{"id":62100,"date":"2012-10-17T12:18:47","date_gmt":"2012-10-17T16:18:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=62100"},"modified":"2012-10-17T12:18:47","modified_gmt":"2012-10-17T16:18:47","slug":"a-walk-through-the-weekend-tarot-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/reading-tarot\/a-walk-through-the-weekend-tarot-reading\/","title":{"rendered":"A walk through the Weekend Tarot Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Sarah Taylor<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the things I love about gathering with a group of tarot readers is that I get an insight into the many different approaches to a tarot reading, both in terms of field of expertise and technique. (It\u2019s also a great opportunity to participate in some \u201cOoooh, what deck\/s do you use?\u201d banter, with its inevitable cohort: deck envy<\/em>. Good times!)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Cactus, Ten of Cups, Ten of Jades from the Xultun Tarot deck. Click on the image for a larger version.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This past weekend, while attending the UK Tarot Conference\u2019s ninth annual get-together in London (The theme was \u2018The Hermit\u2019, ninth card in the major arcana), I was fortunate enough to meet and talk to a number of colleagues and new friends about their work with cartomancy. I came away with a sense of connectedness to a process that refuses to measure up to some Western empirical ideal but which consistently and simultaneously validates what is happening and expands on what is possible.<\/p>\n

Most inspiring of all was the headlining speaker,\u00a0Rachel Pollack<\/a>, who was\u00a0at once learned yet approachable, teacher and maverick, with a depth of knowledge that I would dearly have loved to tap if I had been able to spend some one-to-one time with her. She is at ease with the psychological school of tarot, but makes no bones about her belief in it as a tool of divination. You ask a question; you get an answer. Simple as that.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The nugget of gold that I took away from the conference as a professional reader was the opportunity to peer under the hood: to listen to, learn from, and collaborate with other tarot readers. What prep work do they do before the reading starts? How do they shuffle the cards, and why? Which layouts do they choose? How do they lay the cards out? Is their reading style ethereal, non-directive or metaphorical? Is it mundane, prescriptive or practical? This is one of the key ways that tarot readers of any level can hone their craft. And the learning never stops.<\/p>\n

So today I am lifting the hood on my own approach to the kind of three-card reading that I do for the Weekend Tarot Reading. I\u2019ve done a couple of articles on layout and reading techniques in the past, but perhaps not one that deals with the process from start to finish. Some parts of the article will be practical — and where I work intuitively I will do my best to try and encapsulate some of what goes on.<\/p>\n

But, really, when it comes to working with intuition, you are your best teacher. People may be able to point you in its general direction, but it is you who will know best how to get there, and it is something that you will find becomes increasingly easier. If you\u2019re not used to working with your intuition, it can feel like you\u2019re beating a path through the undergrowth. But like any path, the more frequently you travel on it, the more your route becomes unimpeded.<\/p>\n

This is how I tend to do a three-card reading.<\/p>\n

Aligning<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I wrote about the Ace of Wands<\/a> last week, I wrote about approaching a reading in a state of reverence — in other words aligning<\/em> with the flow. Personally, I align with God in the way that I choose to understand It, and I do that by vocally invoking the forces that I recognise as playing a part in my life to assist me.<\/p>\n

I ask that they walk with me — essentially that they remind me of my place when treading the fine line between the personal and the collective. I am not unaffected by my tarot readings; yet it is my utmost responsibility to ensure that my clients and readers are not adversely affected by my personal connection to meaning. To me, this works like psychotherapy: there has<\/em> to be a personal participation by the therapist on both a conscious and an unconscious level. Without that, there is no alchemy. There are only two non-reactive substances. When there is empathy, gold can be created and magic can be divined. Your client can go there because you have been there yourself.<\/p>\n

Shuffling and cutting the cards<\/strong><\/p>\n

I then do my own centering of the cards, most practically to shuffle the last reading out of them. This is also a meditative process, however, and it opens the inner gateways to the reading. One of our commenters suggested that seven riffle-shuffles randomise the deck, and I either do that, or swirl the cards on the floor. If a card ‘jumps’ out of the deck or makes itself impossible to ignore, I use that as the first card in the reading, any other ‘jumpers’ following on from there. I see these as aligning with the law of synchronicity; to ignore them is to ignore the very tenet of meaning on which tarot is based.<\/p>\n

Finally, I cut the deck three times with my left hand — which has the effect of activating right-brain functioning. I move away from the analytical and into the intuitive. Whichever pile of cards calls to me, I work with, putting the other two piles underneath it.<\/p>\n

Checking in and laying out<\/strong><\/p>\n

I do a final check-in to make sure I still feel ‘in flow’, pause and rejoin it if I do not, and then I lay out the cards. Typically, I will place them face up, from left to right.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, however, I get a clear instruction before I look at the cards to order them differently. When I receive an instruction like this, I prefer to go with it rather than to second-guess it. Second-guessing is tantamount to moving out of the flow, and upstream card readings do not an effortless experience make. On the other hand, if you get an ‘instruction’ after<\/em> you’ve looked at the cards, for example, entertain the possibility that you are standing at the threshold of the Land of Wishful Thinking and Denial<\/em> — a position most often based on a feeling of fear. When we feel fear, we tighten, and when we tighten, we restrict flow. I see a tarot reading as a labour of love, which is the opposite of fear. Love expands.<\/p>\n

