Spirit Bear Dreaming Tarot

I have a blog here about dreaming and shamanism, but a lot of what I do also involves Tarot. I didn't want to mix things up too much, so I decided to create this blog just for Tarot topics.

First, some context. Despite there being a lot of tarot content on the web, many details are often left out. I want to encourage others to spend time elaborating on how they use tarot, not just on the meanings of cards. So I'm trying to post things in the hopes that others will do the same.

Second, a lot of writing on tarot on the web implies that meaning is fixed. I think that this idea is an oversimplification. My take is that the foundation is made up of meanings that have accrued over time. On top of that are the associations that we develop as personal meanings. On top of those are those that arise in the context of a reading.

So, for example, the Ten of Swords often shows a figure pierced by ten swords, often lying on the road and bleeding. The meaning is often about ending and finality, a kind of dramatic overkill, and harm. But a number of years ago, after surgery on my core, it started showing up in readings to indicate the surgery and associated issues. Another example showed while trying to develop a way of locating things using tarot, a question about where to find a certain kind of thing on a hill in the city, The Tower appeared as a marker and revealed that what I was seeking was next to the tallest building on that hilltop.

Third, a lot of tarot writing doesn't go into the choice of layouts or the details of how those layouts work. I've seen plenty of one card, card-of-the-day posts, but it is often unclear why people are doing this. At a certain point I spent 3-4 years drawing one card each day and writing a small entry in my journal, but I did this to force myself to focus on the cards in more detail. It helped me a lot. But posting a card? What is the purpose?

Today I saw the two cards I mention above posted in this way, with a single line of description, somewhat sour in both cases. I wasn't sure what the motivation was and I'd like to encourage people to give context when they post tarot cards or readings. I hope people aren't encountering these and taking them as personalized reading for all readers. I don't think tarot works quite like that. I didn't have any Ten of Swords or The Tower things today. I think drawing a card a day is a great thing to do for your own development, but explain context when posting so that others can learn from it. Just announcing “tarot says” is not that helpful, I think.

And last, I have spent a good part of the last decade focusing on layouts and how they work, and what the attributes of a useful layout might be. I've encountered many layouts that have a theme and somewhat vague descriptions of the positions. That's OK, but I really like specific and pointed purposes for each position. So, today I am going to show a recent reading of my go-to layout, a four-card layout that I think of as The Four Card Action Layout. I've used this layout probably thousands of times and it keeps showing its value, so I want to share it.

The four cards are laid out left, right, top, bottom, to form a cross. I like to put them out facedown and reveal them one by one and talk about what each card means, in the context of the layout “rules” and the question. Did I mention that I like specific questions? The more specific the better for this layout. You can be vague, or not even tell me the question and it will work, but being very specific helps focus right in on the details in a better way.

Here is the reading, I will explain each position and card, but first, the question: What is this old resentment I feel about a shared space? I share a garden space with others and in the past one of the others claimed control over how it would be managed and maintained. I protested, but they ignored me and I passive-aggressively refused to work with them at all. For years.

A foolish approach but I was stressed at the time and reverted to this childish stance. Implied in the question is the idea that I want to correct the resentment and move to a better state.

TOPIC: The first card, in the west, is the “What it IS” card and shows the real subject of the question. It defines the question and shows what it is about and the context of the question. Sometimes the concern is not what we supposed.

The card is the Six of Coins – A gift, a sharing, heart to heart gift as if from child to child. I'm using Robert M. Place's Alchemical Tarot and I like his version of the Six, which shows one child giving a huge coin to another child. They naked, unencumbered, and it feels like the kind of honest giving of a child, and it lacks the wealth versus poverty quality of many versions of this card.

When I turned this card over it was like a gentle but clear slap in the face, I became very emotional by the realization that my response was not the honest act of a child in giving or receiving, but mean and stubborn. This reading was going to be a real “dope slap” for me, as a tarot friend puts it, when tarot calls you on your BS. I really need to act more like a gift-giver if I want to correct the situation.

IS-NOT: The second card, in the east, is the “What it IS NOT” position and shows what is not is play, or something we assumed to be an issue that is not really part of what we should be concerned about. These first two cards should refine and focus the question and reveal more about the issues of the question.

This card is the Seven of Coins – Evolution, development, going through stages. It emphasizes the message of the first card, this is not a situation where things will grow and develop naturally. There is no learning to be done by the person who annoyed me originally. They are not going to evolve an understanding of my stubbornness being rooted in my sense of unfairness. I am not going to grow out of it. This is the Not position, these are Not going to happen.

Given that framework of two cards describing the situation, what is the Tarot suggesting for Action, or what is it saying about the action you have already chosen?

TO-DO: The third card, in the north, is the “What to DO” or ACTION card. This says what you should do, or where you need to place attention or energy depending on the reading.

This card is Eight of Cups – Leave the old behind and do the work of the spirit. In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck this shows a stack of eight cups while a figure seems to leave on a watery journey under a strange eclipse. Here, in the Alchemical Tarot, the card shows a potter working on a wheel to make new vessels out of the surrounding clay, while the symbol of The Quintessence hovers above his work.

I take it to mean to work at this, make some effort, do the good work and make a positive thing out of the situation instead of waiting for it to improve on its own.

OUTCOME: The final card, in the south, is the “Outcome” card, saying what the action will lead to, where things are headed.

Here, the card is the Four of Swords – Peace, stillness, meditation. Nearly every version of this card exemplifies these ideas, but what I like about this version of the card is that the four swords are grounded in the earth. I tend to think of Swords are being stories, words, ideas and thoughts, and this suggests to me that the unpleasant thoughts can be put to rest and that peace can result.

This reading has actually improved things since the time I laid it out. Things are not entirely resolved, but I've accepted that the old resentments are not workable and should not be honored any longer. Something new is being built.

I wanted to post this reading for a few reasons. First, because I think it is good to show how a reading proceeds in more detail than usual. Secondly, I think that beginners are given either overly simple or overly complex layouts to work with and that there is too much vagueness. Often, the layout shape and positional meanings seem arbitrary and not very specific.

I believe that the more specific we can be, the better the reading is for solving problems and making decisions. You don't do tarot readings for trite things, why bother doing a reading to decide if you will have coffee or tea with your lunch? But things like, should you try something in a new area or you life? I rarely get clear yes/no answers, but I almost always get a better understanding of the context and new things to consider as I work out what I want and how I feel and what I'm willing to change.

Finally, this layout came from nowhere, really. A friend showed it to me over 20 years ago, but does not recall it. Their supposed source never actually published it. It just kind of appeared mysteriously and revitalized my tarot work back then, and I've used it thousands of times since then and find that it is very accessible to others.

I especially like how the first two cards provide a strong context, THIS is, and THIS is not. There is a tendency to read cards generally instead of being specific to their position. If you get Death or the Ten of Swords in the IS NOT position, the common negative response to the card should be muted or abandoned because this is not directly in play, so maybe you need to take it out of your thinking? In the example above, the Seven of Coins in this position is saying: No, this is not going to evolve naturally, so I need to give up that idea.

After using this layout, and other layouts that have fallen into my lap, I want things to be as specific and pointed as possible and most of my layouts try to be specific and pointed.

I should not that I tend to use The Alchemical Tarot for personal readings since I spent a lot of time studying alchemical topics, so they speak to me. I've also worked with the creator, Robert M. Place in the past and love his decks. He sells them on his website.

In the future I will likely not write this much, but I do plan on posting the occasional reading where the details seem clear and helpful in the hopes that those learning tarot will benefit in some way. Thanks for reading!

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