Exploring Tarot's Minor Arcana, Part One

Does it correspond with the three levels of relating?

Dearest readers,

My hope for each of you this week is that you are surrounded by the support and resources you most need. May you experience a sense of safety, and may your hearts know fulfillment and plenty.💖💖

I’ve been playing around with an idea that marries together a few bits of wisdom I’ve learned and wanted to share it here to see what you think.

I’ve been a student of Caroline Myss for many years, and her teachings on archetypes, as well as the three levels of experience—literal, inner, and symbolic—have completely changed how I see the world. My guides often remind me that we’re collectively moving toward a more relational way of being, and that lens has shaped how I receive guidance. Now, I tend to see these three levels as not just stages of experience, but as levels of relating, inviting us to explore our connections with greater depth and awareness.

Here’s a very brief overview of these levels of relating:

• The Literal Level: This is where we relate with our physical, external reality in a very personal way. It’s where events and experiences happen to us. Often, we try to make sense of power dynamics here. It’s where we might experience being overpowered and respond by attempting to overpower others in return.

• The Inner Level: After enough time in the literal, something shifts within. We reach a point where we say, “Enough. I have to change how I’m relating with things.” This is the moment we realize we can choose how to respond, and so we turn inward, seeking the wisdom that comes from relating with one’s deepest self.

• The Symbolic Level: When we’ve strengthened our relationship with this deepest self, we then return our focus to the outer world, but now with symbolic sight. We seee the interconnectedness of all things, and recognize that nothing is exclusively personal. Our responses to the world become creative acts of empowerment.

These levels are not linear or hierarchical; we flow through them in waves, in moments, moving between them based on circumstances and where we are in our journey.

Can this framework fit the minor arcana?

One morning, while doing a tarot spread, the cards seemed to be whispering something new to me. It was as though they asked to be fit into the framework of the three levels of relating. As I played with it, I began to see a beautiful correspondence forming. Here’s the way it fell into place:

• Aces through Sevens: These cards align with the literal level, focusing on how we relate to the external world.

• Eights through Tens: These cards reflect the inner level, guiding us to turn inward for wisdom and insight.

• Court Cards: The courts correspond to the symbolic level, where we apply symbolic sight to our interactions with the outer world.

Today I want to explore the aces through tens within this framework to see how they might help us navigate the ways we relate first with the outside world and then with our own inner worlds.

Aces: The Birth of Relating

In the Aces, the universe gifts us with a tool for relating with a particular field of energy. These four energy fields can be roughly described as physical (pentacles), spiritual (wands), emotional (cups), and mental (swords).

Some keywords for each suit might be:

• Pentacles—wealth, health, cultivation, fertility, physical resources, bones

• Wands—life force, inspiration, creativity, passion, action, nervous system

• Cups—love, intuition, emotional fulfillment, connection, heart

• Swords—clarity, truth, perception, awareness, ideas, mind

In this framework, the Aces are the foundation of our personal way of relating with the external world. When they come up in a reading, I believe they are asking us to look at how we are stewarding this tool in a very general sense. How are we relating with these fields of energy in our lives?

Twos: The Recognition of Self and Other

In the twos, we experience duality—the moment when oneness splits into two. Here, we encounter the "other," whether it be another person, perspective, or path. The twos often ask us to make a choice; to recognize the existence of something else.

I think maybe in the twos is a call to look at the other, to regard the other, to understand that it's not just us—that there's something else out there. Perhaps it’s another way or means; another passion; another heart; or another point of view.

Threes: The Thread of Connection

The threes really introduce the concept of relationship. Now that we’ve recognized the other, we begin to engage with it. This could be a relationship with a project, an experience, another person, or even an idea.

Whatever the form of relationship, I like to think of the threes as the reconciling or connective force; that third thing—the invisible pair of hands that comes in to weave the twos together.

And then, again, we can ask ourselves: how are we tending this? Is it through cooperation and collaboration? Through shared life force and movement? Through joyful celebration? Or might it be through overthinking, mistrust, sharp words and an awareness of past hurts?

