Tarot and Duality: Revealing Identities

Photo by Edz Norton on Unsplash

How aware are we of our own duality? As a professional, as a leader or, in fact, for any individual, while navigating the demands of life, there may be misguided confidence that we know ourselves… but what about the part that does not show? People search for meaning in the tangible, the performance of what should be, rather than what is. One part of the persona is fully lit, the elements someone wants to show on full display; competence, intuition, carefully curated wisdom. This leaves the other half, the half that hesitates but knows more than the outward persona lets on. When people start to lose their way, they are lead into the intangible, in this example, it’s tarot. These, often deemed ‘mystical’, cards may hold more truth about the duality of the persona, a lens into the inner tension between identities shown and the ones that are repressed.

In He’s recent paper, the exploration of the dichotomy of the archetypes that tarot reveals, and the deeper reason behind why tarot works; using symbols to confront the parts a person doesn’t want to acknowledge. Once it is seen, it cannot be undone.

Tarot is not something of magic, but instead acts as a mirror. They do not predict the future; they reveal the psyche that has been ignored: the archetypes – the universal patterns that shape behaviours, fears and desires.

Take the High Priestess as the example. In the case a person pulls this card in it’s ‘upright state’, she is the guardian of intuition and inner knowing, but if pulled in reverse, she represents suppressed emotions, hidden motives and an unconscious that refuses to stay unconscious. The same archetype – the High Priestess – but two sides, the light and the shadow, the components of the conscious and the unconscious; the human experience.

It is suggested that a person carries both sides, and regardless of one’s own belief in tarot, people all live an archetype (and it’s dark side) daily, especially in professional environments that are expectant of the maintenance of one’s own image in order to survive.

The truth is that the human experience is complex, it’s versatile, there’s no ‘one size fits all’. No one person can be entirely consistent, they fluctuate in states of decisiveness, intuitiveness, strength. While this does not suggest a person cannot always be these things, it leans towards the idea of a dual structure, that every strength has an equal cost; a shadow. These dualities are not flaws, but the essence of what it means to be human. To be unaccepting of these flaws is the rejection of the shadow, the resistance of truly seeing oneself. Everyone wants to improve, learn new skills and be self-aware, but are these things possible without recognising the motives of the unconscious and really connecting with both sides of the self?

Which archetype is most prevalent for the professional? Is it the Strategist or the Confidante? The High Performer or the Calm Leader? In any circumstances, these archetypes all have their reverse self. If the High Priestess, the symbol of knowledge, in reverse is a symbol of unresolved issues, then the professional archetypes (as competent as they seem) have a shadow of equal measure.

The Strategist becomes the Overthinker.

The High Performer becomes the Exhausted Shell.

The Calm Leader becomes the Avoidant Leader.

Tarot did not invent these patterns, they are formed through the user, using the cards as a voice to the unconscious needs within them. Shadow does not disappear when it’s ignored: it gets creative. Symbols, like tarot, could be viewed as a bridge between the persona that is curated and the one that has been lost, using the archetypes suggested as an influence to engage with the unconscious. It could be the gateway to repressed memories and past motives that have been disengaged with over the duration of a lifetime; where the stresses of day to day life have taken control, silencing inner needs. These symbols do not care for the same efficiency society adopts in order to remain in control, and the language of the psyche is more abstract and questioning.

Jung called this individuation, the integration of all parts of the psyche becoming whole and this new research, of the engagement with symbolic practices, echoes this area of depth psychology. Re-joining and healing with one’s inner self can begin with the acknowledgement of the shadow. If a person refuses to engage with the unconscious, the unconscious will find its own way to communicate and engage. Practices like tarot can be used to reconnect with old emotions, informing the outward persona with awareness of the inward. Integration is not a mystical revelation but a series of small, often uncomfortable, recognitions, which are the truths found from the self exposed by the cards. It is not the belief in a future predicting power, but allowing access to the parts of a persona that are not visible, but still matter; the process of becoming whole.

For the full study published in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis and Education, Volume 5, 2025 find the link here: The Duality Of Archetypes In Tarot Cards | International Journal of Psychoanalysis and Education: Subject, Action & Society

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