by Marcus Katz
Take your Tarot deck, minus your Carriage Card and minus the Court Cards - all of which you have removed already to complete Gate 2.
Now shuffle the deck and then go through it and choose/select out the cards which to you seem to embody the darker side of life, the mistakes, regrets and fears in the night. These are the pipes of the pipe organ, echoing discordantly in our lives. We want you to select out the ‘scary’ cards.
Whether you choose one card or many, now fan out the spread of those cards (or just the one card) in front of the layout of your selected Court Cards and ancestor items. Let these sit for a day, and again, see if you dream differently.
Make a note of how these cards reflect any regrets and fears that you have personally experienced in your life. The more honest you can be here, the more powerful the next gate will be for you.
In our next gate for the next day we will start to really see how a Gated Spread works, with our first real-world activity bridging two gates.
Here is an example of chosen ‘negative’ cards:
XVI The Tower - many total breaks in my life (now striving to overcome this and establish/nurture continuity).
3 of Swords - heartbreak, emotional turmoil, tendency to fix myself onto what turns out to be "lost causes".
9 of Swords - disappointment, hardness on self and others, lack of mercy.
7 of Cups: distraction by following too many choices at once.
10 of Wands: overworking, burn-out, fruitless commitment.
Ghost Train: Gate 4
Planchette
With the shivers of the spooky pipe organ music still running down our spines, the Ghost Train picks up speed and careers around the next dark turn. In the carriages ahead of us and behind us we can hear the shrieks and gasps of our fellow companions as the Train hurls us into the darkness ... then suddenly we emerge into a huge space, dimly lit, full of cobwebs brushing on our faces, candles burning and in the centre we see a table surrounded by Victorian gentleman and women - at least, we can tell this from their clothes as their bodies have long since turned into skeletons.
They are holding a séance, and we see that above them hovers some spectral presence. A ghost of times past, an ancient voice, a call to our own ancestors. It is pointing at us - asking us something, demanding something ... but what?
For this Gate, when you have a moment to consider, take your carriage card and place your finger on it. This is best experienced in the evening of about the fifth or sixth day of the experience.
Allow it to move so it points to all (or any, or the one) "Regret & Mistake" cards. Gaze at your Ancestor cards. Allow the Carriage Card to stop when it is pointing to a "Regret and Mistake" card which seems most powerful to you at this time.
Now consider the Carriage Card, the "Regret and Mistake" card, and the Ancestor(s) card you were gazing at when the Carriage Card stopped.
Consider what this is asking you to do on this night or the days following in your life. How is the Carriage Card to carry you through resolving that regret, fear, mistake, negativity shown by the "R&M" Card? Does that relate to your Ancestry?
Perhaps it may simply be a case of sitting down for five minutes and remembering good times, honoring a memory. Perhaps you need to write an email, a letter, go see someone. Perhaps you need to do something to celebrate your living family. Or something else entirely unexpected.
Let the cards talk to you.
Illustration. The Ghost Train Layout.
The final Gate should take place the following day. It will require that you have done this activity or at least commenced it, from Gate 4. The purpose and construction (and uniqueness) of Gated Spreads is that they are woven into real-life activities.
One student reported intense dreams during this part of the experience; “I had a very strange dream about talking to a ghost which seemed like a younger version of myself. She was on my patio outside the kitchen window and wanted to be let in. I refused but talked to her through the half open window”.
Ghost Train: Gate 5
Emerging Whole
Here we arrive at our final Gate in the Ghost Train, following your Séance Night.
On our train, we emerge through a forest scene, a long path about which the trees are closed. In those wilds we see dark shapes, moving shadows, bats flitting, red eyes balefully glaring ... all the primitive horrors and dangers woven in amidst the webs of spiders ...
But we hold on fast because ahead of us we see a door opening, the end of the ride. Outside, we know our friends and family are waiting for us, those who haven't taken this ride, waiting for us to share in other amusements and pastimes of the fair.
So here's GATE 5: Emerging Whole
Take the rest of the deck (from which we have taken out the Carriage Card, Court Cards and "regret and mistake" cards) and shuffle them whilst considering your family, friends, colleagues and co-workers. And consider the children, and future generations, those of whom you are an ancestor - or will become one.
Consider particularly the action you took at the previous gate. You are in a place - life - where you can do things, where you can affect the outcome of the world. This is your living situation. What did you do to respond to the voices of the past? What did you do? What can you do?
Now take THREE cards - the LEGACY CARDS, from the deck, and lay them out in front of the CARRIAGE CARD.
These three cards give you your Inheritance, Present Situation and Legacy to those who follow you.
Here’s the experience of one student:
Inheritance: 6 of Water (6 of Cups). Sweet card for this position shows a circle of women standing in the ocean in a sharing ceremony with a playful sea otter watching. I feel held in love and celebrated by my ancestors, they are supporting me and my inheritance is this open-hearted warm embracing support.
