by Marcus Katz
1. being ineffectual
2. being apathetic
3. doing exactly as you are told to do
4. not taking the initiative
HIGH PRIESTESS II
You are blocking this card today by:
1. being extroverted and forceful
2. gossiping and telling everybody all your innermost secrets
3. being very loud, being discreet today is not for you
4. being really tactless and compromising others by doing this
MAGICIAN I
You are blocking this card today by:
1. not wanting to learn
2. not making the most of the technology that is at your disposal
3. not focusing on the task at hand
4. being very nervous and ill at ease
Ace of Pentacles
You are blocking this card today by:
1. not investing in your future security
2. turning down that lucrative deal you have been offered
3. not buying a lottery ticket
4. refusing the support you have been offered
Ace of Swords
You are blocking this card today by:
1. not making clear your future objectives
2. not speaking up for yourself at a crucial moment, remember you only get one chance most of the time
3. just not thinking full stop
4. not being true to yourself
Ace of Cups
You are blocking this card today by:
1. not letting your emotions flow out/repressing them
2. not using your emotions for the creative process
3. not responding emotionally to the sensitivity of those close to you
4. hanging on to old hurts from the past
Ace of Wands
You are blocking this card today by:
1. being negative and gloomy
2. not believing in the magic of potentials
3. giving into apathy and weariness
4. giving up when you have only just begun
FOOL 0
You are blocking this card today by:
1. being ruthless and calculating
2. reacting in a suspicious or paranoid fashion with no reason
3. not making a decision because you need to think about it for awhile
4. not allowing yourself to dream the impossible dream
The Active Divination Method
You will require a deck not used for any other purpose during the month for this method. Any deck can be used, although you may find it useful to continue to use the deck you chose from the previous month. We would recommend for this particular exercise a deck that is most familiar and comfortable to you, rather than a new or edgy deck.
1. Shuffle your deck considering what life would be like without constraint, blocks or limitations.
2. When ready, take the top card and turn it face-up. This is your first “Block Card”. Consider the “blocks” given previously for this particular card.
3. For a length of time, which may be instantly, hours or days, observe yourself as you are able, until you exhibit one of the blocks appropriate for this card. It could be a “positive” block, i.e. you have a party, blocking the depression of the 9 of Swords, or a “negative” block, i.e. you feel weary, blocking the energy of the Ace of Wands which you have drawn.
4. Select from the below choices the mechanism by which you feel you are experiencing this block. Make a record of the card, the experience and the mechanism, and then pull another card and repeat. This should be done throughout the month.
The Mechanisms
A. Lying: did you tell yourself “everyone does it, it is fine”, or “It wasn’t really too bad”, or “I should hold a party for my friends” when in fact it is a party for yourself?
B. Suppression: do you feel but hold back from doing or saying something? If you had pulled the Fool, and two days later should have been ruthless but held back, this is suppression. It matters not the “morality” of the block or event, we are only interested in the card, the event, and the mechanism.
C. Reaction Formation: do you find yourself being contrary, doing the opposite, to respond to the block. Like saying you don’t care when you care completely? Do you go to an extreme, like a baby throwing their toys out of the pram? If you had pulled the King of Cups, and that day found yourself berating a student (“not suffering fools gladly”) did you find yourself yelling “I will give up teaching”.
D. Repression: do you find yourself feeling an unidentified conflict with your block or card? Did you entirely miss what was going on with the block? Why people reacted in a particular way or the positive opportunity (i.e. to have a party and you just didn’t).
E. Introjection: Did you feel as if it were not your authentic, free and actual self at work in the block? Perhaps an old voice of your mother, your father at work, telling you to be polite. Perhaps you even felt as if this were you, although it was blocking you?!
F: Isolation: Does the mechanism of the block seem to belong to a different part of you, not as strongly as identification, but still somehow removed from your daily sense of self? Is it something that happens only in specific circumstances?
G: Projection: When you experience the block or the arising activity, if there are other people involved does it seem like it’s their fault, or to do with them? If you blocked the 6 of Pentacles by “being selfish” was it because “they didn’t deserve” what you had to offer? Again, no judgment on right or wrong, just observe the mechanism.
H: Denial: Did you simply have no choice? Did you do it anyway. Did you just think, “I’ll forget it ever happened”?
We are not attempting to play psychotherapy during this month, we are simply interested in identifying with Tarot in our Life as many blocks as possible, and the way in which we block ourselves.
