The cards of the major arcana follow a very unique sequence. They act somewhat like steps, each one leading on to the next, adding and building one’s skill set and one’s understanding of their place and purpose in the world. Yet life very rarely runs in the sequential order the major arcana offers up, so why is it important that we engage with the cards as if it does? Regardless of how you make your way through the twenty-two cards of the major arcana, you cannot escape the fact that they all have an influence on one another. There is a reason Death, Temperance, and the Devil are found hanging out together, just like the Star, Moon, and Sun. There is a story being told throughout these twenty-two cards and each step is a chapter in that story, carrying on from the chapter before it and paving the way for the chapter after it. The only card of the majors that does not seem to follow this rule is the Fool. The Fool seems separate from the rest, not really belonging to any one chapter, but rather acting as the main character that moves through the story, steps, and sequence of the remaining twenty-one cards. The Fool does this at their own pace, in their own time and their own way. The Fool does not seem bound to the same sort of rules the other twenty-one cards are bound to, which makes your relationship with the Fool that much more important. As you make your way through this chapter and land on each of the twenty-two steps, you will have to decide if you are the Fool, or if the Fool is someone outside of yourself that you are observing having this journey through the other major arcana cards. This decision will have an impact on how you, in turn, experience the other twenty-one cards. You will either see them as something that is happening to you or something that is happening outside of you that you observe but do not partake in. I should point out that there is no wrong or right way to engage with the twenty-two cards of the major arcana; just know that they are a system, a series of steps that are there to guide you in whatever way you personally feel is right for you. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Fool is the start of a journey, be it through the remaining twenty-one cards of the major arcana or some other journey in your current life. The Fool embodies elements of spontaneity, innocence, faith, risk, and courage. The Fool is by no means a passive card; it is action-oriented, for you cannot begin anything without movement. However, there is also something beautifully still and calm about the energy of the Fool, for they have not yet learned how to fear the world around them. The Fool does not seem to be filled with the trepidation and doubts most seasoned travelers have. This innocence means the mind is calm and the heart is wide open. The mind is not racing to all the things that could go wrong, but instead is wrapped up in the heart’s song of what could actually go right. This is echoed by the number that the Fool is assigned—zero, full of untapped potential but also carrying nothing at all. This idea or concept that we can be filled to the brim with potential in all of its forms but empty at the same time is at the very heart of the meditation process. To be empty of fear, doubt, and ego and full of the divine or universal spark is what most meditators are striving for. In the Fool card, this state of being is as natural as breathing. There is no need to seek this feeling, for it is just by being the Fool that it is attained. This is something to ponder further as you make your way through the pathworking exercises.
Pathwork
Intentional
For this exercise, bring to mind the last time you acted in a spontaneous or impulsive way. Relax into the thought and bring the scene to the forefront of your mind. See it as if it were a snapshot in your mind’s eye. Taking another nice deep breath, connect with how you felt in the moment you decided to let your hair down, be a little reckless, and act without thinking. Don’t allow your mind to wander into analysis. You are the observer while you are undertaking this pathwork exercise, and you can do all the examination you want in your journal later. Right now just focus on how you felt while taking that leap. Don’t judge the feeling; just let it bubble up to the surface. Taking another deep breath, fast forward to the next day, the day after you were spontaneous or impulsive. Did you still feel good about how you acted, or did you wake up with buyer’s remorse? Again, do not spend a lot of time analyzing how you felt, just observe. Take another deep breath, then exhale deeply, letting it all go, as if you were pushing the air all the way down to and through your feet. Do this one more time to truly disconnect from the energy of the Fool and your journey.
If you notice that you had a very positive reaction to your walk in the wild with the energy of the Fool, amplify it, take note of it, and journal about it. If you notice that you felt regret or shame, just take note of it and write about it after you have finished this exercise. Get your journal and start writing about your findings, keeping the Fool card with you at all times while you do the journal work.
Intuitive
For this exercise, you are going to talk your way through the Fool card. In other words, you are going to tell the story of the card as if you are the Fool. If you feel you need to record your ramblings, grab your phone and record them. I like to hook up my headset to my laptop and start my talk-to-text function, so that I can get a written account of my session with the Fool card. If you don’t feel comfortable recording your journey, that is fine; you don’t have to do it, but it is extremely helpful.
Stare into your card and get a feel for the environment and landscape the Fool finds themselves in. Is your Fool on the edge of a cliff ? If so, does being that close to the edge freak you out? Describe the scene around you, even the weather. Don’t forget to mention if you have an animal totem companion and what you have in your knapsack. You might want to start this exercise by saying something along the lines of “I am the Fool who …”
Let me give you a quick example using the Fool card from the Animal Totem Tarot: “I am the Fool who carries more than I need. I am the Fool who jumps into adventure without wearing sunscreen. I am the Fool who sees the clear blue skies and runs to come out and play.”
Okay, now it’s your turn. I am the fool who…
Wandering
There is a Fool in all of us. We are all prone to wander through our lives in the Fool’s shoes at some point. You know only too well what it is like to get caught up in the moment of something and forget about everything else. Time, food, money, your physical body … they all fade away when you find yourself having a Fool moment experience. For this exercise, see if you can tap into one of those moments today. See if you can identify when everything around you just fades out and you lose all track of time. Learning to tap into these moments is one of the first steps to finding the gaps in your physical experience and allowing your soul to take over. This gap moves you into a vibrational experience, a more transcended experience. The Fool is very much the first step to self-actualization. But just for today, see if you can identify the gap, the Fool moment.
The number one card in the major arcana is the Magician, the card of the self-sufficient, fully equipped, magical creator. This card deals with elements of purpose, destiny, divine gifts, and, of course, magic. The Magician brings all the elements of the tarot together in one place: earth, air, fire, and water—all of the elements needed to create, sustain, and destroy life. That’s a lot to deal with in one card. The Magician is the next step up from the Fool, for here we see our Fool has learned some new tricks and is discovering how to tap into the energy of possibility and potential that was surrounding them in the previous card. I guess we could say that here in the Magician, the Fool has unlocked their talents and is now sorting through them to see which ones they might want to develop further as they continue their journey through the tarot world.
So what skills and talents are on offer here? I do believe this is an important element of the Magician card, for we won’t all have the same skills, possibilities, or magic at our disposal. We each have different gifts or talents that will be available for us to explore, foster, and grow, and it is up to us to determine what they are. So look at your Magician card carefully, really connect with the image, and allow yourself to be open to seeing what gifts you are meant to explore. Your magic is unique and only you can unlock its true potential, so take your time as you step into the shoes of the Magician.
Pathwork
Intentional
Do you believe you are the creator of your own destiny, or do you believe that your life is out of your hands? These questions are fundamental to the Magician card. For the purpose of this exercise, let’s say you believe you are the creator of your life. Let’s say you consider this a powerful, self-affirming card and one that helps you focus on your divine gifts to create a life of joy, wealth, health, and love. Close your eyes and think about the last time you and you alone manifested something you really wanted into your life. Think about the people, conditions, and actions you had to meet and manage to pull it all off. Bring it all into your mind’s eye and hold that image. How does this image make you feel? What mindset did you have at the time this manifestation happened? Take nice deep breaths as you sit with this image and the feelings it bubbles up. Magnify this image, brighten it, make it as vibrant as possible, and affirm: “I see you, I remember you, I live you in every moment.”
Slowly release the image and bring your awareness back to the room. This is a way of tapping into your unique magic, a way for you to see how your gifts and talents come together to create just for you. Remember not to judge any of this—just allow yourself to relive the moment and observe, and please leave comparison at the door.
Intuitive
Hold your Magician card out in front of you and just start talking your way through it as if you were the Magician. Start in the same way we did back in the Fool, only this time start with something along the lines of “I am the Magician who …”
Let me give you an example: “I am the Magician who uses my gifts to benefit not only myself but all those around me. I am the Magician who knows how to play to my gifts and strengths. I am the Magician who is always in the right place at the right time with the right magical tool.” I think you get the idea. The purpose of this exercise is to get you comfortable with your magic, with your special and unique gift and power. Do the speaking exercise out loud until you run out of things to say.
Wandering
This is an exercise in channeling your cards. By making a psychic link between the figure in the card and yourself, you are opening the door for a direct dialogue. Don’t worry if you only get a couple of words or just a sentence. The more you do this sort of exercise the stronger the connection becomes.
Place your Magician card in front of you, either on a table or desk. Pick up a pen and some paper. Gaze at the card and allow your eyes to wander over it, soaking in the image, the colors, and the design. If possible, stare into the eyes of the Magician. Pick up your pen and start writing whatever pops into your head. Just write for five to ten minutes, keeping your gaze on the Magician and never breaking your connection until you feel you are done and have written all you can. Even if you only get one sentence or a handful of random words, you have done well.
The High Priestess is a bit of a mysterious card. The Priestess is considered high in stature, is elite in her education, and is the keeper of sacred knowledge. In more traditional decks she is also the protector and gatekeeper of the higher realms of wisdom and self-realization. However, she gives no clues whatsoever as to what she is actually protecting and whom she is protecting it from, though to look at a traditional version of this card, you would think it was whoever happened to cross her path. She is in many respects a high-ranking female guru, and all who come before her usually come with a question.
So what is yours? What answers do you seek at the feet of the High Priestess? What knowledge are you hoping she will bestow upon you, and in all honesty, do you think you are worthy? I guess you are about to find out. Before you walk the path with the High Priestess you must first consider what it is you wish for her to tell you. Like all great spiritual gurus, she won’t just open up and tell you everything she knows. Instead, she will only offer that which she feels you need, and even that isn’t definite. So, what is the one most pressing issue or concern you have right now in your life? You only get one question per visit, so make it a good one. Once you have decided what your question will be, think about what you are willing to offer her as a gift, as you must first give an offering in honor of the Priestess before you expect anything in return. Now that you have both your gift and your question, you are ready to set yourself on the path to the High Priestess.
Pathwork
Intentional
In this exercise you are going to journey to the temple of the High Priestess. Pull the High Priestess card from your deck and place it somewhere you can see it and use it as a point of focus for your journey. Get comfortable, relax, and remember to breathe. Gaze at your card and focus on the temple, seeing yourself walking the path that leads to where your High Priestess is seated. Do your best to relax into the scene that unfolds before you, knowing that you can close your eyes at any time to zero in on your surroundings or focus your mental energy. As you walk the path to the temple, take notice of what surrounds it; notice whether there are people and animals or if the landscape looks barren or isolated.
Keep walking until you find yourself at the door to the temple. Remember, you need to bring the High Priestess a gift, something you will give her in exchange for the information you seek from her. So make sure you have it ready as you knock and wait patiently for the guard. Hand your gift to the guard and wait to be granted permission inside. Relax even more and just allow the rest of the journey to unfold. Do not push it, force it, or reject it. If the guard allows you access, enter the temple and sit with the High Priestess. Allow your experience with her to unfold as it needs to.
If you are not allowed in, that means the High Priestess believes that the answer you seek is already in your possession, so just take a moment to yourself outside the temple and look at whether you are holding anything in your hands or find something under your foot.
When you feel your time is done at the temple, take some nice deep breaths and bring yourself back to your body and back to the space you are sitting in. Now that the journey is over, you are free to write about this encounter in your journal.
Intuitive
The High Priestess is an intuitive card. Connected to the Moon, the High Priestess wants you to consider that what you seek you already know. For this exercise, she wants you to tap into your own inner knowing and your own High Priestess and listen. Put your High Priestess card somewhere you can see it, then pick up a pen and some paper or open your laptop and create a new document.
Ask a question out loud to the High Priestess and then just write down whatever you hear. You might hear it just inside your head or maybe a song or tune will float through your window at that exact moment. Keep the question in your mind, and keep your ears open. Do this for about two to four minutes. Set a timer if it helps you stay focused. When your time is up, read what you have in front of you. It may not be the exact answer you were hoping for, but it will be a mighty fine place to start. If you want to take this exercise one step further, take your findings to your journal.
Wandering
Would you know how to identify the High Priestess if you bumped into her on the street? I ask this because this archetype is a bit of a chameleon. Just like her counterpart, the Moon, the High Priestess can take on more than one face or phase. For this exercise, see if you can identify the High Priestess in your life. See if you can find her in your family, at your place of employment, and even in your home. Maybe the High Priestess is you. This archetype is hard to find in the wild, as sometimes she is one of the Queens, sometimes she is one of the Knights, sometimes she can even be one of the Pages. This exercise will help you learn to identify people who seem to have one foot in the physical world but their head in the spiritual realm. Your teachers, mentors, and spiritual wisdom-keepers never quite look the way you expect them to, so pay very close attention. Good luck, and don’t be surprised if you have to spend quite a bit of time playing hide and seek with the High Priestess.
