Fairy Tale Tarot and Paradigm Shifts

I have been going through my different fairy tale decks, which are “The Fairy Tale Tarot” by Lisa Hunt, The “Fairytale Tarot” by Karen Mahony (art by Alexandr Ukolov and Irena Triskova ), Isha and Mark Lerner’s “Inner Child” cards (illustrated by Christopher Guilfoil ), and “The Whimsical Tarot” by Mary Hanson Roberts.  (I know of at least one other fairy tale themed tarot deck that I don’t have, and there may well be others.)  The Hunt and Mahony decks use illustrations from tales and legends for all of their cards; the “Inner Child” and “Whimsical” decks use them for the Major Arcana and some, (not all), of the Minor Arcana.  I will bring them to the workshop tomorrow, in case anyone wants to work with them in the Tarot Round Robin or the Fairy Tale Village exercise.  Although I’ve had a longtime appreciation of fairy tales and folk legends, I find there are some stories represented in these cards that I’m unfamiliar with, and I have to refresh my memory regarding others, so I shall also bring the books that go with them.

In reacquainting myself with these fairy tales, I’m also considering different themes.  Among other things, I want to revisit the Western fairy tales to see if there are any cases similar to in Asian lore, where demons, monsters, goblins, etc. are converted into guardians and helpers, (and even holy men and women).  This reflects a different worldview than the Western dualism we’ve grown up with, that views everything through the lens of GOOD vs. EVIL, where the unredeemable forces of Absolute Evil are always out to get us.

In regions with a Buddhist sensibility, there are also different types of demons, goblins, and monsters—many of them quite horrifying—but when they do evil, it’s not that they are inherently committed to the destruction of everything good, but because they are ruled by their unrestrained senses and driven by greed, hatred, and delusion.  Of course, the core of the Buddha’s teaching is that all beings suffer from greed, hatred, and delusion, so everyone is enjoined to reflect, “I myself am not free of greed, hatred, and delusion …” so if I judge others, I must do so compassionately, with these things in mind.

This is a reason I find Asian fantasy genres, such as anime, (I’m a great admirer of Hayao Miyazaki, who I feel deserves more credit and honor as the new Disney), to be much more satisfying than the Good-vs-Evil, End-of-Days themed scenarios that American films and TV series have limited themselves to and seem unable to transcend.  Although our dualistic worldview has shackled the American imagination, a huge segment of the younger generation has grown up with anime.  This is something that the larger establishment seems unaware of, but I think it likely that this will eventually result in a paradigm shift that will affect all of our imaginative enterprises.

Fairy Tale Adventures on October 7th

For this upcoming Sunday, October 7^th, I plan to bring my “Fairytale Village” playset to the Triple Goddess bookstore in Okemos, so we can explore some of the ways that fairy tale archetypes play out in our lives.  The last time I did a public demonstration of this technique was in September of 2010, so if you haven’t previously had a chance to participate—or even if you have—come and join the fun.  (For more on using playsets in conjunction with tarot, see my article on the Dollhouse Oracle in the list of article links.)   We will also do the Tarot Round Robin, and I will bring along four different fairy tale decks in case anyone wants to try them out.

A WALK THROUGH FAIRY TALE VILLAGE

Last Sunday, (the Sunday of Labor Day weekend), our magical chat session focused on fairy-tale themed tarot decks. Because I have a fairy-tale themed pop-up playset with seven pop-up structures, one of our activities is “a walk through Fairy Tale Village,” where you can draw seven cards, prop them up by the different pop-up structures, and then derive meanings according to their associations. The pop-up playset, which was created by the design team of Michael Welply, Jim Deesing, and Laszlo Batki, is something I found online after doing keyword searches for pop-up playsets. However, as this playset may be hard to find, this exercise could be done without the playset, as a seven card spread.

For those who were unable to join us, here is the basic technique: shuffle and cut your cards while saying something like, “Please show me some stories that are playing out in my life.” Then place the first card in front of “Grandma’s House.” Grandma’s House represents a place where you can feel secure and go for comfort, though depending on the card you draw, it may be a safe place or it may be hiding some danger, (as in the “Little Red Riding Hood” story, this is the place where the wolf lies in wait).

Note that when, in this exercise, I use the word “place,” this could be an actual physical location, but more likely it is a metaphorical place, such as an idea, frame of mind, or life situation.

The next card goes in front of the Three Bears’ House. This could be a place where your Inner Child is trespassing, or simply a place where you don’t belong, because you’re not among “your own kind.” The term “your own kind,” could refer to people that you feel “at home” with, or a community that is supportive of your growth needs.

The third card is the Gingerbread House. This could be a place of temptation, (with your card offering visual cues as to whether you are the tempter or the tempted), or it could be a place of challenge where you overcome limitations, as in the story of Hansel and Gretel, Gretel uses her wits and quick thinking to save the day.

Next we arrive at the three piggys’ homes. Card number 4 is the Piggy’s Straw House, some area or your life where you have not built a stable structure. Card 5 is the Piggy’s Stick House, where you have built a somewhat more stable structure. This place may be OK for a temporary stop-over, but not secure enough for you to spend the rest of your life. Card 6 is the Piggy’s Brick House, a place where you have done a good job and can enjoy greater security.

For the last stop, we go to the center of the village, which is the Wishing Well. This represents some of your wishes or fantasies for the future.

By the way, as additional level of interpretation, you could toss a die, and the number that comes up (from 1 to 6) could denote the Fairy Tale Village structure where your attention or energies are most focused at present.