From the category archives:

Self Development

The Shadow

I have been mulling over what the Devil signifies in the tarot and in the external world. To me, this is the Shadow, both the personal and the collective. (If you’ve not encountered this concept before, it originated with C.G. Jung, who saw the Shadow as the unacknowledged aspects of humanity. On a personal level [...]

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Does the Tarot deal in Polarities?

My experience has been that the tarot does not deal in polarities. It makes no value judgments about right or wrong. Although it suggests ways through the various dilemmas of life, it has no agenda. You can move on or stay where you are; you can be enlightened or at the beginning of your journey; [...]

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Working with the Tarot for Self-awareness (continued)

The Wheel – traditionally The Wheel of Fortune. An ancient symbol, the Wheel represents the cosmos, time, fate and karma. The medieval concept of the Wheel of Fortune show man helplessly bound to the wheel of destiny, his fate either predestined, or, alternatively, subject to blind chance. In today’s Tarot, however, we can read it [...]

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Working with the Tarot for Self-awareness (Part One)

We may never know for certain why the Tarot was developed, but given that the focus of medieval society was spiritual, we can be fairly sure that it had a spiritual underpinning. Today, however, most taroists see the Majors as a concise and powerful description of the journey into self-awareness. Each one represents not only [...]

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Working with the Tarot for Intuitive Guidance and Self-Development (Part 1)

Intuition is a gift we all have. We are all capable of slipping into a reverie or dreamlike, meditative state; and it is in this state that we make connections with the tarot card meanings as represented by their images. Some of us access our intuition easily and for some it takes practice. In self-development [...]

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Working with Tarot Card Meanings for Intuitive Guidance and Self-Development (Part 2) – Reversals

Last time we talked about identifying with a card, chosen either at random or by visual selection and being open to any sub conscious messages that card might suggest to you. I talked about how it might be if I drew the Three of Rods and concentrated on what the design is saying to me. [...]

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Working with Tarot Card Meanings for Self-Development (Part 3) – A Negative Reaction

So we have drawn or chosen our card and allowed it, as best we can, to speak to us. But what if we get a card that we are not happy with – one that produces a decidedly negative reaction? A negative reaction to a card is an indication that the image is activating some [...]

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