October 17, 2024 • 19 mins
Today on CARD TALK, I’ll cover:
-recommendations for other CARD TALK episodes if you’re a beginner
-four ways to look at the major arcana
-why archetypes are medicine
-three ways to identify an archetype that you might want to work with
-starting an archetype study
Overview of the major arcana's story
Life path number calculator
Life path number info
Astro.com for birth chart
Major arcana astrology correspondences
Yearly numbers and cards
Strength & Starlight: tarot & numerology journaling for 2024
CALL YOUR COVEN podcast
Archetype Medicine lecture
For more on Meg, check out 3amtarot.com, and order your copy of Finding the Fool through Bookshop.org or your favorite local bookstore.
Find episode transcripts and more over on the CARD TALK website. And as a special thank you for CARD TALK listeners, click here to download a completely free, exclusive workbook for building your best personal tarot practice.
Love what you’re hearing? Support the pod with a one-time donation or recurring subscription, and please subscribe, review, and share with a friend or two!
CARD TALK is written, edited, and produced by Meg Jones Wall of 3am.tarot. Theme music created by PaulYudin.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
I'm Meg Jones-Wall and this is Card Talk, a mini
podcast for tarot basics andevergreen insights.
I'm here to help you build atarot practice that works for
you.
Glad you're here.
In today's episode, we aregoing to be talking about the
major arcana.
Now, if you are brand new totarot and you are still learning
(00:32):
to understand and unpack thestructure of the deck itself, I
would actually recommend pausingthis episode and listening to
some of my earlier episodes onCard Talk.
So I would check out theintroduction to tarot episode, I
would check out the readingversus learning a tarot episode
and I would also check out theunlocking tarot with stories
(00:53):
episode, because all of thoseare going to kind of talk about
how the major arcana fits intothe broader structure or
organization of the tarot deck.
And look, if you don't want to,that's your business, live your
life.
But if you have absolutely noidea what the major arcana is,
those episodes might be a littlebit more helpful for you.
However, if you have a goodunderstanding of the fact that
the major arcana are the 22named cards that live within the
(01:17):
tarot, then we're in greatshape and we can move forward.
Now the major arcana can beseen and understood and
described and categorized in alot of different ways, but I
think it is important andhelpful to remember that for a
lot of history these cards weredefined first as the fact that
they sat outside of the morestructured cards of the minor
(01:40):
arcana, or the numbered pipcards and court cards, which
means that you'll often see,especially in older tarot texts
or tarot histories, these cardsreferred to as trumps.
Now I'm not going to explain howthe original tarot card game
was played, because I've neverplayed it, but suffice to say
it's usually compared to bridgeor hearts or spades, or even
(02:00):
lost air.
If you're like me, I have someCanadian heritage, or rook, I
think that's a more Americanizedversion.
But anyway, a trump card isreally a card that's in a trump
suit which, according todictionarycom, is held in
reserve for winning a trick.
Trump means that it's reallyjust a resource that can be
played at an opportune moment towin the trick or book of the
(02:22):
hand that you're playing.
In other words, they're kind ofjust special cards that have a
little bit more importance, alittle bit more power and in a
card game is able to win thehand.
But when we're thinking aboutit from a more divinatory
perspective or from a storyperspective, these are really
going to be significant cardsthat demand our attention or ask
(02:42):
us to pay a little bit moreattention.
Trump cards have extracorrespondences, they have
layers of meaning, they havedeep symbolism and there's just
a lot to unpack within Trumpcards.
And, of course, with Jung andpsychology and the framework of
collective unconscious, we startto have these ideas of more
universal archetypes or storyfigures or familiar ideas that
(03:06):
are theoretically familiar toeveryone, regardless of culture,
age, gender, et cetera.
But the idea of, or language of, archetype is relatively new I
would say like less than ahundred years old but I really
like thinking about the majorarcana cards as archetypes, in
particular, because it allowsthem to be these kind of larger
than life figures or energiesthat can be familiar to people,
(03:29):
regardless of how familiar theyare with the tarot.
Besides describing major arcanacards as trumps and archetypes,
we can also think about them asstory beats as well as teachers
.
Now again, I did a wholeepisode talking about viewing
tarot through the lens of story,and it's one of my favorite
ways to break down not only thecards themselves but also the
(03:49):
transitions from one card to thenext and help us understand the
interconnectedness between thecards in their linear form Plus.
