Treasure Tarot Learning Circle
1/9/09
Personal Tarot Cards and Year Cards

Calculate your cards:

Personality Card: How you manifest/ express yourself (this lifetime)

Calculate: Add the numbers of your birthday together and reduce to a single digit

Example: 10/29/1975 = 1+0+2+9+1+9+7+5= 34, then 3+4=7

Find the major arcana card of this number. If your number is 22 or less, you do not have to reduce it, because there are 22 major arcana.

Soul Card: Your soul’s purpose (throughout your lifetimes, if you believe in past lives)

Calculate: The reduced number from your Personality Card number, even if under 22. Mine is 7, from the example above.- the Chariot.

Hidden Factor/ Teacher Cards: Challenges, what you must learn on your path to your soul purpose. Teacher Cards are sometimes called Hidden Factor cards because we may see their lessons as a burden for a long time, not realizing they are strengths.

Calculate: Find any additional major arcana that reduce to your Soul card number. My number is 7, so my only Teacher card is 16, the Tower.

Year Card: What you will go through/ learn this year

Calculate: Add the numbers of your birthday again but use 2009 instead of your actual birth year. Reduce if over 22.

Example: 10/29/2009= 1+0+2+9+2=0+0+9= 23, then 2+3=5

My Year card is the Hierophant.

Lessons and Opportunities: Calculate for this year and general for your lifetime. These are the minor arcana cards that correspond to your Soul card number and your Year card number. Mine are 7’s in general and 5’s for this year.

After you figure out all your cards, get with a partner and tell them about your cards. See if you think they fit you. With these cards you’ll be telling them a mini life story. Use what you know about the Kabbalistic Gates to help you. (I’ll demonstrate first)

If you are the listener, your job is to guide and support the other person in telling their story. Much of Tarot reading is making a space for another person to tell their stories and make sense of them. Your job is to bear witness to their story and appreciate the person as a wonderful and complex work of art! Offer suggestions only when necessary and guide- don’t push.

Discussion- did your cards fit you? Why or why not?

Our next Treasure Tarot Learning Circle is Sat, Jan 24 at noon.

Our topic: “Approaching a Reading”

Thanks everyone! Happy New year!

-Seven Star

Treasure Tarot Learning Circle 12/10/08
Putting it all Together

We have been Discussing in depth the 10 Gates of the Kabbalah and how they apply to the Minor Arcana of the Tarot deck. Today we’ll review all the suits and practice reading for each other using what we’ve learned.

Activity:
Do a 5 minute free-write on each of the 4 suits. Think about the elements of each suit as well as the tools that represent those elements.

Discussion:
Basic descriptions the cycles of each suit:

CUPS/WATER: The journey through cups represents our search for connection and symbiosis. It is dualistic in that we also discover that we are separate and unique from all life. Thus we go through cycles of connection and disconnection throughout our lives. We learn how we react, like water, when energy comes to or passes through us. Ultimately, we learn that on the path to true emotional fulfillment we return again and again to a place of loving ourselves.

SWORDS/WIND: The journey through swords is a path to conscious understanding of ourselves, our environments, and our abilities to get what we need from our environments. We form our identities and behaviors through trial and error. The different techniques we try include fighting, surrendering, manipulating, defending, negotiating, and many others. Finally, we learn to use our intellect to get what we need without hurting ourselves or others.

WANDS/FIRE: On the path through wands we are learning how to channel our fire, our spirit, our unique energy. We learn how to use it appropriately and to put it where it is most needed and received. We sometimes lose touch with our unique spark and must return to it time and again, and make the necessary adjustments in our lives to make sure our energy is being expressed and that we are not moving against ourselves or getting in our own way.

PENTACLES/EARTH: On the path through pentacles we learn to care for ourselves in this plane of existence. This includes caring for our bodies, our environments, and others in our lives. We must learn to create sufficient material success and abundance while maintaining balance and harmony in our lives. Through iterations of creating new forms and destroying outdated ones, we ultimately create for ourselves lives that care for our needs and are congruent with every aspect of who we are.

