Tarot by Numbers: Seven, Eight, Nine

Here are more Minor Arcana pip card numerology exercises, this time with a twist! I’ve included the Major Arcana cards, and posed some thought-provoking questions about the cards and their numbers.

These exercises are great for journaling, study, and group work. I’d love to hear your results!

To begin, sort out the Sevens, Eights, and Nines from your Minor Arcana, and the Chariot, Strength and Hermit from your Major Arcana.  Take these fifteen cards and sort them by number.

Sevens: Introspection, Valor, Self-Reliance

Are there Key Words that you would include for Seven?

What Key Words would you use for each of these four cards?

Look at the images of the Minor Arcana Sevens. Are there things these four images have in common? How do those things reflect the energy/meaning of Seven?

How does Major Arcana Seven, the Chariot, reflect the Key Words of Seven?

How does Major Arcana Seven, the Chariot, compare and contrast with the Minor Arcana Sevens?

Shuffle the five Sevens, and pull one at random to give insight into your personal challenges.

Eights: Motion, Balance and Power

Are there Key Words that you would include for Eight?

What Key Words would you use for each of these four cards?

Look at the images of the Minor Arcana Eights. Are there things these four images have in common? How do those things reflect the energy/meaning of Eight?

How does Major Arcana Eight, Strength, reflect the Key Words of Eight?

How does Major Arcana Eight, Strength, compare and contrast with the Minor Arcana Eights?

Shuffle the five Eights, and pull one at random to give insight into your personal power.

Nines: Completion, Success, Almost There

Are there Key Words that you would include for Nine?

What Key Words would you use for each of these four cards?

Look at the images of the Minor Arcana Nines. Are there things these four images have in common? How do those things reflect the energy/meaning of Nine?

How does Major Arcana Nine, the Hermit, reflect the Key Words of Nine?

How does Major Arcana Nine, the Hermit, compare and contrast with the Minor Arcana Nines?

Shuffle the five Nines, and pull one at random to give insight into your personal achievements.

What stories do you see in the sequence of Seven, Eight, Nine within the specific suits?                    

Four Tarot Suits, a New Relationship and a Tarot Journal

Recently a tarot student of mine unexpectedly met a new guy and began a relationship.

Yesterday she let me see her tarot journal where she had  cataloged the questions she asked, the cards she received, the date of the reading and her interpretations, just as I ask my student to do (not everyone complies).

I remember, after a class a month ago, she grabbed me and showed me the journal. At the time, she had just met him, and was wondering what the relationship was. The majority of the cards she received were Swords; not unfortunate Swords, communicative Swords such as the Ace, the Knight and the King.

I commented that these cards didn’t seem very romantic, but asked if she was enjoying talking with him.

Apparently they were having long conversations that both were enjoying immensely.
I told her to enjoy the conversation. They were both hungry for this level of communication.

That was more than a month ago. Since then, the relationship has definitely gone from platonic to romantic.

Yesterday, when she showed me her tarot journal, I saw that a few weeks after the communicative Swords appeared, the trend of Swords had given way to Cups and Wands. Ah, I though, this is where the relationship turned romantic.

My student confirmed this.

The trend of romantic Cups and passionate, fun Wands continued for a while, and finally gave way to Pentacles.

The change began when the couple started making planned to take a trip together and meet each other’s’ families. Now the relationship is dealing with those grounded, practical matters.

It was so interesting to see the development of the relationship in the trends of the cards over time.

The funny things was this. Never did the cards predict what would be happening in the relationship. The cards only reflected the energy of the relationship at the current time.

I asked the cards about this, by directly asking for a future prediction. “What is the future for this relationship?”

The card I received in answer was “The Fool.” To me, this suggested that the future of this relationship is unpredictable. The Fool tells me it’s about the journey, not the destination.  A focus on the future for this relationship is neither needed nor helpful. Both people are retirement-age, with grown children. They don’t have to worry about the future of the relationship, or building a family. They are both benefitted by a focus on the “now,” in their lives and in their relationship.
Does this mean that tarot can never predict the outcome of a relationship? Of course not. Sometimes the cards are quite clear, especially in the beginning, about whether or not he’s a keeper.

We need to trust our process with the cards, and recognize that sometimes a prediction is appropriate, other times our focus needs to be simply on the here and now.

To see how the trends of the cards changed to reflect the changing relationship was powerful, and one of the many great reasons to keep a tarot journal.