A bit of background on my inspiration for this course…
Some specifics…
On Saturday, June 24, 2017, we will begin a hands-on exploration of the Hero’s Journey myth as it relates to our personal life paths, referencing the 22 major arcana cards of the tarot and using SoulCollage® as our creative vehicle. I’ll provide an overview of each archetype prior to each session.
The “Hero’s Journey” myth appears in all cultures across time, in ancient as well as contemporary literature and films, and it lives deep within the human psyche. The tale contains universal archetypes that, when consciously engaged through the creative act, weave our personal life patterns into the world’s Larger Stories. The ability to recognize this greater context helps us organize and understand life’s ups & downs as initiatory and necessary stages in our own heroic journey. And since archetypes speak to us in symbolic imagery (e.g., dreams), the intuitive nature of the collage process, and the juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated images into a cohesive whole allow us to access this archetypal realm, communicating deep understandings inaccessible to the logical mind or expressed by words alone. By giving voice to these images, we are able to create our own signposts, providing personal orientation and guidance on our own life path.
Workshops will be held monthly, so that we have plenty of time to absorb and explore the energies of each archetype in class and at home between sessions. The exact dates for the the first 6 sessions will be posted soon, and the remaining 16 will be posted at a later date. Since this is a rather long series, I want to leave some wiggle room for scheduling issues down the line. It is my intention, however, to schedule them roughly a month apart, as mentioned above.
For those of you who aren’t that familiar with tarot or the symbolism of the major arcana, I’ve posted all 22 images below as portrayed by the popular deck, Rider-Waite deck, re-designed in 1910 by A.E. Waite, and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith. We will follow the numerical order of the archetypes as they are presented, with two exceptions. Waite changed the order of 2 cards – Strength and Justice from the traditional configuration. Based on my research, I’ve decided to use the original order with Justice in the 8th position and Strength in the 11th position. According to Hazo Banzhaf, author of Tarot and the Journey of the Hero, “There is a change in the Waite Tarot that many people hardly recognize; yet, I am convinced that it distorts the meaning of the deck. Waite renumbered the Justice and Strength cards. Justice was originally in the 8th position and Strength in the 11th, and Waite switched these two cards… Since this [Justice] card represents the first experiences had by a person who leaves the parental home and goes out into the world, it is in the proper place for the journey of the hero in its original 8th position. If we understand the cards as milestones on our archetypal path through life, we are at the point where we are considered to be fully responsible for ourselves, which is an essential statement of the card Justice.” His thoughts on the Strength card are as follows: “In its original 11th position, it opens the second decade of the major arcana as the feminine counterpart to The Magician, with which the first decade begins. The similarities between both cards are apparent and and highlighted in the Waite Tarot by the same coloration. In both cases, the theme is strength.”
The order of study will be: The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Justice, The Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Strength, The Hanged man, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgement, and finally, The World.
About Beth Marcil