Practice:
Practice readings using the Minor Arcana only. Try to remember the Kabbalistic Gate the corresponds with the card’s number, and apply it to the particular suit. This will aid you in understanding the deck as a whole system, rather than trying to memorize separate meanings for all the cards.

-end-

Treasure Tarot Learning Circle
Oct 25, 2008
“Tarot and Kabbalah”

Kabbalah is Jewish Mysticism. It means “received, or oral tradition”. Once Judaism became a religion in exile (when Jews were driven from Jerusalem by the Romans) the Bible was closed to further revelation in order to provide a foundation for people who were scattered in different places. Consequently, the Jewish people began to pass down new revelations in other ways. The theories of Kabbalah are based on the Sephir Yetzirah, the “Book of Creation”, written in Palestine between the second and seventh centuries. It has been refined over time and influenced by many other theories into the system we study today as the foundation of the Western Mystic tradition.

Kabbalah forms the foundation because it brings together so many theories on the process of life, or enlightenment, or the path to god, or the laws of the universe. It correlates with many other systems and is extremely useful in its application to the Tarot, even though Tarot was developed separately.

Today we will look at the ten spheres of the Tree of Life. We will look at the 22 paths in another class. The diagram of the Tree of Life is designed from the Sephir Yetzirah and the Hermetic ladder of the seven planets, and is said to describe the stages of creation from god, or the source of life, to humans. If we humans work the steps backward we are working our way back to god.

This journey of “working our way back to god” is the journey of Tarot and almost any religious or spiritual philosophy. We move through the stages, ever-deeper into layers of ourselves. This is not a linear journey. We return to the source again and again, each time understanding it better and then moving away to take the leap through more experiences. Through each experience, if we are aware and attentive, we get to know who we are, and who we are not. We understand ourselves as a creation in process, refining ourselves, discarding that which no longer fits, distilling to the Truth of ourselves, and building upon that Truth as we journey further.

Here are the basic descriptions of the stages, the spheres, or Sephiroth that we move through in this process, and their correlations to the Tarot deck. They are also called the gates of the Tree of Life.

Gate 1: Kether: Gate of Potential
-the next level to move to
-something beginning to open up
-a point
-raw energy
-the source
-corresponds with the aces in the minor arcane and the Fool, magus, High Priestess, Empress, Emperor, and Heirophant (these majors are all potential ways of being)

Gate 2: Chokmah: Gate of Force
-the force that will move the querist forward
-something becomes polarized
-2 points making a line, duality, opposite
-a choice point, often between love or fear
-will, purpose, direction, decision
-corresponds with the twos, the Kings, the Lovers, Chariot, and Strength (all are motivators of action, moving toward something)

Gate 3: Binah: Gate of Form
-something becomes dimensional, takes form
-triangle, triad, plane
-conception, creativity, birth
-corresponds with the threes, the Queens, and the Hermit (the creators- the Hermit understands that he creates his world with his own hand)

Gate 4: Chesed: Gate of Will
-something becomes stable
-a time of confidence, a plateau
-building, production, mastery, clinging
-corresponds with the fours, the Wheel of Fortune, Karma, and the Hanged Man (representing aligning the will with existing circumstances and the laws of the universe)

Gate 5: Geburah: Gate of Severity
-chaos, destruction, fear
-“cleaning house”
-something needs to end, is ending
-time to make room for the new
-corresponds with the fives, and Death, Temperance, the Devil, and the Tower (represent dissolution of old ways)

Gate 6: Tiphareth: Gate of Truth
-a new essence or Truth
-restabilization, realignment
-openness, exhaltation, seeing,
-higher consciousness, connection
-corresponds with the sixes, the Knights (the male child), the Star, Moon, and Sun (represent deep revelation and getting to know the true Self)

