Did you know that angels are part of the traditional tarot deck? You can work with tarot cards to connect with your angels and get messages quickly.
A traditional tarot deck of 78 cards has three cards that you can use for angel readings. Most contemporary tarot decks are interpretations of the Rider Waite Tarot (1910), and have angels on the Lovers, Temperance, and Judgment. These cards fall into the major arcana sequence of 22 “trump” cards, or major turning points:
• VI The Lovers: This is the card of Archangel Raphael. It means love and choices, showing a cherubim with bow and arrow and a man and woman. Some decks show the couple as Adam and Eve. The Marseilles deck (1701–15) depicts three people with the cherub, implying the need for a mature decision.
• XIV Temperance: The card of Archangel Michael, meaning reconciliation, negotiating, balancing; showing an angel pouring water between two vessels. Temperance is one of the four cardinal virtues, along with Justice, Strength, and Prudence.
• XX Judgment: The card of Archangel Gabriel. It means a wake-up call; renewal, rebirth, assessing your life, a second chance; showing one or more angels blowing trumpets, echoing the Last Judgment from the Book of Revelation.
* First, ground, protect, and open up to your angels (see pages 9–10). Take your tarot deck and shuffle, imprinting your energy on the cards.
* Now take out the Lovers, Temperance, and Judgment. Place them face down on a table. Close your eyes and breathe deeply for a few minutes, until you feel calm and centered. Invite your angels to come closer to you. Open your eyes and choose one card. Turn it face up; this is your angel tarot card. Now see the card meaning from the list opposite.
* Close your eyes, hold the card loosely, and tune in, sensing the energy of your angels around you. Ask your angels to tell you more about what the card means in your life, and anything you might do. You might like to call in the Archangel of the card you have chosen. Feel the connection with your angels. If you sense a message from them, ask them: “Do you mean …?” Pay attention to all your senses—maybe feeling a slight tingling on your skin, cobwebs in your hair, or sensing colors, words, or images in your mind. This is your angels’ way of giving you confirmation. They are telling you “Yes.”
* When you are ready, thank your angels, open your eyes, and close down (see page 11).
You can place the card on your altar (see Tip 18) or carry it with you while you are traveling.
You can also try the past, present, and future reading using three cards (see Tip 39).
If you do tarot cards regularly, you will now know that when one of the angel cards comes up for you in a reading, it also tells you, along with its traditional meaning, that your angels are close by.
USING PLAYING CARDS
If you don’t have tarot cards, take a deck of playing cards and find the Queen of Hearts, who is traditionally linked with angelic qualities. This is because her equivalent card in the tarot is the Queen of Cups, who stands for love, compassion, generosity, and relationships—the blessings of angels.
* Follow the ritual for tarot cards as above. After you have shuffled the cards, take out the Queen of Hearts and place her face up, then choose two other cards from your deck at random, face down, and place them either side of the Queen. Now turn both cards face up. Which suits do the cards come from?
• Suit of clubs: focus on ideas, inspiration
• Suit of hearts: focus on relationships
• Suit of diamonds: focus on clear thinking
• Suit of spades: focus on money, home, and practicalities
* When you have finished your reading, close down (see page 11).