Characters with Male and Female Genders in the Tarot Cards are quite common. For a long time, I thought that this was merely the creative decision of the Designer of that Tarot Deck. However, as I worked with the cards over the years, this perception has changed. Today, I would like to talk a little bit about the Masculine or Male and the Feminine or Female Gender Characters in the Tarot Cards and what they have come to mean for me.
Hello everyone,
With the Christmas and New Year Holidays just round the corner, I would like to take this opportunity to give you a quick heads-up that I would not be posting any articles for the next couple of weeks… you should expect my next blog post from the third week of January onwards.
–
Meanwhile,
Enjoy!
Madhavi Ghare
A very interesting idea was brought to my notice a few days ago – Tarot card images on Helmets! While exploring the whole thing a bit more, I had a chance to communicate with and have a nice telephone chat with Danielle Baskin, the wonderfully vibrant person who is the brains behind this concept.
Here are some excerpts from the conversation we had (both e-mail and telephone):
[Any errors in the transcription are purely mine.]
MG:
Danielle, tell me, how did you get this whole idea?
DB:
I [had] never touched a tarot deck until about two years ago when I was sort of ‘conned’ into getting a reading on the street. I was completely skeptical about the whole thing but [since I was] feeling sorta ‘off-track’ in life so [I said] “Okay, why not?”.
What really surprised me was the powerful sense of agency I felt immediately after leaving. It’s like all these hypothetical ideas [that] you didn’t know ever existed started to emerge simply from attempting to construct a story using these enigmatic images as a template. I accepted the idea that the Tarot cards [are purely images] – and didn’t reject it as a form of advice or therapy. The images trigger so much buried information! It’s [the process of] constructing the story that helps clear [the mind] and create patterns of thinking.
Helmet with Star Card Image
MG:
What was it about the cards – especially the images on the cards – that really struck you?
DB:
When I bought a deck and tried to figure out the different meanings of the cards, I started writing down my immediate reactions to the way Pamela Colman Smith placed the symbols.
I’ve always been fascinated on how different modes of thinking trigger eye movements – and how visual perception relates to storytelling.
For example:
Of course, reversing the images changed the meanings dramatically. For example, in The Magician [card], when the card is reversed, the hand pointing at the plants is more noticeable. This could mean quite literally feeling like a situation is out of your hands and you can’t grasp your resources, you’re blaming something else for your situation. The infinity sign [seems] less important when reversed. His face frowns more. He points at nature. When [upright] The Magician is aware of all his resources and the natural world. He appears to be altering nature, to make it more beautiful using cleverness and manipulation.
Helmet with Hierophant Card Image
[The amazing part is] that the cards were not painted in reverse. I’m not sure [that] Pamela Coleman Smith [thought about the fact] that the images would be flipped while she was painting them intuitively – but I still like the idea of the card possessing dual meanings, but a reversed card might be a stretch of a confabulation.
MG:
So what gave you the idea of painting these image on helmets, of all the things?
DB:
Well, the idea just came to me suddenly one day. The idea of having an entire deck of Tarot cards cycling around on the streets seemed to really jump out at me. There is a lot of motion involved with the Tarot cards. The images of the cards make you want to take action! I most certainly wanted to, and did!
The idea of seeing connections and attributing causality to chance circumstances is really fascinating to me. – while on a surface level the helmets are ‘protecting people from accidents’, they might [also] be regularly reappearing into people’s lives. It would be fascinating if people run into certain Tarot helmets on their daily commute and if there’s some sort of pattern of thinking (or mental state) that correlates to the times they do see that image – like “Whoa! I’ve seen that before! This is connected to this which is connected to this.”
I think temporarily disengaging from your environment is really important to help crystallize memories and sort of ‘think about yourself thinking’. Noticing symbols are important – because they help you learn about how you think. Not that symbols or omens are more powerful than you – but the idea that you’re noticing them could be more relevant than the symbol itself. It helps you pay attention to your own personal thought patterns and open up spaces for possibilities.
I also like the idea that each card-wearer will be connected to an entire deck. Realizing that he is a part of a whole. And that the whole is always in motion and impossible to capture.
MG:
All this sounds pretty interesting if you ask me!
DB:
Helmet with Emperor Card Image
Yes, it is! Especially since the wearer of the helmet always has the card stationary – there would be different ways to think about the card. [And as] the helmet is hemispherical like a brain, I got the idea of purposefully mapping out the images in accordance to the right-brain/left-brain.
Though highly debatable in neuroscience, the dualities that represent your conscious/public behavior (left) and your potential and unconscious thoughts (right) are understandable. The brain doesn’t necessarily work that way – but the two concepts or mental-modes are simple to grasp. I thought about this for a bit while mapping the images.
For example, the character in Justice is on the left side of the helmet hence its a card about public persona and and image you’re portraying. It’s less of a ‘personal’ image. I painted the High Priestess split in the middle in the back because its both subconscious and conscious. I think that card is about information and knowledge. How one can become burdened by excessive knowledge to the point where it blocks thinking. It is really symbol-rich and relates to vision (the occipital lobe).
MG:
What are your thoughts about looking at all these images in motion?
DB:
As I said before, the wearer of the helmet has the image stationary on his head, while he is moving around. Meanwhile other people may see the image either coming towards them, or moving away from them.
For example, with the High Priestess, if the image is coming towards you it means you have too much information clouding your thinking. You can’t see her from the front of the helmet. If [the image is] moving away from you it means you’re just scratching the surface of the learning experience. You need to examine things more closely. In the High Priestess image, you can see words and letters like ‘TORA’ but its physically moving away so you need to catch up.
MG:
What about the colors of the cards? Did they play any role in this process?
DB:
Helmet with Hermit Card Image
Oh, yes! The color choices are also really important.
For example, placing gray around only half of the Hermit (disappearing into a vanishing point) is another intentional choice.
I am planning to make a little informational booklet about each card and give it away with every helmet so that the people who buy the helmets can understand the fantastic symbolism of the images that they have chosen.
MG:
Did you get inspired by any particular card when this idea came into your mind? If so, which card was it?
