Tarot Tips: Tarot, Sacred Space and Your Magical Practice
Published: Fri, 12/01/17
"Have you ever cast a Tarot spell? Magical results are often surprising..."
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![]() Newsletter of The Tarot School
http://TarotSchool.com ISSN: 1529-0565 Vol. 9 #10 / December 1, 2017
In this Issue: - Welcome
- Tarot Tip: Tarot, Sacred Space and Your Magical Practice
- Tarot School Aphorism
- What's Gnu? - PsychWise: Working with Tarot in Psychotherapy and in Psychological Groups - Best Practices: Review Me, Review You - Upcoming Events Welcome to a new issue of Tarot Tips!
And a special welcome to our new subscribers.
![]() This is the season of wishes and dreams, of giving and receiving, and of being as kind to each other as we can. This year has been difficult for many of us, and the holidays are often experienced as a mix of joy and tears. If you've been going through a tough time, tarot can be a trustworthy companion. Of course the cards are great for giving us some perspective through readings, but they're also great listeners! Try this: Go through your deck and find a card you find particularly comforting. Choose either the main character in the card or another image, such as an animal, to be your personal confidant. You can tell it anything you want. You might receive a response (or not), but the important thing is to have someone to talk to who will listen, accept and support you unconditionally. Gina Thies is taking this month to finish work on her upcoming deck, Tarot of the Moors. But she did bring together a great group of columnists happy to share some of their expertise with us all. This month's Tip is by Sasha Graham, who adds a magical perspective to this magical season with her insights on sacred space and tarot practice. In PsychWise, Jayni Bloch shows us how tarot can be effectively used in psychotherapy sessions, and Jenna Matlin discusses the tricky issue of online reviews in the Best Practices column. If you'd like to write a piece to be featured in a future issue of Tarot Tips, let us know! And one more thing...
In keeping with the spirit of giving, please consider contributing what you can to the James Wanless Cancer Fund. James is the creator of the Voyager Tarot -- one of, if not *the* original decks using collage. (And this was before PhotoShop, folks!) The Voyager Tarot has been a gift to the tarot community, and helping James during this difficult time is one way we can give back. If enough of us give even $1, it will make a difference. There are only 14 days left! https://www.youcaring.com/jamesmwanless-998763 If you're not familiar with Voyager, you can check out James' website here: http://james-wanless.com/ And get a free Card-of-the-Day reading here: http://james-wanless.com/voyager-tarot/card-a-day/ With love and gratitude on the tarot journey, Ruth Ann, Wald, and Gina
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TAROT, SACRED SPACE AND
YOUR MAGICAL PRACTICE by Sasha Graham often surprising as the best things in life should be. Tarot spells often lead us to places where unanticipated wonders await. Unforeseen pleasures are akin to synchronicity, the universe’s way of wrapping its arm around us, leaning in and whispering into our ear, “Oh yes. You are on the right path.” Unexpected pleasures confirm and let us know that we chose well. Sacred space occupies the place between the mechanical aspects of tarot spell crafting and the tarot spell’s manifested results. Sacred space is the pliable and expansive place where creative possibility exists. Like a crossroads, it is a threshold where multiple possibilities converge. The place where forest meets field. Where cultivated vegetable gardens meet wild thorn bushes. Where lips conceal unspoken words. Where inside meets outside. Where the known and unknown collide. It is the membrane, the very skin of our psychic reality. It is where we pass into the interior of a tarot card to interface directly with the Arcana. To use tarot as a gateway, center the mind and enter the card using your consciousness to explore. Guided meditations are helpful for this purpose. Tarot cards may be used at a gateway but, then again, anything can. Remember, you can enter an herb, plant, rock, tree, or any object just as you would a tarot card. Sacred space is the place where questions fall away and instinct becomes paramount. Intuition becomes our torchlight. If a line exists between our creative imagination and reality, it must be a fluid one. Perhaps it moves like the ebbing sands of the ocean? Or is the line gauzy and thin, like the earth’s delicate atmospheric membrane? We become the fecund earth, and the sustaining oxygen bubble becomes the boundary between us and the possibility of an ever-expanding universe. Is the sacred space manifested by tarot spell-casting always at our fingertips? Is it not sacred space that opens between lovers, bodies entwined, skin caressing skin, souls lit with passion fire? Isn’t this exactly the space that occurs for the painter between himself and his subject? Between a writer and her journal? Doesn’t a walk in the woods reveal sacred space at every turn? The discovery of a waterfall, an explosion of wild roses, a craggy old fruit orchard reverberates with the magic of gateways, story and possibility? If