Don't give away your power

I've been thinking about the topic of empowering for quite some time now, due to my own circumstances. I've always believed that everyone has the power to change and direct their own life: whatever you want to reach or achieve, you should go after it - the universe will conspire to help you get there. If not in the exact same form you presumed, and possibly through "blessing in disguise" path, but to the destination nevertheless.

But.

For the past few years, I've felt like my career is on the side track. I left my previous career in my country of origin to move to Australia: to achieve a dream to live in the land of sun instead of rain and sleet. I found a job from a completely unrelated field, felt happy about it for a while, but then started to think I better go back to my "own field". I started applying for jobs. To no avail. Employers wanted none of me or my experience, because it was foreign and I didn't have the same credentials, networks and experience as the locals. I simply got the door thrown shut on my face again and again.

How could this happen, if the universe really conspires to help us reach our goals? What about the law of attraction, manifesting, positive thinking, perseverance, good old hard work to achieve goals?

None of those seemed to work the slightest.

As you can imagine, I've done countless of readings about what should I do, how to approach this dilemma, but mostly - let's be honest here, maybe 90% of the times - I read for: will I get this job?

I've got a whole range of answers from "of course you'll get it" and didn't, and "no you won't, it will be a disappointment" and it was; and "you'll get distracted and won't apply for the job", and that happened too.

The theme that has remained has been: something in me and my thinking needs to change, there is a lesson underway which I have not yet completed but am, in fact, resisting. But I couldn't decipher what the lesson could possibly be, other than murder my previous experience and enthusiasm and swap it for something quite mundane and uninspiring - why would that be a great lesson? WHYYYYY? I've cried more than once.

At the turn of the year it finally clicked. It's a fact I can't return to my old specialist field because the credentials and expectations here are different than in the country where I obtained my degree and previous work experience. However, as I am doing a PhD degree, this current arrangement is the best I can think of: my job allows me to fund my life and studies, whereas if I were on a scholarship, I'd be in a very tight spot financially. If I were to change jobs before my degree is ready, I'd lose time, energy and focus to study; as I would be learning the new job and it could prove stressful.

What else clicked was: I was giving away my power by expecting that things will magically fall into place if I just wish for them. I didn't have a proper plan what sort of a job or career I'd like to pursue, so I applied for anything and everything even remotely interesting, without properly tailoring my paperwork and showing that I am the best candidate for this particular job, not "just give me a new, different job already." And by asking questions like "will I get this job", I relied on the positive or negative answer and did not try my best - I either grew complacent or got discouraged.

I felt all this time that my cards were taunting me and giving either extremely  positive answers to lift my spirits (which would then be crushed by a negative outcome), or repeating cards I couldn't understand in this context: Death, Devil, 4 Cups, 7 Swords.

Now I've finally figured that Death has meant a profound change I've underwent and it relates to both career and life in general. I no longer care about a prestigious title or a powerful position at work, I care about evolving as a person, learning, feeling inspired in life. Devil means all the fears and negativity that I've harboured, such as "will I be stuck here forever" without having a proper, step-by-step plan where I'd rather be and what exactly I'd be doing.

4 Cups has flagged the opportunity I currently have but was overlooking: the chance to study and work at the same time. I've been so preoccupied with my job woes that last year I didn't progress much with my studies.

7 Swords is a "research" card for me - gather other people's thoughts and ideas for your own purposes, but it's also the "run with your own agenda" card: have a plan. Set a strategy. Do what serves your interests first and foremost. Don't bend over backwards for others (but remember to be a decent person, nevertheless and always).

When I changed my perspective and started asking "how to do this / what should I focus on now" instead of "will I get X, Y, Z, yes or no", I've got much more meaningful and trustworthy answers, too. I feel like I've found the track again.

I still believe that positive thinking and dreams are the key for success, but they won't work without intention: where exactly should you go next, why and how. Chaotic thoughts and random firing (of applications, plans or frustrations) can't possibly produce a clear-cut result nor much progress.

I understand from experience that life doesn't always change for better even with the best of plans and strategies. But I also think that very often people think they have a goal or even a plan, when in fact they have a bundle of unsorted, more or less chaotic emotions, frustrations and wishes. If I only found a partner, if I only lost weight, if I only found a new job... everything would be better.

But what practical, daily, one-by-one steps you could actually take, instead of waiting for the universe to deliver? What small thing could you do differently every day to get to the goal? And what if some of the elements you want in life are actually within your reach already, if you just change your perspective?

