Transfiguration

Professor of Transfiguration

Old habits die hard, but the professor of transfiguration will guide you through the process of self-transformation.

Key Symbols

• Transfiguration is the card of metamorphosis and rebirth. In a tarot reading, it often describes the connection between old endings and new beginnings.

• The professor is a master of shapeshifting. He’s pictured in the process of transforming from human form into the shape of a Proteus butterfly.

• The Proteus butterfly was named for the Greek god Proteus, who could foretell the future. However, those who wanted Proteus to divine the future for them had to overpower him first. He resisted by shapeshifting into a wide range of creatures.

• Butterflies are a longstanding symbol of transformation, because they evolve from an earthbound caterpillar to a creature of air during a single lifetime.

• The professor is wearing black, which symbolizes the dark mysteries of death, the shadowy world of dreams, and the buried secrets of the subconscious mind.

• Behind the professor, the sun is low on the horizon. The angle of the sun’s rays seems to surround him with a halo of light.

• The skull at the professor’s feet symbolizes our own transformation from spirit to physical form, and back again.

• The two white candles on the floor are a reminder that energy is never lost or destroyed. As the candles burn and melt away, the energy they contained is released, and their essence shifts from one form to another.

• The white rose is a symbol of death and rebirth. In this case, there are four white roses — one each for the realms of spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and physical life.

• The symbol for Scorpio is carved on the left side of the window frame. Scorpio is ruled by Pluto, the planet of transformation and the underworld — and the sign is associated with the transformative power of sex, death, and inheritance.

• The Hebrew letter Nun is carved on the right side of the window. It means fish. In the Wizards Tarot, fish are associated with the waters of the unconscious — where we can fish for answers to great mystery, or simply fish for the information and inspiration we need to live another day.

Practical Magic

Most of us are constantly in the process of remaking ourselves. We want to shed unhealthy habits and unproductive beliefs, and replace them with wholesome thoughts and behaviors.

The process of transformation and release, however, always comes with a price. Sometimes it seems unbearably high: in order to change, we have to relinquish the comfort and control of our old selves, and venture into new, unknown territory.

The Transfiguration Spread

Think carefully about a transformation you’d like to make in your life, and choose two cards to symbolize your life before and after the change. Lay them on either side of the Transfiguration card, and read the three cards like a past, present, and future spread. Look for similarities, differences, and advice.

Transfiguration’s Past Life Spread

For even deeper insight into your personal transformation, you can use the cards to explore a past life. This spread can refer to the life you lived as a child or young adult, or it can describe another incarnation completely.

Lay the cards in a figure-8 shaped lemniscate, which is a symbol of infinity.

1. Past life physical description: What did you look like during your past life?

2. Past life location: Where did you live?

3. Past life personality: What kind of person were you?

4. Past-life/present-life relationship: Which relationship have you carried over from a past life to your present? (If you’d like to see more than one relationship, add another card.)

5. Past life purpose: What was your soul’s purpose in a past life?

6. Past life passion: What did you love about your old life?

7. Past life death: How did your old life pass away?

8. Life lesson: What did you learn from your old life?

9. An unresolved issue from your past life: What fear, worry, or concern did you carry from your old life into your present?

10. Present life purpose: What do you need to accomplish in your current life?

11. Advice: What message does your past self have for your present self?

Return to the Study Guide Index