Tarot Strategies for Life Change

Your Tarot Cards: Getting to Know You

Drawing a Tarot card every day is an excellent way to get both a quick check on you and your environment and it is a wonderful way to build a relationship with your Tarot cards. 

The Tarot image is a barometer to your mood and it sums up the conditions of the day or the question that you set when you drew the card. Sometimes the image is clear. If you are feeling drained and you pull a card from the suit of Cups reversed (upside down). Well, a cup that is held upside down drains very quickly... that level of meaning is very apparent. 

You could go on from there to look at the specifics of the particular card. What is its number? What are the specific images? How do they relate to you and your particular situation? 

Take a good look at the card. Don't run to your Tarot books for the "correct" meaning. The correct meaning is the one that resonates and it may have nothing to with anything ever published in a Tarot book.

Really look at the card. How does it hit you? What was your initial reaction. The one you had before your conscious mind took over. Look at the image as a whole. Does it make you feel happy, sad, anxious, relieved... Then look at the details. If there are people or animals in the image, what are their expressions? Where are they facing? What are they wearing? What is the environment in which they find themselves? Look at the details. Sometimes your answer is a tiny detail.

You can certainly do this on your own. But if you would like some help or explore further techniques, I recommend this excellent book by Mary Greer as a way to get to know your Tarot cards. http://budurl.com/MGTYSelf

Tarot: The Four of Cups--One Card, Two Meanings

The Tarot allows endless variation in interpretation of any given card. Let's take the 4 of Cups.

Case in point: A woman in her late twenties chose the 4 of Cups. She is the mother of three children and she was contemplating a fourth. This is an interpretation I've never seen in any Tarot book. But it spoke perfectly to her and her situation. The image of the 4 of Cups depicts a figure sitting under a tree with arms and legs folded looking at a row of three Cups. 

The suit of Cups represents matters of the heart, family, joy. A hand coming from a cloud, some call it a "hand of God" is bringing a fourth cup.  

Another woman chose the 4 of Cups. In her case, the card was "reversed" or upside-down. A reversed card suggests that the energy is working in a different way or is perhaps blocked.

This woman was trying to maintain a positive attitude around people who were full of negativity. There was a seemingly endless succession of tales of woe. This client was determined not to allow the negativity to undermine her attitude and ability to remain effective. 

In this case, the cups in the Four of Cups represented the negative people and negative stories around her. Cups, when upside-down, cannot hold liquid--this negativity can easily leave her very drained. But the figure is looking away (from the other cards in the spread). She doesn't want to partake of the pity party and so she holds herself apart.

One card, the Four of Cups, and two very different meanings. In both cases, the card spoke directly to the client and the situation at-hand. To me, this is a demonstration of the magic of the Tarot.

Tarot: No Wrong Way to Interpret a Tarot Card

There is no right or wrong way to interpret a given Tarot card. Just because a Tarot book dictates one meaning doesn't mean that you might not find an alternative that really resonates to you and your particular situation.

The Tarot is a system of symbols. And symbols have a range of meaning. The Tarot is particularly rich in meaning because it is visual and it operates on many levels. Sometimes the 'book" meanings really do work. But sometimes you will see a story in the image that speaks to you. And sometimes, a card's symbolism will speak to you on many levels. 

And other times, the card will work in a stunningly literal way. And at still other times, the answer is found in a tiny detail in the imagery.

The Tarot is intended to stimulate your imagination and your intuition. So let it "talk" to you. If your interpretation feels right, it is true for you. And don't worry some supposed Tarot authority or some Tarot book. 

Change, Results, and a New Tree

Look around you to read signals that the Universe sends. Sometimes, it is subtle, sometimes a happy coincidence or a dose of serendipity. And sometimes, it is a confluence of happenings that point to the same direction.

Let me give you an example. 

I was feeling a little down when I looked outside and saw the beginning of blossoms forming on a new tree that had been planted this past November. The tree was touted as having showy white blossoms, but the initial growth sported only baby green leaves. I was pleased to see the tree had weathered the tough, cold winter, and as a healthy, living thing; I was happy to welcome it as one of God's creatures, take care of it, and celebrate its uniqueness.

But approximately two days ago I looked at the buds where the green leaves are beginning to peek out and saw what appears to be nascent blossoms. To me the appearance of the blossoms represents the miracles and the hidden gifts of nature. 

To me, the Universe was sending a strong message. A book cannot be judged by its cover and many of the levels in which change is actively going on are not visible. 

Intuition: Using Nap-time for Problem Solving

Calling all slackers, I have a great announcement. 

By taking naps you aren't being lazy or slacking off. You are, in your deceptively quiet state, actively problem solving. 

Try that one on the boss.

But its true. The intuition works when the mind is quiet. And it doesn't get any quieter than snooze-time. Assuming you have been actively priming the pump in your waking hours, your unconscious mind will work when you are asleep. 

It has been said that Thomas Alva Edison often interspersed his day with catnaps (so does my cat). He did it to give his intuition a crack at working out problems. Given his track record, he was doing something right. 

As someone who like the softness and warmth of my bed as much as the cat, I am attracted to the idea. 

And I have to tell you that I frequently do this and it does work. Upon awakening, pieces of a puzzle come together meshed in a very agreeable whole. 

But the key to working the intuition is that you do have to prime the pump during waking hours. That means you can't slack off all the time.

Happy Easter, Happy Spring and the Lawn Guy

Easter celebrates spring, the season of renewal. 

