ISSUE #6

Who Are You?

Ask A Question
When people come to the Tarot, they usually have a general idea of what they want to know even if they don’t have the question worded clearly or specifically. In Tarot Tips Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone provide 9 questions that help find answers for a myriad of situations.

1. What do I need to know about …?
2. What is the next step I need to take to achieve …?
3. What can I do to help …?
4. What is standing in the way of my …?
5. How can I best overcome the obstacle of …?
6. How can I better …?
7. What can I do to support myself while …?
8. Which is the best choice between …?
9. Who am I?

Ruth Ann and Wald admit that question 9 will have no easy answer rather the answer is a lifelong process of discovery. While asking “who am I?” and drawing one card can provide some interesting food for thought, other questions can help dig deeper and round out the answer.

Tarotist Nina Lee Braden teaches about using tarot for self discovery. What follows are adaptations of two of her exercises that are particularly interesting and might provide some useful insights.

When We Were Very Young
Sometimes to answer the question “who am I?” we have to revisit who we were. This exercise helps us do just that.

Go through your deck, face up, and choose a card that you think represents you as a child. Describe (in a journal, if you wish) how the card you selected reflects you as a child. How is the card you chose different from how you were as a child? If you could change your childhood, would you have been more or less like this card? In what ways?

As an adult, have you lost anything from your childhood that you cherished? If so, ask your inner child (as represented by the card you selected) how you can get back what you have lost. What is the answer?

Based on the answer, develop a plan that will help you gain what you lost.

My Mother, My Self
In this exercise, Nina Lee helps us explore the relationship between how we were mothered and how we nurture (mother) ourselves.

Go through your deck and select a card that you feel best represents your mother. How do you feel about this card? How is this card like your mother? How is it not like your mother? Would you prefer that your mother were more like a different card? If so, which card and why?

Now go through your deck and choose a card that illustrates how you nurture yourself (or how you don’t nurture yourself, if that is the case). This is not about how you nurture others, but how you take care of yourself. Is this how you want to nurture yourself? What does this say about how you treat yourself? What card would you prefer for how you nurture yourself?

What is the relationship between how you see your mother and how you mother yourself, based on the cards that you have chosen? How do you feel about this relationship? Devise a plan that you can put into action in the next 24 hours to nurture yourself.

And Now a Word From Our Sponsor
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Take a peek at the images at Ciro Marchetti's website: www.ciromarchetti.com and don't forget to try a Gilded Tarot spread at Llewellyn's own Web Tarot!

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A story of one woman’s journey of self-discovery and a short introduction to ayurveda:
Peace from My Past by Maya Ananda

Upcoming Tarot events

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For more Llewellyn Tarot- and book-related events,
check our event schedule

Maria Shaw's Tarot Kit for Teens author:
Maria Shaw
Workshop: Maria Shaw's Back-to-school Tarot Workshop for Teens
August 24, 2003, 1:30 p.m.
Barnes & Noble, Rochester Hills, MI
For more information call: 248-853-9939

The Quest Tarot creator:
Joseph Martin
Bay Area UFO Expo
Join author and artist Joseph Martin at the Bay Area UFO Expo. Joseph will have a booth, be doing readings, and have the Quest Tarot available!
August 27 through 29, 2004
The Westin Hotel, Santa Clara, CA
For more information call: 209-836-4281

Putting the Tarot to Work author:
Mark McElroy
Tarot readings and book signing
August 28, 2004, 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Books-A-Million, Jackson, MS
For more information call: 601-366-3008

An excerpt from "Tarot Tells the Tale"

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BY JAMES RICKLEF

Let us now explore the characteristics of each suit using its elemental association to aid our understanding of it. Some of the meanings attributed to the suits will be intuitively obvious based on the suit's emblem and on its elemental association, while others that may seem less obvious can be attributed to tradition and common convention. In either case, what follows are suggestions for your consideration. Take from them what you will.

Wands are made of wood, and their suit is associated with fire. Thus, this suit is characterized by growth and energy. As an aspect of our being, this suit corresponds to the flame of life that burns within us. Consequently, it also is associated with our will, passion, and libido. As an aspect of a project or endeavor, the suit of Wands relates to the spark of desire and inspiration that initiated it and to the burning enthusiasm that drives it.

Cups are receptacles, and their suit is associated with water, which flows, nourishes, and refreshes. Also, water's surface can be reflective like a mirror. On the other hand, an ocean's depths are profound and virtually fathomless. This suit, then, is associated with the deep, unknowable subconscious mind, and with the ever-flowing feelings that both arise from and return to those depths. As an aspect of our being, it corresponds to our emotions and our relationships, as well as to our imagination. As an aspect of a project or endeavor, the suit of Cups relates to an emotional response to the original idea or impetus for the venture, and it relates to our vision for the endeavor. Note that it is our vision that begins to give form to a project, just as a cup gives form to the fluid poured into it.

Swords, with their sharp edges, can be either weapons or useful tools, and the element of their suit is air. A mind can be sharp as well, and it, too, can be either a weapon or a tool, depending on how it is used. This suit typically is associated with mental activity such as logic, reason, and communication. Considering some of the ways in which a sword can be used, this suit also is associated with action, conflict, and cruelty. The airy aspect of the suit of Swords calls to mind volatility and stormy situations on the one hand, and clarity of thought on the other. Thus, as an aspect of our being, this suit corresponds to our thoughts, prejudices, and concepts. As an aspect of a project or endeavor, it relates to the analysis, decision-making, planning, and call to action from which the undertaking is forged.

Pentacles, as generally depicted in Tarot decks, are the coins of wealth and commerce, and this suit is associated with the element of earth. Thus, this suit is related to earthiness and being grounded, to the body and material resources, and to money and prosperity. It also relates to security, value, and a sense of worth, as well as to generosity and charity. As an aspect of our being, it corresponds to the strength, health, and sensations of our physical body. As an aspect of a project or endeavor, the suit of Pentacles relates to the physical labor that executes the plan, as well as to the tangible manifestation of it.

READ MORE ...

Great Tarot products on sale!

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Cool links

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FREE online web Tarot readings

www.notsoswift.com/amindandacard/knittingtarot/
(Knitting is one of my other loves. So a site that combines knitting and Tarot definitely has to make on to my list of cool sites.)

Related Tarot articles from New Worlds magazine

Tarot Passages
(One of the best sites on the web for Tarot deck reviews, useful info, and upcoming events)

Definitions of Tarot terms from the Llewellyn Encyclopedia

www.aeclectic.net/tarot/
(A fun site with lots of reviews and forums.)

The American Tarot Association website

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