A. Gather in a circle, whether around a table, on the floor, or on the ground. Place a beeswax candle in the middle. Remove any card(s) from your tarot deck that reminds you of Autumn or the Equinox (e.g. Justice for equal light and dark; any card that depicts harvest or letting go, etc.). Place this card(s) in the centre beside the candle to represent your intention for gathering. You can also add seasonal fruits or fallen leaves to the central space.
B. One at a time, each person receives the tarot deck as it’s passed clockwise. Each person, when s/he receives the pack, says one word or one phrase that lets the group know how s/he is as s/he enters this game(e.g. “I’m feeling grateful for X this evening.” or “I’m tired, but happy to be with you all today.” or “I’m curious about what we’re about to do.”). If the players are new to one another, it’s a good idea to speak your name as well. Then s/he mixes the deck and picks three cards at random before passing the pack to the person on hir left. This continues until everyone has checked in and has three cards in their hands.
C. Three rounds are played clockwise (each round’s topic is below). During each, every player gets a turn to lay a card on the surface in front of hir and use its image to inspire a continuation of the open sentence provided. This can be done by consciously selecting a card from your face-up hand or by keeping your three cards face-down and intuitively picking which one will be your sentence-completion image. Each player can expand on the sentence as much as s/he chooses.
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FIRST ROUND: “Currently in my life, balancing times of dark and light means _________.”
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SECOND ROUND: “What I’m preparing to put to sleep for a while includes _________.”
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THIRD ROUND: “I’m grateful to be harvesting _________.”
D. After everyone’s cards have been played, allow a fruitful, respectful conversation to unfold, continuing until it reaches a natural conclusion.
E. For the final round, the tarot deck is passed around counterclockwise. One at a time, people receive it, express gratitude for one thing they’ve heard or said during the game, mix their three cards back into the pack, and pass it to the person on their right.
F. After everyone’s cards have been returned to the deck, the central card is shuffled back into the pack. Extinguish the candle.
Lovely. I hope to try this.
Please do, D.
It’s really nice to do with two to eleven more people (or slightly more, if you have more time). It’s amazing how much closer participants feel to one another after taking part in a circle-based process like this.
Let us know how it goes!
Using the Songs for the Journey Home tarot deck, I got:
* 2 of Flame Songs. Currently in my life, balancing times of dark and light means knowing when to take things at face value and when to behold the mystery within/beyond them.
* First (Ace) Wave Song. What I’m preparing to put to sleep for a while includes trying to be a big drop of influence that ripples out to the entire “pond” of our world.
* 10 of Flame Songs. I’m grateful to be harvesting my experience as a tarot counsellor because it’s helping me evaluate who I want to be and don’t want to be.
Love the idea James. During Autumn Equinox ritual gathering our group decided to start getting together each Friday to study the numerous things we each want to grow in knowledge about. Tarot was a huge interest to all there. This sort of activity is something very tangible to open the allure of Tarot to those that feel chalenged in the understanding of just how to identify and use Tarot as a tool for self growth and understanding. Thanks so much, Vesta…(from GTC) 🙂
What a good idea, Vesta/Wanda. Asking people to apply the picturestories to the intention/sentence of a particular round works wonders. I did one with a group of 15 or so people in June with the theme of Honouring the Earth. A couple of attendees had never used tarot before in their lives. Their articulation of card plus intention was exquisite and contributed much to the gathering. I think you’ll find that activities such as this circle will bring you all closer together. I’m curious to know how the circle activity/game unfolds for all of you.
Great idea, James!
It provokes intimacy, growing and a lot more.
It does indeed. Check out the other tarot circle processes, too, Aurora.
[…] Saturday morning, it was time for Tarot Play, and we played a version of James Well’s Tarot Circle Game for Autumn Equinox. The women were a mixture of tarot novices, professional tarot readers, and everything in […]