The Power of the Tarot Aces
Do you think you know the Tarot Aces? Look again, there is more there!
Tarot Grandmaster
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Tarot is a book of spiritual wisdom in picture form that tells the story of all human experience.
With tarot, we connect with Spirit to discern wise guidance for the present, develop understanding of the past, and learn ways to work to manifest our goals and possibilities for the future.
If you are interested in the tarot and other tools of divination please begin with my tarot news page!
Please leave this site if the practice of traditional methods of divination are not of interest to you.
Do you think you know the Tarot Aces? Look again, there is more there!
Writers struggle to "find their voice." But it is not just writers who need to know and use their authentic voice, it's all of us.
Many of us have different voices for different things we do; a "work voice" and a "mom voice," for instance. But what is your authentic voice?
Many people don't know their authentic voice because it wasn't allowed to develop in youth. Often children are told not to express their feelings, or that their voice doesn't matter.
Many people are shy, and afraid to use their voice.
But what does it mean to know and use your authentic voice? I think it means having the courage to speak what is on your mind and in your heart.
That doesn't mean being mean-spirited, even if you are angry. It does mean being honest.
The question is, is it possible to be honest and kind at the same time? And, if we operate with restraint, are we actually restraining our authentic voice?
As with anything else in life, using your authentic voice takes balance. It is possible to express feelings, even negative feelings, in a positive way. It is possible to be authentic and still have regard for the people around you.
Once in a while you run into a person who confuses meanness with honestly. A person who says "hey, I'm just telling the truth the way I see it," while indeed they are instead using their words as an opportunity to hurt someone.
The way to avoid this is simple. When it comes to communicating your truth, never have a second agenda. Never let it be about ego, or about trying to diminish someone else.
Your authentic voice, whether written or spoken, must be about expressing yourself, not your agenda.
The tarot suit of Swords, associated most often with the element of Air, is all about communication. That's why so many of the Swords cards often have very stark, unpleasant pictures. So often we are hurt by the words of others. Sometimes, the words we speak are hurtful to others.
Authenticity can be revealing - even shocking. But it is never intentionally hurtful.
In the literary world, and in the tarot world, reviews are an important part of our careers. Many of us write reviews of books, movies, tarot decks, and even restaurants. Reviews are important to writers and artists because those reviews help us to be better. One could argue that a bad review is the most helpful review of all. Constructive criticism is helpful when it is authentic.
When reviewers have a second agenda, their review is no longer authentic, and helps no one. Another way to honor our authentic voice is to dismiss the voices of others that are not authentic.
This is true, too, in the way that we see ourselves. We all have an inner critic. When that inner critic is authentic, it helps us to be better. When that inner critic comes from a place of anxiety and bad self-esteem, it is no longer authentic. When we think about the authentic voice, we must realize this refers to what we express to the world, and our inner dialogue that only we hear.
Finding your authentic voice is part of finding your identity. So many adults attach their identity to temporary things - things like raising small children, jobs and relationships. When that part of life is over, suddenly we don't know who we are anymore.
Sadly, sometimes we use the tragedies in our lives to define ourselves as well.
For me, tarot has been a great tool for finding identity, and finding the authentic voice, for both me and my clients.
Another great tool is to have an understanding of the chakras. To directly work with the throat chakra in meditation and breathing exercises is very helpful. To connect the throat chakra and the heart chakra is an amazing way to let the authentic voice present itself.
I often see the Ace of Swords as the "anti-bullsh*t device." I sometimes take this card and hold it to my throat chakra, breathing in its energy, that I may know my truth, speak my truth, and discern the things I hear as either truth or untruth.
This is one of the ways that tarot helps me find my authentic voice.
From my 78 Poems Project
The Ace of Swords
Forged steel of ingenuity
Communication, keen focus, acuity.
No tolerance for thieves in this blade
As Excalibur discerned a kingdom was made.
