When I learned the Medicine Wheel all those years ago, I learned that there are 7 directions; East, South, West, North, Above, Below, and Within. The ‘within’ position was also referred to as the ‘here and now’.

It is impossible for us to look at something without being the center of it, because this is the way our ego is created; we assimilate information based on how it is going to affect us. Therefore, I think you are dead on with the Earth being the center of it all, because it is where we are. We simply cannot perceive the Universe from any other direction, because we simply aren’t there.

I think it is also a good time to point out that, just because one reader interprets a card in a particular way, it doesn’t mean that is the ‘only’ way that card can be read.

For example, when my friend Paula gets the Empress, she always sees a hospital situation. When the Empress comes to me during a reading, I see new beginnings, fertility, a possible pregnancy. Paula is correct in her interpretations for her readings, and I am correct in my interpretations for my readings; but often my information won’t transpose into Paula’s readings, nor her’s into mine!

Calei, I like the idea of the astrology wheel layout! I often use that for guidance when timing is important. Being an astrologer, you’ll well appreciate that we can apply that wheel to ‘any’ given segment of time; the wheel can represent a year, it can represent a day, or it can represent the duration of an event or specified time. And — as we were discussing recently in the Psychic Source chat room — the Tarot cards can represent timing as accurately as the astrology wheel, because of the planetary correspondences between astrology and the Tarot.

Oh my, aren’t we discussing some wonderful things?!

I think the reason that people say not to read your own cards is that it is very hard to be subjective about a situation when we are right in the middle of it. It is easy to read what we want to be there, because the situation is so close to us.

Mary K. Greer has published an excellent book called ‘Tarot for Your Self’, and I have found it an excellent guide as to how to read my own cards.

I will mention though, that when I do my own cards, I do them more for a ‘thought for the day’ type reading, rather than a prediction.

Interesting topic indeed!

I’m so pleased you raised these points!

There is a lot of misconception that when we work with a tool such as the Tarot, it ‘has’ to be treated in a particular way.

As a teacher of the Tarot, the first thing I tell my students is that it is not what they do, so much as the intent in which they do it. And this applies to all things, not just the Tarot! Even prayer; it isn’t about saying the most elaborate prayer, or getting many people to watch us pray; it is about offering the most heartfelt prayer we can. But I digress.

Being a reader, my cards sit on my desk, under my computer monitor, 24 hours a day. They are not wrapped in silk, they are not in a wooden box they are where I can easily grab them whenever I need to use them.

I do have little rituals that I do, though. My cards may be on my desk, but they are always face down! And between clients I shuffle the cards 4 times and cut them twice. That is my way of ‘cleaning’ them. Other people may do this differently — or even not at all! Again, it is the intent with which we do things, not what we do.

Obtaining cards is also a matter of intent. Perhaps many decades ago the belief that cards had to be given arose because there were very few decks available and even less money with which to buy them! But we grow and evolve. Now there are hundreds of decks available, and most of us have ‘some’ income where we might purchase our own cards. I myself don’t have a problem putting my energy into my work to obtain what I need, then letting the dollar bills convey that energy from myself to my acquisitions!

I tell my students to find the deck that resonates with them. There is no point trying to work with a deck when the images on that deck leave you cold. The cards have to speak the same language to which we relate if they are going to communicate with us at all. With hundreds of decks being illustrated on the Internet, and reviews being published, it is easier than ever to obtain a deck to our liking.

Working with Tarot truly is a wonderful journey for those who are prepared to look with their spirit eyes, listen with their spirit ears, and learn!