Gate 7: Netzach: Gate of Vision
-subconscious, intuitive insight
-the new thing becomes complex
-deepening, mystery
-psychic ability or receiving of messages
-corresponds with the sevens and with Resurrection (the beginning of rebirth or a new level)

Gate 8: Hod: Gate of the Lightning Path
-“it all comes together”
-growth and understanding on a conscious level
-repose, retreat, consideration, ripening
-divine reason, universal mind
-corresponds to the eights and the Universe (represents the principle of “As above, so below- working within the laws of the universe, the unity and parallels of all things)

Gate 9: Yesod: Gate of the Portal
-subconscious mind integration, the portal to ascendance
-change, passing through to the new level understood at 8
-the highest point of something, strengthening
-corresponds to the nines and the Universe (experience of integration, complete understanding beyond words)

Gate 10: Malkuth: Gate of Communion
-the physical world, a fulfilled cycle
-future direction, next level of growth, what’s in store
-the body, the spirit ensouled
-corresponds to the tens and the Universe (completion of a cycle and movement toward a new cycle)

Once you get to know the properties of the suits, you can combine that with the properties of the stage to which it corresponds and you can “read” any card, even from a regular deck of playing cards.

Examination of the suit of Wands, or Fire, and its correlation to the Gates of the Tree of Life

Compare your Wands cards and their pictures and meanings to see how well they correlate. Look at others’ decks to see how the same concepts are represented.

Notes from this Learning Circle will be posted at www.treasuretarot.com.

Our next Learning Circle is:
Sat, Nov 8 12-1:30pm
Topic : Part 2: Looking at Swords, Cups, and Pentacles as they relate to the Tree of Life

Thanks for coming, everyone, and blessings!

:)  -Seven Star

Treasure Tarot Learning Circle

Sept. 27, 2008

“Kings and Queens”

Activities

Drawing of all 4 Queens

Drawing of all 4 Kings

Answer these questions with a partner for each drawing:

How are the 4 relating to each other (or not)?

What is each one doing? How are they feeling?

Which ones did you draw first? Last? Any reason for this? Were you drawn to some more than others?

What colors, symbols, objects, or background did you also draw from the cards? Did you add any of your own?

Do any of the figures in your drawing look significantly different from the art on your cards? If so, what prompted you to change it?

Now, look at your actual 4 Kings and Queens, and place one of each in these categories:

-One that you would seek advice from

-One that you would seek comfort and safety from

-One that reminds you of yourself

-One that you have an aversion to or like the least

Discussion

Archetypes for mature women, mothers, or queens:

Cups: psychic, wise woman, priestess, Crone archetype, female hermit

When lost: over-identified with others, victim, looking to others for her truth or value

Wands: powerful and relational, seeks personal growth, true personal power

When lost: seductress, seeking power thru giving up her power, stuck in anger and rebelling

Swords: independent, dedicated to a cause, daring, Joan of Arc archetype

When lost: critical of others, outcast, denial of own desires

Pentacles: Mother Earth archetype, sensual, nurturing, caring

When lost: defined by her creations or children, possessive, smothering

Archetypes for mature men, fathers, or kings:

Cups: sensual for personal pleasure, driven by primal urges, intimate, unashamed, male Lover archetype

When lost: cycle of addiction to pleasure-seeking and then boredom, purpose-less, passionless

Wands: responsible, providing order and fertility, stability, Father Time and Judeo-Christian God archetype

When lost: powerless tyrant, angry, afraid, unable to reason or think of others

Swords: Warrior archetype, disciplined, skilled, emotionally detached, sacrificing

When lost: cruel and resentful of others, passive-aggressive

Pentacles: Magician archetype, master of technology, tools, and transformation

When lost: manipulating, denial of responsibility, blaming

Did the way you categorized your cards fit these descriptions?

Practice

3- or 5-card spreads with Kings and Queens only

Let me know if you have any questions!

