Spiritual Bypassing at the Tarot Table

Over the past few months I have found myself thinking about spiritual bypassing more and more. I wasn’t sure why this concept was floating into my field of attention so strongly until I started doing a little research. In an article in Psychology Today I found a list of signs that a person is engaged in spiritual bypassing. The list included an item that drew my attention, ‘engaging in cognitive dissonance’.

Watching people around me embrace obvious conspiracy theories, and watching others give spiritual explanations for their world views which, to me, logically don’t add up, I see an alarming trend.

Spiritual bypassing is something that most people will do at certain points in their lives, and it is not always harmful. Sometimes it is a necessary part of healing and growth. It is only when spiritual bypassing becomes the ongoing default behavior that it becomes potentially problematic.

Spiritual bypassing is a natural reaction to trauma. Right now, most of our nations and all of our planet seems to be suffering from deep trauma. This trauma is caused by a confluence of things, a perfect storm, if you will. We have pandemic, social media, economic turmoil, and the rise of fundamentalism in both Islam and Christianity which is directly in conflict with the rising demand for equality for all.

It occurs to me that, just as individuals may engage in spiritual bypassing as a response to personal trauma, societies will engage in spiritual bypassing as a result of national trauma, and global trauma.

‘Spiritual bypassing’ is a term that was first coined by a prominent Buddhist psychotherapist and author named John Welwood in the 1980s. It’s a term I have become aware of relatively recently, but a phenomenon I have noticed all of my life. It’s good to have a solid term to use to describe a disturbing but hard-to-nail-down series of human behaviors.

Spiritual bypassing is the cause of toxic positivity. Spiritual bypassing is at the root of dangerous philosophies such as ‘Prosperity Gospel’ and over-the-top misunderstanding of the Law of Attraction. These belief systems excuse adherents from the burden of compassion by blaming the sick for their illness, and the poor for their poverty.

In short, spiritual bypassing allows people to feel insulated from misfortune based on their spiritual beliefs and practices. Spiritual bypassing allows people to feel comfort from spiritual practices without truly acknowledging and healing their wounds. Spiritual bypassing serves as an escape from the actual work of healing, and from the actual truth of vulnerability.

Tarotists can be doubly at risk for the effects of spiritual bypassing because we ourselves can fall victim to it, and we can see it in our clients at the tarot table.

Just as religious fundamentalists are inherently involved in spiritual bypassing, so are tarot fundamentalists. Tarot fundamentalists are those who cannot question what they think they saw in the cards, or what they think they were told in a reading.

We tarotists can fall prey to spiritual bypassing when the cards tell us everything will be okay, and so we neglect to do the mundane work we need to do to make everything okay.

Amongst we tarot readers are those who do a lot of predictive reading, and those who don’t. I am a predictive reader. Yet, I am clear in my own mind, and clear to tell my clients, that the future is never written in stone, and that what we do today matters a great deal in what happens tomorrow. When we forget that fact, we give up our power in life, and begin to engage in spiritual bypassing,

I believe that tarot, and that all spiritual practice, is meant to empower us to heal, to help others, and to live well upon the planet. I also know that to do those things is hard work. Our spiritual practice, whatever it may be, must encourage that work, rather than excuse us from it.

In these difficult times, now more than ever, we must be aware of the human tendency to use spirituality as an escape from reality, and an avoidance of truth. Surrounding ourselves with spiritual thought and activity is only helpful if it encourages us to do the work we need to do, and to accept the ultimate truth that we are all at risk for sudden misfortune.

When we see our clients and friends engaged in spiritual bypassing, we need to assess their readiness to be gently prodded toward a more productive healing path. As tarot readers we often have to walk the delicate balance of meeting people where they are without corroborating their unhelpful beliefs.

In this time of great and overwhelming trauma and cognitive dissonance we have a responsibility to use our tools to keep our grounding, and to help others do the same. The Four Elements which figure so prominently in tarot are a helpful reminder, and a helpful tool, in doing that.

The element of Air reminds us to seek the logical truth and avoid that which masquerades as truth.

The element of Fire reminds us to stay active and motivated in the pursuit of our goals, rather than waiting for good things to simply happen to us.

The element of Water reminds us to stay in a place of compassion, and to hold space for our own grief, and the grief of others.

The element of Earth reminds us to stay grounded, proactive, and practical in our thoughts and actions.

Find Yourself with Divination

This is a cross-post from my Tarot Trends Personal Blog.

Who are you, at your core?

This is a topic I often speak about, and write about, because it comes up so often in readings.

One of the reason that divination is so helpful is that divination is a way to help us discover our true identity – our core.

Sometimes we get stuck trying to be the person other people want us to be.

Sometimes we get stuck trying to become the person we think we should be.

Sometimes our self-perception is marred by low self-esteem or over-inflated ego.

