Interview: Barbara Moore

I had the great opportunity to interview Barbara Moore over the holidays. 

Go ahead and introduce yourself.

I’m Barbara Moore. Tarot has been part of my life for almost 30 years, and over the past 22 years it has also been my job and main way of earning income. Currently, I am the acquisitions editor for Llewellyn’s tarot line. I am also an author, deck creator, and teacher. I quit reading professionally about 5 years ago in order to devote more time to projects I love, like deck creation. Although I consider myself a Minnesota girl, for the past two years I’ve lived in northern California, tucked away in a valley surrounded by farms and animals.

What is your favorite book?

At my age, is it impossible to a single favorite book? I’ve loved so many. While I value non-fiction (I learn best by reading, so I depend on books), I rarely fall in love with non-fiction books, no matter how grateful I am for them. Oftentimes my favorite is whatever novel I’m currently reading, which right now is The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern and it is perfectly wonderful! Poetic, creative, complex…all about books and full of symbols as well as a love story between Fate and Time. I’m smitten. Another novel I read a few years and still think about is The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. If I had to pick what book affected me most deeply, I would have to pick two books that in my opinion have to be read in sequence. The first is amazing on its own, but with its follow up, it is even more astonishing. These books are The Sparrow and Children of God by Mary Doria Russell.

For non-fiction, if I had to pick a few favorites, they would be The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers and To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donohue.

My guilty pleasure reading is the The Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher.

If you practice a spiritual path, what is it? Why were you drawn to it? 

I do not. I am more like a spiritual magpie, kitchen witch, do what works person. I sometimes wish I had a path that I was drawn to…it would be so much easier than making it up as I go along.

Do you have any daily rituals? If so what are they?

My daily rituals change as my needs and interests change. Currently, the only things I do actually every day is pull a tarot card, do 10 – 20 minutes of yoga in the morning, and at night I bless our valley, the land, and all the people and animals on it. I have other things I do on a regular basis or as needed but not necessarily daily.

What first made you interested in tarot? 

In college, I was in an interdisciplinary program and studied history, art history, philosophy, literature, mythology, psychology, math, and science. I loved how I could trace the threads of all these subjects influencing each other as they wove through human history. At a party, someone pulled out a deck of cards, the Rider Waite Smith, and as soon as I held them in my hands, I knew I was holding something special…something that felt like the sum of all human knowledge and a tool that could tell any story that needed telling. Thirty years later and I can verify that my initial instinct was correct. 

What were some of your earliest experiences with tarot like?

Mostly like a self-directed course in tarot, psychology, and mythology. I was obsessed with tarot and Jung. I spent many hours with Jung and Tarot: An Archetypal Journey by Sallie Nichols. My first readings used only the Majors because that is all she covered in her nearly 400-page book. She included one spread and I used it over and over. Eventually I got my sister and a friend interested in tarot, so we studied and did readings together. But there wasn’t an internet at the time, very few books, and not nearly the number of decks we have today. We were very casual about it, sitting at the kitchen table, having drinks, and laying out the cards. I don’t remember us worrying about doing it wrong, the way I see many newcomers to the cards worrying today.

What techniques did you use to learn tarot?

There were two main techniques. One was basically just thinking about tarot…and history, psychology, mythology, literature, art, physics…and finding patterns connecting everything. The other usually involved drinking, my friend or my sister, and a deck of cards. Like I said, we just thought about things we were curious about, threw some cards, and saw what we saw.

After about five years of casual study and experimentation, I learned about the American Tarot Association and their mentorship and certification program. I love degrees and certificates (and back then, naïvely, didn’t question whether it was good or bad, right or wrong), and felt like it would both fun and helpful for me to sum up my path to that point. Still not really much of an internet and email wasn’t that common, so it was all done via correspondence…pens, paper, stamps. In fact, the certification required sending in a cassette tape of a live reading! Can you imagine? Makes me feel old. Anyhow, the certification program asked me to provide my keywords and longer interpretations for all the cards, upright and reversed. I worked surrounded by all the books I bought (all that I could find, but as I said not that many), my notebooks, and my cards. Working card-by-card, I’d read the relevant texts in the books, make notes on parts I agreed with or found provocative. Then I’d form all the information into a coherent essay, and then distill that down to a key sentence and some key words. It was time consuming but an excellent way to synthesize my five years of self-study.

