Juliet's Personality and Soul Card

In my previous post, I talked about Romeo's Personality and Soul Card. Now it's time to talk about me and my Personality and Soul cards.

I made calculations to determine which of the Major Arcana tarot cards represent both my Personality and Soul cards and Romeo's (see instructions below for how to determine your Personality and Soul cards). You can think of the Personality and Soul cards as being similar to astrological signs. They are your personal lifetime cards. They help give insight into your life, to your personal journey.

The Personality card symbolizes what you've come into this particular lifetime to experience, learn, study. The Soul card indicates your soul's purpose throughout all of your lifetimes. As it happens, my Personality card and Soul card is the same card, and so is Romeo's, albeit we each have different cards. Because our Personality cards and Soul cards are the same, it means that we're both working specifically on our soul's purpose. It means that we are more focused, more direct. The word intense comes to mind.

My Personality and Soul card is The Hermit. Romeo's is The Chariot. Here's my take on what The Hermit symbolizes in my life.

The Hermit is about the inner life and spiritual quests, about the higher self, the inner voice and about following its guidance. The Hermit speaks directly to my life as caregiver to Romeo, as it implies that the forced limitation and circumstance of his dementia cannot be changed. Even time cannot change the fact that Romeo has dementia. Time will only make it worse, more pronounced. It will take Romeo over completely.

By accepting Romeo's dementia as well as my role as his caregiver, I've come to realize that it's best not to struggle against the the situation. And through this realization has come a sort of calm acceptance, a graceful humility that has helped me navigate the ups and downs of my caregiving life that could very well have been unmanageable without The Hermit's steady, wise influence. Not to say that there aren't challenging times -- there are plenty. However, The Hermit's presence is a reminder that I can choose to trust the bumps and falls that are part of being a caregiver, that come with loving someone with dementia. I can only watch in silence as our lives unfold, as Romeo's dementia progresses. I can only listen as my inner voice guides me to say, to do whatever is best for Romeo, for me.

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To determine your Personality and Soul cards, follow this process (from Tarot for Yourself: a Workbook for Personal Transformation, by Mary K. Greer):

Add together your month, day, and year of birth.

Example:

October 14, 1947

10 + 14 + 1947 = 1971

Then add each digit. 1 + 9 + 7 + 1 = 18.

If the resulting number is 1-22 (as it is in this example), this is your Personality Number. Then match up the number with the corresponding Major Arcana card. In this example, it's the 18th Major Arcana card, The Moon. To determine the Soul Number, add 1 + 8 = 9. The corresponding Major Arcana card is #9, The Hermit.

When the birthdate number adds up to be more than 22, reduce the number down to 22 or less. This is the case for both Romeo's birthdate and mine.

Romeo's birthdate:

November 23, 1944

11 + 23 + 1944 = 1978

1 + 9 + 7 + 8 = 25

2 + 5 = 7

Corresponds to Major Arcana card #7, The Chariot

Juliet's birthdate:

September 28, 1952

9 + 28 + 1952 = 1989

1 + 9 + 8 + 9 = 27

2 + 7 = 9

Corresponds to Major Arcana card #9, The Hermit

When the birthdate is reduced to a 1-22 number, the corresponding Major Arcana card is both that person's Personality and Soul cards. This means that in this lifetime, you're working specifically on your soul purpose, which makes you more focused and directed.