Questions About Tarot

Consulting the Tarot Cards for Guidance to Spiritual Enlightenment & Soul Health

Tarot readers have been consulted for spiritual guidance and life direction by many health practitioners, spiritualists, feminist historians, novelists, artists, film producers and aristocracy for centuries. It is the great philosophical machine, a "map to the psyche", and an ancient sacred text in the form of cards. Many are skeptical until they experience the power of a reading, and discover its profound spiritual teachings. The Tarot is a set of seventy-eight images, which taken together, depict all the forces that affect human life, along with all the characters, events, emotions, and ideas that provide the material of which human life is composed. This workshop will introduce you to how these "archetypal Tinker toys", function as self-awareness, transformational, and healing tools that provide an interface between the realm of imagination, and the material level of existence.

• How to express our passion without being oppressive to others (Wands),
• How to stand up for ourselves without violence (Swords),
• How to be mindfully trusting and loving (Cups),
• How to revel in our material abundance with an eye to assisting those less fortunate (Disks).

• How the transformation of spirit to material took place collectively, and continues to unfold within each individual choosing to take the journey to enlightenment;
• How the awareness and integration of the opposites within us – male/female, light/dark, ambition/sacrifice, attachment/letting go, moon/sun leads to wholeness, personal power and higher consciousness.
• How the navigation, negotiation and acceptance of the polarities and magnetism, of destiny with character, and of individual with collective needs, carries us inevitably to the sacred experience of bliss,
• How ultimately there is no “getting there” – enlightenment is NOT a Shangri-La at the end of a linear path – enlightenment is a spiraling path that leads to a centre, back out to the edge again, and back into the centre at a higher octave and so on.
  
  

The Fool’s Journey to Wholeness
Many Taroists subscribe to the notion that the Fool (number 0) is the protagonist of the journey to wholeness which is mapped out in the Major Arcana. The Fool’s Journey to Wholeness represents a psycho-spiritual map that initiates of the Tarot follow to attain enlightenment. Enlightenment being a psychic awareness of oneness, the cycles of birth, death and rebirth, egoless-ness, love, and the balancing of energies – masculine/feminine, black/white, chaos/order, nurturance/self care, love/fear, movement/stillness, doing/being, sacred masculine/sacred feminine.

Just as all spiritual paths have prescribed tests that must be successfully navigated for expanded consciousness, in preparation for the ultimate state of wholeness, so does the Tarot. These expanded states prepare the initiate’s consciousness to manage, and contain the energy surges rising from the personal and collective unconscious. As experienced Tarotists will testify, this movement to expanded consciousness ever spirals around and upward. You continue to expand beyond your first arrival to wholeness – wholeness is a process, not a fait accompli!

In the beginning stages of learning the Tarot back in 1975, I was initially struck by the “synchronicity” of how appropriate the card would relate to events taking place in my life. At some point, perhaps two or three months into my study, I was confounded by the realization that this was more than synchronicity – this was magic. In awe, I noted a resonance between my Majors work, and my life events.

As I moved into teaching the Tarot it wasn’t long before I noticed that my students were going through the same transformational process in their lives; transforming life events dancing in step with their journey to magical readership. Magical readership is the kind of readership that gracefully and brilliantly combines intuition with Tarot academia, empathy with self-awareness, practicality with frivolity, and Yin with Yang.

Ffiona Morgan, author of the Daughters of the Moon states, “There were times when I feared our intense transformational process would prevent the tarot’s publication. Events in my life and the environment threw boulders in my path at every turn.”

Morgan describes this same process happening to all the wimmin involved in the Daughter’s of the Moon creation almost 30 years ago and many others have discovered this same phenomenon.

Additionally, readership is a profoundly relational activity.

Cynthia Giles, author of two excellent books on the Tarot, points out in her work that women have traditionally been the “fortune-tellers” while predominantly, males have Kinged the presumably loftier positions as the academic esoterics.