Magician - card is sometimes seen as a trickster or manipulator, but to me it's a person who manages to align his/her will (intention) and actions to produce a successful outcome. After all, even a magician can't perform a trick if there is no clear intention or plan: am I trying to get a bunny out of this hat, or a pigeon, or a bunch of flowers - or something completely different? Picture via Dark Tarot , couldn't find the artist attribution. 

What is your passion and how to dig it out?

I wrote earlier about finding your passion with tarot, but that post was mostly related to career and work life. Not nearly all passions relate to work, though. What if you lack passion altogether? Does everybody need a passion? Is it dangerous to not be passionate?

It depends on what’s meant by passion. If passion is understood as a driving or burning force akin to obsession, then not having one is definitely not a problem. From personal experience I can say that it feels amazing to feel passionate, but it’s also draining: it’s like a bonfire burning inside, but that can’t go on around the clock. Even positive feelings and passions can burn one’s mind out!

But if passion is understood as something that brings joy, purpose and direction to life, then I think it is dangerous not to have one – or rather, not to recognise one’s passion(s): total lack of passion translates as depression to me.

I believe everyone is passionate about something, i.e. finds meaning and deep joy, but the source varies. For others, the source of passion is family. To others, it’s career. To thirds, it’s travelling, home, hobbies, pets, art, photography, friends, literature, you name it.

In the career passion post I mentioned that I believe a passion is not an activity as such, but a feeling the activity evokes and enables.

Travelling brings excitement and thrill, home brings tranquility and creative opportunities through decoration and renovation projects, family and friends bring belonging, love and being in service of others, and so forth. I think that people who haven’t found their passion do have one (or more), but they simply don’t know their own drivers well enough to identify what are the most joyful, fulfilling, purpose-bringing emotions that exist to them. And that’s where tarot can, again, step in.

For finding a passion or more joy and purpose in life it’s essential to not get too entangled with a specific outcome. Often people believe that they’d be happier if they just had a partner, had a better partner, were fitter or thinner, had more friends, had more exciting hobbies, had a more interesting or a better paying job, had more money in general, if they just won lottery is that too much to ask!

Thousands of tarot spreads have been read about will I get this job, will I date this guy or gal, will I get more money this year, will I be more popular. And thousands of tears of frustration and disappointment have been shed when some or none of that came true.

However, these are all outcomes or for the lack of a better word, containers or platforms for potential emotions.

A new job doesn’t guarantee you’d feel any better about yourself, nor does a new partner or being more fit. What guarantees well-being is you recognising what are your personal triggers for feeling joy, purpose and direction and being able to experience those feelings. It all starts from accurately identifying what is it exactly you want to feel (elated? Happy? Excited? Loved? Self-loved? Appreciated? Energetic? Free to make your own decisions?) and how to get that feeling regardless of your current circumstances, and/or even if your plan A to gain them falls through. There is always a plan B in life. And plans C, D and so forth: a new day.

Here’s an example about what I mean from my own life. I was unsatisfied with my job for years. It’s a decent position with nice colleagues and decent salary, but the content is boooring. I’m creative and curious by nature, whereas in this job the main task is to repeat, repeat, repeat; focus on details and try to polish something to perfection instead of starting over and creating something completely new with a large brush. Type type type, write write write, and when you've done, start over again with a very similar project and report. Year after year!

I had been trying to solve this by doing repeat readings for myself: am I meant to stay or go, what am I supposed to learn, what’s the purpose of this, why am I being forced into a mould that doesn’t fit me? I got nowhere on my own due to frustration and too much emotional investment in this issue: all the messaged seemed muddied and contradictory.

I got a professional reading done by Miranda from Moonbent Tarot and that – combined with my own readings and other readers’ input – clarified it all. Interestingly and truthfully, I learned that what makes me happy in a job is the King of Swords – energy. Being able to be clear, analytical, objective thinker and communicator, and a “thought” leader (such as a scholar, researcher or journalist). And even more interestingly, according to tarot, the purpose of my job is to teach me to become a King of Swords!

My tedious job had, in fact, been a rigorous communication training program where every single word counts: it was all about editing, polishing, summarising, clarifying, making highly detailed legal and technical content crystal clear, over and over again. It’s like being trained by a strict teacher from the 19th century: get it 100% right, no ifs or buts, no “good enoughs”.

And now, when I’m submitting my first PhD articles to peer review and publication I can honestly say I wouldn’t have managed to put together publishable material without this exercise and experience. I would have never picked this specific job had I known I won’t be able to change jobs when I happen to feel like it (I seriously think I’ve been held “captive” by the Universe, because despite my best continuous efforts I didn’t find another job) and now suddenly I realise that it was for the best. What I’m getting is not what I wanted. It’s not at all what I thought I ordered. But inwardly and from a personal evolution perspective, it is exactly what I need, a “necessary step”, as one clairvoyant told me.

