Yoga and the Tarot Major Arcana
The Tarot and Yoga are intimately connected. The connection has not been sufficiently explored and I will not be able to even scratch the surface in this blog post because the further you move down the rabbit hole the more you discover. In this blog post I will share some of what I have experienced as a yoga teacher and a tarot enthusiast for thirty years.
Looking at the above images of The Fool and Dancer Pose we see a similar movement in the body. Both movements involve journeying and discovering our path in life. The exuberance of the Fool is expressed in the Dancer Pose; an open heart and the enthusiasm of a child. Since he is not paying attention The Fool may fall off a cliff. If we don't pay attention in Dancer Pose we could fall over and loose our balance.
The Major Arcana in a Tarot deck possess expansive energies that we all have inside us. They are the macrocosm and the Minor Arcana are the microcosm. We all come from the stars and the Major Arcana remind us of that. For example, The Star card stresses our connection to the heavens and our connection to the earth.
Star pose (image below) expresses this dynamic beautifully. Arms extended while our feet remain on the earth. We pull the energy from the air around us through our fingertips and the energy of the earth up through our feet. The arms can also be raised to the heavens and the heels can be lifted to create a balance and a lift to remind us of our galatic lineage.
The Magician is a card (image below) that reminds us of the alchemy of our soul. He holds a magic wand toward the heavens and the other hand points to the earth. The Magician uses fire, water (the cup), sword (air), and earth (disc) to create his magic. He uses sacred geometry to transform life. Triangle Pose is based on sacred geometry. There are three triangles; the entire pose, the legs, and the arm placed on the floor. It is a pose that orders our world and places us in the world of the Magician. The triangle is an archetypal symbol of balance and wisdom of the origins of the universe. The Magician's wisdom is inherent in the pose.
There are twenty two Major Arcana and I have found that yoga poses contain the energy of these cards. We can bring these expansive energies into our every day life by developing awareness of their presence. The next time you practice notice any energies that pull you into higher thought or gives you a sense of lightness. This is where the magic resides in a yoga practice. Below is a video from my FREE Sassy Yoga Challenge. Enjoy and please post comments.
Carmela Cattuti is a yoga instructor and visual artist. She is currently exploring the connection between the major arcana and yoga and is in the process of developing an online program that explores that connection. Check out her web site at www.ccattuticreative.com.