DB:
Oh yes! It was The Magician card. He has all these resources on his table which he is using. And the infinity sign on top of his head – its like there are an infinite number of possibilities with the things you have in front of you.
MG:
Wow! The Magician is the card that does always talk about creative inspiration and creation. In fact, many creative people often use the image to help them find focus and bursts of creativity within their lives and work. I know I always pull out this card and look at it and carry it around with me, whenever I feel myself losing focus.
DB:
That is very interesting. But, funnily enough, it wasn’t The Magician which was my first helmet painting.
MG:
Then, which was the first card you painted on a helmet?
DB:
It was actually The Wheel of Fortune card. And I had some pretty interesting experiences with that image, let me tell you.
MG:
Really? Like what?
DB:
When I first started my company I created a Wheel of Fortune card for this psychic I met at a craft fair. I made it for free so I could meet with her to discuss tarot cards. Once I created it I kept getting tons of orders. When I went to meet her to give it to her my wallet was stolen from me on the subway. I actually lost some money when I was giving away the lucky helmet. Who knows what to attribute this to?
MG:
Oh yeah! I have had that experience with The Wheel! It is a crazy merry-go-round alright!
DB:
Tell me about it!
Danielle and I chatted for a few more minutes after that exchanging our experiences with the cards.
My Take:
Helmet with Fool Card Image
Personally, I found this whole concept quite fascinating – imagine you are going to work and then you spot a helmet with the picture of The Magician card, and then you go to work feeling great and experiencing a burst of creative energy within you! Or seeing the picture of The Hermit card while you go back home from school, and finding that peaceful, solitary place to sit down and grasp some complicated lessons you learnt at school…
The possibilities of the sightings of these symbols is endless – and will only add to the powerful symbolism that surrounds us in our lives everyday! In fact, something like this makes us sit up and take notice of these symbols – which otherwise just go away unnoticed because we just didn’t look.
When I do get me one of these helmets, I plan on getting one with The Fool card .. We have quite an interesting bond, The Fool and I..
Which one will you get?
To order your helmet from Danielle, just go to her website on www.humantarotproject.com or e-mail her at tarothelmets@gmail.com.
Hello everyone!
I suppose you might know me from my other Tarot blog on WordPress.
Making this website was a natural extension of what I have been wanting to do for a long time with my experience with the Tarot cards. I figured that I could do a lot more on this site than I could on my first site.
The reasons for moving to a proper hosted site are more technical than anything else. 🙂
I do plan to keep that site alive as well. However, most of the posts I will make will be on this site.
I do hope that all of you continue to read my thoughts and ideas, and share your Tarot experiences with me, just like you did on the previous blog.
Thanks for all your good wishes and energies!
Love and Light,
Madhavi.
Intuition.
A word I keep saying all the time. Something I totally believe in.
And something that many people often ask me about.
So I decided to write about what I feel about it.
Intuition: Definitions
My Mac Dictionary defines the word Intuition as: the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning; a thing that one knows or considers likely from an instinctive feeling rather than conscious reasoning. ORIGIN Late Middle English (denoting spiritual insight or immediate spiritual communication): from the late Latin intuitio(n-), from Latin intueri ‘consider’.
Wikipedia defines Intuition (philosophy) as: the act by which the mind perceives the agreement or disagreement of two ideas; and Intuition (knowledge) as: understanding without apparent effort.
Hmmm….
Intuition: So What is it All About?
The whole idea of Intuition was introduced to me by my Tarot teacher. She always used to say that Intuition is the first thing that comes to your mind when you see the card. So very true! And it applies not just to the Tarot Cards, but also to different situations in life as well.
Intuition is basically the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of something, or someone – and yes, the first thing that comes to your mind when you see the card.
We all grow up with a little voice inside our heads – it is that little voice that keeps on telling you what is right or wrong (for example, it is the little voice inside your head which probably told you that Mom will be angry if you do something) and it is that voice which keeps on telling you what the outcome of a certain situation can be (for example, the little voice inside your head that told you that the guy you are going out with is a total loser).
But then, we are taught, nay conditioned, that we ought not to listen to that little voice inside our head and instead follow logical and rational thought processes.
Not that I am against rational thought or logic, but there are many times where these things can totally fail us. All of us have discovered in our lives that some things which may seem rational and logical do not always correspond to reality. And it is that little nagging voice inside of our heads which was right all along. For example, that guy really turned out to be a big loser despite all appearances to the contrary, and Mom did really get angry for what we did.
Intuition Confusion: How Do We Know?
But then again, there can and often are so many other little voices crowding inside of our heads that we often think that they are Intuition. Those are the voices of our fears, the voices of our past experiences, the voices of our own expectations, and so on. All of these different voices can often cause confusion in our minds and cloud the voice of our Intuition.
So how do we separate out the voice of our Intuition?
To do that, we must first know ourselves better – know more about what we are doing and why. We must know our ‘triggers’ and our ‘responses’ to these ‘triggers’. And when we know that, we can separate these voices because then we will know their source, their origin.
Trust me, there is no easier way, no short-cut to achieving this. But there is a way. It is a combination of Awareness and Practice. And this is how I do it.
I try to remain Aware constantly – I try to watch myself, as if I am a third person, and observe what I am doing. Then I try to figure out why I am doing what I am doing. And then I tell myself all of that. It isn’t as complicated as it sounds – really. But it certainly takes a lot of time to get the process down to such an unconscious level that one does it like one breathes – without the awareness that one is doing it.
LOL 😀
Yes, I know – to be aware, you have to remain in the Present, become your own Observer, and then do this process Unconsciously, without Awareness.
Careful, you may be stepping into a very Zen territory out here! 🙂
And the next step is Practice – just keep on doing this. And you’ll get the hang of it.
Personally, I am still practicing – one is never really perfect, right? And yes, I do slip-up now and then. 🙁
And so, once we are aware of all the different things we do and why we do them, we will know what triggers our responses – what are the different stimuli that cause these different reactions. And by reactions, I also include the different voices we hear.
