Enter Into Unity Read online

  TAROT LIFE

  MONTH 9

  ENTERING UNITY

  Marcus Katz & Tali Goodwin

  Authors Note: This is Month 9 of our 12-booklet Tarot Life series; you will require the previous Months 1-8 booklets to follow the sequence over the year. Most of the exercises in each booklet may be carried out as stand-alone pieces of self-discovery or re-purposed for use in daily, personal or client readings.

  Published by Forge Press (September, 2013)

  1 Wood Cottage, Old Windebrowe, Keswick,

  Cumbria CA12 4NT

  Cover: ‘Page of Staves’, Tyldwick Tarot © by Neil Lovell

  http://www.malpertuis.co.uk/tyldwick/

  Tarot

  Life © Marcus Katz & Tali Goodwin, 2013. All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise – without written permission from the publisher.

  Tarosophy® is a registered trademark

  Join your national Tarosophy Tarot Association for support and learning at www.tarotassociation.net including subscription to Tarosophist International Tarot magazine, immediate access to 1,000+ pages of the previous issues and Tarot support at all levels.

  You may like to also join our free Tarot Facebook group at:

  http://www.facebook.com/groups/tarotprofessionals

  The private Facebook Tarot Life group to share your experiences and gain further insight from Tarot Life Companions is linked at the back of this booklet.

  Also check out the Tarot Review at www.thetarotreview.com and the Tarot Book Club at www.tarotbookclub.com.

  For further Tarosophy education, the 2-year Hekademia Tarot course is open for enrolment at www.tarosophyuniversity.com.

  We also offer Tarosophy Tarot Certificate and Diploma courses, Lenormand Courses and much more at our main site www.tarotassociation.net.

  If you would like to meet us face to face in the company of the wonderful Tarot world, learn incredible new Tarot approaches, and discuss the art of Tarot, check out our annual Tarosophy Tarot Conventions worldwide from the main site at www.tarotconvention.com.

  INDEX

  Introduction 4

  The Escape & Engagement Method 6

  The Unity Cards 19

  Conclusion 29

  Bibliography 33

  Websites & Resources 34

  TAROT LIFE: 12 STEPS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE

  A linked series of Gated Spreads to be carried out over a full year.

  Introduction

  In this series of Kickstart books of Tarosophy teaching, we take a break from our other tarot books, such as the reference work of Tarot Flip, the seventy-eight innovative Tarot methods in Tarot Twist, and the spiritual considerations of Tarot Inspire, to offer a unique practice of our work.

  You are about to change your life with Tarot, and whether you are a newcomer to tarot or experienced reader, you are about to do something totally new. In using what we call a Gated Spread – a linked sequence of tarot readings whose questions are determined by the results of real-world activities – you are going to fundamentally alter the way you experience your life.

  We have combined here the wisdom of the Tarot with years of practical testing and the latest research in psychology and the biology of willpower, belief, habit and other aspects of our being.

  This series is designed to be experienced a month at a time, and in the sequence given, although there are many methods you will learn that can be used simply by themselves, for yourself or others.

  You can start at any time, although New Year; your Birthday; or the Spring Equinox are all powerful starting times.

  This series is accompanied by a private Facebook group for discussion and questions about your experiences as you make this journey. We look forwards to your engagement of tarot with your life – it is about to become a truly Tarot Life.

  Marcus Katz, The Tarosophist &

  Tali Goodwin, TaliTarot

  Entering into Unity

  “By this month, the energy of Sagittarius – an uncomfortable alchemy - makes itself evident, with temperance being required to hold events together. Not necessarily the temperance of peaceful harmony, but quite often the tempering of steel, heated and then quenched in cold water many times. Although this makes us sharp, it can also make us brittle. Julie stands by herself for this stage, and makes her individual choices, by herself for herself, holding to the aims she has developed so far. She must draw on all the previous currents, from the energy of Aries to the intuitive leaps of Gemini, but more than anything she must remain true to her own aims, and invoke her own unique energy and apply it to the work in hand”

  The Zodiacal Rituals.

  The Escape & Engagement Method

  THOU HAST NO RIGHT BUT TO DO THY WILL.