we discern the subtle difference of sacred space and creative imagination we realize how powerful we are. We recognize our singular point of consciousness is the filter of that which passes before us. We easily see that what we focus on becomes a reality. Magical practice gives us an opportunity to experiment with the nature of how the universe is constructed. Science tells us inside our atomic matter there is more “space” than actual “stuff.” We don’t just spring from nature. We are nature. Our bodies are made of ancient stardust. All that space found inside of our cells and atoms the scientists speak of? My instinct tells me it is sacred. We don’t just create sacred space. We are made of sacred space. We are imbued with it. Tarot reading, creative pursuits and a magical practice bring it out of us. Every time we invoke magic, we really invoke ourselves. Ourselves as we have always been intended to be. Sensitive. Brilliant. Inventive. Authentic. Unique. Powerful. Knowing this, it is possible to weave sacred space beyond mere spell-casting and into every aspect of our daily life. Cast your cards wisely. I believe in you. Resources: Check out Sasha’s books: Tarot Diva, 365 Tarot Spreads, 365 Tarot Spells and keep an eye out for her 2018 release, Llewellyn’s Complete Guide to the Rider Waite Smith Tarot Deck. ======================================= About Sasha: In addition to writing the above-mentioned books, Sasha Graham served as editor and contributing writer of Lo Scarabeo's Tarot Fundamentals, Tarot Experience and Tarot Compendium. She is creating her first tarot deck with Marvel and Disney artist Mirco Pierfederici, The Haunted House Tarot. It will be released by Lo Scarabeo in 2018. You can learn more about her at: https://www.sashagraham.com/ Tarot School Aphorism ![]() ![]() JOIN US AT THE 2018 TAROT & PSYCHOLOGY CONFERENCE! ![]() TarotAndPsychology.com (NOTE: If you have already registered for the 2018 Readers Studio and would like to add the Thursday, Tarot & Psychology Conference to your registration, contact us for the coupon code to get the special 2-conference discount.) PsychWise: WORKING WITH TAROT IN PSYCHOTHERAPY AND IN PSYCHOLOGICAL GROUPS by Jayni Bloch, M.A. I find that if I use images in my psychotherapy work
with clients, their psyches respond more positively to their ‘healing’ process. Images, and especially archetypal images like those found in the Tarot, are medicine in the healing process. Our Souls are seeking guidance on our path through life with all its challenges. I believe that our human nature longs for connection with the mystical side of our beings, which are usually suppressed in our linear, rational obsessed society. When using images, we reawaken that side where we find ‘soul-guidance’. After all, ‘divination’ comes from the word Divine, which is about connecting to something deeper and beyond our rational minds and physical existence. Images connect us to the world of essential universal principles, the world of archetypes, which is where we connect to the Divine. During a recent workshop where I teach healing principles and general psychological philosophical subjects about the workings of the psyche, I presented two completely different image types, of which the 12 participants had to choose one of each set, blindly. One was the Mary-El Tarot – Landscapes of the Abyss by Marie White (http://www.schifferbooks.com/the- mary-el-tarot-4816.html). The other set of images was the Medicine Cards – The Discovery of Power through the Ways of Animals, by Jamie Sams and David Carson. (http://jamiesamsbooks.com/medicinecards.cfm) Most of the participants were familiar with the Tarot, so I surprised them by juxtaposing two unexpected card sets, in the same reading, to stimulate their imagination in their encounter with the unfamiliar. It is amazing what transpires immediately by association and imagination. Then I asked them, without looking at the official interpretations, to write a short story, with a clear title, about the cards they got, as well as form a ceremony or action, to consolidate the message they got from their psyche’s response to the images. An additional task was to observe the synchronicities immediately after the reading, in the material world as well as their dreams at night, to recognize connections and correspondences with the reading. This process is powerful in the sense that the reading continues in daytime dreamtime as well as nighttime dreams. The other factor is the action they take or the act they perform to consolidate the message in their psyches. A message left in the brain only is half a message. It’s got to become manifested through action. Our psyches believe the message when we act on it. An example is a woman in her late forties who has just lost her mother and is also experiencing changes in her career. This is her story. She arranged objects and herbs around a printed sacred geometry image I gave them all to start the inspiration on which they could build whatever came to them in their process. The cards she drew were, a Blank Shield Card (from Medicine Cards) and the Knight of Cups (from Mary-El Tarot). ![]() ![]() Her story is titled: The Illumination of the Medicine Woman. On the morning of her birth, the Medicine Woman awoke to the fullness of the sun. Dazzled and