Tarot and Poetry Inspire Each Other

There is a unique connection between tarot and poetry. We tarot readers know that when we are giving a reading, teaching a class, or talking about a card, we often become more eloquent than we might be in normal conversation.

Tarot inspires the way we communicate.

There are many published books of tarot poetry. Sometimes the poems are written by poets who happened to be inspired by tarot. Sometimes they are written by tarotists who happened to be inspired to write a poem about a card.

The relationship between tarot and poetry goes back to early tarot history. In the 1500s tarot was a card came played by wealthy and influential people in Italy and France.

In Italy, the game of tarot led to a fad called “tarocchi appropriati.” In this game players would make up verses that were inspired by the cards and descriptive of one another.

Perhaps this was like the rap of the 1980s, where musicians used rhyme to speak of themselves, and of one another.

As the game of tarocchi appropriati developed, the verses became predictive, rather than simply descriptive. Many scholars believe that this is how fortuning telling with tarot first began.

It is easy to think of a particular tarot card and call to mind a poem or song lyric that matches it. I was recently reminded of a blog project I began and never continued called “Poetry in Tarot” where I related a poem to a tarot card.

I’ve also played with writing tarot poetry. I have two poems published in “Arcana: The Tarot Poetry Anthology”. My 78 Poems Project is far from complete, yet it is something that inspires me from time to time.

The question I have is this. Other than the connection between off-the-cuff verses inspired by early tarot cards in a popular game, why does there seem to be such a connection between tarot and poetry?

I decided to ask my cards this question. The card I pulled at random was the Queen of Cups, whom I often describe as “poetic”. When we look deeper at this card, we see it as a card that instructs us to nurture the heart.

The art of the tarot cards, along with the lessons and stories inherent in individual cards and in suits and groupings of cards, inspires us in so many ways. Poetry is one way we express that inspiration. That creativity begets creativity is a law of all nature.

Poetry, in turn, can help us make sense of the mysterious cards.

If you want to dig deeper into a tarot card, try writing a poem about it. Try to think of a poem or song lyric that reminds you of a card and use that to help you understand and remember that card.

Art and words go together in so many ways, and often enhance one other. The ongoing marriage of tarot and poetry is certainly a match made in heaven.

How Tarot Helps When We are Suffering

Suffering is part of the human condition. Most spiritual thought and psychological study, is, in great part, an effort to understand and ease suffering. As a professional tarot reader, I often feel that my job is to help clients identify, understand and mitigate the things that cause them unnecessary suffering, and to help the manage the suffering that cannot be avoided.

While our current pandemic has sharpened everyone’s focus on the many problems we face, there were certainly problems before the pandemic, and there will be problems even once our current crisis is solved.

I have always been interested in the concept of suffering. I remember as a child asking my father, a Methodist minister, why God allowed people, or perhaps caused people, to suffer.

In college, I was fascinated with a book that was required reading in my psych 101 class, Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. You are probably familiar with his premise, that we can tolerate a great deal of suffering, as long as we can find meaning in that suffering.

Often, I find that a purpose of tarot reading is to find meaning in difficulty. The process of divination with tarot lends itself well to discovering these sorts of insights.

When we study tarot, we realize that tarot study is not simply memorizing seventy-eight cards. Tarot study introduces us to the archetypes of tarot. That is, the characters, themes, lessons and experience that are common to all and understood by all.

As we learn these archetypes, and find that commonality of experience, we learn spiritual lessons to help us on our own journey through life. Over the past fifty years this process has come to be known as ‘The Fool’s Journey’.

Each Major Arcana card has a lesson to teach us about how to live life, find our balance, and journey toward our spiritual enlightenment. What is interesting is that none of these Major Arcana cards address suffering specifically, although all people suffer. While the Major Arcana cards address a host of issues, including things such as oppression, addiction, fairness, closure, patience, wisdom, compassion, mastery, responsibility, loneliness, self-awareness, education, meditation, and change, there is no Major Arcana card that is specifically and exclusively about suffering.