What was your first tarot deck?

Although I find it hard to believe today when I look at the deck, it was the Haindl Tarot. When I had it, I was mostly only working with the Majors. After seeing how the Haindl was so unusual and how most books talked about the Rider Waite Smith, that was my next deck, although I loved collecting them, even early in my tarot life. Because decks were not easy to find, seeing ones in stores that I’d never seen before was always a special treat.

What is your favorite tarot deck besides some of your own?

I’ve had many favorites over the years. Some stay favorites for years, some for months…or even less. One of my favorite true loves was the World Spirit Tarot. I liked it so much that I traded with the artist for an original piece of the art (6 of Cups) and in return, I knit her toddler a sweater. I also loved the Nigel Jackson Tarot (and bought a piece of his original art, Temperance). Currently, I’m enchanted by the Dark Mansion, Pagan Otherworlds, and Dreaming Way Tarot. This winter I’m really looking forward to diving into Benebell Wen’s Spirit Keeper’s Tarot.

What card are you most drawn to? Why?

The Hermit. I am a Hermit by nature and like to take time to think about and absorb things in my own time and my own way. I prefer to be alone and like a quiet life without lots of distractions. When tarot came into my life, everything I read about the Hermit card resonated with me. Later, I learned that it is one of birth cards. The Hermit is in my blood. It is like my core card and I can always return to it to find answers and guidance whenever I feel I’m getting off track I also have a tendency to isolate myself, so it is also a good reminder to balance my Hermitness with more social and community activities. 

 

What is your favorite card? Why?

Temperance has been my favorite from the beginning; however, the Star has become very dear to me over this past year. I went through a bad patch of life and the Star was part of what saved me.

Temperance is such a beautiful card. Temperance is more than just equal amounts of things; it is the blending of the perfect amounts of the perfect things. It is grace under pressure. It is doing the right thing at the right time. No matter how the external circumstances change, Temperance can always retain her balance. The Wheel of Fortune has creatures clutching the edges of the Wheel, suffering the vicissitudes of life. I always picture Temperance standing at the center of the Wheel, unaffected and watching all the drama move around her. 

After going through a quintessential “Death” year, it was hard clawing my way out of depression and confusion. When telling a fellow tarot friend about it, she asked, “if you are done with Death, what card would you like next?” I thought about it and concluded that the Star was the medicine that I needed. I made paper stars covered in glitter and hung them all over the house. I read all I could about what other people wrote about the star. I drew pictures inspired by the card. I did yoga poses that opened my heart to the Star and her gentle healing, grace, and guidance. The Star was a life preserver and helped keep me afloat until I was strong enough to bring in another card. Now I have a practice where I pick a card to be my specific guide through a particular phase in my life (this is not based on time but on need…so not like “every season” based on the calendar but based on what I’m experiencing in my life). My current card is the Empress. I’m finding that with the Empress right now, she is also bringing in the Minor threes.

Can you introduce the various tarot decks you have worked on?

I can, but it’s a pretty long list, since I’ve worked on many. Some I completely designed, including directing the artist and some I just wrote the little booklet for…and everything in between.

