Entering the Year of the Hermit

When we add the digits of the year 2016 together, we get the sum of 9 which is the number of the Hermit in the tarot.  Some questions we can carry with us through the next year include:

• From what do I need to withdraw in order to gain perspective?
• How do I gain perspective on myself and on the world?
• What luminous piece of knowledge do I carry?
• What are the wisest words I’ve ever heard or spoken?
• Who is the wisest person I’ve ever encountered?  What does this encounter teach me?
• What do I need to let go of or complete in order to embrace sagacity?
• When do I feel like an ancient soul?
• What, to me, does it mean to become a conscious elder?
• When I shine the light of wisdom on our world, what do I truly see?

May 2016 connect you with the Sage that you are.  Happy new year!

* Image: The Hermit from the Greenwood Tarot (by Chesca Potter & Mark Ryan)

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Tarot People Offering a Raffle to Benefit Refugees

I’ve joined several of my beloved tarot colleagues in a fundraiser to support Syrian people who need a new, safe home, a sanctuary from horrific experiences. You can do your part by clicking on the link below and purchasing raffle tickets. This is a win-win endeavour that I hope feels right for you to support. My own contribution is a four-session “A Reason for Being” tarot consultation series. Here’s the link:  http://darkgoddesslodge.com/dgl-raffle-for-refugees/

 

 

 

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Square, Cross, and Trump XII

Last night, I dreamt of a black stone square divided into quadrants by an equal-armed cross.  In the dream, I understood that this was to be some sort of template or map upon which to lay tarot cards in order to assess and integrate the four Jungian functions of intuition, feeling, thinking, and sensation.

The idea of relating the four functions to the suits of the tarot is not a new one, nor is using the tarot as a tool for discovering one’s strongest and weakest functions in the service of moving toward wholeness.  I’m happily intrigued by the dream though.  For what reason might my soul give me this image/dream at this time?  What does the dream ask of me?

In her book, Signs of Life, the late cultural anthropologist (and tarot consultant!) Angeles Arrien says that the square is a symbol of stability, solidity, and security, a readiness to build something and manifest ideas.  She tells us that the equal-armed cross is a symbol of relatedness, synthesis, integration, of a need for connection.

This invites questions such as:

• What connection am I ready to manifest?
• What do I need to synthesise in order to create stability?
• What relatedness process is solidly in place (or wants to be in place)?
• How can I best integrate security in and around me?

The tarot was part of the dream, so I feel an obligation to draw a card from the Thoth Tarot to respond to the question, “What core message does the symbol of the square with the equal-armed cross in it have for me at this time?”  In response, I got Trump XII, the Hanged Man.

Trump XII suggests that the dream’s core message for me is that the process of integrating stability and solidifying certain connections requires patience, a willingness to wait and surrender to process, and an ability to gain new perspectives in order to break out of old patterns.  Ah!  This elicits more questions for me to contemplate beyond this blog piece.

What have I done here?  I have recorded the dream, explored its key symbols on their own terms, and used the tarot to open it further.  What do YOU glean from this process?  What do YOU find useful in this blog piece?  Please share your thoughts and feelings with us in the Comments.

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