So now we can identify the origins of each of these voices – some may originate from past experiences, some from our fears, and some from logic, and so on. Meanwhile, you will also find a voice which has no origin whatsoever. And that is the voice of Intuition.
Something that has popped up into your mind for no apparent reason – and from no apparent source or origin.
Your Intuition.
Intuition and Tarot Cards: How Tarot Cards can help Spark your Intuition
And so, how do the Tarot Cards tie in with Intuition?
Well, the cards have pictures on them and these pictures mean something. Plain and simple, you can just see what’s happening in the picture and decipher the meaning. Or you can totally get into the symbolism, the myths, the philosophy, the astrology, the numerology – the whole jing-bang, and then decipher the meaning of the card.
Either way, the picture and its inherent meaning will be there right in front of your eyes for you to see.
But then, wait.
What did that little voice in your head say when you first saw the picture?
Pay attention. Really.
What did that little voice in your head say when at the first sight of that picture on the card?
Go on, listen to it. Really listen to that voice.
Learn it’s tone, it’s tenor, it’s cadence. Identify it’s source. Listen to how it sounds like (probably very quiet). Understand what it feels like (probably very peaceful).
That’s your Intuition talking.
Don’t be afraid. Don’t panic.
When you are doing a reading and you get these Intuitive, instinctive insights, don’t be afraid to voice them. Tell your client, that your Intuition is saying this. Don’t discount it. Don’t say that you could be wrong.
Believe in your Intuition. Trust it. Have total, complete, irrevocable Faith in it. Respect it. Treat it like it is something important. Special.
And trust me, your Intuition will become stronger and more spot on with every passing day.
Yup! It’s called the ‘Psychic Muscle‘ and just like any other muscle in your body, the more you exercise it, the more stronger it becomes!
And your cards can work as a wonderful tool for you to access that Intuitive force present within you. Because, they are simple and easy. And because they make it easier for you to focus on the true voice of your Intuition.
A daily one-card or three-card draw is a good way to keep this practice going and to keep your Psychic Muscle exercised.
And soon you will see that you get sudden insights and bursts of intuition – even without the presence of the cards. Your mind’s radio station will tune in more easily to the voice of your Intuition. And when you most need the guidance, the information you require will come to you.
Intuition: A Few Examples from my own life
Oh yes! I have had some interesting incidents in my life which have to do with Intuition. And I am going to share them with you.
And no, I don’t get flashes of stuff happening to me all the time.
Only when it is required.
Once, I was doing a reading for a client – and I saw something, almost like a movie scene, happening in front of my eyes. (And no, this doesn’t happen to me all the time!) And I described this scene to her. Guess what! She said, this had happened to her just the day before!
A recent example was just before my Green Card interview. Now, I was going in a different category – my Mom had applied for me. But many-a-times, people apply for Green Cards under different categories – typically, a newly wed wife applies for a Green Card because her husband has one. And at that time, they are supposed to show photographs of their wedding ceremony to the interviewer, to prove that a wedding really took place. The visa information website where all this stuff is written had not mentioned such a requirement for my category. And so, I was adding all kinds of documents in my folder – like my Birth Certificate, to prove that my Mom is really my Mom and that I am really her Daughter etc. etc. And then, suddenly, the voice inside my head told me to pack some photographs as well… pictures of me and my Mom. And so I did that. I looked through a pile of photos and picked out some nice pictures of me and my Mom and put them in a nice album thingy and packed it into my document folder. So, when I finally went in for my interview, the lady who interviewed me asked me a whole bunch of questions (as they normally do) and then instead of asking for any other document, she simply asked me if I had any pictures of me and my Mom. Thats it! That was the only ‘document’ she wanted to see. So, promptly, I said ‘Yes’ and gave her the album.
And then of course, there are those funny moments, when I suddenly feel the urge to hunt down my cell phone and then I get a text message or a phone call.
And then there are those moments when I just know if someone is going to drop by for a visit. Or not.
And then there was today morning when I decided to mow the rest of the lawn. I had finished half of it yesterday morning in the heat of the sun, and had decided that I would wait till today evening to do the rest of it because the Sun would not hurt me so much. But then, as I sat on the porch this morning sipping my second cup of coffee and smoking my ciggy, my little voice said to me: ‘The sky looks cloudy – not cloudy enough for it to rain right now, but it will rain in a few hours and it will keep on raining. So, if you want to mow the lawn, better do it now, or else, you won’t have the opportunity for at least a day or two. And then the lawn will be half finished.’ So I got up, and got down to it. I got a few drops of rain on my head just as I was finishing up on the last chunk of grass.
And it is still raining outside… So, if I would’ve waited, thinking that the rain may not fall, I would’ve had a very unfinished looking front yard right about now!
This year began with a bang for me! After waiting for 6 years, my immigration visa interview came through and I am finally on my way to USA to meet my family, live with my Mom (till I find my own accommodation) and generally give my career as a fiction writer some right mileage.
But before I launch into all that, let’s have a look at some interesting number facts that I noticed along the way…
My final interview date was set on the 31st of December, 2008. Add it all up: 3+1+1+2+2+8 = 17 which adds to an 8. Then, my interview was conducted in a cubicle numbered 9. If you add up 8 and 9, you again get 17, which, adds up to an 8. I was the 8th last one from among the whole lot of people to be called in for the interview (the Gujrati (!!) lady next to me was keeping count!) 🙂
Interesting! Well, I was born on the 8th of Jan…. and I have often observed how this number and it’s half (the 4) keeps popping up in my life on and off for all the strangest of reasons.
My flight is booked for the 28th of Jan, 2009. Add these up and you can see that 2+8+1+2+9 = 22 which adds up to a 4! I live in a flat numbered 4.
I am going to live with my mom for some time, before I can figure things out in the USA. Her house number is 305 (another 8)!!
So, with all these numbers going around, let’s have a look at the year to come: 2009. This year adds up to 11 or 2. So, let’s examine these numbers with regards to our cards.