Life, and tarot, don't nearly always deliver a package that looks like what you wanted. But after unwrapping and unraveling all the padding, what is inside might well be the pearl you've been searching for.

Before you go on apply for a new job, take another look on your current one with tarot: what is it you really want in life? What sort of feelings, emotions, experiences, thoughts, mindset? And can your current job teach or offer any of them, if you change your perspective?

What makes you happy? Any big or small activity, thought, situation, surroundings, people etc. count.

Tarot readings for New Year

Happy New Year! 

May your year be full of happiness, love and prosperity.

What would be a better time to set intentions and start manifesting than the turn of the year?

To be honest, I'm a newbie in this manifesting business and I've been a hardcore sceptic about the whole concept. However, the more I read about the nature of reality (quantum physics, neuroscience and different philosophical takes included), the more I start to - if not 100% believe, at least suspect, that thoughts affect our lives much more than previously acknowledged. So why not imagine and visualise the best possible outcome - the effect can only be positive or neutral, after all.

To know where you want to get, you most often need to learn where you've been and where you're at right now. Another important aspect is knowing why a particular goal is important to you. After all, people want to be in a relationship, change jobs etc. for a myriad of different reasons and no life path is the same for two persons. So, let's explore.

This blog is about sharing knowledge but also recording my own thoughts, practice and progress, so it's quite natural to share readings here to show what interpretations cards can get.

Here are a couple of very handy and topical spreads for the New Year...

The Bridge from the Little Red Tarot - where have you come from and where are you heading. Lay the cards horizontally in a semi-arch to form a bridge, the highest point being card #4.

1. What you have left behind; KING OF SWORDS. This King is the embodiment of rational, logical, analytical thinking, and a "thought authority", such as a work supervisor in a very mental field. I work in a legal/engineering/commercial field and this card often comes up relating to my job. Personally, it also means that I've left behind the mindset that only relies on conventional natural sciences: the measurable and verifiable. I'm moving towards a more intuition- and experience-based world view that also acknowledges the value of emotions and unverifiable: the mystic side of life.

2. The hardest lesson you learned: 3 WANDS. This card traditionally means planning for the future, but I've come to realise it also means: being able to be fully oneself. It's the moment when plans align with passions - things start to fall in place because you believed in your vision and were willing to take a chance to make it happen. I've left behind my home country, my family and relatives, my established social circles and a career along with my native tongue, culture and (ex-)husband in order to find the true me. And now I've successfully arrived - into myself, at the other side of the world.

3. Something that helped you: 8 WANDS. This card is about fast-paced communication, action, swift movement, travel and internet. Yes, all of those helped me. It's now easy to keep in touch with the loved ones via technology, and I also love chatting and blogging. I travel as much as I can, also to my home country, and in general I love fast-paced action and newness. Thank you for your help, 8 Wands!

4. The high point – where you are right now, looking back and looking forward: 3 CUPS. Friendships, close connections, gettogethers, reunions, loving the company you have and having fun. Yes, my life feels now fulfilling in terms of social life and even though I've left behind some loved ones, I've gained a lot of new friends and also online connections - I frequent at the Aeclectic Tarot forum for the interesting, intelligent people who interact there.

5. The next step: QUEEN OF WANDS. This Queen is all about fire, energy, passion and drive. She's fun-loving, enthusiastic, inspiring and creative go-getter. Queens in general mean the energy of the suit turned inward, experienced internally: Queen of Wands deals with her emotions in the field of passion and creativity. Kings in turn are mentors, authorities, leaders of others, and expand and empower the energy of the suit in others. However, the Queen of Wands is also an inspirer. I'm more than happy to see her pop up - and me becoming her, my favourite Queen!

6. Something that will help you: KNIGHT OF PENTACLES. Hard work, slow approach, willingness to complete a task after task, being dutiful and loyal. So clearly I don't get to be the Queen just like that, there's some tedious, slow work ahead. Maybe it's about this blog: Rome was not built in a day and neither is a successful, popular teaching tool. This Knight is a reminder to stay patient, bow your head and just keep ploughing it.

7. Your destination: the new shore: 6 WANDS. Well well well, that's what the doctor ordered. The card of success, celebration, acknowledgement, recognition, acclaim. I don't know in which area of life I'll prove to be popular and successful, but I'd take this card in any area, s'il vous plait. Maybe it's my tarot readings, maybe it's something else, but this is probably one of the most welcome cards for a New Year's reading. Great to end on a high note!

