Liminal Tarot

Liminal: a crossing over space; in process; transitional period; threshold; movement from one stage to another. The liminal shakes us out of our habitual patterns and invites us to surrender to uncertainty. Transformation only happens when we allow it. "Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." ~Sharon Begley 0 - Fool Seen from below, a jester watches a kite swirl and dip, unaware of the step he's about to take off a crumbling cliff. While his dog tries to grab the kite's string and alert him, he's definitely about to take a fall. The Fool is not tied down by fear or preference; he moves in wonder a…

1 – Magus Even among a chaotic whirl of cups, wands, swords, and discs, this magus keeps his focus steady. His right hand holds a rod in the air while his left hand points downward, touching a rod of Asclepius. Below the rod lies a stone tablet. The magus illustrates how the physical world responds to intentional action. He combines his knowledge (stone tablet) with volition, or the intention behind his action. For the magus, his mind is an ally, not a distraction. The crossing lines remind me of mind mapping; he sees his resources (symbols of the four suits), how they relate to each other, and how to combine them to manifest his will. His volition is the…

2 - Priestess A veiled priestess, wearing the headdress of Hathor/Isis, holds a sistrum and is flanked by two glowing columns. Her throne is surrounded by water; by her feet cobras rear their heads (the reared cobra hieroglyph represents a goddess or priestess). The two pillars attached to the throne - one topped with a new moon and the other with an eclipsed sun - suggest that the Priestess shows another way to approach life. While the Magus was busy manifesting what he desired, his self-will also creating a big ego. Although he knows the power of intent and intellect, the Priestess knows the power of stillness and silence to see beyond the ego's judgmen…

3 – Empress A young yet mature-looking woman rests with her hands on her pregnant belly. She gazes at an apple tree with a squirrel in its branches. A red dragon sits beside her, and behind her a field of wheat grows under the sun and the moon. The Empress is the Great Mother (or Mother Nature) archetype. Her purpose is to love, sustain, and renew all that she creates. She is pure sensuality and emotion. Her wheat and apples supply nourishment and health; the seeds within offer a chance for renewal. Like the squirrel, she wants to create and gather what is needed to provide for those she loves. The red dragon (the symbolic color of blood and love),…

4 – Emperor This Emperor is illustrated as a sea captain, keeping a watch on the waters all around his ship with a hand on his sword. His companions are a red dragon and a cormorant. If the Empress runs on pure emotion, the Emperor runs on cold logic. He equates emotion as a summer rain that could possibly turn into a flood. His motto would mirror the words of Henry Adams: “Chaos was the law of nature; Order was the dream of man.” Like a ship’s captain, he attempts to steer his kingdom toward his goals while protecting it from storms and marauders. The structure provided by law and order is what he relies on to protect his people and sustain civili…

5 – Hierophant With branch-arms raised, a sentient face peers out from the bark of a large, old tree. Several similar, smaller trees surround the older one. Cline’s choice for the Hierophant immediately made me think of Peter Wohlleben’s book, The Hidden Life of Trees. The forester describes how trees communicate to each other through chemical release signals when something eats one, resulting in the others releasing a toxic substance in their leaves. They also communicate through an underground fungal network that connects their roots, allowing an exchange of ‘news’ and nutrients. Wohlleben writes: “A tree is not a forest. On its own, a tree canno…

6 – Lovers Surrounded by pastel colored clouds, two winged beings gaze into the other’s eyes as they hold each other. The Lovers represents a choice, a union and/or a commitment. The choice might be based on a transactional motive – give to get – or it might be based on love and respect for another. The pastel clouds makes me think of the ‘pink cloud’ syndrome, an initial period of elation and euphoria when some novelty pings the reward center in the brain (increasing dopamine levels). Attraction based only on the excitement of something new will rarely stand the test of time. Union suggests a coming together and intimacy. Do we look for something …

