As Above So Below:
Tarot as a Mirror of The Universe

By Phillip Harris-Smith

There are probably as many ways to look at the Tarot as there are people who work with them. A major question for me over the years has been, when are the cards showing that external forces are influencing my, or someone else's life? Alternatively, when are the cards showing that personal, psychological factors are more prominent?

Through talking with people who work with Tarot it is clear that all find a personal dialogue with the cards quickly develops - this is perhaps one reason for the continuing popularity of 'the devil's pasteboards'. What I am offering here is a paradigm for identifying through Tarot divination, what macrocosmic and microcosmic forces are prominent for the querent. I hope that it is of use.

The meanings of particular cards often vary between decks, all readers develop personal preferences and sometimes make their own decks. I have found that a general taxonomy can (in most cases) be applied, to differentiate the forces of the Majors, Minors, and Courts.

The 22 Major Trumps

Atu (another name for 'Major Arcana') 0 - 21 represent macrocosmic forces, stuff that is coming from 'out there' and impacting the querents life.

The 16 Court Cards

These figures are given different titles in different decks: knight, king, queen, princess, page, squire etc. Rather then representing a specific stereotypical person, the ubiquitous tall dark stranger that one will shortly meet, they represent aspects of personality and a particular set of attitudes exhibited by people in a given situation. The court cards can even represent a pet animal.

The 40 Minor Trumps

The minor arcana represent our various impulses and reactions and often represent unconscious forces that are influencing our behaviour.

Implications For Divination

So how the querent reacts to Minor trumps and Court cards (microcosmic forces) can elicit the onset of Major trumps (macrocosmic forces). To illustrate: our initial reaction to meeting a potential 'mother in law' could influence whether we actually marry our beloved partner - our response to the Queen of Swords influences whether we get Atu 5 - The Hierophant (in this instance marriage) or Atu 16 - The Tower (an unpleasant acrimonious separation).

Also, how we react to Major trumps changes the 'dignity' of minor trumps, and has a knock on effect to future cards/events.

So if Atu 13 - Death is shown, the querent can respond to this by, for example, changing jobs, perhaps shown in the reading by the nine of disks (gain) and Atu 10 - The Wheel of Fortune. Alternatively they can resist change by trying to stay in their current occupation which could be shown in the reading by the 7 of disks (failure) and Atu 12 - The Hanged Man.

What I am suggesting is that even Major trumps can be deleted/replaced: the future is not pre-determined, and we can change things depending on how we develop as human beings and how we assimilate our karmic lessons.