One of my favorite ways to study tarot cards is by doing a tarot meditation with one or more cards at a time. Now, I am not good at traditional meditation, sitting cross legged, chanting “om” and emptying my mind of all thoughts. Frankly, my mind gets bored, and needs something more concrete to latch on to.
That’s where the tarot comes in. The beautiful imagery of the cards can fill the mind’s eye, giving you a starting point for your imagination to explore. So, if you’ve had some difficulty with other forms of meditation, tarot visualization and meditation could work for you.
How I Do a Tarot Meditation
1. Prepare the area. I make sure I have everything I’m going to need, including something to drink, my tarot deck, my notebook, a pen, and a candle. If you like incense, soothing music or an audio recording of a guided meditation, go ahead and add those! Personally, I like the silence, so I can hear what’s going on in my mind.
2. Choose the tarot card(s). This one of the fun times where you don’t have to shuffle and choose a random tarot card. If you have been drawn to a particular card lately, wish to study one or more in combination, or have been drawing one card frequently, you can pick out that card specifically for the meditation. You can also do a whole reading’s worth of cards for a meditation, but be prepared to spend a lot of time and energy pouring over the cards.
3. Light a candle. This is the key action for me when I do a tarot meditation. Focusing on the pure light of a candle puts my mind into “meditation mode”, and relaxes me while maintaining my clarity of purpose. You may have other mental triggers that open your mind to experiencing what the Universe is trying to show you, so go ahead and use them.
4. Examine the “surface” of the tarot card image. You need not dive into the card right away. Look over the card, for as long as necessary, so that you become thoroughly comfortable with the tarot imagery. Explore every detail, every symbol. What areas appeal to you immediately? What images make you feel uncomfortable? Both the positive and negative attributes of the tarot card are worthy of study, and those images that evoke strong reaction are natural starting points.
5. Connect with the characters in the tarot card. Another natural meditation point is the people who star in the chosen tarot card. As humans, we easily relate and sympathize with another person’s situation, even fictional or archetypal characters. Most of us are accustomed to interacting with other humans, whether we choose to talk to them as a separate entity, or take on their role within the tarot card. Don’t discount animals or even inanimate objects, however. When meditating, anything within the card could have a specific message for you.
6. Visualize yourself stepping into the card. This is the point where your meditation can go as deeply (or shallowly) as you are comfortable with. See yourself entering the world of the tarot card. Explore the landscape as if you were walking through it in real life. Go beyond the borders of the card, if you so choose. Talk with the other characters within the card. Ask them what message they have for you, how you can use their energy most wisely, or whatever other concerns you may have about that particular card in your life right now. Spend as much time in this step as you find comfortable.
7. Gradually exit the card. Once you have experienced enough of the tarot meditation to fulfill your questions, thank the characters within your card and allow yourself to slowly return to the real world. See yourself leaving the card, and resuming your seat. See the card as just one tarot card out of seventy-eight, not as the vibrant world you were just within.
8. Write down your immediate impressions. Personally, I write as I go through the meditation, but I know a lot of people don’t do both simultaneously. Be sure to copy down as much as you can, or even record yourself talking through the meditation.
9. Blow out the candle. This is the final step, that signals that I am no longer actively meditating. Your own custom made ritual should be ended at this point as well.
Now, for those who haven’t tried it, tarot meditations or visualizations can seem a bit fluffy, a whole lot of spiritual mumbo jumbo. However, I thoroughly enjoy these meditations, and come away with new insights about the tarot cards and my life that I never would have otherwise. Give it a try yourself, but don’t push the process. If it doesn’t feel right for you, try other tarot study techniques and come back at another time.
Have you tried tarot meditation? What techniques help you visualize the cards in a whole new way? Have you had any unsettling revelations while doing a tarot meditation?
~Kimberlee
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