The Heart Chakra and Tarot
Over the decades, we tarot lovers have created associations between lots of different systems and the cards. One of the reasons we love tarot is that it is flexible. In Tarot Companion, Tracy Porter has collected many of the most commonly used associations. While it is not hard to search for and find information on associations through various books and websites, it is really handy to have so many of them gathered together in one handy reference book.
Chakras are one of the not so common associations but whenever I meet a reader who uses them, I am always amazed by how much they can add to a reading. Here is an excerpt from her section on Chakras, in particular, the Heart Chakra:
The heart chakra is located in eh center of the chest. This chakra is associated with the color green and all four-legged mammals. The heart chakra is the seat of the astral body, which is the bridge between the material and spiritual bodies. This chakra deals with empathy or our ability to imaginatively project a subject thought into an objet so that the objects appears to be infused with the thought. The heart chakra energizes our physical bodies with the life force and helps ground the energy to our bodies. This chakra governs issues relating to unconditional love, feelings, forgiveness, compassion, understanding, openness, balance, rust, and oneness with life. When we negatively relate to heart chakra issues, we may repress love and become unbalance, distrustful, and emotionally unstable.
Physically, the heart chakra governs the circulation of the blood, heart, arms, hands, and lungs. When we have long-standing emotional problems relating to the heart chakra, we may develop heart problems, lung disease, or circulation problems, in order to force us to come to terms with these issues. People who tend to activate our heart chakras are those who teach us to love unconditionally, and these persons may put us into positions where we are forced to love them regardless of their wrongdoings. Because the heart chakra helps us remain balanced throughout life’s ups and downs, the harmonious qualities of 11, Justice and 14, Temperance represent this chakra. Because we are often asked to love unconditionally, those who seem to act at cross-purposes to our lives, 12, The Hanged Man asks us to make such sacrifices—as all that we give will eventually come back to us stronger than ever before.