I think there is a lesson in that. Suffering is not the event, or the situation, but a reaction to the event or situation. The Hermit may speak of our loneliness, but whether we are suffering in our loneliness or handling it with patience is up to us. The Tower may reflect an uncomfortable occurrence, but how much we suffer with the Tower will depend largely on us.

In the Minor Arcana there are certainly cards that can speak of suffering. The Three, Eight, Nine and Ten of Swords, for example, or the Five of Pentacles or Nine of Wands, can all depict suffering.

Sometimes, in a reading, acknowledgement of our discomfort and misery is helpful. Sometimes holding space for our struggle is an important part of our healing.

We see that tarot divination can help us find meaning in our suffering, can help us find our place on our journey toward enlightenment, and can help us acknowledge our suffering. Divination can also help us find solutions for our suffering that are both practical and spiritual.

Tarot can also help us see the suffering of others.

I often think that the world divides itself into two types of people. There are those who have suffered and therefore want others to suffer as well. There are those who have suffered and want to help others avoid those same difficulties. The lessons of tarot that we learn in tarot study and find in tarot divination tend to steer us toward a path of compassion. In this way, tarot helps us heal ourselves, and each other.

Suffering is part of human existence. Tarot helps us understand our suffering, manage our suffering, heal our suffering, and learn from our suffering.

Tarot makes us aware of the suffering of others, and often holds us accountable to act with compassion toward others.

I'm Teaching "Anatomy of a Tarot Reading" at Tarot Summer School

I'm so excited to be teaching a class for Tarot Summer School this year!

My class is "Anatomy of a Tarot Reading". Whether you are a new reader, one who uses tarot for personal introspection, a pro reader or an aspiring pro, this class has something for you.

Here's a promo video.

Here is an in-depth class description.

What’s the difference between remarking about a series of cards, and giving an actual tarot reading?

That’s what we’re going to explore in this class.

Every tarot reading is a unique experience.

Every tarot reader has a unique style.

And yet, there are specific qualities that create a transformative tarot experience, versus an experience that is confusing, or limited in its helpfulness.

I’ve divide the process of tarot reading into seven distinct steps. We’ll handle each step as an individual section. Please perform the exercises that I provide in each section – that’s where you will find how each technique works best for you.

The seven steps we’ll be working with, in order, are:

1. Preparation

A tarot reading begins with our own mindset and perspective. We’ll discuss helpful mindsets that make the complex process of tarot reading flow more easily.

A great tarot reading takes place in sacred space. We will look at the steps it takes to transform any reading area into a temple of divination.

2. Invocation

A tarot reading can connect us to, and be informed by, the spirit world. We’ll discover ways of inviting Spirit into our tarot reading process, and recognizing Spirit’s voice within the cards.

3. Intuition

It’s impossible to give a great tarot reading without acknowledging and welcoming your own psychic nature. We’ll work with opening the Third Eye, and discover the specific connection between tarot and the brow chakra, and how we can use that connection to derive specific information.

4. Operation

Most tarot classes focus solely on tarot operations. That’s because what we specifically do with the cards is a huge part of what makes a tarot reading.

In this section, we’ll discuss your options in spreads and card-reading techniques.

5. Interpretation

Tarot cards have key words, spiritual lessons and classic interpretations, but how do they translate into an actual reading? We’ll explore interpretive techniques that will help you tell the story and deliver the message.

6. Presentation

We may SEE what the cards are saying, but how we SAY what we see is what makes the reading. We’ll talk about the best ways to present the reading to different types of clients in different settings.

7. Manifestation

Every tarot reading is an opportunity for tarot magick! It is always possible to find ways to work with the energy of the cards to create the best possible outcomes.

On a practical level, a great reading usually ends with a plan for action; something the client can use to move themselves forward toward their goals.

Before we begin, let me say one final thing by way of introduction.

I believe that it is impossible to teach another person to read tarot. All we tarot teachers can do is help you discover how the cards speak to you. My goal is to create a space for you to explore your intuition, your interpretive skills, and your connection to the cards and to Spirit. From there, the possibilities for what you can do are limitless!

