 Newsletter of The Tarot School
http://TarotSchool.com ISSN: 1529-0565 Vol. 8 #9 / November 1, 2016
In this Issue: - Welcome
- Tarot Tip: Tarot Protection Spread
- Tarot School Aphorism
- What's Gnu? - PsychWise: Tarot Suits as a Personality System (Part 2)
- Best Practices: Coming Out of the “Tarot Closet”
- Upcoming Events Welcome to a new issue of Tarot Tips!
And a special welcome to our new subscribers.
As we enter the season of gratitude, we want to tell you how much we appreciate you! Whether we have met in person or not, our love of tarot connects us. We feel that connection in everything we create and teach, and hope our efforts bring you joy. In case we don't say it often enough, thanks for being part of our lives! And one more thing...
This issue is on the long side, so we'll keep this section short. With love and gratitude on the tarot journey, Ruth Ann, Wald, Gina & Elinor
Tarot Tips is here to help you with the practical side of your Tarot journey. In order to take the greatest
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Spread the experience of tarot - share this newsletter with other Tarot Enthusiasts! Tarot Tip
TAROT PROTECTION SPREAD
Some practitioners believe the tarot deck is a portable sacred temple that adapts to a variety of uses. One particular use that always comes in handy is protection for your person, things, family or dwellings. Tarot cards, and in some cases particular card images and suit symbols, are also used as talismans, amulets or charms. The following is a simple ritual that can be used daily or at any time for clarity, fortifying the spirit, and protection as needed. In the theory of magic, intent is central, as is some sort of ritual. No less important are focus, clearing/banishing, etc. Here is a simple set-up that can be left on an altar or any private area that you designate as sacred. You’ll want to make sure all 4 elements are represented on your altar, traditionally associating Air with East, Fire with South, Water with West, and Earth with North, and you’ll want to use a ritual for clearing and centering before you begin. In cross (+) formation, place either The Magician or The High Priestess at the top in Position 1. In a horizontal display, the 4 Aces should be placed in positions 2 (Swords), 3 (Wands), 4 (Cups), and 5 (Pentacles). Underneath, in Position 6, place The World, Across the 4 Aces, place a card that represents your intention, or write the protection/intention on a piece of parchment and place it in Position 7.  While looking at your spread, meditate on your situation and use this affirmation: I align myself with light. I align myself with love. I feel the power within me and the power that surrounds me. I ask for and accept the protection of the Guardians of Air, Fire, Water and Earth. I am (this situation is) protected. I am safe and I am defended. I am shielded by white light and no shadow will penetrate this light. Peace, love and calmness exist all around me (this situation) now! As above, so below. So mote it be. Tarot School Aphorism  
THE 2017 READERS STUDIO
WEBSITE IS LIVE! The fabulous Ryan Edward, creator of The Maybe Lenormand, has designed the poster art for RS17 and we are just delighted with it! (You can see it a little further down.) In addition to a description of what you can expect at The Readers Studio and Tarot & Psychology Conference, you'll find information on... WHO: The Presenters Merchants Celebrity Readers Your Hosts WHAT: Wednesday Bus Trip to Manhattan (it's Free!) The Tarot & Psychology Conference Your Foundation Reading Experience Included Meals (Thurs. cocktail party, Friday luncheon, Saturday Dinner Banquet, Sunday Breakfast) Breakfast Roundtables and Morning Meditations Guide to Evening Study Groups (new expanded design!) WHEN: Complete Schedule of Events (to help you plan) WHERE: The Hotel Travel Tips Magical Meditation Room Readers Studio Lounge HOW MUCH: Costs Payment Plan Cancellation Policy AND MORE! FAQ Freebies and Give-Aways RS Survival Guide RS Communities Study Group Proposal Guidelines Vendor Application Advertising in the Program Book Attention Vendors: The RS17 Merchant Faire was sold out but 1 table (or 2 half-tables) has become available. Contact us if you're interested! You'll find all of this at ReadersStudio.com! PsychWise – Tarot & Psychology Q & A with Elinor Greenberg, PhD, CGP, CPTR TAROT SUITS AS A PERSONALITY SYSTEM Part 2: Identity Issues I have been thinking a lot since my last column about the issue of Identity and how the way that we think about ourselves can be very different from an objective appraisal of who we actually are. One of the reasons that I like Tarot as a Personality System is that a Tarot reading is often a good way to discover hidden aspects of ourselves and correct our misperceptions. In my last column, I spoke about myself as a “Wandsy/Swordsy” kind of person. Some of that came from true self-awareness, some from my initial experience with laying out the Aces for my first Elemental Array (Wands, Sword, Cups, Pentacles), and the rest came from various Tarot card divination readings about me. If asked what card best represents me, I might say the Queen of Wands because I identify with her bold, sexy, strong persona; but when I start a new endeavor that involves learning a new system from someone else, my Tarot readings have quite clearly shown that I shift into being the Page of Swords. An Example: Early in my career as a Gestalt therapist, I realized that I needed to know more about what are commonly called personality disorders. I had some unusual and unpleasant experiences with clients that pointed out this serious gap in my knowledge. Most of my clients were doing well, but a few had sudden regressions that puzzled me. Just when I thought that my client’s therapy was going well (and these clients would initially tell me how wonderful I was and how great it was to be in therapy with