{"id":9877,"date":"2026-08-18T15:38:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T15:38:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifereader.com\/articles\/?p=9877"},"modified":"2026-08-18T15:38:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T15:38:05","slug":"the-odyssey-tarot-the-journey-of-the-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifereader.com\/articles\/the-odyssey-tarot-the-journey-of-the-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"The Odyssey, Tarot, & the Journey of the Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Renato:<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/span><\/span> Currently, here in Brazil, the film \u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d directed by Christopher Nolan, has been receiving considerable attention in the media and on social networks. <\/p>\n

I watched the film and, despite some concessions to political correctness and the woke movement in its casting choices, I was not disappointed.<\/p>\n

It is not a great film, nor does it feature performances as remarkable as those in \u201cCleopatra\u201d (1963), but it delivers, at a minimum, what one might expect from it. It attempts to tell the story in a way that remains relatively faithful to the spirit of the poem, without turning Homer into a spokesperson for contemporary debates that have little to do with his work.<\/p>\n

But if it is not a masterpiece, with truly memorable performances\u2014with the exception, in my view, of the English actress Samantha Morton, who \u201csteals the scene\u201d as the sorceress Circe\u2014why is it becoming so successful?<\/p>\n

Doesn\u2019t that seem contradictory?<\/p>\n

The answer may be that the appeal lies not so much in the film itself, but in the story that inspired it.<\/p>\n

The Odyssey is not merely a story about sea monsters and one-eyed giants; it is an allegory of the journey of the human soul. Just as Odysseus sails across the Mediterranean and faces monsters, we journey through life confronting fears, illusions, pride, temptations, and loss. Each challenge is not merely an external obstacle, but also a stage in the hero\u2019s psychological maturation.<\/p>\n

The great narratives of humanity\u2014from Homer\u2019s poems to fairy tales, from Greek tragedies to films such as \u201cThe Matrix\u201d\u2014remain alive because they speak less about external events than about our inner experiences. Through symbols and allegories, they reveal the fears, choices, losses, and transformations that are part of the human condition.<\/p>\n

This is why a work can cross centuries without losing its power: times change and customs change, but the human soul continues to recognise itself in these stories.<\/p>\n

And how might we observe this in The Odyssey?<\/p>\n

I propose that we use another symbolic language to interpret this ancient poem: the Tarot and its Major Arcana.<\/p>\n

The sequence of the Tarot\u2019s Major Arcana can be read as an initiatory journey similar to the Hero\u2019s Journey described by Joseph Campbell. It portrays the transformation of consciousness and the great passages of existence, leading towards what the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung called \u201cindividuation.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the sake of space, we will not explore all 22 Major Arcana. Instead, we will highlight several of them to see how they correspond with the psychological wisdom represented by the Tarot.<\/p>\n

The central idea is this:<\/p>\n

It does not matter whether we call these symbols myths, archetypes, or Major Arcana. They all seek to represent the same fundamental reality: human life is not a straight line, but a succession of trials that force us to leave behind old versions of ourselves so that new ones may emerge.<\/p>\n

This is not to suggest that Homer knew the Tarot, nor that the Tarot was derived from The Odyssey. What they share is a symbolic language: the representation, through different images and traditions, of the fundamental stages of human experience.<\/p>\n

The Fool \u2013 The Departure from Troy<\/p>\n

The leap into the unknown. Every great transformation begins when we leave familiar ground behind and accept the journey without guarantees.<\/p>\n

The Magician \u2013 Intelligence Shapes Destiny<\/p>\n

Odysseus\u2019 intelligence shapes his destiny. His strategies\u2014such as the one he uses to defeat Polyphemus\u2014make him the archetype of the person who transforms limited resources into unexpected solutions.<\/p>\n

The High Priestess \u2013 Athena<\/p>\n

Athena represents silent wisdom: the kind that inspires without controlling and guides without replacing the hero\u2019s free will.<\/p>\n

The Empress \u2013 Penelope<\/p>\n

Penelope represents that which nurtures, preserves, and gives meaning to the return. While Odysseus travels the world, she keeps alive the possibility that there is still a home waiting for him.<\/p>\n