If you still haven't signed up, here's more to entice you. Here's a list of teachers, and the classes they will be teaching!

●     Benebell Wen - Tarot and Shadow Work for Activating Dynamic Power

●     Kate Fisher from Daily Tarot Girl - Learn the Tarot Court Cards

●     Vix from New Age Hipster - Tarot For Your Chakras

●     Avalon Cameron - Ritual Tarot

●     Chris-Anne Donnelly - Creating Your Own Tarot and Oracle Deck

●     Jenna Matlin from Queen of Wands Tarot - Tarot and Feng Shui

●     Christiana Gaudet - Anatomy of a Tarot Reading

●     Carrie Mallon - Tarot for Empaths

●     Ethony* Dawn - Money Magic & Manifestation with Tarot

●     Kelley Knight from Modern Mystic Tarot - Building Your Brand and Business

●     Jessi Huntenburg- Reading Tarot Intuitively

●     Melissa White from White Sacred Soul - Mediumship and Tarot

●     Hazellie Wong - Charting Your Future with Tarot & Numerology

●     Jaymi Elford from Inner Compass Tarot - Tarot for Goal Manifestation

●     Jessie Hughes from Pomegranate Tarot - Tarot Journaling

You can purchase a season pass, or take just the classes you want.

Now it is time to travel to the Tarot Reader's Academy, learn more and

SIGN UP NOW!
 

The Numbers of Tarot: An Exercise

Recently, a few people have asked me how the numbers of tarot work.

Each tarot reader approaches card interpretation with their own system, and their own set of key words and symbolic meanings for the cards. Sometimes, new students are frustrated in their efforts to learn tarot until they find the right approach.

For many tarotists, regardless of deck or tradition preferences, the number associated with each tarot card is extremely significant.

Although many of us agree that the number of the card is a clue to its interpretation, few of us agree on what those numbers might mean. Even more complex is the jump from traditional forms of numerology to tarot numeric interpretation. While schools of thought agree on key words for early numbers such as 1 and 2, by the time we get to 5, 6 and 7 our understanding of the divinatory values of the numbers vary widely.

The efficacy of any divinatory tool is not threatened by divergent opinions about individual interpretations. Rather, each of us must make a journey of discovery as we come to understand which key words and interpretations make sense for our vocabulary.

If you would like to utilize the numbers in tarot more thoroughly, or if you wonder if numbers might be a gateway of understanding into tarot for you, here is an exercise to try.

First, separate out your forty Minor Arcana pips, and sort them by number. This way, you can look at all four Aces, and all four Twos, and so on.

Think about what each set of four same-numbered cards have in common. How are those qualities related to the number? How do the card images depict the energy of that number? How does the element of each suit influence the energy of that number, and how does that combination of element and number create the unique card meaning for each card?

Then, write a list of key words for your tarot numbers 1-10. One thing that is different between tarot numerology and traditional numerology is that, in tarot, we must honor the idea that 10 is a unique energy, different than 1, but also similar. I think of 10 as the “higher vibration” of the 1 energy.

Now it’s time to see how your ideas about the numbers work in the Major Arcana. You can separate your Major Arcana cards into the number groups as well. The only card that will not have a place in a number group is the Fool.

The first nine numbered Major Arcana cards, therefore, can correlate with your Minor Arcana cards One through Nine. Think about the ways the Magician is like an Ace, for instance. What does the High Priestess have in common with the four Twos?

Once you have worked through all nine numbers, look at the Wheel Fortune and the four Tens. What do these cards tell you about each other?

You can sort Major Arcana cards Eleven through Twenty-One by adding the two digits of each number together to get a one-digit number.  You’ll discover some interesting connections between same-numbered Major Arcana cards. For instance, consider the similarities between card Two, the High Priestess, and card Eleven, Justice. Card Six, the Lovers, shares the Adam and Eve characters with the same-numbered Devil, card Fifteen, in the Waite-Smith deck.

Finally, you can look for correlations between Major Arcana cards and Minor Arcana cards, based on their number in common.

