Shadow Archetypes and Torch-Tarot

A very brief and modern history of Tarot

Torch-Tarot subscribes to a simple explanation of how Tarot works and its history:

Tarot started out as a deck of cards for a card game, but through time and serendipity, Tarot chanced on a deeper system; archetypes. This system is used in modern divination.

The deck gets its structure via the 5 suites that the original card game contained. Tarot decks used for divination align these 5 suites to the 5 ancient elements (Fire, Water, Air, Earth and Aether), because Tarot is guided by other systems that used the ancient element system (i.e. astrology, Hermeticism). The underlying core system within each suite is however still archetypes.

It really can be that simple!

As we will see, the complexity of Tarot used for divination comes from the cards themselves, and specifically the archetypes on the cards.

Archetypes and Shadow Archetypes

Archetypes are used everywhere from creating identities (and Archetypes In Branding by Hartwell/Chen is a great introduction to it and archetypes in general) to the works of Carol S. Pearson (and how archetypes relate to psychological traits in personality assessment systems), and of course Joseph Campbell and more recent takes of his theories such as those of Christopher Vogler (and such people relate archetypes to stories and film scripts).

The Archetypes in Branding book comes with a deck of archetype cards to help brainstorm branding stories. The deck looks quite familiar...

One of the biggest theories that include archetypes are those of Carl Gustav Jung and later theories based on his work. His model of the mind suggests a common set of archetypes within our collective unconscious.

Torch-Tarot assumes the root versions of these hidden, unconscious archetypes are the oldest ones we know from ancient wall art, creation-stories and myths, simply because they have been with us the longest.

There are both positive and negative versions of each archetype. The positive ones guide our normal behaviors, but the negative ones guide our abnormal or repressed behaviors. Such negative archetypes exist in a part of our subconscious called the Shadow. The individual parts of the shadow are called Shadow Archetypes. They are the archetypes in use for a Shadow Tarot reading.

We are not normally conscious of our Shadow archetypes (as they exist in our subconscious) but one way of fixing our abnormal behaviors is to understand them and through understanding, tackle them.

For a deck that relies on archetypes, it becomes important to understand the corresponding shadow archetype per card, and this was done for Torch-Tarot by visualizing the shadow archetype as well as the archetypes shown on the final deck. Although they have not been published, the shadow archetypes helped create a much deeper deck.

An important note: a psychological shadow is often a repression and not a Tarot style reversal. This means the shadow is often not a block, opposite or lack, but a complex (and sometimes seemingly unrelated) behavior, coping strategy, avoidance, or a viewpoint that may seem odd to others but is logical to the sufferer.

For example, the shadow-effects of a positive self-image is not a poor self-image. It can be far more complex, such as eating disorders, self-harming, normalizing by surrounding oneself with similar people, or the creation of an alter-ego that does not have the issue. It can be a combination of many of the above.

The images shown below are based on this deeper psychology.

The Shadow Emperor

The Tyrant is the Shadow Emperor, and is sometimes called the Bully. Rather than being a just and fair ruler (or positive father-figure, figure of authority but also safety, or effective team-builder within the workplace), tyrants care only for themselves and maintaining a position of relevance or power.

The Tyrant has an underlying fear of being overthrown. He (or she) does not trust others, may be overly strict and never admits to their faults (because doing so would undermine their own authority). Tyrants often needs validation from others and have a strong focus on personal gain, are always on the defensive, and motivated only for themselves.

In Torch-Tarot, the Emperor is Zeus. In the shadow Emperor image we see Zeus’s father, Cronus holding one of his children and begin to devour the child. This happened in the associated myth because of a prophecy predicting Cronus would be overthrown by his own children. Rather than lose power, Cronus was willing to eat his own children to break the prophecy.

Nobody would do this, right?

Well, no, but the image is symbolic of a very common psychological process. The Tyrant is caused by an over-inflated ego. This becomes so large that it literally swallows the self.

This process occurs along a connecting line between the ego and self called the ego-self axis. We see this line on the card, with over-inflated ego being Cronus, and the self is the child. For one to get larger, the other has to become smaller, causing the ‘devouring’ we see in the card.

Many of the other images also have versions where the associated psychological process is illustrated with a conceptual diagram (such as the ego-self axis) superimposed over the mythic representation. This has been removed for the other images. We don’t want to bomb the reader with so many concepts so quickly!

The Shadow Empress

The Caregiver archetype (also known as the Helper, Nurturer or Caretaker) is associated with the Tarot Empress. One of the shadow archetypes associated with the Caregiver is the Martyr; a caregiver who gives so much with no reward (or even to their own eventual detriment) that they become bitter, angry and frustrated. In extreme cases they can become demonized and punished.

Sometimes their real plight and true story is recognized after the event, making them a true martyr and figurehead. This occurred in modern times with a better understanding of Medusa.

Have you ever tried to help and nurture someone and got immediately annoyed at the lack of reciprocity? This might be your martyr shadow kicking in!

