TarotTools.com

Welcome 2006 UK Tarot Conference Attendees

If you attended the 2006 UK Tarot Conference, you know what a fantastic weekend we shared! I left the hotel Saturday night feeling energized and excited. If you were there ... you know how I feel!

I'm currently in Edinburgh (with my bags -- ha!). Internet connections at our hotel are very slow, so I've been unable to upload the presentations we used the other day. As soon as I return home, though -- Thursday morning -- I'll upload the presentation slides so that everyone can see them and have a record of our work together.

Thanks to everyone who helped make the weekend a success -- including Kim and Martin, who are amazing people indeed. And fellow attendees -- feel free to drop me a line with questions or ideas any time!

Materials for 2006 UK Tarot Workshop Attendees

Looking for the templates and other materials I promised to make available to 2006 UK Tarot Workshop attendees? Here they are:

Tarot for Absolute Beginners
- Suit/Court/Number Decoder

Tarot for Creative Writers
- Infinite Plot Generator Template
- Character Generation Template

78 Cards - Infinite Ideas
- Answer Mining Template
- WWTD Template

Tarot as Meditation Tool

I've recently returned to a practice of daily meditation. Every time I retreat to my room, my Tarot deck goes with me.

I hear a lot of people talk about using Tarot as a meditative tool, but not much talk about how they use Tarot as a meditation aid. Here are some quick insight's I've gained over the past few weeks:

- At the beginning of the session, draw a single card. While I get comfortable -- what I call "winding down" -- I look this card over and think about the themes, memories, and ideas it holds for me.

- During the first ten minutes of my meditation, I don't think about the card at all. During this period, I clear my mind, focus on my breathing, and shift gears, slowing down.

- After a good ten minutes of stillness, I bring one aspect or element of the card to mind. (If I've drawn the Fool, the element might be a snowy peak. If I've drawn the Six of Swords, the element might be a boat on the water.) In my head, I build as clear and detailed a mental image as possible.

- After my meditation period ends, I pick up the card, see it with new eyes, and consider how its most positive meaning could influence my actions for the better. During the day, I look for opportunities to put that positive energy to work.

Complicated? Nope. Difficult? Nope. Effective? Very. Pick your favorite deck, and give this approach a try today.

That Deck You Hate

Almost everybody's got at least one: that Tarot deck you don't care for in the least.

There's just something about it. Maybe there's that one card that strikes you as silly or offensive or wrong. Maybe there's something about the author or designer you don't like. Maybe certain card images scare you. Maybe it strikes you as an art deck ... a deck more suitable for looking at than for reading with.

You know the one, don't you?

Today, I challenge you to alter your perspective on the world by doing a short reading with that deck. Here's the spread:

Card 1) Why you don't connect with this deck

Card 2) What this deck could teach you, if you'd let it

Card 3) A benefit of working past your initial reaction and working with this deck for a week.

You may stiil, eventually, put this deck aside ... but I guarantee this exercise will open your eyes to features and options you would otherwise ignore. Give it a try!

Birthday Readings

Yesterday was my birthday, so birthdays are on my mind.

If you've been working with Tarot for any length of time, you know a number of spreads for birthday readings. You might, for example, pull twelve cards -- one for each coming month -- as a way of previewing your upcoming year. Another method involves pulling cards, arranging them in the shape of the astrological glyph that corresponds to your sun sign, and interpreting these as an "overview" of what you need to know.

I'd like to suggest something far more simple -- but perhaps even more powerful. The next time you have an opportunity to do a birthday reading, give this a try:

1) Find a quiet place. Breathe. Slow down.

2) Shuffle the Tarot deck of your choice.

3) Draw the top card.

4) As quickly as you can, interpret this card as one of the following:

- A lesson you've learned during your years on this planet.

- A gift you've received from others

- A gift you've given others

- A lesson you need to learn.

Repeat steps 3 and 4, drawing one card for every year you've lived. (If you're twenty-eight, you'll draw a total of twenty-eight cards.) The insights you glean don't have to come from the associated year; any card can suggest a lesson or gift from any year you recall.

If you're older than 78, you can use one of the bigger decks (The Transformational Tarot, with its 100 cards comes to mind) or shuffle the deck and begin again.

This exercise is quick and simple, but the insights -- and the feeling of centeredness and gratitude -- are profound.

PS: If you really like the idea, why wait until your birthday? This is an exercise you can do any time of year.

Your Personal Ten of Coins

If you could have everything you really wanted ... what would you have?

