An Experiment
Birthdays and Tarot
I’ve often wondered through the decades, what Tarot card symbolizes me? What card am I? What’s my card?
You get the idea.
I’ve asked the cards, and I’ve received the same answer for all of these years.
Yep. The High Priestess. With extreme consistency. If I’m pulling the card or if someone else has done the pulling or selecting.
Honestly, I’ve often wondered why it isn’t The Hierophant.
The High Priestess makes some level of sense to me, but only some. The Hierophant makes a great deal more given both my vocation and my avocation. But when I’ve inquired, it’s never been the one.
What I have never done, until today, is try to calculate ‘My Card’ via numerology or the stars. Honestly, that seems a bit un-Tarot-like to me. If one wants to discover his or her card, just ask!
But, I thought I’d give it a try.
And as such, I sought out five different methods of calculating such things. Three based on numerology, two based on astrology.
Numerology Method #1 gave me:
Temperance and The Hierophant
Numerology Method #2 gave me:
The Hierophant
Numerology Method #3 gave me:
The Hierophant
Astrology Method #1 gave me:
The Hierophant
The 5 of Pentacles
The Knight of Pentacles
Astrology Method #2 gave me:
The Hierophant
The Empress
The 5 of Pentacles
The Knight of Pentacles
The Ace of Cups
Now I’ve got a disclaimer here:
Astrology Method #2, which was certainly the most complex of the bunch, comes from a Tarot reader whom I greatly respect. One of the true living greats. But, it is based on one’s sun sign. The same basis as used by the horoscopes published in newspapers. And I know an Astrologer. A really well known and respected Astrologer. He tells me that sun signs are largely B.S. So, are these methods nonsense given that they are based on sun signs? I don’t know.
I did find this entire exercise to be quite interesting though.
If I ask the Tarot for my card, it is consistently The High Priestess. For decades.
But, if I were to choose a card based upon my life, what I do, and what I’ve done, it would be The Hierophant.
And if there is one thing consistent in the methods I experimented with today, it is certainly The Hierophant.
Interesting.
But probably ultimately meaningless to me, because I don’t think that a bit of pop numerology or pop astrology should trump what the Tarot itself has communicated so strongly and consistently to me.
But, I’m curious as heck now.
What do you think about Tarot Birth Cards? Have you calculated them using some method or another? If so, do you find that helpful? Or is this all just a passing fad, a 2025 way of asking ‘what’s your sign?’ when looking for a hookup at the bar?
The real question is: are any of us just one "thing" or just one person ?
The answer is, I think, "No." Each of us is complex and often, also complicated.
If the Tarot are telling you The High Priestess, then I'd hazard a guess that your subconscious experiences itself as the High Priestess. While I'm in no way well versed in Jung, perhaps a Jungian perspective would you deepen your insight on this card. Maybe your anima is well integrated, or maybe when you're reading or doing Masonic work it's your anima and intuition that are the front-players ? Or, maybe the High Priestess is the Archetype you're moving in, in which case She's The Sophia - innate wisdom. These are only guesses on my part.
Astrology is another tool which I also don't know enough about, but I absolutely agree Sun signs are BS *if* you rely on that alone. It also depends on the system you're using: modern, Hellenistic/Traditional (the astrology of John Dee), Vedic, what? The position of the Sun in the chart, the House it's in, how it's aspected - is the engine at the centre of the Cosmic snapshot that is you. It's only one piece of information. Is your chart a night chart or a day chart? That influences which planets are benifics or not. What's the chart ruler that your Rising sign gives you and what house is it in, and how is it aspected, and is it debilitated, exalted, or in domicile? And which is your Rising planet - the one closes to your Ascendant in your chart? Your Moon and your Nodes are also important pieces of information as well. You also need to look at the elements and modalities of each planet and figure out which you have more of of each - that gives your chart it's signature.
So all of those things give you the fabric, the weft and weave, that your working with. Thus whatever calculations your friend helped you with, probably give you a distillation of the *physical* archetype you are working with. Interestingly you get a working pair - the High Priestess and the Hierophant are both figures of wisdom and spiritual authority - one is inner-directed, the other outer directed, and both have strengths and shadow-sides.
So I'd say in this lifetime you have pretty good balance both archetypically and energetically.
Personally, I like Hellenistic and Vedic systems for very different reasons. Both let you figure out what talismans you can make to modify, or correct, weaker points in your chart - and that's fascinating to me. They're kind of like astrological supplements you can take. Hellenistic is interesting because that's the astrology of John Dee, Edward Lily, and the Elizebethan court wizards, but most of all because it gives me historical insight in to their thinking processes in decision making. Many of their customers were merchants and explorers and I often think our world would be shaped very differently if that ingredient in the calculation mix hadn't been there. When is the best time to set sail or to begin an undertaking? Who do we take on the voyage based on their charts? When is a good time to attack and enemy is we are at war. These are nation and history shaping decisions and they were informed, though not exclusively, by astrology. Vedic is interesting to me simply because it's so different and really kind of beautiful.
Maybe the hierophant represents you and the high priestess represents the feminine archetype that most loves you🤷🏻♀️ or wants to love you