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I have used ritual my entire life to help celebrate passages, personal
and seasonal. As a child, I experienced the ritual of Easter baskets
(which in my family included a small present in with the other goodies).
I experienced the ritual of coloring Easter eggs, marking the rite of
Easter but also teaching me to develope my creative self. I experienced
the ritual of May Day, leaving tiny baskets of flowers on neighbors'
doorsteps, ringing the bell and running away before they saw who the
"gift" was from!
And then there was my sixteenth birthday, where I unintentionally created
a ritual for where I was emotionally at that time (very unhappy, very
confused). I marked my birthday (which is December 29th) by taking down
all of the Christmas decorations the day before, so that "my" day would
be "my" day! (Fortunately, I have a very patient mother, albiet one who
prizes her Christmas decorations!)
As an adult, I have learned more appropriate ways of marking and
celebrating change. Tarot came to me first as a tool in which others
helped me find my way. This turned into my using Tarot not only to find
my own way, but to help others find their way. I was extremely blessed
in that one of the first Tarot books that I read was "Tarot For Your
Self" by Mary Greer. She opened up a whole new world of how I could use
Tarot; I will forever be in her debt.
One of my basic uses of Tarot in ritual is to draw a Card a Day, with no
specific question, just to see where the focus of my day (and my life!)
should be. I started with drawing from one Tarot deck; I now draw from
two Tarot decks (Morgan Greer and Osho Zen), an angel card deck, and the
the Medicine Card and Sacred Path decks by Jamie Sams (two decks that
are non-Tarot but follow the same theme of self discovery). The decks
affirm and expand on each other and help me see where my attention needs
to be placed. (As an aside, they are also a pleasant way to start my
day!)
I note my Card a Day results in a notebook. This allows me to see them
clearer in reference to each other and shows the progression from day to
day of how my life is going. Another thing that I occassionally do is to
leave one (or all) of my daily cards out where I can see it (them) and
take a moment to think about what the card(s) mean and what I can learn
from them during the day.
Another way to do this is to pick a specific area of your life that you
would like to receive information on. Go through your Tarot deck (hint:
more than one deck can be used here) and purposefully pick cards that
reflect on that area. Say that I was thinking about making a major
career move, but was unsure of my ability to make a living in the new
field. I might choose the High Priestess (to connect with the wisdom of
the unconscious), the Magician (for his ability to manifest from my own
potential), the Hierophant (for balance between the spiritual and the
mundane) and Strength (to give me the ability to empower myself). I
would place these cards in an area where they can be left out so that I
can view them during the day. I leave the cards out until I feel that
they have served their purpose, which may be several days. (I may also
add crystals, flowers and candles to the "presentation" as the mood
strikes!)
I also use Tarot from time to time in my regular rituals for Full Moon
and Equinox. I decide what my purpose for each full moon will be, i.e.,
what I want to concentrate the moon's energies on. On a glass table I
place candles, incense, flowers, crystals and a prayer that encompases
that which I wish to accomplish. I pull from my decks cards that
represent the powers that I need to accomplish my goal. This is set up
on the full moon, and left up until the next full moon. I relight the
candles every night and meditate on my purpose. (Please e-mail me at
Spiritseeker@altavista.net if you wish a copy of this ritual.)
In using Tarot in ritual, we take the power of ritual to mark points in
our lives and add the power of the Tarot, which depicts humanity's walk
through life. The following are excellent works for using Tarot in
ritual. "Tarot For Your Self" by Mary Greer, which discusses using Tarot
for setting up mandalas, for visualization, for meditation and for
affirmation, among other things. Also, "Tarot Celebration: Honoring the
Inner Voice" by Geraldine Amaral and Nancy Cunningham, which gifts us
with specific rituals for each of the Major Arcana and much more!
Tarot has always been a doorway to the understanding of self for those
who work with it . Tarot and ritual combined give us focus and intent,
and open up whole new worlds! Bon voyage!!
© June 2000
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