Tarot Tips: Tarot and Other Systems
Published: Sat, 07/01/17
"When you understand chakras, you understand everything...."
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![]() Newsletter of The Tarot School
http://TarotSchool.com ISSN: 1529-0565 Vol. 9 #5 / July 1, 2017
In this Issue: - Welcome
- Tarot Tip: Tarot and Other Systems
- Tarot School Aphorism
- Guest Article: Reading the Chakras in Your Tarot Cards - Best Practices: You're Invited but Tarot Isn't – Reading for the Reluctant - Upcoming Events Welcome to a new issue of Tarot Tips!
And a special welcome to our new subscribers.
![]() July puts us well past mid-year. Sometimes the weeks feel like they’ve flown by, while others seem to drag on. But no matter what is going on in life, there is always a desire to make it better. For some of us that means not taking on more than we can handle, or remaining steadfast to the choices we have made and paths we have chosen. Sometimes life is all about learning, about pushing beyond our normal limits, by exploring new possibilities for growth. Tarot is great for that! The tarot journey brings with it many interpretations, connections and associations. It is a very versatile tool, and this issue explores several of the systems and modalities whose uses have been incorporated into the body of tarot practice. The power duo of Kooch and Victor Daniels talk about one such pairing in a special article this issue. (Dr. Elinor Greenberg is teaching in Poland so her column is on hiatus this month.) Tarot’s popularity has exploded over the last few years. However, as popular as it is with those of us who are involved with it, there is still plenty of resistance and much ignorance about what tarot is and isn’t. The Best Practices column shares some advice on how to deal with that resistance when it becomes an issue in your practice. And one more thing...
RS18 UPDATE: Negotiations with one hotel we were interested in fell through. The space and the people were great, but the prices they need to charge us to hold the kind of event we want are way too high. They explained why so we know there's no room for further discussion. We are currently working with an excellent meeting planner who has reached out to her extensive network of contacts to find us a new home for Readers Studio. Once we receive proposals from the hotels, we'll have a better sense of what's possible. Any energy you can send toward the manifestation of a wonderful outcome is very much appreciated! With love and gratitude on the tarot journey, Ruth Ann, Wald, Gina & Elinor
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TAROT AND OTHER SYSTEMS
belief system and consciousness-raising practice. Tarot and other systems are “languages” by which human behaviors and experiences are communicated in our quest to understand ourselves. The number of disciplines connected to tarot is surprisingly large. Some of the list that follows may already be familiar, and others you may be interested in exploring as you seek to increase your knowledge and utilization of tarot. Tarot and Astrology Tarot and Numerology Tarot and Chakras Tarot and Meditation Tarot and Elements Tarot and Ayurveda Tarot and Bodywork Tarot and Yoga Tarot and Angelic Energies Tarot and Dreamwork Tarot and Magic Tarot and Qabalah Tarot and Alchemy Tarot and Pathworking Tarot and other Divination Tools Tarot and Journaling Tarot and Crystal Scrying Tarot and Herbalism Tarot and Tattwas Tarot and Ancestral Memory Work Tarot and Mediumship Tarot and Talismanic Magic As you can see from this list, many systems and disciplines have contributed to an expanded tarot skill set. You may very well discover even more ways to combine tarot with your own interests. Tarot School Aphorism ![]() Guest Article: READING THE CHAKRAS IN YOUR TAROT CARDS by Victor Daniels, Ph.D., and Kooch N. Daniels, M.A. "When you understand chakras you understand
everything," said our teacher Harish Johari, Vedic scholar, who passed over to the other side in 1999. We’ve been using what we’ve learned from him and other experts on the chakras to enhance our understanding of what’s most important when discussing the cards in relation to the central or underlying theme(s) of a person’s Tarot reading. To do a chakra-based reading, you have to know what kind of energies are connected with each chakra. From the first (lowest) chakra to the seventh highest) chakra, the essential meanings are given below. Don't be intimidated by the list of seven, because Johari also remarked that 95 percent of the population lives out their lives almost entirely in the first three chakras. Our experience with readings bears this out. When people sit down with you for readings, their questions and concerns are likely to be almost entirely about first, second, and third chakra matters. A few are trying to pull themselves up into a bit of a fourth chakra state of pure love consciousness, and your readings may be able to help them with increasing their awareness that can help with doing that. For the most part, when the cards point to the fifth, sixth, and seventh chakras, you can help your clients get a sense of the direction in which they want to move, but most of us must take deep reflective time to develop our own understanding of the true meaning of being awake in the higher chakras. Still, if you're going to talk about them or give chakra Tarot readings, you need at least a minimal knowledge of all seven of the main chakras. (We say “main” chakras because there are also two sub-chakras of the seventh chakra, but you can