Important Note: You will need to record the cards drawn and their corresponding experience and “mechanism” for further work later in Tarot Life.
You can also join the Tarot Life Facebook group to ask questions and discuss this exercise. A link is given in the appendix.
.
Conclusion
In the following ten booklets in this series, we will build on our progress in the first two months, next discovering how to make decisions better now we have some material to work upon. It is important to the process that you undertake the exercises, and we have an optional Facebook group listed in the appendix where you can share and discuss your experiences, ask questions and gain support.
We have also provided in the final section a list of reading materials and website resources to discover more in the very best of Tarot and Tarosophy®.
In this series, released monthly over 2013:
1. Discover Your Destiny
2. Remove The Blocks
3. Make Decisions Better
4. Enter the Flow
5. Ride the Lion
6. Connect to Service
7. Find Your Equality
8. Die To Your Old Self
9. Entering Unity
10. Becoming the Real
11. Your Keys to Freedom
12. The Depth of Divinity
What Follows Next Month
In next month’s Tarot Life, we deal with our thought process and decision making, particularly as they relate to our emotional and physical feelings. Having set ourselves in motion and started to build on our blocks, we will see you again next month, when we will learn to Make Decisions Better.
The Tyldwick Tarot
The Tyldwick Tarot, whose images grace the covers of this Tarosophy Kickstart series, is a fully complete Tarot deck awaiting publishing by Neil Lovell. It can be viewed online on the comprehensive and beautifully designed site, http://www.malpertuis.co.uk/tyldwick.
The theme of the deck is that of an elegant house, through which one can wander without “being distracted by a cast of characters” as might be found in other Tarot decks. The cards are beautifully layered an
d suffused with tonal casts from the international travel that the designer has enjoyed – and not so enjoyed - as described in some fascinating cases which are revealed in the extensive interview on the site.
The deck reminds us very much of the film, Last Year in Marienbad (1961, dir. Alain Resnais) which is a dream-like excursion into an environment which may or may not be real, in which the characters not so much inhabit the place, but are extensions of the place itself. In the Tyldwick Tarot, the few characters we see are the Court Cards where faces are reflected in mirrors – or perhaps are even looking out from the other side of the mirrors themselves.
The deck is currently awaiting publishing and the designer has asked interested parties to reserve copies or express an interest to sufficient numbers before he commits to publishing. We would highly recommend this deck, and suggest you make that commitment – as we would love to see it in our own hands and use it for both reading and meditation work.
The KickStart Guides
Look out for more titles in this innovative series of Tarosophy KickStart Guides.
Volume I.
Book I: Tarot Flip - Reading Tarot Straight from the Box
Book II: Tarot Twist - Finding a Spread for Every Question
Book III: Tarot Inspire – Tarot & Western Esotericism for a Spiritual Life
Volume II.
Book I: Tarot Switch – Methods of Engaging Tarot in Life
Book II: Tarot Solution – How to Read in Real Life Readings
Book III: Tarot Decode – Signs, Symbols & Portents in Tarot
Also
Tarot Turn Vol. 1 - 3: A massive crowd-sourced reference guide to all 12,200 possible combinations of reversed Tarot card pairs.
Tarot Life: A revolutionary method to change your life in 12 Kindle pamphlets.
Bibliography
Gurdjieff, G.I., Views From The Real World. London: Arkana, 1984.
Katz, M. & Goodwin, T., Around the Tarot in 78 Days. Woodbury: Llewellyn, 2012.
Short, D., Erickson, B. A., & Erickson, R. Hope & Resiliancy: Understanding the Psychotherapeutic Strategies of Milton H. Erickson. Camarthen: Crown House Publishing, 2005.
Tart, Charles T. Waking Up. Longmead: Element Books, 1986.
Tarosophy Websites & Resources
Tarosophy Tarot Associations: http://www.Tarotprofessionals.com
Tarot Professionals Facebook Group:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/tarotprofessionals
Hekademia Tarot Course: http://www.tarosophyuniversity.com
Tarot Town Social Network: http://www.Tarot-town.com
Tarosophy by Marcus Katz: http://www.tarosophy.com
Tarot Book Club: http://www.Tarotbookclub.com
The Tarot Review: http://www.theTarotreview.com
Join the Tarot Life Facebook group at:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/150952695052327/
There are many threads, questions & answers, examples, discussion and sharing of this life-changing technique.
If you cannot locate the group, contact us directly at [email protected] and we will be delighted to add you to the group.
