Who was Carl Jung?
Carl Gustav Jung (1875 to 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist. Early in his career he worked closely with Sigmund Freud, but the two later split, and Jung developed his own approach, often called analytical psychology.
Jung was deeply interested in dreams, myths, religion, alchemy and symbols from many cultures. That broad curiosity is one reason his ideas are so popular among people interested in tarot, astrology and the I Ching.
Three Jungian ideas tarot readers use
1. The collective unconscious
Jung believed that, below our personal memories, the mind also has a deeper layer shared by all humans. He called it the collective unconscious. He thought it explained why similar stories and symbols turn up in myths and dreams all over the world.
2. Archetypes
Within that shared layer, Jung described archetypes: basic patterns or roles that keep appearing in human imagination. Examples include the wise old guide, the mother, the trickster, the hero and the shadow (the parts of ourselves we prefer not to see).
It is easy to see why tarot readers find this exciting. The Hermit looks like the wise old guide. The Empress looks like the mother. The Fool has a touch of the trickster. Many readers describe the Major Arcana as a gallery of archetypes.
3. Synchronicity
Jung coined the word synchronicity to describe a coincidence that feels deeply meaningful even though nothing seems to cause it. He set out the idea most fully in an essay published in 1952.
His best known example came from therapy. A patient was telling him about a dream of a golden scarab beetle. At that moment, a beetle that looked very much like a scarab tapped on the window. Jung caught it and handed it to her. He said the shock of the moment helped her open up in a way that had been hard before.
For Jung, the point was not that the dream caused the beetle, or the other way round. It was that two events lined up in a way that carried meaning for the person involved.
Did Jung write about tarot?
Only a little. In a seminar in the 1930s, Jung briefly described tarot cards as images connected to archetypes, and suggested they could be used in a playful, intuitive way. He wrote much more about astrology and the I Ching. He wrote a foreword to a well-known English translation of the I Ching, where he explained how he thought synchronicity might apply to it.
So it is fair to say that Jung was interested in tarot-like symbols. It would not be fair to say that Jung created a method of tarot reading or that he proved it works. The strong link between tarot and Jung was mostly built by later writers, especially from the 1970s onwards.
How readers use these ideas today
A Jungian-style reading tends to look different from old-fashioned fortune telling:
- The cards as a mirror. Instead of "this card means X will happen", the question becomes "what does this image bring up in me?"
- Projection. We often see our own feelings in a picture. Noticing what you see in a card can show what is on your mind.
- Shadow work. Hard cards like the Devil or the Tower are read as invitations to look at fears, habits or anger we tend to avoid.
- Active imagination. Jung encouraged people to let images unfold in the mind and even have imagined conversations with them. Some readers do this with a card: "What would the Hermit say to me?"
- Meaningful timing. When the "right" card shows up, readers may describe it as a synchronicity: a coincidence that invites reflection.
Where the comparison stops
It is important to be honest about the limits.
- Tarot and Jungian psychology are separate systems. Tarot meanings came mostly from card makers and occult writers. Jung's archetypes came from his clinical work and his reading of myth. They overlap, but they are not the same thing.
- Synchronicity is an interpretation, not evidence. Calling a card draw "synchronistic" describes how it felt to you. It does not show that the card was chosen by some hidden force, or that it predicts anything.
- Our minds are very good at finding patterns. Psychologists have shown that people often remember the hits and forget the misses, and that general statements can feel strikingly personal. These effects can make any reading feel accurate.
- Jung's own ideas are debated. Many psychologists today see the collective unconscious as a rich idea rather than a tested scientific finding.
None of this means a reading cannot be valuable. A picture that makes you stop and think about your life can be genuinely helpful, whether or not anything mysterious is going on. The value lies in the reflection, not in a claim about how the cards were chosen.
A simple Jungian-style exercise
- Think of a situation you feel stuck on.
- Draw one card. Before reading any meaning, look at the picture for a full minute.
- Write down what you notice first, how the figure seems to feel, and what it reminds you of.
- Ask: "Which part of me is like this figure right now?"
- Only then read the traditional meaning. Notice where it agrees with your first reaction and where it differs.
A note on wellbeing
Reflection with tarot can be calming and interesting. It is not therapy, and it is not a replacement for talking to a qualified professional if you are struggling. If a reading brings up something heavy, it is a good idea to talk it through with someone you trust.
Try it
Our tarot shadow work reading is built around Jungian-style questions. You can also try the I Ching hexagram generator, the oracle Jung wrote about most.