The great mother of the deck is the embodiment of Venus, the Goddess of Love. She is nurturing, giving, and constantly creating. Yet she is more than just a woman who always seems barefoot and pregnant. The whole idea of pregnancy and birth is debated within the energy of this card, along with the idea of what we define as a mother. Not every woman gives literal birth to another life, and men cannot do it at all; yet both are just as much a part of the Empress as those women who can, and do, bring physical new life into the world. It is within the Empress that we start to see that maybe the way we have defined the world is not as concrete as we first thought. It is under the loving gaze of the Empress that we start to think about identity, purpose, and how we wish to engage in the material world of physicality. For if the Empress can be fluid in self-identification, perhaps so can we. It is here with the Empress that we start to learn that gender is not identity and identity is not gender. This idea will be explored even further throughout the court cards.
The Empress’s deep connection to the earth means she can teach you how to birth your ideas into the material world; however, she will be brutally honest about the level of sacrifice you will have to make in order to create all that you want and desire. The Empress knows only too well about processes and cycles. She understands there are no shortcuts or overnight successes. If you are willing to walk the path of creation with her, she will be more than eager to share some of her tips and tricks along the way, but be forewarned, her advice is not for the faint-hearted.
Pathwork
Intentional
The Empress is our first lesson in process, stages, and cycles. In order to create something, it must first be conceived, then go through a gestational process, and then be birthed into the world. After it is born, the hard work begins. But for now, let’s focus on gestation. In today’s instant gratification world, waiting for things to happen can seem like a cruel form of torture. But the Empress knows that in order for things to be birthed in the right way at the right time, there needs to be a specific gestational period.
As you think about projects, ideas, or relationships you seem to be waiting on, take a nice deep breath. Just relax and breathe out any and all tension you have created around the idea of having to wait. Focus on exhaling the tension and anxiety while you inhale the calming and more nurturing energy of the Empress. Feel the unconditional love she has for you and your creations. Let it wash over your body. As you breathe in the energy of the Empress and exhale the tension, bring to your mind’s eye the end result you are rushing so hard to get to. Make this image as sharp and bright as you can. Allow the energy from the Empress to seep into this end result image you are focusing on and see how it makes you feel. Sink into the visual representation of seeing your goal achieved. Notice who is there with you. Notice what sort of environment you are in.
As you make this image larger, brighter, and more lifelike, notice any and all tension or anxiety that creeps into your body. Just keep breathing it out, and do not release your primary focus from your vision. As you take in your achievement and the amazing feelings this achievement gives you, ask yourself if you are willing to compromise any of this. How it looks, how it feels, and who is there with you are all products of your goal coming together in divine time, and divine time is the Empress’s domain. This vision is the end result of the perfect gestational period. Allow that to sink in, and then when you are ready, take three nice, long, deep breaths in through the nose and out through your mouth, and just let the image fade away. Release it with the knowledge that it is on its way to you. Let go of your need to control when it shows up, and instead put it in the hands of the Empress. Allow her to guide it through its divine gestational period, knowing she will be more than willing to give it back to you once it is time for you to birth it into the world. Relax, roll out your shoulders, take the Empress card out of your deck, and place her either on your altar or beside your bed. Leave her there for the next three days. Each morning and evening, look at your card and say “Thank you.”
Intuitive
For this journey, take your Empress card out of your deck and put her somewhere you can see her. Next, open up your yearly planner or digital calendar. Take a deep breath and ask the Empress to give you a date of expectancy. You can word this any way you want. You may ask her for a due date for your goal or maybe a deadline for phase one of a longer project. Just find a way to ask, then close your eyes and let the date come to you. No matter what date it is, put it in your calendar. This may seem a little out there, but I have learned over the years that the Empress is never wrong with her timing. Even when I am on a contractual deadline, I ask the Empress for a due date, and without fail she gives it to me. It is always right every single time, without exception. Once you have your date marked you can relax into that fact and know that you now have a solid time frame to work with, meaning you now know just how long your gestational period will be.
Wandering
If you were to take the Empress for a walk, where would you take her and why? Think about the fact that she is heavily pregnant; what would you need to do to accommodate her? Take into consideration that her connection to Venus means she has a preference for beauty. And last but not least, consider the fact that she is used to getting her own way. Take this all into consideration before you plan your outing. Now, start making a list of all the places you want to take the Empress. Make bullet points as to why you think the Empress would enjoy herself at these places, and consider if you yourself would also enjoy them. You just never know; planning a trip for the Empress may turn into a trip-planning event for yourself!
Have you ever imagined what it would be like to build your own world? To have a world that was in alignment with your own personal beliefs, thoughts, and feelings? Can you even see what sort of people would live there and how the structure of the society would work? It is not easy thinking about having massive numbers of people in your care. It is not easy to set the rules and regulations that hundreds, thousands, or millions would have to live their lives by. Yet this is exactly what the Emperor does. He is law, he is structure, he is the creator of his own Empire, the builder of his own world. It is easy for us to think we know all the answers to solve the world’s problems, but the truth is that no one does. Humans as a collective are messy, complex, and often paradoxical. To build an empire you have to think about the many and live with the few that do not agree with you. To create a world means establishing one set of ideals, beliefs, and biases and expecting everyone else to follow them. The job of the Emperor is a difficult and unrewarding one. Maybe that is why from time to time he locks himself away and only bothers to indulge his own needs and wants. All good leaders should have “me time”; however, they also know this is not something they can do forever.
The Emperor in the tarot represents the divine masculine, the energy that works harmoniously alongside the divine feminine. You can tell when the divine masculine is out of alignment, because it is not sharing the spotlight with its female consort. In order for any world to be fair and balanced, the divine gendered energies must be on equal footing. The Emperor knows this, which is why he is more than happy for the Empress to come before him in the first row of the major arcana. He doesn’t need to upstage or outshine anyone, as he has too many other things on his mind, and without the help of the Empress, nothing he builds will grow. This is important when you start your pathwork journey with the Emperor, for oftentimes people forget that the Emperor doesn’t create worlds on his own. He is not a singular entity as such; he is part of the whole, and without the other pieces there would be no need for any of the things he can build, create, or bring together. The foundation he forges needs others to engage with it, support it, nourish it, and help it expand.
Pathwork
Intentional
When it is time to get serious and get our hands dirty, it is time to pull the Emperor from our decks and start to work alongside this builder of dreams deliberately and with purpose. Emperor isn’t just a ruler and commander in chief, he is also a creator; he constructs things, often with his own two hands. This is the energy you will need when you want to manifest something from your dreams into your physical experience. This simple mantra-style spell will help you channel your inner Emperor and get you focused on building your own empire.
Go ahead and remove your Emperor card from your deck. Put it either on your altar space or somewhere it won’t be disturbed for the next twenty-four hours. You can pair your card with crystals, herbs, or even building tools. Write out a small mantra on a piece of paper, something along the lines of“I call on my inner Emperor to show me what tools I need to pick up to assist me in building the life of my dreams,” or “Dear Emperor, show my how I can lead by example so I can best serve those around me.” You will know what it is you want your Emperor to assist you with.
Once you have your card on your altar and your mantra written, take a nice relaxing breath, light a candle or some incense, and recite your mantra three times. Sit silently for a couple of minutes and then finish up by saying, “Thank you for helping me construct the life of my dreams.”
And that’s it. You can repeat this over the next few days if you feel called to.
Intuitive
In my book Tarot Court Cards for Beginners I talked about how each of the four Kings could be seen to show different aspects of the Emperor himself. For example, the King of Cups is a heart-based leader, the King of Swords is a thought leader, the King of Wands is a creative leader, and the King of Pentacles is an investment leader. All four show totally different ways to lead, build, and govern.
In this exercise, I want you to pull out your Emperor card, your four Kings, and your four Queens. Place the Emperor faceup so you can see him staring back at you. Gather up your Kings and Queens, keeping them facedown, and give them a little shuffle. Fan them out and pick two cards, card one being your main leadership influence and card two your secondary leadership energy. Card one indicates how the outside world sees you and card two shows how you see yourself. Did you turn over cards that surprise you or are your results no surprise at all? Pick up your journal and write about the differences between how the world sees you and how you see yourself. Think about whether or not you are comfortable with the differences or if it is something you would like to work on. The more you get to know these two cards, the more you will be able to manifest, serve, and engage with those around you.
Wandering
Do you want to walk in the Emperor’s shoes? Do you want to see how glamorous it is to have the world at your feet? I know there are times I do. I want to sit on that throne, be the one giving orders, and have others look up to me with deep respect and trust in their eyes. I want to know what it feels like to have world-changing power at my fingertips. If you struggle with confidence of any kind, this exercise is a good one to practice on a regular basis. Getting into that feeling place of the Emperor will help you tremendously. All you have to do is immerse yourself in your Emperor card, see yourself merging with the image on the card, and slowly allow yourself to observe from behind the Emperor’s eyes. You may be brave enough to become the Emperor yourself, or you might be able to take a backseat and observe the Emperor’s actions, decision-making, and strength. How you approach your wandering is entirely up to you. The braver you get, the more you might find yourself becoming more Emperor and less observer. Just take your time and allow the feeling to build at your pace.
How you relate to this card really does say a lot about how you view religion and spirituality in general. I know some people tend to view this card as limiting, a reminder of the overreach of traditional religious institutions and a visual representation of all their rules and regulations. I understand how easy it is to get fixated on this view of the Hierophant, especially considering that the church was pretty connected to this card in the fifteenth century, with many decks labeling this card as the Pope. But don’t forget that right alongside the Pope was the female Pope, also known as the High Priestess. It was a different time with different values and traditions. I know others who see the Hierophant as a teacher, storyteller, wise wisdom-keeper, and the one who passes knowledge, medicine, and wisdom from one generation to another. There are others who see him as a spiritual guide, someone who helps you along the path to enlightenment and self-actualization. All of these are religious and spiritual in nature, but how you feel about each manifestation of the Hierophant will have a very real impact on how you work with the energy of this card, and what you will or will not allow it to teach you.
For the sake of this book and your pathworking experience, we are going to use the Hierophant in all of his forms. He is going to be Pope, priest, monk, wisdom-keeper, storyteller, and all-around guru. We are also going to see him as a representation of the paradox that expansion can only happen through limitation. Love him or hate him, the Hierophant has an awful lot to teach you about who you are, why you are here, and how you can stay focused on your life path. As with all good spiritual mentors, you will find yourself both running from him and running toward him, until you settle into the lessons and wisdom he has for you. Working with a spiritual teacher is hard for many reasons, and a lot of people have had bad experiences in the past that now darken the idea of trying again.
Just keep in mind that picking a spiritual teacher or finding the Hierophant that is right for you may take some time. It might also push you to drop some of your own preconceived ideas about what a spiritual teacher should and should not be like. Find teachers who are joyful, abundant, authentic, believe in integrity, and above all are loved and give love back willingly. In other words, don’t pick an asshat. This is one of the ways working with the Hierophant can be beneficial, as he holds the space for you to explore your options. He creates a place for you to consider what it is you truly want from a spiritual path. He is not interested in what he can get out of you, only what you can find out about yourself and your place in the larger vibrational web of the universe.
Pathwork
Intentional
Who are your spiritual mentors and why do you look up to them? During this pathwork exercise, select one of your spiritual teachers or someone you wish to emulate. It doesn’t really have to be someone who walks a spiritual path, just someone you respect, listen to, and model your life after. Sit in silent, reflective meditation and contemplate how this person or their words or their music or their beliefs have benefited you. View all the ways this person has made your life better, more joyful, or more grounded. Allow these feelings to just bubble up and roll through you. Feel them as they rise and fall. Notice any sensations as these feelings, thoughts, and memories wash over you. Remember to breathe as you continue to focus on these sensations. Once you have reflected as much as possible, visualize yourself sending your teacher, mentor, or role model waves of gratitude. See this gratitude pour from your heart center and out into the world, eventually falling down on your target like gentle spring rain. Notice if your gratitude is a specific color. Also notice how your body feels as it sends out these pulse-like waves of gratitude and affection. Relax, breathe, and when you feel finished, allow yourself a few moments to settle back into the here and now. If this person has had a very large impact on your life, you could make this a monthly practice. Sending their vibrational bodies gratitude makes them able to continue their work and help others. Your small reflective meditation can be a part of that bigger vibrational web.