These are the decks and books that I consider the most “mine,” meaning that they were mainly my idea and execution:

• Llewellyn’s Classic Tarot

• Llewellyn’s Little Book of Tarot

• Tarot for Beginners

• Modern Guide to Energy Clearing

• Steampunk Tarot

• Tarot in Wonderland

• Tarot Spreads

• Wizards Tarot

Here is a more complete list, but doesn’t include quite everything (because no one wants that much detail!):

• Barbieri Tarot

• Barbieri Zodiac Oracle

• Book of Shadows Tarot, volumes 1 and 2

• Cats Inspirational Oracle

• Color Your Tarot

• Earth Wisdom Oracle

• Enchanted Oracle

• Epic Tarot

• Gilded Tarot

• Green Oracle

• Llewellyn’s Tarot Calendar 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021

• Llewellyn’s Classic Tarot

• Llewellyn’s Little Book of Tarot

• Modern Guide to Energy Clearing

• Mystic Dreamer Tarot

• Mystic Faerie Tarot

• Mystical Manga Tarot

• Pagan Cats Tarot

• Pagan Magical Kit

• Primordial Tarot (forthcoming)

• Shadowscapes Tarot

• Silver Witchcraft Tarot

• Steampunk Tarot

• Sweet Twilight Tarot

• Tarot of the Dream Enchantress

• Tarot for Beginners

• Tarot in Wonderland

• Tarot Made Easy

• Tarot of the Hidden Realm

• Tarot Spreads

• Vampires Tarot of the Eternal Night

• What Tarot Can Do For You

• Witch Crystals

• Wizards Tarot (forthcoming)

• Your Tarot Your Way

What is your favorite tarot project you have worked on? Why?

The Steampunk Tarot. It was the first project that I felt like came almost entirely from me. The artist, Aly Fell, of course brought so much (and even helped with some cards where my descriptions didn’t work) to the project, but the concept and card descriptions were mine. Not only that, but Aly brought them to life so beautifully. Finally, the book…it was my favorite to write. I got to be completely myself in a way I’ve not done with projects that are either more collaborative or that are just books to go with an already made deck. It was fun to write and when I go back and reread it, I still love it. I’m also the proudest of it because not only is a good expression from my heart but also because as a tarot deck it works! I’ve heard from so many people (and experienced it myself) that these cards are just bursting with stories and are quite easy to read as well as being beautiful (assuming you like steampunk style).

What has your creative and published the process been like?

“Varied” is the best word. While there are some similarities between projects, each one is also very unique. “Fortunate” and “blessed” are also good words because I feel so very lucky to have the many opportunities that came my way. Sometimes the ideas come from me alone, oftentimes my publisher has an idea and asks me to explore it. Sometimes it is more like a work for hire, where I’m hired to be the voice of a deck that is already created. All are fun in their own ways.

Has there been any frustrations along the way from various concepts to production? If so, what have they been?

To be honest, there haven’t been that many frustrations. Probably the most frustrating project was the Book of Shadows. This was a long time ago and before Lo Scarabeo had a good understanding that witchcraft, Wicca, paganism, and magic are things people take very seriously and, in some cases, such as with Wicca, it is their religion, and these topics have to be taken seriously. There was also a language barrier. I wrote it in English, then someone translated the text to Italian. In these cases, there is no back and forth with the artist, so if they got my vision wrong, there was nothing to be done. The first round of images for this project were too sexy and objectified and I insisted that new images be made. It was a hard stance, but necessary. In the end, it all worked out really well. So even my most frustrating experience wasn’t that bad in the end.

How would you recommend one of your decks to someone?

I try to find out what their interests are, what they are drawn to in terms of art, and what their previous tarot experience has been. There is no (in my opinion) one deck fits all. For beginners, I normally suggest an easy to read RWS clone, so ones like Llewellyn’s Classic, Mystical Manga, or Steampunk. To be honest, if someone asks for a deck recommendation, I don’t necessarily stick to just my works. I admire so many decks and will suggest them, if I feel they’d be the best fit for the person asking. 

What advice would you give for choosing a deck?

If they are complete beginners, I’d suggest a RWS clone in an art style they like. If they have more experience, then I’d ask which type of decks/systems they prefer, such as RWS, Marseilles, Thoth, or something completely different. If they are more interested in intuitive work, then something like the Tarot of the Hidden Realm, which isn’t for everyone, but for those who click with it, it seems perfect.

