Tarot and the I Ching give you two ways to explore the same question. Bringing the readings into one conversation lets you compare the interpretations and work out what deserves your attention.
Suppose you've been offered a new job. The pay is better, and the work sounds interesting. You still feel unsure. You might ask, “Should I take the job?” But another question could help you understand your hesitation: “Am I excited about this role, or mostly relieved that I could leave my current one?”
Your answer matters. You could accept a perfectly good offer and discover that the new job has the same problem you wanted to leave behind.
Tarot gives you an image to respond to
A Tarot card gives you something specific to look at. A person stands alone. Two people exchange cups. Someone carries a load that blocks their view.
You can start with the scene before looking up a meaning. Who is doing what? Which detail catches your attention? How does the scene relate to the question you asked?
Consider the Two of Wands in the Rider–Waite–Smith deck. The figure holds a globe and looks out from a high wall. A. E. Waite describes those details in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot.[1] Rachel Pollack's The New Tarot Handbook discusses the card as a choice between familiar security and new experience.[5]
For our hypothetical job offer, we could use that image to explore how much of the new role you've actually seen. The opportunity looks appealing from a distance. What would a normal Tuesday in that job involve?
That question comes from our reflective interpretation of the picture. Other readers may emphasize different details.
The I Ching adds another way to consider the situation
The I Ching, or Book of Changes, uses figures called hexagrams. Each hexagram has six solid or broken lines and accompanying text. Readers consult the text in relation to their question.
In the same illustrative reading, imagine receiving Hexagram 53, often called Gradual Development. In I Ching, the Oracle, Benebell Wen names the hexagram Steadfast and describes progress that develops gradually on a firm foundation.[6] James Legge's historical commentary also connects the hexagram with gradual advance.[2]
Applied to the job offer, that theme could draw your attention to the transition. What would you need to learn? What support would help you settle into the role? Which questions should you ask before accepting?
The example uses Tarot imagery to examine your view of the opportunity and the I Ching to examine the transition. Both traditions can address feelings and practical choices. Their emphasis depends on the particular reading.
Carl Jung noticed a connection
Carl Jung wrote the foreword to the Wilhelm–Baynes translation of the I Ching. Jung described years of consulting the book and considered how a reading could relate to the questioner's present circumstances.[3]
Jung also discussed Tarot. In a seminar on March 1, 1933, Jung described Tarot's symbolic images and explicitly compared the practice with the I Ching as a way of reading present conditions.[4]
Jung's comparison gives the conversation a documented historical connection. DuoSages develops its own way of bringing the readings together and discussing their meaning with the reader.
Your reply can change the interpretation
A follow-up question helps you test a reading against your actual circumstances.
Return to the job offer. Perhaps the combined interpretation suggests that you should prepare carefully. You might reply, “I've spent six months researching this role. I've met the team twice. I think I'm afraid to make the change.”
That detail deserves attention. You can ask which preparation would still be useful and which questions you've already answered.
Or you might say, “I haven't met my future manager. I just want to get out of my current job.” Your next step could be to arrange that conversation. You now have a specific gap to address.
DuoSages brings Tarot and the I Ching into this kind of continuing exchange. You can ask where an interpretation comes from, share a detail, or explain why a suggestion doesn't fit.
Try ending a reading with one practical sentence
After a reading, complete this sentence: “Before I decide, I want to find out…”
For the job offer, your sentence might be: “Before I decide, I want to find out how often the team works late.” You could ask the manager about a recent busy week and speak with a future colleague about the team's usual hours.
The reading has given you a question you can investigate. You can bring what you learn back to the conversation.
Sources
- A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith, Part III, Two of Wands. Read the card description.
- The I Ching, translated by James Legge, Hexagram 53 and commentary. Read the passage.
- C. G. Jung, foreword to the Wilhelm–Baynes translation of The I Ching or Book of Changes. Read Jung's foreword.
- C. G. Jung, seminar of March 1, 1933, recorded in Visions: Notes of the Seminar Given in 1930–1934, edited by Claire Douglas. Read a reproduction of the passage.
- Rachel Pollack, The New Tarot Handbook, Two of Wands.
- Benebell Wen, I Ching, the Oracle, Hexagram 53: Jiàn, Steadfast.
The job-offer reading and dialogue are illustrative examples created for this article. The contemporary interpretations express DuoSages' approach to reflection.
