Quote:
“Fear is dangerous, not the tarot. The tarot represents the spectrum of the human condition, the good, the evil, the light, and the dark. Do not fear the darker aspects of the human condition. Understand them. The tarot is a storybook about life, about the greatness of human accomplishment, and also the ugliness we are each capable of.” ~ Benebell Wen
“Tarot is not shaming, nor is it shameful. It is a beautiful metaphor for LIFE that is to be lived NOW. Not yesterday or tomorrow, but today.” ~ Me, in this post
My thoughts:
Mindfulness, at its core, is merely fine tuning your awareness to the present moment.
That’s it.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Easy, right?
Of course not. If it was easy and people could see the physical, mental, and emotional benefits of mindfulness show up in their lives almost immediately then we would generally be a lot more calm and collected…and THAT is definitely not the case these days.
Have you looked outside?
The fact is that we think distracted is what we ARE fundamentally and we allow our untamed instinctual emotions drive our reasoning and communication. In this technological and connected age we are constantly bombarded with hate, anger, anxiety, suspicion, and shame. Our brains are CONSTANTLY in fight/flight/freeze/fawn mode and it has become harder and harder to pull ourselves out of that survival instinct.1 Our brains just want to protect us from harm, and they do a bang up job with it. But if we don’t allow for a mindful pause between stimulus and response then EVERYTHING becomes a danger.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of danger out there currently and I’m not suggesting sticking your head in the sand and ignoring it but, due to the global phenomenon known as the Internet and Social Media, we’ve allowed our collective consciousness to be inundated with the 24/7/365 non stop stream of “holy-shit-is-this-the-endtimes” news.
We desperately need tools and skills that can help us anchor ourselves to the present moment.
The here and now.
The stillness that exists within you.
Right now as you are reading this very post.
…mindfulness has entered the chat.
Meditation, prayer, a walk in nature, noticing your breath, journaling…and Tarot are all wonderful examples of practical mindfulness disciplines.
All of these things have one thing in common.
At their very core they are about settling your attention to what’s going on right now.
With this perspective we can see that Tarot provides us a universal vocabulary that we can pull from in order to inform a meditation and/or journaling practice. It is a way to ask better questions of ourselves.
I might take another entry of the almanac to dig into that idea deeper, and to discuss the archetypes involved in Tarot and how they inform the stories we tell about ourselves and the myths we’ve grown up reading, following, and idolizing.
For our purposes here I will share what I learned about myself today in my practice.
I normally will draw two or three Tarot cards and start a new entry in my journal for the day. Today I drew the 4 of Swords upright and the King of Swords reversed. Most guidebooks will provide a few keywords that align with how the card is represented within that particular interpretation or point of view. These cards are from the Druid Craft Tarot Deck, and they are one of my favorites.
The 4 of Swords keywords are retreat, rest, and solace. The items within the short paragraph that really impacted me were that it’s a good “time to focus on spiritual practices that revitalize the soul.” And that it is indicative of a moment to value meditation.
I read what the guidebook has to offer and then the introspection begins…
I haven’t been meditating lately, and I call myself a mindfulness coach?
I’ve also been ignoring my spiritual practice…what is that again? It’s been a while since I’ve had what I would consider a spiritual experience.
Rest is important, but am I using that as an excuse to retreat when I should be more proactive?
What I read in the guidebook is not prescriptive.
It’s meant for me to ask deeper and better questions about myself, my motivations, and my goals.
I move on to the other card…the King of Swords, reversed.
Now, let me just get this out of the way, just because a card is pulled reversed doesn’t mean that it’s bad. It is a practice in seeing the light and shadow everywhere and NOT bypassing hard and difficult obstacles and emotions. Oftentimes I will read what the guidebook has to say for both upright and reversed and attempt to discern if I am challenged with the concepts therein.
The King of Swords keywords are intellectual, decisive, and discriminating. Have I been challenged with being decisive and discriminating?
You betcha.
Aren’t we all, at times?
The remainder of the summary didn’t hit really, and that’s pretty common. It is on ME to find meaning, not the cards. If I walk away with considering how I need to be more decisive and discriminating, then the Tarot has done its thing.
Finally, and I don’t always pull an Oracle card but I happen to love the corresponding deck that Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm have created, The Druid Animal Oracle. If you are interested in their work I HIGHLY encourage you to check out this website. I pulled the Fox, and what does the Fox say? (Sorry, couldn’t help myself).
The fox is all about diplomacy, cunning, and wildness. It’s about showing up to be seen and be counted, yet also knowing when to keep quiet. It’s a wonderful card for someone doing the work, or attempting to at least, of being in the public eye.
I don’t always feel seen or valued when I do this work, but the fox tells me to keep going. The King of Swords tells me to be decisive and intellectually curious. The 4 of Swords tells me to focus on my spiritual practice and meditate.
All of these things are GOOD THINGS that I need to be reminded of NOW for TODAY.
Tarot is not shaming, nor is it shameful. It is a beautiful metaphor for LIFE that is to be lived NOW. Not yesterday or tomorrow, but today. Not everybody that uses Tarot prescribes to this way of working with it, but I will tell you that MOST of those people do NOT see any issue with how I manage it. How do I know that? I have asked a TON of people about this approach and it has never been questioned.
Intention:
Join me in this intention:
Today I will practice mindful introspection through Tarot. I will allow it, through my own intuition, to speak truth to the present moment.
Meditation:
I invite you to take a moment to focus on a single, positive keyword….choose from the list below:
Rest
Solace
Decisive
Discernment
Wildness
Loving
Kind
Don’t try to empty your mind, focus on the word above and let ALL of the possible meanings wash over you. Consider this for 5-10 minutes or so.
Cultivation:
After you’ve meditated for a few minutes on the above keyword…spend some time writing down your thoughts. How are you seeing this in your life? Are you blocked or challenged with this currently? What can you do to really hone in on your skillful expression of this concept in your day to day life.
Surprise! You’ve just completed your first Tarot journal entry, and it didn’t kill you or condemn you to Hell for eternity!
The only difference between what you did above and a Tarot practice is allowing the symbology and interpretation to be handed to you by an author and an artist, which BY THE WAY, is basically holy scriptures without the gatekeeping.
Appreciation:
Be grateful for your lessons.
Show appreciation to YOURSELF for standing right now, for enduring the challenge or obstacle and letting it refine and carve you into the person you are today.
Tarot is about letting light and shadow, bright and dark, inform our inner being.
We can be grateful for ALL of it, or be in danger of losing out on the JOY of the present moment.
If you are interested in Mindfulness Coaching or Consultation for your personal benefit or organization, you can find me at www.bearlyzen.com or you can email me directly at michael@bearlyzen.com.
Bearly Zen is the coaching business under Mindful Empath, LLC.
Wanna get nerdy? Check this out! https://williamsburgtherapygroup.com/blog/the-neurobiology-of-trauma-how-our-brains-get-stuck-in-time#:~:text=After%20experiences%20of%20extreme%20distress,traumatic%20stress%20disorder%2C%20and%20depression.