You may or may not find that your key words for the numbers are a consistent fit throughout the Major Arcana. As with all tarot study, sometimes the value of the exercise is in the ability to compare and contrast, and to more narrowly define your own understanding of the cards, and of the components that give the cards their meaning.

Having a good understanding of the tarot numbers is particularly helpful when more than one card of the same number appear in a spread. You can use your key words for that number to give additional information in the reading.

Having key words memorized for the tarot numbers will help you give quick, rudimentary interpretations for the Minor Arcana cards, even when you are working with an unfamiliar deck.

How much weight you give numbers in your tarot interpretations will depend on your personal reading style. Taking time to contemplate the numbers of tarot will help you develop your tarot reading style.

A Lesson in Intuitive Tarot: December Tarot Meetup at Panera in Lutz

I expected a small group for our second-ever Tampa Bay Tarot Meetup at Panera Bread in Lutz on Sunday, December 7^th.  I had received a ton of emails; holiday parties, home renovations and seasonal sniffles were going to take a toll on our turnout.

I had a problem, too. Seasonal allergies had taken away my voice – literally. I woke up with laryngitis.

There were five of us at the meetup. Since things are rarely “accidents,” I interpreted my ailing throat as a sign I needed to let the students do the talking. Today, I wasn’t there to teach, I was there to listen and support.

This experience really taught me something important about teaching in general, and about teaching tarot in specific.

You see, I am an interpretive reader. That doesn’t mean I don’t use my psychic ability, or communicate with spirits, in a reading. I just believe that a solid knowledge of tarot archetypes and key words help to stimulate the intuition by giving us the language we need to accomplish the communication.

That means my tarot teaching is associative and interpretive. I ask my students to make associations between the Four Elements, numerology and astrology as they learn the cards, and I ask them to memorize key words.

As it turned out, none of my four attendees had memorized key words in their tarot toolbox. Worse, a few of them felt badly about that fact, sheepish that they hadn’t done their homework.

The theme of our meeting was “techniques practice.” Clearly, the only technique we could practice was intuitive reading.

Each person performed a short reading for another attendee. Then we did some group readings, where each person pulled a card and put them together to form a comprehensive answer. Finally, each person performed a seven-card reading for themselves.

This meetup had a lot of aha moments for everyone, but perhaps especially for me. In watching the students struggle with, and then master, the basic skills of intuitive reading, I realized the following important points to be true.

Whether from intuition or from past study, students know a lot more about the cards than they think they do. The anxiety of being “on the spot” in a reading, and of not having a solid memorized list of key words, seems to shut down the intuition.

Even beginning students need to focus on grounding, centering and breathing in order to tap in to the intuition and leave anxiety behind.

We can encourage students to notice different things about the cards by asking questions, such as “What color do you see most predominately?” or “What is this person doing in this image?” or “How does this image make you feel?”

The next step is encouraging the student to say what they feel.  Two of our student readers reported strong feelings that had turned out to be accurate. They were embarrassed to share those strong feelings at first.

After each person used their intuition (and whatever knowledge of the cards they had) to perform a reading, I had them look up the meanings of the cards in their books. They were pleased and surprised to see that their intuition had led them to give accurate readings, and that what they said about the cards was in fact extremely close to the book meanings.

I will continue to teach the importance of memorized meanings, archetypes and tarot study. At the same time, I will add some new teaching methods to my own toolbox.

Anxiety – the fear of being wrong – may be a new tarot student’s biggest enemy. Allowing students to look at the cards and simply say what they see very quickly helps them to see their own abilities, as well as the cards’ astounding abilities to give us truth.

Once that anxiety is gone and students feel free to communicate with their cards, the acquiring of the larger body of knowledge should come somewhat less painfully.

Sometimes I say the prayer, “Lord, put your hand over my mouth.” Well, this time the Lord did in fact silence me. In that silence, I learned something new about teaching tarot, and my students learned something about their own ability to read tarot.

Today my voice has returned.

Our next meeting of the Tampa Bay Area Tarot Meetup is February 1. Join us!