dazed, she couldn’t remember who she was. She patted around but could find nothing to either identify herself or tell her what to do next. A beautifully dressed Knight rode up. His horse had a handsome saddle, and his own plumed hat indicated a high station. Most notable was his throat jewelry: lapis lazuli of the finest quality. By merely looking at her he seemed to understand her predicament and said, ''I was told in a dream that I would find a Medicine Woman, born this day and in need of my guidance.'' Attempting to answer, the Medicine Woman could only grunt — tapping at her throat frantically. The Knight smiled kindly in response, and pointed to some sacred herbs, trees and flowers growing close by. ''Take this sack and gather as many of those plants as it will hold.'' The Medicine Woman did as she was asked and returned to the Knight, her little medicine bag bulging with leaves, flowers, bark and berries. But still she could utter no words of thanks. Unfazed, the Knight instructed the Medicine Woman to catch a fish and offer it to the Creator as thanksgiving. She did this, but was still unable to speak. The Knight continued his instructions, this time asking her to wait for an animal sign. The Medicine Woman sat and burned some sage, offering another silent prayer of thanks. When the smoke had cleared, a lovely blue feather fell to the ground. Looking up, the Medicine Woman saw nothing more than some wispy clouds and the radiantly shining sun. Certain she had everything she needed to begin her journey, she ran to the Knight to show him her sign. But when she tried to speak –– nothing. The Knight reassured her. She had done everything perfectly and the Creator was well-pleased with her efforts and offerings. However, the final step in her initiation was not known to him. It was something she needed to discover on her own. Tired and somewhat discouraged, the Medicine Woman climbed down the bank to the river that ran along the forest’s edge. She sat awhile, finally closing her eyes to sleep. It was in her dream that she saw it: the sixteen-petal lotus floating luminously in the water. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see the moon rising over the tree tops, the sky nearly dark. And there in the moonlight she could see it: her lotus flower: Only too far for her to reach; and she couldn’t swim. The flower seemed to glow in the moonlight, rivaling the moon’s own beauty. Something deep inside her ached and cried out — and she couldn’t believe her ears. She was speaking softly to the flower, beckoning it to come a little closer, so she could have it to cherish and love. Hearing her lovely voice, the lotus moved gracefully to the shoreline and allowed itself to be lifted from the water. The Medicine Woman had all she needed now and could remember her life’s purpose. Her healing journey could begin. This is a beautiful example of a true healing experience that will still unfold in the future. The medicine name 'Music' came up for her while in the group. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() A second example of a healing story that came out of this two Card reading is the following: A lady got the images of the Wild Boar and the Star. ![]() ![]() This woman struggled to tell a story about these two images. She came for an individual session for that reason, so she could overcome her resistance. She also reported dreams filled with anxiety about fear of failure. Her current circumstances demonstrated that fear clearly in how hesitant she has become to take on a new innovative task in her job, because of the familiarity with the old and familiar. It is obvious to me how desperate her soul is to be creative and innovative, but her conventional ideas of her self-image inhibits her to venture further than the accustomed. I asked her to just begin to tell me what she imagines when thinking about these images. She started climbing into a tree out of fear for the Wild Boar. She felt that the Boar had a message for her, but she was too scared to get out of the tree. Sitting in the tree made it impossible for her to see the Star, and that too made it more urgent for her to get out of the tree. Because she tends to intellectualize and has previously divided herself into practical ‘body-intuition’ and ‘higher mind’/true-Self, I realized that she is separating herself from these two aspects of herself by hiding in the tree of intellect, where she is out of touch with both her body-instinct and her higher guidance. I wanted her to realize this without me telling her what I think, so I prompted her with a suggestion. ‘’If this were my story, I would want to be in touch with both my instinctive practical power to do things that work as well as have access to the higher guidance that I know is there for me, so it would be important for me to get out of my tree of rationalization that kept me from both.'' Her eyes lit up as she realized the suggestion was true for her, and her story followed with her getting out of the tree of hiding to receive the message of the wild Boar where she could also see the Star and move in her presence. I asked her what action she plans to take upon this realization to make it real in her life. The visceral sensation of truth was so powerful in this experience that she promised herself to bring the