Outline for Lecture: Tarot and the Minor Arcana

Lecturer: Jungian Analyst, Kenneth James, Ph.D.

Minor Arcana Overview

• Explanation of the Minor Arcana: PIP cards and Court cards
• Focus on personal experience vs. archetypal (Major Arcana)
• PIP Cards: Personal events and situations (Ace to 10)
• Court Cards: Relationships in the world and psyche

Tarot as a Visual Tool

• Emphasis on visual immersion and storytelling through the cards
• Each Minor Arcana suit (Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles) represents elements and functions

Typological Functions & Tarot Suits

• Intuition: Wands, Fire, Atzilut (Kabbalah), Archetypal world
• Feeling: Cups, Water, Bria (Kabbalah), World of Creation
• Thinking: Swords, Air, Yetzirah (Kabbalah), World of Formation
• Sensation: Pentacles, Earth, Asiyah (Kabbalah), Manifestation world

Experiencing the PIP Cards

• Visual journey through Ace to 10 in each suit
• Reflect on the story each suit tells about its element
• Exercise: Write a short narrative about the “story” of each suit

Court Cards and Their Roles

• Page: Encountering the element or function
• Knight: Exploring the element or function
• Queen: Contemplating the element or function
• King: Expressing the element or function
• Medieval role structure: Page → Knight → Queen → King

Numerology of the Minor Arcana

• Exploring number symbolism (Ace to 10) across the four suits
• Qualitative aspects of numbers, not just quantitative
• Patterns and themes in the numbers: Unity, Structure, Stability, Change

Class Activity

• Sorting the PIP cards into “gifts” and “challenges” (27 gifts, 13 challenges)
• Reflecting on the qualitative meaning of each card and suit

Closing Remarks

• Encourage open-ended reflection on the Tarot
• Discussion on how personal insights come through visual engagement with the cards

Key Messages

• Tarot as a Reflective Tool: The Minor Arcana helps us explore personal situations, relationships, and psychological functions.
• Visual Immersion: Tarot is a visual tool that invites us to step into stories and patterns through its imagery, beyond intellectual understanding.
• Suit Associations: Each suit of the Minor Arcana (Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles) connects to a Jungian typological function and a Kabbalistic world.
• Narrative Reflection: The progression from Ace to 10 tells a story within each suit, which mirrors the journey through life’s elemental experiences.
• Court Cards as Personal Stages: The Court cards reflect stages of development with each element, moving from encountering to expressing.
• Numerology’s Role: The numbers in the Tarot aren’t just incremental—they reflect deeper qualities of experience, such as stability (Three) and completion (Ten).
• Embrace Confusion: Allowing yourself to not “understand” immediately can lead to richer, more intuitive readings. Tarot reveals itself over time.
• Personal Interpretation: While Tarot carries traditional meanings, it also speaks to each reader personally. Engage with the cards to discover your own story and truth.