Notes from this Learning Circle will be posted at www.treasuretarot.com

Our next Treasure Tarot Learing Circle is:

Sat, October 11

Topic: “Court Cards: Knights and Pages”

Thank you everyone, and blessings!

-Seven Star

Tarot Learning Circle
Sept. 13, 2008
“Getting Unstuck”

DISCUSSION/ WRITING:
Give examples of times you’ve felt stuck during readings.
How did you resolve the situation or move forward?
When you don’t use the book, how do you read the cards?

TIPS:
Project the client directly into the picture on the card. Imagine she or he is the character depicted, in that environment, etc. Speak in the second person.
-demo/practice-

Describe the emotion of the card- the background, mood, colors, shapes, and the feel of the setting or character’s expression.
-demo/practice-

Focus on the differences between the current card and the previous one. Compare mood, colors, shapes, etc.
-demo/practice-

Pretend you’re reading a story to a small child. Describe the cards like an exciting fairy tale.
-demo/practice-

Remember, you don’t have to know everything! You can always:
Ask the client what she thinks
Move on to the next card and come back
Draw another card for clarification
Just pause and take a moment to think

!- It is important to maintain openness and trust with the client. Let him know what you are doing if you skip a card or draw another.

READING PRACTICE:
Pair up and practice 3- or 5-card readings. Let me know if you have any questions! 

!- If you practice reading regularly, try to only use the book every other time. Tarot is a tool to help you get in touch with your own intuition, perceptions, and true feelings. If you use the book all the time, you aren’t letting Tarot do its job and you’re missing out on wisdom that can only come from you!

Q&A

Our next Treasure Tarot Learning Circle is Sat, Sept 27, 12-1:30pm.
Our topic will be: “Court Cards: Kings and Queens”

Notes from this Learning Circle and others will be posted on our blog at www.treasuretarot.com.

Thank you everyone, and blessings!
-Seven Star

Romantic love is a common issue for people to request readings on. We talked about the cycle, or stages, of relationships and how it is useful to know generally where someone is in the relationship cycle when beginning a reading. The stages are not linear- we can be in any stage in any part of our relationships at any time. Also, these stages are not limited to romantic relationships but can be observed in our relations with other people and things, including ourselves. The stages can also be roughly correlated with the number cards in each of the Minor Arcana suits. The stages, briefly, are as follows:

1- longing, or will- There is a longing to give and receive. We have something to offer and are looking for a receptacle, and at the same time we have a void that longs to be filled. We are open to receive and searching for that perfect fit. This may be conscious or unconscious. There is always giving and receiving throughout these relationships, although often we take the stance that things are forced on us and don’t realize that reception is a conscious choice.

2- attraction, meeting- We begin the process of exchange with another. This is the basis of all creativity and life. Like the reactions we learned about in 6th grade chemistry class, we learn about ourselves through our reactions to energy coming to or passing through us in the form of another person with different perspectives, beliefs, needs, and so on.

3- the relationship entity- The relationship itself begins to build into a separate, living entity. This is the offspring of the combination and exchange in stage 2. A relationship includes its own behaviors, expectations, timeline, lifespan, and energies. Like any other living thing, it is forever changing, and changing the persons involved.

4- assessment- We understand now that we have created something. The relationship is like a fully-functioning being. Perhaps it has gotten away from us a bit. It will now require work and attention from us to maintain or change it as we so desire. We have let it evolve thus far and now we step back and assess: Are we satisfied/happy with it? We realize that we have created it, whether we like it or not, and it is we who determine its future shaping. At this stage we might re-attune to our original intent in beginning the relationship to see if we have gotten what we originally wanted.

