In the early '80s, a group of researchers 'channeled' an amazing body of knowledge called The Law of One. The 'being' they were in 'contact' with is called Ra. Ra teach the Law of One - the concept that we are all one giant ocean, even though we may feel like being a fish in it.
Whether you believe 'channeling' and 'beings' is a possibility - the concepts described by the researchers provides very practical and useful information. You can find the content and book here. This may be somewhat difficult to read and understand for some - the information is very condensed. But if you persist a bit, you may find some pearls in there.
One such perl is the description of the process of transformation, evolution and creation - using the Tarot. According to the text, the information of archetypes used in Tarot, was brought to earth in its original form by Ra about 11,000 years ago and given to the Egyptians. Later on, others developed it into the images we know of today as Tarot. Then things got added mostly influenced by astrology and then it started to be used as a future teller tool - not its original intent.
The intent is to describe archetypes as central original ideas as building blocks of our experiences. Think of it as the principles of putting together a good story for a book or movie. There are infinite stories to tell using those archetypes, and yet the archetypes inspire every great story. Understanding the archetypes helps understanding you. Your interpretation of the archetypes is what counts - there is no one way to look at it. Yet, they can help and inspire you to learn about you and experience making.
There are 22 archetypes. 7 for the mind. 7 for the body. 7 for the spirit. 1 for choice.
The central archetype described by Ra is Free will (The Fool). That idea alone cancels out the idea of being able to predict the future. There seem to be high probabilities of choices in your life given your learn biases and preferences - but with free will you can always decide to turn a corner. Choice weaves through ever step in your evolution and experience making process.
In summary the process described can be looked at as follows:
You want to experience
You create
You receive / observe
You experience
You learn
You transform
You are
At each step in the process you have a Choice.
Another way to look at these 7 is:
Your consciousness
You subconsciousness
Your moments/outcomes (the situation you have created)
Your experiences (what you make of the situation)
Your learnings and significant self: everything you have learned in your existence
Your transformation
Your present self (thoughts, feelings, body, emotions, etc)
Over time these archetypes were given names and images, to illustrate their meaning more:
The Magician: seeds to make something appear
The High priestess: speaks to God, the part of you that grows and creates.
The Empress: collects the harvest from that which you seeded.
The Emperor: takes the harvest and turns it into an experience.
The Hierophant: contemplates to learn from the experience.
The Lovers or Two paths: the letting go of the old and embracing the new
The Chariot: the one who rides and directs the horses.
How you might use this?
The starting point you could take is the potential tension between 1 and 3. The Magician in you points his staff to make something appear. Out of the head comes 3. What if it is not the rabbit you asked for? What went wrong? Did you not ask for a rabbit? What happens in 2 by the high priestess and your subconscious happens in the blink of an eye and mostly seems to appear out of nowhere. 3 is your present moment and situation - it is constantly in flow. Always a new situation. How did it get created? That's 2.
If 3 is not what you intended in 1, there is tension. This is why Ra called 3 the Catalyst - that which causes change. How much tension will depend on 4 - the experience you make out of it. If 1 and 3 are not aligned, you either change your intent (1) or work on getting a different outcome (3). Either one involves 5 - The Hierophant - to learn from the experience.
You are mostly aware of 3, the outcome is right in your face. What you asked for as the magician, can be blurry and may require some digging. What happens in 2 is very often a blind magic box - we're guessing what happens in there and what might have triggered you to create the outcome that you got (3).
However, you did get and know 3 - so that's a great starting point. If you feel tension (this is 4 - your experience of 3), then it is time to activate the 5 in you - the contemplator and learner.
Given the tension, you want to look at 1 to get clear on what you want. We call this the I want perspective. It's the starting point of all your experiences. Remind yourself you may have many wants - so looking at any conflicts between them might also provide useful information.
Once you know what you want and there is a different outcome (3), your next place to look is what this Catalyst could tell you about yourself. It's often more obvious what the outcome is trying to tell you than it may seem. What comes out of 2 is working with what you are in 7 - your present self - your believes, desires, thoughts, emotions, biases and preferences. 2 uses all of that to create your outcomes. Connect 3 with something in you or in your environment to learn what produced it. Learn from it. Transform it. And you are a reborn in step 7. Your free will (22. Choice) determines the direction of your life at every step of the path.
It's an experiment. The magician is practicing his magic tricks. He wants the rabbit to come out of the head, and he keeps transforming himself until it does. And when it does, he has mastered the trick to take on an even more magical trick. On he goes - the process always continuous - because experiencing does not come with a pause button.
Use the archetypes to shed light on your current experience and which to 'activate' in you to transform yourself and your experiences. We have listed the 7+1 here.