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Archetypal Journey Essay
Archetypal Journey Essay
ID number #149750192
COM111
April 2, 2020
Seneca
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Oracular sanctuaries were numerous in antiquity and played an important role in the
formation of civilizations. The oracles were consulted for various purposes, whether to predict
the future, whether as an instrument to guide decisions. The Tarot is certainly one of the most
popular oracles in the contemporary world. Composed by 78 cards, the Tarot is subdivided into
two groups: 22 cards called Major Arcana (that include images such as The Magician,
Temperance, Wheel of Fortune, The Fool) and 56 cards called Minor Arcana (comprise four
suits – Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles). The word Arcana comes from Latin Arcanum,
understand a certain group of facts, laws or principles. Despite being used as an instrument of
fortune-telling, the Tarot is a powerful tool of symbols for self-knowledge. Likewise, Tarot is a
system of representations of human potential, called archetypes. From images stamped on the
cards, we would be called upon to reflect on the virtues and troubles of our own existence. And,
from this reflection, lead to decisions more favorable to the development ourselves. In other
words, the study of Tarot certainly facilitates making conscious what is unconscious, and
The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) was the first to explore the
symbolism of the Tarot as a perfect correlation to the unconscious contents that exist in every
human being, regardless of race or culture, which he called Collective Unconscious. The
Collective Unconscious is constituted by Archetypes which are the common ideas shared by
“The archetype is a force. It has an autonomy and it can suddenly seize you. It is the
biological organization of our mental functioning in the same way that our biological and
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psychological functions follow a model. Man has a model, a form that specifically makes
him a man and no man is born without this. We are profoundly unaware of these things
because through our senses we live outside ourselves. If man could look inside himself,
he would discover it. This aspect of human personality, repressed in the majority of cases
by virtue of its incompatibility with the image the individual has of himself, is not
composed solely of negative character features but also represents the whole of the
unconscious. It is, almost as a general rule, the first face by which the unconscious
introduces itself to the conscious mind. The better we understand the archetype, the
greater a role we play in its life and the stronger our grasp on its eternal and timeless
For this reason, there are certain experiences that demonstrate the effects of the collective
unconscious more clearly than others. For example, the experience of love at first sight, or the
experience of déjà vu (the feeling of having previously been in the same situation) and the
immediate recognition of certain symbols and meanings of some myths, can be considered as a
conjunction of the external and internal reality of the collective unconscious. Other examples that
more fully illustrate the influence of the collective unconscious are the creative experiences
shared by artists and musicians of the world at all times, or the spiritual experiences of the
mystique of all religions, or the parallels of dreams, fantasies, mythologies, fairy tales and
literature.
Jung saw in the Tarot a rich expression of the collective unconscious. Like the other
oracles, he believed that Tarot descended from archetypes of transformation. Jung believed that
the pictures and symbols from the cards acted as a form of connection. In his words:
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“The original cards of the Tarot consist of the ordinary cards, the king, the queen, the
knight, the ace, etc. Only the figures are somewhat different. And besides, there are
twenty-one cards upon which are symbols, or pictures of symbolical situations. For
example, the symbol of the sun, or the symbol of the man hung up by the feet. Or the
tower struck by lightning, or the wheel of fortune, and so on. Those are sort of archetypal
ideas, of a differentiated nature. They mingle with the ordinary constituents of the flow of
the unconscious. And therefore, it is applicable for an intuitive method that has the
From his perspective, the tarot images become a reflection of our internal experience,
and, as we explore them, we begin to observe how they are expressed in our daily life, providing
guidance for the continuous regeneration of our existence. To demonstrate, Jodorowsky (2009)
points out that the Major Arcana have 2 series of 10 Arcana led by The Fool, which can be
considered the archetype of the initial energy, and closed by The World, which one can consider
will take him, he just feels that he must Figure 1 Major Arcana, Rider Waite Tarot
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go. However, at the end of this journey, The Fool becomes wise and experienced, and it is about
In conclusion, the Tarot is not only an instrument of future-telling, but also a powerful
tool for self-knowledge. Jung saw in the symbols and myths present in the Tarot a rich
expression of the collective unconscious, a concept that he created to designate a kind of residual
content of all the experiences of humanity, updated by repetition over the years which are
represented for archetypes, such as the pilgrim, the maternal love, the impulse for war and
fascination for the divine. The characters, virtues and situations described in the cards indicates
important points of the human journey. allowing self-analysis and, consequently, the
regeneration of values and attitudes. See the oracle as a key to personal development is, first of
all, to trust that we can be guided wisely by the invisible - whether it be called God or Self.
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References
Jodorowsky, A., Costa, M., & Graham, J. E. (2009). The way of tarot: the spiritual teacher in the
Jung, C. G., & Douglas, C. (1997). Visions: notes of the seminar given in 1930-1934 by C.G. Jung.
Jung, C. G., & Jaffé Aniela. (2013). Man and his symbols. Bowdon, Cheshire, England: Stellar
Classics.
Nichols, S., & Greer, M. K. (2019). Tarot and the archetypal journey: the Jungian path from
darkness to light. Newburyport, MA: Weiser Books, an imprint of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.