That's something then you cantranslate to your readings.
But really, story beats areways to think about the cards as
aspects of the journey orexperiences or moments that we
have as part of a largernarrative.
And separately from all of this, we can also think about major
(04:13):
arcana cards as teachers ormentors, as energies who can
teach us something, who canembody something, who can model
something for us, really likecards that we can learn from, or
figures that we can look to orarchetypes that we can dive into
and study.
There are plenty of other waysto understand major arcana cards
, but these kind of fourcategories trumps, archetypes,
(04:33):
story beats and teachers help methe most really contextualize
these cards, both in readingsand out of readings.
Now, while major arcana cards,especially in readings and like
in media and movies and stuff,often feel like they're supposed
to be more important than othercards, I don't think they
necessarily have to be.
I think there's a lot ofrichness and power that can be
(04:55):
found in the minor arcana, butthe majors do tend to be kind of
flashy and they often feelreally significant or extra
weighty when they come up inreadings.
Now, while you can work withany card in the deck outside of
readings in terms of studies ormeditation on altars as part of
spell work or anything else, Ido think that archetypes feel
particularly delicious for tarotstudies and journaling
(05:17):
practices and personal work.
There's just so much to diginto between correspondences and
histories and stories andartwork and alternative names
and symbolism and color, andthere's just so much to explore
when we're looking at particulararchetypes, which is why in a
lot of my work, I have archetypestudies and different ways of
(05:38):
engaging with these cards,because I think there's just so
much to dig into and so muchthat we can discover.
Archetypes can offer reallyprofound medicine because no
matter where you are in yourlife, no matter how you're
feeling physically or mentallyor emotionally or spiritually,
no matter what you're craving orgrieving or hoping for or
(05:58):
working through or reaching for,there is an archetype that can
represent that moment in thestory.
In other words, there is anarchetype that can sit in that
moment with you and teach youabout where you are, and I just
find that really comforting.
No matter where you are,there's going to be an archetype
that can serve as a companionfor you, and there's going to be
(06:20):
also an archetype that canserve as a next step or a next
thing that you want toaccomplish or reach for, or way
to take care of yourself orwhatever.
The archetypes have so much togive us, and when we allow
ourselves to work with them,both within and outside of
readings, there's just really nolimit to what we can do and
what we can find.
(06:40):
They can really help us learnmore about who we are and how we
want to take up space in theworld.
But archetypes can also teachus a lot about the tarot itself.
Now, while I do offer a numberof in-depth archetype studies
and containers and examinations,I'm always writing more.
It's one of my favorite thingsto do, and I'm also actually
working on a lecture calledarchetype medicine that's going
(07:00):
to cover much more in depth Someof the things we're going to
talk about here.
I also just want to offer you afew really simple ways that you
can start to work witharchetypes and you can start to
think about which archetypesmight already be really relevant
for your life.
So let's get into it.
The first technique that I wantto suggest is to calculate your
birth card.
Now, your birth card is really.
(07:21):
It's actually a numerologicaltechnique, but it's really just
a way of looking at your lifepath number in numerology and
kind of translating that over tothe tarot.
Now I hope to do an episodewith B Skolnick, who is a really
fantastic numerologist and alsothe numbers specialist on the
other podcast that I work on,call your Coven.
I want to do a whole episodewith her about birth cards.
(07:42):
But if you're not familiar withcalculating your birth card,
here's how you do it.
All you have to do is addtogether all of the numbers or
digits in your birth date.
So, for example, if yourbirthday is April 7th 1969,
you're going to add seven plusfour plus one plus nine plus six
plus nine to equal 36.
(08:03):
And then you're going toconsolidate that further and add
three plus six to equal nine.
So what that means is not onlyis your life path number a nine,
but it also means that then wecan map that number onto the
core archetypes of the tarot,which means that this person's
birth card would be card numbernine.
In other words, it would be thehermit.
(08:23):
So the hermit is this person'sbirth card.
Now I will also share mine,because I'm a November baby, and
if you have an 11 or a 22 inyour birthday.
You're going to want to keepthat doubled number whole, at
least for the first round ofcalculations.
So let me talk you through it.
My birthday is November 4th1985, which means I'm going to
(08:46):
add 11 to four, and then add oneplus nine plus eight plus five,
which gives me a total of 38.
Now then I'm going toconsolidate that number, and
three plus eight once again is11.
Now I can stop there.