This one is the actual number that this year adds up to. The Justice card, among other things, talks about decisions – taking decisions, making decisions (oh, yes, there is a difference between them two!) and about Karmic Justice. This is the kind of open-eyed Justice, where all is seen and heard, and then action is taken with all the pros and cons in mind. The main feature of this card is also inherent in the pair of scales which she holds in her left hand – Balance, and the sword she holds in her right hand – Logic.
She is often likened to Themis, the Greek Goddess of Justice, or to Ma’at, the Egyptian Goddess of Justice. And in keeping with the qualities ascribed to both these Goddesses, she takes logical and balanced decisions, weighing all her actions and thoughts in accordance with the Universal Law of Karma.
My Prediction:
This is a year when all things will even out – Karmic Debts will be repaid and decisions will be taken with an even-handed, action-oriented, long-term perspective and an objective vision.
The High Priestess card is often held to be the most powerful card in the entire deck – simply because it is full of deep symbolism, and because it shows the inner sanctum of the Divine Feminine.
She is often likened to Persephone or to Isis, and sometimes even to the female Pope. The High Priestess is the perfect picture of the balance that one can achieve within the Duality of everything.
She is the inner self – the unconscious force which holds all the secrets concealed within her psyche. She is the representation of inner wisdom and intuition. She is the stillness before creation.
She simply is – and there is no disputing that fact.
My Prediction:
Taking forward the tone set by the Justice card, this year will also be one where focus will be drawn within – our souls, our inner worlds and our inner wisdom. Intuition and instinct will rule the decisions which will be made and taken. Although stillness will be the norm, it will foster new thoughts and ideas which will be waiting to germinate and sprout out into form (in the next year!)
The Judgement card talks of redemption – a redemption from the cycles of Karmic action. This is a card indicating freedom and release. Typically depicting a scene from the ‘Judgement Day’ scenario, this card signifies a movement forward on the Karmic ladder – where one transcends the flow of material life and moves into the spiritual form.
My Prediction:
Adding to the tone of the message from the Justice and The High Priestess cards, the Judgement card tells me that for those among us who ‘hear the wake-up call’, our intuitions will guide us along the right paths – helping us take and make decisions with a strong will power, and creating situations from where maintaining and generating Karmic balances will lead us on to a place where we will be free from struggles and transcend towards redemption. The key theme of this year will be Forgiveness.
So, after all these deep, heavy, top-level things, what will our everyday lives be all about? Let’s look at the Minors for that.
This card from the Suit of Wands talks clearly about careers, work and seeking opportunities. This man standing on the terrace of his house, dressed in fine clothes, looks on to the sprawling ocean in front of him, while holding on to a wand in one hand and a globe in another.
This card talks of how the world has indeed become a small place. We don’t really suffer from the ‘frog in the pond’ syndrome anymore – rather, we have now begun to question ourselves more about our self-created perceptions of that pond. To me, this card is now raising the following questions:
My Prediction:
Many of us will face these questions in different aspects of our lives – especially, our careers, and in any other area of life, where our desires and passions – our fire energy – comes into play.
This is a card which talks of choices and decisions. In this picture, we see a woman holding two swords in her hand, while crossing her hands across her chest. She has a blindfold on her eyes, and she cannot see. We also see a crescent moon in the sky, and a water body behind her. She is faced with decisions (remember the Justice card?) – but she also wants to protect her own heart from the consequences of these decisions. Perhaps, she is also afraid to see what lies ahead of her, and so she has chosen to be, or to remain blindfolded. There are choices available to her, but she knows, that she has no one else to rely on, except for her own intuition. She knows that no matter what decision she takes, she is liable to face the consequences.
My Prediction:
Many of us will find ourselves at cross-roads and at cross-purposes this year. Taking and making decisions will rule our minds – choices will be available: between a rock and a hard place, or between the devil and the deep blue sea. Take your pick! But the main questions that abound will be: ‘Should I choose now?’ and ‘Can I choose now?’. No matter how logical it may or may not sound, it is Intuition which will rule over the mind in the next year.
[Psst: Note how her sitting pose is strikingly similar to the Goddess in the Justice card and the High Priestess card!]
This card from the Suit of Pentacles shows a young man dressed up in clothes which look funny, but he is definitely not laughing. He is juggling two pentacles within a lemniscate – with boats going up and down on the waves right behind him. The whole juggling the pentacles business is exactly how many of us are going to manage our money this year.
My Prediction:
Many of us will spend time in an endless juggling match – trying to do this thing and that, trying to keep things going. And while this is going on, the emotional ups and downs in the background are not going to ease up on us…Add to this mix the whole career-questions raised in the 2 of Wands and the choices presented to us in the 2 of Swords, this year promises to be one filled with a seemingly endless up and down financial see-saw.
This card seems to be the most promising one of all. Here, we see a young man and a young woman meeting each other and exchanging cups. Above them rises the face of a lion with wings and a caduceus – passion and healing, combined with an exchange of emotions.
My Prediction:
Many of us will find friends or lovers or significant others in this year. It will be a relationship where the key feature will be sharing of emotions which brings about healing and then leads on to passion.
Alternatively, this card also shows a harmonious partnership at the workplace or business. This kind of partnership is sustainable and creates a positive feel at the workplace.
Some of us may also experience a harmony coming about within the male and female parts of their psyche (the Animus and the Anima).
This year looks good with regards to taking and making balanced and logical decisions – in fact, the favorable decisions made in this year will be those which have been taken with the gut instinct / intuition in consultation. Similarly, in the different aspects of life choices, decisions, harmony and adjustment are the key themes which abound.
Perhaps nothing substantial may occur this year, but this is the year where the foundations are going to be laid out for the fruits of next year. So it is extremely important and essential that things be done right this time!
And so I leave you with a quote from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (Act IV, Scene III), which is something which I always follow in my life:
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their lives
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
May The New Year Bless Us All!
First off, let me apologize for writing a post after such a long time….
Lately, the world’s been buzzing about with books and videos related to creative visualization and manifestation of your desires. All this has taken off especially after ‘The Secret’ came out in the market. And now the sequel to the book has also come out (titled ‘Law of Attraction’) and it is creating quite a buzz too….
