The “Round Robin Tarot” technique that we demonstrated at the Triple Goddess earlier this month seems to have worked well, because it kept everyone engaged for a good while. Because it enables everybody to participate and provides a lot to discuss, this would be an ideal technique for any tarot study group.
How this technique works, is, each person brings or chooses a pack of tarot cards or oracle cards, then all sit in a circle, with the intention to focus on one person at a time, each in turn. So, the first person introduces him-or-herself, and then we invoke the interconnectedness of all people and all things to help bring forth information that would be good for that person to know. Next, the participants shuffle their cards, with each person pulling one card. Going around the circle, each person shows his/her card, (and also mentions which deck is being used), while we discuss potential meanings. After that, we shift focus to the next person and go through the same process.
I provide a place in the hand-outs to write down the cards and decks used, so people can afterward reconstruct (or at least try to approximate) the cards that were drawn for them when they get home. Even if you don’t have the same tarot decks, if you can set out some of the corresponding cards from your home deck, you can get the big picture and pull out new meanings by contemplating the cards as a group.
By the way, I did not invent this particular technique. The credit goes to a classmate in a weekend Photoshop seminar, but I unfortunately do not recall her name. (On that occasion, a group of us went out to lunch, and we had just one tarot deck among us, so we passed it around with each person taking a card from the deck as we read for different persons in turn.)
Back to the idea of interconnectedness: because a lot of us have an interest in the spirit world, group participation tarot exercises allow us to appreciate how spirit connections are part of the interconnectedness of all people and all things that we are invoking. I have touched on this in some previous posts, such as how spirit helpers converge in a high-vibration place like the Triple Goddess. So, as a number of psychics say that were are always surrounded by various spirit presences who are interested in our well-being, when you and I or anyone else get together, my spirit helpers are hobnobbing with your spirit helpers and those of everyone else present. (I don’t see it as being like we drag our spirits mentors around with us wherever we go, but rather, they are “present for us” in an extra-dimensional sort of way, and when two or more people come together, more extra-dimensional channels of exchange are open.) Now, it is possible that my spirit friends are aware of some things that it would be useful for you to know, and your spirit friends might have some special knowledge of concern to me. On such occasions, our spirit friends can exchange information with each other, and the Round Robin Tarot also provides them another means of connection.
Showing posts with label Interconnectedness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Interconnectedness. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
THE MAGIC OF INTERCONNECTEDNESS for August 7th
This Sunday I will be back at the Triple Goddess for a free and casual session of tarot and other oracle card deck exploration. Anyone is welcome to drop in as I demonstrate different card reading techniques. If you don’t want to participate by reading and having your cards read, it’s OK to just come and watch. My theme for August is “The Magic of Interconnectedness,” which I also relate to “the mysteries of the grain” for the old celebration of Lammas. Activities will include a “Tarot Round Robin” where each person gets a chance to be the focal person while the rest of us draw cards for him or her from different decks. We will also do some exercises involving different oracle decks to look for themes across many decks, probing into Animal World and Ancestor World connections, too.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Celebrating the Interconnectedness of All Things
In my last post, I mentioned that this upcoming Sunday we will be exploring some Ancestor World issues with the Faery cards and Tarot cards. Actually, I want to broaden that theme of interconnectedness to also be thinking about how we can reach forward in time, and also look at metaphors of interrelationship such as the connecting Web--all tied in with Lammas and the mysteries of the grain.
However, in line with the ancestor explorations, another thing to think about is an interest in the mystical as a potential legacy from some line or lines of ancestors. After all, the fact that you are reading a blog on tarot magic or setting foot in a New Age bookstore means that you are a mystically inclined person. Showing an interest in the metaphysical would attract extra support from the Ancestor World, because it signals that you are more receptive to spiritual wisdom and advice. So, when we do some of our card readings, it will be interesting to note whether cards like the High Priestess, Hierophant, or others that indicate a transmission of spiritual teachings come up. The Faery decks also have some cards that point to wisdom traditions.
