Newsletter of The Tarot School
http://TarotSchool.com
ISSN: 1529-0565 
Vol. 9 #5 / July 1, 2017
                                                                  
 In this Issue:
- Welcome
- Tarot Tip: Tarot and Other Systems
- Tarot School Aphorism
- Guest Article: Reading the Chakras in Your Tarot Cards
- Best Practices: You're Invited but Tarot Isn't – Reading for the Reluctant

- Upcoming Events
 
Welcome to a new issue of Tarot Tips!
And a special welcome to our new subscribers.

 
calendar and carnations


July puts us well past mid-year. Sometimes the weeks
feel like they’ve flown by, while others seem to drag
on. But no matter what is going on in life, there is
always a desire to make it better. For some of us that
means not taking on more than we can handle, or
remaining steadfast to the choices we have made and
paths we have chosen. Sometimes life is all about
learning, about pushing beyond our normal limits, by
exploring new possibilities for growth. Tarot is great
for that!
 
The tarot journey brings with it many interpretations,
connections and associations. It is a very versatile
tool, and this issue explores several of the systems
and modalities whose uses have been incorporated into
the body of tarot practice. The power duo of Kooch and
Victor Daniels talk about one such pairing in a special
article this issue. (Dr. Elinor Greenberg is teaching
in Poland so her column is on hiatus this month.) 
 
Tarot’s popularity has exploded over the last few
years. However, as popular as it is with those of us
who are involved with it, there is still plenty of
resistance and much ignorance about what tarot is and
isn’t. The Best Practices column shares some advice
on how to deal with that resistance when it becomes an
issue in your practice.          
 
 
And one more thing...

RS18 UPDATE:

Negotiations with one hotel we were interested in
fell through. The space and the people were great,
but the prices they need to charge us to hold the
kind of event we want are way too high. They
explained why so we know there's no room for
further discussion.

We are currently working with an excellent
meeting planner who has reached out to her
extensive network of contacts to find us a
new home for Readers Studio. Once we receive
proposals from the hotels, we'll have a better
sense of what's possible.

Any energy you can send toward the manifestation
of a wonderful outcome is very much appreciated!
 
 


With love and gratitude on the tarot journey,
Ruth Ann, Wald, Gina & Elinor

 
Tarot Tips is here to help you with the practical side
of your Tarot journey. In order to take the greatest
advantage of this newsletter, please send us your
questions regarding any aspect of your tarot study
or practice and we'll do our best to answer them
in an upcoming issue.

Spread the experience of tarot - share this newsletter
with other Tarot Enthusiasts!
 

 
Tarot Tip
TAROT AND OTHER SYSTEMS
 
 
Tarot is interesting to individuals from every culture,
belief system and consciousness-raising practice.
Tarot and other systems are “languages” by which human
behaviors and experiences are communicated in our quest
to understand ourselves.

The number of disciplines connected to tarot is
surprisingly large. Some of the list that follows may
already be familiar, and others you may be interested
in exploring as you seek to increase your knowledge
and utilization of tarot.
 
Tarot and Astrology
Tarot and Numerology
Tarot and Chakras
Tarot and Meditation
Tarot and Elements
Tarot and Ayurveda
Tarot and Bodywork
Tarot and Yoga
Tarot and Angelic Energies
Tarot and Dreamwork
Tarot and Magic
Tarot and Qabalah
Tarot and Alchemy
Tarot and Pathworking
Tarot and other Divination Tools
Tarot and Journaling
Tarot and Crystal Scrying
Tarot and Herbalism
Tarot and Tattwas
Tarot and Ancestral Memory Work
Tarot and Mediumship
Tarot and Talismanic Magic
 
As you can see from this list, many systems and
disciplines have contributed to an expanded tarot skill
set. You may very well discover even more ways to
combine tarot with your own interests.
 

   
   


 Tarot School Aphorism
 
 
            In tarot, there is a profound difference between information and knowledge. ~ Wald Amberstone / TarotSchool.com
 
                         
 
          
                   


Guest Article:
READING THE CHAKRAS IN YOUR TAROT CARDS

by 
Victor Daniels, Ph.D., and Kooch N. Daniels, M.A.

                             
 "When you understand chakras you understand
everything,"
said our teacher Harish Johari, Vedic
scholar, who passed over to the other side in 1999.
We’ve been using what we’ve learned from him and
other experts on the chakras to enhance our
understanding of what’s most important when
discussing the cards in relation to the central or
underlying theme(s) of a person’s Tarot reading.
 
To do a chakra-based reading, you have to know 
what kind of energies are connected with each chakra. 
From the first (lowest) chakra to the seventh highest)
chakra, the essential meanings are given below. Don't
be intimidated by the list of seven, because Johari
also remarked that 95 percent of the population lives
out their lives almost entirely in the first three chakras. 

Our experience with readings bears this out. When
people sit down with you for readings, their questions
and concerns are likely to be almost entirely about
first, second, and third chakra matters. A few are
trying to pull themselves up into  a bit of a fourth
chakra state of pure love consciousness, and your
readings may be able to help them with increasing 
their awareness that can help with doing that. 