Let me start by telling you all that the video of ‘The Secret’ was one of the most amazing videos I have seen in a verrry long time…
So, back to the post….I have been experimenting with Creative Visualization and Manifestation for quite some time now. Back when I began experiencing these moments, I didn’t have these nice names for it – it began as a process of simply making a wish, and seeing it come true in front of your eyes. Of course, back then, I felt as if something tremendously magical was happening to me…Now I know that it is still magical, but there is a process and so forth to it…the video simply seemed to put things in the right perspective for me….
So, how can you use the Tarot cards for this process of Creative Visualization? There is a very simple process quite like a meditation with the card. Here is how it goes…
Choose a card which resonates with what your wish, and your desire is. Hold it in your hand. Watch the card closely and close your eyes. Try to recreate the image of that card in front of your closed eyes. Open your eyes after some time, and see if you got all the details correct. And then close your eyes again. Now visualize that these details from the card are actually manifesting or happening all around you. It is almost as if the card is materializing all around you. Stay in that image / visualization for as long as it takes for you to feel right at home in it. Then, slowly imagine that the elements of that card are dissolving in the reality around you, and that the energy of those elements is now getting transformed into your desired outcome (which has to be in resonance with the card you have chosen, of course). And then slowly open your eyes…
If you want to, you can even choose 2 or more cards if you want a certain situation to manifest. But for a start, you can choose just one card, and then work your way up to more.
However, a few words of caution / wisdom here: Choose something which is in alignment with the forces of Nature, and make sure you follow the ‘Harm None’ philosophy. Otherwise your manifestations could just bombard you in a way you may have not imagined it and things can end up going crazily out of control for you….
So, I leave you with the card I am going to meditate with for now…
Card from Osho Zen Tarot Deck. Card from Rider-Waite-Smith Deck.
So, which card would you be meditating on?
The Large Hadron Collider has been in the news lately for all sorts of reasons. So, today, I decided to have a look at the Wikipedia page about it here. Fascinating read!
To be honest, all the technical stuff kinda went over my head (yeah, well, that’s why I am no scientist!) – But then the ‘Purpose’ section of the Wikipedia page made me stop, think and wonder. Apparently, among other things, this machine will help Mankind understand so many different concepts and theories – all relating to the creation of the Universe itself!
All the people, especially those from the scientific community are obviously very excited about this – and of course there are those doomsayers who think that this experiment may pose a danger to the world itself.
Creation.
The one word that has inspired many books, concepts, theories, ideas, philosophies, myths and even religions – why are we so curious (often to the point of being obsessive) about how things began?
What does any person think that the beginning of anything will really reveal?
How does the BEGINNING of anything make any difference to what that thing IS NOW – or for that matter how it ENDS?
An interesting thought – considering that everything that ends must have begun somewhere and unless it begins, it simply cannot end. But it is sure that creation and destruction are both, equally inevitable parts of every single thing that IS.
In Hindu Mythology, there are 3 Gods who are associated with these different aspects of existing – Brahma is the Creator, Vishnu is the Protector, and Shiva is the Destructor. These 3 Gods form a Trinity, to keep everything going. And as per the Divine plan, everything begins remains and ends – apparently all at the same time – simultaneously.
Will knowing how the Earth or even the Universe began really make so much of a difference to Mankind – or is he just satisfying his innate inherent curiosity – and that’s all there is to it?
Or is Mankind waiting for some kind of a revelation to happen at the end of this discovery?
What does Man hope to gain from finding out how it all began? Is it a quest for Glory? Or is it for attaining the honor of becoming a God?
Will that satisfy the thirst?
When we find the Beginning will the search End?
You know what I think: I think that we all exist because of our will to exist and if that will went away, then everything will cease to exist.
It reminds me of something I saw when I meditated once: I had been sitting for some time watching the darkness in front of my eyes and feeling the tingling in my body. And then in the darkness there was a voice that asked: ‘Who Am I?’ And so a blue dot began to take form in that darkness – and it grew and it grew till it covered everything. It was all water, I think, rippling and flowing – and it was almost as if the question had stirred up echoes of reverberations all inside it and on the surface of it. And when each part of that flowing liquid resonated and asked the same question, the cacophony of sounds grew and grew till the whole thing exploded because of the sound. All those particles – each and every one of them – wanted to find out, individually (of course!), who they were! And they all began to move around and began to take shape and form – trying to find their identity in this and that – trying to find out whether this was who they were or that was who they were. They changed their shape and size and form and design – but the answer still eluded them. So they kept on going and going – because each shape and size and form and design – gave them no way, no method and no means of reaching any satisfactory conclusion. The more they changed, the more they began to become more confused about who they were. Soon it came to a point that they even began to forget what the question was in the first place. And it became commonplace for them to keep on changing their form from one thing to the next – completing a life-cycle every single time. And soon, the world (as we know it), began to take form. And then these particles began to become trees and birds and animals and then human beings. They liked becoming human beings – because they could now find several means of expressing their ideas, their thoughts, their concepts and their new questions. So they continued to remain more and more in this human form – they somehow thought that it was the most superior form that they had ever achieved. They were pleased with themselves. But then again, they realized that this form was not quite satisfactory too. Meanwhile, a few among them began to look deeper and probe more and more within themselves. They began to ask more and more questions. All these questions were about the same thing – how did it all begin? And the most important question of all – who were they? And so it all came full circle – and Mankind was besieged by this question – ‘Who Am I?’ Some of them have been able to ‘crack the code’ as it were – and then they supposedly merged with the Supreme. In my meditation, I saw that some of these became glowing blue dots and then some of them, the rare ones, just simply disappeared and started to form the darkness all over again.
And one day, it all went back to becoming the glowing blue dots, and then found its way back to the darkness – of course, only till the next time that a voice asks, yet again: ‘Who Am I?’
And as I moved far away from this, I saw that there were many such blue globes floating around in this darkness – each and every single one of them in different stages of this process. And each particle within each globe asking the same question: ‘Who Am I?’
Creation, Preservation, Destruction – all of them carry within them the seeds of the other. Everything came from the darkness and will go back there to rise once again – in the endless search for the elusive answer.
