Seven of my Favorite Tarot Blogs

I love the internet. I especially love social media and blogging. Blogging invites us to share the vision and experience of so many people living so many different kinds of lives.

I particularly like tarot blogs.

Many tarot teachers (me included) ask students to keep tarot journals.  A tarot journal can include a record of readings, notes from classes, musings about cards, keywords for cards - really any kind of writing that is tarot-related. In a way, tarot blogs are tarot journals that we share with others.

I once had a tarot teacher who said that all great tarot readers must also be tarot writers. I agree. When we write about the cards we learn how the cards speak to us and work for us.

Perhaps there is something about the process of writing about tarot that seats the tarot images and energies more deeply within our higher consciousness.

Eight times a year I blog with the Tarot Blog Hop (brainchild of Arwen at Tarot by Arwen). It is so much fun to see how twenty-plus cartomancers each handle the same topic.

When I first started reading tarot in the 1980s we had books – books that we bought at New Age bookshops. About ten years later the American Tarot Association was formed and there was a photocopied newsletter circulated by mail. To see the recent writings of my tarot peers, and ultimately to have articles published in this stapled bundle of writing, was exhilarating. For the first time I didn’t feel as if I was working in a vacuum.

Today’s tarotists have a world-wide community with whom they can interact, real-time, on line. Tarot blogs provide a significant resource for tarot students at any level of expertise.

I offer a place to blog about tarot on my Tarot Topics Community Blog. If you have something to say about tarot, feel free to share it there.

There are so many great tarot websites out there; so many teachers who share their knowledge freely. A tarot blog is specifically a site with regular log entries that often outline tarotists’ personal experiences with the cards, and with the world of tarot.

Here are seven of my favorites (not in any particular order) – some of the tarot blogs I click to when I have a few spare moments and want to read something interesting.

1. James Wells’Circle Ways

   James’ clear voice of reason, kindness and practical spirituality shines through his blog. “Circle Ways” offers exciting tarot exercises and helpful insight for all tarotists, from beginner to professional.

2. Olivia Destrades’ First Earth Tarot

   Olivia is a second-generation tarot reader with a clear, intelligent and personal writing style. Her blog includes monthly tarotscopes along with detailed readings performed and illustrated with a variety of decks.

3. Ginny Hunt’s 78 Notes to Self: A Tarot Journal

   Ginny’s deep and soulful posts are often focused on healing, and the healing nature of tarot.  Her writing reflects a common-sense attitude that is rooted in compassion.

4. Alison Cross’ This Game of Thrones

   A whole blog devoted to the sixteen Court cards? You betcha. With humor, insight and creativity, Alison helps us make sense of those pesky Court cards.

5. Brigit Esselmont’s Biddy Tarot Blog

   Brigit has created an on-line treasure trove of tarot learning opportunities. Her blog is one of those treasures, with card-learning posts and perspectives from well-selected guest bloggers.

6. Theresa Reed’s The Tarot Lady Blog

   Veteran tarot professional Theresa Reed is an all-around class act. Her blog is well-organized, with opportunities to learn the cards as well as thought-provoking topics for more experienced readers.

7. Benebell Wen’s Blog

   Benebell Wen’s Blog is a labor of love; she is not a professional reader. Her professional-quality posts are intelligent, inquisitive and thought-provoking.

These are but a few of the great offerings out there. I could list seven a week and never run out of material. Maybe I'll do that.
 With so many great free resources, modern tarotists have every opportunity to deepen their skills by reading and writing about tarot!

Be an April Fool!

Today is the first day of April, traditionally known as “April Fool’s Day.”

Although there are no historical or cultural connections between April Fool’s Day and the Fool of tarot, I always like to use April Fool’s Day to celebrate the tarot Fool.

(If you want to know more about the Fool, you might enjoy watching the “Night of 1000 Fools” on my webcast, Christiana’s Psychic Café.)

There are many origin theories for April Fool’s Day. The typical way to celebrate the holiday is to play pranks on people and make them “April Fools.”

The tarot Fool is not foolish. The tarot Fool is more like the Shakespearian Fool, dancing to the beat of his own heart.