  DO THAT, AND NO OTHER SHALL SAY NAY.

  FOR PURE WILL, UNASSUAGED OF PURPOSE,

  DELIVERED FROM THE LUST OF RESULT,

  IS IN EVERY WAY PERFECT.

  Aleister Crowley.

  In the Tarot Life practice of this month, we begin to enter our final phase of this 12-month practice, bringing together the cards from previous gates/months into the Tarot Life approach you installed in the previous month. We bring together the work of months 1-3 and the sense of flow from month 4, to create a “temperate” environment in which we can enter into unity.

  We then work easily to unify our sense of relationship to the universe, through a sorting process based on the alchemical version of the Temperance tarot card. We have now reached the ninth sign of the zodiac, Sagittarius, corresponding to the tarot card of Temperance, so it is her to whom we look to find the method and practice of entering unity – and the lessons of that experience.

  As a result of this month, you will divine your personal UNITY card. This is a card that represents a key spiritual method and lesson for you at this time, and we have listed a simple key sentence for all 78 cards in the body of this present booklet. We can discuss these in more detail on the Facebook group as you discover your own Unity Card.

  It is the Unity and your Destiny card (from month 1) that will take you into the next stage, “Becoming the Real”.

  Here is a summary of the stages of the zodiacal sequence.

  We will now show you how to discover your Unity card, using three preparatory steps from previous gates and a fourth step which is a month-long simple practice.

  STEP ONE: ESCAPE ILLUSION & ENGAGE UNITY

  1. Go back to Gate/Month 1 and your Destiny Path. Select out the two cards (from either the left column or right, one from either, two from either, it doesn’t matter) that were most prominently ‘AWAY’ from your destiny, and the two cards that were most prominently ‘TOWARDS’ your destiny.

  That is to say, out of all the cards on that path, which two did you move/angle most away from your path, and most back towards? These are based on your choice to angle those cards, and the cards themselves were taken out ‘at random’ by your divination.

  Both ‘away’ or ‘towards’ cards may have happened on the same day, if that day was particularly a significant day on the path. One may be on a day when you twisted the left card away, but not the right. In which case, select the left card. And so on.

  If there seem a number of cards that could be chosen, go for the Majors, or where both cards come from the same day, or where you recall that something significant happened to move you away or towards the final destiny card.

  The two cards that represent your most “away” are hereafter your “Escape Cards” and the two cards that represent your most “towards” are hereafter your “Engagement Cards”.

  Also take out of the pack your destiny ca
rd.

  If you really have no journal of that first month, nor can recall the cards, you must re-divine them by shuffling your deck and select out two cards for your escape cards, and two for your engagement cards. This is appropriate, but may not prove as powerful as using those divined and chosen from your original practice.

  STEP TWO: REMOVE THE BLOCK TO UNITY

  In month 2, you identified a series of “blocks” and divined cards in the active method which then became associated with a block experience and a mechanism. These are listed below for reference.

  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”?

  Select out again the cards (or card) that represented the most common mechanism you discovered passing through that second month’s gate. If you identified “denial” as your most used mechanism, select out from your deck the cards which were pulled ahead of the blocking experiences they asked you to observe. You may also chose at this time to journal any similarities in the experiences you recorded at the time, in this context:

  “How did these experiences shift me from a state of unity?”

  The blocking mechanism are also buffers from experiencing a state of unified relationship within ourselves and with the environment, mundane and divine. They are patterns that reflect our “field, form and fate” according to Michael Conforti – see his book in our reading list.

  So, take a moment to identify your most common mechanism and the cards or card associated with it. There may be 1-10 cards, and some of them may be the same as those already selected out from the previous step.

  These are your removal cards.

  STEP 3: UNLOCKING UNITY

  In month/gate 3, we discovered together 1-4 cards from the Court cards which acted as representatives of your most common decision-making strategy. Take out these cards and for reference we include the descriptions from Book 3 below. Again, some of these cards may already be out from the previous two steps.

  These are your unlocking cards.

