This episode features a high voltage conversation with Julienne and Melissa Cynova, owner of Little Fox Tarot. Melissa has been slinging tarot cards and teaching classes since 1989. Her first book, Kitchen Table Tarot was released this year, and her next book is underway. We are giving away 2 copies of Kitchen Table Tarot! The next Patron to sign up at a $2 a month or higher level will get a copy of the book! More info an to sign up visit Tiny.cc/tarot Or find our entry posts on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram .
The conversation ranges from tarot in current events, pop culture and let me tell you we filled the swear jar in this episode. If you are sensitive to expletives this might not be the episode for you.
More about Melissa: She lives in St. Louis with her outstanding kids, her sweet husband, Joe, two cats, two dogs, and a tortoise named Phil. When she’s not slinging cards, she’s enjoying her tribe and probably watching a superhero movie while reading a book. She is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Go ahead and schedule a reading – she already knows you want one. LittleFoxTarot.com
Julienne talks with Weston, creator of Root Lock Tarot and Root Lock Radio Podcast – a course on Tarot. They discuss the most difficult suit in the Tarot – the Swords. But it’s not all tough stuff, they geek out on Game of Thrones which is SO the suit of swords. Topics range from pop culture to politics in this lively discussion of the symbols in the sword cards. Weston has also generously offered to give away a 30 minute reading with him. Check out our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram from September 21st – October 15th, 2017 to find our entry posts. (If you are a Patron you are automatically entered into every giveaway!)
Help keep the Archetypal Tarot Podcast alive by becoming a Patron! Just visit Tiny.cc.tarot to find out about all the nifty rewards for joining our Patron team.
This episode features T!M Freke is a pioneering philosopher & bestselling author of 35 books. In Tim’s latest book ‘Soul Story’ he offers a revolutionary approach to awakening for the 21st century and a visionary new understanding of the nature of reality.
Tim and Julienne discuss the ideas in Soul Story, evolution from the Fool to the World and how the Tarot works – like really HOW TAROT WORKS. More info on Tim on his website TimFreke.com
Enter to win an ebook copy of Tim’s book Soul Story on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter @TarotPodcast Find entry posts and submit by August 18, 2017.
Sign up to be a part of the Archetypal Tarot Patron Team! tiny.cc/tarot
Cyndera and Julienne bring their provocative archetypal and tarotic insights into the new film Wonder Woman. The archetypes in The Priestess, The Sun and the Chariot are at play in the film. They also discuss how listeners can become a part of the Archetypal Tarot team by signing up to be a patron of the show. https://patron.podbean.com/atpodcast
In an attempt to add a poster of Wonder Woman to my office, a new colleague of mine expressed her reservation to the addition of this image to the office environment, which, to her credit, did contain a speech bubble from Wonder Woman’s mouth saying “No Time for Naughty.”
She articulated: “I feel it’s important to celebrate real women, brave and courageous historical leaders who had an actual impact on the world.”
I felt as though wounded, as if a spear had gone straight through my heart, as if she was saying I
wasn’t real. Why on earth did I feel this way? Wonder Woman is not, in fact, flesh and blood, and I am certainly myself not Wonder Woman.
The poster did indeed stick out like a sore thumb on the wall, she did not match the drab green walls, the muted tones of the overhead file bins. Would my own personality clash as brilliantly as this to the work culture? Wonder Woman seemed protected in her plastic cover, the natural light causing her to emit an armor of reflected light. I was speechless, tears came to my eyes, I left early from my first official day, along with the poster.
Today, in Wonder Woman’s defense, these words have come me:
You speak of the courage of suffragettes, the immensity of emotion portrayed in Frida Kahlo’s artwork, but who would these women be without the forces that came alive within them. We speak of these forces in abstracted terms all the time – they are real and present even after each historical woman exhales her last breath – Courage, Leadership, Imagination, Vision. Fictional figures such as Wonder Woman, illustrate and actually embody these forces for us.
The gift of Fiction, the gift of art, that percolates through our culture in various guises – depicts for us these forces we hope to ourselves enact. We can celebrate the lives of historical women AND embrace the inspiration of of the figures of fiction – who try on possibilities, dreams and visions that our not-so-humble humanity has not yet dared.
Scientists look to science fiction for ideas of invention and innovation. Teachers and psychologists look to literature for an understanding of human behavior. Mathematicians have found formulas from their dreams (another source some may call “not real”)
“The Gods have not died, they have just gone underground.”
The forces within us are Real – Love, Hate, Courage, Passion, Intelligence. Allow us to celebrate and be educated by history and Imagination alike, for one teaches of the past the other of the future.
Since her creation, Wonder Woman has been resurrected many times, always reflecting the struggles of the age. Her tiara and dark tendrils rise again, along with a voice that is once again trying to be heard.
What do you believe in? What do you wish to stand for?
Do you act from Love or do you simply hide and take cover from fear?
Wonder Woman’s name is Diana Prince – Diana connects her to the name of the Roman Goddess of the Moon. Like the light of the Moon, her power is a reflected one and thus reminds us of REFLECTION – the power to look within yourself to see your own shadows and your own light. Prince – though she is a woman she also embodies the sacred masculine. She is in touch with her noble male capacities (the animus in psychology). And thus Diana Prince, Wonder Woman, is a marriage of opposites, the holding of a tension between differences, and thus a medicine for our deeply divided times.
