Tag Archives: Major Arcana

Dreaming & Tarot

Synchronicity’s Chocolate

Every year I attend the International Association for the Study of Dreams conference, which holds a Dream Ball on the last night. This year it was held in Berkeley and I waited until the day before I left to solidify my costume for the Dream Ball. Although I had an idea as to what fragmented dreams it would include, I still felt that I needed a specific dream to share when called up to the stage for the costume judging. So I chose a dream that solely focused on a symbol that was shaped like an ice cream cone, that I drew in my journal. Above the dream I wrote “The Hanged Man” from the Tarot since the main aspect of the dream seemed to be related to that card. When I chose the dream I really thought it was from last year, between the annual conferences. Now I see that this dream was actually from two years ago, the day after my wedding anniversary. Below is the dream:

“Inversion” July, 17, 2012

I was in this restaurant and we (my best friend, others and I) were acting for this “reality show”. I was looking at this silver item/symbol that had a lipped edge, and was talking about how I always wished that I had the foundation symbolized in this image/item. I spoke about how it stood for a solid foundation of consistency and stability as a child. Then I went into this long analysis of it (none of which I remembered upon waking). At the end they (those in the room) said that I needed to relook at the symbol, because it was inverted for me. I had all those qualities/things in my life now – I had brought them as one unit/roof under me. The symbol represents all of the family/friends/experiences/etc – the pieces of me that I bring together as one in the memories I have with them. Together they are my roof, my solidified upside-down foundation.

Image from a dream called "Inversion" from July 17, 2012
Image from a dream called “Inversion” from July 17, 2012

The first day up in Berkeley, I reconnected with a friend of mine that I have not seen in four years. He and I became fast friends over rocks, crystals and deep spiritual conversations. In the course of the last year, he had been creating geometric sacred altars with beautiful stones in response to his higher calling. After seeing pictures of all the altars he made, I drew the symbol from my dream, although incorrectly, down on a scrap of paper to ask him the name/meaning of the shape . In order to ensure that he could see the angles on the shape, I circled them all. He instantly picked up the pen and wrote down “Kabbalah” and “Tree of Life”. Then mentioned that, “the tree has roots in heaven”. Immediately I told him the dream and explained that all of this time I had never realized what the symbol was shaped like.

Over the course of a few days, I began to put the pieces of my costume together. It was a mixture of fragment dreams on cut outs of puzzle pieces and copied images of Tarot and Dream deck cards that I had pulled for myself over the course of the year.  I also included an oversized image of the Wheel of Fortune (Oswald Wirth version) in the center of my body, as it was the Tarot card that I felt most related to the dream costume. I had felt as though I was the creature depicted in the card, as various pieces and parts of creatures that together did not flow as one (lion’s behind, spinx head, giant goddess boobs, angels wings and holding a sword). So I too wore a tail, wings, a crown, exposed cleavage and held a sword, along with the puzzle pieces and Tarot cards to visually show how I felt inside at this time in my life. Unsure as to whether or not I was going to share the “Inversion” dream, since it felt disconnected with the costume, I decided that if I were to share it then I would put the symbol on the back of the oversized Wheel of Fortune.

By Oswald Wirth
By Oswald Wirth

The next day I was drawn to a workshop that include the word Alchemy in the title, and attended it solely based on that one word. During my second master’s, I took an Alchemy course that focused on the Rosarium Philosophorum reliefs which honed my attention on the Major Arcana of the Tarot in a whole new way. That course, along with my introduction to Tarotpy, was a huge inspiration for my current work. With that said, in the second half of the workshop a large synchronistic moment took place as Dr. Ed Kellogg presented on how the Major Arcana of the Tarot fit into the Kabbalah. Although I have seen something similar to this before, his version made significantly more sense then others that I had seen by dividing the deck in half, instead of cramming all the cards into one tree. He also made reference to the movement of the Tarot going up and down, which connected the part of the dream that stated my foundation was the opposite of what most people have experienced. I mean wow, hard to be ignored – the dream, the costume, my thesis, my life’s work, all coming together in another’s vision. To be honest, I did not spent much time, if any, learning about the Kabbalah in relation to the Tarot. And here I am planning to turn my thesis into a book, getting ready to re-emerge myself into the research to do so, and an amazing avenue of information has opened up right in front of me.

The next day I cut out poster board and glued the dream shape on the back of the Wheel of Fortune card. That evening my roommates and I were running late to the costume contest and had the synchronistic fortune of running into Dr. Kellogg at the elevator. I said to him, “How synchronistic that you and I should run into each other as this costume represents the ‘beast’, as you would call it, in this card”, showing him the Wheel of Fortune image. He simply responded, “How synchronistic”.

For me, the “beast” at the top of the image of the wheel signifies the more surface or non integrated version of ourselves – which has very much been my life over the last year as a mom, a professor, a dreamworker and a Tarotpy practitioner. And in the last second before taking stage, I choose to refrain from sharing the symbol and instead focused on the piecemeal creature that is me.

