In this chapter I give you many of the card combinations I see in readings that tell me there may be a psychological problem at work.
Some of these combinations for identifying psychological disorders will look familiar. And that’s because you did see them earlier—in the chapters on physical health and tarot.
So how can you tell the difference between one kind of problem and another? The biggest tip-off you’ll ever get that you’re looking at a psychological problem is that the Page of Cups reversed tends to appear. This means that the child who was not loved by the mother when little is still in there, inside your client, still trying to yell loud enough to be heard.
So “listen” for that Page.
Also, as a beginner, you may see the Hermit and the Moon, which are the combination for psychotherapy. With these, even though you’re a beginner, you should get some idea that an emotional problem is present. Now, don’t go hog-wild with this! I once discovered that for a while one of my students was telling everybody to go to therapy—whether they needed it or not! And while I suppose it’s okay to err on the side of caution, what kind of help does a well person get from that? Not much. So wait until you really know what you’re doing with tarot. When you’re ready for this step, you won’t have to think about it. A client will show up to teach you.
Also, you might take note of the body language of the cards. Is that Knight facing away from that Queen? Is that Queen turning her back on the King? It may or may not be relevant, but you should be aware that it could be. Try to learn to “get” the dynamic, the same way psychologists look at the body language in photographs to get an idea of the true relationships of the people pictured. Is one little boy standing apart from his family, for example?
Finally, lay the cards side by side for each of the following combinations and just look at them together, to “experience” the meanings.
Major Arcana Card Combinations
The Devil
Devil and Temperance reversed: Alcoholism/drug addiction/food addiction; health-threatening excesses; anorexia; bulimia.
Devil and Temperance reversed and Four of Cups: Dangerous overeating.
Devil and Temperance reversed and Justice reversed: Dangerous weight issue.
Devil and Six of Pentacles: Compulsive spending.
Devil and Seven of Swords and Six of Pentacles: Compulsive gambling.
Devil and King or Queen of Cups reversed: Addicted to people who can’t or won’t give emotionally.
Devil and Knight of Pentacles reversed: Codependency (almost always involves a partner with an active addiction).
Devil and Temperance reversed and Five or Ten of Rods/Wands: Workaholism.
Devil and Moon: Madness.
Temperance
Temperance: Mental, emotional, psychological, and spiritual health.
Temperance reversed: Excesses; stress; all-around poor health.
Temperance and Devil reversed: Healthy.
Temperance and Devil reversed and Hanged Man and Strength and Three of Cups: Addiction support group.
Temperance reversed and Seven of Swords: Guilt about excesses.
Strength
Strength: Putting up with an unhealthy situation; having faith in oneself.
Strength reversed: Despair; desperation; no faith; no faith in oneself.
Strength reversed and Temperance reversed: No self-control; out of control.
Strength reversed and Five of Swords reversed: Suicide (look for other cards to know if the act has been or will be completed); suicidal thoughts.
Strength reversed and Seven of Rods/Wands reversed: Chronic self-doubt.
Strength reversed and Seven of Rods/Wands reversed and Five of Swords: Compulsion.
The Star
Star: Hope; aspiration.
Star reversed: Depression.
Star reversed and Temperance reversed: Sugar-related depression (includes alcohol).
Star reversed and Seven of Swords: Depression and guilt.
The Moon
Moon: The subconscious; the unconscious; controlling mother; instincts.
Moon and Page of Cups reversed: (Controlling) mother doesn’t love child.
Moon and Page of Rods/Wands reversed: (Controlling) mother doesn’t listen to child.
Moon and Temperance reversed and Star reversed: Hormone-related depression.
Moon and Hermit: Psychotherapy; psychotherapist; psychology; psychiatry.
The Empress
Empress: Emotionally mature enough to be a wife and/or mother; the idea of being a wife and/or mother; the wife/mother archetype.
Empress reversed: Not a nurturing mother; immature mother; immature wife; not emotionally ready for marriage and/or motherhood.
Empress reversed and Page of Cups reversed: Child not emotionally nurtured by mother.
Empress reversed and Page of Rods/Wands reversed: Child not listened to by mother.
The Emperor
Emperor: Emotionally mature enough to be a husband and/or father; the idea of being a husband and/or father; the husband/father archetype.
Emperor reversed: Domineering; bully; immature father and/or husband; emotionally not ready for marriage and/or fatherhood.
