Autumn Equinox Reflection

On the weekend, four friends from the EarthSong Mysteries circle joined my partner and me in our home to mark the Autumn Equinox.  We began casually, enjoying a pot-luck lunch, a couple of jokes, and conversation.  Then the six of us descended to the basement room for council circle and ritual to honour the natural threshold we were crossing.

The personal details of council are, naturally, confidential, but something that came forth for us to carry into the world was/is the idea of holding the tension of contrasts simultaneously.  It was, after all, the time of equal night and day.  Some of the contrasts we felt are inviting us to hold them include:

• dark and light
• weaving and undoing
• terror and bliss
• change and stasis
• being and doing
• immersing and educing
• dissociation and union
• immanence and transcendence

I asked the tarot, “How can we hold the tension of these contrasts in a good way?” and received the Princess of Swords.  This card suggests, to me:

• defend values that are sacred to us with fierce clarity
• fight off, or transform, unproductive moods
• boldly ask for what we need
• courageously honour and express our truths
• cut through cloudy/foggy thoughts to get to the core truth
• be in beginner’s mind
• have a “touchstone” to ground us while we face the immensity of the contrasts

What way(s) of holding such contrasts do YOU perceive in the Princess of Swords?  Please share with us.

———————-

Image: Princess of Swords from the Thoth Tarot (Lady Frieda Harris & Aleister Crowley).

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The Elora Tarot Project is Fabulous!

On Friday evening, my partner, a friend, and I attended the opening of The Elora Tarot Project art show at the Wellington County Museum. Wow! The exhibit is extremely good and really works as a deck (of course, I got one!). Paintings, carved glass, collage, and even a water fountain make up this collection of tarot images. It was heartening to experience the *large* and enthusiastic turnout. Congratulations to all the artists, to Shelley Carter, and to the tarot for weaving such a sense of community. Out of our connection with one another emerges great healing.

Here’s a brief reading/interview with the Elora Tarot deck about itself and about the show:

1. What pulses in the heart of this project? Seven of Wands. The vision of a new life-loving world that can emerge from the dust of the old world.

2. What challenge around this project was successfully overcome? Seven of Pentacles. Finding the single “plant/vine” that could unite the diverse artistic forms of “fruit” that grew as the project evolved.

3. How was that challenge overcome? King of Swords. Authority, precise communication, and absolute honesty.

4. What greater good can emerge from this project? Six of Wands. Recognition that dreams and goals can be made into reality to become ambassadors of the triumph of the imagination.

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Why the Tarot Course Matters

I’m excited that Tarot Counselling for Self and Others will be underway very soon (we begin on the 20th)!  Why?  Because I feel that the tools and processes offered in the course are valuable ways to encourage connection, creativity, and healing in a culture that seems to have put these things on the back shelf.  The tarot can be so much more than something that’s read at people; it can be a splendid invitation for the soul to come forth and tell us what we most need to know or learn in order to grow and evolve.  If you’d like to hear the story of my own journey with that, please click HERE.

So, how will we spend our eight weeks together?

First, we’ll enter the process consciously: learn a bit about one another, bring our previous tarot experiences to the table, and figure out together what tarot counselling can be for ourselves and in the larger tarot community.  The container for our good work will be woven.

You’ll learn the value of creating strong, safe consultation structures wherein physical and emotional safety are present and wherein the Muse can pour inspiration and learning in ways appropriate for the recipient of the session (whether self or another).  One of my favourite frameworks is the use of tarot spreads that encourage insight.  I’ll offer you some that I’ve created myself and some made by others, then teach you how to craft tarot layouts that will make your sessions sparkle with specificity!

Other techniques you’ll gain include presence, witnessing, attention, and intentional communication.  How can we be as present to the seeker’s and our own experience as possible?  How can our statements be as non-judgemental and constructive as possible?  What questions will evoke the soul’s profound truth?  These will be explored and practised in simple, nourishing ways.  I’m sure we’ll inspire each other!

Did you ever finish a tarot session and wonder, “Now what?”  No more!  Head knowledge is not enough.  In Tarot Counselling for Self and Others, we’ll play with imaginative ways to take the insights gained during the consultation into consciousness, into the body, into real life so that constructive change can take place within and without.

One of the great things about this course is that people have the opportunity to DO the material, hands-on, with one of their peers, a “study buddy”.  Again, head knowledge is not enough; there’s no better teacher than experience and sharing with someone who is also working with the same materials.

To conclude, we’ll harvest the wisdom of our time together, set concrete goals, and take our sacred work out into our communities.  And you’ll receive a comprehensive recommended reading list to further your studies.

Please join me on this profound tarot journey.  You can sign up by simply clicking on http://www.gaiansoulgrove.com/jameswells-tarotcounseling/ .  Your sense of satisfaction at shifting from card reader to soul companion will be palpable.  And those who consult you will thank you for daring to work so deeply.

 

Image:  #2 — The Goddess (High Priestess) from the Cosmo Tarot by Carol Herzer.

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Registration for Tarot Counselling Course is OPEN!

Several of you have been emailing me to ask when you can sign up for my e-course, “Tarot Counselling for Self and Others: Secrets of a Successful Tarot Practice That Changes Lives.” I want to let you know that registration is OPEN and we’re ready! You can find all the details here:

http://www.gaiansoulgrove.com/jameswells-tarotcounseling/

And I have to tell you that there is a really COOL bonus for the first TEN people who sign up . . . so if you’re interested, please go there and check it out!

Also:
Next week on Wednesday, Sept. 18th at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (5 p.m. Pacific Time), I’ll offer a preview call of my e-course, and would love to have you join in. I will share some of the basic ideas that I’ll be covering in the course, and you’ll have an opportunity to ask any questions you might have about it.

