The Connection Between

the Chakras and the Tarot

First Chakra – Root Chakra at the bottom of the spine

Issues: Survival of the individual, feeling safe, getting physical needs met, food on the table,
shelter, physical nurturing
Tarot cards: Pentacles & Magician

On the level of the first Chakra, it is all about survival. There is tribal consciousness, because the
chances of survival are higher if people stick together as a group. The saying for this level of
consciousness is: “Everything I do, I do for my tribe.” So the individual doesn’t need to think for
themselves. The group decides what is best.

To get your needs met on this level, manifestation becomes important. The Magician teaches
the importance of clear desire because you have to know what you want before you can have
it. He shows you that anything is possible, and that you have all the tools to manifest anything
you want. You just have to trust in your own power to make it happen.

Money becomes a strong goal on this level, because it is a neutral form of energy that can be
exchanged for anything you need in your physical reality. Greed is also a big thing, because
even when they achieve their goals, they always want more from fear of lack. Pentacles have to
learn to share and be generous, or they can easily lose everything they have achieved.

Second Chakra – At the pubic bone

Issues: Relationships, family, procreation, creativity, ambition, passion, adventure
Tarot cards: Wands, High Priestess & Empress
Something happens at the second Chakra: The individual decides to break away from the tribe
and do their own thing. They want something else for themselves and their family. They no
longer want to be told what to do by the tribe. The tribe is never happy when someone rebels
and breaks away, because it threatens their chances of survival. So the individual has to be
strong, determined and rebellious to be able to free themselves from the grip of the tribe. The
saying on this level is: “Everything I do, I do for my family”…

The two Major Arcana cards are the High Priestess and the Empress. These are the rebels in the
Tarot deck. The High Priestess is the guardian of the spiritual path. She will only let people past
the veil if they are prepared to be 100% committed to the path and willing to leave everything
and everyone else behind. The path has to be their main priority in life, anything less won’t do.

The Empress is the extrovert version of the High Priestess. She is creative, sensual, sexual, open
to anything life has to offer and always pregnant with new ideas. She knows what it takes to
create a new life, and she knows when to be patient and when to push. These are the two
teachers on this level. They will both encourage you to walk your own path, follow your dreams
and not let anyone else hold you back.

In the two of Wands, we see the seeker evaluate his options. He wants to follow his passions,
and the two women are cheering him on.

Third Chakra – at the bottom of the rib cage

Issues: It is all about power. Who is in power over whom? Who is on top of the ladder? Who
gets to tell others what to do? And it is also about addiction, giving your power to a substance
and finding the right balance in life.
Tarot cards: Swords, Emperor & Hierophant
At the third level, the seeker decides that he is tired of working for others. He wants to achieve
a position of power, even though he knows it will be a challenge and that someone is likely to
get hurt in the process. But at this point he doesn’t care. The saying on this level is: “Everything
I do, I do for myself!” He wants money, power, riches and recognition. He wants to tell others
what to do, but in the process, he is losing his heart…

The teachers on this level are the Emperor and the Hierophant. These two are sharing the
power. The Emperor has power over our physical reality. He creates structure, order and rules
to make life as predictable as possible. People will give up their freedom just to feel safe in the
Emperor’s world.

The Hierophant controls people’s minds and belief systems. He can only tolerate people who
believe what he tells them to believe. So people have to give up their freedom to be true to
their own inner guidance in order to belong to his group. There is no tolerance for freethinking
spirits in his society. It is all about control. Between these two rulers, life becomes very dry,
predictable and structured.

The Swords have one main lesson to learn: If you make decisions from the head, someone will
end up heartbroken. They have to remember their hearts, because that is what brings them to
the fourth Chakra. But Swords are stubborn people who are not willing to give up their power
without a fight. Luckily, it is a losing battle, because the heart wins in the end…

Fourth Chakra – at the breast bone

Issues: Love, relationships, forgiveness, healing, caring about others, sharing and compassion
Tarot cards: Cups & Lovers

At the fourth Chakra, people are no longer motivated by money, passion or power. Now they
are more interested in caring and sharing, healing and helping and making the world a better
place. But relationships are never easy. In the Lovers card, we see an angel who is happy the
lovers found each other. But she knows that many blessings are needed, because the path of
love is never easy.

In the 4 of Cups, we see a person sitting under a tree. He is grumpy and closed off, and not
appreciating the love that is offered to him. So gratefulness is one of the lessons on the fourth
level. Forgiveness and learning to take responsibility are other lessons. Some people become
too responsible and want to take on everyone’s suffering, while others descend into laziness
and indecision. Because they don’t have any external motivation or drive, decision making and
motivation can be hard. They also have a tendency to be taken advantage of by others because
givers naturally attract takers. Eventually, they become tired of doing everything for everyone
else. This is when they move towards the 5th Chakra where they leave the healer behind and
become the teacher instead.