Red, White and Blue are the colors of Wonder Woman’s classic costume. In one comic, she is actually dressed from a tattered American flag. Since WWII Wonder Woman has stood for what is noble about the United States, a symbol of liberty, justice and truth. She rises in the face of what is most ugly about our country, which has always been equipped with the teeth of greed, bigotry, narcissism and blindness.
Wonder Woman rises with only the weapons of truth, and her own strength to remind us of the hope we must not lose hold of. Hold tight to the Lassos of Truth! Feel the bondage of those bracelets encircling your wrists, reminding all deeds done by these hands to be for the liberation of self and others.
Feel the tiara, placed upon the crown of the head, framing the third eye of Insight, Intuition and crystallized concentration. Most of all, feel your heart, beating with life, beating with love for life bursting in each moment with your passion…
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Cyndera Quackenbush interviews Angelo Nasios, author of the book Tarot: Unlocking the Arcana. Temperance is the card under discussion; a card whose angel symbolizes the “middle way” path as a solution between extremes. The need for this in today’s culture, a political and lifestyle landscape of polarities, is explored with an eye on the upcoming election (some cussing ensues US Presidential naturally as a result!). Angelo and Cyndera also take a deeper look into how tarot works, identifying spiritual and psychological components in its understanding.
This month Julienne is in conversation with Archetypal Counselor, Spiritual Director and film buff, Jim Curtan. Jim and Julienne discuss some of their favorite topics – Archetypes and Movies. The focus on the Tower card in particular and the many aspects of change that it symbolizes. They discuss the good, the bad, the scary and as well as the grace that change can bring when we fully allow ourselves to grieve the loss of the past and dive into what the change brings us. They also discuss the Tower card in relationship to popular films such as The Hunger Games, Castaway, Inside Out and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Jim has just released a self-guided audio workshop called Embracing the Grace of Change using the film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as a contemplation on the choices and opportunities presented by the kinds of change that the Tower card can present.
Jim has combined his 20 years’ experience in the entertainment industry with more than a decade as a retreat leader and spiritual director to develop a unique and entertaining approach to using film as a gateway to rich spiritual experience.
He is a spiritual director, archetypal counselor and retreat leader. He has taught extensively with New York Times best-selling author Caroline Myss and has been a faculty member of the Caroline Myss Educational Institute (CMED) since its inception in 2003. He has also taught at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, The London Centre for Spirituality, St. John’s Seminary, Stillpoint Center for Christian Spirituality and The Crossings in Austin, Texas among others.
His lectures and workshops have been well received throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands, France and Indonesia.
In his prior career as a talent manager, Jim advised such prominent actors as John Malkovich, John Travolta, Patrick Swayze, Geena Davis, Willem Dafoe, Andy Garcia and Melanie Griffith.
Since 2014 Jim has produced a series of self-guided workshops using films for archetypal and spiritual contemplation of situations that affect our daily lives. Each comes with an audio course commentary on the film and workbook available to download immediately from his online store. Courses include:
Listen in on a conversation with Tarot Dream Stone consultant Cyndera Quakenbush as we discuss the symbolic and real world qualities of these archetypal characters.
The Fourth edition of the Archetypal Tarot Podcast explores the meaning behind the Empress card of the Tarot as a stage of a journey where one is asked to create a protected, creative and nurturing space for their plans or project so it can grow before going on to the next stage of the journey. The Empress symbolizes the archetype of the Mother as well as the Queen. You’ll find out how these important patterns are to our growth and flourishing.
Archetypes referenced: Empress, Mother, Queen, Matriarch, Networker, Soccer Mom, Uber Mom and the Goddess Venus/Aphrodite
Film/Media Referenced: All About My Mother, Stepmom, Erin Brockovich, Serial Mom, Mommie Dearest, Elizabeth, Almost Famous
Lupa is an artist, author and amateur naturalist in Portland, Oregon. She is the author of a number of books published by Llewellyn including her upcoming book Nature Spirituality From the Ground Up: Connect With Totems in Your Ecosystem out in January 2016.
For those unfamiliar with Tarot, the Death card can feel ominous and terrifying. What if there was a deck that faced it directly and in every card of the Major and Minor Arcana?
In this brave new Archetypal Tarot podcast, Death is embraced early on with an interview with Lupa Greenwolf, artist and creator of the Tarot of Bones .
Lupa is the author of a number of books including her upcoming book Nature Spirituality From the Ground Up: Connect With Totems in Your Ecosystem out in January 2016. Lupa is also working on a new tarot deck The Tarot of Bones, a natural history themed divination deck, which will make its debut in the summer of 2016. The full 78-card deck will feature photography of Lupa’s artwork made from animal bones and other natural materials.
Cyndera and Lupa discuss stones, bones and how relating with these natural presences can deepen the human connection to nature. A naturalistic interpretation of the Death Card allows us to get in touch with the ignored presence of Death in our lives and how it relates to our current relationship with the environment.
Topics covered in this podcast:
– the process of working with animal remains as an artistic and spiritual medium
– how to make art for both major and minor arcana
– How to work with Death in tarot readings and combat superstition
– How encountering bones assists with deepening a connection with nature
The Magician Card of The Tarot of Bones, featuring nature-found moss and a corn snake skeleton.
In the continuance of the new Archetypal Tarot Podcast series, Julienne and Cyndera break the linear mold of the Tarot order and jump all the way to The World Card!
He is also a contributor to the Huffington Post, AlterNet, The Journal of Critical Psychology among many, many others. Craig is a Certified Master Gardener, teacher to many, passionate advocate of cultivating a sustainable relationship to the planet and all around bad ass of depth psychology.