For the most part, when the cards point to the fifth,
sixth, and seventh chakras, you can help your clients
get a sense of the direction in which they want to
move, but most of us must take deep reflective time to
develop our own understanding of the true meaning of
being awake in the higher chakras. Still,  if you're
going to talk about them or give chakra Tarot readings,
you need at least a minimal knowledge of all seven of
the main chakras. (We say “main” chakras because
there are also two sub-chakras of the seventh chakra,
but you can probably go through a lifetime of chakra
readings without needing to address them.)

Here's a basic list of the seven “wheels of light”:


                  Seven Wheels of Light


First or Root Chakra:  physical and psychological
survival and security (Physical correlation, the tail
of the spine, the anal area.) 

Second or Passion Chakra:  relationships, sexuality,
sensory gratification, celebrity consciousness.
(Physical correlation: the pelvic area, womb, and
genitals.)

Third or Power Chakra: Empowerment, physical,
psychological, or spiritual strength, or on the
contrary feeling weak, powerless and impotent in
general.  (Physical correlation: the stomach.)

Fourth or Heart Chakra: Love that transcends ego. 
Concern, compassion, kindness and care for others 
in their own terms, in contrast to loving them when
they're as you want them to be. (Physical correlation:
the center of the chest.)

Fifth or Throat Chakra:  Communication, whether
skillful and effective or halting and fraught with
difficulty. (Physical correlation: the throat.)

Sixth or "Third Eye" Chakra:  Intuition.  The ability
to see, sense, discern what's going on beneath the
surface in others or a situation even when you haven't
been told about it. Progress on a spiritual path
(without spiritual materialism or religious imperialism). 
(Physical correlation: the center of the forehead.)

Seventh or Crown Chakra:  Cosmic consciousness.
Daily living in a state of joy and bliss. Nivakalpa samadhi.
(Physical correlation: the top of the head.)


There are varied ways to integrate the chakras into
your readings. One is to be as aware as you can of body
language, nonverbal messages, personal appearance, and
anything else you pick up from the other person about
what's occurring within him or her. Do that and before
you even turn over the first card you may have some
clue as to where his or her central strengths and
issues lie. 

Guru Pilot Baba asks, "Which wave are you riding?"
That is, are you immersed in first chakra concerns about
whether you're okay or not, second chakra concerns
about sexuality, appearance, or relationships, third
chakra concerns about strength or weakness in your
encounters with others, or what?  We add, ".  .  . or
which wave is breaking over you?"


A straightforward Tarot chakra reading that we
described at the 2017 Readers Studio is to have your
client select seven cards and lay them in a vertical
line, with the first one at the "bottom,"  the next one
above that, and so on to the last card, which is the
top card in your spread. Then use your knowledge of the
cards' meanings to tell what the bottom card may say
about the person's situation or concerns or question in
regard to the first chakra. Then do the same for the
next card in relation to the second chakra, and so on
up to the seventh. Of course your in-the-moment
awareness of what the client is doing and how he or she
is responding will inform the particular meanings you
emphasize with each card. 


                 


Or you can use the same process in a representational
reading with the client consciously selecting cards
from deck with its cards spread out face-up. You
describe the essence of each chakra, in something like
the way we've done above, and ask the person to select
a card with an image that seems to reflect what's going
on with him or her in relation to the physical,
psychological, interpersonal, or spiritual dynamics of
that chakra. In this approach the client tells you what
personal meanings he or she sees in the card, and the
two of you briefly discuss that. Your knowledge of the
traditional meanings for that card may or may not be
relevant in relation to your client’s description of
what this card means to him or her. 

Either of the seven card spread methods just described
can be used in a couples reading. This might be one
person's reading about a connection with another person
or it might be a reading with both members of a couple
present. For a couples reading you create a chakra
spread of seven cards two times and use fourteen cards.
You will have two rows of seven cards sitting parallel
to one another. 

If you’re reading for one person, you talk with the
person about what the cards say about their
relationship in regard to each chakra. With both
members of a couple present, you facilitate their
dialogue about what each of them sees and feels in
regard to each chakra. "Couple" might mean lovers, a
parent and child, coworkers, or any pair of people in
some kind of relationship. 

Often we find it useful to first zero in on which
particular chakra is central in a person's present
question or concern, and then get a more specific 
sense of which sub-dimension or sub-dimensions 
of that chakra are the key ones for that person right 
then. You can draw an additional card or even several 
to discuss the potential of what is happening in that 
power center. These cards are placed on or across 
the card that is representing the chakra being discussed. 

For example, if there is greater concern about the
second chakra, two more cards may be selected and put
next to the original card that represents this chakra
in order to explore greater possibilities of what might
be happening in relation to emotional issues. The
seven card chakra spread can then become a nine card
spread, the fourteen card couple chakra spread can
become a sixteen or eighteen card spread.

To understand different dimensions of chakras, we have
developed a "Table of Possibilities" for each chakra
that has twelve to fifteen sub-dimensions. We view each
of these as lying along a continuum from "Obstacles" at
one extreme to "Opportunities" at the other.  

