BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality New Age Tarot And Its Uses

this may or may not apply to this thread, but...
does anyone 'spiral' their cards when they shuffle? on top of normal shuffling, i spin the cards around and cut it a few times...i tend to shuffle a lot when i do a reading for me...sometimes i spread them like a fan and pick from them like my friend diana (shes got a tarot gift) but sometimes i get quite a few upside down cards. instead of reading, i get perplexed as to how i shuffled them like that.
i used to make tarot bags and spread cloths...all i have left is my purple one with the moon on it. its cute, but homely...i mostly bead and s-crapbook (as the boyfriend calls it) anymore. i used to have a lot more output, but it seems like im not doing a whole lot of anything lately. work drains my energy. i should finish my painting, which was supposed to be a christmas present...oh well. i should read my cards, i need a solution. lol
i hold a lot of respect for people who knit or crochet...i dont have the patience!

Alrighty, Heather! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Yes!, stehenno, I do in fact "spiral" the deck. I do it every once in awhile, espcecially with The Quest deck. It's slippery surface makes it easy to do so. (Not to mention fun. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> )

Hi all,

I've just written and posted an article called Using Tarot And Oracles For Creative Writing: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art21177.asp I give examples of how you can use Tarot and Oracles to develop characters, write dialogue, and create conflict. I use actual card examples from 4 decks, as well as personal examples from my own novel (in progress!).

Feel free to post your thoughts and ideas related to this article! It was really fun putting this together for the Bella readers. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Hi Janet <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Finally got over here! I love this place! Wanted to comment on some of the tarot discussion going on here, if I may.

I use tarot for self-improvement work, therapeutic "counseling" if you will... in such things as shadow work, art therapy, and meditation. I also use tarot for creative writing, as in your article discussion pertaining to that. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Oh yes... for ritual, and healing, and magickal workings (as in a symbol to notify the Universe with my intentions), but that's where the meditations come in I guess.

Reversals... I definitely read reversals, because I've come to appreciate how nothing is "chance" with tarot. It *all* has a "meaning" to my subconcious. I don't necessarily read reversals as "bad", though, as I don't believe in the concepts of "bad" or "good". (Yes, I also feel this way about "bad" people vs. "good" people, and those exceptionally "evil" people out there... that is just a label. It's not up to me to judge that. There is a purpose to that person's "evil", even if I do NOT understand it or like it). It "just is", and it's there for me to feed my soul with... even if it's painful, for I can't have life without balance. I don't purposely spin the deck as I'm shuffling either... and I've had reversals aplenty. That's proof positive to me that none of it is "mere chance". It's about learning about and integrating what the card is trying to teach me... what my subconcious is using the card to tell me about myself, about lessons I need to learn rather than any "morality" I "need" to conform to. Mostly, when I get a reversal, I tend to pay *extra* attention to why my subconcious might pick that card. I should clarify here that I don't generally go with "book meanings" on uprights. I go intuitively most of the time, and so goes it with reversals. If I feel "stuck" on what my subconcious is trying to pick up and teach me with a card, I'll go through "book meanings" and see if I find something that "rings", and see if I can free associate with it to find any messages. But I've notice some "rules" that go along with intuitive reading. Since I don't "go with the book", it may take me *months* to "get" whatever message my subconcious is trying to tell me... but that's the whole purpose of intuition, isn't it, to "mull" and digest and then regurgitate... then take it all back in again over and over again until I have pearls... and transformation... and a fully fed soul. I've had to learn the art of... patience... something that is hard to come by in this "instant gratification" world... and hard to maintain when there is such tremendous "pull" from the "crowd" to "know it all NOW!".

I agree, that the question must be as specific as possible. What you send out is what you get back. I also know that if I ask hasty or unthoughtful questions, I get really murky "answers". What fun is that? My soul isn't getting what it wants in that case, so I have come to appreciate the time I must put into this work, just so I can avoid the discomforts of "acting out" or depression or sleepless nights because my soul is bugging me to "do it 'right'" so it can live and not just survive.