Fours: Stability in Relationship

The fours are all about stability. Here, the cards ask, "What is needed to create stability in the way I’m currently relating with the external world?"

As the cards suggest, perhaps we need to get clear on how we can relate from a place of security versus clinging to resources. Or perhaps what’s called for is commitment, or contemplation, or introspection and rest.

Fives: Disruption and Change

The fives call our attention to the fact that change is inevitable. Now that we've attained some amount of stability in the fours, how do we respond when change comes in and disrupts it?

What will we choose when life brings us scarcity, conflict, loss or miscommunication? There seems to be a call here towards acceptance of these inevitabilities and just being fully in that experience.

Sixes: Integration and Expansion

Following the upheaval of the fives, the sixes ask us, “What now?” How will we relate with life going forward?

Will we integrate the changes of the fives with generosity? Triumph? A return to innocence (versus hardening our hearts)? Trust?

Sevens: The Last Hurrah of the Literal Level

To me, the sevens mirror the energy of The Chariot in the major arcana—an external push forward. I like to think of them as the way we follow through with action after the experiences from the first six cards. If the sixes asked how we are going to integrate or expand after the change, then the sevens are: how are we going to implement this integration into our external lives?

Will we wait around for something else to happen to us? Will we insist on defending our current position? Will we have clarity and discernment about the way we want to feel? Can we be okay with an awareness of the external world as a place of uncertainty?

The sevens can also reflect the impetus, or inciting event, that causes us to turn inward with the eights.

---

Turning Inward: The Eights and the Inner Level of Experience

With the eights, we finally turn inward. After navigating the experiences of the first seven cards, we’ve come to realize that the ways we’ve always engaged with the external world aren’t quite working. Something’s missing—our own inner wisdom. In the eights, we shift our focus to our inner selves. This is the moment when, having gathered insights from our outer experiences, we turn inward to relate with the deepest parts of ourselves.

The eights ask: What about my current circumstances is calling me inward? How can I shift my focus from what is happening to me, to what is happening within me?

Perhaps we’re seeking our own mastery; channeling the magic of life force inward; uncovering the truth of our heart; or discovering how our thoughts and beliefs might be keeping us trapped.

Nines: Wisdom from Within

In the nines, we reach the zenith of our inner relating, our inner wisdom. Having reached this place, we are asked how we will now relate with each field of energy.

• Can we rest in our work, letting what we’ve done come to fruition? Can we release the idea that we have to strive or achieve in order to feel that we’re enough? Can we allow ourselves to bask in the magnificence of our lives?

• Can we remember to rely on our own inner fire regardless of external circumstances?

• Can we give ourselves the gift of emotional fulfillment?

• Can we wake up to a peaceful mind, free from mind-loops and overthinking?

Tens: Completion and New Beginnings

The tens represent both the culmination of this cycle and the possibility of a new one. With each ten, we are faced with a choice: do we move into the court cards—and the level of symbolic sight—or do we begin a new cycle at the literal level? Either way, the tens hold the potential for both endings and beginnings.

The tens ask us:

• Do we come to understand the physical realm as one of deep connection, where we are part of a vast web that links all life, including ancestors and descendants? Can we recognize the collective as something far greater than the individual self?

• Can we remember that enthusiasm means "gods within"—that our passion and life force are gifts from something beyond us, and we don’t carry that burden alone?

• Do we open ourselves to the love of family and community? Can we embrace these connections, knowing they are the way to a full heart?

• Can we surrender and accept the present moment as it is, without the need to have all the answers?

---

Stay tuned for Part Two where we’ll explore the court cards and the level of symbolic sight.

---

What do you think? Does this correspondence of the minor arcana with the levels of relating resonate with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

P.S. It’s not too late to join our Sacred Roots course and community! We’re having a great time and would love for you to join us. Check out Module One of the course here. All you have to do to get access to the entire course is upgrade to paid subscriber. Easy peasy! 🤗