7 – Chariot A young charioteer, with a crab on his breastplate, uses beams emanating from his forehead to rein in his dragons. A body of water lies before him. The verses from Hinduism’s Katha Upanishad give me a lens with which to view this card: Know the true self as a rider in a chariot, and the body as the chariot. Know the intellect as the charioteer, and the mind as the reins. The senses are the horses, and the objects of sense what they range over. Those who lack understanding and discernment have an undisciplined mind. Their senses run hither and thither like wild horses. The mind, in this analogy…

8 – Strength A lion looks contentedly at a woman who radiates golden light. This card asks us what kind of relationship we have with our inner beast that shows up in the form of anger, impatience, or frustration. Do we let it run amok, try to suppress it, or use its energy in useful ways? The beast running amok believes that somehow its powerful energy will change what has already happened or can even the score. But it doesn’t see reality clearly, nor does it think about any consequences and unintended effects these actions may have. The caged (suppressed) beast will unleash its power on our physical body and mental health, destroying our well-bein…

9 –Hermit A very tall angel holds two lanterns, one by her side and another that gives off wide beams of light. A rope is attached to the large lantern and drops down below. The small lantern represents the insights this Hermit has obtained through solitude and contemplation. These insights are based on self-awareness – the awareness of one’s thought processes and the underlying patterns behind them. What are our triggers, motives, and biased assumptions? How do they affect our lives? Tasha Eurich writes, “Research suggests that when we see ourselves clearly, we are more confident and more creative. We make sounder decisions, build stronger relati…

10 – Fortuna Fortuna, Roman goddess of both the unforeseen and fortuitous turns of life, rolls a spoked wheel with her feet. Blinded by a lock of hair across her face, she leaves a trail of coins that fall from her cornucopia. (Is that also a falling fortune cookie?) Fortuna represents the movement of time and all the changes of circumstances it brings. She is like the Pied Piper of Impermanence. All things, though they may appear solid and unchanging, are temporary. And as if change were not enough to deal with, it appears good fortune isn’t reserved only for those who are “good.” To paraphrase a biblical passage, the sun shines and the rain falls…

11 – Adjustment With beams of light streaming from her laurel-wreathed head, a woman holds a babe in each arm while balancing on tiptoe atop a golden ball. A translucent set of scales rests on her shoulders. The two babes might symbolize knowledge and integrity. Integrity is adherence to moral and ethical principles. The trouble with moral standards is that they come from social, religious, philosophical, and political groups of humans, which leaves much room for error. For instance, it wasn’t too long ago that slavery was considered perfectly fine by many of these groups (unless you happened to be the slave). On the other hand, knowledge can lag b…

12 – Hanged One With his/her feet tied to a tree branch, a person hangs upside down. They are surrounded by a golden cocoon of light and hold an ouroboros in the shape of the number eight. The Fool has learned about himself, about relationships and society. These interactions with his environment have helped shape his self-identity (also known as the ego*). He has developed a concept of me/you, us/them, and formed beliefs that shape his choices. He has strategies for reaching goals and the self-confidence to deal with day-to-day life. Nothing seems too big for him to manage or control - until life intervenes to prove him wrong. He suddenly finds h…

13 – Death A figure cloaked in black reaches out with skeletal hands. A part bird- part human animal seems to lean into the cloaked figure. Its human leg is an ashy color. We all lose things – keys, cell phones, reading glasses, our coffee cup – but these are generally small losses that produce little more than annoyance or frustration. But then there are the greater losses – the job that was fulfilling and provided a livelihood that ends, divorce, the death of a much loved pet, or watching a parent or spouse’s memory being wiped away by dementia. These kinds of endings constrict our hearts and our bodies, making it seem as if an internal fire is b…

14 – Temperance Beside a weeping willow, an angelic being forms an alchemic mixture from the sun and moon that results in a rainbow. She stands with one foot on land and one in the water. A heron flies overhead as a fish jumps from the water. Temperance shows several opposite poles – the sun and moon, the land and water, the prey (fish) and predator (heron). It doesn’t seem a coincidence that a card that cautions against excesses follows a card about endings (Death). Humans often act out when dealing with a loss, overindulging their personal desires beyond common sense or reason. Yet Temperance isn’t about labeling one thing ‘good’ and another ‘bad…