essence of the Wild Boar and the Star inside her by reminding herself of the affirmation: "Hiding in the tree of intellect confirms my fear of failure. I love and accept myself completely and choose to get down to earth so the star is with me and the sky is the limit.'' Now it was possible for her to give her story a title: Coming Down to Earth gives me the Limitless Sky. And the action she takes is to notice when she is in the tree of rationalization, so she can climb out of there to be in her Wild Boar that has access to the Star. She will practice this process and adjust as she becomes aware of more. Helpful Summary of the Process: • Always start with an intention, a statement of intention to see, hear and speak from 'truth', or what you need to see as truth, or ask a specific question. • Ask for protection and guidance. • Use unexpected, unfamiliar images from unusual, different card sets. • Keep it very simple: two- or three-card readings. • Tune into your Soul-imagination, and write a short story. • Give your story a title. • Observe synchronicities in actual events as well as your nightly dreams, and recognize how they relate and correspond to the reading in surprising ways. • Adjust your story according to the dreams and synchronistic information. • Act on your awareness, following the direction of the reading, or design a ritual to make the reading prominent to your psyche. Use fun objects as well as herbs, stones, feathers, candles, fires, images, and whatever speaks to you. • Thank the Universe. Love and Blessings, Jayni Bloch About Jayni: Jayni Bloch, M.A.C. Psych. Assoc. practices as Kanata Psychotherapy Centre. She is registered with the College of Psychologists in Ontario since 1998 in Canada and previously with the Medical and Dental Council of South Africa as a Clinical Psychologist, for 18 years prior to coming to Canada. She is a Psychotherapist Practitioner of Cognitive and Spiritual Healing modalities, Teacher, Artist, Author and Mystic. Contact: Best Practices for Professional Readers REVIEW ME, REVIEW YOU By Jenna Matlin www.queenofwandstarot.net Third party reviews can make (or break) a business. Now more than ever, businesses, even one-person tarot reading businesses, have to bring their A-Game for every person and in every experience. In the past small businesses relied on word of mouth and community good will. Word of mouth reach was limited because it was confined to one-on-one interactions. Now one “mouth”will reach millions of “ears”, and what they have to say about you (for good or for ill) will exist for all of perpetuity. According to a study conducted by the Harvard Business School, a one-star increase translates into a 9% jump in revenue. Conversely, the first bad review can result in a 13% drop in sales. Never before could so few words mean so much. In order to embrace the review-age, the first step is to not be afraid of it. In fact, it is in your best interest to welcome it. Let your clients know where you are online and ask them to leave reviews for you. When you get a good review you can usually leave a public comment thanking them, or you can reach out to them privately. Good reviews are helpful because, from their eyes, I learn so much about myself. My reviews have repeating descriptions such as “warm” and “like a sister or best friend.” I was able to use these key words in my website copy and marketing to their greatest strengths. Bad reviews are tough, though, there is no way around it. But even in the most unjust review there lies a grain of truth or a lesson that has great potential to make me a better reader and business owner. When you get a bad review, go ahead and take a moment to rail, cry, shake your fist at the heavens for the injustice that has been visited upon you. Then attempt to reach out to them privately and see if you can fix the situation. Ask them what you can do to put yourself back in their good graces. Apologize if there was an honest to goodness mistake on your part and if necessary, give them a refund. Hopefully you will have repaired a relationship and from there you can ask them to please modify (or remove) their review. If the client refuses to remove the review, ignores your attempts to repair the issue, or is a client you cannot identify, then your only other recourse is to publicly respond to the bad reviewer’s allegations. In the public response do not attempt to defend yourself (though you badly want to) or argue with them. Instead, apologize for their inconvenience and offer to give them a refund. As much as you want to clear your good name, doing so on such forums will only make you look like you are unwilling to receive criticism. Once you have offered to repair the reading, and responded publicly, there is nothing more you can do but move on, learn from it what you can, and keep racking up those good reviews. Reviews can be a reader’s best friend or worst enemy, but reviews and consumer driven reviewing are here to stay. The sooner you embrace it, the sooner you can turn reviews to your advantage. ======================================= Queen of Wands Tarot in Philadelphia, Drexel Hill ... www.queenofwandstarot.net Tarot, Lenormand and Intuitive coaching with events for tarot in Philadelphia! Tarot Salon
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