Death
Death: Maturity; maturation; growth; outgrowing childhood conditioning.
The Hierophant
Hierophant: Tradition; traditional; first-generation; religious; by-the-book; orthodoxy (often reflects cultural influences on behavior and attitudes); mainstream.
Hierophant reversed: Cult; nontraditional; unorthodox; not mainstream.
The World
World: Closure; successful conclusion (note: divorce can be a successful conclusion to a terrible marriage).
World reversed: No closure; no successful conclusion.
The Fool
Fool: Not afraid to go in a new direction; not afraid of making a mistake; not afraid to fail; not afraid of the unknown.
Fool reversed: Afraid to fail; afraid of the unknown; afraid of being rash and making a mistake.
The Lovers
Lovers: Lifestyle change; change of habits; change of lifestyle and/or habits is needed (can apply to diet, alcohol intake, exercise regimen, work schedule, or geography of one’s home); affecting leisure time and how it is spent.
Lovers reversed: Lifestyle change is needed; change of habits is needed.
The Chariot
Chariot: Having one’s act together in general.
Chariot reversed: Not having one’s act together in general.
Chariot reversed and Five of Swords reversed: Driving while angry (and dangerously).
The Tower
Tower: Trauma to the head.
Tower reversed: Conflict.
Tower reversed and Judgment reversed: Inner conflict of which one is unaware.
The Hanged Man
Hanged Man: Patient; sacrificing (can be too much = self-sacrificing).
Hanged Man and Strength: A religious faith in a higher power and/or faith in oneself.
Hanged Man reversed: Healthy self-interest; “When do I get what I want?”
Judgment
Judgment: Realizing (something).
Judgment reversed: Lack of awareness; not realizing something; needing to realize something (see other cards for what is in play here).
The High Priestess
High Priestess: The ideal; art; fine art; not settling.
High Priestess and Strength: Enough faith in oneself to hold out for the ideal (what one really wants).
High Priestess and Strength reversed: Not enough faith in oneself to hold out for the ideal.
High Priestess reversed: Settling; willing to settle (this never has a good outcome unless there is a strategy involved, a reason for settling).
High Priestess reversed and Ten of Rods/Wands: Settling now because there is a long-term plan in place.
The Magician
Magician: Having the power to change things; “I don’t like what I see; I think I’ll change it.”
Magician reversed: No power to change things; manipulative; thinking one can “change” another person (this is never possible).
Usually, except when the Hermit and the Moon appear together, psychological and emotional problems show up in tarot as a combination of Major and Minor Arcana cards.
Minor Arcana Card Combinations
Cups
Ace of Cups: Having love to give.
Ace of Cups reversed: Having no love to give; emotionally empty.
Three of Cups: Having the support and nurturing of friends (usually women for women).
Three of Cups reversed: Needing the support and nurturing of friends (usually women).
Four of Cups reversed: Succumbing to temptation.
Four of Cups reversed and Seven of Swords: Guilt about succumbing to temptation.
Five of Cups: Regret; living in the past; not emotionally recovered from a loss.
Six of Cups: Supportive family in childhood; loving family in childhood.
Six of Cups reversed: The mother did not love the child in early life.
Seven of Cups: Dreams.
Seven of Cups reversed: Making one’s dreams come true.
Eight of Cups: Denial; “I don’t want to see it.”
Page of Cups: Emotionally healthy child; healthy inner child; loved as a child; adult who has been through psychotherapy and healed.
Page of Cups reversed: Emotionally unhealthy child; unhealthy inner child; not loved as a child.
Page of Cups reversed and Five of Swords reversed: Abused child (usually the adult you’re reading).
Page of Cups reversed and Five of Swords reversed and Justice reversed: Illegal abuse of child.
Page of Cups reversed and Devil and Knight of Cups reversed: Sexual abuse of child; molestation of child.
Page of Cups reversed and Devil and Knight of Cups reversed and Six/King/Queen of Cups reversed: Incest (other combinations may say this too).
Knight of Cups reversed: Seduction; a seducer.
Queen of Cups: Woman who loves herself; woman who won’t settle; emotionally healthy woman; woman who knows she deserves to have what she wants/needs; woman who has been through psychotherapy.
Queen of Cups reversed: Woman who sells herself short; woman who doesn’t love herself; woman who is not emotionally/psychologically healthy.