Freud vs Jung! (with Cyndera egging them on)
Topics discussed / fun had:
The momentous effect of “earthrise” the first photograph of the earth taken from space and how it forms a new mythology.
Hobbits & Heroes (guess which we need more of these days?)
How Craig started teaching the Hero’s Journey and why he seldom does anymore.
My co-host Cyndera and I are very excited to announce a new format for the Archetypal Tarot Podcast. We will be revisiting the Major Arcana but this time with special guests giving their insights on the themes and ideas presented by these ancient yet totally relevant archetypal stories.
We start the new year off on the topic of Passion, it’s nature and how we can actually nurture a sense of vitality and adventure in our lives.
Where his first book Callings was about finding passion, Vital Signs picks up on the why’s and how’s of losing our sense of passion & vitality and how to regain a passionate life with creativity and abundance. We love this new book and recommend you get a copy – it’s available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon and many fine bookstores. Visit Gregg’s site and check out all of the resources in “Wow!” images, books, music and films to help you connect to passion and excitement. http://gregglevoy.com
Ultimately, passion is a life skill—a stance—that helps bring vitality to all our engagements: from work, family and school life, to creative, social and spiritual life. And it’s a survival mechanism—critical to health and well-being—because your attachment to life depends on your interest in it.
-Gregg Levoy
We think you will really enjoy Julienne’s conversation with Gregg about passion, creativity, the call of the wild, the archetype of the Fool, Vampires, Zombies, Intuition and the practice of living our lives fully.
Passion is an unstable element and will naturally degrade over time but some very simple, yet powerful practices have the ability to heat things up again. Not only is passion something we start to miss over time but it’s important to our overall health. As Gregg says in our discussion “Our attachment to life depends to a great degree to our interest in it.”. Without interest, everything fades, including our health. It’s no wonder Zombies and Vampires have been of such an interest in the last few years – we fear the life being sucked out of us by routine and a lack of creativity.
You can listen to the entire podcast below or subscribe to the podcast in iTunes and never miss an episode. We have a very exciting line up of authors, teachers and creators lined up for future episodes.
Gregg’s List of 5 Things You Can Do To Beef Up The Passion & Quality of Your Life:
1) Pay attention to what is trying to emerge in your life.
2) Remember that you have a ‘use by’ date.
3) Come up with a bucket list. (Check out this from Artist Candy Chang: Before I Die)
4) Always give yourself something to look forward to.
5) Look for where you’re restless – ask yourself: What wants to move? And where does it want to go? Julienne’s addition:
6) Turn something upside down. (The Trickster archetype can be very useful in this.)
How can you use the archetypal images of the Tarot to release limiting beliefs? In this special edition of the Archetypal Tarot Podcast, Cyndera has a conversation with Stephanie Megan of Soulshine Tarot about just that.
Stephanie Meghan a Tarot Archetypal Hypnotherapist and owner of Soulshine Tarot an online personal development practice that uses the archetypal images of the Tarot. Meghan is an ivy-league trained scientist who takes a no-nonsense approach to reading Tarot and helping her clients release limiting beliefs.
Stephanie offers customized sessions with guided meditations mixed with a gentle hypnosis. Meditation is an immensely powerful and beneficial tool that can enhance your well-being and can allow you to remove limiting beliefs that cloud your path to happiness.
What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from. ~TS Eliot
Finally we reach the culmination of this heroic journey with card 21 –The World! In this last of the regularly scheduled podcast series, Julienne and Cyndera discuss beginnings, endings, rebirth, transformation and fulfillment.
After all these trials and tribulations of the hero’s journey, we now come to know true balance and connection to our destiny looking back across our past and forward into the future. We feel the benefit of the journey thus far and see that our evolution is not just for ourselves but for the good of others. From this stage onward, our sense of risk is different because we have a greater understanding of the richness of life and recognize both the strength and space to hold challenge and loss as well as joy in the days to come.
In Joesph Campbell’s classic definition of the Hero’s Journey, The World card represents the stage of Master of Two Worlds as well as the Freedom to Live.
The Rider-Waite version of The World
Symbols in the World Card:
Ring of laurels tied with a lemniscate (infinity symbol) – The ring of laurels is also called temenos (Gk) a safe place, asylum, a temple, also reminiscent of the Yoni, laurels are also a symbol of victory.
Infinity symbol seen also in: Magician, Strength (also in the 2 of coins/pentacles card)
Androgynous figure/ Dancer– leg crossed over just as in the Hanged Man card (it’s opposite on this Mobius strip) – a dance , balanced opposites, an act of creation – the Self in equilibrium, perfect union of masculine and feminine.
Lion (Leo), Eagle (Scorpio), Bull (Taurus) and the Human (Aquarius) – 4 fixed signs of astrology – 4 elements (air, earth, water and fire). These 4 symbols also appear in the Wheel of Fortune card. these can also refer to a passage in the Bible’s book of revelation
Suspended between heaven and earth – remember the Fool as she fell over the cliff, suspended for a moment not realizing what’s she’s gotten herself into? The symbolism of suspension this time is of balance and trust.
2 wands – balance – command of opposites (references to both The Magician and The Chariot). Wands are about doing – this is a sign of readiness.