I really hate the term masternumbers, but that's what 11, 22,
33, 44, et cetera areconsidered.
(09:07):
But because I consider 11 mylife path, it can also mean that
then I'm looking at eitherjustice or strength as my birth
card.
But I often also then willconsolidate it, which means that
I can work with both justiceand the high priestess as my
birth cards, depending on howyour numbers consolidate.
If your numbers consolidate to21, for example, then you might
(09:30):
want to work with the world.
But two plus one will also giveyou three, which means you
might want to work with theworld and the Empress.
Depending on how your numberscalculate or shake out.
You might have two cards, likeI do, instead of just the one,
and you can really decide whichones you want to work with, if
you want to work with both or ifyou just want to work with one,
and I will just say I'll put acalculator in the show notes If
(09:54):
you don't feel like doing math.
There are lots of websites thatwill calculate this for you and
just tell you what your lifepath number is.
There are lots of ways to workwith your birth card, but this
is going to be an archetype, ora set of archetypes that might
feel relevant for you throughoutyour life.
So starting by working closelywith these archetypes, figuring
out what you have in common withthem, what you love about them
and also what might feel stickyor hard to understand about them
(10:16):
, what confuses you about them,what you want to better explore
or understand about them, can bea really great place to get
started with a deeper archetypestudy.
You can look at these cards indifferent decks, you can
research where the differentimagery and symbolism for these
cards came from, you can lookinto alternative names for these
cards and you can also justspend time in meditation with
(10:38):
these cards.
You can talk to them, you canjournal to them, you can pull
cards around them or for them.
Really, the sky's the limitwhen it comes to working with
your birth card, but I recommendthat everyone do this, because
everyone has a birth card andthe archetype that you work with
closely can reveal a lot aboutwho you are and what might be
supportive for you in a regularway through the course of your
(10:59):
entire life.
Now it's possible.
You've also heard the expressionbirth card used and calculated
not from a numerologicalstandpoint, but from a zodiacal
or astrological standpoint.
I've seen the word or theexpression birth card used in a
few different ways, so I'm goingto differentiate by also saying
that you also have a zodiacalcard which, if you're really not
(11:20):
into math or not intonumerology, this could be a
simpler way to find another card, another tarot archetype that
really aligns with who you arein various ways.
So this one's a little biteasier to calculate because all
you need to know is your sunsign.
Now, if you're not an astrologygirly, gender neutral, and you
don't know what your sun sign is, you've never looked at your
(11:42):
birth chart before.
I'm going to put a link toastrocom in there.
Just plug in your birthinformation and look to see
where your sun was at the momentof your birth.
Now, all sun signs whichever ofthe 12 astrological signs your
sun is in at the moment of yourbirth, have a corresponding card
from the major arcana.
(12:03):
Now, the ones that you'llcommonly see were developed by
the order of the golden dawn inthe early 1900s.
Some people love them more thanothers, but it can be a nice
place to start if you're lookingfor a zodiacal or astrological
correspondence for yourself.
So, for example, I am a Scorpio, I was born on November 4th, as
I said, and so my correspondingcard is death.
(12:25):
So I have death as one of mybirth cards.
Our example of this person bornon April 7th 1969, they would
be an Aries, which means thatthey could look to the emperor
as their birth card or as one oftheir birth cards.
Now it can be really fun to lookat your numerological cards and
your zodiacal cards side byside and kind of see what they
(12:47):
have in common.
When I look at all of my cardstogether, I've got death, I've
got the priestess and I've gotjustice, which honestly feels
pretty loud, given who I am andwhat I do.
Sometimes you might find thatsome cards feel more strongly
aligned with who you feel youare than others, so you really
can pick and choose which cardsyou really want to work with and
(13:07):
which ones you might want toset to the side.
You might find that at a laterpoint in your life different
cards start to feel morerelevant than others, but I
always think it's fun tocalculate all of them and see
which ones really resonate themost for you.
And again, I highly recommendworking with your zodiacal card
in different ways seeing whatcomes up when you work closely
with it, seeing what comes upwhen you meditate with it or
(13:29):
journal to it, seeing how oftenit comes up in your readings, et
cetera.
The last kind of universal waythat I want to talk about
choosing an archetype to workwith in a particular moment is
by calculating your yearly card.
Now, just like we are all inuniversal numerological cycles
which we find by adding togetherthe digits of the year which
(13:50):
we're in 2024 right now, twoplus zero plus two plus four is
eight, so we are in a universaleight year.
