Yule 2013 Tarot Blog Hop: Turning Darkness into Light

Welcome to the Yule 2103 Tarot Blog Hop.
Perhaps you are joining me from Shauna Aura Knight’s blog.
When you finish here, hop over to Morgan Drake Eckstein’s “Gleamings from the Golden Dawn” blog.
If you find a break in the chain please visit the Master List.
If you want to learn more about the Tarot Blog Hop please visit our Facebook page.

This Tarot Blog Hop celebrates Yule, the Winter Solstice - the reason for the season. This time our wrangler is the intrepid Joanna Ash. In keeping with the traditional theme of Yule, Joanna has asked us to write about “turning darkness to light.”

I love Yule. I love the many ways we have to celebrate the return of the sun. I love drumming and chanting and eating cookies shaped like suns. Sometimes I incorporate the Sun tarot card in my Yule rituals. We pass the Sun card around the circle, filling ourselves with the energy of the card, and of the returning sun itself, while chanting, "We are one with the infinite sun, forever and ever and ever."

When we celebrate the returning sun in ritual we are celebrating that the darkness is turning to light, and we are working to shine that light into the dark places within ourselves.

As above, so below.

As the sun returns to the land, so light can return to our souls.

This journey from darkness to light is reflected in tarot in hundreds of different ways.

One way we turn darkness to light with tarot is to find healing within the difficult cards.

We all know which cards are the difficult ones – the Three of Swords, the Nine and Ten of Swords, the Devil and the Tower, amongst others. Typically the images and key words of these cards can be a bit disturbing.

Each one of these cards can reflect the darkness within us and around us, but within each of these cards is the secret to letting the light return.

Sometimes, whether reading for yourself or another person, these cards can cause undue distress. Here are some ways to turn the darkness of these cards into light.

Swords cards are universally viewed as dark and difficult. But Swords simply represent thoughts and words. While thoughts and words can be scary and hurtful, we have a great deal of control over how we experience thoughts and words.

Often the Three of Swords describes a situation where we have let the unkind words or actions of others, or our own fearful thoughts, pierce our heart.

The Three of Swords describes the need for the heart to heal. Often when we see this card we need to think about the things that have hurt us.  There are usually ways to reject the unkind words and actions of others or to reframe our own thoughts to allow our healing to begin.

The Nine and Ten of Swords are similar. Once again we have let thoughts or words injure us, this time even more severely.  These cards ask us to examine what is hurting us. With that, we are empowered to heal. We are empowered to discount the negative voices around us and within us, and find the light of our own true voice.

The Devil often shows human captives who are perfectly capable of leaving their captor. This card shows us our enslavement, and asks us to find the strength to walk away. The path from darkness to light is readily available as we lift the chain off our necks.

The falling of the Tower is painful, but necessary. The lightning that brings the Tower down brings with it enlightenment. From there, all new things are possible.

The next time a dark card appears in your tarot spread, don’t be alarmed. Instead, respond with eagerness and gratitude for the possibility of healing.

The cards that people most fear are often the cards that offer the most healing. Each of these dark cards gives us the chance to be empowered and enlightened. Each of these cards is an invitation to heal. Each of these cards gives us the opportunity to turn darkness into light.

Now you can continue through the hop by visiting the next blog, which is Morgan Drake Eckstein’s “Gleamings from the Golden Dawn” blog.
If you missed the blog before mine you can work backwards and visit Shauna Aura Knight’s blog.
If you find a break in the chain please visit the Master List.

Photo: Andrew Dunn