For example, several of these continua for the second
chakra are from "Indifference or disinterest" to
"sensitivity," from "respect" to "exploitation," from
"inconsiderateness, unpleasantness" to "courteousness,
graciousness," and from "possessiveness" to "fosters
autonomy of self and others." 

The complete tables for all 7 chakras can be found in
our book Awakening the Chakras (reference below). 
But even without such a table, the cards the client has
drawn may help you discern what very specific aspect(s)
of a chakra he or she could profit from working on. If
not, a couple of minutes of conversation may unearth it.  

In such a reading, usually we draw cards in a
traditional divinatory fashion. But if a person is torn
between two conflicting internal voices that want
different things or to move in different directions, or
if they are having some kind of conflict or ambivalence
in regard to another person, your intuition may tell
you that a representational reading from a face-up deck
may work best. (Ways to conduct representational
readings are described at length in Tarot at a
Crossroads, also referenced below.) 

And if you're doing either a traditional divinatory
reading from a face-down deck, or a representational
reading from a face-up deck, even in readings that
don't explicitly focus on the chakras, knowing all you
can about them can enrich the depth and possibilities
in your readings.  

Going from the first card to the seventh card in the
spread (that is, from the card that represents the
first chakra to the card that represents the seventh)
can often inspire an authentic and meaningful
connection with your client. After all, the focus of
this spread is finding the truth lingering deep within.

<<<>>>
References: 

Daniels, Victor and Kooch N.,, and Pieter Weltevrede:
Awakening the Chakras: The Seven Energy Centers in Your
Daily Life
.  Destiny/Inner Traditions, 2017

Daniels, Kooch N. and Victor: Tarot at a Crossroads:
The Unexpected Meeting of Tarot and Psychology.

Schiffer, 2016. 

Daniels, Victor and Kooch N.  Matrix Meditations: A
Program for Developing the Mind-Heart Connection.

Destiny/Inner Traditions, 2012.  

Daniels, Kooch N. and Victor:  Tarot d'Amour: Find
Love, Sex, and Romance in the Cards.
Weiser, 2003.

 
           
============================================================

Kooch and Victor Daniels











About the authors:  Victor Daniels received
his Ph.D. in psychology from UCLA and
taught for more than 40 years at Sonoma State
University, and has been doing Tarot readings
and combining psychology and the Tarot for
the past 25 years and been training gestalt
therapist for more than 35. Kooch Daniels is
a lifelong professional Tarot reader and also
has degrees in psychology with a Jungian
emphasis. They present at both Tarot and
psychotherapy conferences. 

Websites: 
http://cybermystic.com
http://consciousnessandculture.com/
    
 

Best Practices for Professional Readers
YOU'RE INVITED BUT TAROT ISN'T ––
READING FOR THE RELUCTANT

 
By Gina Thies
www.tarotadvisor.com  / www.facebook.com/tarotreaders 

www.tarotcoupling.com / www.oraclesoup.org

It doesn’t happen very often, but recently there have
been two instances in which I was hired as the psychic
talent for corporate events, but the hosts had concerns
over my use of tarot cards. I have also had would-be
querents inquire about my services wanting to know
“…exactly what do you do?”

I know you are wondering why they would hire a tarot
reader for the event if they were feeling reluctant
about the reactions of the attendees. It is not a bad
thing that potential clients want to know what they are
getting themselves into by hiring a reader. I have
spent a lot of time “correcting” or doing damage
control from previous readers’ negligence.
 
With that said, there are two issues I’m addressing
here. The first is being contracted for events and
being asked to be strictly “for entertainment
only”, and secondly, handling reluctant first time
clients.

Here are possible reasons for the caution: religious
beliefs, ignorance, concerns about age groups,
previous bad experiences, bad stereotypes, and
lack of previous experience.

In the case of the event scenario, I usually hear out
the host/hostess’ concerns. I ask a bit about the
people attending the event. For instance, I ask about
their profession, age ranges, etc. I once had someone
say to a hostess that having a reader at her event was
wrong and against God! I assured her of my comfort
level in dealing with such matters.

Often, the person hiring you may be more concerned
about your comfort in dealing with their guests than
about what you are doing. If possible, I arrange it so
that the person hiring me has the first reading so they
are put at ease as to how it works. In some cases, I
use a regular set of playing cards or an oracle deck if
an actual tarot deck raises too many eyebrows.

In the scenario where a private client inquires about
what I do, I ask what they are looking to get resolved.
In some cases, they want to know if a tarot card
reading is my only talent. Very often, they are looking
for someone with “mediumship” abilities or a
“rootworker”. So my approach is to ask what results
they are seeking.

Finding your niche as a reader cannot be stressed
enough here. You cannot be all things to all people in
doing this work. I also recommend you present yourself
in a way that clearly and confidently shows who you are
as a professional.

One little exercise that you can do is to write a
mission statement. You can use it on your website or
just post it somewhere as a reminder of why you do
what you do.

Go forth confidently, my friends! 

    
           

 
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