A similar spread can also be used for setting intentions for the coming year.

Lay the cards like you'd do for the Bridge, but the positions in this spread are:

1. Where are you now?

2. What should you leave behind to achieve the goal?

3. What is the most important element for you in this goal (a lesson to learn, an emotion you want to feel etc. to pinpoint, why this particular goal is important to you)

4. The best advice regarding this goal?

5. Help available for you to achieve the goal? (can be internal or external resource).

6. Your special strength/skill to achieve this goal?

7. Where you'll be by the end of the year regarding the goal?

Best of luck with the plan!

Happy readings and celebrations! Photo Stocksnap.io

Find your passion with tarot

We all must have heard this advice thousands of times when considering a career move: follow your passion. But what does it mean exactly?

Firstly, not everyone has a clearly defined passion. In fact, I suspect most people don't have a single defined passion or a handful of passions to follow; or if they do, they are not consciously aware of these. Secondly, even if you have a passion - say, collecting stamps - how to turn it into a career?

One of my passions is learning. I absolutely love reading all kinds of books from fact to fiction and my most cherished childhood memories are about trips to the local library to borrow more books from this miraculous Wonderland of Stories. But, who on earth would pay me for reading books? Or hire me to be a life-long student just for my own interests' sake? Sadly, no one (or I simply haven't figured the right path yet...).

But does this mean passion has no place in work life? Nope. It just means that passion needs to be redefined.

I've come to realise that passion is not an action or pastime as such. Passion is created by the feeling that the action gives. One of the greatest career advice I've read and tested about finding a passion goes like this:

• List all the jobs you've ever done, including student jobs and summer jobs (if you don't have at least five jobs, list also volunteering gigs or jobs you'd like to do).
• Pick a top 5 list of your jobs based on which ones you enjoyed the most (or at least to some extent).
• Put the five jobs in order, from the most enjoyable to least enjoyable.
• Dig out what exactly in each job made you like it. Was it the work environment, the job content, the chances to learn, chances to interact with customers, flexibility with hours, what?
• Then dig one step deeper. List why exactly you liked the said positives? How did they make you feel? Which positives made you feel the best? Why? For example: if you liked interacting with customers, was it because you felt you made a difference in someone's life?
• When you write down a positive emotional element that makes you feel elated, or your spine shiver (or in the strongest scenario, makes you cry), you've hit the nail in the head. That's what you yearn - that's what to get more in your life.

The purpose of this exercise is to identify the exact emotional element of life (and work) that makes you feel alive, driven and happy. As mentioned, passion is not so much about doing a certain activity or engaging in a pastime but what that activity evokes: what emotion it triggers and nurtures. And ta-dah, because passion is not an undertaking but a feeling, it can be integrated in the work life, too!

Now, let's bring tarot into the equation to explore the idea of passion a bit more. Joie de Vivre deck by Paulina Cassidy comes with a spread called Spread the Joy and its purpose is to identify what brings you joy.

Joy and passion are, if not interchangeable, at least closely related to each other. What brings you constant joy usually is your passion, i.e. a pastime that you enjoy and do even when no money is earned.

Here's my reading as an example. Card positions are:

     2

1 - 0 (crossed by 5) - 3

     4

0 - What is joy to me?
1 - Where to find joy the easiest?
2 - Where must I work to find joy?
3 - What am I allowing to block the joy?
4 - Who or what could teach me to experience more joy?
5 - Universe's gift to experience joy?

Spread the Joy, Paulina Cassidy, Joie de Vivre. Published under permission.

0 - what brings me joy is KING OF SWORDS. This is no surprise, as the King is the master of thought, logic and intelligence, and also an authority and mentor in these areas. My joy is deeply seated in my feeling of mastering logic and thought, understanding issues (as a reward of learning), and spreading my thoughts and ideas via this blog, for example.

1 - where to find joy is 7 PENTACLES. My joy comes from all sorts of learning and communication projects, big and small, in various stages of completion. I thrive on recognition and reward, so an occasional reward apple dropping from that pentacle tree keeps me going. And I always have to have a project of some sort going, I love the feeling of seeing where things can go and working towards a goal. Completion in itself is not the reward, but having these projects underway is.

2 - where I should work to find joy: PAGE OF WANDS. Explore creativity and newness, embrace adventure. Yes, please :) That most definitely is the area where I find joy: exploration, both physical and mental. I love travelling both in my head (to different worlds of books) and in real life. And I love brainstorming new ideas, even though only 10% of them actually lead to somewhere!

