cards (which can either corroborate or counteract the influence of their upright or reversed orientation). It’s also possible to read the entire series from left to right as a narrative with the middle card as the sensitive “turning point” or “crisis of consciousness” for entry into the shadows, revealing though shared sympathy and facing whether that transition will be resisted or embraced, a struggle or an acquiescence. The progression reminds me of the title of Eugene O’Neill’s 1956 play, Long Day’s Journey into Night. (The Albano-Waite deck used in the illustration is copyright of U.S. Games Systems, Stamford, CT.)

The bottom row of the layout represents the Ego, in both its outward “persona” manifestation (left side) and its inward “shadow” expression (right side). The Sun at the far left reflects the “developing Ego” while the Chariot provides the worldly “vehicle” for that Ego on its anticipated forays into socialization. The Hierophant between them serves as the “moral compass” by which the Ego navigates between what it believes itself to be and what it wants to make of that awareness. As it evolves, this combination is highly susceptible to the conventional wisdom of social mores and directives. The numerological signature for this aspect of the Ego is “4” (19 + 5 + 7 = 31, 3+1 = 4), the Emperor, the “law and order” card. At this point, the Ego is “master of all it surveys” but it is starting to develop a conscience.

The Fool on the “shadow” side provides the Sun’s counterpart as the “incipient Ego” in its raw state. Youthfulness is implied in both cards, but the Sun has a starting purpose and the means to pursue it, while the Fool is carefree and unrestrained by normal boundaries. I see the Fool as having a dual role: it stands apart as the archetypal “engine” of self-realization but it also has a part to play in egoic individuation. It is free to roam wherever it wants within the psyche in an unfettered fashion, learning from every encounter but essentially altering nothing it touches; however, it can also blunder around getting into situations it isn’t ready for simply because it “doesn’t know any better.”

This eventually brings it to Temperance in the center as the symbolic analog of the Hierophant; its number (14) reduces numerologically to “5,” the number of the Hierophant. Both cards are about learning, the Hierophant in a more personal way and Temperance in a largely abstract sense. The former teaches by example while the latter shows the “middle way” to self-understanding through direct experience of duality. Astrologically, Temperance corresponds to the philosophical sign of Sagittarius, here suggesting the “wise fool” of Shakespeare’s King Lear, while the Hierophant relates to the Venus-ruled sign of Taurus and its preoccupation with stability, security and traditional values, all things the fledgling Ego prefers to the “make it up as you go” implications of Temperance.

The Wheel of Fortune mirrors the Chariot and carries a similar “wheel” motif; movement toward the future is implied in both cases, with the Chariot a more conscious agent of the Sun’s resolve and the Wheel of Fortune a “blind force” befitting the Fool’s unconscious urges and motivations. The Wheel of Fortune represents the end of the first half of the Fool’s Journey of self-discovery. This makes sense, since after that point the Ego moves on into more complex interactions: specifically, the experience of external authority. Note that the Sun (19) at the beginning of the line and the Wheel of Fortune (10) at the end both reduce numerologically to One, the number of Unity; both aspects of the Ego are necessary to produce a unified personality. The numerological signature for this aspect of the Ego is “6,” (0 + 14 + 10 = 24, 2 + 4 = 6) the Lovers, one meaning of which is a crossroads or “parting of the ways” (ready or not); at this stage of development it implies panicked flight rather than planned exit.

The next row up denotes the Ego’s first exposure to external Authority as typically embodied in a Father and Mother figure. In the “persona” phase of the Authority sequence, I bracketed Justice with the Emperor (“Father”) at the beginning and the Empress (“Mother”) at the end since I believe it serves as the “mediator” for the different styles of discipline meted out by the two. I consider this three-card series to represent emerging “Self-Discipline,” which is acquired through the formative experience of Justice under the tutelage of the Father and Mother. The numerological signature for this aspect of the Authority paradigm is “9” (4 + 2 [the reduction of 11] + 3 = 9), the Hermit, which presages the inevitable encounter with the “shadow” side of the duality.