Here in Philadelphia where I live, the landscape has dramatically changed in the past week or two. It seems every day I see new flowers, new blossoms on the trees. 

What a contrast to the dried out winter browns of just a couple weeks ago.

Back in late February I started to get hit up by people looking for work cutting lawns. Cutting the lawn? Ha! Back then thinking of spring and growing grass was the farthest thing from my mind. 

My poor excuse for a garden looked very sad with the skeletons of last summer's blooming plants standing guard. I had planted perennials. I was advised that I should leave a foot or two between plants because they would grow in in subsequent years. Believing that they would seemed more like an act of faith than anything else.

The grass itself looked sad in its scraggly brown. The tree, planted on a windy, bitter November day stood naked in the winter cold. The container plants, the ones I hadn't taken indoors looked scrawny. It was hard to believe that masses of yellow Coreopsis flowers bloomed last July or asters bloomed in September.

But this past Monday, daffodils peeked out on the lawn in front of my accountant's house. And grass had turned a vibrant green, the shade of green one only sees in April when the grass shows its young vital self.

The color, the growth buoys my mood. It shows the perennial nature of cycles. That which lay dormant will arise yet again. Nature is rewarding us for toughing out the winter. And as we all experience times of winter in our souls, we can learn by observing Nature's cycles.

To me, that is the meaning of the spring holidays such as Easter.

Passover: A Metaphor of the Process of Transformation

Passover is celebrated by Jews all over the world this week.

I see it as a story that resonates very strongly in the contemporary world and a powerful metaphor that explains the process of transformation.

To summarize, the Israelites had settled in Egypt, grew and prospered. Their strength threatened the Egyptian rulers who enslaved them for 400 years. The Jews labored under oppressive conditions until their God responded. Led by Moses and aided by a series of miracles, they were able to flee. 

The Red Sea was parted just long enough for the Israelites to get across--the pursuing Egyptians were drowned when the waters closed in. 

But then the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years. 

Geographically, the Sinai Peninsula is not so large that one would need 40 years to cross, even by foot. 

So why were the Israelites delayed? 

They needed time to adapt to becoming a free nation. At first they had the attitudes and mindset of a captive people kept under oppressive circumstances. It wasn't enough to free them. They had to learn how to live in freedom.

It is interesting to see what happened during their journey. First, it was not a beeline to the promised land--it was long and circuitous. Second, they need various kinds of assistance to survive until they made the transition. They were led by balls of smoke and fire. Manna from heaven kept them alive in an inhospitable desert environment. 

There was backsliding. As Moses went up to Mt. Sinai to receive the tablets from God many Israelites reverted to worshipping a golden calf. 

Finally, Moses, himself, never got to set foot in the promised land. 

But isn't transformation much like the Passover story? Oftentimes, it takes a long time for a situation to deteriorate to the point where you are ready to make the break. And oftentimes, you need the help of others to "slay the dragons." 

And breaking out is not the end of the story. You have to learn to deal with new realities. Prison provides you with food, water and a place to sleep although the conditions may be wretched. Outside, you have to find a way to obtain them for yourself.

You may backslide, you may feel fear. It can take longer than you expect to grow out of the learned helplessness you may have experienced in your former environment. Like Moses, old attitudes and an old you may have to die off before you can truly thrive in freedom.

There is much to be learned by the Passover story: the struggle of the newly liberated Israelites to become free. 

Power, Women and The Devil Card

The Devil card is a very powerful card. Its imagery tends to evoke strong reactions when it comes up in a client session. 

In my last post I gave two examples where The Devil played a pivotal role in the session, but with very different nuances. 

What linked the two examples were that both clients were women and in both cases The Devil addressed the desirability for both to exercise their power and be empowered. 

This raised some questions in my mind--why were those women's exercise of power reflected in imagery that is so dark and threatening to so many people. There was nothing extraordinary about the actions needed by either woman. Did the Tarot reflect cultural baggage surrounding a woman's exercise of control of her environment and her exercise of autonomy and power? 

This also begs the question. Would The Devil have shown his face had the client been a man? If a man is called to "play the heavy," The Devil might reveal himself in his spread. And I have seen instances where that is exactly what happens. 

But is the threshold for "playing the heavy" still different for men and women?

To be continued.

Power and The Devil card: Playing the Heavy

The Devil card describes power--its use or misuse.

The Devil card, a member of the Major Arcana, is a card of great complexity and layers of meaning. A cursory look shows the devil, an imposing figure that dominates the card, flanked by two subordinate figures held by chains around their necks. They are naked with tails. The woman's tail holds a bunch of upturned grapes, the man's tail faces downward and is full of fire. 

The image of these three figures against a background of black is disquieting and powerful. When working with clients, the appearance of The Devil nearly always elicits a strong reaction. 

The Devil is a heavy hitter, but he isn't necessarily negative in the sense that we normally associate with the word "devil." 

The appearance of The Devil often indicated that either the client or someone in the client's environment is playing the "heavy." But that is not necessarily a bad thing. If things are out of wack, it may take nothing short of someone putting his foot down to bring them back into balance. 

One example is a woman in a leadership position in a small non-profit who had to ask a disruptive volunteer to leave the organization after her poor behavior brought a simmering situation to a head.

The reception among other staff was relief. Another is a coach who finds she needs to take on the role of "The Devil" in requiring that her clients agree to be committed and accountable.

In both cases, each client needed to be The Devil, in other words, exercise her own power.