This Podcast Episode has been archived. It is available for purchase at shop.tarotconnection.net in the Year One Archive mp3 DVD.

On Halloween 2006, I did a reading for a friend who was considering a career change. I’m sharing part of this reading including a yes/no spread, an 3 card exploration reading and a journey into the High Priestess.

Hermit’s Journey with Bonnie Cehovet - Right Speech

Welcome to the Hermit’s Journey. I am Bonnie Cehovet, and today I am going to be discussing the concepts of Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood. This topic came out of conversations that Leisa and I have been having about the many things that are going on within the Tarot world, and about the responsibilities that we each carry, to ourselves and to our clients.

This is reflected in the Code of Ethics that each reader is encouraged to develop, but it goes far beyond this code.

The concepts of Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood come from the essence of Buddha’s teaching. They are part of what is termed the Noble Eightfold Path: (1) Right View, (2) Right Intention, (3) Right Speech, (4) Right Action, (5) Right Livelihood, (6) Right Effort, (7) Right Mindfulness, (8) Right Concentration.

Right View and Right Intention are considered to be part of the discipline of Wisdom; Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood are considered part of the discipline of moral/ethical conduct; while Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration are considered to be part of the discipline of Mental Development. Together, they act as a foundation to allow the individual to free themselves from attachments and delusions, and to lead them to an understanding of the basic truth about all things.

What place does this serve in the professional world of Tarot? The same place that it serves in all worlds, and that is to act as a tool to guide the individual in making decisions and taking actions that are right for themselves, without causing harm to themselves, or those around them. It is living in harmony with our environment, and all that comprises that environment.

Tarot Realizations – from Bill Vincent

Knowing When to Take a Break…

Tarot can be challenging. Everything from doing readings, to studying the symbolism, to finding the proper balance in your life for Tarot can be challenging. I am what I would consider an Intermediate Tarot student. I feel I have come a long way in my intellectual understanding of the cards. I have read and studied several of the classic books on the topic. I have worked with the cards doing readings and flexing my intuitive muscles. But, over the course of time I have been working with them, there have been times when I felt the need to take a break from them, in order to be able to process all of the input that the cards themselves and their study present to me.

The first time this happened I had let myself get mentally over stimulated to the point where I put everything out of sight for a few weeks. At that time I felt a sense of frustration and failure at my inability to handle all of the information that was coming my way. I needed a vacation from the intellectual study of Tarot, and I took one. When I finally returned to my cards, books, and thoughts on Tarot, I was much better prepared to understand my limits, and how much I could do without overload. (read the full post)

Strange Bedfellows by Ginny Hunt

Christianity and tarot make very odd bedfellows indeed. One might even say they need separate bedrooms at the very least. That opinion is held not only by many Christians but also by many Pagans and neo-pagans who reject the Christian symbolism in the cards and claim the symbology to be corrupted forms of earlier pagan symbolism. While they have a valid point, I think it’s interesting that both Christian and Pagan belief systems reject the Christian historical roots of tarot.

The Church took offense with the deck almost immediately. Card playing had associations with gambling ever since playing cards had been introduced to Europe and various laws and decrees were enacted to discourage that. However, the earliest known disparagement of tarot cards specifically comes from an anonymously penned sermon, known as “The Steele Sermon” or “Sermones de Ludo cum Aliis,” c. 1480. This sermon detailed the Trumps of tarot and asserts that the Trumps were invented and named by the Devil and as such hotly discourages their use. The blasphemous depiction of The Pope, the inclusion of a female Popesse, the imagery of The Devil, The Tower and so forth created objections and banning by the Church. But it likely wasn’t just the pictures that caused such a ruckus. The politics of the time were more than probably the driving force behind the opposition.

The characters in the tarot “triumph” or trumps were seen in the many Roman Catholic pageantry processions, not too unlike what we see preceding Lent at Mardis Gras and Carnival. These pageants were evangelistic devices of the Church designed to convert. Indeed, the Church has used various forms of earlier pagan imagery in its quest to convert the heathen, so the imagery these pageants used were designed to place the Christian story in a pagan context. As the Reformation took hold in Europe, these pageants disappeared from France, Italy, and England. All religious plays were banned in France in the mid 1500’s and with them went much of the historical truth about what those original tarot trumps actually represented. A very sad loss, indeed. (read the full post)

Music Credits

Opening Music: time release by the Droney Tones.

