 Newsletter of The Tarot School
http://TarotSchool.com ISSN: 1529-0565 Vol. 13 #11 / July 1, 2021
In this Issue: - Welcome
- Tarot Tip: Tarot as a Mystical Pathway to Mindfulness - What's Gnu?: A New Study Guide! - Tarot School Aphorism - Just For Fun: The "Who Can I Blame?" Spread - Meet the Reader: Bethany Abrahamson - Upcoming Events Welcome to a new issue of Tarot Tips!
And a special welcome to our new subscribers.
 It usually takes a few weeks to put together an issue of Tarot Tips. As with many projects, there's sometimes a big rush as the deadline approaches. This time, thanks to the early submissions from this issue's contributors, I got a jump on the process. How wonderful, I thought -- this time I'll be finished ahead of schedule! But as Rudyard Kipling wrote in one of his Just So Stories, "Nay not so, but far otherwise!" Although the Welcome introduction is the first thing you most likely read, it's the last thing I write. If there's news to share, it's fairly easy to do. But all our current projects are still in the gestation period. I have literally spent an entire week trying to come up with something to say. (So much for my head start.) There are many, many uses for tarot. One of them is to use the cards as a writing prompt, so I decided to try that. I cleared my deck (palms face-down and crossed at the wrists over the cards, and then quickly pulled them apart to disperse the energy), shuffled, and turned over the top card. It was The High Priestess. I had to laugh because The High Priestess is silent. So her message to me was "I'm not going to tell you what to write." But here we are. So maybe she did after all. This month's Tarot Tip by Heather Mendel offers a clear and useful understanding of how to combine Tarot and Kaballah, Sharonah Rapseik introduces us to another interesting reader, and there are some other goodies, too. And one more thing...
 Did you know that we hold a special give-away during each Monday night Tarot Salon? Prizes range from Tarot School courses and study guides to private readings and coaching sessions with me or Wald. We spin a wheel with the names of everyone in class to determine the winner, and it's always fun to see where it stops! Get more info at http://tarot.salon Wishing you health and bright blessings, Ruth Ann and Wald
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questions regarding any aspect of your tarot study
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TAROT AS A MYSTICAL
PATHWAY TO MINDFULNESS by Heather Mendel Why do you read Tarot? To predict the future? To gain daily insight for decision making? To deepen intuitive skills? There will be as many answers as there are readers. For kabbalists at heart, like me, the Minor Arcana is a treasure trove. Just as the Fibonacci sequence underlies the sacred geometrical spiral of life, the kabbalistic Tree of Life underlies the human journey of spiritual beings. In blending Kabbalah and Tarot, a spiritual practice arises that deepens intuitive awareness and the connection to the underlying Oneness of all Life. Just like a stereogram that you have to come in close to see, once you observe the 3D image embedded in the design, you cannot unsee it. The Tree of Life is like that too— a 3D image that invites to find beneath the surface.  As seen in the diagram above 2s, 4s and 7s are the active or expressive side of the Tree, gifting us with new energy and vibration to situation for us to express, while 3s, 5s and 8s are those more gestative moments in which we consider, as we take time to received and personalize the input of new. In this way, we make it our own. This is the receptive side of the Tree. Both columns are necessary to ensure an organic system stays intact and viable. The 1s, 6s, 9s and 10s, all lie on the central path of balance, offering a point of balance between the two polarities. We celebrate what has been accomplished, and refocus on the goals we set for ourselves as we broaden our perspective. Tarot as a tool for expanding consciousness and deepening our intuitive skills, reminds us of the teaching of the Major Arcana’s Wheel— nothing stays the same. How deep are we willing to venture, how conscious do we wish to become? The Tree of Life offers three spiritual principles by which we can live if we are willing to be present rather than lost in regretting the past or anticipating the future: • Feel that everything is connected. • Know that everything is evolving. • Appreciate that All is One. More than a layout for the cards, the Tree of Life offers a fundamental understanding of the numbers 1-10. From a momentary intuitive flash of inspiration we are able, through 9 deepening steps or stages, to manifest our beliefs into the circumstances we encounter. In doing so, we walk between two alternatives that makes choice possible. Each choice brings with it gifts and challenges. This happens in the four realms in which function— intuition, thought, feeling and the resultant physical manifestations— we encounter.  The journey down the Tree explains how things come into being— the return journey awaits; awakening in consciousness, we discover what we experience and express is where we find the meaning in our lives. Relevant on the return, the Court cards remind us that while a journey down the Tree describes setting of the principles for the stage on which our human lives as spiritual beings are set, it is in the return that we, as experienced travelers, follow the questions of our own blessed curiosity and celebrate our intuitive passions that open us to the infinite possibilities and potential of this adventure for spiritually maturing seekers. About Heather: South African born, Heather Mendel is The Disobedient Kabbalist. Mystic, artist, author and intuitive reader, she is drawn to the call of the mystical where myth and metaphor reside, where we connect deeply to Divinity and divination. As in The Syzygy Oracle, so in The Parallax Oracle, Heather Mendel interweaves tarot, kabbalah and a search for the Sacred Feminine — the source of our intuitive knowing. http://www.heathermendel.com/ http://www.sacredfemininekabbalah.