Cundi Bodhisattva
The World as the Bodhisattva Card
Bodhi [enlightenment] and sattva [being]. From the Mahayana tradition of Buddhismm, the bodhisattva vow is the commitment to put others before oneself. It is a statement of willingness to give up one’s own well-being, even one’s own enlightenment, for the sake of others. Taking the bodhisattva vow implies that instead of holding our own individual territory and defending it, we become open to the world that we are living in and are willing to take on greater responsibility.
Film and Fiction References
Cloud Atlas, book (2004) and film (2012)
One of the main themes is of freedom and connection. Eventually leading to the realization that all is one. Redemption and evolution. Characters from each of the weave of stories in both the book and film have revelations of oneness:
Sonmi-451: “Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others. Past and present. And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.”
Robert Frobisher: “And all becomes clear. Wish I could make you see this brightness. Don’t worry, all is well. All is so perfectly, damnably well. I understand now, that boundaries between noise and sound are conventions. All boundaries are conventions, waiting to be transcended. One may transcend any convention, if only one can first conceive of doing so. Moments like this, I can feel your heart beating as clearly as I feel my own, and I know that separation is an illusion. My life extends far beyond the limitations of me.”
Adam Ewing:“What is an ocean but a multitude of drops?”
Issac Sachs: “These forces that often remake time and space, they can shape and alter who we imagine ourselves to be, begin long before we are born, and continue after we perish. Our lives and our choices, like quantum trajectories, are understood moment to moment, at each point of intersection, each encounter, suggest a new potential direction.”
The Matrix (1999) – In the very last scene of The Matrix, Neo makes a phone call , saying: “When I used to look out at this world, all I could see was its edges, its boundaries, its rules and controls, its leaders and laws. But now, I see another world. A different world where all things are possible. […] I can’t tell you how to get there, but I know if you can free your mind, you’ll find the way.”
With a trumpet blare and a scene depicting people rising from graves as shown in Judgement – card number 20 of the Tarot, Julienne and Cyndera discuss how the hero of our journey is called to leave the old behind – not just Death and those stages in between. This penultimate edition of the Archetypal Tarot Podcast sees this as a stage of the rebirth process where one is asked to call the old selves back up and with it the old stories to release their particular hold on us and see them in a new light.
Through the lessons and experiences of the journey we can now judge what best action should be taken and rise up to the challenges to embrace our life and answer the greater ‘Calls’ of our life beyond the egoic or the mundane. We see now our true calling is in every breath of our lives playing out in every moment.
Julienne regales us with how this story of redemption and evolution is played out poignantly in the 2012 epic film Cloud Atlas with the compelling stories of lives interwoven over 500 years. Cyndera relays how the academy award winning documentary “Searching for Sugarman” captures the essence of a true calling held within the Judgement card.
Throughout the podcast the ideas of redemption, evolution and levels of change effect how we see our true calling. References and a list of symbols, links and images are below.
Redemption: The old story will always be the old story to contend with to make up for – to redeem.
Evolution: The story is bigger – inclusive of what happened and holds space for the purpose of what happened beyond our limited understanding. What we believed was a mistake is included in a larger connected story.
Symbols seen in the card:
Angel – messenger, not of the earth
Arms – accepting with open arms – embracing the new direction – surrender
Trumpet – the call to the new life – to be reborn – out of complacency – awaken
Flag with the cross – announcement or proclamation – staking a claim to a new territory – the equal armed cross is about balance – possibly the balance of the masculine and feminine – of agency and community – also 4 sections reflect the 4 directions, the 4 elements – a meeting place
The Fall (2008)
The Tree of Life (2011)
The Fountain (2006)
Big Fish
Gran Torino
The Fisher King
Les Miserables
Goodwill Hunting
Jerry Macguire
Shawshank Redemption
Popular associations:
Judgement —– Rebirth —– Calling —– Absolution
Restart —– Accepting past mistakes/actions —– Release
Forgiveness —– End of repression —– Reconciliation —– Renewal
Decision —– Salvation —– New beginning —– Hope —– Redemption
Here Comes the Sun! After the dark debacle of the stage represented by the Moon card, the nineteenth card of the Major Arcana shares its rays of light on the Archetypal Tarot Podcast. Inside the protective walls of a golden kingdom, two children (or a child and horse in the Rider Waite) are happily at play. Like Romulus and Remus, suckled from the wolves of the last card, it is as if the birth of a new Rome has taken place as a long-awaited result of this Tarot journey’s recent trials. Julienne Givot and Cyndera Quackenbush explore this stage of rebirth by delving into the child archetype in its many manifestations, including its shadow.
Listen as Julienne and Cyndera share a synchronistic moment and find out how to have fun while even riding a city bus. In the Hollywood realm, Robin Williams as Puer (eternal youth), Tom Hanks in the film “Big” and Shirley Temple are discussed as examples of this stage. In the Sun card enjoy yourself in a land somewhere between the Teletubbies and the Secret Garden.
The Child: Innocence, Fun, Trust
The Child archetype resides in us all and is the first that we come to know. The Child archetype is sometimes called the guardian of innocence and it represents our beginning point. This archetype sets up our earliest perceptions of life, safety, loyalty and family. The heart of the Child archetype is one of dependency and responsibility. Addressing the Child archetype within can awaken a new relationship with life, a new start.
After emerging from the water’s edge of the lovely Star maiden, the Archetypal Tarot podcast heads to the eighteenth card of the Major Arcana – the Moon. Sounds romantic, doesn’t it? But what’s this – a barking dog, a howling wolf and a …. lobster climbing from the depths?!?! Julienne Givot and Cyndera Quackenbush have a WTF moment as they explore the depths of this surprising, surreal imagery incorporating the archetype of the Artist and the penchant for creative madness.