This Sword seeks no royalty
It 's a common but sacred thing, honesty.
This Sword of Air scourges lies
Reveals truth behind malicious disguise.
Questions ignorance, banishes confusion
And separates reality from delusion.
But do not take this Sword of Air
Without the strength the truth to bear.
And remember with faith, when truth is clear
It's never as dark as what you fear.
When I posted my outrage at marketing decisions made by Doreen Virtue and Hay House for her new tarot deck I had no idea there was also a great deal of controversy in the tarot community about the deck itself. As I said in my prior post, I personally don’t find anything troubling or offensive about the deck – it is not very original in its concepts, but it looks lovely.
The conversation that has arisen out of this controversy is worth tackling as a topic of its own. The question is “Is tarot scary?”
A few clients tell me that they are a little afraid to have a reading. That is not because they are afraid of the cards, per se. It is because they are afraid of what I might tell them. Sometimes, for new clients, it is because they have heard stories of other readers who said very negative things. Sometimes it is because they suspect something to be true that they don’t want to be true – and they know that a reading may confirm their suspicions.
Some people are afraid of tarot readings because of the Gypsies who use tarot to defraud people. We should all fear and avoid fraudulent business people.
Some people are afraid because they have been taught by particular religious dogma that tarot is evil. Sadly, religion can sometimes narrow our thinking instead of broadening our horizons.
People often fear what they do not understand, and tarot takes some time and effort to understand.
Some people find the actual cards scary because of the harsh images and words on cards like Death and Devil, for instance, or the upsetting images on cards like the Ten of Swords.
As a reader, I find that fear of the words and images creates a good teachable moment. It is an opportunity to teach something about tarot, and an opportunity to teach something about fear.
For instance, in the Waite Ten of Swords image a person is laid prone and bleeding with ten swords in his back. It is not a pleasant image by any account. But when I explain to the client that those swords represent their own thoughts or their own reaction to unkind words, the client is empowered to change their thinking, or to take control of their reaction.
Sometimes it is helpful for us to see graphic images that represent our pain. These images both validate us and give us clues to help us heal.
Sometimes people fear tarot, and tarot reading, because they fear all things unpleasant. Once at my tarot table I asked a client what she wanted to know and she responded with “I just want to hear that my life is going to be happy and everything is going to be wonderful.” She wasn’t kidding.
Another potential client told me she didn’t want to have a reading because the last time she had a reading she was told that someone around her was going to die within two years. Within two years, someone around her did in fact die. The question I countered with was this. Can you remember any two year period in your life when someone around you didn’t die? The reader might have just as well predicted that you would breathe air.
From those two stories I take away two ideas. One is that people may fear readings because readings generally don’t confirm unrealistic expectations. Two is that people are not always in touch with the basic realities of life.
The reason people are not always in touch with the basic realities of life is – you guessed it – fear.
Fear can be disabling in many ways.
Perhaps some people fear tarot because tarot is a reflection of life, and of truth.
Well-placed fear can protect us and keep us alive. Fear of failure, success, change and growth can keep us from living.
When we walk in fear we lose so many opportunities for joy. That may be the ultimate goal of the spiritual journey, no matter what the culture or belief set may be. We all need to learn to walk in faith, rather than in fear.
Many of our modern philosophers, from great presidents to the Grateful Dead, have had wise words to say about fear.
My beloved Desiderata by Max Erhmann says something about fear.
"Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.”
I wrote about fear in my poem about the Ace of Swords. Its final lines read:
But do not take this Sword of Air
Without the strength the truth to bear.
And remember with faith, when truth is clear
It's never as dark as what you fear.
For me, that is the truth about tarot, and about tarot reading. Tarot is a reflection of life, in which some things are more pleasant than others. But if we can face life from a perspective of love and faith, we never have anything to fear.
Tarot is a tool that can help us find the love, faith and strength of spirit we need to move forward boldly, and with joy. And that’s not scary at all.