In tarot, the Fool is the star of the story told by the cards. The Fool represents each one of us on our journey through life. The other seventy-seven cards represent the experiences, lessons, themes and characters encountered by the Fool, and by us, along the way.

On April First, I try to be more Fool-ish.

I remember that I am the star of my own story.

I strive to experience my journey fearlessly.

I honor my inner child.

I delight in the process of discovery and exploration.

Today is the day to find your inner Fool!

A Time for Renewal

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Welcome to the 2014 Ostara Tarot Blog Hop!

For this Ostara Tarot Blog Hop, our wrangler, Joanne Sprott, has asked us to honor the season by celebrating resurrection and rebirth. Gladly I will!

Although I hadn’t thought about it until Joanne asked us to, I have been in a cycle of rebirth and renewal recently. I always try to make that happen in the spring. This year it seemed to happen naturally.

Recently I found myself listening to Bob Dylan’s iconic “Forever Young.” I’ll tell you something – that song means something different now that I’m fifty than it did when I was twenty-five. As we get older, the need for renewal is greater, and also harder to find.

Whether we are celebrating the end of winter, the resurrection of Christ, the renewal of the Earth or all of the above, the energy of spring each year gives us the opportunity to feel young, if we let it. This is no less true for me in sunny Florida than it was in the snowy Northeast.

Recently I’ve found a way to nurture my renewal by honoring both the old and the new. I am trying new things, learning new skills and finding joy in them. At the same time I am re-exploring things from my past that had fallen by the wayside.

As an example, one of the old things I have revisited is playing guitar. My guitars have been collecting dust for far too long. I had forgotten how much I enjoy playing music.

One of the new things I have tried is Brussels sprouts. I have always disliked this particular food. I tried it again, for the first time in years, and discovered that now I enjoy these cute little veggies.

I think this balance of old and new is an important discovery. To be constantly renewed, to be forever young (as it were) I need to nurture the things that have always made me happy, and I need to be constantly willing to try new things. Never should I gracefully surrender all of the things of youth, and never should I be an old dog who can’t learn new tricks.

There are so many tarot cards that teach us of these processes. We honor the past with cards like the Six of Cups and the Ten of Pentacles. We honor the new with the Aces. We honor transformation and the passage of time with Death, Temperance and Judgment.

I have been exploring two-card spreads recently. For this Blog Hop I thought I would create a spread to help us find renewal by being open to new things, and by revisiting the things of youth.

Two-Card Renewal Spread

Card One: What do I need to do in order to revisit something from the past?

Card Two: What do I need to do in order to welcome something new?

I received the Nine of Pentacles reversed for position one, and the World reversed for position two.

Here’s how I see it. For me, the Nine of Pentacles reversed is about feeling insecure. In order for me to dedicate myself to playing guitar I have to get over my insecurities about my questionable musical ability.

I think the World reversed reminds me that I can’t know if I’ll like something if I don’t try. For me the World is a sense of closure and completion. In its reversed state, I see something unknown or unfinished. It also speaks to my continued need to learn and experience more of the world, for as long as I live.

That both cards are reversed suggests to me that there is still a great deal more I can do to welcome renewal.

May the new spring bring renewal to each of us.

Now it’s time to hop over to Louise Underhill’s Priestess Tarot blog.

If you are working backward you can visit Aisling’s TarotWitchery blog.

If you find a break in the chain you can visit the Master List.

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Giving Voice to Tarot

Whether reading for self or others, one challenge tarot students have is learning to speak about the cards that come up in a reading and to interpret them appropriately.

Often newer readers will see a card and simply say, “Well, that’s good,” or “That’s not so good,”
 and that’s as far as they get. I often have to prompt students by asking “What can you say about this card that helps you answer your question?”

Sometimes even experienced readers will lose focus and become unsure about what exactly to say about the cards they see.

Sometimes we have an inherent understanding of what a card is saying, but putting it into words that make sense becomes a challenge. This can happen whether you are a new reader, an experienced reader, or anywhere in between.

Sometimes, too, readers are uncomfortable saying what they think they see, either because they lack confidence, or because they worry that what they see might offend or upset the client.

Here are five ways to talk about the cards you see.