3 - what am I allowing to block the joy: 6 WANDS REVERSED. As mentioned, I thrive on recognition, and lack of recognition is the biggest turn-off for me. Why am I doing this if nobody notices, my ego yells. I should learn to remember that nobody needs outsider validation for their passion: passion is a passion because it brings inner joy, not publicity or fame.

4 - what could teach me to experience more joy? TEMPERANCE REVERSED. This is a cryptic card in this context at a first sight. Less compromise, less balance, less mixing things that don't mix easily? I take it to mean that I should align my life all and all in a direction that allows me to experience more joy, without having to compromise so much. My current bill-paying job is far from my passion and I'm only free to explore my passion out of office  hours. Point taken.

5 - gift from the Universe? ACE OF SWORDS REVERSED. This card at a first sight is not the most uplifting. I've been toying with a new business idea and this card seems to slam it to the ground: will not work.

However, as I strongly believe in my idea (and my previously consulted cards also support its success), I'm inclined to take this card to mean something else: possibly my husband and his razor sharp yet playful wit and intellect, because this card sometimes comes up as him. Reversed cards in my readings often mean: not you, someone else, i.e. this is not my bright idea, but his. It could also mean that the idea I have now is not yet mature, but it will be with time - the reversed card "wants" to turn upright. I'll stay tuned for even better ideas than my current one then!

"Bad" cards in tarot - are negative outcomes really negative?

Planning a life change? It's natural to want to know whether the change will be a success. But, what if you get a negative card for an outcome? What's the point in trying then? Isn't it easier just to give up and save yourself from the hassle?

The short answer is no. There are very few situations, if any, where a card is "bad" or negative.

Sure, some cards symbolise strong negative feelings and will feel like an electric shock when the event pictured in the card happens. But is that a bad thing - in the grand scheme of things?

What I'm NOT saying is that failures and disappointments don't matter. I actually hate the phrase "is X really that bad in the scale of a hundred years?" Well, just because something is not the literal end of the world, doesn't mean it's not devastating. What I do mean is: there can't be a positive without negative, success without failure, light without dark. It's all about balance and perspective.

Different decks approach this from dozens of angles.The illustrations vary deck by deck and can frame the meaning in a very different, eye-opening way. Here's a look on the "bad" cards of tarot; the cards that have a bad rap due to the emotional devastation or distress they reflect.

The most unwanted outcome cards for life change, top 5

5 Cups. This card in the Rider Waite Smith (RWS) deck shows a cloaked person looking at three chalices that have tipped over. There are two chalices behind the figure but s/he is too absorbed in the grief of loss to notice what's left.

The message is "disappointment". Something was lost or not achieved, despite all the effort. I actually got this card for "is this blog a good idea?", and naturally was disheartened: what's the point of setting it up if there's only disappointment on the way? However, this card is a road bump, not the end of the journey. Yes, not everything will work out as planned and something will let me down. But some parts will work out, if I change my perspective.

The eye-opener 5 Cups card for me came from the Victorian Fairy tarot deck. A young female fairy watches her sandcastle being washed away by a wave. She's been working on that castle for the whole day, just to see it crumble at the end. Her creative efforts go to waste, there's nothing tangible left.

But.

Is tangible the only thing that matters? She had a great day filled with joy, sun, play and happiness. She learned new skills, got to express herself, built a happy memory alongside that sandcastle. Some of our efforts have to crumble to make way for new ideas, plans, paths and people. Destruction and creation work hand in hand.

Victorian Fairy Tarot, Five of Summer (5 Cups).

8 Cups. This must be on everyone's unwanted cards list. The traditional meaning is turning away from something: the emotional investment proved not to be what was hoped for. It's a notch more serious than 5 Cups, which is a temporary disappointment with silver lining. 8 Cups is a full-blown abandonment, walking away from a situation or a relationship.

The a-ha! 8 Cups card for me came from the Zombie tarot. A well-dressed housewife rushes out of her favourite shopping mall because there are zombies crawling all over the parking lot. What used to bring pleasure, is now full of bad memories - it's turned haunted and is not the same it used to be. The only reasonable action is to walk away, find another place/thought/action/person to invest in.

Even though 8 Cups can denote leaving a job, partner, home; or a need for a more spiritual outlook in life, it can quite practically mean "your decision regarding this question is NO because it's the most sensible course of action."

8 Cups, Zombie Tarot.

5 Pentacles. The card of financial hardship, health problems, insecurities and being without is surely on the most hated cards top 5. The traditional RWS card has a pair of miserable young people wandering through snow, but it contains a promise of something better.

