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I've recently returned to a practice of daily meditation. Every time I retreat to my room, my Tarot
deck goes with me.

I hear a lot of people talk about using Tarot as a meditative tool, but not much talk about how
they use Tarot as a meditation aid. Here are some quick insight's I've gained over the past few
weeks:

- At the beginning of the session, draw a single card. While I get comfortable -- what I call
"winding down" -- I look this card over and think about the themes, memories, and ideas it holds
for me.

- During the first ten minutes of my meditation, I don't think about the card at all. During this
period, I clear my mind, focus on my breathing, and shift gears, slowing down.

- After a good ten minutes of stillness, I bring one aspect or element of the card to mind. (If I've
drawn the Fool, the element might be a snowy peak. If I've drawn the Six of Swords, the element
might be a boat on the water.) In my head, I build as clear and detailed a mental image as
possible.

- After my meditation period ends, I pick up the card, see it with new eyes, and consider how its
most positive meaning could influence my actions for the better. During the day, I look for
opportunities to put that positive energy to work.

Complicated? Nope. Difficult? Nope. Effective? Very. Pick your favorite deck, and give this
approach a try today.

Posted at 09:08 AM in Tips and Techniques | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Almost everybody's got at least one: that Tarot deck you don't care for in the least.

There's just something about it. Maybe there's that one card that strikes you as silly or offensive
or wrong. Maybe there's something about the author or designer you don't like. Maybe certain
card images scare you. Maybe it strikes you as an art deck ... a deck more suitable for looking at
than for reading with.

You know the one, don't you?

Today, I challenge you to alter your perspective on the world by doing a short reading with that
deck. Here's the spread:

Card 1) Why you don't connect with this deck

Card 2) What this deck could teach you, if you'd let it

Card 3) A benefit of working past your initial reaction and working with this deck for a week.

You may stiil, eventually, put this deck aside ... but I guarantee this exercise will open your eyes
to features and options you would otherwise ignore. Give it a try!

Posted at 09:50 AM in Tips and Techniques | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Yesterday was my birthday, so birthdays are on my mind.

If you've been working with Tarot for any length of time, you know a number of spreads for
birthday readings. You might, for example, pull twelve cards -- one for each coming month -- as
a way of previewing your upcoming year. Another method involves pulling cards, arranging
them in the shape of the astrological glyph that corresponds to your sun sign, and interpreting
these as an "overview" of what you need to know.

I'd like to suggest something far more simple -- but perhaps even more powerful. The next time
you have an opportunity to do a birthday reading, give this a try:

1) Find a quiet place. Breathe. Slow down.

2) Shuffle the Tarot deck of your choice.

3) Draw the top card.

4) As quickly as you can, interpret this card as one of the following:

- A lesson you've learned during your years on this planet.

- A gift you've received from others

- A gift you've given others

- A lesson you need to learn.

Ëepeat steps 3 and 4, drawing one card for every year you've lived. (If you're twenty-eight, you'll
draw a total of twenty-eight cards.) The insights you glean don't have to come from the
associated year; any card can suggest a lesson or gift from any year you recall.

If you're older than 78, you can use one of the bigger decks (The Transformational Tarot, with its
100 cards comes to mind) or shuffle the deck and begin again.

This exercise is quick and simple, but the insights -- and the feeling of centeredness and gratitude
-- are profound.

PS: If you really like the idea, why wait until your birthday? This is an exercise you can do any
time of year.

Posted at 08:56 AM in Tips and Techniques | Permalink | Comments (0)

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If you could have everything you really wanted ... what would you have?

In traditional Tarot decks, that's the theme of the Ten of Coins. Ten is the number of fullness and
finality. Coins is the suit of physicality and finance. The old Ëider-Waite illustration -- an older
man, surounded by family and possessions -- captures the idea pretty well. (The old man's
slumped posture also hints at the weariness that can be associated with the psychic weight of
"having it all.")

Today, take out the Tarot deck of your choice and pull the Ten of Coins. Breathe deeply. Dwell
on the picture. For just five minutes, focus exclusively on this card and how it expresses the
energy of the Ten of Coins. Is it positive? Is it negative? What does this card have to say about
having it all?

That done, step outside the boundaries of that image and consider the question: In order for me to
"have it all," what do I really need to have? In the Tarot of Your Life, what image is on your
personal Ten of Coins?

The answer may surprise you.

Posted at 08:52 AM in Tips and Techniques | Permalink | Comments (0)

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Every day brings us choices. Our decisions shape our world.

The key to making better decisions is to know yourself: your values, your priorities, your
direction, your goals. If you have a handle on these elements of your life, it's much easier to
evaluate the opportunities the Universe brings your way.

Today, why not invest fifteen minutes in getting to know yourself better? Shuffle your Tarot
deck of choice and try this:

1) Draw one card to represent your core value - what matters most to you. Drawing the
Hierophant, for example, might prompt you to explore the role faith should be playing in your
life.

2) Draw one card to identify a principle you can use to help set priorities effectively. The Five of
Coins, for example, might prompt you to decide that you should organize your day around
assignments that put dollars in your pocket.

3) Draw one card to identify your direction: where you want to be five years from now. The
Eight of Coins might be a picture of you, owning your own business, hard at work for yourself.

4) Draw one card to represent your ultimate goal: what you want to be remembered for. The Six
of Cups might remind you to do a little charity work as you travel the path to your own success!

You might try this exercise once a week for a month, drawing different cards each time, and
seeing yourself from a number of perspectives. Alternatively, you could consciously pick the
cards you feel capture your priorities and values, and build a mandala of cards as a way of
keeping these values where you can see (and be inspired) by them.