Hermits Journey Music: Dark Moon by Suzanne Teng from Enchanted Wind (Magnatune)

78 Notes Music: Steamy River by Rhonda Lorence from Winter Moon (Magnatune)

Closing Music: Dolphins from Restrung by Reza Manzoori

This Podcast Episode has been archived. It is available for purchase at shop.tarotconnection.net in the Year One Archive mp3 DVD.

Dena DeCastro joins me to do a Zodiac Houses reading for listener Brad Jacobson. This is based on the second operation of the Opening of the Key.

The mode of performing the Divination called “The Opening of the Key” is by five consecutive operations of laying out the cards, they having been previously well shuffled, and, in addition in the first and fourth cases, having been cut as well, and in a certain manner. These five operations answer respectively, the first to the Dominion of the Four Knaves under the presidency of the Four Aces; the Second to that of the Kings, Queens and Knights, referred to the Twelve Houses; the Third to that of the Twelve Keys attributed to the Signs; the Fourth to that of the smaller cards answering to the 36 Decanates; and the Fifth and last to the rule of the Sephiroth in the Celestial Heavens. - The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic by Israel Regardie

The cards are shuffled and not cut. Starting with the first house (ASC.) the cards are dealt out in order around the wheel (counter-clockwise). This is where I depart from the Opening of the Key. We interpreted the top cards of each stack in relationship to the houses.

1. First House (Aries) - House of Self: Self-Awareness, Self-Expression, Individuality, Personality, Outward Appearances & Stimuli.
2. Second House (Taurus) - House of Possession: Sustenance, Resources, Money, Self-Worth, Wealth, Values, Luxury, Talents.
3. Third House (Gemini) - House of Communication: Logic, Mental & Spiritual Development, Curiosity, Hobbies, Short Journeys, Siblings.
4. Fourth House (Cancer) - House of Family & Home: Domestic Scenes, Environment, Roots, Security, Comfort, Tradition.
5. Fifth House (Leo) -House of Pleasure: Beauty, Creative Expression, Romance, Social Activities, Recreation, Children.
6. Sixth House (Virgo) - House of Health: Work, Duty, Responsibility & Personal Growth, Employment, Service.
7. Seventh House (Libra) - House of Partnership: Marriage, Friendships, Business Relationships, Karma, Compromise, Contracts.
8. Eighth House (Scorpio) - House of Sex: Sex, Death & Rebirth. Shared Resources, Inheritance, Support From Another, Regeneration.
9. Ninth House (Sagittarius) - House of Philosophy: Expanding Inner & Outer Selves Through Travel, Education, & Spirituality.
10. Tenth House (Capricorn) - House of Social Status: Career, Society, Public Reputation, Place In Community.
11. Eleventh House (Aquarius) - House of Friendships: Friends, Society, Philanthropy, Aspirations, Free Time, Ideals & Goals.
12. Twelveth House (Pisces) - House of Subconscious: Psychological Health, Emotional Experiences, Unconscious Memories, Seclusion, Secrets.

Handouts

Cafe Press Shop

And Justice For All by Ginny Hunt

When we think of what is “just” we often equate it with what is “fair.” However, what seems fair to one person is often not how another would envision it. Enter, Justice. She is the embodiment of the moral virtue that would not be swayed by personal interest, nor an individual sense of fairness, but an overarching global, cosmic sense of what is “right” because in the end of it all it is just and fair.
No idea in Western civilization has been more consistently linked to ethics and morality than the idea of justice. From The Republic, written by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, to A Theory of Justice, written by the late Harvard philosopher John Rawls, every major work on ethics has held that justice is part of the central core of morality. So where does the concept originate? Social justice is likely as old as the first humans as they structured their communities and fought among themselves for their own conflicting interests. Without the cooperation and equity justice provides, we would quickly extinguish our own species. Egyptians knew her as Maat, the one who weighed the hearts of men. Greeks knew her as Themis, goddess of order and oracle at Delphi who was the mother of Dike, goddess of justice. Romans knew her as Justitia. It wasn’t until the 16th century that images of justice showed her blindfolded to represent impartiality, but the sword and scales have shown up in her various incarnations over the ages. (read the full post)

