The Tarot Shaman Read online

  Continue to work through the cards, taking either small steps, going on long-distance journeys, picking items up along the way, or simply learning about journeying from the comfort of your armchair!

  STOP when you reach a place or lesson from the cards that just feels right. If you are in any doubt, it is not the place. Make a note of the final card which you have received to have brought you to this place or taught you a particular lesson about journeying.

  You may have pulled 3 cards and not moved at all, you may have pulled 30 cards and travelled a hundred miles in the day. It is up to your journey.

  When you are at this place or point – begin to consider how far you have come since you started the journey. Consider what you learnt yesterday about your fears and what must be overcome. Find strength renewed in this place, which is a “power spot” as it is called in the works of Carlos Castaneda.

  When you have contemplated this journey, you can return! You may return to this spot again, or it may just be a one-off visit. You can even make a map of the cards and the locations through which you have journeyed! This is what we call a geographical spread, such as the one included in this download here [it is a PDF file] where we teach how to use your property as a spread and other methods!

  We will then begin to summon our Animal Spirit and learn about Animal Symbolism in the cards in our next Gate exercise tomorrow.

  Here is a real account from the journal from one of our students.

  I start on my back porch. I drew the Knight of Swords – and think about my feelings about journeying. When I go on an adventure or trip or new class, like the Knight of Swords I am feeling inspired, excited, and full of hope and expectations. I also tend to rush in like an excited puppy!

  Today when I looked at the knight I felt how he was encumbered by his "uniform", the clothing he wears to show he plays a certain role. This connected me with the Gate 1 lesson as I need to let go of expected roles and constraints.

  I felt the need to run a bath for myself and go into the tub. Here I have no outer garment. I can connect with the flow and healing energy of the water. I draw the Hanged Man - before rushing into anything I need to feel how I feel in this place. It is a perspective of realizing in some venues some energies do not feel right for me. However this perspective - and I am also able to feel remotely - is needed before choosing to partake or go on any adventure. I need to look beneath the surface of things, people and places.

  I'm in my bed now. It is the place where I have the most relaxation and peace; meditating, journaling or journeying. This is especially in the quiet of morning when my cats are all resting beside me.

  Here I pull Justice - important because she was my “Reward” on the Gate 1 journey. After the above insight about calibrating the energies I go into, I am given the OK sign here, by spirit.

  Now I pick out the next card, and it is the Moon - staying connected to my intuitive nature. Getting both sides of my brain in harmony, singing the same song, baying at the same moon ... working together on the same goals ... a duet, a team.

  My final card is the 9 of pentacles - this is my Guardian from the first gate. I look at her differently. I see there is nothing wrong but her own image of herself. She needs to venture out into the world and sit with her insecurities.

  Is it fear of myself, for who I am? Yes.

  I go out to a diner in a nearby town bringing my mini-deck of Universal Waite.

  5 of pentacles - today this card tells me that everyone has handicaps, pains, struggles. Before I leave the waitress tells me she has trouble slowing down ... I can relate. I think of the Knight of Wands.

  Home. Back in my bed. I am using again my Sharman-Caselli Tarot.

  As I pick up my deck I see on the bottom the Queen of Pentacles. I think as I shuffle how she is now the mature me, grounded. She is guarded by the bull head on either side of her. She sits confidently on her throne ... her own life's structure and foundation. The natural elements of nature are all around her being in a lovely wild garden. A rabbit near her feet shows her lightness of step ... she holds her life, the pentacles, in her lap where she can ponder and move through life thoughtfully.

  I finish shuffling the deck. I turn over the top card.

  It is the Queen of Pentacles.

  Tarot Shaman: Gate 3

  The Summoning

  The symbolism of Tarot is populated with animals – birds, reptiles, fish, and mammals, real and imaginary. A wonderful example of how these are used as complex symbols is the exquisitely-named but hardly-known article here, The Aviary at the Gates of Heaven which discusses the birds used on the Empress Tarot card in the Thoth Tarot.

  However, in the Shamanic traditions, animals are seen as messengers and guides – spirits in their own right. Whilst we will examine this symbolism more tomorrow, for today we are going to do a very simple exercise to start to summon our animal guide.

  The Summoning

  In this next gate, having proven ourselves and embarked on a journey, we will take our sacred place and begin to summon a spirit of an animal from our Tarot deck. First we must have the animal choose us – by consulting with what the Sufis call the “Counsel”.