Intuitive
Remove your Hierophant card from your deck and place it in front of you. Shuffle your remaining cards, and while you do so, ask your Hierophant what spiritual lesson he has for you today. When you feel ready, go ahead and select a card, then place it faceup next to your Hierophant card. So, what does your spiritual mentor want you to know today? What lesson does he want you to learn? Can you think of why this particular lesson may be popping up now? Sit with both of these cards for a while, keeping your gaze on them, while you contemplate the card you have drawn. When you feel ready, pick up your journal and let your mind rattle off anything and everything that has pushed itself to the forefront of your awareness. Save it and read it tomorrow. Space often gives us even more perspective.
Wandering
Once upon a time if one wanted to have a spiritual experience, one had to either renounce all that they owned and all of their labels, and join a wandering band of other spiritual seekers, or renounce who they were and go into a monastic institute. With the advent of modern churches, the internet, and podcasts, one does not have to go wandering anymore, yet this does not stop people from doing just that. Millions of pilgrims walk the earth in search of some form of spiritual experience. Each of us can become a pilgrim in our own everyday life. Spiritual wandering can be as simple as a morning walk in the park and being fully present and aware of everything that surrounds you.
Have you ever walked in the park and practiced the “I am that, I am” exercise? I heard about this process on a tele-seminar with Neil Donald Walsch, in which he talked about finding God and the self in the world around us. In this exercise, as you walk, look to a tree and say, “I am that, I am.” Then you see a flower and say, “I am that, I am.” You may see a fellow parkgoer and say, “I am that, I am.” This inner dialogue becomes a mantra inside your head, a point of focus that grounds you totally in the moment with no separation between you and the world outside of you. This is a fabulous wandering Hierophant exercise, and you don’t even have to do it at a park. You can do it anywhere—the mall, hiking through the mountains, walking along the beach. The point is not the location, but the dropping of the ego “I” and the embrace of the “I” that is nothing and everything, much the way millions of spiritual seekers before you have sought to find who they are by forgetting who they used to be.
I always find it interesting that most people presume that the Lovers card is about bringing someone else into their lives, and that this card symbolizes a certain stage of maturation that dictates a time of matchup or joining with another to carry on to the next phases of life. I will admit this is one way of looking at the Lovers, but I do find it a very limiting and narrow way to view this card. For me, the story of this card lies more in its number allocation than in its title. The number six is focused more on the idea of relationships and commitments, sometimes with other people, but mostly with ourselves. In many respects, this card tests our resolve to walk a certain path, to be and act a certain way, and to think about who and what we interact with as we continue on the journey we started back at the Fool card. The Lovers asks us who and what we are committed to. This question needs to be answered honestly.
The longest relationship we have is with ourselves. It is the one relationship we should be constantly fostering, nurturing, and deepening. So how is your relationship with you? Are you on good terms with yourself, or are you committed to beating yourself up and setting yourself up for failure? Repeating destructive patterns of behavior generally lets us know we are committed to making life difficult for ourselves, and in turn difficult for those around us. Choosing to be committed to a joyful, loving, and peaceful path generally means your life flows pretty well, and you find yourself supported by loving, joyful, peaceful people in return. Your life is a commitment, but what you have committed to will be showcased here in the Lovers card. Good or bad is irrelevant, as you can choose to change your journey, change your commitments, and deepen your relationship with the one person who matters the most: you.
Pathwork
Intentional
For this exercise, you are going to write up a self-care regimen and make a commitment to follow through with it. Self-care is an expression of self-love. When we learn to put ourselves first, we are acknowledging that we matter and that we see ourselves as important. If our relationship with our self is solid, committed, and filled with love, then so too are all of our other relationships. In essence, this is using the Lovers card in the most intentional and deliberate way.
Most times people will say they have a wonderful self-care regimen in place, so I ask them to describe it. This is where things tend to unravel, mainly because most of us don’t really make a firm commitment to self-care. Most of us, myself included, tend to see self-care as a luxury; it’s something that there isn’t always time, money, or space for. The truth is, self-care is the one thing we should be making our number one priority. Self-care doesn’t have to be all bubble baths and massages, but if that is yours, fabulous! Self-care is also having quiet time alone, when you won’t be distracted or interrupted. It can be taking yourself out for a morning walk and letting your body and mind relax. It can be a yoga class, a daily salad, a ten-minute meditation, or a mani-pedi. It really doesn’t matter what you do, just how consistent you are in doing it. This is the commitment part, the follow through, the point of accountability, the real intentional lesson of the path of the Lovers. Commit, show up, follow-through.
Intuitive
For something totally different, turn your Lovers card upside down and purposely put this card and the energy that surrounds it in a protective bubble. Close your eyes and allow yourself to go back in time to immerse yourself in a period when you first met your spouse or significant other, when you first realized you were part of a family, or that very first moment you decided you were going to be best friends with someone. Really put yourself back into the shoes of your former self. While you are there, take note of what type of person you were at this time. Who was the person who formed all of these relationships that your present self has to live with?
Sometimes when I do this exercise with my private clients they don’t even recognize the people they see back at the moment of their relationship conceptions, which, to be honest, is to be expected as we all grow, change, and evolve. But the real question is, have your relationships done the same, or are you still trying to have the same relationship you had back when you were all different people? Use all of this information as a point of meditation. Allow yourself to really go deep with this exercise, especially if one of your current relationships is having problems or seems off track. You may find plenty to journal about later, but for now just meditate. Go back and follow the threads. See what has gone well and what perhaps may need some healing, love, and possible mending. Stay in reflection until you feel you cannot focus anymore, then grab your journal and dump your findings onto its pages.
Wandering
For this exercise, pick one thing you are currently working on manifesting. It might be a new job, a new creative project, a new house, or even a new lover. Hold it in your mind’s eye and then fast-forward to the moment after you have manifested your heart’s desire—where your future self is basking in the glow of the Lovers energy coming together. Now, let that future self take your current self for a walk backward in time. Your future self, the self that is already living the life you are only currently dreaming about, is going to show you what happened to make your dream into a reality. Do not try to control this journey, just let it unfold in your mind’s eye like a movie.
Right now you are purely an observer, collecting information that you will use to shore up your commitment to seeing this goal or dream through. When you are working tirelessly on a dream or goal and aren’t really seeing big changes around you, it is easy to become despondent, to stop your self-care, and to question your choices. By using this process with the Lovers card you are reconnecting your heart energy back to your goal or dream, as well as reenergizing your commitment to it. When we start from the end and remind ourselves just how amazing life is going to be when we pull this dream or goal off, we get a new burst of energy and a new sense of purpose. So go on, let your future self be your guide and go take a walk on the manifestation side of the street.
If we are to view the Chariot in the order it lands in the major arcana, we could say that this card represents the idea of moving out of your parents’ house and heading off into the world to start your own family or your own adventure. The Chariot card comes after the Lovers card, which can sometimes, but not always, show a coupling. Only a few cards before it we were learning from mother (Empress), father (Emperor), Auntie (the High Priestess), and Uncle (the Hierophant). If we view the first seven cards of the major arcana as what happens to us as we grow inside a family unit, when the Chariot rolls up, we know it’s time to pack our things and leave the security of the family home behind to head off into the world and make our mark. Given the time when the tarot was created, around the middle of the fifteenth century, this is exactly how life would have been, not to mention this point in our lives would have happened sooner rather than later, probably around fourteen to sixteen years of age. It is hard to imagine in today’s world being sent off at such an early age to start a family and provide for yourself financially. Leaving home is our first taste of life-altering change. We are literally moved out of our comfort zone and placed in situations that have tremendously sharp learning curves. Some take to these new conditions quickly and easily while others struggle and stumble.
Can you remember what it was like when you left home, how that movement changed all the aspects of your life? How did you manage it? Was it something you flowed with or something you really struggled with? The need for upheaval, the need to change and move away from where you are, is not something everyone jumps for joy about. Leaving one’s comfort zone can create fear in some, and fear makes for a terrible navigator. It is hard to think about the road you need to travel and the best route to get you from where you are to where you need to be when fear is yelling in your ear. Just know the Chariot doesn’t really care how you get to where you are going, and it doesn’t even really care what condition you are in when you arrive at your destination. All it knows is that you are going, whether you like it or not.
Pathwork
Intentional
What areas of your life do you need to move on from, or, alternatively, what areas of your life do you need to drive toward? Trying to stay tethered to something while driving in the opposite direction is a fabulous way of totaling your Chariot, so stop, take a breath, close your eyes, and concentrate. What direction do you really need to be heading and how long is it going to take you to reach your destination? Now consider what you will need to leave behind, what you need to untether from so you can have forward movement. We don’t often think of loss when we see the Chariot card, but loss and gain go hand in hand. Moving is not always easy, nor is the road paved with guarantees, but sometimes we have no choice, and oftentimes the move is worth it in the long run. Use the answers to the questions in this exercise as points of meditation and dig deep to find out what really lies behind all of those fears and doubts that keep you tied to the very thing you are trying to drive your Chariot away from. Keep in mind that this won’t be the last change you see in the major arcana, as this movement here is only the first of many to come, so it is better to find those pesky excuses now and start weeding them out.
Intuitive
The Chariot is associated with the watery sign of Cancer. Those born in the sign of Cancer can be restless, always looking to the next adventure, even though they do tend to be homebodies. Travel, in many respects, keeps a Cancer’s water flowing. Go and pull your Chariot card from your deck and place it picture side up somewhere you can see it. Then gather some magazines, scissors, paste, and a sheet of cardboard (recommendation: 8.5 x 5.5 inches). For this exercise, you are going to use your Chariot to help you create a mini vision board for your dream vacation. Before you begin ripping, cutting, and pasting your pictures onto your cardboard, close your eyes just for a minute and conjure the vision of yourself having this amazing vacation. Hold the vision for as long as you can, then start on your mini vision board. This exercise is just as good as going on the vacation, as far as your energy is concerned. This very hands-on act will let the Chariot work through you, moving blocks and getting all four of your wheels firmly back on the path of your life. Once you have finished your vision board you can put it next to your Chariot card and light a candle, saying a simple prayer of gratitude for the journey, the adventure, and the trip of a lifetime, ramping up the manifestation energy both the Chariot card and your mini vision board provide.
Wandering
Let’s just say for a minute that you have crashed your Chariot. The wheels have fallen off and there is no way it can possibly be driven. You have one choice: leave it where it is and start walking. As your feet hit the path, which way are they headed? Knowing which way you’re headed is important, as each direction comes with its own meaning. So stop for a moment and notice which way your feet are instinctually pointed, as this direction has a message for you. North is the direction of inspiration and enlightened expression. South is the direction of passion, driven adventure, and movement. East is the direction of new opportunities and beginnings. And west is the direction of past issues and things coming to an end. Sometimes the most powerful lessons are the ones that are created out of things gone horribly wrong. So look at your feet, see where they are pointed, and move toward this new direction in your life.
This card could very well be called courage, for strength and courage seem to be only separated by the slightest of degrees. Just like courage, Strength comes in varied forms and means different things, depending on the context in which it is being used. Strength could be physical, emotional, intellectual, or spiritual. It could also be compassion and kindness, which are other elements of courage. We all require different facets of strength, depending on the challenges we face, what problems we wish to solve, or what new and scary dream we wish to pursue; and of course, where there is strength, courage, and compassion, there will be fear, doubt, and anger. It is as if one cannot get to Strength without first having to walk through one of its opposing gatekeepers. They are, for the most part, mutual allies, even though it may not seem that way initially. Often we don’t even know how strong, courageous, or compassionate we are until we come face-to-face with our darkest fears or our most dreaded circumstances. Perhaps this is why the Strength card comes right after the Chariot, and after we experience our first real life change within the journey of the major arcana.
There are many obstacles and challenges that your current journey will bring. Some will terrify you and others will reveal parts of yourself that you never knew existed. The Strength card lets you know that in many ways, your current set of circumstances is shaping you as a person. It is molding you into the person you will become, so it might be a good idea to see if this process is forming a future for you that is aligned with your dreams and goals, or if you are just recreating the same person you have always been. This is what walking with the Strength card is all about. It is a slow and gradual transformation and one that will change who you are forever. Once you move on from this card there will be no going back to the person you used to be. Instead you will forge on ahead as the person this card shaped you to be.
