This article reflects my own personal opinions and beliefs.

Exploring the Tarot as a Healing Tool

Is Tarot a sinister pathway or one of spiritual enlightenment and healing?

Do you have an opinion about the Tarot?  Is it a positive one or do you have negative feelings about it?  Have you ever had a Tarot reading, or maybe wanted to but been too fearful due to half truths and second-hand information?  I hope by reading my thoughts on Tarot as a healing tool that a few of your questions will be answered and any fears you have calmed.

Imagine a group of people who did not speak your language - how would you communicate to them?  You have a pen and some paper and need to tell them that their bus leaves at one o'clock.  Typically you would draw a clock with the correct time showing and a bus.  Now imagine that you have to impart the wisdom of life's mysteries using only pictures...

This is the all-embracing language of Tarot.

Alchemy from Pictures?

In our literate society today, people have largely forgotten how to 'read' pictures inspirationally, but when reading the cards years ago people saw every symbol as a key that unlocked the mysteries of the Tarot.  Have you ever wondered why churches have stained glass windows?  These were introduced for the faithful to meditate upon and deepen their spiritual understanding, bringing colour vibrations and healing into their soul.  The Tarot can also be used in this way with worthwhile results as the complexity of the cards and their sometimes contrasting symbolic images communicate many layers of meaning through imagination, feeling and intuition.

Those who study the Tarot with me are asked to select a pack of Tarot cards and then, before "learning" anything about them, to take time meditating upon each one in turn.  While doing this they record their feelings about each card in a journal allowing deep intuitive feelings  to flutter to the surface and critical ones to be pushed aside.  This is a worthwhile investment of time, as these first instinctive reactions produce a unique style that matures as you formally learn the cards.  Spending time with your chosen deck of cards will also help you to develop a relationship with them, so literally carry them with you and sleep with them under your pillow!  Whether you allow anyone else to touch them or not is up to you, but many readers feel that their own vibration should not be disturbed by the hands of other people.

Amazingly Tarot is still as relevant today as it was centuries ago as it has moved with the times and grown like a living thing.  Today it is still sought to guide the individual towards a more spiritual and less materialistic way of life and challenges them to grow with integrity.  Although they differ pictorially from deck to deck, the cards can alert the seeker to the best times to "sow" and "harvest" their "crop", although it is up to them which "seed" they choose to plant and how they feed and water it.

There are hundreds of different Tarot decks but, today, each consists of seventy-eight cards, which are divided into 22 major and 56 minor arcana (or mysteries).  These offer insight into the life of the seeker and can predict events and trends in their life when used in a specific way.  The cards themselves do not possess any hidden powers; they are not good, evil, or even magical, but are a window into the life and soul of the seeker.  The reading is governed by the skill and, more importantly, the intention of the reader who should have the ability to put aside personal bias and prejudice.  The cards should always be handled with respect and reason; never in a jovial or superficial manner.  Readings done purely for 'amusement' (either the reader's or the seeker's) are often shallow and meaningless.  From their very creation the cards were designed to encourage emotions and thoughts for the seeker to explore, giving them the chance to move forward from the past and heal from the pain, taking corrective action if necessary.

Those who work in the occult sphere have so often been, and continue to be, depicted as evil, mean, hateful and even ugly by writers and movie-makers alike.  Images such as these are drawn from the fear that occultists would perpetrate misfortune, that they would curse and cause devastation, sickness and decay in the lives of others and spread misery, even death.  True healers who read Tarot believe in the energy of the Creator of All (or God) and have faith that this energy is not only present in ourselves but in everything on Mother Earth.  It is within and without us, above and below us, in the air we breathe, the oceans, rivers and glaciers that are so inspiring, the mountains, forests and plant life that dominate parts of our planet with majesty, the animals, birds and insects without whom there would be great imbalance, the crystals, minerals and metals, which form with natural magic.  We are all inter-connected and together make up the higher wisdom.

If we choose to embrace this concept then we have the opportunity to draw greater awareness, self understanding and gain personal growth - it is our free choice to seek or reject spiritual uplift, hope and happiness.

I believe in seeking a balance between the physical world and my desire to connect with the natural world and and be wholly spiritual, as I know that to reject one in favour of the other would bring resulting instability.  This is reality, without which I would not be much of a help to others being unable to understand their day-to-day situations and problems.

A Fresh Approach Through Understanding & Exploration...

Tarot is simply a means of receiving guidance in both our spiritual (inner) and material (outer) worlds but has been subjected to much condemnation, suspicion and ever derision - not only in history but in the present day.  Lack of understanding results in harsh judgments being made, Tarot is not intended to be sacrilegious but a means of illuminating the search of self, a way of embracing personal transformation and opening a door of discovery...

There is, I feel, a distinct difference between divination and fortune telling.  The latter conjures up pictures of fair grounds with women with large hoop earrings, lots of bangles, flowing skirts and hands eagerly outstretched to relieve you of your silver.  Divination on the other hand speaks of connecting with the Divine.  It is a humanistic and serious-minded effort to decipher personal mysteries and shed light upon them.  The spiritual message supporting each separate card lifts the reading above being a mere fortune-telling exercise and shapes creative thoughts with clarity and power.

A Doorway to Enlightenment, Hope and Choice?

I feel that Tarot is a much maligned and misunderstood form of therapy.  Perhaps you may have considered counselling, healing, drumming, art, pottery or evening classes of another description to help you develop spiritually and cope with times of stress and unhappiness or simply to add a little depth and meaning to your life.  It is often more straightforward to seek guidance that is not biased with the complicated emotions of those that are involved and therefore not always able to see your situation objectively.

The major arcana tell a story, with inspirational pictures, that start with The Fool and end with The World; very apt when I believe that we are heading towards an era of raised awareness in global issues and higher consciousness...

The lesser arcana show the more commonplace aspects of our lives and can outline events that the seeker has experienced in the past but that directly affect their present or future, giving them the opportunity to learn and grow from both traumas and triumphs.

Readers should never abuse the privilege that they have but must always strive to have unconditional positive regard and empathy with the seeker, being aware of their own failings and prejudices.  They should listen effectively and quickly build a rapport with sensitivity and flexibility, putting aside their own previous experiences while they focus entirely upon the needs of the seeker.  They should be able to grasp an inappropriate response and deal with it effectively while never being critical or judgmental but gently guiding the seeker and respecting their dignity.  Gaps in the conversation between the reader and seeker do not need to be filled, silences that are 'held' encourage the seeker to take things at their own pace and all the thought process while they consider their personal situation and how the messages of the Tarot relate to them personally.  The seeker then must then accept this deeper understanding of life, after all the cards may have unlimited wisdom and possess a real presence of power behind their psychic images but must be enabled by both the reader and the seeker if they are to tell a story.

Awareness...

Rather than the stiff and wooden techniques that can be acquired through repeating the meaning of each card parrot fashion.  I combine my intuitive thoughts with knowledge based upon experience from life, my years spent nursing, advanced astrological learning, the skills I acquired when I trained as a counsellor

I resist readings that have narrow focus, giving only glib superficial explanations and so, at the end of the reading, if the seeker wishes further guidance, I offer them a way of deepening and expanding the cards already on the table.