Our hero of the Tarot Journey has reached her dark night of the soul and finds that she has spiraled back to the dark wisdom behind the High Priestess’s veil. In relation to the “lunacy” encountered in the moon, Julienne presents to us the Artist archetype and its shadow. Cyndera shares some highly personal details and a passage from Carl Jung’s Red Book. The following films, discussed in this edition, beautifully illustrate the Moon themes of madness, creativity and dreams: The Hours, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep.
The lunatic, the lover, and the poet
Are of imagination all compact.
~William Shakespeare
The Artist archetype embodies the passion to express a dimension of life that is just beyond the five senses. The Artist psyche is animated with the energy to express it into physical forms. The nature or relative grandeur of any form of expression is irrelevant; a chef can be as much of an artist as a painter or landscaper. The signature of artists is not in what they do but in how intense their motivation is to manifest the extraordinary. Doing what you do in such a way that you create an emotional field that inspires others also indicates the Artist energy at work, as does the emotional and psychological need to express yourself so much that your well-being is wrapped up in this energy.
The shadow Artist comprises many cliches, including an eccentric nature and the madness that often accompanies genius. The Starving Artist represents the fear of financial ruin or the belief that fame and fortune come only after death, which often cause artists to suppress their talents. In evaluating your relationship to this archetype, recognize that the need to bring art to others, such as dedicating part of the energy of your life to supporting artists, is as much an expression of the Artist archetype as actually holding a brush in your hand.
Archetypal Tarot celebrates its 20th podcast! With some much needed respite after the tumult of the falling tower, Julienne Givot and Cyndera Quackenbush cozy up in some Dutch slippers and delve into the nourishing waters of the 17th card of the Major Arcana- The Star.
Picture the Fool (our Hero in this journey) laying on the grass in a field after the sudden liberation of the last stage. She is coming to and is not yet able to articulate what just happened to her. The symbols of the scene represented in the Star feature a naked woman who is both vulnerable and in harmony with the elements as she tends to what needs to be done.
Stripped of clothing (ego identity) and back down to the earthy basics, the beautiful maiden featured in this card helps us to replenish after a shock and (re)discover the true “guiding star” that will help us along on our journey. We see the importance of humility to be open to true guidance.
Another potent symbol of this stage is water. Water is often seen as a symbol of emotions and the unconscious which in this stage flows freely and the woman can been seen as a conduit for letting the waters flow back to their source as well as nourishing the ground. The stars in the sky twinkle above clear and undeniably present, the Fool wonders how she never noticed they were there all along.
Stars have been the symbol of aspiration and guidance since ancient times from the three wisemen following stars to the mythic stories of Mithras. Stars symbolize hope and to look up with an understanding that even we are connected to the stars.
This is a time after the storm where there is clarity. A recollection that grace need only be received and that the first stage of regeneration/rebirth is to be open to follow our true desire – what we are really on the journey for. It’s interesting to note that the word desire itself comes from the old French “of the stars”.
Julienne discusses how the symbolism of the film Beasts of the Southern Wild relates to our taroic hero’s journey so far and Cyndera references the aspect of the Star in relation to Maidentrip, a documentary about a young Dutch girl who completed a solo around the world voyage on a sailboat.
“When it all goes quiet behind my eyes, I see everything that made me flying around in invisible pieces. When I look too hard, it all goes away but when it all goes quiet, I see they are right here. I see that I am a little piece of a big, big universe, and that makes it right.” -Hushpuppy, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Popular associations of the Star:
Calmness —– Free-flowing love —– Trust
Tranquility —– Peace of mind —– Pure essence
Hope – Serenity —– Inspiration —– Generosity
Optimism —– Joy —– Faith —– Regeneration
Good will —– Optimism —– Harmony —– Renewal of forces
Helpful questions for this stage:
• What do I allow to guide me?
• What is the role of nurturing myself and others – is there an imbalance?
• How do I live the connection to nature?
• What can I do to allow more tranquility into my day?
• Am I allowing peace and relaxation to flow through my life?
• How do I acknowledge and take peace from knowing I am a little piece of a big universe?
Is it the Tower of Destruction or the House of God? In card number sixteen of the Major Arcana, we are met with yet another image that often inspires fear and superstition.
This is the first podcast in which Julienne Givot and Cyndera Quackenbush are divorced from their own tower (the recording studio) and explore this card’s symbolism from the telephone. With the sudden shock experienced in this stage of the fool’s journey, will those tethered to their addictions be struck from their habits? Does hitting rock bottom ultimately free us?
Cyndera explores how a client once completely dissembled her own psychic castle and Julienne reveals the qualities of the Liberator archetype. A closer look at current events and films such as the Hunger Games, Castaway and Groundhog Day also helps us all to “think outside the tower.” Also, don’t miss this podcast’s first homework assignment to watch Beasts of the Southern Wild through the lens of the Archetypal Tarot Journey. We’ll be discussing it in the next edition along with the 17th card of the major arcana: The Star.
Details and references below.
Questions or suggestions? Email us ATPodcast@archetypist.com
Archetypes related to the Tower card: The Liberator
The Tower from the Marseilles deck
Popular Associations with the Tower Card:
Chaos —– Sudden change —– Impact —– Hard times
Crisis —– Revelation —– Disruption —– Realizing the truth
As we enter the last row of our Tarot Journey (and a new year for the Archetypal Tarot Podcast), we are met with the formidable character of The Devil, the fifteenth card of the Major Arcana. Our hero, well on the path to rebirth, must first meet his own shadow and face addictions and attachments.