Tarot Realizations – from Bill Vincent

Tarot is a somewhat remarkable thing. I find myself marveling at it’s beauty, and entrenched in it’s symbolism. But Tarot has also given me something else, too. It has made me really understand that there is a unique quality to Tarot that goes beyond the 78 cards. It has given me a sense of hope that someday we will better understand the energy behind it.

In my experience, Tarot is the most interesting and powerful of all divinatory arts. Through it I have discovered that there is indeed a unique power that plays between myself and the cards, a power of synchronicity which cannot be explained away. It does not have every answer, and does not control my life. Yet, it provides the closest thing to tangible proof in my eyes that there is truly an unseen intelligence that plays a part in our existence. (read the full post)

Hermit’s Journey with Bonnie Cehovet - Symbolism of the High Priestess

Welcome to the Hermit’s Journey. My name is Bonnie Cehovet, and in this Pod Cast we will continue on our journey through the symbols in the Major Arcana. As I noted in the first Pod Cast of this series, that of the Fool, the imagery and symbolism in the Tarot is what connects us to its archetypal qualities and wisdom. It acts as a gateway between our conscious and our unconscious worlds. Each deck carries with it its own unique brand of imagery and symbols.

For the purposes of this discussion, I will be referring to the Waite-Smith Tarot (also known as the Rider-Waite Tarot), as it is a traditional reference, and quite often used for teaching purposes. Interpreting the imagery and symbols is done in two ways: through the intent of the author/illustrator (and here we need to remember that the background for the Rider-Waite deck is that of the Golden Dawn), and how the Seeker sees it through the veil of their own personal life experiences.

Let’s continue our journey through the symbols of the High Priestess. Here we see represented the feminine mystique, higher wisdom, and a connection to the Moon and our unconscious selves.

The wisdom that the High Priestess represents is universal wisdom that we connect with by accessing our inner self, our unconscious self. This is the wisdom that helps us to develop the potential inherent within the skills and abilities of the Magician.

In a reading, the symbols within the card of the High Priestess address the spiritual nature in our life. We are being told that before we can find a solution to our issues, we need to look deeply into them, and deeply into ourselves.

Music Credits

Opening Music: time release by the Droney Tones.

78 Notes Music: Steamy River by Rhonda Lorence from Winter Moon (Magnatune)

Hermits Journey Music: Dark Moon by Suzanne Teng from Enchanted Wind (Magnatune)

Closing Music: Eastern Sky-Touching Grace from eastern grooves by DJ Cary

This Podcast Episode has been archived. It is available for purchase at shop.tarotconnection.net in the Year One Archive mp3 DVD.

Gate Cards: Tarot Realizations by Bill Vincent

I am always intrigued by the concept of gate cards. Gate cards, as they are referred to in Rachael Pollack’s book Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom are cards that lend themselves more easily than others to the process of active visualization, or entering the card in your mind. This type of exercise can provide deeper levels of meaning within the cards, and your relationship to them. My initial impressions of Tarot was that every card is a gate card, and I still believe that is true. However, some cards do make this easier with their stunning scenes and multiple levels of meaning. To quote Rachael in 78 degrees, They all share certain characteristics: complex, often contradictory meanings, and a myth-like strangeness which no allegorical interpretation can completely penetrate. Rachael talks about several specific cards being gate cards. (read full post)

Professional Tarot Practice

James Wells joins me to explore what it means to be a tarot reader including the following topics:

• What is a tarot professional?
• What is professionalism
• ethical considerations

This is part one of a two part series.