The Journey to Magical Readership is womyn’s journey to wholeness, magic, and enlightenment. 99% of Tarot readers are wimmin and 99% of people who go to readers are wimmin. I hear this everyday in my practice, “Why do you think it is that only wimmin go to see a Tarot reader?” There is no scientific evidence that women are more intuitive than men – Ruth Crocker’s doctoral thesis – women’s ways of knowing – creativity, non-linear thinking

The Emperor, the Hierophant, the Hermit, the Hanged Man, and The Devil represent the masculine path but they tell a very different tale to womyn. This is why I maintain that it is crucial that Tarotists wishing to achieve magical readership read only decks that are non-racist, non-sexist, non-classist, and non-hierarchal; in effect that we favour only decks that are inclusive. Magical Readership can only be attained with the right tool! Another example is the work Alexandra Genetti has done with the Wheel of Change Tarot. She has “feminized” her interpretations of the Tarot (as have several before her and since) which is exemplified in her interpretation of the Chariot. Alexandra adds the importance of relationship at this stage; an innovative and woman-centred adjustment to the traditional Chariot divinatory meaning.


“The Chariot card impels us to discover the power within ourselves, not by steamrolling those around us but by using our vital energy toward solutions that are inclusive, productive, and sustainable. These solutions drive the chariot of time to a more beautiful world where respect, love and the natural rhythms of life help us find equitable resolutions of human problems.” Compared to the traditional interpretations which stress individual, “Triumph over nature. Providence, war, presumption, vengeance, riot, quarrel, defeat. Accomplishment, readiness to move ahead, overcoming obstacles.”


How does the Tarot Work?
No one truly knows what happens to make Tarot readings relevant and accurate predicters of fate. My theory is that, by deciding to use the tarot cards, we contract with the universe (call it divine inspiration, inner self, higher power, or whatever) on a means of communication and a specific language - the language of Tarot. Once you’ve chosen the tarot as your link to the sacred, you then enter into a process that allows you to get feedback and information from the universe through the cards. In some way, the force of the universe, or of your deepest, most knowing self, activates your autonomic nervous system to shuffle, cut, and choose the cards that will clarify or answer your questions.

What I do know is that the cards have worked consistently for me, my clients, and my students over the course of 30 years. As long as they’re useful, I keep employing them.


How a Non-Initiate Can Make Use of the Tarot Cards

Storytelling
For most of the life of humanity, the telling of stories was among the most vital activities in society. Storytelling preserved and passed along the wisdom and experience of the community long before there were alphabets or books. Stories served, too, in the initiation of imagination; children were awakened to the truths of the heart and alerted to the traps of the trickster soul hearing the deeply psychological stories we today call myths, legends, fairy tales, or folk tales. Stories were told and retold, embellished and adapted, by specialists who combined prodigious memory with a creative sensitivity to the fundamental elements of story.

In the second half of this workshop we’ll explore how the Tarot functions powerfully as a springboard to generating stories about you and your life.


Free-Writing and Journaling
You may use the Tarot as a springboard to journaling or free-writing your lives as myths. Myths are about characters in the process of transformation which pretty much describes all of us all the time!


The Elements of a Myth

• heroine/hero,
• rdinary world from which you are beginning,
• the call to adventure,
• refusal of the call,
• your allies, your obstacles,
• finally, your return to the place from which you began -- but changed.

When we touch the mythic and archetypal level of the unconscious, it releases immense energy into our lives – it can express itself as a call – hook us up to a more inclusive frame of reference – something bigger than ourselves


Meditation
Pictures are the universal language and the language of the psyche – they work beautifully for meditation. Pick a card that particularly attracts you. Let your consciousness move inside the card – see yourself in a 3 dimensional way inside the card. Look around at the scenery around you, the other characters and if you’re confident about performing active imagination, allow a conversation to develop between you and the other characters. Move within the card and note your feelings and sensations and when return to your present reality, journal your experience. I guarantee you will experience insights you will remember for a lifetime!


Painting
Pick a card that irks you because of the way in which the author has interpreted it. Use paint, collage, clay, material, or any other medium to recreate the card the way you think it should look. If you enjoy the process create a whole new deck that you would feel comfortable working with!


Body Work
Tarot images contain/create specific vibratory patterns that can be applied directly to bodywork. Certainly the energy resonance between Tarot reader and questioner has a very significant effect on both parties.

One bodywork therapist and Tarotist, Mary Katherine Rose, author of the Children’s Tarot, engages clients to draw a Tarot card to create a “theme” for a therapeutic massage session. The unconscious awareness of the specific needs of the body are translated into conscious information through the process of selecting a card. In turn, conscious awareness of the image may be translated into synergistic amplification of the energy manipulations achieved through the massage.


