Shadow Cards

   

Question
I want to know what is a shadow card and how do you draw it?

Hidden Factor Card as Shadow Card

Your [A] Hidden Factor Card [or cards] indicate aspects of yourself that you fear, reject, or don't see, and thus can also be called the Shadow Card. The shadow, a term used and defined [coined] by Carl Jung, refers to unknown or little-recognized parts of the personality. These are aspects of yourself that you deny, and thus can not see directly. However, you will remain sensitive to these qualities and therefore tend to see them in others via the psychological mechanism of 'projection' [projection is a term coined by Freud and redefined by Jung].

http://www.dallasartsrevue.com/solstice/Pages/T-065-Primer-n-Projection.html

While the Shadow Card could be indicating something or someone else it's usually some shadow [feared, hidden or unrecognized] part of yourself. Or the person you are doing a reading for.

The Shadow is also an Archetype and according to Jung - the first archetype encountered during analysis.

Who is confused now? Show of hands please, [g].

See the book:
The Essential Jung - Selected and Introduced by Anthony Storr
Page 87: Part 4: Archetypes: Shadow; Anima; Animus; the Persona; the Wise Old Man

Note: The shadow, anima, animus, the persona, and the wise old man are all archetypes.
http://www.thezodiac.com/archetypes.htm
http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial_s&hl=en&q=archetypes&btnG=Google+Search

Drawing a shadow card is up to you but one way is to turn the deck over and use the bottom card as a shadow [hidden factor] card after dealing out the other cards for a spread/reading. Or use the last one in a 'fan', or pick one at random if you have the cards messed about on a flat surface.

The Shadow Knows

Lets assume you agree with the following statement.

"The shadow is the saboteur, martyr, victim, addict, sadist, masochist, or tyrant, all the dark figures that prey on the the lighter qualities of the human personality/persona/psyche."

If you agree with the above then do you think the following is true?

"The shadow is the saboteur, martyr, victim, addict, sadist, masochist, or tyrant, all the dark figures that prey on the the lighter qualities of the human personality/persona."

The above was written by Christine Jette in her book, 'Tarot Shadow Work'. Here is another way she describes 'The Shadow'.

"Something mysterious, fearful, misunderstood, incomplete, or possibly even dysfunctional."

Mary K. Greer in her book, 'Tarot for Your Self' describes the Shadow [which she also refers to as the Hidden Factor Card] thus;

"Aspects of yourself that you fear, reject, or don't see, that are unknown or little recognized parts of the [your] personality. These are aspects of yourself that you deny, and thus can not see directly. However you will remain sensitive to these qualities, and therefor tend to see them in others via the psychological mechanism of 'projection'."

Many folks, especially women don't care for the 'Queen of Swords'. Why? Because the QoS is often seen as a woman [person] 'alone' or 'on their own'. Usually she is seen as 'childless' and even 'barren' [unable or unwilling to have children, or a woman who has lost a child].

Now let us say you see yourself as one of the 'Mother Queens', the Queen of Wands, Cups, or Pentacles. Chances are the Mother Queens share at least one Shadow aspect and that is their 'fear of being childless' - thus their/our [shadow projection] negativity toward the Queen of Swords.

Using the Tarot and Shadow Cards

1. Add the number values of all the cards. Court cards all normally just have a value of zero [0] and The Fool has a value of 22.
   See: Court Card Values
2. After adding all the values, if the number is bigger than 22 then reduce the number by adding together the individual digits in the number
• Example: 10 of Cups [10] .. 7 of Wands [7] .. The World [21]
• Adding the card values together we have; 10+7+21=38.
• Since 38 is higher than 22 then we reduce the number 38 by adding the separate digits together to get 3+8=11
3. Once you have a number between 1 and 22 then this number becomes the Number Total [NT} or the Number Key [NumKey] of the reading/spread.
4. You then equate this number to it's corresponding Major Arcana card.
5. Each Major Arcana card has it's shadow card, or cards which can be found by adding or subtracting 9 to the value of the Major Arcana card value until you exceed 22 or go below 1.
6. To make it easier, here is a list of the Majors and the cards related to it. Given the number total of the spread/reading cards then anyone of the cards in each group can be the NumKey [Number Total] - which will make the other number/cards the shadow card/s for that reading/spread. Note: Some categories have three numbers/cards associated with them, while some only have two numbers/cards associated with them. Note also that each double digit in each category reduces down to the base/root number [1 to 9] of that category.



• The 1's
  Key 1: The Magician
  Key 10: The Wheel of Fortune
  Key 19: The Sun
• The 2's
  Key 2: The High Priestess
  Key 11: Justice [or Strength]
  Key 20: Judgement
• The 3's
  Key 3: The Empress
  Key 12: The Hanged Man
  Key 21: The World
• The 4's
  Key 4: The Emperor
  Key 13: Death
  Key 22: The Fool
• The 5's
  Key 5: The Hierophant
  Key 14: Temperance
• The 6's
  Key 6: The Lovers
  Key 15: The Devil
• The 7's
  Key 7: The Chariot
  Key 16: The Tower
• The 8's
  Key 8: Strength [or Justice]
  Key 17: The Star
• The 9's
  Key 9: The Hermit
  Key 18: The Moon

Let's say you had the following cards come up in a 5-card spread.

Card 1: King of Swords .. [value 0]

Card 2: The Star ........ [value 17]

Card 3: 9 of Swords ..... [value 9]

Card 4: Page of Pentacles [value 0]

Card 5: The Chariot ..... [value 7]

If we add the values together we have .. 0+17+9+0+7=33. The number 33 is higher than 22 [our maximum allowable number] so we need to reduce 33 to 3+3=6. Thus Key 6 - The Lovers is out NumKey [numerology total] for the spread/reading. You would now apply The Lovers to the overall reading in whatever manner works for you.

Looking under the number 6 in the chart above we can see that if The Lovers is our NumKey then the other card, 'Key 15: The Devil' is the Shadow card aspects of the spread/reading and thus read it in whatever manner makes sense to you [and your intuition, abilities, etc.].

If the total value of the cards in the spread/reading were say 19, then Key 19: The Sun would be the NumKey - and from the chart we would find that both Key/Trump 1: The Magician and Key/Trump 10: The Wheel of Fortune would be the Shadow card aspects of the reading/spread and read these cards in whatever manner you choose to help flesh out the reading.

Question
When do you use a Shadow card or cards in a spread? Everytime, occasionally, when it feels right? When asked? Or is it your personal preference when to use them?

KIP

Answer
Mostly personal preference. I use it with nearly every spread I do - but not all.

It's up to the reader if, and when to use them.

Don S.