I can see how suits can be detrimental to each other... elementally, wands (fire) will get put out by cups (water). In the language you associated it to... unbridled passion (wands) can get drowned in depression (cups) if the emotions are allowed to become unbalanced... history holds stories of many "famous" artists who had severe emotional dramas "going on"... I do agree that numbers may play a part in "detriment" (again, because of balance), as well as the question asked (again, because of specifics), but for me, not reversals or stories, as I've already explained earlier how I feel about reversals, and "stories" are just that... myths that we can chose to use to put limits on our lives, to say "that's all I am", or that we can step out of and observe for their messages to clues to parts of who we are as a whole. Like I said, I don't believe there is such a thing as "bad" or "good", it's all in our own perceptions. I'm not too big on the Kabbala, so I don't really understand the in's and out's of it, but I know that it's like anything else, there are checks and balances to any system, so I'm sure there are concepts within kabbalistic tarot correspondences that can cancel each other out similar to the elements or the qualities of each suit.

Likewise, I don't use tarot for divination at all, as that would mean I believe that I have no control over my life, and therefore I have no choice. That... is a bottomless pit I've already been down and very intimately touched the bottom of, and have no heart for anymore. (Sheesh... after re-reading through that, it just sounded so... "harsh"... sorry. I just don't know how else to phrase that at the moment... and it comes from long hard years of drinking experience before I hit bottom and sobered up... so I hope that explains "what's THAT?!", lol... <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ). Been sober 13 1/2 years now, btw...

Alright... I'm making this into a very long post. Better stop before I get told I take too much room up! Glad to be here, and hope to get to know everyone and learn and grow with ya'll... <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

'llysa

Hi 'lyssa!!! It is so good to see you here! I always love reading about your journey and insights. I often find myself nodding along, just like at the Yahoo group. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'm not into reading the cards for "fortunetelling", either. (Especially for myself.) I feel that I read current energies, and people have the free will to change. However, since most people don't change easily, it's likely to happen as it is. If a car is going 60 mph in one direction, and the drive doesn't turn the wheel, they'll likely arrive exactly to where they're heading.

I do the same thing with readings: go by intuition first, and then look at different books to see if something gets sparked.

Like dream interpretation, I think consciousness is a process. If we're not ready or able to hear something, we won't. (Which is why some readings seem stubbornly hard to interpret for the self...and may take some time to actually make sense to us!)

'Lyssa, would you care to share how you use the Tarot for shadow work and for art? I'm intrigued.

I'm just so glad you made your way to Bella. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I've been wanting to share some of my own Tarot/journal/meditation/dream experiences on a deeper level, and you seem to really bring that out of me! (Looks like you've been a "light" to me, too! :love: )

And congrats on your sobriety! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Janet says:
"Like dream interpretation, I think consciousness is a process. If we're not ready or able to hear something, we won't. (Which is why some readings seem stubbornly hard to interpret for the self...and may take some time to actually make sense to us!)"

AH! THAT makes so much more sense... I just finished a book called Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore... and his whole theme is about why it takes time for symbolism to make sense to the soul... because we have to digest and regurgitate and make pearls. That's what "food for the soul" means. I understood alright what he was saying... but still get frustrated with the way tarot sometimes "won't talk to me", lol! With the way you said that, it just "clicked" for me. Thanks! lol.. Sometimes I'm a slow "learner", but that's ok.

I'd love to share how I use tarot in my shadow work and art therapy.