probably go through a lifetime of chakra readings without needing to address them.) Here's a basic list of the seven “wheels of light”: ![]() First or Root Chakra: physical and psychological survival and security (Physical correlation, the tail of the spine, the anal area.) Second or Passion Chakra: relationships, sexuality, sensory gratification, celebrity consciousness. (Physical correlation: the pelvic area, womb, and genitals.) Third or Power Chakra: Empowerment, physical, psychological, or spiritual strength, or on the contrary feeling weak, powerless and impotent in general. (Physical correlation: the stomach.) Fourth or Heart Chakra: Love that transcends ego. Concern, compassion, kindness and care for others in their own terms, in contrast to loving them when they're as you want them to be. (Physical correlation: the center of the chest.) Fifth or Throat Chakra: Communication, whether skillful and effective or halting and fraught with difficulty. (Physical correlation: the throat.) Sixth or "Third Eye" Chakra: Intuition. The ability to see, sense, discern what's going on beneath the surface in others or a situation even when you haven't been told about it. Progress on a spiritual path (without spiritual materialism or religious imperialism). (Physical correlation: the center of the forehead.) Seventh or Crown Chakra: Cosmic consciousness. Daily living in a state of joy and bliss. Nivakalpa samadhi. (Physical correlation: the top of the head.) There are varied ways to integrate the chakras into your readings. One is to be as aware as you can of body language, nonverbal messages, personal appearance, and anything else you pick up from the other person about what's occurring within him or her. Do that and before you even turn over the first card you may have some clue as to where his or her central strengths and issues lie. Guru Pilot Baba asks, "Which wave are you riding?" That is, are you immersed in first chakra concerns about whether you're okay or not, second chakra concerns about sexuality, appearance, or relationships, third chakra concerns about strength or weakness in your encounters with others, or what? We add, ". . . or which wave is breaking over you?" A straightforward Tarot chakra reading that we described at the 2017 Readers Studio is to have your client select seven cards and lay them in a vertical line, with the first one at the "bottom," the next one above that, and so on to the last card, which is the top card in your spread. Then use your knowledge of the cards' meanings to tell what the bottom card may say about the person's situation or concerns or question in regard to the first chakra. Then do the same for the next card in relation to the second chakra, and so on up to the seventh. Of course your in-the-moment awareness of what the client is doing and how he or she is responding will inform the particular meanings you emphasize with each card. ![]() Or you can use the same process in a representational reading with the client consciously selecting cards from deck with its cards spread out face-up. You describe the essence of each chakra, in something like the way we've done above, and ask the person to select a card with an image that seems to reflect what's going on with him or her in relation to the physical, psychological, interpersonal, or spiritual dynamics of that chakra. In this approach the client tells you what personal meanings he or she sees in the card, and the two of you briefly discuss that. Your knowledge of the traditional meanings for that card may or may not be relevant in relation to your client’s description of what this card means to him or her. Either of the seven card spread methods just described can be used in a couples reading. This might be one person's reading about a connection with another person or it might be a reading with both members of a couple present. For a couples reading you create a chakra spread of seven cards two times and use fourteen cards. You will have two rows of seven cards sitting parallel to one another. If you’re reading for one person, you talk with the person about what the cards say about their relationship in regard to each chakra. With both members of a couple present, you facilitate their dialogue about what each of them sees and feels in regard to each chakra. "Couple" might mean lovers, a parent and child, coworkers, or any pair of people in some kind of relationship. Often we find it useful to first zero in on which particular chakra is central in a person's present question or concern, and then get a more specific sense of which sub-dimension or sub-dimensions of that chakra are the key ones for that person right then. You can draw an additional card or even several to discuss the potential of what is happening in that power center. These cards are placed on or across the card that is representing the chakra being discussed. For example, if there is greater concern about the second chakra, two more cards may be selected and put next to the original card that represents this chakra in order to explore greater possibilities of what might be happening in relation to emotional issues. The seven card chakra spread can then become a nine card spread, the fourteen card couple chakra spread can become a sixteen or eighteen card spread. To understand different dimensions of chakras, we have developed a "Table of Possibilities" for each chakra that has twelve to fifteen sub-dimensions. We view each of these as lying along a continuum from "Obstacles" at one extreme to "Opportunities" at the other. For