My young mother is lying in bed wearing a hospital gown. My father, pale-faced and looking scared, is trying to coax me through a tiny window above her feet. I am reluctant, but agree to at least look outside. Pushing my forehead against the window frame and craning my neck, I spy about two dozen people gathered on a lawn far below. They are wearing all white and are clustered in groups, socializing comfortably together. “They do seem nice,” I think to myself, and then wake up.
This is one of a handful of dreams I can remember about being born.
In others, I squeeze through a tunnel at the bottom of a pool, slide down a twirly waterslide feet first, and try (in vain this time, I think) to push through an impossibly narrow cave that gets smaller and dryer the further I go. Those dreams have a sense of inevitability and incredulity. In them, I feel that the impossible is happening to me, and the only way to react is with complete surrender.
In tarot, the Fool is card zero of the Major Arcana.
The story goes that the Fool represents the unborn spirit, just about to fall to earth and be born. In Pamela Colman Smith’s illustration, the Fool looks blissed out. But in my coming-to-Earth dreams, I am less blissful than bewildered.
The window dream stands out because, unlike the others, this one involves an element of choice.
The possibility of staying back is real in this dream. My reluctance slows the action and gives me agency to decide for myself whether or not to jump.
Rather than the Fool, this dream feels like the Lovers Card.
Much less romantic than its name suggests, the Lovers Card is about heavy, high-stakes choice. This is the kind of choice that binds us karmically, and commits us to accept the weighty task of being bound to each other permanently. Evidently, my pre-born spirit wouldn’t make that monumental commitment until being reassured of the character of the people waiting for her below.
I made a good choice!
I feel grateful for all of the birth dreams I can recall, but especially for the one that features my choice to be with the people I know and love today.
Here I am between my siblings in a favorite family photo from my parents’ home. Do I look like someone who has just made a big, smart decision? No, I look as bewildered as a newly-fallen Fool. My older brother and sister, who were undoubtedly among the people on that dream lawn, look like they’ve had a bit more time to recover from their own Fool’s fall (though apparently my brother kept the outfit).
I have just visited my now quite elderly parents, so I’m in the mood to reminisce. However, the point of including these memories in the Present Day Tarot Blog is to highlight how helpful it can be to compare tarot cards and symbols to one’s lived experience. Far better than key words from a ‘little white book,’ energetically-charged memories form a basis for in-depth understanding and empathic interpretations. Tarot students: Next time you want to up your tarot-reading skills, take a powerful memory — one filled with an energetic impact — and ask yourself what tarot cards might match the story and why. Then tell me about it in the comments below!
Yetta Snow is a professional tarot reader and educator based in Seattle, Washington. Her business, Present Day Tarot, approaches the Tarot as a way to bring meaning into every moment of every day.
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