Tarot Game Boards Because Destiny Isn't Fixed But We Like Structure

If you've had a longer session with me, chances are we've played with Possible Destinies, where we lay out cards for several options, exploring new jobs, homes and partners as possibilities. It's one of my favorite ways to use Tarot because I don't believe our destinies are fixed. I like for the people I work with to think of themselves as radical free agents where they get to choose their basis for reality.

When you whole heartedly believe that there is more than one path for you to explore, be it in your career, relationships, artistic or spiritual pursuits, that's when life really starts to look like one big adventure game, and you get to choose your path, your character and the obstacles you may face to reach a goal. The beauty in the idea of Possible Destinies is that you get to choose where you go next. When you are uncertain it can be kind of scary, that's why with Tarot we role-play scenarios before moving forward. I wanted a stable format for Tarot so I created Tarot Game Boards. These are loosely based on the Kabbalah, an esoteric system found in Judaism, Hermeticism and Tarot Birth Card Theory. Based on your birthday, you are assigned two cards: a Source card and a Manifestation card. Do you know what your Birth Cards are? If not, The Tarot School has a Birth Card Calculator where you can determine your birth cards. The algorithm reduces your birthday down into a single digit to get your Source card, then plots the rest of the Major Arcana Tarot cards in numerical order on the Tree of Life to give us a "game board".

What are your birth cards? Do they resonate? Why or why not?

I think calculating your birth cards based on your birth date is a great way to start thinking about your overall life path, but if the cards that you're given don't resonate with you, feel free to pick another set of cards to work with. You don't have to live where you were you were born. You don't have to adopt the same religion or occupations as your parents. You don't have to identify as the gender you were born as, so why shouldn't you be allowed to change your assigned spiritual archetypes? You absolutely do not have to identify with the Astrological or Tarot archetypes you were born into. It's up to you to decide which cards (if any) resonate with you and take the story from there.

Archetypes exist as framework for storytelling, self-reflection and conversation. They are not prescriptions.

Birth Cards, Tarot Game Boards and Possible Destinies are helpful in establishing a narrative framework: where you've been, where you're at now and where you're headed! My Birth Cards are The World (XXI) and The Empress (III), which absolutely resonate with me, at least for now! xo Calley