Julienne Givot and Cyndera Quackenbush also discuss the Pan-like characteristics of the Devil, who invites human beings to recognize their animal natures that rebel when they are suppressed. As always, this podcast adds to your growing movie list with some subtle and interesting studies of the Devil archetype in film.
Archetypes related to the Devil card: Provocateur, Addict, Scapegoat, Addict/Mystic, Perfectionist
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (2005) and Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory (1971) There are many references to the archetype of the Devil, Provocateur and Addict in these films. Each member of the group (both children and adults) is obsessed with getting something, food (Augustus Gloop), attention (Veruca Salt), being right (Mike Teevee) or even something as innocent as wanting a better life for their family (Charlie). Everyone is tempted and everyone gives in to the temptation, Charlie though is true to the angel of his better nature at the end of the film.
Election (1999) Reeese Whitherspoon & Matthew Broderick.
The Housewives tarot Devil card
The Addict archetype:
Every one of us is touched by the Addict archetype. Besides the usual suspects–drugs, alcohol, food, and sex–one can be addicted to work, sports, television, exercise, computer games, spiritual practice, negative attitudes, and the kinds of thrills that bring on adrenaline rushes.
In its positive aspect, this archetype helps you recognize when an outside substance or influence has more authority over your will power than does your inner spirit.
Confronting addiction and breaking the hold that a pattern or substance has on you can impart great strength to your psyche. Discovering the empowerment that comes with perseverance has a life-long impact, “I know now that if I can quit _______, I can do anything.”
From a symbolic perspective, the shadow aspect of the Addict represents a struggle with will power and the absence of self-control. The shadow Addict compromises your integrity and honesty. The shame associated with addiction.
Religion/Myth: Tantalus he was invited to share the food of the gods but abused the honor and was punished by being “tantalized” for all eternity by food and drink he could not reach).
“What we strive for in perfection is not what turns us into the lit angel we desire.” ~David Whyte
Julienne’s rendition of the Temperance card
With a little rest after the Death card the Archetypal Tarot Podcast explores the beginning of the rebirth cycle with Temperance – the fourteenth card of the Major Arcana. Julienne Givot and Cyndera Quackenbush discuss the Angel archetype and the healing and recovery that can take place internally and even below conscious awareness. At the end of our second row, the Realm of Equilibrium, we have a resolution to the ongoing theme of opposites. Here, two elements are alchemized to create “the third thing” that mediates and transforms opposing realities. Listen to the podcast for more on this next step of the journey.
“I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
~Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address
Angel & Fairy Godmother/Godfather Archetypes in Films & Television:
-Angels In America – The Play / TV Mini Series (2003)
-Aunt March played by (Mary Wickes) in Little Women (1994)
-It’s A Wonderful Life – Film (1946)
-Danny Glover, Kevin Kline in Grand Canyon (1991)
-Rosalind Russell as Mame Dennis in Auntie Mame (1958)
-Audrey Tatou in Amelie (2001)
-Dustin Hoffmann in Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (2007)
-Robert DeNiro as Captain Shakespeare in Stardust (2007)
Shadow:
-Marlon Brando in The Godfather trilogy
-Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
Television:
-Touched by an Angel
-What Not To Wear Fairy Tales:
-Glinda in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The Winter of Listening
By David Whyte
No one but me by the fire,
my hands burning
red in the palms while
Rider-Waite Temperance Card
the night wind carries
everything away outside.
All this petty worry
while the great cloak
of the sky grows dark
and intense
round every living thing.
What is precious
inside us does not
care to be known
by the mind
in ways that diminish
its presence.
What we strive for
in perfection
is not what turns us
into the lit angel
we desire,
what disturbs
and then nourishes
has everything
we need.
What we hate
in ourselves
is what we cannot know
in ourselves but
what is true to the pattern
does not need
to be explained.
Inside everyone
is a great shout of joy
waiting to be born.
Even with the summer
so far off
I feel it grown in me
now and ready
to arrive in the world.
All those years
listening to those
who had
nothing to say.
All those years
forgetting
how everything
has its own voice
to make
itself heard.
All those years
forgetting
how easily
you can belong
to everything
simply by listening.
And the slow
difficulty
of remembering
how everything
is born from
an opposite
and miraculous
otherness.
Silence and winter
has led me to that
otherness.
So let this winter
of listening
be enough
for the new life
I must call my own.
“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” ~Joseph Campbell
Who knew that Death could be so funny? But here it is, card number 13 in the Major Arcana. Join Julienne and Cyndera as they look at the archetype of Death from a symbolic and psychological point of view with a dash of added humor. Learn why this inevitable stage for the Hero isn’t the end but an important element to the rest of the journey.
The Death card liberates all that has reached its end, and cuts away stagnation so that life can continue. Beyond the literal interpretation of this card, there is a rich array of deaths that visit in our daily lives: the end of jobs, relationships and also the visitations of depressions and other forms of “falling apart.” What advantages are there to dismemberment and disintegration? How do Zombies and Batman play a role at exploring this the ultimate mystery of life – it’s end. Or is it the end? You’ll just have to get the podcast and find out.
PS: Listen to all the way to the end for a surprise (and possibly a laugh or two).
