Develop a Strong Foundation with Tarot
Tarot Healer: Using the Cards to Deepen Your Chakra Healing Work
Leeza Robertson
At the time of this writing (late-March), the world was in a shaky place. Maybe we still are in June. In any case, having a strong foundation makes getting through daily life easier and is essential for surviving the larger challenges we face. One way to achieve that is to have a healthy root chakra.
In her forthcoming book, Tarot Healer, Roberston gives us a complete system for assessing and nurturing your chakra system with tarot. In this excerpt we have an exercise that is just one of a series of exercises working with the Root chakra. Even this part, though, provides plenty of food for thought.
Muladhara – The Root chakra Exercise
This first energy center is central to us feeling safe, secure, stable, connected, present and aligned to the material world. It is the very foundation in which we build our body, mind and spirit. What happens here in the root chakra affects every other energy center that sits on top of it. Have issues here and you are guaranteed to have issues all the way up your chakra system. That is why it is crucial to have an open dialogue with your root chakra. The easiest way to do that is to give it a significator, which is a card that will represent the chakra. For me, I always think about the Emperor and the Queen of Pentacles when I am working with the root chakra, as they both are about building, growing and supporting, but your significator may be very different.
For this first exercise grab your tarot deck and place the cards face up. Spread them out and see which image best represents the energy you want to see radiating out of your root chakra. Take your time, really make sure the card you have selected will stand up to the strain of holding up the rest of your chakra system. Make sure it is strong, stable and able to hold you in place even in the most difficult of times, but that it is fluid enough to move and flex as you stretch, dance and grow. Once you have your card, open your journal, and do some automatic writing around this card and your root chakra.
- 1. Foundation
The root chakra is the foundation of your chakra system. Think of it this way; it holds up the walls that support the roof to the temple of your body. Nobody wants to build a temple on a rocky, cracked or shoddy foundation, which is why it always shocks me that so few people pay attention to their energetic foundation. They seem perfectly happy to have it filled with holes, torn at the seams, and crumbling to pieces, and then wonder why their bodies don’t seem to do what they want it to do. Bad foundations create bad buildings and ones that tend to buckle, collapse and ultimately fall apart. I don’t know about you, but I would never build a house to live in on such a disaster of a foundation, nor would I expect something built on fault conditions to hold it together for very long. Imagine having the walls crashing down on you or having the roof cave in on you while you are sleeping. These are nightmare scenarios, yet so many people believe that it is okay to build their bodies and lives this way.
So why do we think allowing this to happen to our root chakra is acceptable?
It is mainly because people believe they can’t see it. However, take a look around your health and your life, and you will have plenty of evidence of how strong your foundation is. Your life is either moving along nicely, and you feel confident about your growth and the direction you are headed, or you feel blocked, unsure and shaken at best. Your foundation is evident in every decision you make, every step you take or don’t take and every fear or doubt that whirls around your head. Spend two minutes listening to someone, and you will be able to see how strong their foundation is. People speak the conditions of their lives all the time. So be mindful of the words you are using to describe your life, your choices, your circumstances and your abilities as they are all either building on your foundation or shattering it. Your body is a mirror of all the decisions you have made at a foundation level, and it is easier than you think to get a picture of what is going on with you at that level.
Exercise
Grab your journal and your tarot cards, as its time to dive deeper to your foundation. Shuffle your deck and read over the following questions pulling a card as your answer.
Card One: Where does my foundation need assistance?
Card Two: How can I make my foundation stronger?
Card Three: What do I need to do to make sure my foundation is flexible enough not to
crack?
Just pull one card for each of these questions, and then spend some time with these cards in your journal. Consider what elements showed up here, as the foundation elements are important. Water could mean you need more flexibility and give in your foundation. The best foundations are the ones with a bit of flow to them. Air could mean you need to cleanse more often, literally blowing away blocks and cobwebs, or it may be showing you where cracks are forming. Fire could mean you need more action and movement in your foundation, and of course, earth means you need to compact the base and strengthen the foundation.