Present situation: 3 of Water (3 of Cups) shows 3 otters again playing in the ocean. I'm seeking, finding joy with others, again, another circle.
Legacy: 8 of Fire (8 of Wands): meteor shower, balls of light streaking towards the Earth. My legacy? I guess it's no more holding back, hiding from the sun. Time to magnetize my visions into reality, break the inherited tendencies to conform and adapt and pass that freedom on to my descendants.
And with those lessons in mind, now connecting all the past with all the future, our little carriage rolls out into the light, beyond the most primitive fears, the thrills and spills, of the Ghost Train ...
Conclusion
“Each breath the first, the last, the only breath available, to carry us beyond our forgetfulness into the scintillating center of the living truth.
May all beings live with death over their left shoulder and kindness in the center of their heart.
May all beings be free from suffering. May all beings know the great good fortune of their great nature.
May all beings be at peace.”
Dying Contemplation, from A Year to Live, pp. 65-6
The Ghost Train experience allows us to contemplate the passage of time, and our own heritage. We can use the Tarot in many different ways to explore the past, which in turn creates a new potential for the future.
In working with others, we can also use aspects of the Ghost Train to allow them to explore their family relationships.
We trust during this week-long taster experience you have been given a new angle on your Tarot, and look forward to welcoming you on our other Gated Spreads in the future.
You can share your experiences in our social site, Tarot-Town, and ask questions. The site is free with membership of your national Tarot Association, with many other member benefits.
Bibliography
Katz, M. Tarosophy. Chang Mai: Salamander & Sons, 2012.
Katz, M. & Goodwin, T. Around the Tarot in 78 Days. Woodbury: Llewellyn, 2012.
Katz, M. & Goodwin, T. Tarot Flip. Forge Press, 2012.
Hallowell, E. Human Moments: How to find meaning and love in your everyday life. London: Thorsons, 2001.
Le
vine, S. A Year To Live: How to Live This Year as if it Were Your Last. London: Thorsons, 1997.
Waite, A. E. Pictorial Key to the Tarot. London: Rider, 1974.
Websites & Resources
If you enjoy new learning, and want many more ways to use your Tarot deck, we encourage you to explore our websites. You are also welcome to join us in your national Tarosophy Tarot Association, where as a member you will instantly receive thousands of pages of materials, and tarot video courses for every level.
We look forward to seeing you soon on your Tarot journey!
Tarosophy Tarot Associations
http://www.tarotassociation.net
Tarot Professionals Facebook Group
http://www.facebook.com/groups/tarotprofessionals
Free Tarot Card Meanings & Spreads
http://www.mytarotcardmeanings.com
Hekademia Tarot Course
http://www.tarosophyuniversity.com
Tarot Town Social Network
http://www.tarot-town.com
Tarosophy by Marcus Katz
http://www.tarosophy.com
The Tarot Speakeasy Blog
http://www.tarotspeakeasy.com
Tarot Book Club
http://www.tarotbookclub.com
The Tarot Review
http://www.thetarotreview.com
TarotCon International Tarot Conventions
http://www.tarotconvention.com
Fortune-Telling Laws
http://www.fortunetellinglaws.com
The Original Lenormand Deck
http://www.originallenormand.com
Learning Lenormand
http://www.learninglenormand.com
Kindle Tarot Books & Series
Check out all our other books and series for original and exciting ways in which you can use a deck of tarot cards to change your life.
Gated Spreads Series
Set 1
Book 1: The Tarot Shaman (Contact Your Animal Spirit)
Book 2: Gates of Valentine (Love & Relationships)
Book 3: The Resurrection Engine (Change Your Life)
Set 2
Book 4: Palace of the Phoenix (Alchemy)
Book 5: Garden of Creation (Creativity & Inspiration)
Book 6: Ghost Train (Explore Your Past)
Set 3
Coming Soon – Enter the Temple of the Gods.
Tarosophy KickStart Series
Volume I.
Book I: Tarot Flip - Reading Tarot Straight from the Box
Book II: Tarot Twist – 78 New Spreads and Methods [paperback]
Book III: Tarot Inspire – Tarot for a Spiritual Life
Tarot Life Series
Tarot Life: A revolutionary method to change your life in 12 Kindle pamphlets.
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 Equality
8. Die To Your Self
9. Entering Unity
10. Becoming the Real
11. Your Keys to Freedom
12. The Depth of Divinity
Also in Print and Kindle
Tarosophy: A ground-breaking book packed with original ideas.
Around the Tarot in 78 Days: The ideal beginner book, a three-month course through every card. An award-winning book, recognized by the COVR New Age Industry Award for Best Divination Book 2013.
Tarot Face to Face: Take your tarot out of the box and into life!
The Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot: Learn the real meanings of the world’s most popular tarot deck [available Spring 2014, pub. Llewellyn Worldwide].
Tarot Turn Vol. 1 - 3: A massive crowd-sourced reference guide to all 12,200 possible combinations of reversed Tarot card pairs.