Queen of Cups reversed and King of Cups reversed: Woman who doesn’t get loved by her partner, who cannot love.
Queen of Cups reversed and King of Pentacles: Woman who settles for a provider and the illusion of support.
Queen of Cups reversed and King of Pentacles reversed: Woman who settles for a man who will never be there for her.
King of Cups: Emotionally healthy man; man who can love.
King of Cups reversed: Man who cannot love; man who cannot feel; man who cannot give any partner what he or she needs emotionally.
Pentacles
Two of Pentacles: Coping; can handle things (not necessarily a good thing if the person is good at handling something that should be abandoned).
Two of Pentacles reversed: Can’t cope; can’t handle things (can be a good thing if the person can no longer deal with a bad thing).
Four of Pentacles: Dependency; crutch; crutch issue; fear of letting go.
Four of Pentacles reversed: Not dependent; letting go.
Five of Pentacles: Always feeling like an orphan; no emotional home; “Where do I belong?”
Five of Pentacles reversed: Finding where one belongs.
Seven of Pentacles: “What’s the point?” “Why try?” “Why bother?” (a kind of giving up).
Nine of Pentacles: An independent person; alone but not lonely; complete without a partner; content to be alone until the right person comes along; content just to be alive. (This is my favorite card in the pack.)
Ten of Pentacles: Emotionally secure.
Ten of Pentacles reversed: Not emotionally secure.
Page of Pentacles and Five of Swords reversed and Eight of Swords: Learning disability (can also be with the Devil).
Knight of Pentacles: Self-sufficient; able to stand on one’s own two feet emotionally; not dependent.
Knight of Pentacles reversed: Dependent; can’t stand on one’s own two feet emotionally; not self-sufficient.
Queen of Pentacles: Nurturing woman.
Queen of Pentacles reversed: A woman who is not nurturing.
King of Pentacles: A man willing to be relied on; a supportive man.
King of Pentacles reversed: A man not willing to be relied on; an unsupportive man; a man one cannot depend on.
Rods/Wands
Two of Rods/Wands reversed: Confused.
Four of Rods/Wands: Integration of the personality; all the psychological pieces in the right places.
Seven of Rods/Wands: Fighting for what one believes.
Seven of Rods/Wands reversed: Doubts; self-doubt.
Nine of Rods/Wands: Protecting and defending (see other cards to know what is at stake here).
Nine of Rods/Wands reversed: Throwing in the towel; giving up; giving up on oneself.
Ten of Rods/Wands reversed: Exhaustion; burnout.
Page of Rods/Wands reversed: Child not listened to; repression; child stops speaking.
Page of Rods/Wands reversed and Five of Swords reversed: Angry and repressed child; frustrated, with no outlet; repressed anger.
Page of Rods/Wands reversed and Devil: Autism.
Page of Rods/Wands reversed and Devil and Five of Swords: Stutter; language disability.
Knight of Rods/Wands reversed and Devil: Attention deficit disorder (can’t focus).
Queen of Rods/Wands reversed: Not ready for marriage or motherhood; immature.
King of Rods/Wands reversed: Not ready for marriage or fatherhood; immature; unable/unwilling to commit.
Swords
Two of Swords: Unwilling to make a decision with emotional implications.
Two of Swords reversed: Making a decision with emotional implications.
Five of Swords: A pattern of failure; psychological pattern that is never good.
Five of Swords reversed: Anger; frustration; can mean a violent personality.
Five of Swords reversed and Three of Swords and Knight of Swords reversed and Page of Cups reversed: Post-traumatic stress disorder (in a child or an adult).
Six of Swords: Taking oneself away from pain or a bad situation.
Six of Swords reversed: Not taking oneself away from pain or a bad situation.
Seven of Swords: Feeling guilty; guilty.
Seven of Swords reversed: Not feeling guilty; not guilty.
Page of Swords reversed: One needs to make a decision; a decision needs to be made.
Knight of Swords reversed: Destructive; self-destructive; temper; violent.
Knight of Swords reversed and Seven of Swords and Justice: Illegal act of destruction.
Queen of Swords: Intellectual; not a hugging woman.
Queen of Swords reversed: Indecisive woman; cold mother; analytical mother; cruel mother; critical mother; unfeeling mother; angry mother; negative mother.
King of Swords reversed: Indecisive man; cruel man; hostile man; analytical man.