Resources Mentioned in the Podcast:
Key Words:
Ending of a cycle – Loss – Conclusion – Sadness
Transition into a new state – Psychological transformation
Finishing up – Regeneration – Elimination of old patterns
Being caught in the inescapable – Good-byes – Deep change
Film / TV References:
The Dark Knight Rises (2012
Sean of the Dead (2004)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) Bones (2005-present) Dead Like Me (2003-2004)
Julienne’s rendition of Card 13: Death
“Yet through depression we enter depths and in depths find soul. Depression is essential to the tragic sense of life. It moistens the dry soul, and dries the wet. It brings refuge, limitation, focus, gravity, weight, and humble powerlessness. It reminds of death. The true revolution begins in the individual who can be true to his or her depression. Neither jerking oneself out of it, caught in cycles of hope and despair, nor suffering it through till it turns, not theologizing it – but discovering the consciousness and depths it wants. So begins the revolution in behalf of soul.”
~ from Re-Visioning Psychology by James Hillman
The Holy Longing
Tell a wise person, or else keep silent,
because the mass man will mock it right away.
I praise what is truly alive,
what longs to be burned to death.
In the calm water of the love-nights,
where you were begotten, where you have begotten,
a strange feeling comes over you,
when you see the silent candle burning.
Now you are no longer caught in the obsession with darkness,
and a desire for higher love-making sweeps you upward.
Distance does not make you falter.
Now, arriving in magic, flying,
and finally, insane for the light,
you are the butterfly and you are gone.
And so long as you haven’t experienced this: to die and so to grow,
you are only a troubled guest on the dark earth.
Goethe
(translated by Robert Bly)
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We’re pretty pleased to announce that The Archetypal Tarot Podcast is not available on Stitcher Radio. If you haven’t heard of Stitcher from their sponsorship of many great radio shows like “This American Life” or “RadioLab” let me tell you that it is pretty darn cool and a must for those of us who love talk radio and podcasts. Oh and it’s a free app which you can download from your iPhone/iPad or Android app store.
You can even scroll all the way down to the footer of this page to listen to the most recent episode.
What happened!?! Our hero is hanging upside down! In the thirteenth edition of the Archetypal Tarot Podcast Julienne Givot and Cyndera Quackenbush help to dispel the superstition that often surrounds cards such as The Hanged Man, card number twelve in the Major Arcana. After an exploration of the Hanged Man’s symbolic imagery and the martyr archetype, this podcast illuminates an invitation to test the inner strength gained in the previous card and make valuable sacrifices during this period of “hang time” (yes, a sports reference made its way into the podcast). Also join the discussion of movies featuring the martyr archetype – you may just find a new perspective, or your world turned upside down!
Film References:
For the Hanged Man – pay attention to the course that Paul Giamatti’s character takes in The Lady In The Water (2006) as he is pulled out of his self-induced isolation to become a Hero and what he needs to sacrifice to do so.
The Martyr in Film:
Meryl Streep in Silkwood
Ben Kingsley in Gandhi
Sean Penn in Milk
The Martyr in Books:
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde
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The Strength card as depicted in the Rider Waite deck
The Archetypal Podcast returns from its Summer Sabbatical with its Twelfth Edition starring the eleventh Tarot card, Strength. After a turn on the Wheel of Fortune our Hero/Fool is taken in a new direction and learns from the Lion and Maiden depicted in this card. Inner strength is called for with the knowledge that it’s made up of patience, self-control, and the awareness of one’s instincts and drives. Archetypal Consultant Julienne Givot gives us the breakdown of the empowered and disempowered archetype of the Damsel and reflections on Beauty and the Beast. Tarot Consultant Cyndera Quackenbush regales us with a retelling of an ancient Korean myth about a woman’s lesson in true courage. See below for a written version of the story.
Key Words:
Fortitude – Lust – Courage – Patience
Self-control – Being solid – Patience – Compassion
Wizard of Oz (The Cowardly Lion and Dorothy) (1939)
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The Tiger’s Whisker – A Korean Folktale
A young woman came one day to the house of a mountain hermit to seek his help. The hermit was a sage of great renown and a maker of charms and magic potions. When the young woman entered his house, the hermit said, without raising his eyes from the fireplace: “Why are you here?”
She said: “Oh, Famous Sage, I am in distress! My husband, who has just returned from fighting in the wars, hardly speaks to me and is as cold as ice. If he does speak it is with the most explosive fire in his voice! And he no longer enjoys the delicious food that he used savor at our supper table. I want a potion to give my husband so that he will be loving and gentle, as he used to be.””Ha, so simple is it? Can we cure a sick world with a potion?” the hermit said.”Master,” said the woman, if you do not help me, I am truly lost!”
Resigned at last, the hermit said, “Very well; I will help you to make a potion. But it requires an ingredient which I do not possess. The most essential ingredient is a the whisker of a living tiger.”
“The whisker of a living tiger!” She exclaimed. “How will I possibly get that?”
“If the potion is important enough, you will succeed,” the hermit said. He turned his head away, not wishing to talk anymore.
The young woman went home. She thought a great deal about how she would get the tiger’s whisker. Then one night she crept from her house with the most delicious morsels she had cooked especially for her task. She went to the place on the mountainside where the tiger was known to live. Standing far off from the tiger’s cave, she held out the food, calling the tiger to come and eat. The tiger did not come.
The next night She went again with some well-prepared food, this time a bit closer. Again she offered the food to the tiger. Every night she went to the mountain, each time a few steps nearer to the tiger’s cave and even though fear caused her knees to shake she took these footsteps forward.