This card is the only one of the Pentacles suit in RWS that doesn't show actual pentacles, besides the painting in the stain glass window: yes, material security has shaken and life feels scarce, but the pentacles (security, money, health) exist as an idea and an opportunity. The pair can find the door to enter the warmth and shelter.

The eye-opener 5 Pents for me is the Shadowscapes version. A young woman is desperately weeping in the shadow of a big stone building (a church or temple?). A vivid orange butterfly is approaching the crying girl from the direction of a beautiful stained glass window. Above the girl's head is a stone carving: a pentacle.

It's a reminder that in every situation, the seeds for something better exist. The girl just needs to calm down and see the approaching idea or opportunity (the butterfly). There's no shame in asking for help (the spiritual or religious society depicted by the temple) and she still has the most important element she needs in life: her own self (the Ace above the girl's head pointing to the material world). Life goes on as long as there is breath left in the body, and a new dawn is always possible. Don't give up.

5 Pentacles, Shadowscapes Tarot.

Death. This is a scary card and probably one of the reasons why tarot still has a witchcrafty reputation. Everyone's more or less scared of dying, the great transition to the unknown. However, as all tarot readers know, Death hardly ever means physical death. It's the end of something for sure: outdated beliefs, values, thinking patterns, emotions or a mindset.

Death card points to a painful transition of letting go of something familiar and secure. But letting go, moving on, is essential for growth: for the new fresh saplings to shoot.

The eye-opener Death card, again, comes from the Shadowscapes deck: a bright, beautiful phoenix. The mythical phoenix sets itself on fire and burns to ashes - to emerge as a refreshed, young, vibrant, energetic new creature to start a new life phase. Burning alive must hurt like heck, yet the phoenix does it to renew itself. Death is walking through fire to destroy the clutter and debris of the old.

Death, Shadowscapes Tarot.

Tower. This is possibly the most dramatic and least wanted life change card - or a card for any situation. Tower is a sudden destruction, shock to the system, dismantling of the old: be it beliefs, values, hopes or something physical, like health, financial security or a relationship.

With tarot's prior warning, unexpected becomes less unexpected. Tower gives time to prepare and feel less shaken when the unexpected hits. The tricky bit with Tower is that it's difficult to assign which area in life it relates to, and that usually causes (unnecessary) anxiety, worrying and fears.

Tower comes with two meanings: some things in life just happen, whether we want it or not. The only thing we can control is our own response and attitude. The other meaning is: if something's been built on a unstable ground and has become shaky through years (think a house of cards), it won't last. It's bound to crumble to reveal the weaknesses in your plan / life / attitude.

The bull's eye Tower meaning for me is the Victorian Fairy tarot version, the Burning Oak. A community of fairies flees to the night - their home tree is on fire. It perfectly captures the Tower feeling: need to evacuate from the situation, panic, frantic action, disbelief, fear, feeling of being out of one's depth and home turf, losing something solid and trusted for good.

Tower, Victorian Fairy Tarot (Burning Oak).

How could this possibly be a good thing in any situation? The Tower moment, the feeling of ground disappearing under one's feet, is hardly ever welcome. But what follows afterwards is what matters. Destruction - - - reconstruction. Tower only reveals a weakness in a person's mental and emotional constructions.

A personal example: I got married for life with someone I met in my early 20's. In a decade, it became clear we were growing to the opposite directions: our personalities, values and beliefs drifted to the opposite ends of the spectrum. It was hard to realise but eventually it hit that even though I cared about him deeply, I merely tolerated our life together. The Tower crumbled, we divorced.

The whole Tower year an ongoing divorce was a nightmare, but now I see it set me free. The slate was wiped clean, my life took a turn that led to happiness, satisfaction and feeling complete. So Tower as the outcome might be exactly what the doctor ordered, even though the positives might only be revealed years later. Life is a journey, not a speed lane to perfection.

***
This list lacks "negative" cards such as Devil = obsessions, negativity; 3 Swords = heartbreak and 10 Swords = sudden end of a situation/thoughts/feelings, they will be discussed in the future!

Tarot and science - access to another dimension?

I am a curious person by nature and hence, I spend quite a bit of time pondering all sorts of questions from "why is x like it is" to "where did this world come from, what's the nature of reality?" The topic of today relates to tarot only loosely but it sprang to mind when I bought a book called Memories from Heaven (Dyer & Garnes 2015), about kids talking their pre-birth memories.