What advice would you give for learning the art of tarot?

That depends on the student. People learn differently. Some do best if they just jump in and start reading the images. Some like to read and study on their own. Some prefer a teacher or structured program. So I would say, take whatever approach you take to learning any new skill and do the same with tarot. Regardless of the style of learning, practice is just as important. Reading books and studying will only get you so far. Practice as much as possible to integrate what you learn. And don’t limit yourself to learning tarot. Your tarot readings are influenced by every part of your life, everything you read or listen to, just like any other art. Fill your well with not just tarot but as much wisdom from as many sources as you can.

Do you have any rituals you follow when you do a reading? If so, do these rituals differ from when you read for someone and when you read for yourself? 

When I read for others, I keep things simple. My rituals are silent and not observable by the client (silent prayer to start, shuffling three times, offering thanks when finished). When I read for myself I either just throw the cards on the table (least effective!) or make a full-blown ritual (cast a circle, call in specific guides). I think in reading for myself, I get more out of the reading when I make it special.

Because my life has been challenging over the past three years, I’ve rarely read for others. If I’m not in a good place, if my well isn’t full, I have nothing to offer others. So I’ve refrained. As my life gets more stable and I think about reading for others again, I am contemplating the need for more ritual in a way that is visible to and includes the client. I wonder if the attempts over the past 30 years to make tarot more normalized (and more mainstream) has taken something from the experience of consulting the cards. I wonder if people wouldn’t welcome (and indeed, need) more ritual in their lives. Maybe consulting the cards should have a sense of mystery and wonder to it. 

Do you have anything else to add?

Only to thank you for the opportunity! Who doesn’t love to talk about themselves? I got to talk about myself and about talk so much. It’s been fun and hopefully will be interesting to your readers. 

Four Powers of the Sphinx

"What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three in the evening?"

Eliphas Levi put forth the Four Powers of the Sphinx and these powers were deeply related to the Magi of old. These powers became the baseline traits for anyone working magic and in the realm of the spiritual to gain wisdom. In Levi's own words he writes:

“To attain the SANCTUM REGNUM, in other words, the knowledge and power of the Magi, there are four indispensable conditions an intelligence illuminated by study, an intrepidity which nothing can check, a will which cannot be broken, and a prudence which nothing can corrupt and nothing intoxicate. TO KNOW, TO DARE, TO WILL, TO KEEP SILENCE such are the four words of the Magus, inscribed upon the four symbolical forms of the sphinx.” 

To Levi, the Magi were carriers of wisdom and magical traditions and to be a magician one needed to aspire to be like the Magi because Levi also stated," magic is the traditional science of the secrets of nature which has been transmitted to us from the magi.” 

So, in translation for one to be proficient in their craft they need to know what they are doing and theory behind it, they need to be fearless on that study, possess exceptional stamina and a strong inner strength, and to understand when to keep silent about their practices in addition to idle talk. Even though Levi brought these into modern light the wisdom of the Four Powers can be found in much older Hermetics and other mystery schools. These Four Powers also have elemental correlations:

• TO KNOW - Air
• TO DARE - Water
• TO WILL - Fire
• TO KEEP SILENT - Earth

The Four Powers of the Sphinx made it into ceremonial magical traditions (such as the Golden Dawn) and countless other craft traditions around 1950. Around that time it became known as the Witches' Pyramid (it is almost exclusively known by this today). 

During the same time period Aliester Crowly also incorporated this into his Thelema and added a 5th power known as TO GO, which correlates to the element of Spirit. TO GO means that we must put our souls into our work and apply the other Powers to our every day life. This would in turn help us to create a balanced life both materially and spiritually. This addition is considered optional by many people and some traditions use it while others don't.