5- fear, disillusionment, doubt- We may feel resentment in realizing that we have not gotten everything we wanted out of a relationship. We resist coming to terms with the knowledge that, even in our deepest intimate relationships, we still walk our paths alone. We are paradoxically united as one life, yet separate individuals and constantly oscillate between the two experiences. At the 5th stage we overly identify with both the relationship and the other person. We mistakenly blame the other for our own suffering. We see “problems” as static and unchangeable. Many people seek Tarot readings and other types of counsel at this stage and often present the other person or the relationship itself as the “problem”.

6- choice point- At the 6th stage we begin to contemplate a new way of seeing the relationship. The infatuation and cathexis we experienced in stages 1-5 becomes sublimated and we begin to move toward a higher goal. We understand that rather than being a cage that traps and limits us, the relationship can be our vehicle for personal liberation. We understand that the things we are asked to let go of in order to become more loving are only those that have been hurting us. We let go of fear and resistance to “losing”. The only things we stand to lose are our false personalities, defenses, and survival systems that no longer serve us. We attune to the purpose of becoming a loving and compassionate being, and know that the very separation and individuation that brings challenge to relating is the very thing that makes love possible. Love is not the absence of challenge, but the ability to do what is loving in the face of challenge. Realizing our potential as loving human beings and supporting the other person in realizing theirs becomes the new goal of the relationship.

7- introspection- But how to do this? Many of us have not been exposed to these types of relationships and feel at a loss as to where to begin. The next stage is to look within. We focus on our new purpose and begin to take responsibility for our own actions and what behaviors and attitudes our blocking us from moving forward. We become committed to growth and let go of blaming or placing responsibility for our suffering outside of ourselves. This is a good time to seek guides, as outside entities can often help us see ourselves from an unbiased perspective.

8- higher purpose- At the 8th stage we begin to live this higher purpose. We are aligning our everyday thought and action with it. We take the long view and understand the larger implications of our behaviors in the relationship. Not only can we relieve our own suffering and that of our partner through this process, but we can begin to truly heal our world. Through seeing how we have caused our own suffering and how we struggle to right this, we become compassionate to the struggles of our partner and others, and begin to let go of blame and condemnation.

9- understanding- We are convinced! Now that we have taken the risk, in spite of fears, to change our reactions and behaviors and one by one, to let go of defenses and open our hearts to higher purpose, we see that it works! We are experiencing true love. We are in touch with our loving potential and are better able to address challenges and confusion in the relationship. This spurs us on to continue our work.

10- integration, manifestation- We are now truly on a new path. The myth of “romantic love”, whereby we look to another to fill our void and blame for our dissatifaction, has evaporated. Our new task in relationship is to support each other in becoming loving, compassionate, and realizing our potential. In this way we fill our own voids. We understand that the basis of all growth and wisdom is love. Individually, we begin to experience loss of self-consciousness and we stop clinging to the relationship. We love for the sake of loving itself and welcome challenges as opportunities to do so.

It is important to note that moving through these stages requires participation from both partners. Many of us are unaware that the perpetual blaming, clinging, and resentment often present in stages 2-5 require both people to be willing participants. When one person is ready and longing to move beyond stage 5, their partner may not be in a position to do this. Thus, the two may decide to move apart or change their physical relationship. Many people who come for readings are concerned with “keeping the relationship together” at the expense of being able to move on. It is important for the reader to let go of the biased view of “breaking up” as negative and “staying together” as positive. If a client wants to move on to the higher purpose in love, it is imperative to keep an open and creative mind about what can facilitate this movement.

We will continue to discuss reading for romantic relationship issues at our next Meetup on May 31st. Please feel free to post of email comments or questions and I will respond as appropriate. Thanks to everyone who came to Meetup last Saturday! I am blessed to know each of you.

~Seven Star

Here I will post “Tarot Tips” for studying or learning Tarot, my own “Card Explorations” with my thoughts and elaborations on various cards, and photos of Treasure Tarot events such as classes and meetups. A discussion forum will be added to the site in time. In the meantime, please feel free to email me your questions about Tarot and I will post responses here if appropriate. Thank you!

~Seven Star