By Judy Jennings © Copyright 2014
Have
you ever gotten a card that stuck with you long after your reading, and not
necessarily in a good way? Most of us do
at one point or another. How do you
respond when you turn up a card that leaves you feeling anxious?
It’s
helpful in that situation to bear in mind one of the most basic functions of
Tarot: The cards act like a compass and point in the best direction for going
forward. Without the cards that show
difficulties and conflicts Tarot would be less powerful, unable to offer much
more than a metaphysical “Have a nice day”.
Challenging energies are described in the cards in order to help us
thread our way through them when they occur around us. Think of these messages as advice from a good
friend who always tells you the truth, no matter what.
What
cards are we talking about? Remember
that Tarot speaks in archetypes, so there are certain cards that speak to fears
residing in the collective human subconscious.
Helplessness and loss of control are at the root of many of these, such
as Death and The Tower. The Devil can
touch on things people don’t really want to talk about. Some people perceive The Moon as a call to
madness. Not all of the cards that speak
to our fears are major arcana however; many of the swords and the fives of all
four suits frequently elicit strong emotional responses.
People
will surprise you, though. One person’s
bliss can be another’s disquiet. In the
following game people list one or two cards that make them wince when they
appear in a reading for themselves. One
man recently indicated The Sun, which typically represents a state of grace, as
his most dreaded card; to him, it represented excessive expectations from other
people. This is a good example of how
universal archetypes have the potential to express in different ways within the
personality.
The
object of the game is to illustrate the way people have certain doubts in
common, which isn’t as negative as it sounds.
To acknowledge that our fears are shared opens the door to the idea that
we aren’t alone with them, and to the knowledge that these feelings are simply
part of the human condition rather than a flaw buried within the
personality. The ultimate goal of the
game is to provoke discussion about constructive ways to respond when you feel
uneasy about a card in a reading, including the consideration of different
interpretations. Play this game with
lots of people, or just a few.
THE
“WHAT CARDS MAKE YOU NERVOUS?” GAME:
Each
player gets two blank slips of paper. On
each slip, write down the name of a card that generally causes you to have a
negative emotional reaction when you get it in a reading. Put your slips into a basket with everyone
else’s.
Pass
the basket around, with each player removing one slip at random. Tell the group what the card on your slip is,
and talk about your own reaction to it.
Your feelings aren’t necessarily the same as those of the person who
wrote the slip in the first place. In
fact, the card might not represent anything negative to you at all. Or maybe it does, but in either case your
perspective is valuable because it offers the other person connection, and new
ways of thinking about the card. After
you’ve given your take on the card, ask the originator if they’d like to add
anything.
Typically,
certain cards will repeat as the basket is passed around. As this happens, keep talking if anyone has
more to say. Continue until all of the
slips have been pulled, keeping a tally so you can see what kinds of issues
people have most in common at the end.
Sometimes the cards that don’t
show up are as telling as the ones that do.
For instance, if no one in your group is fearful of The Hanged One it’s
likely you’re among people with a high degree of spiritual awareness.
Here
are a few thoughts to help spark discussion:
Describe
your immediate EMOTIONAL reaction to the cards.
Try not to over-think.
Blurt
out any clichés that come to mind when you look at a card. Don’t worry about being right, that doesn’t
matter in this exercise. If you use a
metaphor that’s off the mark, emotional reaction makes that clear and offers as
much information as one that hits home.
Offer
examples of positive interpretations when you can.
Give
an example of a time the card has impacted you personally, if you have one.
Talk
about techniques you use to deal with anxiety in general. Do you deal with Tarot in the same way, or
differently?
Have
you ever felt like you didn’t understand what the cards were saying? What do
you do when the cards just don’t seem to be speaking to you?
Were
you surprised by any of the cards that were selected in your game?