As stated before that this Witches' Pyramid has been incorporated into countless traditions and been written about in countless books. Though, some of the more notable appearances are in Paul Husan's Mastering Witchcraft, Lady Sheba's Book of Shadows, and Christopher Orapello's Besom, Stang, and Sword. 

Even though this is commonly used for magical practices, I think the Witches' Pyramid is a pillar that should be used and put into practice with any spiritual path regardless of that paths use or views on magic. 

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References

What's the chicken for?

Our ancestors and people today have been conducting sacrifice since time immemorial. The English translation of sacrifice comes down to give something up for the greater good. Though, the origin of the word is derived from Latin, meaning, to make sacred. The literary and historical evidence of animal sacrifice are extensive except where the actual ritual is concerned. The ritual aspect is mentioned in several Norse sagas, the Heimskringla, and portions of the Poetic Edda. Many observers mention sacrifice in their manuscripts as well. 

The word and idea if sacrifice has gained a negative connotation in today's world. This is because of modern media, Hollywood, the Christian ideas of good and evil, ignorance, and an extreme disconnection with our food. Even though farmers and people in rural communities do this everyday without spiritual significance.

The truth is, the art of sacrifice is a very solemn, intimate, and respectful affair. The animal in question before the ritual is pampered and made comfortable as possible. This includes being calm around the animal as not to stress it out. During the ritual, the animal is thanked for its sacrifice and it can be asked to deliver messages to the Gods during this time. Then the animal is offered water and sometimes baptized by the water before its life is ended. The ending of the animals life is done is the most humane and respectful way possible. Then, the animal is prepared and cooked for the feast, and thus consumed by all. 

It is truly amazing to me that even when presented with the truth about sacrifice people still repel against it and harsh judgements are made. It is sad that some of these judgements come from people that run in similar spiritual circles that have never experienced sacrifice themselves. 

This situation has caused people who honor this practice to come up with a different term other then sacrifice. The most common alternate term is "Sacred Slaughter", which has led to a schism between it and the definition of sacrifice. Both words still mean to make sacred, but sacrifice is now considered the act when you do not feast on the animal after the ritual.

"Why did the chicken cross the road?" Is the wrong question that we have been asking for to long. What we should be asking instead is, "What's the chicken for?". 

The chicken is for reconnecting with nature.

The chicken is for connecting with your kin.

The chicken is for connecting with your Gods.

The chicken is for connecting with the universe. 

The chicken is for becoming part of the cycle of life.

The chicken is to truly understand sacred. 

The chicken is to connect with your inner self.

The chicken is for becoming the focal point for vibrations and energy and feeling it channeled through you.

That is what the chicken is for.

Carl Jung and Tarot

Although many tarot practitioners apply a Jungian psychological approach to their tarot work, there’s been a question as to whether Jung himself knew anything about tarot. In fact he did, and he would have liked to explore it more deeply but for a lack of hours in the day. Here are some of his references to the cards, although his tarot knowledge, especially of its history, was sorely lacking. 

On 16 September 1930, Jung wrote to a Mrs. Eckstein:

“Yes, I know of the Tarot. It is, as far as I know, the pack of cards originally used by the Spanish gypsies, the oldest cards historically known. They are still used for divinatory purposes.”

[Jung was not always right: Current historical research does not support an original use of the cards by gypsies, nor were tarot cards the oldest known. The ordinary playing card deck (with many variations) preceded tarot by approximately 50 to 75 years. Tarot appeared first in Northern Italy roughly around 1440.]