James Wells is a Toronto-based Tarot consultant with an international clientele. Since age 12, he has lived, worked and played with the Tarot and its rich symbolism. James is also a Reiki Master, publisher of The Six-Rayed Star, musician, explorer of divination systems, weaver of rituals, and workshop facilitator. His job as a Worker of Oracles is to create sacred space for constructive feedback and soul work - a place where dreams, goals, imagination, intuition and magick, have full sway so that you can enjoy insight, support and healing. James can be reached at workeroforacles@yahoo.ca

Tarot Dancing by Ginny Hunt

Carol gave me the Three of Cups yesterday because I was such a mess on Friday. And then do you know what happened? I went dancing! I received an invitation last night to go out and see my favorite local band and danced my booty off. This is one of the things I really love about tarot, the layers of meanings in the cards, from the literal to the metaphorical. While Carol’s intention of giving me that card was clearly a way of expressing her friendship and support to me, little did she (or I, for that matter) know that it was a literal prediction, or prescription perhaps, to remedy my state of mind.
There is a dance we do among the meanings when we look at a card, a mental and emotional dance that, as a tarot beginner, feels awkward and out-of synch at first, but which becomes easier and more fluid the longer we work with the cards. I remember becoming very frustrated with the dance when I first started learning the card meanings because there seemed to be so many different choices, how was I to know which one to choose? I could look at the Three of Cups and see, literally, a get-together with women friends, or metaphorically a supportive environment, feeling at one with humanity, friendship, or caring. As I stumbled through the dance steps of tarot reading, I would become frustrated and wonder how I was ever going to actually read these cards. This was a new dance and I felt so out of step with the music. In fact, I couldn’t even hear the music at first. (read the full post)

Hermit’s Journey with Bonnie Cehovet - Relationship Resources

Welcome to the Hermit’s Journey! This is Bonnie Cehovet, and I would like to thank each of you for joining me on my journey. Relationship and finances are two of the biggest areas that readers receive queries about. I can tend to roll my eyes and shake my head when I get too many relationship readings in a row. In thinking about this, I realized that there are some wonderful resources out there that readers can use to recharge their batteries when it comes to love and romance. Today I am going to be talking about a few of the resources available- books, decks, and perhaps a spread or two that specifically address the areas of love, romance, and relationship.

… As readers, we can open up the scope of our readings, and offer our clients tools for healing, and tools for empowering themselves and their relationships. Scans and reviews of the following decks and books can be found on Aeclectic Tarot

Books:

• Daniels, Kooch N. & Victor Daniels. “Tarot D’Amour“. Weiser Books. 2003. ISBN #1-57863-292-7.
• Fairchild, Gail. “Choice Centered Relating and the Tarot“. Samuel Weiser, Inc. 2000. ISBN # 1-57863-143-2.
• Jette, Christine. “Tarot For The Healing Heart“. Llewellyn Publications. 2001. ISBN #0-7387-004306. Visit Finding the Muse
• McElroy, Mark. “Taking The Tarot to Heart“. Llewellyn Publications. 2005, ISBN #0-7387-053605. Visit Made by Mark
• Waldherr, Kris. “The Lovers Path”. Henry M. Abrams.2005. ISBN #0-8109-5785-6. Visit Art & Words

Decks:

• Ma Padma Diva. “The Osho Zen Tarot“. St. Martins Press. ISBN #0312117337. Osho Zen On-Line Readings
• Mahony, Karen & Alex Ukolov. “The Baroque Bohemian Cats Tarot“. Magic Realist Press. ISBN #0954500725. Bohemian Cats Website
• Sweikhardt, Karen. “Tarot of a Moon Garden“. U.S. Games Systems. ISBN #1572810955
• Waldherr, Kris. “The Lovers Path Tarot“. U.S. Games Systems. ISBN #1572814683. Lovers Path On-Line Reading
• Zerner, Amy & Monte Farber. “The Enchanted Tarot“. St. Martin’s Press. ISBN #0312050798 Visit the Enchanted World

Music Credits

Opening Music: time release by the Droney Tones.

Hermits Journey Music: Dark Moon by Suzanne Teng from Enchanted Wind (www.magnatune.com)

Tranistion Music: Lunarsheen by Clair Fitch from Ambiancellist (www.magnatune.com)

Closing Music: Ambiancellist by Clair Fitch from Ambiancellist (www.magnatune.com)

This Podcast Episode has been archived. It is available for purchase at shop.tarotconnection.net in the Year One Archive mp3 DVD.

