Divination: so why study astrology and tarot?

Divination: “Far from being merely divinatory methods, associated with ‘magical thinking’ that fantasizes about literally knowing what is going to happen in the future, astrology and tarot are symbolic languages ​​that help us better understand ourselves and understand that the times of our lives go through different qualities and lessons”, warns the astrologer and tarot reader Beatriz Leveratto.

What will enthusiasts find who seek to immerse themselves in astrology or tarot, languages ​​that are arousing growing interest -especially in recent times-? What answers can be found by those who seek to know a little more about these disciplines?

Two renowned astrologers tell Clarín why it is said that astrology and tarot contribute to self-knowledge and why those who start studying them will probably find ” something very different from what they expect .”

Leveratto assures that it is not about controlling or predicting what will happen to us, but that “they help to take advantage of the different climates of life with greater awareness: when one studies these languages ​​one discovers that each tarot card, each sign, and each planet contain symbolic information about the meaning of our existence ”.

Why learn astrology

Along the same lines, the astrologer and professor of astrology and tarot Patricia Kesselman demystifies certain erroneous beliefs: “To study astrology it is not necessary to have prior knowledge or ‘powers’ or any kind of ‘section’, because it has nothing to do with any power . ‘magic’, but with a symbolic language”.

Thus, he explains that the study of this language allows us to look at the world from another perspective, the symbolic one, and is useful for understanding the human being since it finds its particularity in the fact that it is related to time and space:

“Our discipline studies cycles, configurations, and how they affect us. Therefore, knowing these cycles allows us to project and understand. Studying the relationship we have with the planets allows us to distinguish that there is an order below (or above) the obvious, of what we see. Knowing and accepting that order is in itself very interesting”.

And Leveratto adds: “Learning to interpret them allows us to resignify our life stories; they tell us about our common and shared human drama and invite us to live with greater awareness and less harmful repetition. Both the tarot and astrology are ancient languages ​​that have survived for centuries and that today seem to be ‘reborn’ to give us transcendent answers to a world full of technological progress but, paradoxically, invaded by emotional disconnection and destruction”.

What does the natal chart say?

The birth chart, also called the birth chart, is a picture of what the sky was like at the time we were born. And astrology courses usually start there, breaking down the chart itself. “This represents the seed, which contains all information in itself,” Patricia describes.

Beatriz says: “Astrology leads us to suspect that, perhaps, the human being is not the only one with consciousness and evolutionary purposes in the universe. Understanding one’s birth chart is understanding the psyche that inhabits us, with its complexities, richness, and contradictions. We are much more than the sign that we see in the horoscope: that sign that we all know, in truth, is the sign of the Sun, which operates as the conductor of our psyche”.

“Each planet of the solar system represents a psychic function. For example: Mercury, closest to the sun, symbolizes our ability to discriminate our own solar consciousness; Venus, the second closest to the Sun, suggests our tastes and values; the Moon, so close to our Earth, shows our most basic habits and needs; Mars, the first outer planet, suggests our ability to make our way in the world.

Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, suggests our ability to trust and expand; Saturn, the last visible planet, represents the limit. Then the outermost planets, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, suggest creative, sensitive, and transformative expansions.”

Why learn tarot

“Learning tarot is understanding a journey traveled by humans inscribed in the symbols of their cards,” says Beatriz Leveratto. “It is a language of symbols of self-knowledge.”

Kesselman explains that “like astrology, it opens the mind and brings into action areas of the brain that have never been used. The tarot synthesizes an evolution, it says where you start from and where you are going, both individually and collectively.

And he adds: “The journey through the tarot cards is, basically, a journey to our own depth; whatever we find on that journey is, deep down, an aspect of our deepest self and will serve as a bridge to take us in search of the ancient wisdom that is still in the depths of our unconscious”.

“Knowing yourself on a shared path with everyone else, seeing yourself reflected in the story of the letters is extremely liberating. It is still very exciting for me -after more than 20 years of teaching- to see the vitalizing change that tarot makes in those who learn it”, adds Leveratto.

The tarot, short and at the foot

Tarot and astrology teacher Beatriz Leveratto explains that the tarot is divided into Major and Minor Arcana.

And he points out that the Minor Arcana are similar to the Spanish cards, and represent our repetitive learning about love, how to learn to love beyond our ideal person spells that rescue us from our own hardships, symbolized in the cups.

The wands symbolize the path of the ego, they show us how to learn to live without offending ourselves, and they suggest an understanding that the first thing to learn to value is oneself and abandon the expectation of approval from others.

The coins show us our bond with the matter, how to learn to bond in a vital way with the generation of resources without becoming its prisoners, and overcome our submission to money, both due to lack and excess.

And the swords suggest our mind and its way of facing life, the tarot tells us that our sufferings are not caused by what happens to us, but by what we “think and opine” about what happens to us.

Are astrology and tarot for everyone? “They are available to anyone who feels attracted,” says Leverett. We can all learn astrology or tarot because they are languages ​​that we already know because they are languages ​​that symbolize our repetitive human lives”.

“As we begin to understand them, our predictable human reactions become evident – and almost pathetic. Visualizing our suffering and recurring life experiences can also be the beginning of a path of liberation to try to live a life less conditioned by our common fears, less reactive and, therefore, much more creative”.