Transition: From the fourth to the fifth, the seeker has to go through a pretty intense
transition. They have to consciously start their Fool’s journey and leave everything they know
behind. They have to find their motivation and drive again (Chariot) as well as their inner
strength (Strength) to walk the path alone (Hermit). This symbolizes the end of his first cycle
where the seeker evaluates everything he has learned up to now. Then starts the new cycle
(Wheel of Fortune), guided by connection to Source (0).

Fifth Chakra – at the bottom of the throat

Issues: Will and surrender, letting go of judgment, doing what is right, spiritual practice, death
of the ego, preparing to go beyond duality
Tarot cards: Justice, Hanged Man, Death, Temperance

The fifth Chakra is the last step before you go beyond duality. So one of the first lessons on this
level is to learn what is right and what is wrong. This is not supposed to come from a black and
white court perspective, nor from a religious moralistic perspective. The right and wrong on the
fifth level has to come from your own inner guidance and your own heart. This is why Justice is
number 11 in the Tarot, because 11 is the number of the idealist.

In this process, the seeker learns that nothing is black and white; everything is just shades of
gray. How you see things depends on your perspective, and on the situation. What is right in
one situation could be wrong in another. There is no simple truth, no one way to look at
something. Everything is relative, and the seeker has to learn to trust his own heart in each
situation.

His faith is growing, and he is starting to discover his own inner guidance. He knows that
something big is shifting, but he doesn’t know what is next. He can no longer see his path, and
he feels like he doesn’t know anything. So, he surrenders to the wisdom of the Universe. While
he is hanging from a tree, he is going through a great transformation. Death comes and kills his
ego. This is why his aura is glowing around his head. He disappears as an individual and merges
into the ocean of consciousness, but only for a moment. He had a Satori, a glimpse of
enlightenment, but he still isn’t ready to completely dissolve yet.

When his ego comes back, he knows that he needs more spiritual practice, more self-discipline
and more moderation in his life. He is practicing meditation and Tantra in an effort to raise his
Kundalini energy. However, his ego is still strong enough to get him in trouble one more time…

Another transition on the journey: The higher you go, the easier it is to fall. The Bible says “free
us from temptation” for a reason. The Devil is symbolizing temptation, which is something that
you can’t resist, even though it takes you away from the light.

The Devil is one of the most profound teachers in the Tarot. He teaches that you have to go
through the dark to find the light. In other words, he teaches through contrast. When you
discover what you don’t want, you can figure out what you do want. When you get stuck in a
situation, you long for freedom. When you get too obsessed with ambition, lust and addiction,
you long for tranquility, peace and silence.

Since you are learning about duality on the Fifth level, the Devil will come and teach you a
lesson about duality the hard way (if you need it). Once you get sick of the Devil, the Tower will
come and free you from the Devil’s den. The Tower creates chaos in your life, but out of this
chaos, you will be transformed, like the phoenix rising out of the ashes.

The next card on the journey is the Star.

The Star has a powerful message for the seeker. The seeker realizes from the Star that he no
longer has to go through the dark to find the light. Now he can go straight to the light to find
Divine guidance. Once he can see this clearly, he has gone beyond duality and is now moving
towards the sixth.

Sixth Chakra – between the eyebrows

Issues: Learning to live with not knowing, embracing the unknown, dissolving into the ocean of
consciousness, disappearing as an ego permanently
Tarot cards: The Moon, The Sun, Judgment

Once you go beyond duality, the only thing that can help you on the rest of your journey is
faith. No technique, no teacher or no person can help you at this level. You can’t go back,
because you know too much. And going forward is scary because you are walking straight into
the unknown. You can’t see where you are going. You just have to have faith that life will take
you where you need to be.

Eventually, it is not just the path that disappears; YOU disappear as an ego as well. Ego is
nothing but a delusion of separation from Source energy. When this delusion dissolves, you
seize to exist as the person you have known yourself to be. It is like spiritual suicide. But the
moment this happens, the Universe fills you with light. This is why we call it enlightenment.
Now the past disappears as well, and the only thing left is the present.

Seventh Chakra – top of the head

Issues: No more worldly issues, no more lessons to learn, only one more thing to do: share your
enlightenment with the world
Tarot cards: World

In the old Zen scripture, “The ten bulls of Zen,” we see in the last of the 10 pictures, the master
returning to the world with a bottle of alcohol in his hand. This represents the Master, drunk on
the Divine, on his way back to the world to help others walk their path as well.

By now, I hope you can see with great clarity how the Tarot is like a blueprint for our spiritual
journey here. The Chakras are like a map of 7 different levels of consciousness, and the Tarot
cards correspond to these Chakras and ad clarity about the journey.

If you want to dive deeper into this issue, you might consider reading my book: “The Tarot
Blueprint, Learn how every card relates to the journey of life.” This book is available on
Amazon.com.

Many blessings and love to you wherever you are on your journey.