Pathwork
Intentional
Go ahead and pull the Strength card from your deck and lay it down faceup in front of you. Keep the remainder of the deck in your hands and shuffle it gently as you ask the Strength card a question. Your question is this: How might I best use you today? Once you have asked your question and feel you have shuffled your cards enough, hold the deck close to your chest in between your closed palms, fingers pointed up. Take three nice deep breaths and then open your hands and split your deck. The card that is on top and facing you is the answer to your question. Place it down next to the Strength card. These two cards will be your guiding energy today. Keep them somewhere you can see them as you move about your day; maybe even take a picture of them and make them the lock screen of your phone if you have to work or travel and can’t take your tarot cards with you. Each time you see these two cards, remember that the card that answered your question is the path to service today.
Intuitive
The Strength card in the Animal Totem Tarot was created to show what happens when strength is seen as a burden. The ox is strong, but his strength is used not for himself but in servitude to others. This idea that strength itself is not something favorable may seem to go against the grain of how most people think, as we often believe that courage, fortitude, and might are positive traits. But how many times have your gifts been a burden? This burden is exactly what we are going to meditate on today. Take some nice deep breaths and bring to mind the last time someone asked you to use your gift or your strength in a way that felt heavy or uncomfortable to you. Bring it to your mind’s eye and see it in full color. Take another nice deep breath and simply observe the feelings that come up as you watch the scene over again in your mind. Don’t make any judgments, just let the movie play along. Take another nice deep breath and now repeat this mantra: “My gift is not a burden and I am sorry for making it feel unloved. I love it and I am grateful I have it in my life.” Again, do not force anything; just keep breathing and reciting your mantra. If it feels more comfortable to close your eyes, please do so. Continue with this meditation and mantra until you feel complete. Take another nice deep breath and ground your energy back into your body and the room you find yourself in. If you want to explore this deeper, pick up your journal and write your findings in it. If not, just know you shifted a lot of energy in that small meditation, and it will make you stronger and more confident moving forward.
Wandering
How often do you think about this card in reverse or upside down? There is something very liberating about starting your quest for strength backward. In other words, take time to lean into all of the excuses, all of the fears, and all of the doubts that stop you from doing things you claim you want to do. Humans are highly creative beings, and the number of excuses we make or reasons we give on a daily basis is quite staggering. Today, stop and pay attention every time you hear yourself saying “I can’t,” for at the core of all these “I can’t” statements are two very powerful emotions: fear and doubt. These two emotions tell a story. Every time you find yourself saying no to something, it is your upside down Strength card story playing out. Each time you listen to your story, ask yourself if what you are listening to is based on fact and if you have any real evidence that the story has merit. This exercise is not so much about facing your fears, or even overcoming them, but more about seeing them for what they are: a story you have created to stop you from moving out of your current situation.
Guide, teacher, and keeper of the path, the Hermit can represent the need to go on a spirit or vision quest. I am not speaking of the type where you take mind-altering drugs, but rather a period of deep meditation, inner reflection, and a shadow walk along all the small paths that have led you to this place, or this moment. The Hermit knows how this work is to be conducted and he also knows the places in the mind you will need to go. This is why he holds the lamp and acts as your guide. He knows where to take you, when to leave you to your own thoughts, and when to come back and get you. It is comforting to know that you will not be forgotten or abandoned on your quest, and to know that someone else will be holding space and watching over you as you do your cleaning and clearing work. In this respect, the Hermit may represent one of your personal healing guides, like an angel or ascended master, or even a totem animal. It doesn’t matter how you see the Hermit or what he or she shape-shifts into, just as long as you have the Hermit with you as you embark on your journey. The best quests have a specific intention, specified start and finish points, and a desired result in mind. Although you don’t have to share this information with the Hermit, it may be beneficial for you to do so. Let’s start with the most important question of all: What is it you seek? Clear the chatter and distractions from your mind and allow space for the question to present itself. Just know this: once your quest has begun, the only way out is to complete it. You can take as much time as you want, for physical time has no meaning in the Hermit’s world, and even when you think you are rushing, you are probably still taking more time than you could possibly imagine.
Pathwork
Intentional
There comes a time when we all need a little quiet. A time when we can get the noise of the world out of our heads and empty our minds. This is what the Hermit is good at: providing space—quiet, still, sacred space. Go ahead and pull the Hermit card out of your deck and place it somewhere you can see it. Now grab your calendar, datebook, or planner. For this exercise you are going to deliberately create space for yourself in your schedule. Even if it is only ten minutes a day. This is a time when you will be in Hermit mode. Keep your Hermit card in your line of vision as you create space over the next week. Find gaps or shift things around so you are giving yourself time for nothing at all. Make sure you black it out in your datebook, calendar, or planner so you don’t fill up the time with something else. This is an exercise I make my clients do on a regular basis. Creating space has become hard for people to do. They are more apt to fill it rather than just allow it to be empty. Once you have blacked out your Hermit time, light a candle and offer up a prayer or mantra of thanks to the Hermit card.
Intuitive
The Hermit doesn’t just offer us space to clear our heads; this card also offers light to shine into the dark corners of our lives that we may not otherwise be able to see. The Hermit’s lamp is the lamp of truth; it shines light where there is a need for healing and clearing. To help you find what those areas of your life are, follow this simple three-card spread. Grab a deck of cards and remove the Hermit card. Place it faceup in front of you and focus on it as you begin to slowly shuffle your cards. As you shuffle, ask the Hermit the following question: What areas of my current life need to be healed, forgiven, and let go of ?
Once you feel you have shuffled enough, place your deck close to your heart and ask your question two more times. Now go ahead and pull your three cards and place them in a line under your Hermit card. Card one is what needs to be healed, card two is what needs to be forgiven, and card three is what needs to be cut loose. Just take a moment with your spread before you try to read it. Take a couple of nice deep breaths and ground yourself before you reach for your journal or tarot notebook to dive deeper into the three cards that now lie before you. Once you feel your reading is complete, thank the Hermit for sharing the wisdom of his lamp’s light and put your cards away.
Wandering
During the Middle Ages it was very common for holy mystics, ascetics, and monastics to wander from town to town taking alms and providing spiritual enlightenment. These holy men and women had no possessions and lived a nomadic life. The Hermit reminds me of these early spiritual teachers. Their concern was to be in the world, but not to be a part of it, and to acknowledge they were having a physical experience but were experiencing a spiritual journey. There was a distinct separation from their life choices and the rest of society, and in this respect they were what today we would call “fringe dwellers.” This is also where the Hermit resides: on the fringe, the outskirts, separate but part of. As you make your way through your day, see if you can keep some distance between you and the rest of the world as you observe and don’t interfere. Find places where you can only speak when someone asks something of you and take note if slipping into the shadows is easy or difficult for you, as these will be things for you to meditate on at a later date. Happy wandering, you spiritual mystic you.
Every time I come before the wheel I see something different. Each time it turns it presents a new opportunity for knowledge and understanding of what it means to be having a human experience as a spiritual being. Sometimes the wheel reminds me of the cycle of birth, living, and death. Other times it reminds me of the never-ending loop of what the Buddhists call samsara, the cyclic loop of suffering. And other times it reminds me that nothing is permanent. What is “now” won’t be later on; seasons change and with them so do the conditions in which you live. No matter what lesson the wheel brings with it, there is always one common element, and that is cyclic change. For me, this is the fortune element of the card: that things change, that life is fluid, and that nothing ever stays the same. If you have ever experienced dark moments in your life, then you too would have to rejoice in the fact that change is inevitable. How horrid would it be to know that if you hit a bad patch in your life, you’d be stuck with it until death? For this I always give thanks to the wheel. It is time to decide how you will move forward within the cycle of your existence. Will you continue your spiritual work and seek to rid yourself of the Samsara experience? Perhaps you will look at your life as many acts and decide which goals you would like to achieve within those acts, or maybe you will totally freak out and find yourself rooted to the spot in the knowledge that the experience you are having now won’t last forever. Attachment to moments of time and to fleeting feelings usually occurs when things are going blissfuly right in our lives. And although there is nothing wrong with seeking joy at every turn, to do so in the hopes of avoiding pain and suffering will only allow you to experience joy in a limited and fearful way. The wheel says embrace it all, for the change is the constant, and within it you will always have what you need and your soul will be fulfilled.
Pathwork
Intentional
For this exercise, we are going to look at money blocks, because luck won’t do you much good if you are blocked and can’t see it when it shows up. The Wheel of Fortune is one of those cards that a lot of people associate with money, which is interesting considering its humble origins. In modern tarot, money, luck, and success seem to play a larger part than they did back in the fifteenth century. In this respect, the Wheel of Fortune can be used for those wanting to deal with money blocks or increase their luck, though you really will need to be specific, otherwise your Wheel of Fortune will turn into a roulette wheel and your bets may sink you. So go ahead and remove your Wheel of Fortune card from your deck and place it faceup in front of you. Leave some space, as you are going to add four other cards around it. Pick up the remainder of your deck and give it a shuffle. When you are done, take the card from the top of your deck and place it above your Wheel of Fortune card; this card represents your current money blessings. Take the next card from your deck and place it below your Wheel of Fortune card; this card represents your current money block. Take the next card from the top of your deck and place it to the right of your Wheel of Fortune card; this card shows how your money blocks are interfering with your luck. Now take the last card from the bottom of your deck and place it to the left of the Wheel of Fortune card; this card shows you the key to removing your block and getting your Wheel turning again. You should have a total of five cards faceup in front of you, with the Wheel of Fortune in the middle, surrounded by four other cards. Take your time with these cards and work your way slowly around the Wheel. Grab your journal and take notes if you feel inclined.
Intuitive
The Wheel of Fortune is a fabulous card to journey with during the changing of the seasons. I often sit with this card in meditation during the Winter and Summer Solstices as well as the Spring and Fall Equinoxes. Each season brings with it change, a new gift, a new blessing, and a new way to let go. The seasons mean different things to each of us, and we all have our favorites. My favorite season is autumn, and it is also my most abundant season. Because of this, I am constantly on the lookout for abundant opportunities that will be ready for harvest come autumn. Your season could be totally different. For this exercise, you will spend time meditating on your favorite season. You will contemplate why you enjoy this season and what sort of feelings it fills you with every time the Wheel turns and brings it into your experience. Truly immerse yourself in your season. Feel the air on your skin, smell the scents this season brings, and focus on the sounds and noises associated with this particular season. Be one with it, and allow it to show you the gifts and blessings it offers. You can do this immersion exercise anytime you want and as often as you want, as there is no reason not to connect with the energy of your season whenever and wherever you feel necessary.
Wandering
The Wheel of Fortune spins and turns, and it never stays in the same place for long. It is a teacher of temporary existence and the normality of constant change. The question is, do you know where on the Wheel you are? Knowing where you are gives you an idea of where you might be headed, or what sort of change you may be able to face. In some ways, we walk the complete Wheel in a twenty-four-hour cycle. We begin at one point in the morning and wander around the Wheel during the day until we find ourselves back where we started in the evening. For me, my beginning and ending points would be in bed. I start the day there, and that is also where I end the day. You, however, might consider the starting points and ending points of your Wheel in other ways. Knowing where your Wheel starts and ends gives you a clearer idea of where you are on the Wheel. If we use the Wheel of Fortune to map our goals and dreams then you would also have very clear beginning and ending points, which would again make it somewhat easier to find out where you are. Your task for this exercise is to first establish where you want to focus the energy of your Wheel. Is it on your life, your day, your year, or your current project? Next, walk your Wheel and find out where you are. Then take a few steps ahead of where you now stand and peek down the path to see if you can predict what is coming, what you need to change in order to make what’s coming easier to deal with, and who you need to be when what is coming shows up. By walking around your personal Wheel of Fortune you will learn about how abundance energy is created, circulated, and changed. This will get you into the flow of the Wheel’s movement rather than constantly feeling like it is running you over on its way to somewhere else. Walking the Wheel may not feel natural or normal initially, but stick with it and it will end up being an invaluable skill.