Interpreting the Card Combinations
Can you imagine the Page of Cups (a loving, sweet child) being born to the Queen of Swords reversed (a cold, critical woman)? Can you imagine how that child would feel, reaching out to be held and being told to get better grades instead? Can you imagine these two in a household with a King of Swords reversed (a cruel man) who drinks and rages (the Devil and the Five of Swords reversed)? Can you imagine the life of this poor little child? You don’t have to know one thing about psychology to know that this child is being emotionally brutalized in that house (and maybe physically, too).
Now, as a reader, what you need to know is that the adult across the table from you could have been that little kid, and without therapy he or she will continue with self-abuse, taking over where his or her mother left off.
See, this person across from you is now all grown up and crying, not understanding how his or her life got to be such a mess. And you may be the very first person ever to offer real hope, solutions, a promise for the future.
This is what I do every day. This is what keeps me going sometimes. This is what you can do too. And this is why I work so hard to teach what I do, so others can be of true help too.
I can’t tell you how many wounded children are walking around out there in adult bodies. (The teen suicide rate alone should make all of us stop and think. But we don’t.)
Occasionally, though, it’s the Queen of Swords reversed who’s sitting across from me, the critical mother with a child not being loved. I see them both. I tell her that she’s hurting her child. I risk the consequences to my career. (Kill the messenger?)
Finally, if you think you see a child being abused now somewhere in the life of your client, tell the client to get involved and call the police. No matter whose kid it is.
It is our adult responsibility to protect children.
The Client Who’s in Therapy
When somebody comes to me and is already seeing a therapist, I recommend that the person discuss with the therapist what we speak about at my table. It’s crucial to keep the therapist in the loop. Sometimes I see things and I know the client is deliberately hiding them from the therapist, so I tell the client to speak up. You can’t get help if you don’t talk about your problems. Again, there’s no magic. Freud called it “talk therapy.” So start talking!
The Worst Stuff
Now, when I think I see a psychiatric problem, I do the best I can. This stuff is reflective of chemical imbalances, brain issues. Psychiatric issues cannot be resolved through talk therapy alone. Many times they require medications. Sometimes it’s clear to me that I’m reading someone with schizophrenia, for example, and that what I’m saying isn’t totally computing. So in this case I tell the client to stay on his or her medications and I try to discourage the person from coming back to me. I don’t want to take money from somebody I’m sure I can’t help. It isn’t right.
One More Thing about the Vulnerability of Kids
The twelve-year-old son of a friend called me one night some years ago. He wanted to talk with me about “spells and such, witchcraft.” A half hour later, I was left feeling really uneasy.
It seems a lot of kids out there are being exposed to the occult in a very unhealthy way. It’s in the schoolyard. It’s on the internet. It’s in movies.
But if it’s dangerous for adults to be looking to curses and spells to solve their problems with other people, it’s incredibly worse for young and unformed people to be doing it.
Magic! In the hands of competent adults, I have no problem here. I have friends who practice Wicca. They’re mentally healthy and have a solid belief system.
But kids?
This conversation with my friend’s son scared me. So I reported it all faithfully to my friend, so he could keep an eye on his son’s mental health and social behavior. Parents need to be watchful, protective, and alert, today more than ever.
There are way too many human demons out there to worry about, never mind the vampire type, and a lot of them are lurking everywhere online.
The Reader’s Mental Health
I once had a friend who was rector of a large Episcopalian parish in a major US city. He was telling me one day that every six months or so he had to go see his bishop to put somewhere all the pain his parishioners dumped on him. And so I asked him, “So you dump it all on the bishop? What does the bishop do?”
My friend said, “Every six months the bishop gets sick.”
Nobody is immune to the physical and mental ramifications of dealing with hurting people every day. Doctors and trained healthcare professionals know they need to have a kind of invisible shield so all the sadness and pain doesn’t get to them.
But I don’t want a shield between my clients and me. They need my empathy and compassion in an active way. So the only thing I’ve found I can do as a reader is to take very good care of my physical self and to say a little prayer before I start working so I don’t ever feel I’m (1) alone in this or (2) actually doing what I do without help from some source I cannot see or name.
You need to do the same.
And, by the way, if you’re not functioning in a healthy way in your own life, you’re probably not going to be able to function well in your work. I couldn’t do half of what I do today if I hadn’t gone to therapy myself long ago.