On 1 March 1933, Carl Jung spoke about the Tarot during a seminar he was conducting on active imagination, demonstrating that he was a little more familiar with these images than we would have thought from just the preceding letter. This is a transcript of his actual spoken words:

“Another strange field of occult experience in which the hermaphrodite appears is the Tarot. That is a set of playing cards, such as were originally used by the gypsies. There are Spanish specimens, if I remember rightly, as old as the fifteenth century. These cards are really the origin of our pack of cards, in which the red and the black symbolize the opposites, and the division of four—clubs, spades, diamonds, and hearts—also belongs to the individuation symbolism. They are psychological images, symbols with which one plays, as the unconscious seems to play with its contents. They combine in certain ways, and the different combinations correspond to the playful development of events in the history of mankind. The original cards of the Tarot consist of the ordinary cards, the king, the queen, the knight, the ace, etc.,—only the figures are somewhat different—and besides, there are twenty-one cards upon which are symbols, or pictures of symbolical situations. For example, the symbol of the sun, or the symbol of the man hung up by the feet, or the tower struck by lightning, or the wheel of fortune, and so on. Those are sort of archetypal ideas, of a differentiated nature, which mingle with the ordinary constituents of the flow of the unconscious, and therefore it is applicable for an intuitive method that has the purpose of understanding the flow of life, possibly even predicting future events, at all events lending itself to the reading of the conditions of the present moment. It is in that way analogous to the I Ching, the Chinese divination method that allows at least a reading of the present condition. You see, man always felt the need of finding an access through the unconscious to the meaning of an actual condition, because there is a sort of correspondence or a likeness between the prevailing condition and the condition of the collective unconscious. Now in the Tarot there is a hermaphroditic figure called the diable [the Devil card]. That would be in alchemy the gold. In other words, such an attempt as the union of opposites appears to the Christian mentality as devilish, something evil which is not allowed, something belonging to black magic." 

 

[from Visions: Notes of the Seminar given in 1930-1934 by C. G. Jung, edited by Claire Douglas. Vol. 2. (Princeton NJ, Princeton University Press, Bollingen Series XCIX, 1997), p. 923.]

In The Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious (CW, Vol. 9:1, para 81), Jung wrote:

“If one wants to form a picture of the symbolic process, the series of pictures found in alchemy are good examples. . . . It also seems as if the set of pictures in the Tarot cards were distantly descended from the archetypes of transformation, a view that has been confirmed for me in a very enlightening lecture by professor [Rudolph] Bernoulli. The symbolic process is an experience in images and of images. Its development usually shows an enantiodromian* structure like the text of the I Ching, and so presents a rhythm of negative and positive, loss and gain, dark and light.” [*a Greek term used by Jung to mean ‘things turning over into their own opposite.’]

Dierdre Bair recounts in Jung: A Biography (Little, Brown, 2003, p. 549) that in 1950 Jung assigned to each of the four members of his Psychology Club an ‘intuitive, synchronistic method’ to explore. Hanni Binder was to research the Tarot and teach him how to read the cards. They determined that Grimaud’s Ancien Tarot de Marseille “was the only deck that possessed the properties and fulfilled the requirements of metaphor that he gleaned from within the alchemical texts.” Hanni Binder’s work amounted to very little as can be seen from her report preserved at the Jung Institute in New York. The group disbanded around 1954.

What was behind Jung’s attempt to gather all this material? Marie-Louise von Franz recounts in Psyche and Matter (1988) that toward the end of his life:

“Jung suggested investigating cases where it could be supposed that the archetypal layer of the unconscious is constellated*—following a serious accident, for instance, or in the midst of a conflict or divorce situation—by having people engage in a divinatory procedure: throwing the I Ching, laying the Tarot cards, consulting the Mexican divination calendar, having a transit horoscope or a geomantic reading done. If Jung’s hypothesis is accurate, the results of all these procedures should converge. . . . [*a Jungian term meaning ‘the coming together of elements in the unconscious so that they form a consciously recognizable pattern of relationships.’ Christine Houde adds, “The constellated material is activated in the psyche of the individual where it attempts to erupt into the field of experience.”]

“[This investigation would consist of] studying an incident (accident) by the convergence . . . of a multitude of methods, with the help of which we could try to find out what the Self “thought” of this particular accident. . . . The generally rather vague formulations of divinatory techniques resemble these “clouds of cognition” that, according to Jung, constitute “absolute knowledge.”