Photographed by Richard Wilkerson
Photographed by Richard Wilkerson

A few days after I returned home, another synchronistic moment occurred. I blindly broke a piece of chocolate from the bar into the a close resemblance of the shape that I had drawn in my dream journal – again reminding me of the greater connection in life. Perhaps it was meant to influence me to continue on, through this lull in which I have questioned my actual purpose in life. Or perhaps it’s to remind me that there are bigger “plays” happening around me, ones that I am not aware. Whatever the case may be I knew that I had to share the sweetness of this overall synchronicity.

Dreaming & Tarot

Reflecting on April

As I alluded to last month in “THE TOWER OF SUDDEN CHANGE” (can’t you just hear the dark, creepy voice with booming thunder behind it), the  astrological events of April were looking to be a time of huge change for me. Well it was, but not the way I expected. I was really preparing for some outer event to shake up my life, leading to intense inner work – but that was not the case. Instead, it turned out be an inner realization that is affecting my outer life, requiring me to change much of the way I was doing things in relation to my career.

And even with the inner realization hitting me pretty hard, it was not nearly as bad as the realization in October/November during those crazy astrological influences (read “The Wounded Feminine”). Although April’s enlightenment was a very sudden deep emotional epiphany, I suppose it wasn’t as shocking as it could have been. The idea had been slowly seeping into my mind due to a couple of synchronistic conversations two days prior, allowing for the force of it to not be as dramatic.

Enlightenment
This is so true for the Tower Card.

The realization or ENLIGHTENMENT was thus – I have always worked to make others great, but have not focused on what I need to do to excel myself. Aha! Doesn’t seem that complicated, does it?!  Well when you are in it, you can’t see it, but others usually do. Sometimes the simplest idea, is the most powerful!

My life purpose is to be of service to others, and I have felt that way since I was a child. Over the years, I have dedicated much of my energy to helping others by giving them what they are lacking in their life and raise them up on various levels (emotionally, financially, mentally, physically, etc). Perhaps nothing that I can point out and say that I changed this persons life or became a benefactor for someone on the street, but I have given so much of myself energetically to many people over the years. I have done this in relationships, jobs, for bosses, for friends, for strangers, and for loved ones –  filling in the pieces of what others needed, working to improve their outlook, self, business and life. Some of the giving that I have done in my past has transformed itself into reciprocity towards me over the last few years, which has taught me humility, love and true friendship. Others, people and jobs, were bottomless pits of need, who I gave to until I was exhausted and sick (which are now out of my life or kept at a distance).

Now it is time to invest in the betterment of myself. And the kicker is that by doing this, I will actually be giving to others in an even bigger way then I have ever been able to do before. It is time for me to focus on excelling my career: meaning honoring the work that has come from my second thesis, making it the focus of my business, and  turning the thesis into a book. All of which will require a lot of dedication, research, and time from me. And as things change at home (like my two year old getting harder to go down for naps), I will have to find ways to circumnavigate situations as they arise. As part of this, I will need to modify the Life Guidance and Dream Interpretation readings to incorporate more of the “Mythology of the Major Arcana” – which is really what I do on Blogtalkradio.com (although that has not been made clear).

Perhaps because we are in the sign of Taurus (and that is my rising sign), I am feeling the need to test out some of my ideas with others. So, with that said, the first 6 people who read this and respond to me will get a SPECIAL discounted reading for $30. The session will be an hour reading in which I can test some new methods, and also provide a Tarotpy reading for either dreams or life guidance. Either way you get 60 minutes of looking into your life.

 

Dreaming & Tarot

Dealing with Change

Yesterday before the BlogTalkRadio show, I was shuffling my tarot decks in preparation when three cards flew out in this order- the Chariot, the Tower and the Moon.

Deck by Jonathan Dee
Deck by Jonathan Dee

The message was instantly clear and is key to dealing with change, both inner and outer, that is taking place for many of us who are feeling the weight of the times. The message is this:

First, their will be an unsettling feeling within that brings up emotions, even though you may present yourself as having it all together. It is not always easy to put your finger on what it is, and it can feel like pent up frustration, pit of the stomach feeling, anxiety, anger, resentment, etc. This is the “calling” for the need to change. This is all related to the Chariot.

Second, the realization will strike you putting your ego in check. Not only must we recognize our part in the this unresolved feeling/issue (whether we were acting it out consciously or unconsciously), we must watch as it tears down who we are – igniting the required change. If we are not responding to the need for change, life has a tendency to force it on us an outer experience that speeds things along. However, there will still be people that will resist change, not moving pas this point. This is all related to the Tower card.

Third, is the time to walk our talk – be the change that we want to see within us/within our world. It is a time of trials and tests to ensure that we have shed the old layers, allowing the new one to function in the world. It is a time to find balance within, between the opposites and extremes of life. We must protect the soft inner changes with our hard outer shell, ensuring that we do not let our old ways be triggered by our environment. This is all related to the Moon card.

Thus we are in the midst of the process of change that others are and will be facing this challenge (note: the Chariot card was pulled in at least 4 of the readings). So… PERSEVERE. Be STRONG. Be BRAVE. And FLOW with the change.