But you are also in your owncycles.
Now yours might align with theuniversal cycles, but you also
might be in a completelydifferent number, and so,
thinking about those broadercycles of one to nine, it can be
(14:11):
really interesting to not justcalculate which number you're in
and which part of the cycleyou're in or which part of the
story you're in.
But it can also be really coolto look at what your yearly card
or cards are and think abouthow they really reflect
different themes that you mightbe working through, different
goals that you have for the year, et cetera.
Right, there's a lot ofdifferent ways that these cards
can be relevant for us.
(14:33):
So, to calculate your yearlycard, you're going to add the
digits for the month and the dayof your birth together.
Then you're going to add thatto the number of the year.
Now I just told you 2024 is aneight year, so really all you
need to do is add the number foryour month and day of your
birth and add it to eight.
You might need to consolidatethose, but you're going to come
(14:54):
back to having that core numberfor your year and then again
being able to map that onto thetarot.
So, for example, our example ofApril 7th right, we're going to
add four and seven to get 11plus eight is going to be 19.
Now, this is a really fun onebecause 19 is already one of the
cards in the major arcana,right?
This is the sun.
(15:14):
So you could stop there andjust say that this person is in
a sun year.
But if you want to consolidatedown, you can add one and nine
and get to 10.
So then you also have the wheel, and then you can also add one
to zero and get the magician.
So this person is actually in ayear where they could work with
the sun, the wheel and themagician, or they could just
(15:35):
pick one or two of those cardsto work with closely.
But this is a really funexample because you do have
multiple cards for this personfor this year.
Now mine's a little bit simpler.
My birthday is November 4th, soI'm adding 11 and four to get
15.
We add eight for 2024 and weget 24, and two plus four is six
, which means that I personallyam in a six year this year, or
(15:59):
I'm in a lover's year.
Looking at this card that'sgoing to change alongside these
kinds of steady cards right, ourour life path card, our birth
card, as well as our zodiacalcard or our astrological card,
we can think about this as alittle set that's really going
to represent who we are always,but also who we are this year,
or what energy is going to besignificant for us this year.
(16:19):
Now, these are just threetechniques for ways to find an
archetype that might feel reallyrelevant for you or that might
be worth working on or with, orto or towards.
You know right, there's a lotof different things that we can
do with these archetypes, butI've also created a lot of
different courses and I have anupcoming lecture that I'm
releasing called archetypemedicine.
(16:40):
I'm planning to release it onOctober 20th, which I think
should be just a couple of daysafter this episode comes out,
and it's really about figuringout which archetype might suit
your emotions in the moment.
So, beyond just these kind ofgeneral archetypes that we can
always come back to and alwayswork with, archetype medicine is
really about connecting withhow we feel or what we might be
(17:01):
craving or what we could reallyuse for support in a particular
moment, and working with thesearchetypes in a way that's going
to be incredibly supportive andtherapeutic and medicinal.
So if you're interested in that, I will drop a link in the show
notes that you can check outand you can sign up for that to
have it delivered straight toyou as soon as it's ready to go.
I always like to end theseepisodes with a tip or a trick,
(17:29):
and for this I just want to saythere's so much that we can say
about the major arcanaarchetypes.
There are so many differentways to work with these and
understand them and explore them, and so what I will say is that
, while these cards can feeloften really intimidating or
really intense or even reallyscary, I would really encourage
you to be curious about theminstead of intimidated by them.
There's so much to dig intowith these cards, and while
there are certainly somearchetypes that might really
(17:49):
scare you or feel reallynegative or really overwhelming,
all of these archetypes havemedicinal qualities to them.
All of them have beauty andpower.
All of them have strength andresources that we can tap into
that are going to be useful forus in different points of our
life.
Right, all of these archetypesrepresent something that we
might need, depending on themoment.
(18:12):
So it's okay to be afraid or tobe nervous or to be intimidated
by these cards, but I wouldreally encourage you, if there's
a card that really scares you,instead of avoiding it, to
actually just try to spend sometime with it.
If you find yourselfconsistently intimidated by a
particular archetype, I wouldreally encourage you to dig into
it and explore it, rather thanavoiding it.
Archetypes are really cool andthere's so many different ways
(18:33):
to work with them, so Isincerely hope that this episode
has given you some places to goand some things to explore when
it comes to working with themajor arcana archetypes.
