Creating a 22-card circular tarot spread based on the Hero's Journey of Kabbalah would is an interesting blend of different esoteric traditions. The Hero's Journey is a narrative structure identified by mythologist Joseph Campbell and consists of stages a hero goes through in a story, while Kabbalah is a Jewish mystical tradition, which has its own symbolic system and structure. The Tarot, particularly the 22 cards of the Major Arcana, aligns well with the Hero's Journey, and can also be mapped to the 22 paths on the Tree of Life in Kabbalah.
Note that traditional Hebrew text is read right to left, so in this context we will read it left to right (counterclockwise).
Here's how to work with this spread:
Sure, here's a comprehensive instruction set, combining the previous instructions and incorporating the use of two decks:
1. **Set up:** Create a circle with 22 spaces, each represented by the 22 Major Arcana cards from your first Tarot deck. Set them out in order, starting with the Fool at the top, moving counter-clockwise, ending with the World. These cards act as placeholders representing different stages of the Hero's Journey.
2. **Question:** Think of your question or the journey you're contemplating. Shuffle your second deck and draw a card. Place this card in the center of the circle. This card represents the question or issue at hand, the overall energy of the situation.
3. **Crossing Card:** Draw a second card from the second deck and place it across the first card. This is the obstacle or challenge faced in the journey.
4. **Path Cards:** Draw 22 more cards from the second deck, placing them atop the Major Arcana cards from the first deck, already positioned on the 22 spaces of the circle. Begin from The Fool's position, moving counter-clockwise. These cards represent the energies and events along your path in relation to the stages of the Hero's Journey.
5. **Interpretation:** Begin interpreting the cards from The Fool's position and move counter-clockwise. Correlate each card from the second deck to the Major Arcana card from the first deck it's placed on. For example, if you draw the Lovers card from the second deck and place it atop the position of the Emperor from the first deck, consider how the energy of the Lovers (harmony, relationships, choices) interacts with the energy of the Emperor (authority, structure, control).
6. **Crossing Interactions:** Compare the Crossing card with each card combination on the path. Understand how the challenge or obstacle might interact with each stage of the journey.
This spread combines elements of Tarot, Kabbalah, and the Hero's Journey, creating a nuanced and in-depth approach to reading Tarot. Each card drawn from the second deck acts as a "modifier" to the Major Arcana "placeholders" from the first deck, providing additional context to those stages.
When interpreting the "crossing" interactions, consider how the obstacle or challenge card relates to each combination of Major Arcana placeholder and modifying card. For example, if you have the High Priestess from the second deck in the position of the Hermit from the first deck, crossed with the Tower, look at how the mystery and intuition of the High Priestess interacts with the introspection and solitude of the Hermit, all while dealing with the disruptive, transformative energy of the Tower.
Remember to follow the reading counter-clockwise, in alignment with the direction of reading Hebrew in a mystical context, which provides an additional layer of symbolism to this intricate spread.