Deciding on Your Tarot Deck
500 decks on the market today – the classics, to specialized decks

I recommend that you be mindful in this area when choosing your own deck – the symbols on your cards will affirm, validate, and reinforce your unconscious/conscious assumptions, beliefs, and attitudes about yourself, humanity, and transformation.


People Symbols
I always recommend to my initiates that they avoid decks depicting uniquely white people in positions of light and power.

Tarot images of people represent the values and attitudes of the people who have drawn them. The human image is likely the most powerful of all the symbols used in the Tarot because they act as mirrors of us and people in our lives.

You want to be mindful that your deck isn’t sexist depicting only male images exemplifying a quality of control, command, aggression, or leadership, and female images demonstrating qualities of passivity, nurturing, submission, or receptivity.

The exclusion of other races besides Caucasian reinforces the misconception that the Tarot (which reflects the pattern of life) is only relevant to the white race. Some decks that do include people of color, use their race to symbolize our fears, and pains, our guilt, unknown depths, our uncontrollable urges and our bondage or entrapment; i.e. The Devil, slaves, or The Hanged Man. It is a spiritual and psychological imperative that we conscientiously research the decks we are to employ, watching carefully for the ways in which racism is being perpetuated, either by the exclusion of people of colour or by their inclusion in negative or violent imagery.

Since ancient times, the Tarot has been used by the ruling class, occult initiates, and educated philosophers. The scholars and nobles that developed the Tarot materials as we know them today, depicted Emperors, Kings, and Popes. They drew on esoteric philosophies, mystical teachings, classical works, and the literature, history, and myths of many cultures. They saw the Tarot as a tool to be used by the initiated or privileged people who had the leisure and education to study and understand the Tarot’s intricate maze of symbolism. Only in the twentieth century has the Tarot become available for use by the general public.

Today we have an opportunity to de-mystify the Tarot. Some authors are presenting interpretations that steer clear of references to scholarly literature and avoid allusion to obscure mythological or philosophical writings. They make clear that the Tarot is a tool that is available to everyone. Many have renamed the cards in an attempt to have the titles describe the meanings of the cards instead of reflecting archaic social structures.

Few people have perfectly proportioned bodies. In many Tarot materials, people who are not “ideal” in their physical shape or abilities are included only if they also point to poverty, disaster, or misfortune. Many decks show us somebody’s concept of a perfect person. To remain open and sensitive to the larger universal energy we need to work with a divination tool that projects imagery that is inclusive of all the peoples in the world.

Ageism is another issue that surfaces in some decks. Children are the ones depicted as creative and energetically ready to begin life with enthusiasm and faith. Young people are seen as reckless, willing to take a few risks on the road to adventure and experience. Middle-aged people are seen as the sensible, mature leaders of society. Older people are depicted as quiet but inactive sages.

Be mindful of the value judgments that the author has made. You need to look carefully at the cards you choose to work with and examine which of your own attitudes they represent and reinforce.

Choose a Tarot deck containing symbolism that holds meaning for you and looks good to you. Peruse several decks; then notice which one you keep returning to. Pay special attention to the one you think of when you wake up in the morning.

Be practical however, and look for a deck that is a size and shape that you can easily handle. Be open to choosing more than one deck! You may find several decks that appeal to you. You may want to use a given deck for certain moods and questions, and another to explore different issues. After tuning into your own value system, your philosophy, your taste, your intuition, and your hands, choose the decks that “fit” you.

References and Acknowledgements
Special thanks to these authors for their inspiring work on the Tarot. I’ve quoted them often throughout this presentation and used many of their suggested exercises in my own study, which has lead me to make healthful and insightful choices in my life.

Giles, Cynthia. The Tarot History, Mystery, and Lore. Simon & Schuster: New York, NY, 1992.

• Comprehensive discussion of the history of the Tarot,
• Well researched dissection of the mystery of the Tarot with scientific and psychological theories, Giles, Cynthia. The Tarot Methods, Mastery, and More. Simon & Schuster: New York, NY, 1996

• Challenging, and comprehensive examination of the Tarot as an oracle and profound system of divination,
• Multidimensional in terms of the history of the Tarot.

• A workbook for personal transformation
• Practically endless suggestions for ways to get to know your Tarot deck,
• Replete with suggestions for exercises, rituals and readings.

• Workbook style full of unique and creative methods for exploring and using the Tarot for personal growth,
• Rich with good advice, guidance and enjoyment.
• Comprehensive and well-written.