Von Franz further explains that Jung’s “clouds of cognition” represents an awareness on the part of our conscious intelligence of a far vaster field of information, an “absolute knowledge,” within the collective unconscious. These images, on the part of a “more or less conscious ego,” lack precise focus and detail. Thus, the realization of meaning has to be “a living experience that touches the heart just as much as the mind.” She continues:

“Archetypal dream images and the images of the great myths and religions still have about them a little of the “cloudy” nature of absolute knowledge in that they always seem to contain more than we can assimilate consciously, even by means of elaborate interpretations. They always retain an ineffable and mysterious quality that seems to reveal to us more than we can really know.”*

On 9 February 1960, about a year before he died, Jung wrote Mr. A. D. Cornell about the disappointing end to his grand experiment:

“Under certain conditions it is possible to experiment with archetypes, as my ‘astrological experiment’ has shown. As a matter of fact we had begun such experiments at the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich, using the historically known intuitive, i.e., synchronistic methods (astrology, geomancy, Tarot cards, and the I Ching). But we had too few co-workers and too little means, so we could not go on and had to stop.”

The experiment proposed by Jung is discussed in the Journal of Parapsychology (March 1998): in an article titled: “The Rhine-Jung letters: distinguishing parapsychological from synchronistic events – J.B. Rhine; Carl Jung” by Victor Mansfield, Sally Rhine-Feather, James Hall. The authors conclude:

“Such an experiment fits our description of not being forced, controlling, or manipulating, but it presents its own difficulties. How, for example, can we convincingly show that the divinatory procedures in fact converge, that appropriate subjects were chosen when an archetype was actually constellated, that the data was taken without biasing the interpretation, and that other extraneous factors are not distorting the outcome? These problems are not insurmountable, but to do more than “preach to the converted,” this experiment or any other must be done with sufficient rigor that the larger scientific community would be satisfied with all aspects of the data taking, analysis of the data, and so forth." 

In 1984, Art Rosengarten (here shown with Tarot author, Eden Gray), as research for his doctoral dissertation, conducted an experiment very similar to the one described by Jung, in which he compared the tarot, TAT and dream interpretation. You can read about this experiment in his book, Tarot and Psychology: Spectrums of Possibility. I think Jung would have been pleased.

Adding it all together...

Though not a direct focus of his energies, Carl Jung, nevertheless, recognized tarot as depicting archetypes of transformation like those he had found in myths, dreams and alchemy, and as having divinatory characteristics similar to the I-Ching and astrology. Most of all, Jung believed a person could use “an intuitive method” to understand—through tarot’s reflecting the collective unconscious into a “cloud of cognition”—the meaning in a present, prevailing condition.

Here’s another statement by Jung on “clouds of cognition,” from the chapter, “On Life after Death,” in Memories Dream, Reflections, p 308. He states that i sen the “space-timelessness” surrounding an archetype there exists a diffuse cloud of cognition that contains “primorial images with many aspects” or “a “diffuse omniscience” but no discrete contents (that is, subjectless). For cognition to happen these potentialities [my word] have to be brought into space-time coordinates. Reading this entire chapter is absolutely essential to getting at what Jung saw as the source material for divinations.

“As I see it the three-dimensional world in time and space is like a system of co-ordinates, what is here separated into ordinates and abscissae may appear “there,” in space-timelessness, as a primordial image with many aspects, perhaps as a diffuse cloud of cognition surrounding an archetype. Yet a system of co-ordinates is necessary if any distinction of discrete contents is to be possible. Any such operation seems to us unthinkable in a state of diffuse omniscience, or, as the case may be, of subjectless consciousness, with no spatio-temporal demarcations. Cognition, like generation, presupposes an opposition, a here and there, an above and below, a before and after.”

For a different take, here is a bit of an interview with Jung on alchemy and predicting the future: “We can predict the future when we know how the present moment has evolved out of the past.”

Disclaimer: This article is a repost from Mary K. Greer's research on the subject.