  Page of Pentacles/Princess of Discs

  I make decisions by dwelling deeply upon the issue at hand. I am always able to see the beauty and wonder in even the most mundane situation. I possess a down earth mentality that people speak of being my inner strength, for me to make a decision it has to have a very practical element to it.

  I have to be certain of a decision being right before I decide, as I do not give up easily, once I embark on a venture. However, this resilience/enthusiasm with regards to decisions that I have made, enables me to progress while others fall at the wayside.

  In decision making I possess equilibrium of mind, body and emotions.

  In regards to decision making I am far seeing, I plan well into the future. I am a visionary individual. I am able to morph into any situation that arises; this can be seen as a positive or negative trait depending on the situation. It can give rise to people saying that I am inconsistent in my behavior; the truth is that I possess great adaptability that equips me well in life.

  I avoid decisions by holding back, and procrastinating and by over planning. I can also be difficult to pin down about a decision as I can easily change direction along the way. I have a tendency to bewilder with my changeability.

  Knight of Pentacles/Prince of Disks

  I make decisions by taking time out to meditate on the situation at hand and once I have decided upon the course of action I give the very best I can, I imbue it with brute force and energetic vigor. I am make the decision based upon sound practical considerations, there is no half way guess work for me! I have to trust a situation and the people involved before I decide upon an important decision.

  I avoid decisions by cutting off from the situation at hand. I have a tendency not to act if the outcome of the decision does not interest me enough. I avoid decision making if it is not obvious, I do not like intangible things, I have to be able to touch something, it has to have a ring of practicality about it, I do not do ‘pie in the sky!’

  Queen of Pentacles/Queen of Disks

  I make decisions by absorbing the information about me, I have to become something before I can be part of something. I make decisions based upon how functional the outcome will be. I make decisions based upon how much good this action will bring to others around me. My decisions are also made on consideration of what my instincts tell me what to do, where I am lacking intellectual acuity I make up for it with intuition.

  I avoid decisions by becoming too carried away with what is happening around me, I become so overwhelmed with everybody’s stuff I cannot decide what to do.

  I avoid decisions by becoming too obsessed with how useful something is, thereby disregarding something which has potential at a later date.

  King of Pentacles/Knight of Disks

  I make decisions based upon how secure and comfortable it makes me feel. I am often described as being very self-interested. I think as I go along and decide as I go along without too much intellectual consideration getting in the way. I am an instinctual animal, earthy and primitive and I like to be sure of my space.

  I avoid decisions by distracting myself with material possessions. I plod along avoiding risk taking in order to keep things just as they are; this is safe but ever so boring.

  Page of Swords/Princess of Swords

  I make decisions that are influenced by my sense retribution, if something riles me then I am quick to judge and then take action. I like to make decisions that will have an impact on the lives of those around me. I am the sort of person who likes to campaign and be the leader of a protest.

  I avoid making decisions for myself by constantly involving myself in the causes of others; I am so preoccupied with the external world that I avoid looking within and to my own actions.

  Knight of Swords/Prince of Swords

  I make decisions based upon intellect and reasoning, I have to pick through an issue before taking action.

  I avoid making decisions by making the excuse that I do not have enough information,
the time is never right. My many clever ideas and plans fail to come to realization, I talk more than I do the walk. If I avoid doing, then I avoid failing.

  Queen of Swords/Queen of Swords

  I make decisions based on the evidence that I have researched. I need to know the ins and outs of a situation or issue before I act. I am an analyzer of situations and people, I would make a good profiler of personalities. I am a people watcher.

  I avoid making decisions if I do not have enough knowledge experience behind me. I will not behave in a spontaneous way. I need to feel self assured and confident.

  King of Swords/Knight of Swords

  I make decisions based on smart thinking, and subtle consideration. I am not afraid to make a point, or demonstrate my thinking. I can also be considerate with the impact of my decisions on others and will always try and present my ideas with others in mind.

  If I unable to be spurred on or am bored with an idea I can lack the will to make decisions.

  Page of Cups/Princess of Cups

  I make decisions based upon fairness and sensitivity. I like to consider the good of the whole and consider the welfare of others when I take action. I am the swan who appears serene and expends little energy to move along on the surface, yet under the water I work hard to keep going.