I associate the “shadow” side of the Authority complex with “Self-Absorption” and place the Hermit first because its number (9) incorporates the sum of all the cards on the “persona” side as noted above. The Hermit is internally motivated and cleaves to his own inner sense of right and wrong. Similarly, the Hanged Man’s number (12) reduces to Three (1 + 2 = 3), the number of the Empress, and the number of Death (13) reduces to Four (1 + 3 = 4), the number of the Emperor; furthermore, the sum of the Hanged Man and Death (12 + 13 = 25 , 2 + 5 = 7) is identical to the sum of the Emperor and Empress (4 + 3 = 7), suggesting that these more complex archetypes reveal the “dark side” of the parental experience. These observations seem to validate the cards as belonging to the “shadow” aspect of the authoritarian model, with “death of the Father” and “submission to the Mother” suggesting an Oedipus complex. The Hanged Man in the middle is also inwardly focused and dwells in his own insular reality, while Death at the end opens the door to passage into a more self-directed phase of development. The numerological signature for this triplicity is “7” (9 + 12 + 13 = 34, 3 + 4 = 7), the Chariot, which symbolizes a problematic “side-trip” on the Ego’s path to full-fledged autonomy.

The third row from the bottom defines the Child who emerges from the parental shadow. The “persona” side of the Child series I identify as the “Well-Adjusted Child,” and the “shadow” side as the “Maladjusted (Temperamental) Child,” which seems to match the “light”associations of the Star and Strength (untrammeled innocence slowly growing into mature self-control) in the first case, and the “dark” connotations of the Tower and the Moon (self-destructive urges and disillusionment) in the second case. Seven, the sum of the Star and Strength (17 + 8 = 25, 2 + 5 = 7) is identical to the reduced value of the Tower (1 + 6 = 7), indicating that a fine line exists between a well-integrated personality and a traumatized one. Interestingly, the sum of the Tower (16) and the Moon (18) is “7” as well (16 + 18 = 34, 3 + 4 = 7), revealing the taut interplay between these facets of the personality. The thin veneer of civilization often rests precariously upon the brow of the troubled Child. In esoteric number theory, the number Seven represents a step in a new direction, but with the need to clarify where that first step should properly land. Setting aside its religious attribution as a “holy” number (unless we choose to see it as a “holy madman” — aka “teenager” — in this context), Seven is an unbalanced number that seeks redemption through the countervailing adjustment of the Eight (which just happens to be the individual numerical value of both the Star and Strength); I liken their relationship to the dynamics involved in learning to ride a bicycle, swaying drunkenly first one way and then the other, fighting for balance. Here, the Seven is without a saving offset, throwing the psyche back on its own primitive survival skills unless it can manage to return to the “light” of the well-adjusted Child. It’s a wonder that any of us makes it to successful adulthood. Because this is a short row, I will take all four cards to produce the numerological signature: 17 + 8 + 16 + 18 = 59, 5 + 9 = 14, 1 + 4 = 5. Here we see the need for reinforcement of the Ego’s “moral compass” as symbolized by the Hierophant.

The top row is associated with aspects of the Soul and Spirit that the mature Ego confronts as it enters the realms of philosophy and theology (in fact, this encounter was intimated by the Hierophant as the Child’s numerological signature). The “persona” side is headed by the Lovers, an indication that the first experience of these deeper matters presents a “fork in the road” where one can choose either the “high road” (High Priestess and Magician) or the “low road” (Devil and Judgement). On the “personality” side of the sequence, this decision leads to the “higher calling” of the High Priestess and the Magician: the former is the tarot’s avatar of the “Soul” as reflected in its correspondence to the more spiritual side of the Moon, and the latter is associated with Mercury, sometimes called the “Psychopomp” or “Soul’s guide” in the Underworld. In fact, with the Devil and Judgement sitting squarely in the Soul’s path to fulfillment in the World, this scenario depicts more than a hint of the 23 rdPsalm. Note that the Lovers has three figures on it (the sum of the Magician and the High Priestess — 1 + 2 = 3), while the number of the Lovers (Six) represents a doubling of that sum suggesting the Soul “in its fullness,” ready for the experience of Judgement. The numerological signature for this set is “9” (6 + 2 + 1 = 9), the Hermit, which was considered the number of “completion” in Greek arithmology and titled the “Third Perfection” (after the Three and the Six). Here the wandering Hermit has found his homecoming.