And this is not the first time this story has occurred. It has happened again and again and will keep on happening for ever.
Nothing is Everything and Everything is Nothing. Everything comes from Nothing – Nothing creates Everything. And then Everything turns into Nothing.
As I came out of this meditation, I realized that either of two things could be possible: that I had a really fantastic imagination (yeah, well…) and that what I saw was REAL.
So I decided that it was really great to JUST BE and ENJOY THE HERE AND NOW and stop chasing the elusive answer. Perhaps that is just the answer.
I AM. AND NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.
Reminds you about the symbolism of the Number Zero [ 0 ] – The Fool Card and The World Card – both merged together – doesn’t it!
Here is a link to a video that I happened to catch on YouTube…watch it till the very end…Lovely Stuff…
(The link will open a new window)
The girl has a point!
Here is something funny that came to me, not once but twice, over the Internet. A sign, don’t you think? So here goes…
Question:
How many cards of the Major Arcana does it take to change in a light bulb?
Answer:
All of them! How? Well read the details below:
The Fool has already started before anyone else is ready. The Magician assembles an array of objects that might be needed, displays them to best advantage and starts discussing how to go about it. The High Priestess sits in the background, knowing one thing is missing but says nothing. The Empress fusses around making sure it is safe and nobody gets hurt. The Emperor tells everyone he thinks it should be done right now and starts delegating responsibilities. The Hierophant offers advice on the missing part after consulting with the High Priestess. The Lovers umm and ahh about what wattage bulb to put in this time. The Chariot charges in and starts doing it himself regardless of the others’ protests. Strength surreptitiously places what’s needed into Chariot’s hands and gets it done her way. The Hermit suggests a candle in a lamp would provide light in the meantime. The Wheel of Fortune laughs and reminds everyone that the light will need changing again in the future. Justice works out whose turn it is to change the light and whether the division of labor is being delegated fairly. The Hanged Man contemplates how darkness can change our lives. Death points out mournfully that this was bound to happen and how everything ends. Temperance tells Death to chill out, it all evens up in the end. The Devil tries to make the others take responsibility for causing the light to blow and creates bad feelings all round. The Tower suddenly starts ripping out the original light fixture so he can create a whole new more basic look. The Star marvels at new beginnings and says how much she’s looking forward to having the light working again. The Moon continually offers conflicting advice, confusing everyone until she wanders off to the relief of all. The Sun wants to redesign the whole room around a much brighter light. Judgment examines the bulb to see whether it truly was its time to blow and ponders whether the bulb can be recycled. The World suggests that any problems with the light are temporary: we had light once, we will have it again, and suggests focusing on the bigger picture. Meanwhile, The Fool has already finished changing the light bulb and is off doing his own thing.
Edit:
Had to change the ‘Author: Unknown’ bit – found out who wrote this joke – simply because she wrote to me!
So, here goes:
Author: Serena Powers.
Website: www.serenapowers.com
(The link will open in a new window. Just scroll down on the menu till you see a link for ‘Tarot Humor’ where you will find more Tarot Jokes.)
Great Fun!
I think that we Tarotists are extremely capable of taking our work with the cards seriously, but working with them also helps us see the funny side of all things, including the cards themselves…and in that, I feel, we have achieved a whole lot!
Here is a link to an interesting article that I got on one of the yahoo groups that I subscirbe to. It talks bout the symbolism of the cross over the period of time.
Have a look and have fun.
This is a post that I feel deserves to appear on both my blogs for the simple reason that it is something about my life, and also something about Tarot. And both are integral parts of me.
This post is about the Devil.
First a little background to why this post sprung up. It is essential. I was surfing the net as I am wont to do when I don’t have anything better to do. Just ended up on Yahoo! Answers and put in “Tarot” in the ‘Search’ box and hit enter. Just to see what comes up, you know. Then stuff began to pop up which began to make me wonder.
Tarot is recently gaining quite an amount of popularity in India on account of a Tarot reader (I really don’t know who) who came on to a cricket match show and predicted the outcome of the game. Soon enough, we had a bunch of Tarot readers on the popular news channels and newspapers giving out advice and daily/weekly predictions for each sign. And then we have “Tarot Readers” springing up all over the place, teachers teaching Tarot all over the country and so on and so forth.
Like every other method of ‘fortune-telling’ this one also has its bad apples, and its materialists. For me Tarot became something else altogether. I admit it began as a ‘fortune-telling’ medium, but as I studied and as I came closer to the meanings of the cards, it became much more than just that for me. Tarot cards became the lamps lighting my way on my spiritual path, guiding me.
Of course, I have to point out here, that being a Hindu, I have not much of an idea about Christian concepts and ideologies. However, the Tarot was full of them. So I ended up doing a bit of research. Since I have had a fascination of mythology and the concept of ‘story creation’ as a base of myth, I had some idea about Greek, Roman, Egyptian and of course, Hindu mythology. I never knew that reading up on all this would one day culminate into Tarot so simply.
So when I saw all the people on the site condemning Tarot for being ‘the work of the Devil’ and all those who practiced Tarot were supposed to be ‘the Devil’s disciples’ and so on, I began to wonder. Luckily, in India, which is primarily a Hindu nation, perhaps this drivel won’t filter down. Perhaps, that is why I am able to see this without prejudice and without any pre-conceived ideas. Who knows?