Are you someone who can naturally see both sides of a situation, or is your side the only side that gets your attention? Justice seeks to know all factors and all perspectives before she is willing to cast forth a ruling. Perhaps this is because of Justice’s connection to Venus and the Empress. Just like these two goddesses, she wants all of those in her charge to feel heard, validated, and relevant. This is not always easy, and sometimes she has to use varying methods to make sure all who come before her get the justice that is divinely and rightfully theirs. Justice knows her decisions have rippling consequences, many of which will send out aftershocks long after her ruling has been read. Knowing what has been, what is, and what will be are all things that this card has to reconcile. You might think this sounds somewhat like the hand of karma, and maybe in some cases that is the role that Justice plays, but other times she is merely assisting you to stay on your soul path, regardless of what that path is. It is not her place to cast a judgement on the journey of your soul; it is only her place to judge how you choose to walk that path in regard to your engagement with others who walk alongside you. This is where elements of Justice can be perceived as unfair, as you might feel that others seem to be rewarded for bad behavior, whereas those you love seem to be punished for being decent, rule-following people. Sometimes it can be hard to see how Justice can justify her decisions. It is not easy to trust in the larger picture and the part we play in it, for oftentimes we don’t know what that is or how we are even engaging in it. Sometimes you have to trust that what seems unfair in the current moment will end up being one of the best things to happen in the long term.
Pathwork
Intentional
Justice understands only too well that what one puts out in the world is what one gets back from the world. This is where the focus or your meditation needs to be. Remove your Justice card from your deck and place it either on your altar or somewhere it will be safe and you can light a candle next to it, as you are going to use the flickering flame as a point of focus. Next, get comfortable and take a few nice deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. Just allow yourself to settle and stay focused on the flame. As you keep your eyes on the flame, send it the gratitude, love, and appreciation you have for your life. Size is not important in this exercise, so even if it is something small that you are grateful for, send it to the flame. Keep sending this energy to your flame until you feel you have nothing left to send. Watch the flame as it reacts to all you have mentally sent its way. Take a few nice deep breaths and end your meditation. Gather your Justice card and your journal and write down anything that you observed about the flame. You can go ahead and blow the candle out if you wish. It does not need to keep burning now that you are done. This quick, simple meditation helps you focus on sending positive energy into the world around you. Practice it as often as you like.
Intuitive
The scales of Justice are almost mythical things. Take the scales of Ma’at of ancient Egypt for example; it is said she used her scales to weigh a person’s heart after their death to see if it was as light as a feather. If it was, they were allowed to pass on to a happier, more peaceful realm in the afterlife. If not, well, I think you get the idea. This meant that if one had lived a loving, caring, compassionate life, their heart would not be weighed down with fear, anger, hate, or regret after death. We often forget about the things that weigh us down, or more to the point, things that weigh our hearts down. Sadness, blame, shame, and guilt would not leave one’s heart light as a feather, nor would living an angry, bitter existence filled with regret and contempt.
Using the scales from the Justice card, can you find the places in your own heart that are heavy? Settle yourself and calm your breathing. Call on Ma’at and ask her for guidance on how to lighten your heart and release the load you carry around inside your chest. Use the scales as a focal point for your meditation—watch them dip, fall, or balance with each thought or feeling you have. Do not judge; just observe and write about your findings later in your journal, if you wish to pick them apart for further analysis.
Wandering
Would you want to spend a day in the Justice’s shoes? Most people think it would be easy or fun to dish out justice to those they feel have wronged them or the world in some way, but the truth is not everything is as it seems, and what you think you know may not be the truth Justice herself seeks. Righting wrongs is not what Justice does, but instead she must find balance, order, and true resolution, not just in this world, but in all of the worlds that have been and gone, and all that are yet to come. Just for today, I want you to imagine yourself in Justice’s seat. I want you to feel the weight of the scales in your hand, and I want you to understand that you are solely responsible for keeping them balanced. Under no circumstances can the scales tip too much in one direction. You must do your best to move throughout your whole day keeping them as balanced as possible. The longer you carry around the scales, the more you are going to understand how complex Justice’s job really is, for you will soon discover that it is not easy to keep the peace. It is not simple to keep the scales where they need to be, and it is far too easy to weigh down one side, and stop thinking about the other side while you do. This exercise will not only deepen your appreciation for this card, but it will also expand your awareness to how Justice plays out in you, your life, and the larger world of your experiences and relationships.
The Hanged Man is probably one of my most loved cards for meditation. Letting go, surrendering, and putting one’s heart above one’s head are lessons we all struggle with. Yet the Hanged Man does these things deliberately and intentionally. He puts himself into this position on purpose, so that he can focus on releasing his ego’s control. It never ceases to amaze me just how many people see the act of surrender as something passive or submissive, like these two things show some sort of flaw or weakness in the individual willingly giving up their need to be in control. I have seen this play out time and time again with people convinced that their life is on the wrong path and that they need to spend as much time, money, and energy as possible to find the path they should be on, never wanting to surrender to the fact that our soul path is the only path we walk, and this path was selected by each of us many lifetimes before. The more one looks outside of oneself for a purpose or reason to be, the more lost one becomes. The Hanged Man knows this, which is why he ties himself to a tree, or in the case of the Animal Totem Tarot, surrenders himself to be of divine service to others. Can you imagine giving up your hopes and dreams to benefit others? Can you even contemplate living a life in total submission? The Hanged Man’s lessons are hard—there is just no way around that—but they are important, for it is at the point of surrender that one truly becomes powerful. It is only when we let go of desire that we can have anything we want. It is only when we release the ego mind that the soul can finally show us the miracles of the divine path we were born to walk. Your power to create only magnifies when you no longer want anything. Irony is a big player in the energy of this card.
So are you ready to let it all go? Can you give up your struggle for just a little while and see what possibilities the Hanged Man has to offer? Choose carefully as you make your way through the pathwork exercises below.
Pathwork
Intentional
The Hanged Man has deliberately and intentionally chosen to see the world differently, to shift his perspective and look at things from another angle. This card is a constant reminder that we tend to fall into habitual ways of seeing, which in turn make us act in a preprogrammed way. I know we all like to think we have free will and make decisions based on awareness, but unless we are truly coming at something outside of our normal way of dealing with situations, people, or problems, we are actually running on a habitual loop. The Hanged Man challenges this instinctive habit by turning himself upside down. He literally puts his head down and takes a look around at his world from a different position. For the next few days, see if you can do the same. Every time you do a reading, spread, or daily one-card draw, turn your cards upside down. Change the way they present themselves and suddenly your message is coming from a totally different place. The best way to start seeing things from the Hanged Man’s viewpoint is to look at the colors, the shapes, and the things you never noticed before when you or your cards were right side up. How differently does your eye move over the images now that they are not the way you are used to seeing them? Think about how this card could be used as a mirror of what is currently going on in your life or how the cards might be protecting you. To explore the mirror or protection aspects of your upside down cards, consider using my book Tarot Reversals for Beginners. The Hanged Man says that wisdom comes to those who choose to view the world from an uncomfortable position. Hanging upside down by one foot sure seems uncomfortable to me!
Intuitive
The Hanged Man is associated with the watery and intuitive energy of Neptune, which connects this card to the zodiac sign of Pisces, which in turn links us to the Knight of Cups. That is the trifecta of vision quests right there, which makes the Hanged Man the ideal card to use when you want to dive deeper with your dreamwork. For this exercise, try sleeping with the Hanged Man under your pillow, or even just place the card where you can see it as you drift off to sleep and as you wake up. As you settle into bed for the night, ask the Hanged Man the following question: What area of my life do I need to surrender control over?
Just pose the question to the card and set the intention that the answer will be given to you while you sleep. As you wake up in the morning and gaze at the card, say, “Remind me throughout the day where I need to let go and trust.” Notice if this small exercise changes how you dream or how your day unfolds.
Wandering
If you truly want to get into the upside-down shoes of the Hanged Man, do yoga. The best way to pathwork with the Hanged Man is through yoga. It is not only meditative, as each pose is designed to get you out of your ever-chattering mind and into a state of shifted perception, but it also engages the body-mind dynamic that we are seriously trying to cultivate here in the wandering section of this book. I have had some of my most amazing meditative moments while in the middle of a yoga class. I have been able to still my mind, drop the “I” and drift off toward the void. The best part about yoga is that there are classes for everyone. Acro-yoga, hot yoga, and lots of other types in between. I myself like kundalini yoga. The point of yoga is to get you out of your habitual mind and to expand your sense of awareness. Some of the poses I have done over the years just don’t make any logical sense, which is the point. Putting oneself upside down to hang by one leg doesn’t make logical sense either, but here the Hanged Man is. So go wander with the Hanged Man, find a yoga that will work for you, strike a pose, and let the release of the logical, habitual mind begin.
It is no mistake that Death follows the Hanged Man, and that after a time of enforced surrender and an extended period of not moving, we step into the realm of death. This is the death of the ego-self, the one that we let go of while hanging upside down. It is a spiritual death, one through which the past self, the self that no longer serves our current state of being and is no longer relevant, ceases to exist once and for all. Shedding this skin and letting go of this part of who we used to be lays the groundwork for rebirth, regeneration, and a new form to experience and engage in the world around us. Learning how to let go of our need to control, learning how to stop pushing and forcing things into existence, and learning how to go with the flow are skills only the Hanged Man of the previous card can teach. It is through this surrender that we learn to die, release our attachments, and find our way back into the loving arms of the spiritual side of who we are. When we are not afraid of dying, we can move toward Death with open arms. We can embrace this opportunity to be born again and allow ourselves to slip into a new skin. That is really all any of this is, a constant cycle of rebirth, with Death as the recycling agent. Death also lets us know that something has come to an end in order for something new to begin. Endings have to happen in order for beginnings to occur. Trees must blossom before they bear fruit. The blossom must die and fall away to make place for the fruit to burst forth. Considering the journey you have taken so far through the major arcana, Death was bound to happen, for there is no way you could be the same person now as you were when you began this journey. There are parts of you that just no longer exist. These parts could be thoughts, beliefs, emotions, goals, or dreams. What you wished for or wanted and desired at the beginning of this journey may no longer seem relevant or important anymore. This shows the evolving being that you are, with fluid thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. This new level of awareness moved you out of the ego mind, and now you will have to find a new way to chart your course.
Pathwork
Intentional
The Death card has fascinating numbers. Thirteen in numerology is a karmic debt number and is linked to the need to burn off karma through the act of hard work, which sure gives the phrase “working yourself to death” a new twist. Thirteen is also a four, once we break it down by each digit (1 + 3 = 4), which connects it to the Emperor, who ironically is a true workaholic. Four is a foundation number, as it is the number that makes it possible for everything else to be built. From this perspective, the Death card shows us that in many ways our work is never done, that we are always building and rebuilding, and that we are always in the throes of one karmic cycle after another. This is the cycle of life—constant and ever moving, transforming and refiguring itself. This will be your point of focus for this exercise, the idea of surrendering to your karmic debt. But how do you know what it is? Take Death out of your deck and place it faceup in front of you, then shuffle the remaining cards until you feel you are done. Hold the cards up to your heart and take a few nice, deep, grounding breaths. When you feel settled, say the following to your cards: “Show me my current karmic debt and how to burn it off.”
Then split your deck, creating two piles. Take the top card of the left pile and the bottom card of the right pile and lay them faceup under your Death card. The top card you pulled from the left pile is what needs to be burned off and given back to Death; the bottom card from your right pile is how Death feels it needs to be done. You may wish to pick up your journal and explore these two cards further. Especially the numbers on each of the cards, as these may also be clues that can help move you forward.
Intuitive
Although technically we don’t look at this card from a literal death perspective, there is an element of it attached to this card. Like it or not, our lives will end. We will cease to exist and perhaps even be forgotten. These are not comfortable thoughts and feelings to deal with. The idea that our time here is pointless, inconsequential, and lacking meaning makes us all shift a little in our seats. We like to think we have a purpose and a reason for being. Many spiritual teachers argue that this attachment, this holding on to a temporary life, stops us from truly loving and engaging with the flickering moments we do have, and that this level of false living only brings us great suffering. This is the level of reflection the Death card presents. It asks you to sit with this idea of attachment and suffering to see if you can find truth of it in your life, and to meditate on the idea that all things are temporary, including yourself. It also asks you to ponder the importance of the things you have gathered in your life and to question your need to hang on to them so tightly. As you meditate on these questions, see where you can find points of liberation, moments of peace, and an easing of stress. You will be amazed at how all of that “holding on” energy has been affecting your body.