On the “shadow” side I placed the Devil at the beginning because it has a fascinating visual similarity to the Magician which precedes it in the sequence; both have the right hand raised and the left hand lowered, implying the transmission of knowledge “from that which is above to that which is below.” (I see the source of such knowledge as the Collective Unconscious, which makes no distinction between “good” and “evil,” the two horns of a purely moral dilemma.) The Devil has a downward-pointing torch, suggesting Lucifer, the “Light-bringer.” I see the former as imparting exoteric knowledge to the world and the latter as bringing esoteric — or occult — knowledge into the light. The number of the Devil (15) reduces to Six, the number of the Lovers, which begins the “personality” series, lending this apparently incompatible pair a hidden sympathy of purpose in preparing the Soul for its transcendence.

Judgement in the middle is numbered Twenty, which reduces to Two, the number of the High Priestess, sublimating her role in the personality by delivering the Soul’s salvation. At the end of the series, the number of the World (21) reduces to Three, the sum of the Magician and the High Priestess. As mentioned previously, this is also the number of figures on the Lovers, implying that the interaction of the Man, the Woman and the Angel results in “Wholeness,” but only after an intervening crisis of consciousness and/or faith. The numerological signature for this triplicity is “2” (15 + 20 + 21 = 56, 5 + 6 = 11, 1 + 1 = 2), the High Priestess, indicating that the Soul will “win through” all difficulties standing in its way.

There is another revealing duality to be found in this row. The “persona” side consists entirely of Air and Water cards, which together comprise the fluid realm of spiritual aspiration, while the “shadow” side holds only Earth and Fire cards, suggestive of vulcanism and a detour into the nether regions of the psyche (although in some systems Fire is also the medium of Spirit). In the first case, the Moon (High Priestess) is bracketed by two Mercury-related cards (the Lovers as Gemini and the Magician as Mercury proper), showing the mental-emotional elevation of the Spirit. In the second case, the card of Primal Fire (Judgement) is surrounded by two cards associated with Saturn, the “Taskmaster” and the “Great Teacher” (the Devil as Capricorn and the World as Saturn proper). This combination molds volatile and formless Fire into a suitable spiritual vessel to carry the Soul to its point of debarkation.

In practical usage, the central column is intended to be populated with four random cards from any single-topic pull or periodic draw (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly). The interpretation of those four cards in combination with the trump cards of the template will show how the personality absorbs and processes the energies in ways that are meaningful to its development at that particular point in time. As explained above, the orientation of the random cards (upright or reversed, along with any obvious “facing”) can serve as an indication of whether the “bright”outward qualities of the individuality will prevail in this operation, in which case, only the left side of the layout should be read, or whether the “shadowy” inner nature will dominate, with only the right side of the template being considered. If reversals aren’t used, the relative harmony or dissonance between the qualities of the random cards and those of the opposing sets of trump cards can support this conclusion. Otherwise, each card of an entire row can be read from left to right, with the central random card as the “hinge” or focus of the narrative.

As a side note, in the Albano-Waite RWS deck I used for this analysis, nearly all of the brighter, more optimistic cards in the pack appear on the “persona” side of the template and most (actually all) of the more somber, pessimistic cards show up in the “shadow” region. Only the Fool serves as a tiny, encouraging “spark” in the descent of the Ego into the shaded realm of the “Alter Ego.” But the Fool is essentially neutral and aimless, so making too much of appearances would be a mistake. Besides, it looks like he has blithely turned his back on the lofty curriculum of Temperance and is preparing to depart, stage left, in search of an easier way that is more in tune with his breezy temperament; however, as Monty Python might have said, it’s likely that he “won’t so much fly as plummet.” After all, the world is full of sanguine people who refuse to acknowledge and integrate their “shadow” (or who even possess the vocabulary to recognize it for what it is).

Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on November 2, 2022.