That is all I have for youtoday, but, as always, thank you
so much for spending this timewith me, and I will be back
again soon with more Card Talk.
Card Talk episodes are alwaysfree for everyone to enjoy, so
(18:55):
if you love what you hear,please consider supporting the
podcast by subscribing,recommending Card Talk to a
friend or two or donating tohelp with production costs.
You can find episodetranscripts, learn more about me
and join my signature TarotConservatory membership program
through my website, 3amtarotcom.
Thanks for listening and seeyou next time you.
I'm Meg Jones-Wall and this is Card Talk, a mini
podcast for tarot basics andevergreen insights.
I'm here to help you build atarot practice that works for
you.
Glad you're here.
In today's episode, we aregoing to be talking about the
major arcana.
Now, if you are brand new totarot and you are still learning
(00:32):
to understand and unpack thestructure of the deck itself, I
would actually recommend pausingthis episode and listening to
some of my earlier episodes onCard Talk.
So I would check out theintroduction to tarot episode, I
would check out the readingversus learning a tarot episode
and I would also check out theunlocking tarot with stories
(00:53):
episode, because all of thoseare going to kind of talk about
how the major arcana fits intothe broader structure or
organization of the tarot deck.
And look, if you don't want to,that's your business, live your
life.
But if you have absolutely noidea what the major arcana is,
those episodes might be a littlebit more helpful for you.
However, if you have a goodunderstanding of the fact that
the major arcana are the 22named cards that live within the
(01:17):
tarot, then we're in greatshape and we can move forward.
Now the major arcana can beseen and understood and
described and categorized in alot of different ways, but I
think it is important andhelpful to remember that for a
lot of history these cards weredefined first as the fact that
they sat outside of the morestructured cards of the minor
(01:40):
arcana, or the numbered pipcards and court cards, which
means that you'll often see,especially in older tarot texts
or tarot histories, these cardsreferred to as trumps.
Now I'm not going to explain howthe original tarot card game
was played, because I've neverplayed it, but suffice to say
it's usually compared to bridgeor hearts or spades, or even
(02:00):
lost air.
If you're like me, I have someCanadian heritage, or rook, I
think that's a more Americanizedversion.
But anyway, a trump card isreally a card that's in a trump
suit which, according todictionarycom, is held in
reserve for winning a trick.
Trump means that it's reallyjust a resource that can be
played at an opportune moment towin the trick or book of the
(02:22):
hand that you're playing.
In other words, they're kind ofjust special cards that have a
little bit more importance, alittle bit more power and in a
card game is able to win thehand.
But when we're thinking aboutit from a more divinatory
perspective or from a storyperspective, these are really
going to be significant cardsthat demand our attention or ask
(02:42):
us to pay a little bit moreattention.
Trump cards have extracorrespondences, they have
layers of meaning, they havedeep symbolism and there's just
a lot to unpack within Trumpcards.
And, of course, with Jung andpsychology and the framework of
collective unconscious, we startto have these ideas of more
universal archetypes or storyfigures or familiar ideas that
(03:06):
are theoretically familiar toeveryone, regardless of culture,
age, gender, et cetera.
But the idea of, or language of, archetype is relatively new I
would say like less than ahundred years old but I really
like thinking about the majorarcana cards as archetypes, in
particular, because it allowsthem to be these kind of larger
than life figures or energiesthat can be familiar to people,
(03:29):
regardless of how familiar theyare with the tarot.
Besides describing major arcanacards as trumps and archetypes,
we can also think about them asstory beats as well as teachers
.
Now again, I did a wholeepisode talking about viewing
tarot through the lens of story,and it's one of my favorite
ways to break down not only thecards themselves but also the
(03:49):
transitions from one card to thenext and help us understand the
interconnectedness between thecards in their linear form Plus.
That's something then you cantranslate to your readings.
But really, story beats areways to think about the cards as
aspects of the journey orexperiences or moments that we
have as part of a largernarrative.
And separately from all of this, we can also think about major
(04:13):
arcana cards as teachers ormentors, as energies who can
teach us something, who canembody something, who can model
something for us, really likecards that we can learn from, or
figures that we can look to orarchetypes that we can dive into
and study.
There are plenty of other waysto understand major arcana cards
, but these kind of fourcategories trumps, archetypes,
(04:33):
story beats and teachers help methe most really contextualize
these cards, both in readingsand out of readings.
