The Tarot Channel

Test Your Deck I.Q.

Can you identify the tarot deck this simple, but captivating card comes from?

Here's a hint. In Biology, it's title means having a discoid, radiate flower head.

It's the.....

Test Your Deck I.Q.

Can you identify the tarot deck this dark and lovely card comes from?

Here's a hint. The title originally comes from a book who the author says was originally written by  'a mad Arab poet of the Yemen' in 950 A.D. from Damascus.

It's the.....

Not-So-Tiny Tip: Can You Hear Me Now?

Does your querent's communication style match your own?  Or do your styles clash?  Are you suddenly finding it difficult to convey what seems to you to be the simplest, most straightforward information or idea without confusing, frightening or upsetting your querent?

In our everyday work lives, most of us have had to communicate with a wide range of people, and we learn--too often the hard way--that communication styles can be very different.  This can lead to miscommunication, misunderstanding and even out-and-out conflict. 

You know you're a knowledgeable and caring Tarot counselor, but what if the next querent you counsel has a way of hearing and interpreting information that is very different from your own?  Try these suggestions.

Tiny Tips (7): Stay Fresh

Give your workhorse decks a rest.  Try out a brand new or seldom-used deck with your next querent. Try your familiar layouts with a non-Tarot deck. If you're used to reading with the same old layouts, invent a new one on the spot or turn to some of your Tarot books for inspiration.  If you usually ask the querent to shuffle the deck and select cards, do all of that yourself this time.  Allow familiar Tarot archetypes to reveal previously unseen sides of themselves and tell you new stories.

Shake it up.  Give yourself a challenge and a fresh perspective, and watch how easily and gracefully fresh insights arrive.

(c) 2007 Eva Yaa Asantewaa
http://mysite.verizon.net/magickaleva

Tiny Tips (6): Reading across layouts

If you use more than one layout in a querent reading, you've probably noticed how often messages--and even specific cards--from one layout show up in the next and maybe the one after that, too, even when the questions prompting these subsequent layouts cover a different topic.  This neat little phenomenon is Tarot's way of underscoring certain information, reminding the querent of the most important aspects of the reading. 

Expect and look for these interesting amplifications and draw your querent's attention to them.  A layout can be a snapshot of a moment in time.  Reading across layouts turns that snapshot into a full-color, 3-D installation with breath and sound.  The querent learns how each part of his or her life is interconnected with every other.

(c) 2007 Eva Yaa Asantewaa
http://mysite.verizon.net/magickaleva

Tiny Tips (5): Serenity

Faced with an uptight querent?  If your customary pre-reading small talk doesn't seem to be helping to ease your querent's nervousness, try my suggestions right away.

Tiny Tips (3): Stumped?

In the middle of your reading, suddenly you hit a speed bump.  Maybe it's one of those pesky Court Cards or something else, and you just can't figure out what in heck it's doing there.  Don't panic!

Tiny Tips (2): Outcome

Are you working with a layout that has an outcome card position (e.g., Celtic Cross)?  Instead of drawing a standard Tarot card for that position, try drawing an oracle card.  Be creative in your interpretation.

Sometimes the inspirational, spiritual and motivational nature of an oracle card--as opposed to the often familiar and specific interpretations we get from standard Tarot--can help to dissuade a querent from the typical belief that an outcome is set in stone.

(c) 2007 Eva Yaa Asantewaa
http://mysite.verizon.net/magickaleva

Tiny Tips (1): Double-decking

Draw and set down a layer of non-Tarot oracle cards beneath your layout of Tarot cards for an additional level of meaning.  For each reading, decide what the oracle layer will signify--e.g., hidden information; subconscious stuff; Spirit's message; how to work with what the Tarot card is telling you, and so forth--and stick with that meaning throughout.

(c)2007 Eva Yaa Asantewaa
http://mysite.verizon.net/magickaleva

Tarot Card Growth Ritual by Judika Illes

I am pleased to announce the release of Pure Magic: A Complete Course in Spellcasting by Judika Illes. An independent scholar, fortune teller and aromatherapist, Judika has an uncanny knack for deconstrucing arcane practices and re-distributing it to the masses via solid research and engaging writing. In fact, she asserts that "magic is as common as dirt"--not merely reserved for "special" people (like Harry Potter!)

One of the spells that Judika shares in her new book is the Tarot Card Growth Ritual, which I'm re-printing here with the kind permission of Red Wheel/Weiser. Stay tuned for my upcoming interview with Judika about the Tarot and her most recent projects! -- Janet