Susan Sarandon: Tarot Woman

American actress Susan Sarandon was recently quoted in Elle magazine’s ‘Woman In Hollywood’ issue saying this:

“I think the struggle is to live an authentic life. Often, being comfortable and courting the illusion of safety cannot coexist with being authentically who you are.”

This is a great summation of the Tarot philosophy. More than anything Tarot encourages you to be true to yourself. (And when you’ve achieved that it encourages you to give back to the community.) The first official card in Life Lessons Tarot called The Magician signals your potential. The journey from there to The Sun card (number 19) is all about bringing that potential into the light. Birthing your true self. The danger along the way is that you’ll get stuck in The Devil experience, choosing comfort over authenticity, a nice house and accessories over living your dream.

Susan goes on to say the following:

Anytime I have drastically changed my life – which has happened a number of times and, I hope, will happen many more – it’s always been a mixture of terror and exhilaration and discovery.  But I believe that being surprised and being somewhere that’s uncomfortable because it’s unknown is really one of the main rules to live by.”

This is a wonderful description of someone busting out of their Devil rut via the dynamic terrifying exhilarating energy of the next card along in Life Lessons Tarot, The Tower, which we’ve discussed before. If you refuse to let go of your crutches sooner or later life will do it for you by causing some kind of drama that forces change. But someone who’s in tune with their inner self will feel the need and make the changes for themselves. Aka Susan. And all power to her I say!

The Holy Book – Volume 1

The Major Arcana cards read like a book that follows the journey of a human soul through life.

The first volume covers childhood:

The Fool

The Fool – The soul waiting to be born

The MagicianThe Magician – The newborn who seems perfect in every way and has so much potential.

The High PriestessThe High Priestess – The baby living off instinct during the first months and years.

The EmpressThe Empress – The child at play

The EmperorThe Emperor – The child being disciplined

The HierophantThe Hierophant – The school child forming ideas about the world

The LoversThe Lovers – The teenager beginning to make choices about what they want and who they want to be with.

The ChariotThe Chariot – The young adult striving for success.

That’s one way of looking at it anyway. There are many more. That’s the beautiful confusing thing about Tarot. It’s like a diamond. Every time you turn it in your hand you see another side.

What about you? What’s your take on the first 8 cards of the Holy Book of Tarot?