Trafford Publishing: The Nature of Tarot

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The Nature of Tarot

by Diane Lee Wing

65 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-0783; ISBN 1-4120-0414-4; US$12.50, C$14.50, EUR10.50, £7.50

Dispels the myths surrounding tarot cards and provides information on the practical application of tarot to achieve higher spiritual awareness and growth.

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about the book about the author sample excerpts catalogue info

About the Book

The Nature of Tarot discusses tarot as a tool of enlightenment and understanding rather than a way to predict the future. Life decisions should be based on what is appropriate to your growth. This book is perfect for those who have been afraid of letting their cards read. It dispels the myths and negative connotations that surround the tarot by sharing the personal experiences of the author, a tarot reader with 20 years of experience.
In this text, Diane Wing seeks to answer the questions her clients have asked over the years:
Is tarot evil?
Are people born with psychic ability?
Does tarot predict the future?
What if I hear something negative during the reading?
This book on tarot is unique in that it focuses on how the information is pulled by the psychic using the cards as a tool to channel energy rather than on the meanings of each card. The book also suggests books that the reader can use if he or she desires more information about the traditional aspects of tarot, from choosing your deck to pulling information from the cards. It also discusses how a reading is experienced from the perspectives of both the reader and the inquirer.
The variables that impact a reading are outlined, as well as ways to increase the amount of information that is pulled from the tarot. The ways in which individuals can filter and manipulate the information is discussed and how it impacts the ethics of the psychic and the expectations of the inquirer.
The author also provides specific instruction on how to ground and center in order to maximize energetic stability on a daily basis.

About the Author

Diane Wing is an intuitive tarot reader and Reiki master with almost two decades of experience. She is a lifetime student of metaphysics, mysticism and spirituality. With a master's degree in psychology, Diane uses the tarot as a tool to perform insightful readings intended to produce growth and harmony in the lives of her clients. Diane is also experienced with runes and has performed spiritual cleansings and protection rites on residential properties reported to be haunted. As a hereditary Witch, she follows her own unique path in exploring the energetic dynamics that exist between the physical and the divine. She lives in Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania with her husband Frank. Diane can be contacted via her website at www.wingsofexpression.com.