Immediate reactions<\/strong><\/p>\n

If something comes to me when I first see the cards, I\u2019ll write it down. Sometimes it takes the form of a few words or a phrase; at others it is a piece of verse or a song. This becomes the foundation for the reading.<\/p>\n

Sometimes nothing comes to me. That\u2019s fine too.<\/p>\n

Time out<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then I walk away — perhaps for ten minutes, perhaps an hour or two. Occasionally I will do a layout and sleep on it. Sometimes I will literally \u2018sleep on it\u2019, putting the cards under my bed.<\/p>\n

I find the energy of the cards challenging to limit to human form, with human words. In her book On Becoming an Alchemist<\/em>, Catherine MacCoun writes about the \u2018ascent of the vertical\u2019 — the journey to bring something down from Spirit — and the effort it takes to remain focussed and to act as interpreter in a way that preserves the integrity of the message. When I read her words, I understood why I have to disengage and recharge. Engagement, disengagement, recharging: this is the energetic description of a tarot reading. So when I first look at the cards, it can feel like cosmic overload — all of these things rushing at me at once. Walking away allows the messages to form an orderly queue, which, as it happens, also appeals deeply to my British sensibilities.<\/p>\n

Revisiting and writing<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I come back, something has taken shape in the background, and it is this that I translate into words. Looking at the three cards accompanying this article, here is my immediate reaction and what has taken shape since I walked away:<\/p>\n

Immediate reaction<\/em><\/p>\n

Cactus (Strength) is Leo. It is the eight card of the major arcana<\/em>. The other two cards issue from this one. The reader will most likely be identified with this major arcana archetype, and the cards to the right will most likely be events and experiences that they will encounter as this archetype.<\/p>\n

Two Tens — two qualitatively different experiences that can be compared side-by-side because they are counterparts, both in terms of number and suits, which are both feminine.<\/p>\n

What is that little bird doing?<\/p>\n

What takes shape during the break<\/em><\/p>\n

The Cactus, by nature, is static. When we encounter the archetype of Cactus, it is telling us that things might not move at the pace we want them to, but everything is happening as it should, in its own time. The cactus is of the Cereus family. It represents the physical world, but with its route into Spirit: the cactus was used in shamanistic rituals to reach other planes of consciousness. This correlates with the image of Strength in the Rider-Waite Smith tarot, which shows a maiden in white with an infinity sign above her (the divine feminine) holding the jaws of a lion (the instinctual, embodied masculine). There is a need here to tend to body in order to develop spiritually.<\/p>\n

Psychotherapist Michael Owen also points out that a white bird appears in alchemical images depicting one of\u00a0the\u00a0phases of alchemy known as ‘sublimatio’. In the Xultun Tarot, he describes the white bird in The Cactus as the first incarnation of the Feathered Serpent in The Planet Venus (Judgement), the 20th card in the major arcana<\/em>. Its presence expresses the potential and the desire to grow, but within the limitations that are conferred on us. This takes me to the theme of Saturn in our current astrology: evolution through experiencing and working with limitation. Easy does it. You will get there. Keep steady, honour both maiden and beast, soul and body.<\/p>\n

The proving ground for this will be in relationship — to love, to possessions. It feels like a choice. The two Tens feel contrasted to me. Or perhaps it is a choice to engage with both in a way that is balanced — although that second interpretation does not have the same resonance. In the journey towards integration, what feels more important: what you have that feeds and enriches you emotionally? Or what you have that feeds you materially? What legacy do you want to pass on to future generations? What do you want to birth?<\/p>\n

The expressions on the figures on both Tens feel key, as does the bird in relation to them.<\/p>\n

The final word that comes to me, emanating from this alchemical process of holding the balance between the carnal and the divine, is: discernment. Discernment in how you choose to express what is created in the coming together of the two parts of you in Cactus.<\/p>\n

Final check-in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once I have written what I feel is asking to be expressed, I ask one more question: do I feel complete? I receive the answer through sensation rather than intellect. Is my work done? Or do I feel strung-out, at odds, as if there is a thread connecting me to something as-yet-unexpressed that is still waiting in line? I know when I\u2019ve found it because the feeling dissolves.<\/p>\n

What might be left is a perfectionistic niggle, but that\u2019s my own unfinished business, not the reading\u2019s. All that is left to do is to hand it over in a spirit of humility, faith and detachment.<\/p>\n

If you want to experiment with tarot cards and don’t have any, we provide a free\u00a0tarot spread generator<\/a>\u00a0using the Celtic Wings spread, which is based on the traditional Celtic Cross spread.\u00a0This article<\/a>\u00a0explains how to use the spread.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Sarah Taylor One of the things I love about gathering with a group of tarot readers is that I get an insight into the many different approaches to a tarot reading, both in terms of field of expertise and technique. (It\u2019s also a great opportunity to participate in some \u201cOoooh, what deck\/s do you use?\u201d … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":470,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[183],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62100"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/470"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62100\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}