Tag: tarot

October 4, 2015

The Tarot & Creativity

This week I’ve shared some of my history with the tarot, plus flip-throughs of my four core tarot decks. It’s inspired some great conversations about cards, tarot and also creativity. Is the tarot really a resource that belongs in the studio? Let’s explore the connection.

7 Ways the Tarot Can Enhance Your Creative Life

Immerse Yourself in the Language of Images

The tarot transmits its messages through a language of images and symbols, a language that is shared with the creative arts. We can enrich our knowledge of and connection to this way of communication by contemplating the form and meaning of archetypal images expressed in the tarot, such as star, moon, chariot, tower, cups, queens and swords.

Awaken the Power of Story

Each reading of the tarot becomes a personal narrative for the subject. As the reader, you develop an ability to see connections and developments, pulling together seemingly disparate pieces into a meaningful story. As creatives, we have a tendency to do this naturally. If I tell you I see a Magician, a Queen of Wands and a sword I bet your imagination starts stirring.

Learn Structure & Freedom

In the studio we often talk about the power of combining structure and freedom in bringing our creativity to life. The tarot is a great expression of this balance. The core meaning of a card is constant (structure) and yet fresh takes reveal themselves within the context of each new reading (freedom).

Stir Your Intuition

Interacting with the cards and learning to follow your intuition’s response in the present moment is an exercise in awakening your inner senses, an invaluable tool as you pursue your creative arts.

Know Yourself

When people regularly read their cards it is often to become familiar with the trends in their life and well-versed in the leanings of their personality. The more careful attention we pay to the subtleties of our selves and the world around us, the more we can express ourselves with heart, truth and relevance.

Express Your Vision

Many people who explore the tarot feel inspired to create their own expression of the cards. Let yourself imagine what The Magician or The Queen of Cups means to you and create your own expression of these archetypes.

Take Inspiration

As you sit down to write a poem or compose a song, as you step onto the dance floor or imagine your next painting or party, start with the tarot. Pull a card and see where it leads you.

Let me pull a card for you now….

Let the Three of Cups be an inspiration for you and your creative life in the week ahead. Look to the 7 creative approaches I’ve outlined for guidance. What are the symbols here? What do they mean to you? What is the story this card is telling? What meaning does that have to you in this very moment? What does your intuition say? What words, sounds, colours, concepts emerge?

Let me know how the journey goes. I’d be delighted to see where the three of cups leads.

October 1, 2015

The Tarot Revealed: The Sacred Rose Tarot (the one deck all the Ridler Sisters have)

The first tarot deck I bought was rather untraditional and so I decided to look for one that would be easier to learn with and I landed on The Sacred Rose. I’ve often found that when I’ve laid the cards down in a spread with these cards, in an instant a message is transmitted to me and I know exactly what the reading is about.

In this video, I take you through a simple flip-through of the deck so you can experience them for yourself and decide whether they might be for you. This follows a tradition I had with my sisters. Every time we would get a new deck, we’d sit down together and one by one do a reveal. What a joy it was. I’m glad to share this tradition with you.

September 29, 2015

Tarot Revealed: The Cosmic Tarot (the deck I use most often to read for others)

Over the years I have done tarot readings at events, over email and even on the National Psychic Hotline! For a time I also had a special Tarot Coaching offering, where a client and I would use the tarot to tune into intuition and find powerful next steps. The deck that I used most often is the one I am sharing with you today: The Cosmic Tarot.

September 28, 2015

Tarot Revealed: The Haindl Tarot (my first deck)

Many years ago I bought my first tarot deck. It’s not the one that I would recommend for a first deck, even to myself, but I love it just the same. The Haindl Tarot is beautiful, rich with symbolism, and draws on different traditions. The minor arcana do not have the images we often see associated with the cards, making these more challenging for newer readers. At the time I bought the two accompanying books that delve deeply into all the layers of meaning available in the cards. However I lent them to my Mom (this was her first deck too) and guides ended up staying with her!

September 27, 2015

Cards for Creative Living: The Tarot ~ My Core Four

There is something about creatives and tarot cards.

Maybe it’s simply that so many decks are wildly beautiful and speak to our imaginative souls. Maybe it’s because we creatives have a natural tendency to look for pattern, meaning and story, all of which tarot cards provide. The cards speak in an imaginative language of symbol, images and metaphor and the spreads provide a framework and underlying structure for exploration – familiar territory for the creative heart.

I’ve been fascinated by tarot cards since I was a teenager. I remember going with my sisters to The Omega Centre, the one and only store where you could buy tarot cards in Toronto. Bathed in the smell of incense, listening to the tinkling sound of chimes over gentle music playing, we gazed at the decks in the glass case behind lock and key. We pored over the binder that held pictures from each of the decks, trying to discern which of these beauties was for us.

Once we’d chosen, we’d take our treasures over to the Second Cup, a coffee shop just on the fringe of Yorkville, sit by the window and one by one reveal each card to one another. We learned their magic together.

One of my fondest tarot memories is the three of us lounging around my first apartment chatting through each of the cards. This was especially helpful with the court cards. We had a blast coming up with who we thought was the the Queen of Swords or the King of Pentacles. From that day forward I have always thought of the King of Cups as Ed Harris’s character Virgil in The Abyss.

Since those early days, the tarot has been a part of my life and my adventures! A few of my favourites are my sister Shannon and I flying to Cape Cod so that I could do tarot coaching at a creative event run by a blogging friend, working for a brief time at the National Psychic Hotline and years of sharing Osho Zen cards every day on Twitter. Today I’m sharing with you the four core decks that have been a part of that journey. Be sure to watch for my upcoming flip-throughs of each of these decks so you can see if any of them are meant for you.