Jungian Perspective on the Tarot (level 2)

Course Description

In this course with Ken James – our marvelous teacher and Jungian Analyst-  will focus on developing skills in reading the Tarot, an ancient tool of divination. 

The Tarot enhances communication between the conscious and the unconscious mind and can be thought of as an evocation of synchronicity. Synchronicities are phenomena of meaningful coincidences.

Each individual Tarot card illustrates in rich detail a quality of human experience that is both personal and transcendent.

The Tarot becomes even more revelatory when the cards are placed in various arrays, which are called “tarot spreads”, whereby each card gains new meaning when viewed in relationship with the other cards and with the meaning added to the card by virtue of its position in the spread. 

In this course, several spreads will be presented, and you will be encouraged to practice reading the Tarot using these spreads to construct narratives of insight for themselves and others.

This course is ideal if

• Learn how to do tarot reading and use spreads that you can apply to a variety of situations: for clarity, in love, for relationships, for healing, for individuation, and many other situations.
• Deepen your relationship to the Tarot images by constructing “narratives of insight” that address specific questions or concerns.
• Gain fluency in your ability to read the cards within the context of two widely-respected spreads.
• Master the use of the “Three Card Spread” and the “Celtic Cross Spread”, two common and very flexible ways of garnering meaning from the images.
• Enhance your understanding of synchronicity and intuition through consistent and dedicated study of the cards and the spreads.

Course Overview

Class 1. Short review of the Tarot

In this first class the structure of the Tarot will be reviewed, and participants will discuss cards that they find meaningful and/or puzzling. Beginning or resuming the daily practice of drawing one card and journaling about it will be discussed, as will the use of the cards to construct a Tarot-informed autobiography.

Note: For classes 2 through 6, participants are asked to do two or three practice readings for others, using the spread presented in the class. Participants are invited and encouraged to submit a photo of one of their readings from this bi-weekly practice and some of these photos will be selected for group consultation during each class #2 through 6. Particularly welcome for submission to group consultation are readings that participants feel are problematic or difficult to interpret!

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Class 2. Reading Pairs of Cards and the Past-Present-Future Three-Card Spread

In this class, beginning exercises in reading the cards will be explained, and methods of giving mini-readings using two cards will be demonstrated. The use of a three-card spread to address questions from the perspectives of past, present, and future will also be explained.

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Class 3. Reading Reversals and the Overview-Challenge-Action Three-Card Spread

In this class, the traditions around reading reversed cards (cards that appear upside-down in a reading) will be discussed, and some examples will be presented. The class will then expand on the three-card spread, this time reading the cards to amplify the Overview, a Challenge, and a recommended Action relative to a question or concern that is brought to the Tarot. 

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Class 4. Celtic Cross: Reading the Central Quaternity

Starting with Class 4, participants will build skill in using the traditional Celtic Cross spread. The Celtic Cross is a spread of ten cards arranged in two separate sections, a central quaternity composed by a cross-like pattern surrounding a set of central cards, and a column of four cards forming a “staff” to the right of the central quaternity. The entire spread will be presented, and then specific practice will be offered in setting up and reading the “central quaternity” of the Celtic Cross.

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Class 5. Celtic Cross: Reading the Staff

In this class, participants will gain facility in reading the second portion of the Celtic Cross spread: the “Staff” of four cards signifying one’s own relationship to the question, the influences of the environment, including friends and family, one’s hopes and fears relative to the question being asked of the cards, and the ultimate outcome of the situation. 

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Class 6. Celtic Cross: Reading the Entire Spread

In the last class of this course examples will be presented to demonstrate how to read the entire Celtic Cross spread, relating the “central quaternity” and the “staff” to the question brought to the cards.

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By the end of this course you will

• Be able to share Tarot experiences with others by doing short readings that address questions brought to the cards.
• Understand the relationship of the Tarot to Jung’s concept of synchronicity and the role of divination in expanding our understanding of the unconscious.
• Recognize how a dedicated study of the Tarot contributes to the facilitation and deepening of the process of Individuation as described by C.G. Jung and the field of Analytical Psychology.