Now, while major arcana cards,especially in readings and like
in media and movies and stuff,often feel like they're supposed
to be more important than othercards, I don't think they
necessarily have to be.
I think there's a lot ofrichness and power that can be
(04:55):
found in the minor arcana, butthe majors do tend to be kind of
flashy and they often feelreally significant or extra
weighty when they come up inreadings.
Now, while you can work withany card in the deck outside of
readings in terms of studies ormeditation on altars as part of
spell work or anything else, Ido think that archetypes feel
particularly delicious for tarotstudies and journaling
(05:17):
practices and personal work.
There's just so much to diginto between correspondences and
histories and stories andartwork and alternative names
and symbolism and color, andthere's just so much to explore
when we're looking at particulararchetypes, which is why in a
lot of my work, I have archetypestudies and different ways of
(05:38):
engaging with these cards,because I think there's just so
much to dig into and so muchthat we can discover.
Archetypes can offer reallyprofound medicine because no
matter where you are in yourlife, no matter how you're
feeling physically or mentallyor emotionally or spiritually,
no matter what you're craving orgrieving or hoping for or
(05:58):
working through or reaching for,there is an archetype that can
represent that moment in thestory.
In other words, there is anarchetype that can sit in that
moment with you and teach youabout where you are, and I just
find that really comforting.
No matter where you are,there's going to be an archetype
that can serve as a companionfor you, and there's going to be
(06:20):
also an archetype that canserve as a next step or a next
thing that you want toaccomplish or reach for, or way
to take care of yourself orwhatever.
The archetypes have so much togive us, and when we allow
ourselves to work with them,both within and outside of
readings, there's just really nolimit to what we can do and
what we can find.
(06:40):
They can really help us learnmore about who we are and how we
want to take up space in theworld.
But archetypes can also teachus a lot about the tarot itself.
Now, while I do offer a numberof in-depth archetype studies
and containers and examinations,I'm always writing more.
It's one of my favorite thingsto do, and I'm also actually
working on a lecture calledarchetype medicine that's going
(07:00):
to cover much more in depth Someof the things we're going to
talk about here.
I also just want to offer you afew really simple ways that you
can start to work witharchetypes and you can start to
think about which archetypesmight already be really relevant
for your life.
So let's get into it.
The first technique that I wantto suggest is to calculate your
birth card.
Now, your birth card is really.
(07:21):
It's actually a numerologicaltechnique, but it's really just
a way of looking at your lifepath number in numerology and
kind of translating that over tothe tarot.
Now I hope to do an episodewith B Skolnick, who is a really
fantastic numerologist and alsothe numbers specialist on the
other podcast that I work on,call your Coven.
I want to do a whole episodewith her about birth cards.
(07:42):
But if you're not familiar withcalculating your birth card,
here's how you do it.
All you have to do is addtogether all of the numbers or
digits in your birth date.
So, for example, if yourbirthday is April 7th 1969,
you're going to add seven plusfour plus one plus nine plus six
plus nine to equal 36.
(08:03):
And then you're going toconsolidate that further and add
three plus six to equal nine.
So what that means is not onlyis your life path number a nine,
but it also means that then wecan map that number onto the
core archetypes of the tarot,which means that this person's
birth card would be card numbernine.
In other words, it would be thehermit.
(08:23):
So the hermit is this person'sbirth card.
Now I will also share mine,because I'm a November baby, and
if you have an 11 or a 22 inyour birthday.
You're going to want to keepthat doubled number whole, at
least for the first round ofcalculations.
So let me talk you through it.
My birthday is November 4th1985, which means I'm going to
(08:46):
add 11 to four, and then add oneplus nine plus eight plus five,
which gives me a total of 38.
Now then I'm going toconsolidate that number, and
three plus eight once again is11.
Now I can stop there.
I really hate the term masternumbers, but that's what 11, 22,
33, 44, et cetera areconsidered.
(09:07):
But because I consider 11 mylife path, it can also mean that
then I'm looking at eitherjustice or strength as my birth
card.
But I often also then willconsolidate it, which means that
I can work with both justiceand the high priestess as my
birth cards, depending on howyour numbers consolidate.
If your numbers consolidate to21, for example, then you might
(09:30):
want to work with the world.
But two plus one will also giveyou three, which means you
might want to work with theworld and the Empress.
Depending on how your numberscalculate or shake out.