In traditional Tarot decks, that's the theme of the Ten of Coins. Ten is the number of fullness and finality. Coins is the suit of physicality and finance. The old Rider-Waite illustration -- an older man, surounded by family and possessions -- captures the idea pretty well. (The old man's slumped posture also hints at the weariness that can be associated with the psychic weight of "having it all.")

Today, take out the Tarot deck of your choice and pull the Ten of Coins. Breathe deeply. Dwell on the picture. For just five minutes, focus exclusively on this card and how it expresses the energy of the Ten of Coins. Is it positive? Is it negative? What does this card have to say about having it all?

That done, step outside the boundaries of that image and consider the question: In order for me to "have it all," what do I really need to have? In the Tarot of Your Life, what image is on your personal Ten of Coins?

The answer may surprise you.

Make Better Choices

Every day brings us choices. Our decisions shape our world.

The key to making better decisions is to know yourself: your values, your priorities, your direction, your goals. If you have a handle on these elements of your life, it's much easier to evaluate the opportunities the Universe brings your way.

Today, why not invest fifteen minutes in getting to know yourself better? Shuffle your Tarot deck of choice and try this:

1) Draw one card to represent your core value - what matters most to you. Drawing the Hierophant, for example, might prompt you to explore the role faith should be playing in your life.

2) Draw one card to identify a principle you can use to help set priorities effectively. The Five of Coins, for example, might prompt you to decide that you should organize your day around assignments that put dollars in your pocket.

3) Draw one card to identify your direction: where you want to be five years from now. The Eight of Coins might be a picture of you, owning your own business, hard at work for yourself.

4) Draw one card to represent your ultimate goal: what you want to be remembered for. The Six of Cups might remind you to do a little charity work as you travel the path to your own success!

You might try this exercise once a week for a month, drawing different cards each time, and seeing yourself from a number of perspectives. Alternatively, you could consciously pick the cards you feel capture your priorities and values, and build a mandala of cards as a way of keeping these values where you can see (and be inspired) by them.

With a greater awareness of what matters, you'll make better choices -- guaranteed.

Evaluate Something

All too often, our past experiences and prejudices create a perceptual cage -- a system of values and assumptions that can hamper our objectiity.

You can shatter your "You-Colored Glasses" by drawing a few cards from a handy Tarot deck. Give it a try:

1) Pick something to review: a movie, a book, a Tarot deck, the date you went on last night, a restaurant

2) Draw three cards:

- One that represents something you really liked about the subject

- One that represents something that could have been improved

- One that represents a completely different perspective on the subject ... some aspect of the subject you'd never have realized or considered on your own.

3) Create your review! (You don't have to write and publish it ... doing the review in your head is just fine!)

This simple exercise has lots of power; in minutes, you can see a person, place, thing, or experience from an entirely different perspective.

Getting Started with the Cards

In an email, a critic frets, "Encouraging people to pick up a Tarot deck without prescribing a well-defined course of study is like giving a toddler the keys to an armored tank. It takes years of specialized training to drivea tank; it takes years of dedicated study to understand the potential and power of Tarot."

It's true: the longer you study Tarot, and the more you apply yourself to discovering the ideas behind its symbols, the richer your experience of the Tarot becomes. The cards reward diligent study. On this, we're agreed.

It's also true, though, that playful exploration can be a powerful study method -- and a source of great joy. Just picking up a deck and looking at the pictures can open dozens of doors.

But wait! What about using "proper" shuffling methods? What about rituals? What about cutting the cards three times with the left hand only? Someone just playing might not grasp the significance of the Four of Cups being associated with the Moon in Cancer!

If you're curious about these things, there's time to explore them. In fact, I encourage you to do so.

Meanwhile: don't let anyone tell you that you have to read the collected works of some secret society before you can work with the cards. Pick up a deck. Give it a shuffle. Draw a card. Ask yourself how that card might apply to your situation.

Getting started with the cards is just that easy. When you're just starting your Tarot journey, it's fine to test the waters before plunging into the depths.

Buddy Up!

Linda and Anne, members of the TarotTools.com User Forums, passed along a great idea this week: they've assembled a group of friends who are "Taking the Tarot Challenge" together!

Whether you're "Taking the Tarot Challenge" or just exploring Tarot in general, working with a friend or small group makes the experience a lot more fun! In addition to seeing the cards from an entirely different point of view, your partners will come up with resources, spreads, exercises, and applications that someone working alone will overlook.

And don't forget: your "Tarot Buddy" doesn't have to come from your local, physical neighborhood. Linda and Anne, for example, are using a free Yahoo! Group to keep in touch with distant members of their team!

For too many people, the study of Tarot is a lonesome exercise. Break the one-person barrier, find someone else interested in the cards, and buddy up! You'll learn more ... and have more fun doing it.