This particular post probably only appeals to science geeks but what the heck, let's do this! It's about what's the nature of our universe anyway?

Some time ago I stumbled upon a website called Multidimensional Man. Jurgen, the writer, tells about his "trips"to other dimensions through meditation. The accounts and Jurgen's illustrations are extremely beautiful and tell about exotic, wondrous places, nature, cities and people. Whether it's all Jurgen's vivid imagination or real trips to another 'frequencies' or reality, is at this stage unprovable. But the beauty of these stories remains unchanged.

For years, I've been reading everything I can about (popularised) quantum physics, astrophysics, philosophy and any recent scientific discoveries that could explain what is this world really - what is time, what is reality, what is space, where did it all come from, how is it sustained etc.

One theory - super string theory - says everything in the world consists of tiniest strings of energy linked together. These energy "rubber bands" form a net that is the basis for absolutely everything: particles and forces, atoms, planets, humans. These strings vibrate in 11 dimensions and that's our world; and apparently some unseen elements or aspects of our world too. Meaning that in a very real, tangible manner everything that exists is one and the same, we are all connected.

Another theory says the world is a hologram: what we see is a mere reflection of some sort of a base or source, even though it feels and seems very solid. Other theories suggest there are multiple dimensions we can't currently access, but they nonetheless exist. There might be countless other universes, known as the multiverse. We don't know if these other dimensions interact with our dimension or not, because currently we don't have means to measure this. Science can only discuss topics that are measurable and verifiable, everything else is either philosophy or religion/spirituality. But, what science can't measure, is not automatically non-existing.

The most recent theory postulates that our universe has a twin universe, a parallel one that was born in the same big bang. In this sister universe, time is moving to the opposite direction, from future to past. Or, time might be a spatial dimension, meaning that its inhabitants (maybe our counterparts/higher selves?) can move around to any direction in time, but not in space. Space or surroundings as we know it don't exist, but are more like in our thoughts or dreams: when we think or dream, we don't actually move anywhere but stay put. Yet, in our thoughts, we can travel around the world.

How this all ties to tarot? Well, just as an idea, if these other dimensions exist, maybe tarot is a method (and not necessarily the only method, just something human brain can easily understand because of tarot's stereotyped symbols) to deliver information from that sister universe, the universe of thought and reversed/non-causal time? If time is a place that can be travelled around, or time moves to a different direction, then events that will happen in our future have already happened or can be visited in this other universe.

Maybe one of these other dimensions or the sister universe is what many think as Heaven or the spiritual plane. If this thought is followed further and these two (or more) universes are inherently linked, what if the concept of reincarnation merely means we pop in and out of existence, taking turns in both sides of this film between dimensions? It would be fascinating if science developed a method to explore this.

Personally I'm on the fence about "life after death" or "reincarnation" topics, because of their current un-provability through science. I'm a researcher, after all. But it doesn't stop me from enjoying the beautiful descriptions of the Multidimensional Man, or Memories from Heaven. And believing or not believing in any of these topics is not a prerequisite for using tarot. But I guess that's the main reason I love tarot: it's a way to enjoy and access the mystic side of reality, the unknown and unseen, be it "just"our subconscious - or another dimension.

There's so much we don't yet know about our universe. Photo source.

How to use tarot wrong II

This is a sequel for the previous how to use tarot wrong post. Again, I reiterate that I'm no tarot police and not one way exists to use tarot right. Different people find that different methods suit them, and these methods may change and grow over time. However, it's easy to trip into pitfalls, in particular while learning. My own personal pitfalls are...

Too many cards per spread

I know that some readers like to pull out a deckload of cards, but I believe this should only be done when a) the reader has experience and can genuinely, intuitively know what the cards mean; and/or b) the cards have assigned positions, i.e. each card answers one specific question. Now, I'm well aware that I represent one view and plenty of people disagree with me, but - again, subjectively - I'm yet to manage to make more than half a dozen cards work without assigned positions.

Each card has multiple meanings and interpreting one card incorrectly can change the whole message. So, for me, the more cards there are in the spread and less structure (assigned positions) there is for the message itself, the seeds of chaos are sown: the message becomes a blur of unrelated, unconnected words my intuition struggles to piece together.

I'm all for de-cluttering in life in general, so I find that 3-4 card cards can usually answer any question. For more information, ask a new or a follow up question. Of course, Celtic Cross and other longer spreads are absolutely and definitely fine and useful, because with assigned positions, each card has a certain question they answer and the spread as a whole tells the complete message.