With a greater awareness of what matters, you'll make better choices -- guaranteed.

Posted at 08:49 AM in Tips and Techniques | Permalink | Comments (0)

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All too often, our past experiences and prejudices create a perceptual cage -- a system of values
and assumptions that can hamper our objectiity.

You can shatter your "You-Colored Glasses" by drawing a few cards from a handy Tarot deck.
Give it a try:

1) Pick something to review: a movie, a book, a Tarot deck, the date you went on last night, a
restaurant

2) Draw three cards:

- One that represents something you really liked about the subject
- One that represents something that could have been improved

- One that represents a completely different perspective on the subject ... some aspect of the
subject you'd never have realized or considered on your own.

3) Create your review! (You don't have to write and publish it ... doing the review in your head is
just fine!)

This simple exercise has lots of power; in minutes, you can see a person, place, thing, or
experience from an entirely different perspective

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Much of Tarot's dramatic ability to generate new insights stems from how the cards force you to
think of something familiar (like your problem) in unfamiliar or unexpected ways (suggested by
the numbers, keywords, symbols, or illustrations on the card).

This week, why not let Tarot's remarkable random energy spill over into other areas of your life?
The goal is to do something outside your comfort zone ... to try something new ... to deliberately
confront the unexpected. Alter your perspective (and boost your creativity!) by trying these
twenty-two 'less traveled roads' inspired by the twenty-two Major Arcana cards of the Tarot:

)
* Spend the afternoon with a dog from the local animal shelter.

  * Learn a simple magic trick. Show it to four friends ... and four strangers.


  * Attend a service or class at a church, synagogue, or temple other than your own.

"%'
 * Ëesolve to eat only those desserts you make yourself, from scratch, for a month.

"%'

* Set a productivity goal you think will be impossible to beat -- and try to exceed it.


' * Try starting and ending each day with five minutes of prayer or meditation for a
week.

+#
* Write down six different aspects of your life -- hats you wear (painter, office clerk,
mom) or things you do (jogging, singing, surfing the web) -- and put them into a bowl. Draw
two, and come up with a project that brings these two unrelated areas of your life together. What
might happen if you fused your love for singing with your love for painting? Your work as a
parent with your love of photography?


* Drive home by a different route every day for a week.

c * Claim to be writing an article, and ask to ride along with your local police one night.

%* Go to a city where no one knows you. Explore the town and interact with the locals --
but don't allow yourself to speak a single word.

,
* Celebrate a holiday at the wrong time of year. How might Christmas change for the
better if it were celebrated in August?

$
* Try the 'fifteen minute diet.' You can have whatever it is that you want, as long as you
put off having it for just fifteen more minutes.

 
* Play Monopoly backward, distributing all money and property to every player,
and giving it away as you go around the board. The person with the least money left, wins.

 * See life in a whole new way by pretending, for a day, that you've been allowed to come
back and relive a single day from your own existence.

%'
* Eat odd things, mixed together. Ice cream with wasabi peas, anyone? Peaches and
rice? Oreos and peanut butter?

#
* If your life partner were a total stranger, how would you go about seducing him or her?
Now --go do it!

-
* Buy some Lego, some Lincoln Logs, or blocks -- and spend an hour building something
with your hands. (You can break it later, if you like.)

$
* If you home town sold †Maps to the Stars Homes,† what local people would be
considered †stars?† Make the map.

* Chart your creative, romantic, and emotional moods for a month, and see the extent to
which they fluctuate with the phases of the moon.

$ * Ëeverse some element of your schedule, swapping day for night. If you normally buy
groceries in the morning, go at midnight. If you normally see a movie in the evenings, go to the
matinee.

c %* Take a month's worth of classes for an instrument you never dreamed of playing (a
horn, maybe?).

,

* Take a belly dancing class -- or a course in some other skill you may dismiss as
impractical or impulsive.

Posted at 09:43 PM in Feature | Permalink | Comments (0)

 
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Most of us fish out a Tarot deck when we need an insight, idea, or solution. What's blocking me
from finishing this short story? How can I get over my fear of relationships? Should I turn in my
winning lottery ticket now, or wait until the media frenzy has died down a bit?

It's good to know you can turn to the cards in a crisis. It's also good to know the cards are there,
every day, waiting to help you focus your thoughts and enhance your perspective. Daily readings
-- short, quick, three-card readings that answer questions like "What's up?" or "What do I need to
know today?" -- offer benefits many people overlook:

- The discipline of a daily routine -- doing the same thing at the same time each day -- provides
you with a satisfying continuity and surprising sense of peace.

- Deciding to spend five minutes with the cards each day is one way of saying, "I want more time
for creative reflection in my life, and committing to a daily reading is one way to make their
desire a reality."

- A daily reading is a good enhancement to that stuffy, fifteen-minute daily review of goals they
teach to Franklin-Covey graduates. It provides perspective and context for your plans, and may
remind you of tasks you've overlooked.

Ëeady to start your day? Grab your handy Tarot deck and give this simple exercise a try.

1) Shuffle the deck and draw three cards.

- The first card you draw is your Topic Card: "Here's something you need to know or be aware
of."

- The second card is your Ëeason Card: "This is why this topic is important today."

- The third card is your Action Card: "Here's a suggestion for what you can do."

2) Ëead the cards, embracing the first ideas that occur to you. (Need help reading the cards?
Ëead the chapter on Making Meaning in Putting the Tarot to Work.)

Again and again, you'll find this exercise helps you identify unexpected or overlooked items that
deserve special attention. Want to see the real power of this application? Try it once a day, every
day, for a week ... and you'll be hooked!