Little did the young woman know, but the tiger was becoming accustomed to her presence and every night was also creeping closer in her direction. Eventually, one night, the two could see eachother in the moonlight just a stone’s throw apart. It happened again the next night and they were so close she could feel the warmth of the great feline’s breath. As the tiger knelt to eat the food she had given him, She reached out a hand very quickly and plucked a whisker from the Tiger’s face-
And the tiger
pretended
not to notice…
Clutching the whisker tightly in her hand, she backed away slowly, thanking the tiger softly and then went down the path, walking not running, towards the mountain hermit’s house.
“Oh, Famous One!” She cried, ” I have it! I have the tiger’s whisker! Now you can make me the potion you promised so that my husband will be loving and gentle again!”
The hermit took the whisker and examined it, his face alit by the flames of his firepit. Satisfied that it had really come from a tiger, he leaned forward and dropped it into the fire. It vanished immediately in the smoke.
“Oh sir!” the young woman called in anguish. “What have you done!” She proceeded to tell him the story of how patiently, over many weeks she had approached the tiger. “But you have thrown the whisker in the fire! It is all for nothing.”
“No, I do not think it is all for nothing,” explained the hermit. “Is any person more vicious than a tiger? The potion in which you sought was your own courage. You thought you did not have courage because you were afraid of a man. But true courage is being able to feel the fear and still take those steps forward. If you can win the confidence of such a wild creature, surely you can do the same with your husband?”
Hearing this, the young woman stood speechless for a moment. Then she went down the trail, walking but not running, towards home.
You can’t plan this stuff! In card number 10, the Archetypal Podcast is met with the Wheel of Fortune – a fortuitous card that marks a new stage of awareness in the Fool’s journey. After evaluating new moral issues presented by Justice, and time to reflect with the Hermit, the Fool/Hero is ready to chance life more consciously with The Wheel of Fortune. Though she thinks she may have control, the Wheel (often a favorable card when appearing in Tarot readings) quickly shows her that much of life is an inexorable force operating out of our control. Taking their own risks with this card, Julienne and Cyndera discuss an archetype addressing the fortune seekers of the world – The Gambler. Also the voice of the Victim emerged in the podcast, whispering woes from the bottom of the Wheel and warning against buying furniture in “Suckland”. From lessons learned in both life’s wins as well as losses, the message of this card is to let go and spin where the wheel takes you. As always, there is a lively discussion of film, psychological inquiry and insight.
Examples of the Gambler/Wheel of Fortune Archetype in film:
Catch Me If You Can (2002) Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks
Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Twelve (2004) and Thirteen (2007)
Key Words:
• Turning point —– Opportunities —– Possibilities
• Destiny —– Fate —– Superior Forces —– Movement
• Development —– Activity —– Surprises —– Expansion
• Sudden Events —– Speed —– New Developments —– Life Cycles
The Tenth edition of the Archetypal Podcast takes us to meet The Hermit, a figure waiting off the beaten track with the wisdom that only remote regions can give. Card number 9 allows our hero traveling through the Major Arcana to either meet or become this humbled figure full of in-sight, as represented by his seeking lantern. A re-evaluation of his journey is required after a run-in with the objectivity of Justice, before he can once again chance the Wheel of Fortune (Card number 10). Consideration of this card allows us all a moment to reflect without being sucked into eternal isolation – the shadow side of the Hermit. Fresh from a (hot) visit from her hometown of Joshua Tree, California, Cyndera shares fresh inspiration after encountering an old friend who embodies the Hermit archetype. Julienne takes us on a tour of the hermitic nature of the American literary Renaissance along with some insights on the Hermit from film and popular culture.
I also found it amusingly appropriate that Led Zeppelin used the image of the Hermit for their single ‘Stairway To Heaven’ which carries lyrics capturing the ideas of the Hermit’s quest.
In film:
Robert Duvall in Get Low (2009)
Emile Hirsh in Into the Wild (2007)
Bill Murray in Lost in Translation (2003)
Forest Whittaker in Ghost Dog (1999) (Combination of Hermit and Warrior)
Listen in on a conversation with 
stage of the rebirth process where one is asked to call the old selves back up and with it the old stories to release their particular hold on us and see them in a new light.
Angel & Fairy Godmother/Godfather Archetypes in Films & Television:
Who knew that Death could be so funny? But here it is, card number 13 in the Major Arcana. Join Julienne and Cyndera as they look at the archetype of Death from a symbolic and psychological point of view with a dash of added humor. Learn why this inevitable stage for the Hero isn’t the end but an important element to the rest of the journey.
Examples of the Gambler/Wheel of Fortune Archetype in film: 
that only remote regions can give. Card number 9 allows our hero traveling through the Major Arcana to either meet or become this humbled figure full of in-sight, as represented by his seeking lantern. A re-evaluation of his journey is required after a run-in with the objectivity of Justice, before he can once again chance the Wheel of Fortune (Card number 10). Consideration of this card allows us all a moment to reflect without being sucked into eternal isolation – the shadow side of the Hermit. Fresh from a (hot) visit from her hometown of Joshua Tree, California, Cyndera shares fresh inspiration after encountering an old friend who embodies the Hermit archetype. Julienne takes us on a tour of the hermitic nature of the American literary Renaissance along with some insights on the Hermit from film and popular culture.
I also found it amusingly appropriate that Led Zeppelin used the image of the Hermit for their single ‘Stairway To Heaven’ which carries lyrics capturing the ideas of the Hermit’s quest.