The Dreaming Goddess

THE TAROT IS A JOURNEY

A personal journey. A spiritual journey. Cyclical and ever evolving. The cards allow us to see deeply into ourselves. They gently nudge us along, ever reminding us of our potential. They fearlessly point out our character flaws and nurture us with positive reinforcements. Directing us with powerful insight and teachings.

The cards are divided into two sections: the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana. The twenty-two Major Arcana cards represent our spiritual journey to wholeness. They are the power cards in which we learn about the world around us. The Major Arcana highlight the lessons we must face along our path of personal and spiritual growth. They take us from the innocence of The Fool, seeking fulfillment; through the pains, struggles, joys and rewards we can expect to encounter as we strive toward wholeness - which we experience in The World, where we begin again with newness and innocence on the spiral journey of the spirit.

The Minor Arcana is the day to day, more mundane aspects of life. These 56 cards are divided into four suits – Wands, Pentacles, Swords and Cups. Each of the suits correspond to an element, astrological signs and planets, a season and much more, all which depict its reflection upon our lives. Cup cards are connected to water, hence the cards of this suit relate to our emotions and feels, the deep hidden unconscious part of ourselves. The Sword cards are related to air and associated with communication and our rational self – the mind. The images held within this suit are learning tools for better communication and the return to being more heart centered. The suit of Pentacles is earth based and brings us lessons regarding money, business, finances, tangible things. Wands are connected to fire and speak to our passion and spirit.

Choosing a Tarot Deck
an excerpt from "Tarot for Every Day" by Cait Johnson

"Take the time to examine as many decks as you can. Be sure to get a fully pictorial deck - one with actual scenes for each card, not just a picture of two cups, for example, for the Two of Cups. Sadly, this rules out several beautiful decks, but there are still plenty from which to choose.

In order for a deck to work for you, you have to be able to "see" with it - that is, the images have to speak to you, push you forward, encourage you to make little leaps of consciousness. You don't want to stay trapped in reading the booklet that comes with the deck for your answers: the pictures have to be sufficiently rich and evocative for you to journey with them.

Let your personal aesthetic be your guide: find a deck that appeals to your senses, that look juicy and beautiful to you. If you have an area of special interest - Native American medicine ways, pagan or Celtic traditions, specific art movements such as Art Nouveau - there are decks with appropriate images that you may want to try.

There are some schools of thought that hold that you should never buy yourself a Tarot deck but wait until someone gives you one. Horrors! What if (a) nobody ever does; or (b) they do, but it's dead wrong for you? There is nothing more frustrating than trying to make a deck work for you that just isn't right. Save yourself the aggravation- decks are highly personal. Invest some time and find a deck or two that will be your friends and partners for life. "

YOUR NEW DECK ~

Take some time getting to know your new deck and let your deck know you. One way for this to happen is to actually sleep with your deck under your pillow or near to you. This allows your vibration to begin to become part of the deck.

You may wish to bless your new deck, to cleanse it and honor it as the learning tool it is. You can use visualization, crystals, herbs or oils. Whatever you feel most comfortable with as the vehicle by which to get the job done. One suggestion is to smudge your new deck with herbs such as Sage and Cedar. You can burn the herbs over charcoal or in the form of a "smudge stick". Visualize the smoke cleansing and purifying.

Store your deck in a special pouch or cloth. Mugwort is an herb long used to enhance intuition and open the third eye. It’s good to place a sprig of mugwort in with your cards while stored, and it’s a wonderful herb to burn before you do a reading.

Take the time to examine each card of the deck. Notice the details and feelings expressed in each situation. How do they make you feel? What cards are you drawn to? I recommend you start a Tarot journal. Allow yourself some time each day to spend with your cards. Take a few deep breathes to bring your attention inward and get centered, then shuffle the cards. Pick one or a few cards. Study them. Write down what you see in each card, what you feel is happening, and what it means to you. You might find it useful to log in what's going on in your life, moods, phases of the moon, planetary information, women might want to keep track of their moon cycles. All these points of information help you to understand the cards on different levels.

SHUFFLING ~

Place the deck on a flat surface with the cards face down and begin to mix them up by spreading them out, pushing and sifting through them. Try to touch each one. When you feel like you've touched them all, gather them into a neat pile. Hold the deck in your right hand and place your left hand on top. On certain days in this hand position I can actually feel the deck shuffling on its own as I focus my thoughts. Begin your spread or daily card pick from the top.