Tarot 101
A Primer for Tarotypal Leadership
Tarot is a mirror for the psyche. Tarotypal Leadership uses the cards to illuminate inner archetypes and hidden dynamics that shape your leadership. Drawing from Jung’s concept of individuation, tarot becomes a pathway to wholeness, revealing not just where you are, but who you are becoming.
Individuation: The Heart of Tarotypal Leadership
Swiss psychologist Carl Jung described individuation as the process of becoming whole by integrating the unconscious parts of ourselves into conscious awareness. Each card becomes a mirror, revealing what is seeking to be integrated at this moment in your leadership journey.
In leadership, individuation allows you to:
- Move beyond reactive patterns and lead from deep presence
- Integrate logic and intuition, action and reflection
- Embrace both your shadow and your strengths
- Act with greater clarity, courage, and authenticity
Reading tarot through this lens means that insight is not the end point, transformation is. Each spread reveals opportunities for integration and growth.
To navigate the path of individuation through tarot, it helps to understand the structure of the deck and the symbolic language it uses to communicate insight.
The Structure of the Tarot Deck
A typical tarot deck contains 78 cards, divided into two primary groups that reflect the archetypal and practical layers of experience:
The Major Arcana (22 cards) – These cards depict universal archetypes and deep initiatory energies that invite transformation. Each card marks a significant moment on the journey of individuation. The Fool is numbered 0 instead of 1 because it represents the beginning of the journey—a place of pure potential, innocence, and limitless possibility. The journey doesn’t start when you know what you’re doing. It starts when you say yes to the unknown.
The Minor Arcana (56 cards) – These cards illuminate the day-to-day complexity of human experience and leadership. They speak to the practical, relational, and emotional dynamics that arise as we grow. Where the Major Arcana shows the overarching path of becoming, the Minor Arcana shows the steps, setbacks, and subtleties we must navigate along the way. Each suit explores a different domain of life and leadership, and each number marks a stage in an energetic cycle—from initiation to mastery to closure.
The Tarotypal Pathwork Arcs:
Stages of Individuation in the Major Arcana
The Major Arcana provides a map of the soul’s journey through awakening, integration, transformation, and return. In Tarotypal Leadership, this journey is reflected in the five Tarotypal Pathwork Arcs of individuation.
The Inner Arc (The Fool —> The High Priestess) – The awakening of self: exploring curiosity, personal power, and intuitive knowing.
The Relational Arc (The Empress —> The Chariot) – Integrating how we relate to others, hold boundaries, and take aligned action.
The Integration Arc (Strength —> Temperance) – Confronting shadow, developing emotional maturity, and restoring inner harmony.
The Transformation Arc (The Devil —> The Star) – Letting go of illusions, surviving collapse, and reclaiming hope.
The Sovereignty Arc (The Moon —> The World) – Living from deep self-trust, claiming purpose, and becoming a whole expression of Self.
The Energy of Each Suit
The Minor Arcana is further divided into four suits, each representing a domain of experience. As you encounter these suits, consider which domain of your leadership is being activated for individuation.
Wands (Fire) – Passion, purpose, energy, creative impulse, vision.
Cups (Water) – Emotion, intuition, connection, empathy.
Swords (Air) – Thought, clarity, truth, communication.
Pentacles (Earth) – Material resources, embodiment, sustainability, and results.
The Energy of Each Number
Each suit includes cards numbered from Ace to Ten. These numbers reflect the energetic progression of a cycle. Understanding the energy of each number helps you interpret where you are within a process of growth or integration.
Ace – Seed potential, pure essence of the suit, initiation.
Two – Polarity, duality, balance, decision.
Three – Growth, expansion, synthesis, initial success.
Four – Structure, stability, boundaries, foundations.
Five – Conflict, challenge, disruption, reevaluation.
Six – Harmony, movement, restoration, reciprocity.
Seven – Challenge to mastery, inner work, realignment.
Eight – Power, momentum, systems, mastery in motion.
Nine – Fruition, culmination, test of endurance.
Ten – Completion, transformation, threshold to a new cycle.
The Court Cards:
Roles of Consciousness
The Court Cards reflect the development of consciousness within each suit. They represent aspects of the self that are learning, acting, embodying, and mastering. In individuation, these roles help identify how a particular energy is being expressed in your leadership.
Page – Curiosity, beginner’s mind, fresh perspective.
Knight – Action, pursuit, learning through doing.
Queen – Inner mastery, presence, nurturance.
King – Outer mastery, authority, strategic leadership.
No matter the card drawn, remember: each card is a portal. It reflects what is present, and reveals what is possible.