Tarot, astrology and numerology are ways for us to look into a cosmic mirror, and discover things that are true about the self.

The more we are able to understand the core self, the more at peace we will be.

There are some people who misuse tools of divination, like tarot. They use the tool only to make predictions in an effort to assuage anxiety about the future. They never use the cards, nor any psychic tool, to actually question their own behaviors and discover more about the self.

The irony is, this very practice works to dispel anxiety, because once we feel solid in who we are, it is very hard to feel anxious about anything. Anxiety is most often born of a misunderstanding of self.

The significator card in a tarot spread is helpful in discerning “Who am I at the present moment?” Significator cards that we chose to represent ourselves help us discern “Who am I at core?”

If you want to learn about yourself, learn about your birth number, your sun, moon and rising sun, and the tarot cards associated with them.

This information should paint a clear picture of your motivations, your path and your sense of self.

There are those who say that we should not read tarot, or use other tools, for ourselves. They people may think we will come from the perspective of the anxious person using tarot to relieve her fear of the future.

But when we use our tools to understand who we are, we become strong, self-aware and healed.

I will be teaching a webinar on self-reading on July 24. Join us!

Chakras and Aces

There are many associations between esoteric systems and specific tarot cards. Some are centuries old, conceived by the first tarotists. Others are more recent, conceived by modern tarotists. Sometimes we don’t all agree on particular associations. As with most things in tarot, each of us interprets and understands the cards in unique and personal ways.

A concept that has come to me very organically over the years is to associate the aces of the Minor Arcana with specific chakras. Culturally, there is clearly no likely original connection between chakras and tarot. But, since I find the chakra system and tarot both so innately logical and important it stands to reason they would ultimately merge in my mind.

Tarot has a way of doing that in general. Tarot is able to deftly communicate about technologies that did not exist at the beginnings of tarot divination, for instance.

I am not the first person to make connections between certain cards and the chakras. For me the chakras are aces.

In addition to the typical meanings of new beginnings and new energies, aces are to me about openings and essences. For me, that makes them very like the chakras. In readings the aces can sometimes come up to indicate particular chakra issues.

Typically the first four chakras are associated with the four elements. That would clearly assign tarot aces, or even tarot suits, to the first four chakras. The fifth chakra is associated with the fifth element, spirit or ether. My system strays a bit from these traditional associations.

I associate the first chakra (root or base) with the Ace of Pentacles. Since this is the Earth chakra, that is not a stretch. The first chakra is about basic physical needs and our ability to survive. The Ace of Pentacles is a grounding energy that helps us connect to the Earth, just as the root chakra does.

I associate the third chakra (solar plexus) with the Ace of Wands. Since this is the Fire chakra, again, not a stretch. Here sits our will and our motivation. The fiery wand ignites our passions just as the solar plexus helps us keep our will strong.

I associate the fourth chakra (heart) with the Ace of Cups. Typically the heart chakra would be associated with the element of Air.  There are many reasons that traditional association is both meaningful and valuable. However, I see the Ace of Cups as the open and healed heart chakra, and for me that association works well.

I associate the fifth chakra (throat) with the Ace of Swords. Typically this is the chakra of ether. For me the Ace of Swords is about the ability to know and speak truth. As such it helps us use the throat to give voice to what is true and right.

Practically, I sometimes am called to interpret these aces as specific chakra issues when they come up in a reading. I also use these cards to heal the chakras. I may hold the Ace of Swords to my throat before I need to speak in public, for instance. I may hold the Ace of Cups to my heart to help release sorrow. I hold the Ace of Wands to my solar plexus to give me the strength to know and enact my will. I will literally sit upon an Ace of Pentacles to help me stay grounded and healthy.

While this system is not traditional, it works for me. If it resonates for you, perhaps it will be helpful to you as well.

Eight of Cups

My tarot friends are always surprised when I tell them that the Eight of Cups is one of my favorite cards. To many, it is a sad card of abandonment. It is about walking away, or having someone walking away from you.

I do see that sadness in this card, but I also see something more. In the Eight of Cups I see the process of healing.

When I look at this card, I see a story. I see a person who is sad, perhaps grieving. This person goes to the beach, which is a place of healing and cleansing. There, the person takes an inventory of the hurts that are causing such sorrow. One by one, the hurts are acknowledged, and carefully placed into cups.

Finally, this person finds the courage to leave all the pain on the beach in the stacked cups. As this person walks away, this person is now free to live without the pain of the past.

We all carry pain with us. Eventually, we realize that pain weighs us down, and keeps us from moving forward. The Eight of Cups describes the clear process of acknowledging the pain, and then choosing to leave it behind.

When the Eight of Cups shows up in a reading, often it is recommending this type of emotional cleansing.

Read my poem about the Eight of Cups here.