Now back to the theme of interconnectedness: Alice O. Howell, in her book “The Dove in the Stone: Finding the Sacred in the Commonplace” (which is a collection of her musings as she explores the sacred isle of Iona), adds to our perspective on degrees of separation by pointing out that we are only a few “touches” away from many historical personages. She relates: “I had struggled to make history come alive for the sixth graders it had been my good fortune to teach. ‘How many ‘touches’ away do you suppose you are from George Washington?’ I asked them. Well, not as many as you think. When my father was a little boy, he was taken to the World’s Fair in St. Louis, and at that fair was a booth where there sat a very, very old black man to whom you could pay a nickel for a handshake. This man’s father had been a slave on Washington’s plantation and he had proudly let George Washington hold his son, then a baby. Now my own father had sat on his lap. So, from Washington to the old man was one touch, to my father was two, and to me three. Only three bodies stood between my students and the founding father of our country! I was giving them fourth touches as they eagerly stretched out their hands. Now they could run home and give fifth touches to others.” Howell goes on to say, “Since my father was always meeting interesting people, I was also only two touches from such as Mark Twain, Eisenhower, Queen Elizabeth, Goering, etc., etc. (I myself had been forced to sit in Mussolini’s lap.) The next day, the kids came in to give me touches from all kinds of celebrities themselves. This exercise made history far more immediate” [58-59].
So, what is magical about that? Well, it’s an affirmation of interconnectedness. It’s not that celebrities are better than anyone else, but knowing that we’re only a few touches away from various celebrated personalities helps light up the web of interconnectedness in our minds—it makes the criss-crossing strands more VISIBLE to us. And any time we become more aware of our interconnectedness, more synchronicities will occur for us.
If you’re coming out on Sunday, ask your friends, family, and coworkers about any encounters they’ve had with notable persons, so you can convey some touches. Also, if you get a chance to talk to knowledgeable family members, find out what your different grandmothers’ and great-grandmothers maiden names were, and we’ll find out if any of us are long lost cousins.
However, in line with the ancestor explorations, another thing to think about is an interest in the mystical as a potential legacy from some line or lines of ancestors. After all, the fact that you are reading a blog on tarot magic or setting foot in a New Age bookstore means that you are a mystically inclined person. Showing an interest in the metaphysical would attract extra support from the Ancestor World, because it signals that you are more receptive to spiritual wisdom and advice. So, when we do some of our card readings, it will be interesting to note whether cards like the High Priestess, Hierophant, or others that indicate a transmission of spiritual teachings come up. The Faery decks also have some cards that point to wisdom traditions.
Now back to the theme of interconnectedness: Alice O. Howell, in her book “The Dove in the Stone: Finding the Sacred in the Commonplace” (which is a collection of her musings as she explores the sacred isle of Iona), adds to our perspective on degrees of separation by pointing out that we are only a few “touches” away from many historical personages. She relates: “I had struggled to make history come alive for the sixth graders it had been my good fortune to teach. ‘How many ‘touches’ away do you suppose you are from George Washington?’ I asked them. Well, not as many as you think. When my father was a little boy, he was taken to the World’s Fair in St. Louis, and at that fair was a booth where there sat a very, very old black man to whom you could pay a nickel for a handshake. This man’s father had been a slave on Washington’s plantation and he had proudly let George Washington hold his son, then a baby. Now my own father had sat on his lap. So, from Washington to the old man was one touch, to my father was two, and to me three. Only three bodies stood between my students and the founding father of our country! I was giving them fourth touches as they eagerly stretched out their hands. Now they could run home and give fifth touches to others.” Howell goes on to say, “Since my father was always meeting interesting people, I was also only two touches from such as Mark Twain, Eisenhower, Queen Elizabeth, Goering, etc., etc. (I myself had been forced to sit in Mussolini’s lap.) The next day, the kids came in to give me touches from all kinds of celebrities themselves. This exercise made history far more immediate” [58-59].
So, what is magical about that? Well, it’s an affirmation of interconnectedness. It’s not that celebrities are better than anyone else, but knowing that we’re only a few touches away from various celebrated personalities helps light up the web of interconnectedness in our minds—it makes the criss-crossing strands more VISIBLE to us. And any time we become more aware of our interconnectedness, more synchronicities will occur for us.
If you’re coming out on Sunday, ask your friends, family, and coworkers about any encounters they’ve had with notable persons, so you can convey some touches. Also, if you get a chance to talk to knowledgeable family members, find out what your different grandmothers’ and great-grandmothers maiden names were, and we’ll find out if any of us are long lost cousins.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