The Shadow Hanged Man

A more subtle pairing is the Hanged Man and his shadow. The Hanged Man is synonymous with the Creator archetype (also known as the Artist or Visionary). The Creator builds the new and visionary by seeing things differently, fixing problems through change and breakout-thinking rather than taking the rational straight-line route. His route may be more circuitous, but his ideas change both him and his view of the world, and for the true visionary they often change the world itself.

One of the shadows of the Creator is the Perfectionist. An archetype who uses fixed beliefs and attitudes that reduce creativity and lateral thinking. This generates common personality traits such as the micro-manager, who on the surface looks for perfection, but this is actually the shadow fixing inner self-neglect, distrust in others, lack of skill in himself and impostor syndrome (plus an ego/persona that cannot admit to any of it!).

Atlas is our perfectionist, who takes on the weight of the world on his shoulders, often because he thinks he is the only one who can do it. Notice that the Moon sits in front of him yet he ignores it, instead using a brute force solution that fails to move him forward. This burdens him in a position where he is on his knees.

His red cloak shows his inner state; constant turmoil, anger, blame and frustration. We’ve all unfortunately met this shadow-archetype at work (literally!).

The Shadow Magician

The Magician creates order from chaos via knowledge and experience. He has the ability to transform ideas into tangible outcomes and objects (aka manifestation). That is not the only way to move forward though – you can do it via fraud and deception.

Apate is the Goddess of guile and deceit. Apate’s Roman equivalent is Fraus, from where the word fraud comes from. She forms our Shadow Magician, or the Villain.

Like the Magician, the Villain is practical, extremely clever, and rooted in the real world. But where the Magician sets out to create, the Villain has a willingness to destroy. Where the Magician creates magic to control the world for good, the Villain creates illusions and false realities to maintain control of others for self-centered reasons.

Manipulation, deception and hidden agendas are the tools of the Villain.

Apate stands in a dress made of the flowing blood of her countless victims. The blood coalesces onto the ground and from it come rearing snakes. On the palm of her hand we see an eye, creating the Hamsa hand, a ward against evil. But that is just another of her deceptions - she is the evil you need to protect against!

The Shadow Star

Finally, the Star card is often seen as one of the most positive in the deck. In psychological terms, the Star is the closest card to the True Self; uncomplicated and authentic. The corresponding archetype is the Innocent, often called the Child, Divine Child, Healer or Idealist. An archetype untainted by the daily drudge of adult concerns. The card is associated with the astrological idealist, Aquarius.

Given the Star is a very positive card, it comes as no surprise that its shadow is one of the darkest; The Victim. This takes the naiveté of the Divine child and turns it on its head. The victim can:

• Lack responsibility.
• Concentrate on ideals over compassion, causing them to appear emotionally cold.
• ignore reality, becoming either their own victim or appearing emotionally cold.
• Can refuse to accept someone is their abuser (leading to a number of conditions such as Stockholm syndrome).
• Hide behind childish personality traits including blaming others, moodiness rather than dealing with failures, and become difficult to reason with.
• Is prone to destructive behavior and unable to accept difficult challenges.

The archetype is shown by the ‘inverse Aquarian’ and one of the most powerful deities (even the Gods feared her); Styx. Instead of the life-giving water of the Star/Aquarius, we get the deadly waters of the River Styx. In small doses the waters can be a boon (as happens with Achilles, who is made nearly invincible by being quickly dipped into the river as a child – except for the ankle that he was held by, leading to his eventual doom via his Achilles heel...). But once totally immersed for longer than a moment, the water becomes deadly.

The Divine child is totally immersed in the River Styx yet denies her predicament. She is dying yet make-believes the river is a womb of comfort and serenity.

Styx as ever represents the uncaring cold reality. She sees all the dead float past her and one more makes no difference to her.

If you ever see yourself in a situation where you are denying reality, or numbing out the pain or fear so you can ignore the real obstacles, problems and monsters in your life, then that is your inner Victim denying the reality that you are drowning rather than floating.

This shadow can also illustrate a common issue with self-realization in that it is often a journey where you can't have both growth and comfort at the same time. You have to temporarily give one up whilst getting the other, and this is common for all difficult goals. Often the easy path is taken via negative positivity, living in a fantasy (or social media generated) world that inverts 'problems into features', following a slow solution because proactive progress is scary, or simply ignoring the problem and hoping it goes away.

On the plus side, when you take the harder route and delay comfort for a while, you get an uplift in both growth and comfort when the task is completed, so it is worth it in the long run!

Conclusion

Torch-Tarot was created with an emphasis on archetypes. To do this, the corresponding shadow archetypes were also considered in the deck design. They were often visualized to give a deeper understanding.

The above is a small selection of such visualizations that occurred behind the scenes. If you want to see another shadow archetype, the Shadow Wheel of Fortune can be seen in this article.