You might have two cards, likeI do, instead of just the one,
and you can really decide whichones you want to work with, if
you want to work with both or ifyou just want to work with one,
and I will just say I'll put acalculator in the show notes If
(09:54):
you don't feel like doing math.
There are lots of websites thatwill calculate this for you and
just tell you what your lifepath number is.
There are lots of ways to workwith your birth card, but this
is going to be an archetype, ora set of archetypes that might
feel relevant for you throughoutyour life.
So starting by working closelywith these archetypes, figuring
out what you have in common withthem, what you love about them
and also what might feel stickyor hard to understand about them
(10:16):
, what confuses you about them,what you want to better explore
or understand about them, can bea really great place to get
started with a deeper archetypestudy.
You can look at these cards indifferent decks, you can
research where the differentimagery and symbolism for these
cards came from, you can lookinto alternative names for these
cards and you can also justspend time in meditation with
(10:38):
these cards.
You can talk to them, you canjournal to them, you can pull
cards around them or for them.
Really, the sky's the limitwhen it comes to working with
your birth card, but I recommendthat everyone do this, because
everyone has a birth card andthe archetype that you work with
closely can reveal a lot aboutwho you are and what might be
supportive for you in a regularway through the course of your
(10:59):
entire life.
Now it's possible.
You've also heard the expressionbirth card used and calculated
not from a numerologicalstandpoint, but from a zodiacal
or astrological standpoint.
I've seen the word or theexpression birth card used in a
few different ways, so I'm goingto differentiate by also saying
that you also have a zodiacalcard which, if you're really not
(11:20):
into math or not intonumerology, this could be a
simpler way to find another card, another tarot archetype that
really aligns with who you arein various ways.
So this one's a little biteasier to calculate because all
you need to know is your sunsign.
Now, if you're not an astrologygirly, gender neutral, and you
don't know what your sun sign is, you've never looked at your
(11:42):
birth chart before.
I'm going to put a link toastrocom in there.
Just plug in your birthinformation and look to see
where your sun was at the momentof your birth.
Now, all sun signs whichever ofthe 12 astrological signs your
sun is in at the moment of yourbirth, have a corresponding card
from the major arcana.
(12:03):
Now, the ones that you'llcommonly see were developed by
the order of the golden dawn inthe early 1900s.
Some people love them more thanothers, but it can be a nice
place to start if you're lookingfor a zodiacal or astrological
correspondence for yourself.
So, for example, I am a Scorpio, I was born on November 4th, as
I said, and so my correspondingcard is death.
(12:25):
So I have death as one of mybirth cards.
Our example of this person bornon April 7th 1969, they would
be an Aries, which means thatthey could look to the emperor
as their birth card or as one oftheir birth cards.
Now it can be really fun to lookat your numerological cards and
your zodiacal cards side byside and kind of see what they
(12:47):
have in common.
When I look at all of my cardstogether, I've got death, I've
got the priestess and I've gotjustice, which honestly feels
pretty loud, given who I am andwhat I do.
Sometimes you might find thatsome cards feel more strongly
aligned with who you feel youare than others, so you really
can pick and choose which cardsyou really want to work with and
(13:07):
which ones you might want toset to the side.
You might find that at a laterpoint in your life different
cards start to feel morerelevant than others, but I
always think it's fun tocalculate all of them and see
which ones really resonate themost for you.
And again, I highly recommendworking with your zodiacal card
in different ways seeing whatcomes up when you work closely
with it, seeing what comes upwhen you meditate with it or
(13:29):
journal to it, seeing how oftenit comes up in your readings, et
cetera.
The last kind of universal waythat I want to talk about
choosing an archetype to workwith in a particular moment is
by calculating your yearly card.
Now, just like we are all inuniversal numerological cycles
which we find by adding togetherthe digits of the year which
(13:50):
we're in 2024 right now, twoplus zero plus two plus four is
eight, so we are in a universaleight year.
But you are also in your owncycles.
Now yours might align with theuniversal cycles, but you also
might be in a completelydifferent number, and so,
thinking about those broadercycles of one to nine, it can be
(14:11):
really interesting to not justcalculate which number you're in
and which part of the cycleyou're in or which part of the
story you're in.
But it can also be really coolto look at what your yearly card
or cards are and think abouthow they really reflect
different themes that you mightbe working through, different
goals that you have for the year, et cetera.