Relationship Readings

A relationship reading is the most requested type of reading. My Guest James Ricklef proposes that as a reader we must know one’s self to be able to provide the most helpful reading possible.

There are many ways of approaching a relationships reading. Two really interesting aspects to ponder are “what does love mean to me” and “what is the foundation of my relationship”.

James Ricklef is a Certified Tarot Master — a Tarot reader, lecturer, and writer. For many years now, he has been a recurring workshop presenter at the annual Los Angeles Tarot Symposium (LATS). He has also been a featured speaker at the New York Tarot Reader’s Studio (an annual three-day event) and at the annual San Francisco Bay Area Tarot Symposium (BATS). James is the author of the award-winning book “Tarot Tells the Tale” and of a book about Tarot spreads titled “Tarot — Get the Whole Story”.

• Visit James’ Website
• Read his Haiku Poetry
• Café Press, Zazzle products and Books (including a poster with the Lovers and the rest of the Major Arcana)
• Tarot Affirmations Booklet
• Author Bio at Llewellyn
• Review of Tarot Tells the Tale at Tainted Tarot
  
• Ways to Practice Reading Tarot Cards by James Ricklef
• Tarot & Your Spiritual Path:The Wheel of Fortune Written by James Ricklef

El Diablo by Ginny Hunt

We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell ~Oscar Wilde

There are three Major Arcana cards that routinely tend to provoke quite the freakout: Death (dun dun dun!), The Tower (a rather unwelcome shock), and The Devil. He’s usually depicted in very grotesque form and it’s a natural response to recoil from such nasties. Case in point, here is an image from a very early deck, the Visconti-Sforza, the first “official” tarot card deck made in the mid-fifteenth century. It’s pretty typical devil symbolism what with the goat horns and bat wings, dragon-scaled belly, malevolent face, etc., but what is more disturbing about this card are the children. Good God, will someone not save the children? Actually, I don’t think they’re both supposed to be children, per se, as the female figure has breasts, but the male figure is clearly a boy. And they’ve spouted horns, so apparently they’re becoming that which both lures and repels them. Tied loosely, they seem captivated, willing slaves. The young woman looks freakishly like a Stepford Wife and the devil is obviously the Puppet Master. These kinds of images make one wonder what could possibly be so appealing about the gruesome dude that one would stay, willingly, bound.

Tarot Realizations by Bill Vincent

I’d like to take a few moments to talk about my favorite aspect of Tarot, the one thing that keeps me completely dedicated to the cards. Yes, they can be used for divination and can be used lightheartedly or seriously, depending on the situation. They are fun to work with, and fun to collect. But really, the most fascinating thing about Tarot, to me, has to be the symbolism. We are surrounded every day with symbols. You can’t even escape them if you were to move far away from our modern world, because symbols appear in nature as well as in our materialistic world. Symbols captivate us, they catch our eye and we subconsciously notice them, sometimes without even being aware that they are impacting us. Even colors by themselves are symbols that have multiple associations and meanings. (read full post)

Hermit’s Journey with Bonnie Cehovet - Symbolism of the Magician

Let’s continue our journey through the symbols of the Magician. There are two sides to every card. To paraphrase Sandra Thomson from “The Heart of the Tarot”, the Magician can be a sacred magician, or he can mesmerize us with illusion and then disappear (in a puff of smoke). The extensive imagery in this card tells us a lot about this gentleman.

This is a very powerful card to have appear in a reading. It indicates that the Seeker has these tools at his or her command, and needs to make best use of them. It is very important to dialogue with the Seeker when giving a reading, to get their impression of the multitude of symbols within this card … to see what draws their eye, and what place this might have in their life.