Wandering
What’s coming to an end in your life? There is no escaping the fact that death is all around us. With everything we do and everywhere we go, death is there. It has to be, or we would never see birth. But understanding that birth and death are the same energy takes a certain amount of awareness, which is why it is good to deliberately walk around seeking this energy, looking for its magic, and exploring its miracles. Where there was once a dead spot in an urban area now there may be a thriving community garden. Where there was once a war zone, now there is a flourishing village. Where there was once an environmental nightmare, now there is a nature reserve and protected site. For this exercise, seek out places in your community that have been repurposed, that have been resurrected and brought with them the miracle of new life. If you can’t find any in your local area, find an example of one online and use it as a point of mental wandering about the miracle of death and rebirth. By seeing how life follows death, you learn to let things go with more ease. Go now and walk Death’s path and feel Death’s energy, as it takes one thing so another can be blessed in its remains. Get comfortable in Death’s shoes so you can see the miracle that is life.
Temperance sits between Death and the Devil. She bridges who you were with the possibilities of who you could be. She stands ready to heal your wounds and prepare you for what lies beyond in the Devil’s playground. In this respect, Temperance takes past, present, and future and molds them together to create something completely new. You are not who you once were, and now she needs to mold your new image. This requires balance, expertise, and refinement, since she must attend to the afterbirth of your new self while cleaning up the mess left behind from the death of the ego. She does all of this while preparing you to walk through the residual energy of your past self. This residual energy will be in abundance once you cross over to the Devil card. Temperance’s work is complicated, specialized, and unique, as she must change and alter her healing techniques for every individual that crosses her path. What works for you will not work for the next person who comes to her healing waters. Temperance is a magician in her own right, molding and weaving together elements to make something beautiful, resilient, and strong. She takes her task very seriously, and when you stand before her, you will have all of her attention. Having someone this focused on you and your well-being may be new to you, and it could make you feel uncomfortable and exposed. In your very raw state, this level of exposure may make you feel anxious and even slightly paranoid. Temperance is going to see things that you and other people may have missed, such as details and information that will help you navigate your next steps. Therefore, ask her questions, ask her what she sees, ask her for guidance and for words of advice. Ask as many questions as you can think of, because once you leave Temperance behind, her healing magic and her focus will shift to the next person.
Pathwork
Intentional
Temperance is best known for bringing two opposing elements together and making something beautiful and unique with them. This is why she is often referred to as the alchemist. She can basically take something that others would discard or look over and make it something precious and desirable.
Remove the Temperance card from your deck and place it faceup in front of you. Shuffle the remaining cards and ask Temperance what two elements or things she wants you to blend together. Shuffle the cards until you feel ready, then fan them out in front of you. Scan your hand over the cards and select the two cards that either heat up or give off a prickling feeling in your palm. Turn your two cards over and have a look to see what trick Temperance wants you to pull off. You may wish to journal with these cards for a while, as making a recipe for these two cards might take you some time. Just trust that the two cards you have drawn are the correct ones. Do not be tempted to put them back in the deck and try again just because you don’t like the pair you have been given. Remember, Temperance sees things others miss. She knows what ingredients you need. All you have to do is blend them.
Intuitive
Temperance has a long connection to the rainbow. Even in my very own Animal Totem Tarot, we see a flamingo that has a rainbow being formed by the waterfall behind it. In the original Rider-Waite-Smith image, the artist was very heavily influenced by the goddess Iris, who was the personification of the rainbow and was said to be a messenger from God. In today’s spiritual community, you often hear how loved ones have crossed over the rainbow bridge, meaning they have passed away, which is interesting, as Temperance is considered a bridge. Mix Iris and Temperance together, and you have a rainbow bridge crossing from the heavens to the earth plane and back again. This is a wonderful image to meditate on, to see the rainbow as a sort of heavenly conveyor belt. Get yourself comfortable and take a few nice deep breaths. Visualize the answers and solutions to your problems and questions sliding down the rainbow into Temperance’s arms, as she mixes you a drink while you pull up a seat at her spiritual bar. Just picture yourself sipping on something cool and smooth as all of the things you ever wanted come gliding down the rainbow bridge. Know that each sip of the cocktail Temperance has mixed for you is healing your body, calming your mind, and restoring your soul. Take your time with your drink and spend as much time as you want hanging out at Temperance’s bar. When there appears to be nothing left coming down the rainbow bridge, you’ll know it is time to leave. Take a few nice deep breaths, say thank you, and carry on with your day.
Wandering
Temperance lands at number fourteen in the major arcana, between Death and the Devil. Her numbers connect her to the Hierophant, since 1 + 4 = 5. This means we have come to another card that brings change through knowledge and understanding, but this time, instead of it being so rigid and formal, it is more intuitive and experimental. Where the Hierophant likes to keep to a strict and ancient code of conduct, Temperance likes to mix things up. Today as you wander around in Temperance’s shoes, think about how you can change things around and bring some rainbow energy into your daily habit or routine. Consider taking a different way home. Go down to a shopping center or mall that is new to you. Take a new class or even just say a hello to someone you normally walk straight past during the day. Use the fire energy of this card to get into the “doing” mentality of change. The best adventures are had by those who actively step into them. Temperance says, “Now it’s your turn!”
Demon, temptress, vixen, and scapegoat are just some of the many names that we give to our “get out of jail free,” “blame it on everyone else” card, known in the tarot as the Devil. We like to blame the Devil when things go wrong or when a situation makes us look bad in other people’s eyes. But in reality, the Devil doesn’t make decisions for you, nor does he judge the decisions you do make. If anything, he is an innocent bystander who merely offers up options and alternatives for you to consider. Liking the repercussions of these choices, or deciding whether they are good or bad, is completely irrelevant. The Devil is a results guy, and he does not judge those results. He is not interested in ethics, or morals, or any other man-made judgment. He is just curious to see what happens next. Then again, aren’t we all a bit like this? If you look closely at many depictions of the Devil in the tarot you will see a very familiar couple chained and bound at the Devil’s feet: the Lovers. The Lovers remind you that you alone made these commitments back at card six. You made your choice, you committed to a path, and now you are paying the price. Nothing is free, everything has a price, and the Devil, being a man of business, is only too happy to come and collect your payment. It may look like the Devil has bound the Lovers, as if he has chained them up to be slaves to their decisions. But in truth they have placed themselves in a subservient position. The Devil is not keeping them there against their will, and if anything, he doesn’t care if they stay or leave. Guilt, shame, and fear root the Lovers to the spot. In many spiritual teachings, guilt, shame, doubt, and fear are considered demons, which is an interesting way to look at the Devil card. You could say that the Devil holds a space for you to face your demons, pay your karmic debts, and clear anything that binds you to the past. In this respect, the Devil is not a captor but a liberator, a healer, and a necessary player on the soul’s path to enlightenment.
Pathwork
Intentional
Have you ever heard the phrase “Devil’s advocate”? This is the person that feels the need to inform you of everything that could possibly go wrong with your ideas or plans. Most people see this as a bad thing; they will tell you they don’t want to give it “energy” or waste mind space on it. I am a big fan of the Devil’s advocate. Seriously, I want someone to tell me how it could all go horribly wrong. I want to know the worst thing that could happen so I can release my fear. Fear is a weird and wobbly thing, and not knowing, in my opinion, is far worse than knowing. For as they say, the Devil is in the details. So today, look at those details, all of them. Sit with these possibilities in your meditation, and see them unfold as a passive observer. Don’t allow yourself to attach to any of the emotions that bubble up as a result; just watch and learn. Take a few nice deep breaths and hold space for your personal Devil to show up in your meditation. Sit with your Devil and ask what you are missing that could come back to cause you pain and suffering later. Really listen to what your Devil has to say. Remember to breathe through this dialogue and don’t react to it. Just take the information. Once your Devil is done giving you the insider’s tour to everything that can and possibly will go wrong with your current problem, goal, or project, open your eyes and jot it all down in your journal. These small details will make a huge difference moving forward.
Intuitive
Each of us has an inner Devil, a piece of ourselves that we have created to make us feel bad and to make us suffer. Your job in meditation is to find that creation and liberate yourself from it. This does not necessarily mean killing it or trying to deny its existence. This is about learning to be in control of the narrative and making sure you are intentionally telling the story you want to hear, instead of letting the hurt, wounded pieces of yourself control the story. Liberation is what the Devil is all about. The Devil wants you to be in control and to feel what true power is, but you need to be focused and consistent with your inner work. The next time your butt hits the meditation cushion, bring your Devil card with you. Place it somewhere where you will be able to focus on it, and let it guide you to the place where you inner Devil resides. Observe what games and tricks your inner Devil is playing and start changing the rules. Find the loopholes and learn to play dirty. Just remember, it is all you: the good, bad, and indifferent. It’s all you, all the time.
Wandering
A lot of people believe that the Devil likes chaos, and that somehow he thrives when things are out of order. I just don’t understand where that line of thinking comes from, as the Devil in the tarot is linked to both Capricorn and Saturn, two of the most organized and disciplined energies of the zodiac and planets. Capricorn is a hardworking business executive that likes to plan and is always looking toward the future. Saturn is the planet of order, structure, rules, and regulation. Does that sound like a planet that likes things to get out of control? Both Saturn and Capricorn are innovative, and they tend to like to make things happen when others would walk away and claim it impossible. Today, start walking in the Devil’s business shoes. Look at things you would normally make excuses for and instead just get them done. Look for moments in your day when you can come up with a new and interesting solution to a problem or see if you can find a creative way to create a new income stream in your business or life. Find gaps and leaks in your energy, and plug them up so you stop feeling overwhelmed and drained. See where you can organize your time more effectively and research how habit stacking could increase your productivity. Move through your day with the eyes and ears of a CEO, and let both Capricorn and Saturn show you how to go from excuses to results.
The Tower is not always one of the most appreciated cards within the major arcana. Then again, what do you expect after the Devil? Of course things are going to be shaken up! It is only natural that everything that you thought you knew is going to be called into question. The foundation on which you have laid all of your beliefs, biases, and identities has been questioned, tossed around, and reorganized while you were in the Devil’s domain. It makes perfect sense that the world you once built would now come crashing down upon you. If it didn’t, we would be concerned. This is good. This is positive. This is progress. This is also one of the first lessons you learn in business. What worked in the beginning won’t work when you need to expand. You are not at the beginning of your journey anymore; you are somewhere in the middle. The landscape has changed, and so has the way you see it and experience it. None of us should want to cling to outdated modes of doing or being. We should be constantly rebuilding, upgrading, and restructuring our experience and how we engage with the world around us. Otherwise we will become stagnant and stunted, not to mention we will be out of alignment with the natural flow of our soul’s path. The Tower is here to shake you out of your complacency, wake you up from your comfort zone slumber, and put you on alert that you may not have noticed that things within you have shifted and changed. I like to think of this card as the spiritual renovation card. Sometimes you have to take a sledgehammer to old walls and open up a space so that it can get more light.
Pathwork
Intentional
There is nothing more liberating than working with the Tower card on purpose and using it to give your life a good shake, move things around, and blow up your daily routine. Therefore, before you set your intention and allow the Tower to do its damage, make sure you have come to peace with what is about to happen. Know that it might take time to sort through the rubble and find the bits and pieces that will lay the foundation of your next and new chapter. Now take a couple of nice deep breaths, get comfortable, and visualize your life being given a good shake. Ask for what is false to be pulled down. See the illusions that have been created shatter into a million pieces and be carried away on the wind. Straighten your spine and be sure of your breathwork as each piece of the unwanted rubble is crushed, shattered, and torn away. Breathe and just do your best to relax as the Tower works its magic on your intention. Stay with this visualization for as long as is comfortable. When you are finished, just add the following mantra: “I am capable of rebuilding my life no matter how messy the rubble is.”
Intuitive
For the most part, people think of the Tower card as something that happens outside of them and a card that will have an impact on the world they see with their physical eyes. The truth is that the Tower card does the majority of its work in the upside-down position, causing change internally. If the upright version of this card hints at an explosion, then think of the reversed position of this card as an implosion, an act of destruction in a space that cannot be seen with one’s physical eyes. Unlike in the intentional section where we were looking for things outside of us to change, this exercise is all about what’s going on inside. The Tower card in reverse can be a very healing card. It can be a gift for your body, mind, and soul, and you now have some insight into how to use its energy to assist rather than impede you. For this exercise, settle yourself with a couple of nice deep breaths, and if you need to, close your eyes. Now go ahead and visualize the upside down Tower card at work on your inner landscape, clearing out your outdated beliefs and your negative inner dialogue. Take a nice deep breath and see your false fears tumble to the ground inside you. Keep your breathwork going as you see the flashes of light from the Tower’s implosion washing over the inside of your body, clearing out your cells and organs, and leaving in its wake nothing put pure healing light. You may notice tingling as the light from the Tower gives you a good clean. Don’t judge it; just let it unfold. When you feel you have had enough of the Tower’s healing, take another few deep breaths and bring your focus and attention back to the room you are in. If you want to go further with this in your journal feel free to do so.