Right, there's a lot ofdifferent ways that these cards
can be relevant for us.
(14:33):
So, to calculate your yearlycard, you're going to add the
digits for the month and the dayof your birth together.
Then you're going to add thatto the number of the year.
Now I just told you 2024 is aneight year, so really all you
need to do is add the number foryour month and day of your
birth and add it to eight.
You might need to consolidatethose, but you're going to come
(14:54):
back to having that core numberfor your year and then again
being able to map that onto thetarot.
So, for example, our example ofApril 7th right, we're going to
add four and seven to get 11plus eight is going to be 19.
Now, this is a really fun onebecause 19 is already one of the
cards in the major arcana,right?
This is the sun.
(15:14):
So you could stop there andjust say that this person is in
a sun year.
But if you want to consolidatedown, you can add one and nine
and get to 10.
So then you also have the wheel, and then you can also add one
to zero and get the magician.
So this person is actually in ayear where they could work with
the sun, the wheel and themagician, or they could just
(15:35):
pick one or two of those cardsto work with closely.
But this is a really funexample because you do have
multiple cards for this personfor this year.
Now mine's a little bit simpler.
My birthday is November 4th, soI'm adding 11 and four to get
15.
We add eight for 2024 and weget 24, and two plus four is six
, which means that I personallyam in a six year this year, or
(15:59):
I'm in a lover's year.
Looking at this card that'sgoing to change alongside these
kinds of steady cards right, ourour life path card, our birth
card, as well as our zodiacalcard or our astrological card,
we can think about this as alittle set that's really going
to represent who we are always,but also who we are this year,
or what energy is going to besignificant for us this year.
(16:19):
Now, these are just threetechniques for ways to find an
archetype that might feel reallyrelevant for you or that might
be worth working on or with, orto or towards.
You know right, there's a lotof different things that we can
do with these archetypes, butI've also created a lot of
different courses and I have anupcoming lecture that I'm
releasing called archetypemedicine.
(16:40):
I'm planning to release it onOctober 20th, which I think
should be just a couple of daysafter this episode comes out,
and it's really about figuringout which archetype might suit
your emotions in the moment.
So, beyond just these kind ofgeneral archetypes that we can
always come back to and alwayswork with, archetype medicine is
really about connecting withhow we feel or what we might be
(17:01):
craving or what we could reallyuse for support in a particular
moment, and working with thesearchetypes in a way that's going
to be incredibly supportive andtherapeutic and medicinal.
So if you're interested in that, I will drop a link in the show
notes that you can check outand you can sign up for that to
have it delivered straight toyou as soon as it's ready to go.
I always like to end theseepisodes with a tip or a trick,
(17:29):
and for this I just want to saythere's so much that we can say
about the major arcanaarchetypes.
There are so many differentways to work with these and
understand them and explore them, and so what I will say is that
, while these cards can feeloften really intimidating or
really intense or even reallyscary, I would really encourage
you to be curious about theminstead of intimidated by them.
There's so much to dig intowith these cards, and while
there are certainly somearchetypes that might really
(17:49):
scare you or feel reallynegative or really overwhelming,
all of these archetypes havemedicinal qualities to them.
All of them have beauty andpower.
All of them have strength andresources that we can tap into
that are going to be useful forus in different points of our
life.
Right, all of these archetypesrepresent something that we
might need, depending on themoment.
(18:12):
So it's okay to be afraid or tobe nervous or to be intimidated
by these cards, but I wouldreally encourage you, if there's
a card that really scares you,instead of avoiding it, to
actually just try to spend sometime with it.
If you find yourselfconsistently intimidated by a
particular archetype, I wouldreally encourage you to dig into
it and explore it, rather thanavoiding it.
Archetypes are really cool andthere's so many different ways
(18:33):
to work with them, so Isincerely hope that this episode
has given you some places to goand some things to explore when
it comes to working with themajor arcana archetypes.
That is all I have for youtoday, but, as always, thank you
so much for spending this timewith me, and I will be back
again soon with more Card Talk.
Card Talk episodes are alwaysfree for everyone to enjoy, so
(18:55):
if you love what you hear,please consider supporting the
podcast by subscribing,recommending Card Talk to a
friend or two or donating tohelp with production costs.
You can find episodetranscripts, learn more about me
and join my signature TarotConservatory membership program
through my website, 3amtarotcom.
Thanks for listening and seeyou next time you.
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