Tools of the trade!
I rarely use Tarot cards now. The reason for this is simple. They are 'just' a tool and one which, I feel, I was shown to encourage my path and interest in Spirit. Cards and the many other tools are often just that ~ a starting point.
They are used mostly for pyschic readings, although Spirit will occasionally intervene to pass on something deemed inportant.
Most people who want card readings want me to tell their future ~ I am not a fortune teller. My job is to give, to those for whom I read, evidence of life beyond this one ~ with this evidence they can find their own proof.
Now I choose to work directly with Spirit. I sit in circle to further my 'Three Clairs' ~ Clairaudience, Clairvoyance and Clairsentience.
I find it difficult to leave my old life of random dreams, voices and visions behind and find myself a little out of my depth at times but with the help of an excellent teacher I hope to pull all that together and work for Spirit in a much stronger and clearer way. To comfort those who are breaved, ill or just want to find out more about life beyond this one.
However I would like to help others to understand a little more about cards etc and to know what to look for in a reader.
What impressions come to mind when you think of Tarot Cards?
To many it inspires immediate fear and visions of dimly lit rooms with strange ladies, beaded curtains, and crystal balls, or gypsy fortune tellers who predict ominous things and tall dark handsome strangers! Others think of them as the work of the devil.
Well I don't believe in the devil so that one is out for me. Of course there are those who think I am weird or eccentric but I see myself as perfectly normal!
I can only give you my beliefs ~ your own beliefs are personal to you and I don't set out to change them. I only set out to dispel the myths around Tarot cards and remove the fear in people's hearts.
'Mediums' link directly with Spirit to receive messages to give proof of a life that carries on once this earthly body is finished with. We all capable of connecting but for most of us this ability has been, for many reasons, forgotten, lost or hidden away. So we use other methods or 'tools'! - Tarot cards along with all the latest fairy and angel cards are 'tools'.
So are crystal balls, ribbons, and bowls of water, mirrors or psychometry. Psychometry is holding an article belonging to someone and picking up messages or information from the energy surrounding the article.
Strangely some mediums will often use this method and not think twice about it but they will strongly condemn Tarot.
I used Tarot for well over twenty five years. I do not see it as a fortune telling tool. I see it as a way to receive guidance and find answers to questions. Sometimes that guidance is just for the present and sometimes it helps us to step into tomorrow with confidence and strength.
Any tool has a positive and a negative side.
A knife can be used to prepare the most wonderful meal or carve a piece of wood into so many incredible and beautiful shapes ~ it can, in the wrong hands, also be used to kill or maim!
Even someone calling themselves a medium can be working with the wrong energy, with no love or light surrounding them. Fortunately this is rare.
A tool is just a tool ~ it is how it is used that is truly important. Always I have used the cards with love in my heart. My spiritual urge to help those who need it would not use them in any other way. My love and belief of 'God' 'Spirit' 'Goddess' or whatever would forbid me to use it to harm or bring fear to anyone.
So what is the answer? Well if you intend to have a reading of any sort then do so by recommendation. Investigate, ask around but most importantly listen to your own inner thoughts. If you meet someone who offers a reading and you really don't feel comfortable then say 'NO'. Believe in yourself and your gut instinct.
If you do go for a reading and they tell you things that make you feel afraid then refuse to pay and leave straight away. Dismiss anything you feel does not sit right ~ what right have they to know these things and pass them on in this fashion ~ none at all.
Send the responsibility of these actions and words back to the reader it is for them to deal with not you!
As a parent, aunt, uncle, sister or brother do you want anyone close to you to feel fear? Of course you don't and you will spend time making sure that is not the case.
Your greatest 'parent', your maker, your God, is not a being of fear ~ it is a powerful force of love and so will not want you to fear anything.
Also remember that those whom we love and who have moved over to Spirit will not harm or frighten you.
Readings may bring up things that are uncomfortable. For instance perhaps you are in an abusive relationship ~ guidance may be given on how you should deal with it but in the end it is your choice. We have free will, we make the final decisions.
A health issue could arise within the reading which you know about but are ignoring ~ you are told to deal with it!
However I will say that often these things are not given clearly to the reader for it is not the readers business to know yours.
These may be topics that bring unease into our lives but they are things that we know about ~ not things of which we have no knowledge and add fear to our lives.
Misunderstood cards: The Three of Swords, The Devil, and the Tower
Most people panic when they see these cards in their reading but they do not have to have a bad meaning ~ the just look so scary!!
Take the first card, the three of swords: Anyone getting the three of swords in a reading immediately assumes that there is going to be a relationship breakup or loads of heartache and its easy to see why when you look at the card.
It doesn't always mean any of this. To me Swords relate to air and intellect. The querient might be having a struggle with a decision regarding study or work. Or it could show that they should take care with a colleague at work or college.
The second card - the Devil - oh so spooky! Not so: Why are you stopping yourself from moving forward, feeling negative or blaming everyone else for the fact that you are stuck in a rut.
And the third - The tower? Sometimes we have to clear the clutter in our lives to move forward and sometimes the powers that be take it into their own hands. What appears to be your world falling apart is really the start of a whole new and better way of life but sometimes hugh changes have to be made first.
Now of course there are the stereotype meaning for Tarot cards and I can hear some people screaming at me: 'No you have it all wrong!'
However the symbols can mean so many different things depending on where the cards fall in a spread and which cards they are next to. I have learnt over the years to read in my own way and not as others do or books tell me - if you are interested in learning Tarot I would advise you to do the same.
Anyway I have such a lousy memory that despite the many books on Tarot that line my book shelves I cannot keep the meanings in my brain for longer than it takes to read the paragraph.
So what do I do? Well I trust Spirit who walks with me and then read the cards - I could draw exactly the same cards for three people and give totally different messages to each. Alternately I could draw completely different cards and give very similar messages.
If you are interested in reading Tarot then I give these guidelines and if you are looking for a reading then read the following and then look to see if the person you choose adheres to the important parts:
1: Always work in love and in truth.
2: Do not work for reward alone: however an exchange of energy in some form is necessary. I do charge but there are times when I don't.
3: Always ask your God/Source/Guardian/Angel/Guide to be present and to give you guidance and protection.
4: Choose your own pack. Check them out on the internet to see what they look like. The cards will become part of you, charged with your energy and you must be happy with them.
5: Use them and handle them constantly. Keep them safe and respect them.
6: Do not allow others to 'play' with them or try to read with them. They should only be handled by the querient prior to a reading.
7: Do not read just for fun!
8: Do not read for people who are obviously anti-Tarot or who really do not take it seriously. We do not have to prove anything to anyone ~ it is up to them to find their own answers.
9: DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL whilst giving a reading of any kind and DO NOT read for anyone who has been or is drinking at the time.
10: If you can't get a reading then be honest and offer to read at a later date. Perhaps it is not the right time for the querient or pehaps you are not the right peson to give the reading.
I have often refused to take money for a reading I felt was unsatisfactory but I have passed on the name of someone I trust to give another reading instead.
Honesty is everything.
At the end of a reading do not forget to thank your God/Guide Etc for their presence, protection and teaching.
Again I reiterate: Not everyones path or beliefs are the same - always respect that. Also remember that the words I write are my feelings and beliefs. If they don't sit right with you then perhaps they are not right for you.
In love and with Blessings,
Dori,
We are born off light, therefore we are light.
Sometimes we fear that which we do not understand ~ Knowledge is the key to take away that fear.