Wandering
Do you like visiting ruins of ancient cities and villages, or do you seek out sacred sites that once were points of power in ancient civilizations? In many respects these sorts of activities are the Tower card in its wanderer’s shoes. As you walk around the decay and ruin of something that has been forgotten, you are literally walking through the aftermath of a Tower moment—the fallen ideas, hopes, and dreams of a time now lost. The ruins of our world, whether newly urban, sacred, or ancient, all share the same story. They all emanate the same energy. They all belong to the Tower card of the tarot. Have you ever taken the time to sit in the midst of something that has fallen apart and tried to hear the story the rubble is telling? Your task for this pathwork exercise is to find a local ruin. Make sure it’s a safe one, I should add, and go and meditate in it or next to it. If you do not have one close by or the urban ruin you have is unsafe, find a picture of a ruin that interests you and use it as the focal point for this exercise. This exercise is more of a mental wandering, a reflection on what is left behind. Think about what ideas or potential this building once had. Who lived or worked in it, and what did this place mean to them? Think about how this place makes you feel. We don’t all feel welcome or at peace when we are amongst the forgotten or the left behind. What emotions does this building or set of ruins bring up for you? This is all the Tower card at work, bursting through and making changes, using the damage and aftermath to heal and expand your current situation.
Unlike the Moon and the Sun, the Star represents the many planets, dwarf planets, and asteroids that make up our galaxy. Some are closer to Earth than others, which means some shine brighter in our night skies. The stars look different depending on what hemisphere of the Earth you are standing in. The stars here in the north are different than the stars I saw growing up as a child in the south, which probably explains why I am unable to use them as navigators the way I used to in my twenties. For here in the north there is no Southern Cross guiding me on a long dark road in the middle of nowhere. When some look to the skies they are reminded of all that is beyond our reach. The Star is “out there” and we are “in here” on the Earth. The Star reminds us that we are small and unimportant. Stars can burn out or explode, and no one misses them once they cease to exist. They are not immortal and are very much dependent on the conditions of the universe around them, much like we are. In this respect, the Star card is a mirror, a reflection of ourselves hurtling through space for a brief moment in infinite time. We get to shine for only the blink of an eye in the memory of space. Our light is quickly eaten by the void that is between all of the other stars floating in the cold, black openness of the universe. So while looking for our favorite star in the night sky can cause us great joy, it can also fill us with great emptiness. The Star in the tarot connects us to the vastness of the universe. It alludes to what else is “out there” and the magic that we are not able to see. For some, this connection pulls them to seek answers via experience, but for the rest, it gives something to dream, write, and paint about. How you work through the pathwork exercises will let you know if you are an explorer or a dreamer.
Pathwork
Intentional
What if everything you could possibly wish for happens and it all goes right? This is a question I ask myself and my clients all the time. Working with the Star card on purpose lets you work on seeing your wishes and dreams come true. It gives you space to visualize, create vision boards, and focus your thoughts on what steps you will need to take when it all works out for the positive. This also allows you to examine how you feel about things going right. Pull your Star card from your deck, hold it in front of you, and stare into it. As you breathe and gaze at the card, visualize it working its magic on all your heart’s desires. See all of your current projects and goals being fulfilled. Watch them in glorious color all playing out in front of your eyes. Magnify these images and make them as vibrant as possible, then slip them into a balloon. Take your balloon and release it into the night sky so it can become one with the Star itself. This quick sixty-second visualization is super powerful and will keep your mind focused and sharp while preparing your emotions for everything to end up exactly the way your heart wants it to. Then if anyone asks, “Well, what if it all goes right?” you can smile and give them your answer.
Intuitive
It is said that we are all made of stardust, and that particles of stars make up our organic bodies. This must mean that when we make a wish, we are really wishing on ourselves. I sometimes wonder if this is why the Star card in the tarot is often associated with healing, because the energy or particle matter of stardust is within our own human bodies. Maybe this is also why we find the Star, like Temperance, playing with water, even though neither of these cards is associated with water. Water is cleansing, it purifies, and it flows, all elements of healing work. So what messages of healing is your inner stardust sending out to you? Let’s do a simple three-card spread and find out. First, remove your Star card from your deck and place it faceup in front of you, but leave enough space under it for a row of three cards. Take the remainder of your deck and give it a shuffle. While you shuffle, ask the cards to tell you what healing message your inner stardust wants you to know. Keep shuffling until you feel the cards are ready with their answer, then flip over the first two cards from your deck, as well as the one on the bottom. You should now have your Star card and a row of three faceup cards in front of you. Read the three cards like they are a sentence, each card adding a word or two to the answer to your question. If you want to explore this spread further, pick up your journal and write away.
Wandering
The stars are for wanderers. They guide us, thrill us, offer up mysteries that seek solutions, plant adventure in those who gaze at them, and make others grateful for something safe, secure, and stable to stand on. Wanderers look to the stars, and when they do, they dream. Dreaming is the most powerful pathwork you can do. What star speaks to you? Which of the stars do you stare at and secretly whisper all of your hopes and dreams to? For this exercise you need to wander with your star, the one that fascinates you or the one that you were born under. Just pick a star and claim it as your own. Perhaps it’s the morning star (Venus and sometimes Mercury) or the dog star (Sirius). Whichever star is the one you constantly look for, wander with it over the course of the next seven days. Track its path across the sky and log its travels. There are some wonderful apps to help with this. See if your star wanders in a straight line or is more free-roaming. Notice if your star is close to the Earth at this time of year, or if it is harder to spot. Keep a log of the other stars or planets your star hangs out with as well. Let it tell you a story while you tell it your hopes, dreams, and fears. Wander together within the darkness and see if your star is having an impact on your habits and daily flow.
The Moon comes before the Sun, just as day follows night. They are partners in a dance of light and dark. This ongoing dance around the Earth provides us with a sense of time, an illusion of order, and a form of measurement. We measure days, months, seasons, and years by the partnership between the sun and the moon, yet the moon seems to be the one that terrifies people the most, for it has long been associated with secrets, monsters, demons, and unknown threats. Why is it that these things only seem to come out in the dark? This is something I have always wondered, because it’s not as if bad things never happen when the sun is shining and the sky is a brilliant blue. People can be just as terrified during the day as they can at night. So why does the domain of the moon get such a bad rap? Could it be that our ancestors just didn’t like the way the dark blinded them to danger? Or is it that one too many storytellers has brainwashed us all with tales of things that go bump in the night?
There is no doubt that when the moon is out, the world in which we navigate our journey does look different. However, different is not automatically bad, and in many ways, we learn more through differences than sameness. If anything, the moon is more revealing than it is concealing. For in the light, things can get lost, forgotten, and ignored, but under the watchful gaze of our lunar ally, these same things will move around thinking they are protected by the wrapping darkness of night. This is where you will find the things that you think you have lost. This is where you will be able to align to solutions that hide themselves amongst your daily to-do list. It is under the moon that you can drop your social mask and be your true self. If there really are any monsters who live in the moonlight, then I suggest it is the true version of who we are, our true self that we only get glimpses of when the moon is full. Perhaps this is why the darkness and the moonlight scare so many, because they don’t want to see the truth of who they are.
Pathwork
Intentional
For this exercise, let’s focus on two of the moon’s phases: the new moon and the full moon. As the new moon begins to fill, it is a perfect time to work on manifesting energy. As we look to the moon and see it filling, so too do we look to our wallets, hearts, fridges, cupboards, and minds and see them filling as well. Then, once the moon has its fill and bursts forth during the full moon, we start to give thanks. Between the full moon and new moon is a fabulous time for gratitude work. Thank it for filling all the corners of your life. This very simple moon practice will do wonders for your life, as it will get you out of your head and into a more organic, flowing rhythm with nature and the planets. Far too often we allow ourselves to get caught up in our heads, thinking we know how things work and how they should flow. But the truth is everything has its own flow, its own way of showing up, and its own sense of timing. Working with these two phases of the moon grounds your manifestation energy, gives it purpose, and provides a ritual, which is something we could all do with a little more of.
Intuitive
Do you keep a dream journal? And I don’t mean the type where you record your nighttime dreams. I mean the kind where you write down your goals, your wishes … you know—the real dreams. If you don’t, think about starting one and sleeping with it under your pillow. This simple nighttime ritual will help you stay connected to your dreams, goals, and wishes. Start by removing your Moon card from your deck and placing it beside your bed. You don’t have to be able to see it while you’re lying down, but it is nice if you can. Give yourself an extra ten to fifteen minutes before you turn your light off or pick up your nightly book to read. Use this time to open your dream journal and make a few notes or entries. This could be marking off things that you have done to move toward this goal. Or maybe just daydreaming about being inside your dream. It really doesn’t matter what you do, as long as it is positive, upbeat, and adds good energy to your dream. When you are finished with your entries, place your dream journal under your pillow. Lay your head on your pillow and close your eyes, then take a couple of nice deep breaths and say the words “I love you, moon, thank you, moon, for making my dreams come true” a couple of times. That’s it! A simple dreamy nighttime ritual.
Wandering
Whether it is sunrise or sunset, I love walking when the moon is out and the animals, insects, and birds of the night have come out to play. It is literally a different world. The sounds are different, the smells are different, and your eyes see things differently. Wandering around under the light of the moon, in the cooler air of the night or the early morning, can be incredibly healing. It can calm the mind and the body at the same time without you even having to think about it. Just move your feet, get lost in the moon’s environment, and boom, instant stress relief. The very act of being outside under the moon waiting for the stars to come out is a contemplative process, especially if you can leave your phone and all other digital devices inside. Taking time to move through your garden, stretching out in your backyard, or wandering along the shoreline at the beach are some of the best interactive pathworking practices I can recommend. They not only ground you, but put you in a receptive and reflective mood. I have often taken my Moon card outside and propped it up while I sat and watched the moon make its way into the night sky. I have kept it with me as I watched one set of birds gather together in the trees to sleep, while another got ready to explore the night. I have placed it in my back pocket as I have strolled by the beach, gone to a night market, or just hiked through some nighttime trails. The Moon reminds us that in many respects we live in two very active and different worlds—one that happens when the sun is shining and one that happens when most of us are sleeping. Go and explore the world under the Moon’s watch. See what magic it has on display, and allow yourself to get lost in a world that is similar yet different from the one you habitually know.
The sun is one of the few elements that is required for life. Maybe that is why so many sacred texts talk about how in the beginning, there was light. Without the sun, things would not grow. As humans, we also have a connection and need for the vitamin-D-rich light the sun gives us. Our bones would literally crumble and fail to keep us upright without the vitamins the sun provides. There is no doubt that on a cold winter’s day, seeing the sun fills one with joy, warmth, and life. However, in summer, our relationship to the sun can be a little more complicated. There are those of you who are true sun bunnies and don’t fully thrive until the heat of the sun hits your skin, and then there are those of us who prefer gentler light and find it stifling, suffocating, and confining during the summer months. Which one of these you are will dictate the terms of your relationship with this card. The sun does not just bring warmth, however; it also brings light. It graces our lives with extended periods of illumination, times when we find ourselves out of the shadows and darkness and in the reality of the world that we have created. Our relationships with light and heat are not one and the same. They are two very separate elements within the Sun card. I am a fan of the light and notice my moods are elevated when there are blue skies and a glowing sun; however, I am not a fan of the heat. Needless to say, this makes my personal relationship with the Sun complicated, and yours may be as well. Regardless of your relationship with the Sun, it will magnify and heat up the cards around it, so notice what and where it shines its light. You may not want the full blast of the sun on you, but you may be grateful for the other things it brings out of the shadows. All in the sun’s path shall be blessed with light, even if they don’t want it. Take a good look around when the sun is out and see what you may have missed hiding in the dark corners and spaces of both your inner and outer worlds.