Sample Excerpts

Introduction
For almost two decades I have read and observed the nature of the tarot. The mechanism by which it works has been a mystery that I have sought to unravel. The following pages contain my observations and experiences. By sharing what I have learned, I hope to dispel the negative connotations and fear that surround the tarot.
Is tarot positive or negative? A tarot deck is a tool that can be used in a variety of ways. Whether it is used in a positive or a negative way is at the sole discretion of the reader and the inquirer. The information itself is neutral, but subject to interpretation by the participants. Although some critics are under the false impression that tarot readers are worshipping or representing the devil, the opposite is generally the case. Psychic awareness is close to impossible without a belief in God, Universal Energy, God and Goddess, or The Source of All That Is. It is not the information itself that is evil, for it comes from a higher spiritual power. It is the intent of the practitioner that stains the knowledge. It may be the case that some readers are practitioners of the black arts. In order for a psychic to read you, she must connect to your energy field. Open yourself to sense whether the reader is of the light or practicing in shadows.
A tarot reading cuts through the drama of a situation and enables you to tune in to what's important. Issues will surface regarding your personal and spiritual development. Much of what comes through is about your fears, hopes, and ambitions. It can be startling to reveal underlying causes for what is being manifested in your life. The information you gain through a tarot reading should be used as a guide rather than a decision-maker. The tarot is a tool of enlightenment and understanding. Your life decisions should be based on what is appropriate to your growth, not on the prediction of a psychic.
If you have avoided getting a reading due to fear of what may be revealed, remember that how the information is perceived is up to you. Many messages can have dual meanings, holding both positive and negative aspects within them. Information that contains elements that can be perceived as unfavorable can also hold valuable lessons.
Messages containing detrimental components can also be taken as a warning, serving to help the inquirer avoid or prevent a problem. Within every circumstance there is an opportunity for growth.
Learning to read the tarot. If you are consulting this text to learn how to read the cards, you will find that the meaning of each card is not discussed, but rather non-traditional ways to pull information from them.
Tarot can be read using the standard meanings of the cards. To learn about the customary meanings read Tarot Basics by Evelin Burger and Johannes Fiebig, or you can consult the book or pamphlet that comes with your tarot deck. Tarot can also be used as a tool to assist the reader in opening to another level where more information is available. The knowledge may come from the Higher Self, the Universal Energy, the inquirer's auric field, or a combination of all three.
When I first learned to read tarot, I took a course that focused on learning the traditional meanings associated with the cards. My teacher also instructed me to be aware of information that comes through with no association whatsoever to the customary meanings of the cards. In this way, she taught me to read intuitively, opening me to a more expansive way of pulling information. Over the years, I have discovered and developed my own way of getting information from the cards. My techniques will be discussed throughout this text. While you are welcome to try my methods, I encourage you to discover your own unique way of reading. What works for one may not work for another.
If you have consulted a psychic or if you have done readings for others, you may have had encounters with the tarot that vary from mine. Results and abilities manifest differently from one individual to another. Through practice, it is possible to discover what your personal results and abilities are and the best ways to enhance them. The experiences of the reader, as well as that of the inquirer, are discussed throughout this text.
Psychic Sensations What does it mean to be psychic? A psychic is a person who has trained herself to open to the available information that lies within the energy field (also known as the aura or auric field) that surrounds all people and things. By perceiving this energy, the psychic has the ability to pick up information about the subject, as well as people and situations around her.
There are seven major energy points on the body, known as chakras, through which information can be perceived. When I read, the information flows in through the crown chakra at the top of the head. Some readers pull energy into their solar plexus. It is important to be aware of where the energy enters and where it is released. The ability to channel the energy during a reading is essential to the accuracy and the effect of the reading. Maximizing the flow of energy between the inquirer and the reader heightens the experience.
Opening to the energy: I've been asked if a person is born with psychic ability or if it is a skill that can be developed. I believe the answer is both, as we all have the potential to display psychic ability. Most people have experienced knowing what someone will say next or that the phone will ring in a moment. It is up to the individual to open to the power available to all of us.
Accessing this energy is possible when barriers and obstacles are removed, such as fear, jealousy, and self-doubt. These characteristics limit the ability to tap into The Universal Energy. Learning to move energy requires that the person be willing to open without feeling vulnerable. Most people have too much fear harbored within them to allow such an opening.
How information comes through: Psychic impressions come through in a variety of ways. Sometimes imagery occurs that is difficult to translate for the subject. For example, I was reading a person who was asking about her potential for a serious romantic involvement. I saw a dog around the situation, but it didn't feel like a flesh and blood type of dog. I wasn't sure if the beau was a man who owned a pet shop, or had a dog, or just liked dogs, or what it could mean. A few weeks later, she met the man she ultimately married, while wearing her Scooby Doo T-shirt. It had been a cartoon dog that I was picking up on. I had been unable to wrap my mind around the exact nature of the dog and so was unsure of what it had to do with the subject's question.
There have been many times when an image came through that was difficult to describe. This is what can happen when the psychic attempts to apply context to the impression. It has tainted some accurate readings in that the image was misinterpreted and incorrectly imparted to the client. An example of this occurred when a client asked me if his son's basketball team would win that evening.
The five of cups came up, showing three spilled goblets of liquid and two goblets standing upright behind the person in the picture. I was not sure how to interpret this and the subject was putting pressure on me to prove my abilities. I felt that the son's team would lose, and felt bad having to tell him that. I was also concerned that I would put negative energy around the situation by voicing that prediction, thereby reducing the team's chances for winning. I was doubtful the team would win, yet optimistic that there could be a slight chance of winning in my response to the client. He took this as being unable to read the outcome. It turned out that the team lost by three points, hence the three spilled goblets.
Many times, what you are not feeling is just as valid as other types of impressions that may come to you. To clarify what is coming through, be aware of what is missing around the client. A void or an absence of a person or energy within the reading can be very informative. For example, it might indicate that a particular person will no longer be a part of the client's life. Also share any emotions that may surface as you are reading the subject. It may provide clarification around how she perceives a situation or what another person in her life is feeling.
I have noticed that no matter what the subject's question is, the message will be similar with each hand that is pulled from the deck. It seems to come down to a central topic that the subject is overlooking or ignoring in her life. When the same cards are pulled repeatedly during the course of a reading, that is, in different hands the same cards appear, the message is trying to come through in a most insistent way. With 78 cards in the deck, the odds are against the repeated appearance of one or more cards. When a message comes through repeatedly, take special heed of that information.
Epilogue The nature of tarot is that it has the ability to reveal our own true nature. It can assist us on the path to spiritual and psychological growth if the information is used wisely. Tarot is the tool that allows us to step away from ourselves and gaze upon our lives more objectively. Situations are revealed, and the message can be received without the drama that surrounds it. A reading can uncover possibilities and alternatives as long as the inquirer is open to the messages.
Part psychic, part psychological, the tarot allows our character to unfold before us. The encounter is a spiritual energy exchange, charged with unlimited potentiality. The tarot reveals messages at the proper time; that is, when the inquirer is ready to hear it. If a message is unveiled prematurely, the person will not understand its meaning. Similarly, a person will seek a reading at a time when she is ready to open and recognize the patterns that create the future.
The mystical side of tarot is its deep symbolic and metaphysical roots. The practical side is its ability to be used as a tool to generate alternatives. That is the balanced nature of the tarot. Both mysterious and useful, the tarot draws all types of people into its spell, especially those seeking to understand their lives. They seek to confirm that which they already know to be true. What is revealed is what is deep within the inquirer. How much is revealed depends upon the openness of the inquirer.
The psychic must use her ability for the highest good of the inquirer; her role is to produce growth and foster understanding. The information that comes through is delivered with goodwill and the intent to help not harm.
There is a responsibility associated with performing a reading. The psychic should not interfere in the path of the inquirer. The information is provided to the client; the subject decides how to use it. The ability to move energy must be used with respect and never done without permission from the subject. The subject should be choosey about who she gives permission to. If the subject experiences discomfort in the energy field of the psychic, a reading should not be allowed.
Tarot is designed to enlighten, entertain, perplex, and reveal. The cards are used as an external tool to delve into the depths of the core self. Tarot is a wonderful way to identify the blocks in your path. As you seek to understand and grow, you elevate your vibrational level, as well as the vibration of the whole planet.
As you read my book, we were exchanging energy. It was written with positive intent for the highest good of the readers. I'd like to close with my wishes for you. These wishes can be used as a daily affirmation to invite a positive vibration into your life.

May your path be filled with love and acceptance. May positive energy follow you on your journey. May your life be filled with wonder. May you learn and grow all the days of your life. May you find peace and joy within your Self.
With many blessings, Diane Wing

Catalogue Information