By Selene Sagewoman
7/18/00
"When a seer probes or scries into what is hidden, she/he is tuning into the deep mind. The everyday rational mind is suspended for a time so that the timeless 'other side' may come into view. This ability has been called the sixth sense by many, and is the same faculty with which we cast spells, perform banishments, read into the subconscious, or make miracles."
Source: "Ariadne's Thread: A Workbook of Goddess Magic" by Shekinah Mountainwater
Merry Meet Everyone!
I hope you've been enjoying this series on divination. During this time of learning this practice, you should be concentrating more on your meditation practice. You can use any method you are comfortable with. For those who find it difficult to sit for extended periods of time, you may want to use a TM (Transcendental Meditation) type of technique where you mentally repeat a mantra (word or syllables) over and over again for about 20 two times per day. This is excellent for those who have a wandering mind during meditation, because with TM, when you notice this happening, you simply and gently return to the mantra. Whatever method of meditation you choose, just remember it is an excellent way for exercising your subconscious mind which is the key to a successful divination practice.
TAROT
One of the most popular methods of divination is the Tarot. In the area of the United States where I live, psychic fairs are the "in thing". They are usually held in various hotels throughout the southern Connecticut area. You can find about 20 different readers as well as numerous vendors, and every one of them have their tables ritualistically decked with colorful scarves, crystals, incense, candles and their favorite Tarot deck. It's quite fun to go to these. You pay your reading fee and choose from a menu what individual you would like to read for you.
The tarot deck consists of 78 card with pictures of archetypes on them. It is subdivided as follows:
The Major Arcana - 22 of the cards that show archetypal forces, which are either religious representations or different mythological figures.
The Minor Arcana - 40 cards numbered 1-10 in four different suits, similar to a regular deck of playing cards.
The Court Cards - 16 cards throughout the four suits…page, knight, queen and king or princess, prince, queen and king, depending on the deck you are using.
The Four Suits:
· Pentacles - Usually represents everyday matters, sensation
· Swords - Intellect and illusion
· Cups - Feeling, emotions and imagination, matters of the heart, hearth and home.
· Wands - Instinct and Intuition
Equated with the four suits of a regular playing deck as follows:
Cups = Hearts
Wands (rods) = Clubs
Swords = Spades
Discs (pentacles) = Diamonds
Equated with the four elements of magick as follows:
Cups = Water
Wands = Fire
Discs = Earth
Swords = Air
The Numbers:
Ace - Beginnings, conception of an idea, the seed. Also stands for the self.
Two - Creation, idea takes form, coming together, choices, duality.
Three - Understanding, planning, developing, nurturing, sometimes confusion.
Four - Expression, manifesting, materialization, structure, building.
Five - Movement, continuation, adjustment, restless, energy.
Six - Flowing, cycle, element at its best, harmony, order, beauty.
Seven - A rest, waiting period, hidden, hesitation, pausing, time for evaluation.
Eight - Going forward, resolution, reaction, use of power, will, strength, entering a new phase.
Nine - Completion, culmination, the answer to a question, finality, end of a phase.
Ten - End of all energy. Success, beginning of new cycle on higher level.
The divination process used in tarot reading in known as cartomancy. A regular deck of playing cards can also be used in divination. The superstitious have referred to tarot cards as devil cards, not understanding their significance at all.
The pictures on tarot cards are depictions of various symbols known also as archetypes which speak specifically to our subconscious minds to give us some sort of message. Those messages can be different for different people, particularly for those who are reading the cards by the impressions they get from them rather than having memorized their definitions. These dear souls are sometimes referred to as natural empaths, and go strictly by what they "feel". They don't even necessarily need the cards in front of them except to use as a security blanket because they more often than not, are able to "tune in" to the person him/herself.
"Our duty as cartomancers is to know that when we "divine," what we are receiving may be proceeding directly from God, or a god, and on the other hand, what we are receiving could be proceeding directly from our own subconscious. And what our subconscious whispers to us, may be alright for us, but not necessarily for the other guy…Whenever we fail to recognize that we are imperfect instruments-that we can receive both accurate and inaccurate information-then we take the chance of forgetting what it is all about to begin with."
Source: "The Tarot Book" by Jana Riley
It is not my intention here to go into a complete course on the tarot, but rather to inspire you to research this remarkable tool more completely for yourself. There are countless books and websites available on the subject, some better than others. Here are some of my personal favorites:
1. The Tarot Book - by Jana Riley
2. Spiritual Tarot - by Signe E. Echos, M.S., Robert Mueller, Ph.D., and Sandra A. Thomson (authors of The Lovers' Tarot)
3. The Mystical Tarot - by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
SIMPLE METHODS OF READING
Daily One Card Reading
This is a very simple method usually used as a daily lesson or direction type of reading. You simply shuffle the cards, cut into three piles to the left, then restack them from right to left and turn over the top card. You'll look at this card meditatively and see what impressions come across to you. Some people do this with only the Major Arcana, but I use the whole deck.
Try to see all the symbols in the card. Study the people in the card. What are they doing? What is the overall atmosphere of this card? Do you get good, happy feelings? Is there an apparent conflict going on? Write all of this down in a journal on a page marked with the current date. Then go to the definition of the card in your favorite tarot book. (I like to use "Spiritual Tarot" for this) and compare what you picked up with that in the book. What do you think your lesson for the day is? You can also say a prayer and light a candle before doing this exercise to set the mood.
YES AND NO SPREAD
This is a simplified version of this spread just so you can have fun with it. By the title, you can see it answers yes and no questions. Shuffle the cards, cut into three piles to the left. Restack the deck from right to left. Turn over five cards.
If three or more cards are right side up, then the answer is yes. If three or more are reversed, (upside down), then the answer is no.
You could then meditate on each of the cards and see how they fit together to form an overall picture if you like.
ASSIGNMENT:
1. Research and find what is known as "The Fool's Journey", (http://learntarot.org/joy.htm) either in a book or on the internet and determine who and what the fool is and how he/she travels the path to self realization via the Major Arcana. Can you relate with The Fool?
2. Shuffle and draw five cards and from the pictures, create a story. You're not trying to "divine" the future or anything…just tell a story. It can be about anything as long as you fit the cards in based on their pictures. Look at each card. What is going on in it? How does it relate to the next card ("and then…")? This is a good way to build a relationship with your cards.
That's it for now. Have fun with this.
Hail and Farewell…Sage