Pathwork
Intentional
Let’s talk about light. Light is something many spiritual seekers discuss. They talk about finding the light, being the light, embracing the light and working with the light. This always sounds like a lot of work to me. The sun is all nonstop, continuous light, and it has a way of bursting forth every single morning without much effort, just because of the nature of what it is. Maybe there is a very distinct lesson in that for all of us. Be more and chase less, and more light will naturally be able to burst forth. As you take your Sun card and place it in front of you, think about things you are trying to push into being or that you’re working too hard to control.
Now pick up your deck, minus the Sun card, and give the cards a shuffle. When you feel you have shuffled enough, place the cards facedown in front of you and fan them out. Now find the one card that seems to light up. I know this sounds a little out there, but trust the energy of the Sun to guide you and show you the path to more grace and ease. Just let your gaze roam over the cards until one of them lights up, or at the very least appears lighter than all the other cards. Pair this card with your Sun card and read them as one answer to this question: How do I allow the light to move through me without me forcing it or trying to be in control? If you wish to go deeper, pick up your journal and see what else these two cards have to say.
Intuitive
I know this isn’t discussed a lot when it comes to the Sun card in tarot, but like the suit of wands, the Sun burns. It is pure, raw fire that has the potential for mass destruction. Light brings life, fire takes life. This is a useful tool to use during meditation, because you can use the fiery energy of the sun to burn away thoughts, feelings, and patterns of behavior you no longer want, and use the sun’s light to grow new thoughts, feelings, and habits in their place. Working with the Sun card during meditation can be both healing and liberating. Place your Sun card where you can see it, as you take some nice deep breaths. Visualize the Sun in its natural form as a burning ball of gas, flaring powerfully in the darkness of space. As you breathe and focus, think about feelings, situations, and difficulties you want the Sun to burn away. See these things being pulled into the Sun and destroyed instantly. Keep this up until you feel you have nothing left to give to the Sun for now. Now allow the Sun to send you healing prana to cleanse your body. Perhaps give this healing energy a color and watch it flow out of the Sun and into your body. When you feel complete, restored, and light, take some more deep breaths and bring yourself to the present moment. Do this small meditation as often as you like. If you feel drawn to do so, journal about your experiences with the Sun as a point of mediation and release.
Wandering
Are you a sunrise or a sunset type of person? I’m a sunrise person. I love that time of the day because it is cooler and quieter than any other time. This is also one of my most productive times as well. There is just something so very magical to me about sunrises. My wife, on the other hand, is a sunset person. She loves watching the sun go down, especially over the ocean. She comes alive at dusk and marvels at what she calls the golden hour. This is how each of us pays homage to sun. Some of us do it in the morning, as it peeks over the horizon and sheds its light on the promise of a new day, while others do it in the evenings, thanking the sun for all that has unfolded in the now ending day. These times of day are important, as they align the sun with two very distinct directions, east and west. Directions are essential to the wanderer and each has a lesson and a meaning. East is the direction of birth and all things new, including possibilities and opportunities, while west is the direction of the ancestors and endings, of things that have once been, but are not forgotten. If you are a sunrise person, then the sun has more of an impact on you as you start new projects, and you feel more of a buzz of energy when you begin things. If you are more of a sunset person, then the west is your direction and you enjoy seeing things come together and you revel in the end result. You will probably be more inclined to connect with ritual and prayer that deals with ancestors and stories and ideas that have been passed down. For this exercise, you are being asked to connect with your sun energy direction—be it east with the sunrise or west with the sunset—see what lessons and messages this direction has for you, and become more aligned with your sun power to know what facets of the Sun card serve you best.
If there really is a higher divine power that could rid you of all of your sins, would you want that? Would you want to be rid of all of your guilt, shame, and regret, and if so, would you truly be able to let it go? The card of Judgement offers you such a deal. It is the card that wipes the slate clean and absolves you of anything that you had to do to get to this point in your journey. It basically tells you that all is forgiven, so please move on and complete what you started. But how many of us can actually let go of the hungry ghosts of the past that easily? In Buddhism, guilt and shame are considered sins—sins that if left to fester will create demons and monsters for the mind to fight, teaching us that all judgment happens within the mind only. Carrying around any past ghosts wreaks havoc with our ability to make life-affirming decisions. These mental wounds slow you down and leave the door wide open for another demon—fear—to walk in. When we finally release our need to judge and be judged, we close the door on fear and starve it of light once and for all. The Judgement card offers you a path to peace and enlightenment. It shows you what can be achieved when you let the past go and allow yourself to be reborn. This is something that happens to us all as we go through one ego death after another. You may have killed off part of the ego mind back in the Death card, but up until now you have been holding onto the guilt of wanting and needing change in your life. We have all been there—wondering if the decisions we have made for our own growth and expansion were worthwhile, especially when they seemed to cause others some sort of pain and suffering, even if we know there was no other choice our soul self could have made. It is no mistake that we must pass through the land of Judgement before we are allowed to make our way to the World card. In other words, we cannot end our journey without first forgiving ourselves for taking it in the first place.
Pathwork
Intentional
The Judgement card connects us to the act of forgiveness. Forgiveness is never about another person. It is all about ourselves, making it one of the most powerful forms of healing. The act of forgiveness is an intentional act of self-love. It happens when we stop seeing ourselves as broken victims and start seeing ourselves as perfectly imperfect humans. Humans are messy. They make mistakes; they have a knack for causing great suffering and tend to turn this on themselves in cruel and creative ways. Yet despite it all, humans have an incredible capacity to love, hope, and forgive.
Today you will meditate on forgiving yourself. Start with something small and slowly work your way up to the bigger things. We beat ourselves up about small, petty things all the time, so start there. Take a few nice deep breaths and say, “I forgive myself for …” and fill in the blank. You can close your eyes if you feel drawn to do so. For me it is often “I forgive myself for speaking badly to myself,” or “I forgive myself for setting unrealistic expectations,” or “I forgive myself for being angry when it only added to the problem.” I think you get the idea. I have always been amazed at how just working on the small stuff has massive ripple effects with the big stuff, so feel free to keep your forgiveness meditations small. The important thing is to do them often, at least a couple of times a week. They only take a couple of minutes. Do it in the shower, in the bath, while you are stuck in traffic. Just breathe, forgive, and release.
Intuitive
Imagine a world where everyone is forgiven and loved completely and wholly for who and what they are; a world where each person’s heart chakra is so big and so strong that it can see nothing but pure unconditional love for themselves and all those around them. I know this sounds like a mythical world, but this is the energy of the Judgement card. As archangel Gabriel blows the horn of God, she literally wipes the slate clean for all of those who have risen for another chance at life. It is interesting that we find this card near the end of the major arcana, at the end of the road, at the edge of the World. It’s as if you need to learn to drop everything you have carried with you on your journey before you can finally make it to that warm embrace waiting for you in the arms of the Mother and the arms of the World card. As you meditate on this card, think about what it would mean to be able to open your heart that wide, to be able to love that purely, and to be able to see yourself as perfect and without shame. As you meditate or do a yoga pose, visualize all of your pain, all of your anger, all of your perceived failures just being blown away by a loving angel, leaving you naked, exposed, and raw. See yourself dressed in new skin and swelling with the beat of a new and more divine heart. With each inhale, focus on drawing Gabriel’s energy into your heart center, and with each exhale, push out all identities, tags, and boxes you have tried to fit yourself into. See how working with the Judgement card in this way makes you lighter and brighter, and gives you a sense of new and renewed hope for the future.
Wandering
The Judgement card can symbolize an awakening, an expansion in consciousness, and a rebirth of ourselves. This makes sense considering its placement in the major arcana, for none of us makes it out of an experience the same as we were when we went in. It just stands to reason that we would see a new version of ourselves reflected back to us as we get ready to cross the finish line. In this respect, the Judgement card shows our butterfly phase. Having broken through our cocoon in the light of the Sun, we now emerge here in the Judgement card to walk into the World. We all have butterfly moments, and now it would seem you have come to yours. Use this card to seek out the parts of you that have gone through a transformation. Find places that no longer look or feel the same to you as they did three months, twelve months, or two years ago. Even the way you navigate through the world around you is different, but have you really taken the time to notice this?
As you make your way through your world in this newly birthed butterfly body, notice if sounds seem louder or quieter or if your sense of smell is sharper or duller. Seeing how you engage with space, negotiate environments, and experience places will be the best way to truly live the transforming, rebirthing energy that the Judgement card brings you. Go and wander. Take your wings for a test drive and see just how different the world around you feels, looks, sounds, and smells.
Within the major arcana, this is the last card or last stop in the Fool’s journey. The Fool has progressed through all of the cards of the major arcana, growing, learning, and evolving along the way. Once at the World card, the Fool is changed and no longer the same. The Fool is now more evolved and possibly even more enlightened. In this respect, the World card represents completion, the end of a cycle, journey, or quest. There is no going back once you have made it this far. The only option is to start again. This is the natural progression of cycles: you begin, you end, and you begin again. Each time you begin, you start as a new and different person. Who have you become? What sort of person are you now that you have made it through your journey or quest? Are things as you had expected them to be? What does the world look like through your wiser, more enlightened eyes?
We never come out of a situation the same as we went in, just as the caterpillar does not come out of its cocoon the same. You are now the butterfly, transformed and changed yet still you. One of the elements that is not discussed often with the World card is the notion of stillness. Before you wander too far, you may want to take a breath and just observe the landscape for a while. Things are different where you now find yourself, and you have to figure out the best way to navigate around this new world. You may not even be sure how you fit into the landscape you now find yourself in. Just be still. Sit for a while and slow yourself down.
Pathwork
Intentional
So now you may think you are finished. You think you have come full circle, and now you get to just enjoy the world you have created. Are you sure it is not missing anything? For this exercise, take the World card from your deck and place it faceup with the image upside down in front of you. Now pick up the remaining cards in your deck and give them a shuffle. When you have shuffled enough, take the card from the top of the deck and the card from the bottom of the deck and place them faceup under your upside down World card. The card from the top of the deck shows what needs to be taken care of before you can turn your World card back to its upright position. The card from the bottom of the deck shows what needs to be left behind, as it has no place in this new world you have created. You can journal with these two cards if you find it helpful. Keep your World card upside down. Do not turn it back to the upright position until you have taken care of what is shown in the card you pulled from the top of your deck. Only then will you be ready to embrace the World and all the wonderful things you have created within it.
Intuitive
When you hear the saying “The world is yours to take,” what do you think of ? Does the statement overwhelm you, excite you, terrify you, or sadden you? In business, the talking heads and so-called gurus are always screaming that people are scared of success, that it is not failure but success that makes people choke, self-sabotage, and blow shit up. These are all things to ponder as the tarot literally hands you the World. This gives us something to work through in our meditation practice, especially thinking about which parts of the world bring us joy, which parts bring us sadness, which parts we embrace and accept, and which parts we choose to deny. As you bring the World card into your meditation practice, contemplate the idea of taking the world, holding it in your arms, and claiming it. Claim it for healing. Take a nice deep breath and think about all the times you have talked yourself out of something that would have made you feel successful and happy. Shift the moments of pain, doubt, and fear out of your heart, and exhale them back out into the world as raw energy just waiting to be transformed into something amazing. Repeat this until you feel lighter and less overwhelmed. When you feel complete you may let go of the world. Place it back into space. Watch how claiming and healing yourself will in turn heal the world around you. Go on now and take the world; it is yours, you have earned it.
Wandering
The World card is the reminder of the dirt under our shoes, the grass between our toes, the rain on our face, the wind in our hair, and the sun on our skin. It connects us to our five senses and grounds us in an experience that can only ever be experienced right here, right now, on this planet. It is easy in our busy daily lives to forget these things, and to disconnect ourselves from the elements that make this world our home, albeit a temporary one.
Just for today, connect with the world. Instead of worrying about your to-do list, stop and feel the wind, the sun, or the rain. Instead of rushing from one appointment to the next, sit, take a breath, and marvel at the ground beneath you and the sky above you. Give thanks to the gravity that stops you from being sucked out into space, and show some gratitude to the planet that puts up with you and your moods every day until your organic vessel gives out. Observe your immediate world, including the people, the animals, the experiences, the emotions, and anything else that you have deemed important to you. Have you created a world that brings you joy or is it one that makes you feel trapped? The World card is not just an ending, the completion of a journey started twenty-one cards ago; it is a reminder of the stage on which your journey has taken place, a stage that you will get to dance on until your dance shoes no longer fit. Therefore, wander through your world with a grateful heart and a thankful mind. Bless every leaf, every bug, and every crack in the pavement, because this world has supported you, and it will continue to do so as long as it turns.