15 – Devil This Devil could be the guy next door if it weren’t for the horns, wings and tail wrapped around his groin. He playfully holds out a collar attached to a chain while behind him the hands and feet of captives try to escape a thicket of golden ropes. The Devil is a personification of desire, not a bad thing in general. But our desire for praise, success, pleasure and fame can turn into an obsession, a fevered longing and thirst that can bypass ethical and healthy parameters. Hooked by a craving we’ve defined as happiness, we develop a frenzied desire for things to be other than they are. Once under the spell of this hunger, we are willing …

16 – Tower In the darkness of night a tower explodes, raining down debris. Two people, with looks of surprise and fear frozen on their faces, rush toward the ground in free-fall. In a constantly changing world, humans instinctively seek stability. We might accumulate money and possessions, social and political power, or knowledge and information. Others might become expert planners and organizers, always paying their insurance, having a strict health regimen, and keeping a sizable savings account for emergencies. At some point, our ego might convince us that what we have and do makes us untouchable, unlike the rest of the population. If so, our tac…

17 – Star A star-shaped figure, flanked on each side by three stars, pours out two pitchers of water. One pitcher creates five streams and the other a small pool. The trees are bare; a large bird sits atop one tree. The Fool arrives in this desolate, green-less landscape feeling miserable, as if life has ground him beneath her heel. I like to imagine the five streams in the Star as the five rivers in the Underworld that he’s traveled through up to this point: Styx – ‘abhorrence’ – Hanged One Lethe – ‘oblivion’ – Devil Cocytus – ‘wailing’ – Death Phlegethon – ‘fire’ – Tower …

18 – Moon The personification of the Moon is illustrated as a woman, wrapped only in the swirling waves of the ocean. She extends a smaller moon to the Fool (or us) while below a hermit crab rides the waves. As soon as the Fool is rested and healed, the Star pushes him off the high dive into the oceanic waters of his subconscious. The subconscious is the part of the mind not currently in conscious awareness; it is the storehouse of one’s knowledge and prior experience. Like the moon that reflects the light of the sun, it reflects back to us in symbolic language what is stored there. The subconscious is very sensitive to anything perceived that even…

19 – Sun Two children, dressed in bear and fox costumes, enjoy a sunny day playing in a garden. Having spent a mind-bending evening with the Moon, the Fool wakes to find himself in a garden. As he enjoys the warmth of the Sun, he considers the question, “What makes a life well-lived?” He reflects on what he has learned and experienced – the power of the mind and emotions, the importance of relationships, the natural laws of change and impermanence, and the need for balance and moderation in all things. He realizes his intentions are as important as his actions, and that he doesn’t have to believe everything he thinks. In this moment of clarity, he …

20 – Angel (Judgment) People rise from the ground as an angel, surrounded by a bright light, blows a trumpet. After a day with the Sun, the Fool (Wise Child) sleeps deeply. He’s startled from his slumber by the loud blast of a trumpet and a great light. Watching with amazement and a little fear, he sees an angel summon people seemingly from beneath the earth. He stutters, “Are you here to punish me for my mistakes?” The messenger shakes his head and answers, “It is not the past but the present of concern to me. I am here to awaken you to a sacred view of the world, an understanding that you do not yet have.” He produces a vision of a net* that stre…

20 – Anima Mundi (World) A mythical beast, with a body made up of various animals, floats in a vesica piscis above the world. The Fool (Wise Child) blinks and finds himself floating in the darkness of space with a view of the world and a strange beast in a doorway above it. “What are you?” he asks. The beast tells him it is the Anima Mundi, the Soul of the World. “What you see is what your mind imagines. I am actually a formless, boundless energy that permeates all of nature – even you. My essence runs through all like a luminous cord through an infinite number of beads. I am the life force that animates and informs. My power can be found in the a…