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3zdSqnOxj_scVMX8gtPtBg  NEW STUDY GUIDE! We're happy to announce the addition of 5 Tarot School Spreads to the collection of $7 Study Guides available on our website! Learn the five signature spreads used most frequently at The Tarot School. They include spreads to help with making decisions, finding a simple answer, and understanding relationships. There's a spread to use at the start of any major cycle, plus suggestions on how to work with 3 cards, the most versatile of all spreads. You'll find it and the rest of our original Study Guides here: https://tarotschool.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=32 Tarot School Aphorism   THE "WHO CAN I BLAME?" SPREAD By Dennis McGuire At a recent Tarot Salon, it was lightheartedly suggested that we could use a spread that says who can be blamed when a problem arises. No, they probably didn’t cause the problem, but they can be blamed. After all, it wasn’t my fault, was it? So somebody else must be to blame. In the same lighthearted vein, I offer this spread as a way to lay blame elsewhere. It should be fun for all-night parties but is guaranteed to not solve anybody’s problems! Don’t use it for a client that truly seeks guidance. See the spread here: https://tarotschool.com/Who-To-Blame-spread.pdf Meet The Reader BETHANY ABRAHAMSON By Sharonah Rapseik, Ph.D., CMAP  Bethany Abrahamson lives in Appleton, Wisconsin. She has been reading tarot for 25 years and doing numerology for 29 years. Her signature deck is the Motherpeace Tarot. http://www.motherpeace.com For most her life, Bethany has also had a career as a professional musician; as an opera chorister, theater, wedding and funeral vocalist, music director and arranger, sheet music engraver, voice teacher, choral conductor, and composer. Outside of readings and music, some of Bethany other interests include international travel and cuisine, world history, astrology, animal rescue, watching cat videos, and sharing pet-snuggling duty with her husband. Sharonah Rapseik: Bethany, what makes your tarot practice unique and how do you express it? Bethany Abrahamson: My tarot experience and journey have become quite individualized due to two factors. First, I initially learned how to read tarot with round cards, and still conduct about 99% of my readings with round cards in multiple directions, rather than solely upright or reversed. Second I learned numerology before tarot; therefore, I use the cards to better define and understand the many nuances and influences with a client’s upcoming numerological “Personal Year” and other prominent numbers in their chart. By combining numerology and round tarot decks, I help my clients feel at ease and immediately understood, which in turn helps me convey the messages they need to hear. Sharonah Rapseik: Thank you Bethany, it’s a pleasure to meet you! To follow Bethany Abrahamson... Website: https://www.intheknowtarot.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/intheknowtarotnumerology About Sharonah:   Sharonah Rapseik is an Artist / Designer, Author, Tarot Reader, Radio Host and Producer for Psychic Talk Radio. Visit her at: https://psychictalk.net/sharonah/ Upcoming Events:  • Monday, July 5, 12, 19 and 26 • Monday, August 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 Tarot Salon on Zoom! 7:00 - 9:00 pm EDT Our popular Monday night classes are now online so you can attend no matter where you live! http://tarot.salon  • Saturday, July 24th, 2021 The Magic of Astrology in Tarot Part 3 The Minor Arcana: Ace – 10 w/ Wald Amberstone Cheryl Ryder and the Albuquerque Tarot Tribe Meetup are excited to host Wald's latest presentation on astrology as it specifically applies to tarot. This is what he has to say about it: Meaning in tarot is many layers deep, and each layer is a whole discipline unto itself. Qabalah, alchemy, astrology, numerology, psychology — all these add their wisdom to the knowledge of self and world that tarot gives us in such abundance. In this series, we’ll look at how the basic symbolic elements of astrology fit so perfectly into the structure of a tarot deck. We'll be looking at how each Minor Arcana card fits into the structure of the Zodiac Wheel of the Year, the Decans, the Modalities of the signs (Cardinal, Fixed, Mutable), and how to blend them together in tarot readings. You don't have to have attended Session 1 or 2 in person to attend Part 3. 3 classes for the price of one! When you RSVP and pay for Session 3 you will be sent a Dropbox link to the recording of Sessions 1 & 2 which contain materials and references that will not be reviewed in much depth in Session 3. You will also receive a link to the handouts from both sessions. Time: 2:30 pm EDT Location: Zoom Tuition: $20 Register at: https://bit.ly/3vD8IrB Note: You do not have to join the Meetup if you don't want to. Just make sure to indicate that the money is for "July 24th Wald Amberstone Class" in the comment section for PayPal or on your check in order to get confirmation for this event.  Join our 11K+ fans and join the fun!
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