The Emperor \u2013 Reclaiming the Kingdom<\/p>\n

The kingdom that must be reclaimed represents the restoration of legitimate order and authority, achieved not merely through power, but through the maturity gained throughout the journey.<\/p>\n

The Hierophant \u2013 Tradition and Order<\/p>\n

The Hierophant represents order, tradition, and fidelity to the oaths that sustain civilisation and remind the hero of who he is, even when the world around him appears to descend into chaos.<\/p>\n

The Hermit \u2013 Initiatory Solitude<\/p>\n

Odysseus spends years separated from his former identity. He is no longer simply the \u201cKing of Ithaca\u201d; he is a man who has endured loss, loneliness, and the unknown.<\/p>\n

The Hermit represents the stage at which the hero stops searching for answers in the external world and begins to discover them within himself.<\/p>\n

Strength \u2013 Mastering Instinct<\/p>\n

Odysseus confronts powerful instinctive forces: hunger, desire, fear, curiosity, and violence.<\/p>\n

The difference between a hero and someone ruled by impulses is not the absence of instinct, but the ability to master it.<\/p>\n

Temperance \u2013 Reintegration of the Self<\/p>\n

After so many losses and excesses, Odysseus must recover his balance. The journey does not merely take him back to Ithaca; it transforms a warrior into someone capable of reintegrating the fragmented parts of his existence.<\/p>\n

The Devil \u2013 Temptation<\/p>\n

The Sirens, Calypso\u2019s pleasures, and everything else that seduces, imprisons, or diverts the hero from his true purpose represent the energy of the Devil.<\/p>\n

The Tower \u2013 The Collapse of Certainty<\/p>\n

The Tower represents the collapse of certainty and the downfall of pride.<\/p>\n

The mistakes made by Odysseus and his companions demonstrate that human arrogance has consequences. The Tower is the moment when we discover that we do not control destiny as completely as we once imagined. <\/p>\n

\"Renato_1.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Moon \u2013 Illusion and the Unconscious<\/p>\n

Circe, illusion, fear, and the descent into the unconscious.<\/p>\n

This is the point at which the hero must confront not only dangers in the external world, but also the shadows within his own psyche.<\/p>\n

Death \u2013 Transformation Through Loss<\/p>\n

Every loss, every fallen companion, and every identity left behind.<\/p>\n

No great journey ends without some old part of ourselves dying so that something new can emerge.<\/p>\n

Judgement \u2013 Recognition<\/p>\n

The return and the recognition of who he truly is.<\/p>\n

After everything he has endured, Odysseus can no longer be the same man who originally departed.<\/p>\n

The World \u2013 Ithaca<\/p>\n

Ithaca represents not merely \u201carriving at the destination,\u201d but the completion of an entire cycle of transformation.<\/p>\n

The traveller returns to the place where the journey began, but he is no longer the same person.<\/p>\n

Perhaps this is precisely why The Odyssey never grows old.<\/p>\n

Ithaca was never merely an island; it is the name Homer gives to the state of consciousness of the person who returns transformed.<\/p>\n

The true reward of the journey is not simply arriving home. It is discovering that, when we return, home may remain the same\u2014but we are no longer the same.<\/p>\n

Best regards,<\/p>\n

Renato<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Renato: Currently, here in Brazil, the film \u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d directed by Christopher Nolan, has been receiving considerable attention in the media and on social networks. I watched the film and, despite some concessions to political correctness and the woke movement in its casting choices, I was not disappointed. It is not a great film, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":215,"featured_media":9879,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,983,12,7,17,24,10,29],"tags":[2060,2184,410,438,2052,2328,2187,230,2194,2327,229,2326,444,1500,1801,822,235,2041,2325,541],"class_list":["post-9877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cards-and-divination","category-divination","category-inspiration","category-mind-body-spirit","category-psychics","category-self-help-improvement","category-sprituality","category-tarot","tag-archetypes","tag-carl-jung","tag-consciousness","tag-greek-mythology","tag-heros-journey","tag-homer","tag-individuation","tag-intuition","tag-joseph-campbell","tag-journey-of-the-soul","tag-major-arcana","tag-odysseus","tag-personal-growth","tag-self-discovery-2","tag-spiritual-growth","tag-spiritual-journey","tag-tarot","tag-tarot-symbolism","tag-the-odyssey","tag-transformation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t