  This exercise is rather simple. Go through your deck and select out all the cards that have an animal on them. If you are using a pagan deck or animal oracle deck this may be all of the cards, of course! If your deck has no animals at all, you may wish to select an alternative deck.

  Then shuffle, and place these cards FACE-DOWN about you, on the floor, in any pattern – perhaps a circle. Take any natural object, such as a crystal, stick or stone, and place it at about the centre of the spread.

  Begin to move the object around, feeling it respond to the cards.

  When the sensation of calling or pulling is strongest, place it upon that card.

  Leave the object there. DO NOT LOOK AT THE CARD. Put the other cards away.

  Now spend the day wondering what the spirit of the card is – try and see its calling you or summoning in the activities of the day.

  At the end of the day, you can write down your experiences and look at the card – comparing your feelings and the animal you see on the card.

  Here is a neat example from actual practice:

  I performed the exercise this morning. I left the card atop my bedside table which doubles as my altar. We spent the day at my mom's house with family. We came home drained from the sun and playing in the pool. When I walked into my bedroom I remembered the card but did not turn it. I showered and watched TV for a bit.

  I tell you all of this because when I turned over my card I had the Queen of Wands which features a black cat at her feet. This is odd to me because I am fiercely allergic to cats. My mom has cats that I tried to avoid but seemed to follow me everywhere today. My mom even teased me saying that they loved me. Then while we were watching TV my husband was watching something about panthers, which are just really big cats.

  I cannot believe how this has played out.

  Tarot Shaman: Gate 4

  The Spirit Catcher

  Now we approach the last stages of our first experience of Tarot Shamanism, today we are going to create a special sigil – magical symbol – to focus the energy of our Animal. We are going to do this by performing a special type of one-card reading called a “drill-down” reading.

  The Spirit Catcher

  This Spirit Catcher is in some ways similar to a Veve in Voodoo traditions or a talisman in the Western esoteric traditions. In a sense it is also a mandala. It acts as a focus of the energies of the spirit. It can be used by placing it on one’s personal altar, hiding it somewhere of import, or carrying it about on ones person. You may wish to take this magical diagram to the place of power you discovered in your Journey Gate and ritually burn it or bury it.

  Take your deck and shuffle it whilst considering the guardian you have overcome and the journey you took, and the animal which was revealed at the last gate. Concentrate on that animal and ask “How May I honor your S
pirit?” Take out one card.

  Lay the card face-up and make a note of the key symbols, items, objects, colors even, in each of the following areas of the card:

  Illus. Spirit Catcher Template

  So it might be that the upper-left section of the card contains just sky. You could write in that section of the box, “Blue” or “Sky”. Select the most prominent symbol in that area of the card for YOU, whilst also thinking of the animal.

  Then imagine that this box represents a new SPREAD.

  The top two sections are “How you Honor me in your spiritual life”, the middle two sections are “How you Honor me in your thoughts and feelings” and the bottom two sections are “How you Honor me in your daily activities”. These are the three levels of the world.

  Take each of the two symbols and read them as if they were a pair of very simple Tarot cards. What comes to mind? Write down your feelings and impressions.

  In this manner of reading, each individual card becomes a Mandala. It is also a spirit catcher in that for the next two days you must live according to these divinations before completing the last Gate.

  These activities must honor your ANIMAL SPIRIT in all levels of your life. You should also record any dreams or events of note during this time.

  An Example

  Again, here is an actual student example from one card.

  My animal was the Hare. I drew the 2 of Wands and split it into the squared off sections.

  How I honor in Spiritual life - the red crystal (passion) and the white crystal (purity of purpose) were the 2 symbols that stood out for me in the top 2 squares.

  How I honor in Thoughts & Feelings - it was the Key in the middle of the 2 middle squares that stood out. To me that's about opening up, "unlocking" my thoughts & feelings and my intuition.

  How I honor in daily activities - this one was interesting as it was the closed chest (again in the middle of the 2 squares) that stood out. To me a closed chest stands for hidden truths. It's the Key (my thoughts, feelings) that are crucial to me opening up (hidden truths) so that I can live and act according to my truth. The Key (thoughts, feelings) are also crucial to unlocking the passion and having a purity of purpose. (In the Legacy of Divine Tarot there is also a closed chest in the top half of the card.)

  Tarot Shaman: Gate 5

  The Invocation of the Animal Spirit

  “The morning breezes have secrets to tell; don't go back to sleep.”