I have met a couple of Christians in my time: a guy who won’t read ‘The Da Vinci Code’ for example (it’s just a book for crying out loud! And it says ‘Fiction” very clearly on the cover!) and this woman who told me that we all were ‘born in sin!’. So yeah! In my experience, I find these people a bit, well, cuckoo! Oh yeah, and yesterday I ended up watching ‘Carrie’ on MGM. 😀 LOL 😀
So who the heck is this Devil guy anyway? I know that there is a Devil card in the Tarot. Of course, I kinda had a personal interest in him because in the Tarot this card of the Major Arcana also stands for the sign Capricorn. And according to my date of birth, I am a Capricorn. So you see I had to know more. So I googled the Devil. Heeheehee. A lot of sites turned up. The list of what all I had to read through is given at the end of this post. If anyone is interested in some further reading…
So the Christian Bible, the Islamic Quran and the Jewish Bible have got this Devil character figuring in there. Apparently, he was one of the angels that God had created. When Man was created, God asked these angels to bow before his creation. But this fella refused to do so because he preferred to bow down only in front of God. So God became angry with him and cast him out of Heaven. (!!!???!!!) And then when Adam and Eve were living in the Garden of Eden, this Devil in the form of a snake convinced Eve that she ought to eat this fruit from this ‘Tree of Knowledge’ so that she would be as knowledgeable as God. Not only did she eat this fruit, but she also gave it to Adam, who also ate it. After that these two (Adam and Eve) ended up ‘knowing’ (what?). This was the ‘original sin’. And that is why all the descendants of Adam and Eve (that is all of us!) are ‘born in sin’.
Phew! I hope I got the gist right! If not, please do feel free to correct me if I have missed out on something.
There is a Tarot card showing something like this in a card called Lovers.
In this card we see Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Behind Adam is the Tree of Life (with its flame-like leaves) and behind Eve is the Tree of Knowledge (complete with the apples and the serpent). Adam looks on to Eve, who in turn is looking heavenwards, at the Angel blessing them both. This card means choices, relationships, love, divine inspiration and so on. But this picture conveys so much more than all that. The man and woman can reach bliss and thoughtlessness only when they are ‘with’ each other. This bliss is often referred to as a glimpse into an enlightened state of being. Towards this end, for the man this woman becomes the means to achieving this state. But then, it also says to me that the woman doesn’t need the man to get to this state. She is the womb and thus the Mother. She goes through these cycles of creation-able-ness every month. She instinctively knows what it is all about. She can get to this enlightened state of being simply through her own awareness of the movement of the cycles on a spiritual level. The man can also reach this state of bliss on his own. He, however, needs to do more work on raising his awareness levels and getting attuned to these cycles.
Methinks Mr. A.E. Waite was a feminist.
We have a whole bunch of people criticizing and condemning, not just Tarot but also other forms of divination. Now ‘divination’ means ‘A prediction uttered under divine inspiration’. Apparently the Bible condemns all this, and the people who do this ‘divinition’ are all witches and so on. But, as far as I can see from all the info about the Bible and Quran on the Net, the Bible and the Quran itself have a bunch of predictions and so on within them. Now what’s the deal with that?
Now don’t get me wrong. I am not against any religion. Really. I am just against the hypocrisy created by ‘organized religion’. My own religion is also included in this list. Any religion, when it becomes ‘organized’ becomes open to corruption. Either from within or without. This corruption becomes an essential part of this drama created by that religion. So then we have dogmas emerging, and we have rituals emerging and then we have strict enforcement of certain religious statements emerging. True debate over the concepts in that religion is suppressed. Each statement is easily open to debate and criticism. But that is suppressed. Each person within this religion is expected to follow the rules that are laid down. There is no place for rational thoughts and complete obedience is expected. And usually there is a Priest of some sort at the top of this hierarchy laying down these ‘laws’ based on the basic religious text of that religion.
But then, each religion does have its good points. As far as I know, there isn’t a single religion in the world that tells you to lie, cheat and steal. All religions tell you to be good, tell the truth and be kind to other people.
And yet, we have people killing each other in the name of a religion. We have people discriminating in the name of a religion. We have people hating each other in the name of a religion. Why?
Even in Hinduism, we had the caste system which created discrimination. Today, this kind of discrimination has been abolished by the law, but it still exists. This is the bit I don’t like about it myself.
There is a card in Tarot which represents this bit about ‘organized religion’. It is called ‘The Hierophant’. This card shows a Pope blessing two students and there are two keys at his feet. This card can stand for morality, society, religious initiation, systematic and orderly mode of study, and so on.
What I feel that this picture is trying to convey is that ‘organized religion’ need not be the barrier that it is made out to be. Religion and its study and practice need not be so ritualistic and dogmatic. For somewhere within the babble of this and that, lie the keys to your own realization. It’s just a question of how you end up using that knowledge and when and what you use it for. Within this card therefore, I see a very valuable paradox. This card is not quite what you see at first glance. Although, one must pass through certain strict processes to look within and understand the basic tenets of any religion, once one has the keys to that inner wisdom, one can still make a choice and use that knowledge well. Only those among the learned ones who feel the need for control go the way of fanaticism and those who truly understand the concepts use it for good deeds. The rituals are simply the means of getting attuned to that particular energy level. Most religions have them, one way or the other. These, I feel cannot be truly avoided or done away with. In fact, there exist a plethora of rituals because not one size fits all. To each his own. Even in that, every religion has given us some space.
So where does the Devil fit into all this? Yup, like I said before, we have a card called The Devil in the Tarot deck.
In this card, we see the two characters from the Lovers card chained to this block. But the chains are not tight about their necks. This funny looking person who has horns, bats wings, the upper body of a man and the lower body of some furry animal and claws of a bird for his feet is sitting on top of this block. He looks unhappy. In one hand he carries a flaming torch which he points downwards, right behind the backside of the man. And with the other he makes some sort of a ‘V” sign (remember Star Trek?) with his fingers. Also there is an inverted pentacle on this person’s head. Now, the man and the woman have also undergone some changes. They both have sprouted horns. The man has a tail with the end being a leaf from the Tree of Life and the woman has a tail with a bunch of grapes at the end. The landscape is darkness.
This card means to tell us to look within our inner darkness – this is the darkness of the soul. To see that the chains and shackles are of our own making. To understand that we should not be tied to the rituals and moral codes of living and knowing. That we should understand that these are the things within us that keep us locked into this darkness. The ritual does not mean attainment. That the moral code is just the way but not the answer. This card also ties into the materialistic outlook that people have about their life, which ends tying them down. Sometimes, to me, it talks of addiction, relationships and jobs that feel like chains and restrict your personal development and so on.
Perhaps, this is also a lesson to the Capricorn-people to come out of their materialistic attitude about life.
