This article looks at a number of ways to gather information to understand a card using our intuitive mind, our intellectual mind and our unconscious to bring forth the inspiration we seek when reading the tarot for ourselves - this in turn feeds our well of experience to draw upon when reading for others.
Often when we read tarot for ourselves with the Thoth, we have a position in the spread which is the main focal point - it might be the outcome card, it might be the 'card to focus on' it might be the 'key'. Whichever it is the card that we are most drawn to and seek answers from. Sometimes in readings this card is the very one that we understand the least - or in this particular reading it seems not to provide the direct answers we usually gain or expect. This is a good time to build your tarot knowledge, both in a traditional way and in a very personal way.
These, perhaps confusing, yet central cards hold a key for us. There are a number of different ways to approach this:
the academic study the meditation the journey the holding the card with you through life
I want to focus on the last of these here this month, but before I do I will briefly talk about the others as you can use all these together to enhance the understanding and inspiration you can gather from your cards.
The first is to go to the books you have, the online resources you have access to and to read all anyone has ever seen in the card and go with those statements and concepts you have a intuitive reaction to. You are starting to gain a deeper understanding of the card and how it relates to you specifically in your situation and you are adding to your remembered bank of card meanings.
In this section I would also include studying the things that have been associated with the card by the deck creator, so you may also be going to references about the astrological associations of the Thoth card you have, the Kabbalistic position of the card, the meanings of the sephiroth or path connected to the card etc. Perhaps even looking further into that into the associations from the Kabbalah correspondences.
All of this can lead to great depth and often when we experience a one of card's many meanings it stays with us much more strongly than others we have just read about. So picking out the parts that you feel a ah-ha with of a click is a powerful way of learning.
Then we come to the second way of working with the card - to do a traditional meditation on the card - sitting quietly and still in front of the card and allowing the different parts of the card to draw you and to wash over you - once quiet within and at peace with the card then you can allow intuitive understanding and inner wisdom to arise within the session. Also within this there is the Inner Discursive method of meditation where you can allow yourself to first describe the images you see within the card and the to allow yourself to think about what this image means and what other concepts and situations also are connected with the image.
There is then the creative visualisation, pathworking or journeying technique where you prepare yourself for an inner journey in your usual manner and then allow yourself to walk directly into the card, initially seeing some or all of the pictures on the card but as you progress you see the environments change and you may travel on a very personal journey into different terrain even with the same card on separate occasions. This gains you intuitive insight as you assess and reflect on your journey after you return you ordinary consciousness.
Then we come to allowing the card to work with you.
In many ways this allows all the above to process within you - but it can also be done on its own. You look at the image and see it clearly in your minds eye, then you take it with you in your mind as you go about your day to day activities. You set your unconscious mind to work on the issue of finding this cards true message to you. As you intend this you then can forgot about the card and watch out for patterns of action, behaviour or events around you in your day. Any time something stands out to you hold the card in your mind and against the activity or event.
Ask yourself what is the connection between these two things - if any?
Sometimes a connection will clearly be made and you can log this as a confirmation of a certain slant of meaning of this card at this time for you. Other times there is a tenuous connection - this you can hold in a 'maybe this' pile and wait for further confirmation or a missing link between two things the card and that event to show itself to you. Sometimes there will be no connection - here you can leave the situation as being about a different part of the process you are in currently - perhaps it relates to one of the other cards in your reading, perhaps it is just in a different realm of your life.
You can also look out for connections between your thoughts on the topic you have asked about, when you find yourself reflecting on the issue and exploring it in its own nature then remembering the card and looking for these same connections, the card its images, energy and possible meaning and the relation of this to your situation of enquiry.
As we set intentions like this with our unconscious often these processes of inner analysis take place almost by themselves, we come in and out of awareness of the process through our day. As we become more conscious of this process we start to become conscious of our own intuitive and inner being knowledge making its voice known in our conscious world - we come to know what we have been seeking for, often triggered by the tarot, and sometimes feeding back into a depth of knowledge of the tarot for future use with others.
Have a go at this process yourself, see it working in your life. All the processing of understanding the meaning of the card to you are valid and worthwhile, and if we use them together then our learning process becomes a very rich and personal experience which accelerates our own inner growth and the skills we have to offer others.
I have been reading the tarot for 22 years focusing mainly on the Thoth deck and its wonderous images. My background as a counsellor and counselling trainer has informed my use of this deck and I find it very powerful to work with. I offer online training now with the Thoth tarot deck exploring its use from psychological and intuitive perspectives. I also work with people helping them develop their intuition. I offer MP3 visualisations, tarot readings, telephone and face to face. I live in North Wales with my husband and son.
http://www.thoth-training.co.uk http://www.tarot-guidance.co.uk
Emma works as an intuitive psychic tarot reader and runs training courses on reading with the Thoth tarot deck using a unique blend of intuition and psychological techniques. She also mentors other professional and non-professional tarot readers and has published articles in magazines for the Tarot Association for the British Isles and the Tarot Professionals' magazine - Tarosophist International.
Emma has a Bsc in Psychology and is a trained counsellor, counselling supervisor and trainer. She integrates this experience in her Tarot work, and in her self-written training courses for personal development, Tarot, and Tarot mentoring. Emma lives in the mountains of Snowdonia, in North Wales, with her husband and son.
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