example, several of these continua for the second chakra are from "Indifference or disinterest" to "sensitivity," from "respect" to "exploitation," from "inconsiderateness, unpleasantness" to "courteousness, graciousness," and from "possessiveness" to "fosters autonomy of self and others." The complete tables for all 7 chakras can be found in our book Awakening the Chakras (reference below). But even without such a table, the cards the client has drawn may help you discern what very specific aspect(s) of a chakra he or she could profit from working on. If not, a couple of minutes of conversation may unearth it. In such a reading, usually we draw cards in a traditional divinatory fashion. But if a person is torn between two conflicting internal voices that want different things or to move in different directions, or if they are having some kind of conflict or ambivalence in regard to another person, your intuition may tell you that a representational reading from a face-up deck may work best. (Ways to conduct representational readings are described at length in Tarot at a Crossroads, also referenced below.) And if you're doing either a traditional divinatory reading from a face-down deck, or a representational reading from a face-up deck, even in readings that don't explicitly focus on the chakras, knowing all you can about them can enrich the depth and possibilities in your readings. Going from the first card to the seventh card in the spread (that is, from the card that represents the first chakra to the card that represents the seventh) can often inspire an authentic and meaningful connection with your client. After all, the focus of this spread is finding the truth lingering deep within. <<<>>> References: Daniels, Victor and Kooch N.,, and Pieter Weltevrede: Awakening the Chakras: The Seven Energy Centers in Your Daily Life. Destiny/Inner Traditions, 2017 Daniels, Kooch N. and Victor: Tarot at a Crossroads: The Unexpected Meeting of Tarot and Psychology. Schiffer, 2016. Daniels, Victor and Kooch N. Matrix Meditations: A Program for Developing the Mind-Heart Connection. Destiny/Inner Traditions, 2012. Daniels, Kooch N. and Victor: Tarot d'Amour: Find Love, Sex, and Romance in the Cards. Weiser, 2003. ![]() About the authors: Victor Daniels received his Ph.D. in psychology from UCLA and taught for more than 40 years at Sonoma State University, and has been doing Tarot readings and combining psychology and the Tarot for the past 25 years and been training gestalt therapist for more than 35. Kooch Daniels is a lifelong professional Tarot reader and also has degrees in psychology with a Jungian emphasis. They present at both Tarot and psychotherapy conferences. Websites: http://cybermystic.com http://consciousnessandculture.com/ Best Practices for Professional Readers YOU'RE INVITED BUT TAROT ISN'T –– READING FOR THE RELUCTANT By Gina Thies www.tarotadvisor.com / www.facebook.com/tarotreaders www.tarotcoupling.com / www.oraclesoup.org It doesn’t happen very often, but recently there have been two instances in which I was hired as the psychic talent for corporate events, but the hosts had concerns over my use of tarot cards. I have also had would-be querents inquire about my services wanting to know “…exactly what do you do?” I know you are wondering why they would hire a tarot reader for the event if they were feeling reluctant about the reactions of the attendees. It is not a bad thing that potential clients want to know what they are getting themselves into by hiring a reader. I have spent a lot of time “correcting” or doing damage control from previous readers’ negligence. With that said, there are two issues I’m addressing here. The first is being contracted for events and being asked to be strictly “for entertainment only”, and secondly, handling reluctant first time clients. Here are possible reasons for the caution: religious beliefs, ignorance, concerns about age groups, previous bad experiences, bad stereotypes, and lack of previous experience. In the case of the event scenario, I usually hear out the host/hostess’ concerns. I ask a bit about the people attending the event. For instance, I ask about their profession, age ranges, etc. I once had someone say to a hostess that having a reader at her event was wrong and against God! I assured her of my comfort level in dealing with such matters. Often, the person hiring you may be more concerned about your comfort in dealing with their guests than about what you are doing. If possible, I arrange it so that the person hiring me has the first reading so they are put at ease as to how it works. In some cases, I use a regular set of playing cards or an oracle deck if an actual tarot deck raises too many eyebrows. In the scenario where a private client inquires about what I do, I ask what they are looking to get resolved. In some cases, they want to know if a tarot card reading is my only talent. Very often, they are looking for someone with “mediumship” abilities or a “rootworker”. So my approach is to ask what results they are seeking. Finding your niche as a reader cannot be stressed enough here. You cannot be all things to all people in doing this work. I also recommend you present yourself in a way that clearly and confidently shows who you are as a professional. One little exercise that you can do is to write a mission statement. You can use it on your website or just post it somewhere as a reminder of why you do what you do. Go forth confidently, my friends! Tarot Salon
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