Music Credits

• Opening Music: time release by the Droney Tones.
• 78 Notes Music: Steamy River by Rhonda Lorence from Winter Moon (Magnatune)
• Hermits Journey: Dark Moon by Suzanne Teng from Enchanted Wind (Magnatune)
• Transition Music: Toccata No 6 in F major by Jeni Melia from the Lost Art of Wooing (Magnatune)
• Closing Music: I’m in Love by Yongen from Moonrise (Magnatune)

This Podcast Episode has been archived.

It is available for purchase at shop.tarotconnection.net in the Year One Archive mp3 DVD.

Tarot Realizations by Bill Vincent

My personal use of Tarot tends to fall mainly within the self-development category. I’m always studying the symbolism from my various decks, looking for new insights. One day I discovered an exercise that inspired me so much that I wanted to share it, and I hope you find as much value in it as I did.

Recently I had a particularly challenging week at work, and by the time Friday came I was pretty beaten down, my energy was low and I needed some inspiration to finish the week on a good note. So while having my morning coffee, I decided to go through my deck face-up, looking for cards that inspired me. After picking a handful of cards, I placed them on the table and just let their positive symbols soak in. Within a few minutes I began to feel better, so much better that I knew I had discovered something really wonderful. By picking cards with symbols that were uplifting to me and meditating on them, I had redirected my thoughts. My focused attention on them caused a real change in how I felt, and as a result I had a boost of energy and good feelings which lasted my entire day.

Like anything that makes you feel good, it’s possible to do it so much that it loses it’s potency, so this may not be something you want to do every day. But, if you’re in a pattern of negative thinking or really need to recharge your batteries, doing this exercise can produce a real change in the way you feel. Good luck, and may the happiest cards be yours

Yes or No? by Ginny Hunt

In the comments section of my Confessions post, Roswila brought up yet another controversial topic in tarot: Yes/No Readings. Should we even do them? Some say that tarot just isn’t the right tool for the job, that the cards are not suited to simple, flat answers like Yes or No. They are archetypes and tell stories and dig up subconscious mysteries, so asking them a simple Yes/No question usually ends up with the cards giving you all kinds of information then leaving it up to you to decide yes or no. Still others say that the oracle is fine for asking Yes/No questions of and it can and will yield an answer and even tell you why it’s so.

TJ McKeown’s Yes/No Approach

My system for Yes/No questions (I’m not sure if you would call it a spread) requires knowledge of the Major Arcana and their order. After shuffling the deck you answer the question by dealing the cards in a pile as you count the cards.

• Aces are Yes
• Tens are No

If you do not get an Ace or a Ten within 22 cards then the Answer is unavailable or the Question was incorrect. As you deal the cards and count you remember which card it was when an Ace or Ten is laid. You stop dealing and Take into consideration which number it was and the suit.

The yes or no is answered by the number (Ace or 10). The Suit gives more information as does the number 1, 2, 3, … , 22). Match the number to the Major Arcana it represents and this too gives more information. So instead of just a yes or No you get a little background being the answer, perhaps a Why or Why not.

I have been using this system for a while and it has proven to be pretty accurate. I have also used it at psychic fairs.

Hermit’s Journey with Bonnie Cehovet - Symbolism of the Fool

Welcome to all of our listeners. This Pod Cast is going to be devoted to the symbolism of the Fool. The imagery and symbolism in the Tarot is what connects us to its archetypal qualities and wisdom. It acts as a gateway between our conscious and our unconscious worlds. Each deck carries with it its own unique brand of imagery and symbols. For the purposes of this discussion, I will be referring to the Waite-Smith Tarot (also known as the Rider-Waite Tarot), as it is a traditional reference, and quite often used for teaching purposes. Interpreting the imagery and symbols is done in two ways: through the intent of the author/illustrator (and here we need to remember that the background for the Rider-Waite deck is that of the Golden Dawn), and how the Seeker sees it through the veil of their own personal life experiences.”

Music Credits

• Opening Music: time release by the Droney Tones.
• 78 Notes Music: Winter Moon by Rhonda Lorence from Winter Moon (Magnatune)
• Hermits Journey: Dark Moon by Suzanne Teng from Enchanted Wind (Magnatune)
• Closing Music: Floating Bamboo by Suzanne Teng from Enchanted Wind (Magnatune)

Play or Download the Episode