I fluctuate in my relationship with the Tarot, sometimes it works well for me, other times I need the clean simplicity of the Runes. But then I have never been great at divination. I firmly believe that all magickal practitioners should have a divinatory system they are comfortable with (even if they rarely use it) but I know where my strength are.
But I do think that Tarot is a powerful tool for working magick and one which is often overlooked. To illustrate that I wanted to suggest a simple exercise to help you with visualising and manifesting “more of what you need”.
I would take your Tarot deck and sit calmly, perhaps light some candles and incense or meditate first, to really signal to your mind that you are taking your attention away from the mundane worries of the day.
Then we need to think a little about what it is you are looking to bring more of into your life; money and love are perhaps traditional but the Tarot can do so much more that these things. For example you could look for financial stability or a business opportunity; you could be seeking a spiritual mentor or for greater creative flow in your life. As you are thinking about the amazing things you are seeking to bring into your life start to leaf through the deck, look at all the cards and pick the one that catches your attention as holding whatever it is you are looking for. Don't worry about *getting it wrong* just let your intuition guide you and don't spend too long looking at the cards at this stage.
Once you have picked your card, now is the time to really scrutinise it. Look for all the little details in the card which you are associate with the thing you are searching for. Once you have scrutinised the card carefully, start to meditate on the card allow your eyes to un-focus from the card and see if elements of the design come into sharper focus. You may find some aspects of the card grey out whilst other elements become brighter. Pay attention to these little cues, this process is all about becoming familiar with the card visually and psychically/energetically. I want you to really feel the energy in the image, feel it, imagine it, visualise it (whatever your preferred method) but I also want to you really connect and understand the card. It is during this process that hopefully you will start to pick up insights about your relationship with the "thing" you are seeking more of. Concentrating in this way may reveal to any blocks within your own mind connected with what you are seeking, or give you inspiration and ideas about how to manifest what it that you want. During the meditation you are looking to keep yourself open to receiving some sort of message from the card itself and if such a message comes, by words or images or even a smell then just note that it has happened, you can come back to it later to assimilate it or evaluate it further.
I find that the reason this works is due to the rich imagery of the Tarot, this gives your brain a lot of space and a lot of inspiration to start free associating ideas. Within that free associating will probably be something which is a powerful trigger to help you get where you want to be.
Check out the free ritual Journey with the Fool for another way of approaching this exercise more formally as a tool to understanding the Tarot.
For example I may be looking for a greater sense of calm in my life and in my first flick through the deck I see the sense of calm that I want on the face of the High Priestess. In thinking about how the card relates to my getting more "calmness" in my life I might reflect that there is nothing in her surroundings which would particularly evoke calm. Which could lead me to the conclusion that such a sense of calm comes from within and that is what I have to work on because I won't find it outside myself. I kick myself that this is so obvious, but really I just needed to give myself a bit of space to work it all out because normally I am too busy to really process things properly.
You may be thinking "Oh Antara, this isn't magick, this is psycology." To which I would answer, "maybe". But I think this sits in the broad place magick and psycology overlap to the point that the distinction is meaningless.
Oh and if this doesn’t work for you…don’t worry. Come back and try it again maybe or just leave it behind and try something completely different, you aren’t necessarily “doing it wrong” maybe this method just isn’t for you…and that is ok!
But I do think that Tarot is a powerful tool for working magick and one which is often overlooked. To illustrate that I wanted to suggest a simple exercise to help you with visualising and manifesting “more of what you need”.
I would take your Tarot deck and sit calmly, perhaps light some candles and incense or meditate first, to really signal to your mind that you are taking your attention away from the mundane worries of the day.
Then we need to think a little about what it is you are looking to bring more of into your life; money and love are perhaps traditional but the Tarot can do so much more that these things. For example you could look for financial stability or a business opportunity; you could be seeking a spiritual mentor or for greater creative flow in your life. As you are thinking about the amazing things you are seeking to bring into your life start to leaf through the deck, look at all the cards and pick the one that catches your attention as holding whatever it is you are looking for. Don't worry about *getting it wrong* just let your intuition guide you and don't spend too long looking at the cards at this stage.
Once you have picked your card, now is the time to really scrutinise it. Look for all the little details in the card which you are associate with the thing you are searching for. Once you have scrutinised the card carefully, start to meditate on the card allow your eyes to un-focus from the card and see if elements of the design come into sharper focus. You may find some aspects of the card grey out whilst other elements become brighter. Pay attention to these little cues, this process is all about becoming familiar with the card visually and psychically/energetically. I want you to really feel the energy in the image, feel it, imagine it, visualise it (whatever your preferred method) but I also want to you really connect and understand the card. It is during this process that hopefully you will start to pick up insights about your relationship with the "thing" you are seeking more of. Concentrating in this way may reveal to any blocks within your own mind connected with what you are seeking, or give you inspiration and ideas about how to manifest what it that you want. During the meditation you are looking to keep yourself open to receiving some sort of message from the card itself and if such a message comes, by words or images or even a smell then just note that it has happened, you can come back to it later to assimilate it or evaluate it further.
I find that the reason this works is due to the rich imagery of the Tarot, this gives your brain a lot of space and a lot of inspiration to start free associating ideas. Within that free associating will probably be something which is a powerful trigger to help you get where you want to be.
Check out the free ritual Journey with the Fool for another way of approaching this exercise more formally as a tool to understanding the Tarot.
For example I may be looking for a greater sense of calm in my life and in my first flick through the deck I see the sense of calm that I want on the face of the High Priestess. In thinking about how the card relates to my getting more "calmness" in my life I might reflect that there is nothing in her surroundings which would particularly evoke calm. Which could lead me to the conclusion that such a sense of calm comes from within and that is what I have to work on because I won't find it outside myself. I kick myself that this is so obvious, but really I just needed to give myself a bit of space to work it all out because normally I am too busy to really process things properly.
You may be thinking "Oh Antara, this isn't magick, this is psycology." To which I would answer, "maybe". But I think this sits in the broad place magick and psycology overlap to the point that the distinction is meaningless.
Oh and if this doesn’t work for you…don’t worry. Come back and try it again maybe or just leave it behind and try something completely different, you aren’t necessarily “doing it wrong” maybe this method just isn’t for you…and that is ok!
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