First off, I found a book quite a while ago called Tarot Shadow Work by Christine Jette. I think I've mentioned that book to you before? I've worked with that before, but not extensively yet. (But I have incentive to do so now, with discovering my core shadow concerning my health issues). It has every major arcana card written out with shadow meanings, but not the minors. I'd like to find a book with that sort of thing included, but since I'm so smitten with intuitive reading, I've been able to find some meanings for minors anyway, even though those meanings are, of necessity, personal and not "general". I use the concept of shadow in tarot in relation to reverse cards in my "regular" spreads (meaning when I'm not doing specific shadow work spreads from the book), and I guess I wasn't very clear on that at all, really... I was pretty tired when I posted above. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> That's where the need for shadow meanings for minors come in, of course. The Tarot Shadow Work only deals with spreads using the major arcana anyway, so when I'm looking at reveresed cards in any other spread, I still look for shadow meanings, but just in reversals. That's what I meant by paying extra attention to those reversals.

In my art therapy work, I might take a card that represents a shadow issue for example (especially if I'm having a tough time making sense of the symbolism), study it, find the most "disturbing" thing about it, and draw or paint or write or sculpt *that* symbol as it is seen in my own soul. Then I can contemplate it and chew on it and digest and regurgitate and then take it all back in and begin the process all over again until I think I've died... (oh, ok, just kidding!). Really, the purpose of art as therapy is to get that energy *out* of my body, in the light of day, and once I get that moving, the rest comes. It is a wonderful stress reliever.

Sometimes, I take some issue, be it shadow or not (but really... IMHO, all "issues" have at their cores... shadow. We do create our realities...), and create an image of it from a tarot card that closely resembles my dilema, by creating an image that says what the card *means* to me concerning the issue. It helps me get much more specific about the issue, as I tend to get "muddy" about what is "going on in there". I then find a way to "transform" that first piece into a solution... first, by finding another tarot card that represents the way I'd like to see the issue change for the better, and then I create a "solution", by either drawing over the representation of my issue, or creating a whole new piece, (especially if it's impossible to draw over the original, like if it's in really dark colors or "big"), that reflects a new way of viewing the issue... and once, I ended up with a "series" of "steps" all drawn out! A lot of times also... like when I write with my non-dominant hand (left in my case, as I'm right-handed), I also draw or paint or sculpt with my left hand only as the "rule", that way, I've by-passed my tendency to "logic" my way through the issue.

That's basically what I've been working with so far, anyway. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I'm so glad I made it over here to Bella too... I was beginning to think that my latest bout of health issues was going to "kill" me... and then I realized that *I*... create my own reality every moment of every day. And, I can either live by default, or start participating willingly. I don't know why, though... I seem to need to learn that lesson a "lot".

Thanks for the congrats, too! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> One day at a time... that's all that's required of me... they keep telling me, lol!

'llysa

Thanks so much for sharing your process, 'lyssa! I've heard good things about Tarot Shadow Work by Jette, as well as her book Tarot For The Healing Heart.

What you said about "food for the soul" makes perfect sense to me! That was exactly my process when studying Archetypes, especially through the Caroline Myss model. After awhile, Archetypes became a part of me, and it became easier and easier to notice Archetypes in movies, myth, and life. But it took some time!

Same way with spiritual food, I think. We take information into our mind...we "digest" it, and it becomes a part of our path. Kinda like leaven in yeast...working its way through until it truly becomes a part of us (and not just laying on the surface).

Does that make sense?

Art therapy sounds wonderful. I colored some mandalas last week, and I have a feeling that served a similar purpose for me. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'm so glad you found your way here; it's always wonderful to hear your insights! :love:

Hi all,

I've just posted a new article called How To Clear Your Tarot Or Oracle Deck.

How do you "clear the deck" or dispel negative, stagnant energy around your divination tools?

I shuffle the cards 7 times, re-order the cards and then shuffle them 7 times again.

Hi everyone! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I'm safely back from my trip to Checz republic, and back to this forum too! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Janet, I usually use the aromatherapy method, I normally burn incense sticks and/or candles when performing a reading. I also use the "white light techique" quite often, although with me it's usually blue or green light. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> As for re-ordering the cards, I know a lot of people do it, but I've never been patient enough! <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
Love,
Elena