  Rumi

  We come now to the final Gate of this week-long Gated Spreads experience. We hope you have enjoyed learning about the Tarot through the animal symbolism of the cards and by engaging with your life in a Shamanistic approach. We have also looked at the concept of “drill-down” reading with just one card, which you can apply to your general tarot practice, turning one card into a deep reading!

  In this final Gate we pull together our experience by embodying and being empowered by the animal spirit we have been called by - and which we have caught by honoring it.

  The Invocation of the Animal Spirit

  We now invoke and embody the Animal Spirit. This step uses a variation of a magical practice taught by urban shaman and modern chaos magician Jan Fries, whose books we recommend, particularly Visual Magick.

  Living the Animal

  On a largish sheet of paper, draw a rough sketch of your Animal Spirit. This can be heavily stylistic, symbolic or realistic.

  Place a cross on 5 places on the diagram. These could be key features such as the eye, a wing, tail, etc. Write in each position, “This is the vision of my spirit”, “This is the spiritual power of my spirit”, “This is the balance of my spirit” or whatever may be appropriate to that part of the animal.

  Now take your deck and shuffle whilst contemplating the journey that has brought you to this place, the fear you had to overcome, the calling and the catching, and the honoring of your animal spirit.

  All the Gates have led to this divine moment.

  Take out a card when you are ready for each of the place on the animal. These cards represent the animal’s response to you. They are the divination for how you can invoke these powers and qualities of your animal spirit. They tell you how to live the animal.

  So for example, if I had a bat, and I had placed one of my crosses on its ear(s), writing, “This is the secret sense of the Bat, my sprit”, and then drawn the 7 of Disks (Thoth Tarot) in that position, I would read it as follows: “Failure and Sloth – the secret sense of my animal spirit is present and invoked when I give up trying and relax, surrender.”

  You will now have five points of invocation of your Animal Spirit.

  As a Tarot Shaman you can use these cards to draw upon the power of your animal guide, perhaps leaving them visible in your sight before sleep and communing with your animal in dreams.

  You may also create a montage of the cards chosen to represent your animal, or otherwise use the cards to remind you of all that you have learnt during this week.

  Another method to explore is creating an affirmation based on these cards and their relationship to your animal spirit.

  Here is an example from one student, using her animal spirit of the Horse. The five points were chosen as:

  Tail for protection

  Ear for psychic power

  Brain/Head for secret knowledge

  Eye for Vision

  Legs for spiritual power.

  And the cards she received and her interpretations were:

  Tail - Strength: strength of character, courage and taming the inner beast. Need to show strength of mind.

  Ear - 9 Rods: Engage in a high degree of mental and physical activity. Stay focused, concentrate and be disciplined without straining myself.

  Brain/Head - Wheel of Fortune: recognize the synchronicities in my life and accept that there is more than the external world. Be adaptable, versatile and have a sense of humor!

  Eye - Page of Cups: engage in dream-work, active imagination and emotional enthusiasm (seems to be a recurring theme for me lately!)

  Legs - Queen of Rods: Seize me path and rush enthusiastically forward, devouring details. Follow a path that allows me the full expression of my creative will.

  Conclusion

  “For me there is only the travelling on the paths that have a heart, on any path that may have a heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge for me is to traverse its full length. And there I travel – looking, looking, breathlessly”.

  Carlos Castaneda, p. 185

  In honoring your animal spirit, you will discover more avenues and direct communication from that aspect of the universe, and can continue to use your tarot as a tool to bond with that spirit. It will lead you into many new personal discoveries and adventures.

  There are many other shamanistic methods of exploring the Tarot, and many aspects of animal symbolism which can be pursued. 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

  Abram, D. Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology. New York: Vintage Books, 2010.

  Andrews, T. Animal-Speak.

  Bates, D. The Way of Wyrd. London: Hay House, 2005.

  Castenada, C. The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge. New York: Pocket Books, 1976.

  Fries, J. Visual Magick. Oxford: Mandrake Press, 2000.

  Harner, M. The Way of the Shaman.

  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.

  Plotkin, B. Soulcrafting: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and the Psyche. Novato: New World Library, 2003.

  Steinbre
cher, E. The Inner Guide Meditation. York Beach: Samuel Weiser, 2006.

  Waite, A. E. Pictorial Key to the Tarot. London: Rider, 1974.

  Wallis, R. J. Shamans/Neo-Shamans: Ecstasies, Alternate Archeologies & Contemporary Shamans.

  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