Getting stuck with a stalker card

At some stage of practising tarot, this seems bound to happen. One specific card (or cards) start popping up, for almost every possible question or spread but due to the repetition, the message is not clear. In my experience, the stalker card keeps appearing as long as it takes to figure the message. It might be an important decision or a suppressed thought or emotion bubbling under. Or, an approaching turn of events.

It's important not to ignore the card, because the issue being raised won't go away before it's been addressed by you. Also, it's simply annoying to get muddied messages for all possible questions due to this one persistent card/energy desperately wanting to chime in...

Some methods to figure the stalker card message include:

• Remove the stalker card from the deck and ask the cards what's the message (i.e. "please explain in other words..."). 
• Ask what area in life the stalker card relates to.
• Do a "general" spread, for example Personal Compass or Chakras (listed at the end of this post) to see, what area in your life might be blocked or hindered by unhelpful thoughts.***
• Meditation or good old deep pondering. Try and not think the card itself, but scan through your life, thoughts and emotions to identify anything that's sticking out, needs addressing and/or might be an issue you've been trying to ignore. 

My own favourites are a general spread combined with meditation/deep thinking - not focusing on the stalker card as such, but on my inner world (where the card's message is coming anyway).

Unclear timeframe

Accurate timing with tarot is notoriously difficult and it's probably the easiest question to get wrong.

Some readers have developed tried and tested methods that work for them, but there is no single sure-proof system that would work for everyone. I share the view that timing can't always be done, because the future is not set in stone and both our own actions and everyone else's actions affect it moment by moment. However, it seems that the stronger emotional impact an event will have, the more likely it is to show up in the cards in advance.

For me personally the future events start showing up 1-3 months early depending on the mentioned emotional force attached to them (how strong positive or negative feelings the upcoming event or change will cause in the querent), but life-changing events - such as meeting my future husband -  showed up a year early. I'm sure longer predictions can be made too but tracking and confirming them is, of course, slow.

Timing can be figured via two principal methods: setting a timeframe with the question ("what will happen within next three months") or asking a more open-ended "when" question. I personally prefer setting the timeframe because afterwards it's crystal clear whether or not the event happened. However, most of us have burning "when" - questions in mind, for example when we'll meet the love of our life, get married, have children, find a dream job, find a dream house...

The most widely known methods for scoping for timing employ the Minor Arcana suits. Each suit governs a season (approximate starting dates based on the northern hemisphere): Cups = spring (March 20), Wands = summer (June 20), Swords = fall (September 21), Pentacles = winter (begins December 21). Alternatively, you can interpret the suits as time periods: Swords = days, Wands = weeks, Cups = months, and Pentacles = years. The numbers of cards give the week of the season in the first option; and the number of days, weeks etc. in the second option.

However, as each reader has a personal relationship with their deck, everyone more or less hones their own system. I mostly rely on intuitive interpretation based on the card illustration and the overall message of the spread. Frustratingly, timing often depends on your own or someone else's actions, so asking for "when will I meet Mr/Miss Right" might give you an answer: "when you free yourself from your emotional baggage, adopt a more positive outlook in life and get active!".

Useful links for timing methods:

• Timing Techniques (Llewellyn)
• A Matter of Timing (American Tarot Association)
• Timing Techniques in Tarot (Biddy Tarot)

*** 
     Spreads to try to figure a stalker card

Personal Compass (Little Red Tarot)

1 - you at this moment. 2 - crossing card; something you're carrying now. 3 - basis that brought you here. 4 - something leaving your life. 5 - something entering your life. 6 (3 cards) - resources available to you. 7 - word of advice. 8 - purpose or direction where to head.

Chakras (Galaxy Tarot).

Chakras, according to the Indian tradition, are seven energy centres located in the body. When the chakras are "open", the life energy flows freely through mind, body and soul and the person is in balance. When one ore more chakras are "blocked", life feels unfulfilled, inauthentic or even suppressed in particular in the area where the chakra is blocked. Are your chakras in balance? Check from here too.

From bottom to top: 1 - root chakra: this card represents your sense of survival and basic needs. 2 - sacral chakra: this card shows your centre of creativity, enjoyment and pleasure. 3 - navel chakra: this card is about self-esteem, the key to feel more powerful in life. 4 - heart chakra: what's the status of your balance and love in all forms, including self-love. 5 -throat chakra: how is your self-expression, how well you can speak your truth. 6 - third eye: the status of your intuition. 7 - crown chakra - your connection with the divine, spiritual guidance.

More interesting and fun spreads just to flex your reading muscles: http://littleredtarot.com/tarot-spreads/

Photo by G Schouten de Jel, via FreeImages.