This funny looking person on top of the block is actually a synthesis of a whole bunch of pre-Christian deities such as Pan, and Cernunnos, and The Horned One. Each one of them had their own bunch of myths.
Here is a quote from the bit about Pan as to how the symbol for the sign of ‘Capricorn’ emerged:
The constellation Capricornus is often depicted as a sea-goat, a goat with a fish’s tail: see Aigaion or Briareos, one of the Hecatonchires. One myth that would seem to be invented to justify a connection of Pan with Capricorn says that when Aigipan, that is Pan in his goat-god aspect, was attacked by the monster Typhon, he dove into the Nile; the parts above the water remained a goat, but those under the water transformed into a fish.
And of course we have the pentacle being condemned for being a symbol of the Devil. When in fact, it is a symbol of all the five elements in Nature: Fire, Air, Water, Earth and Spirit. Upward pointing pentacles, to me signal that all these elements are being channeled into the spirit. Downward pointing pentacles signify that this spirit essence is being channeled within us.
Of course, the horror film industry has built this whole thing up into a vast money making business. And this added to the ideas of the masses that the pentacle was a sign of the Devil. I suppose, the Church also gave it some added impetus. And thus, the Pentacle became an ‘evil’ symbol. So tell me, where is this ‘evil’ in all the five elements of nature?
So now we come down to what it actually boils down to, for me.
This ‘Devil’ is nothing but the inner darkness that we all have to face from time to time. In Hinduism we have the concept of ‘Dvaita’ which means ‘Duality’. Within us exist both good and bad, black and white, yin and yang, male and female, positive and negative and so on. What we as human beings are challenged to face is the creation of a synthesis of all these aspects. Because that is essential for us to attain the state of being closer to an enlightened state of bliss. This is what we have to conquer within ourselves.
Without one, there is no other. If there would not have been ‘bad’ then we would not know what is ‘good’. Without white, black would be meaningless. The male and female principles have to unite to generate the act of creation. This duality is therefore essential to any kind of movement of the spirit.
So Tarot cards have got these principles and these secrets intertwined within them with the use of pictures and symbols. This so-called ‘secret knowledge’ is freely available for those who choose to know it within the Book of Tarot. The Tarot readers who understand this knowledge and incorporate this knowledge within their life, will find that they are part of a free and straightforward system of attaining that state of enlightened bliss. And their journey then begins.
Of course, it is not easy. No one said that it would be. But it is a beginning and as such, this process is fully comprised of looking within and creating and inner awareness and seeking out knowledge and so on. Thus, this system does not need any intermediaries between the reader and the universal consciousness.
It’s like a direct connection with the knowledge within oneself and within the universe. And the Tarot cards are just like the runway for the soul-aeroplane. They provide the place or the means for this jump or this connection to take place.
Perhaps this is why the Church opposes the Tarot cards. If everyone had such a connection, then these Churches would not be needed. And perhaps that is why they are called the work of the Devil. Because they are a straightforward means of getting the ‘knowledge’ – like eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge.
When I was a child, my grandmother always told me that if I had to stand against something or not like something, then I had to find out what it was all about in the first place before condemning it.
My suggestion to all the Tarot-haters of the world is that they find out what the cards are all about in the first place before they condemn it. Half knowledge is, in fact, a dangerous thing.
If one really sees the cards and their meanings for what they are, then one will understand that they don’t give out any ‘bad’ messages. (Of course, there is more to it than that as well, but that is for another post!)
And as far as the knowledge of the future events goes, all Tarot-ists will tell you that the future is something that isn’t hard and fast written on stone. It isn’t something that cannot be changed.
In fact, Tarot readings are meant to be a guidance for the future. They are meant to help the querents see how they can prepare themselves for the forthcoming events and to see how they can use their ‘free will’ to create a change within themselves so that it reflects in their lives.
Because somewhere we all have the power within ourselves to create and generate our lives. What we think, feel, talk – is all converted into energy and gets manifested within our lives. So we are in fact active participants in our future. Perhaps that is why each religion tells us to speak the truth, be kind towards other people and so on. Because this energy that we send out to the world is thus going to manifest in our life in a good way.
And then when we don’t see this cause-effect relationship manifesting, we begin to question more deeply and stumble upon the concepts of Karma, Past Life Karma and so on. But all that is fodder for another post – wot say? Stay tuned! 😀
So here are the links that I mentioned at the very beginning, a bibliography of sorts:
http://www.lucifer.com/lucifer.html
http://religion-cults.com/Occult/O-Overview.htm
http://www.religion-cults.com/Occult/Satanism/Satanism.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_and_Eve
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horned_God
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cernunnos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_%28mythology%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_in_Christianity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_sin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iblis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_Eden
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04764a.htm
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09410a.htm
Does give you something to think about, doesn’t it?
Here is a question that a fellow Tarot student asked me on Orkut. I think this deserves a post on its own. There are other common questions that people have asked me as well, which I have added today to the QnA Page. Do have a look.
A reader and his cards have a strong connection with each other. As the reader’s understanding and approach towards the cards grows, so the connection between them is enhanced. I follow a simple procedure. I hold the deck in my hands and ask the cards to show me or tell me ….(insert your question here)….and then I fan them out. Then I proceed with the reading.
This is an interesting incident I would like to relate.
Back in early 2006, I used to have this camera bag turned into a bag for keeping my deck. And one day, a lady came in for a reading. I took my cards out, and began.
Throughout the reading, I kept feeling as if something was missing. I kept on telling her stuff to do with the Ace of Cups and the lesson in that card. And the whole time I kept feeling that the card will show up in the reading. It never did.
I have had such experiences often where I feel that the next card is going to be so-and-so card, and it turns out that way. But not this time!
Guess why?
When the lady left, I opened the bag to put my cards back into it, and noticed that there was one card left inside the bag – the Ace of Cups.
Interesting, huh?
The cards really are one family, and they work their magic when they are all together – mixed up or not – they are speaking to you together.
After that experience, I always double-check if I have all the cards with me before I begin my reading.
Have you ever had such an experience? Post your comments and share!
Got questions about readings, clients and what have you? Post them here. I will try to answer your questions as best as I can.
