I've used tarot for a lot of things over the years. And I know I'm excited to have some space to write about tarot and share some of those stories here. But I find myself wondering: how to start?
This is actually how I use tarot most these days. These are not my days of fancy spreads that take over the table, or deep extended esoteric study piling up across the living room floor. Moving through my day, in the flow of it, coming across a random question and doing a quick draw to address it - to shift the energy, to take a breath, to bring some playfulness and perspective in - this is the bones of my practice lately. The cards are like neighbors who drop in for a spot of tea and gossip, sharing their view from just around the corner. They have familiar personalities and penchants, but sometimes pop over in unexpected ways.
So, how to begin? What are we up to here with Tarot Tuesdays?
Oof! Talk about unexpected. This fellow is the neighbor who just shows up, at the back door, with odd timing and who you can't quite say you like, and who can sometimes be quite demanding to deal with, yet who just as often brings such rare gifts, ideas, assistance or laughs that you're glad he's around - and glad when you seem to be on his good side, too.
I think of this card as how Trickster shows up in everyday life - particularly in our life of the mind, how we think. When your thoughts run crafty or cunning. When you need to get out of a spot. When a little sleight of hand goes a long way. When you see the flaw in the matrix, the gap in the armor, the way around the impasse. When you use reason and logic as tools, and can see the world beyond them, rather than being caught in their blinders. When you flirt with deceit. These are 7 of Swords moments.
I have heard this guy described not just as a trickster, but as a shape-shifter. In the RWS deck, he's the only one with those fancy fur-trimmed cap-n-boots. Sneaking around on the outskirts of the camp, on the border between wild and civilized life, he's in some other kind of relationship with The Animal. But also with the thinking mind - these are swords being put to some other use than battle. That outfit might also mark him as himself other, from another the tribe.
This speaks a lot to me about my relationship with tarot. It brings something in from the outside, another perspective, something that feels wild and other while at the same time familiar and thoughtful - which is always kind of a gamble, where you may not get what you're looking for at all. We all have those experiences of drawing a card and going "WTF no, lemme pull another." In fact, this touches how I believe tarot even "works:" by giving our usual daily-ego-minds a way to step aside and get in touch with the random - with chaos, synchronicity, and the wyrd. To practice not giving into that "wtf, no" but sitting with what's on the other side of that reaction and listening for its perspective. Letting that perspective inform our own. Looking for reflections.
What an excellent place to begin - with this unexpected encounter with the tricky edges of ourselves and our usual campsites. And with the reminder to examine our thoughts once in a while, to sneak outside their usual flow and not be so ruled by what seems like the cold, hard steel of civilized logic. And a lovely anchor for our explorations here - let's continue to expect the unexpected!
Cheers,
Kaeti
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Kaeti is a therapist, teacher, and dreamer based in Long Beach, California. All of her work (and play!) is interested in dismantling intersections of oppression and breathing magic and radical healing into all the daily corners of her life, into all the spaces of community she helps weave.