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Thoughts, lessons, and theology from an eclectic witch from a varied background.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Tarot: Use for Spiritual Growth

Tarot is commonly used for reading upon matters of romance, interpersonal matters, and discerning the outcome of a given situation. It is my experience, as one who has done tarot readings for many people, that the tarot deck is a highly versatile tool that can give the reader and their client a great deal of information once the reader allows intuition to have a role in how they interpret the cards. It is our intuition that has a direct line to our spirituality and our subconscious mind.

When we draw from these two sources of information, we find ourselves better equipped to address matters of how our spiritual development is progressing. Reading for oneself is at times challenging because of the risk of the information being colored by personal bias. At the same time, however, the benefits of doing so, especially upon spiritual matters, are significant and I recommend anyone who has use of a tarot deck and a bit of experience to try this.

Drawing out the meanings that speak to us upon a gut level sometimes draws out themes that one must consider upon a larger scale. A good practice in tarot reading for oneself is to keep a journal or some other record of the readings and the interpretations of the cards. I personally keep one. My format is to first list the cards and their positions in the spread. (I also note which deck I am using, but I have 11 tarot decks to consult at my leisure. Keeping that organized helps a good deal, trust me.) After noting the card and its position, I write down the 'standard' definition. I then record what my intuition tells me about the card.

After recording the 'standard' meanings and my initial intuitive impressions, I consider the card in relation to where it is placed. Different card positions carry different meanings. The Queen of Swords, for example, when placed in the querant position is informing the reader as to aspects of the querent that are described by this card. In another position, the Queen is likely to be describing someone involved in the situation. This can also be influenced by the intuitive impressions that come to me as I consider the cards. Once I have recorded what I can tell from the position of the card, I review all the cards and look for common themes and if there is something in addition to what the spread itself is designed to convey.

Then, I take the time to put all the components of my reading together for a final synthesized reading of the spread. When people purchase tarot readings from me, they get the meaning of the card with respect to its position in the spread and the synthesized meaning of the spread at large. Most of the other details are such that they would find extraneous and possibly overwhelming. When reading on spiritual matters, however, the focused and highly detailed effort that I put into my tarot readings for myself is helpful because it clarifies the messages that the cards are conveying to me.

The spread that I use most often for spiritual matters is what is called the 'Elemental' spread. I learned it from Ann Moura's Green Witchcraft III. This is the name she gave for it. The Elemental spread is a good one because it reveals information in four major aspects of life as well as the direct answer to your query and the hidden aspects behind it. Also, it has the benefit of being a very simple spread. The trick is to pick the spread that is easiest and most comfortable for you. When you are working with tools you are intimately familiar with and in a format that you can practically do in your sleep, it becomes easier to draw out information from them by virtue of the familiarity.

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