1. Say the name of the card.

   If you are confused, or unsure what to say first, simply start by saying the name of the card. This simple and profound advice comes originally from Mary K. Greer.

   Point to the card and say, “This is the Hierophant.” You can mention the positional name, too, if you like. “Here, to describe events of your recent past, we have the Hierophant.”

   Once you say the name of the card it becomes easy to speak about what the card means to you, and how it can apply in this context.

2. Use key words.

   If you haven’t memorized key words for each card, it’s probably time to start. Key words are simple words and phrases that you associate with each card. Memorizing key words means that you will never forget the traditional meanings of each card. Include key words in your interpretation and see how those key words answer the question, or what statement they make about the situation.

3. Say what you see in the picture.

   Sometimes a picture will speak very clearly. What do you see going on, and how does that relate to the situation? Let your intuition guide you. For example, once, when reading for a woman, the Two of Pentacles showed up when she asked about her health. Immediately the two pentacles made me think of breasts. I suggested she get a mammogram, just in case. The next week she called me to tell me the mammogram had detected a problem at a stage so early there would be no lasting difficulties.

4. Suggest multiple possibilities.

   Cards can mean more than one thing, sometimes at the same time. If you are not sure what a card means in the reading, list all the things the card could mean generally. As you make that list something is sure to click.

5. Talk about how the card makes you feel.

   As you open yourself to emotional resonance with the card, you will more easily feel resonance with the client, and the reading as a whole. Look at the card, or cards, and simply say what you are feeling, be it tired, confused, afraid – whatever it is. Chances are, that is how your client is feeling. If you are reading for yourself, the opportunity to acknowledge the things you are feeling can be very healing.

6. Say the question or position as part of your answer.

   If the card you are interpreting is in a positional spread, use the position in your answer. For instance, if you are interpreting a crossing card you might begin by saying “At this time, your biggest challenge is…” If the question you asked is “What do I need to do to get a job?” let your answer begin with “In order to get a job you need to…” This will help you interpret the cards within the context of the questions they are answering.

   Try these techniques the next time you feel stuck in a reading!

Another Kind of Tarot Trend

Sometimes I notice, when doing many readings over the course of a few days or a week, that some clients share a similar theme in their reading, or a similar frustration in their lives.

Sometimes this can be explained by national and global events. For instance, I’ve done more readings about job loss and home foreclosure since 2008 then I ever did in the years before.

Sometimes this can be explained by seasonal cycles. We share common experiences at certain times of the year.

Sometimes this can be explained by a proximity of clients to one another. If I happen to read for all the partners in a particular law firm over the course of a week, they will all have some things in common that come up in their readings..

Then I think about astrology. Could the similarity in clients’ issues and readings be related to something astrological, like a retrograde?  I’m sure that sometimes this is exactly the case.

Maybe sometimes it’s cultural, too. Best-selling books, along with popular movies and fads, can find their way into readings.

But even beyond these explanations, there are times it feels that many people are going through the same thing at the same time for no clear reason.

There might be a week when a quarter of my readings include a focus on expanding creativity. Another week many of the people I speak with might be having issues remodeling their homes.

There are many kinds of “tarot trends.” “Tarot Trends” is even the name of this, my personal blog!

 I use the term “trends” to describe the distribution of cards in a spread, that is, the number of each suit represented, the repetition of images, themes, colors or numbers, and so forth.

There are also trends amongst tarot readers; decks, books and reading styles that fall in and out of favor.

There are trends within tarot deck publication. The addition of an “Unknown Card,” or the “Happy Squirrel” card, for instance.

We also have personal trends with the cards. I call these “frequent cards.” These are the individual cards that will show up in our readings for ourselves, and when other read for us. Usually, once a change occurs the frequent card will stop appearing.  We always thereafter associate that particular card with the specific things that occurred during that time.

That so many sorts of trends occur in tarot divination is part of the argument for the veracity of tarot. That so many trends occur in tarot creation and study is a testament to tarot’s widespread popularity, and our cultural fascination with it.

What can we say about the trends amongst the readings we do where there is nothing to tie the readings together except the time period in which they were done?

I like to think that tarot is a tool the Universe uses to talk to us. Sometimes the Universe speaks to us as individuals. Sometimes the Universe speaks to us in groups.