Here’s the link again with all the info about the course:
http://www.gaiansoulgrove.com/jameswells-tarotcounseling/

Note: If you have any questions at all about the course, email me at circleways@yahoo.ca

Image: 10 of Flame Songs from the Songs for the Journey Home tarot deck.

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A Hanged Man Poem

Trump XII

How long does

non-action take?

How long can I swim so strongly

against cultural current,

estranged?

Do I mind this

          cocoon,

accept this sacrifice,

not get perpelexed at my

          life

hovering anti-upright?

Numb no more –

          getting still

          sinking

          deeply

          ensures deliverance

          makes this experience

          bearable –

I dissolve.

Neptune’s haven absorbs identity,

Nature takes her sweet time

glutting herself with bowlfuls of ego

boiled remnants of

          fallen

          masks.

I acknowledge that

no transformation can occur

without this holy

embryonic surrender,

          delicate

          dropping

          down,

meltingly all-embracing

no-thing-ness.

How long no longer matters;

action is over-rated anyway.

Would you like to know a secret

that is seldom remembered

much less spoken?

Come close to me…

even closer,

I want you to hear this:

don’t believe, even for one instant,

that I’m waiting for you,

for anyone, for anything.

No, I’m not waiting,

I’m simply

here.

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My Tarot Journey (and Yours!)

Did you know that the tarot is so much more than something you read while someone passively listens?  Did you know that the tarot can be an encounter of discovery and transformation?

You can click on http://www.gaiansoulgrove.com/jameswells-giveaway/ to watch a *free* video about my pilgrimage from simply reading cards to offering tarot counselling *and* to receive a PDF of a very cool process/spread that I know will enhance your own tarot practice.

This autumn, beginning Friday, September 20, you can join me for Tarot Counselling for Self and Others, an eight-week journey that will change readers of cards into soul guides. Every week, you’ll receive helpful handouts and activities, enjoy enriching discussions in an online forum, practise with one of your fellow course participants (“study buddy”), and take part in a live teleseminar with me.

This way of working with the tarot is something I call Evolutionary Tarot. Your participation in Tarot Counselling for Self and Others will contribute to your personal evolution and teach you how to assist others in theirs. And you will join those who are on the cutting edge of the evolution of the tarot itself. I look forward to companioning you on this eight-week adventure this autumn!

In the meantime, please enjoy the video and the spread you can get by going to
http://www.gaiansoulgrove.com/jameswells-giveaway/

Feel free to share the link with your tarot-loving friends!

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Did you know that the tarot is so much more than something you read while someone passively listens?  Did you know that the tarot can be an encounter of discovery and transformation? 

You can sign up here to watch a F*R*E*E video about my pilgrimage from simply reading cards to offering tarot counselling *and* to receive a PDF of a very cool process/spread that I know will enhance your own tarot practice.

 

This autumn, beginning Friday, September 20, you can join me for Tarot Counselling for Self and Others, an eight-week journey that will change readers of cards into soul guides.  Every week, you’ll receive helpful handouts and activities, enjoy enriching discussions in an online forum, practise with one of your fellow course participants (“study buddy”), and take part in a live teleseminar with me.

 

This way of working with the tarot is something I call Evolutionary Tarot.  Your participation in Tarot Counselling for Self and Others will contribute to your personal evolution and teach you how to assist others in theirs.  And you will join those who are on the cutting edge of the evolution of the tarot itself.  I look forward to companioning you on this eight-week adventure this autumn!

In the meantime, please enjoy the video and the spread you can get by going to
http://www.gaiansoulgrove.com/jameswells-giveaway/

Enjoy!

~ James

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The Gifts of Guelph

My partner and I recently moved to Guelph, Ontario, known as the Royal City.  It’s in a part of the province where many things we both enjoy are happening and it’s close enough to Toronto to maintain our important relationships there.  We’re very happy with the townhouse we’re in.  Evening meals on the back patio in the presence of maple and spruce are a delight.  The people are friendly and we anticipate good times here.

My curiosity about the mutual benefits of living here led me to do a short reading with the Medicine Woman Tarot:

1.  What are the most constructive, life-affirming gifts I can offer to Guelph and vicinity?     ACE OF PIPES, UPRIGHT.     An awakening of exciting, creative energy.  A vision of the possible human and the seeds for that vision to be planted.  A fresh public image.  The kindling of a desire for more self-expression.

2.  What are the best forums, tools, or processes through which I can offer these gifts?     FOUR OF BOWLS, UPRIGHT.     Create group experiences (circles, classes, rituals, workshops, etc.), establish public healing/oracular encounters, connect with an existent arts community, foster a sense of devotion, be love incarnate, solidify friendships, and act on my true feelings.

3.  What are the most constructive, life-affirming gifts I can receive from Guelph and vicinity?     XV.  TRICKSTER, REVERSED.     Self-discipline.  Taking more responsibility for myself.  Stronger personal boundaries.  Supportive mental-emotional-psychological structures that help me to narrow down my options and be more focused.

4.  What are the best forums, tools, or processes through which I can receive these gifts?     LODGE OF PIPES, REVERSED.     A mature self-image, be adept at tapping into and using my creative energy, a well-established personal power spot in the area, quietly emanate power that energises those around me on a soul level, be the most “True Self” that I can be, be a living temple/sanctuary, demonstrate a high level of self-respect.

I hope that you will join me on this journey of awakened vision, helpful personal structures, devoted groups of people, and adept personal growth.  What role might YOU play in this, dear friends?  I’d love to know how we might collaborate in this!

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