me), something would happen and they would suddenly shift to hating me. One ran screaming from the room cursing me. Another got insulted at the diagnosis that I gave him for insurance (which was required in order for him to get reimbursed). He said that if that was what I thought of him, he could not be in therapy with me, and he stopped payment on his check. My supervisor suggested that I find a good specialist on Borderline and Narcissistic disorders and study with that person. When I finally chose James F. Masterson’s program after diligent research, I had a Tarot reading about whether this was a good match for me. Some background: My Tarot reader was a lesbian, feminist, pagan colleague who used a Thoth deck. Before the reading, she told me that in her opinion studying with Masterson was going to be a huge mistake since he was an uptight, male chauvinist. The Reading: She did a simple 3-card reading. I don’t remember the middle card because Card 1 and Card 3 clearly showed what was going to happen. Card 1: My starting point going into the Masterson Institute—Page of Swords Card 3: Where I would end up as a result of my studies—Key 4 The Emperor We both agreed that this reading showed that entering the Masterson Institute, despite our misgivings about Masterson’s autocratic personality style, would be a positive transformative experience for me. I would go from being a beginner who relied on my own intelligence (Page of Swords) to becoming a master of this topic with a wide breath of knowledge (Key 4 The Emperor). And that is exactly what happened! When I first saw the Page of Swords come up as me in that reading, I understood it immediately as a reference to my lack of deference to authority and being somewhat defensive and determined to think through everything for myself—not just take my teachers’ opinions as necessarily true. When I first entered The Tarot School, the Page of Swords again showed up in an early reading. This made it clear to me that the Page of Swords symbolically represents the aspect of my personality that comes to the foreground when I start to study in an established school that teaches someone else’s approach. My Page of Swords' defensive stance relaxed as I learned more and found my place in The Tarot School. As I relaxed, my Queen of Wands emerged again as dominant and I began inventing new projects for myself, including developing and teaching my own Tarot Counseling system and presenting at Readers Studio conferences—and, of course, now I have added this column. The above experiences made it clear to me that I would have to add the defensive and mistrustful Page of Swords to my repertoire of possible identities. A Basic Point: Identity is Fluid I like to say that calling ourselves “I” or “Me” is a misunderstanding of reality. We are actually a group of sub-selves that more or less co-exist happily in peace or at war with each other within the same person. What I call a multiplicity of sub-selves is described in some therapeutic systems as drives, forces, layers, or functions of the person. Whatever name we give to them, they are what make inner conflict possible. If we were really only one being with a single point of view, what could possibly be in conflict within us? What makes inner conflict possible is that our “I” is really a “We.” This situation has its good side as well. Our multiplicity of sub-selves is also what allows us to adjust to the dizzying variety of life situations that we are likely to encounter. If we were as simple, monolithic, and inflexible as the singular word “I” suggests, how could we ever adapt to all the other people around us? Our identity is more fluid than it appears because all of us are more complex than we appear. Different sub-selves come to the fore or recede depending on our needs and circumstances. Translated into Tarot terms, this means that we need more than one Tarot card to represent our identity in our Tarot personality system. As in the example I gave above, although I often act as the Queen of Wands, I am also the Page of Swords in certain situations. Moreover, my Birth Cards are Key 6 The Lovers and Key 15 The Devil and they too describe me very accurately. I could delve deeper and find many more Tarot cards that would express aspects of my personality. Some come out rarely, while others seem to dominate my thinking and behavior for long periods of time. Our level of self-awareness, our belief systems, and our vocabulary determine how aware we are of these distinctly different aspects of our personality. One of the reasons that I find Tarot appealing as a Personality System is that it gives us a visual vocabulary that is ideal for expressing the nuances of our personality and its fluidity. Right from the beginning of my studies, I was told that I (and everyone else) have all 78 cards within me. What differs is which ones I choose to express, or which are spontaneously evoked by my circumstances and inborn temperament. The Dominant Sub-Self Most of us tend to see whichever sub-self we primarily identify with (or the one that generally has control over our mouth and actions) as who we are, and the rest of our sub-selves are ignored or out of our awareness. Then we are surprised when we do or say something inconsistent with that view. In an effort to have an impact on our life, the sub-selves that are relegated by us to the unseen background will make their points nonverbally with any means at their disposal. For example, if their agenda differs from that of our dominant sub-self, an intrapsychic fight over the issue is likely to occur. We can think of this as a subconscious 5 of Wands moment. As the inner, ignored sub-selves fight for their agendas, they may succeed in banding together enough to give us a sudden impulse that sabotages the plans of the dominant sub-self. Then the real situation is more like the beleaguered 7 of Wands. If the inner attackers prevail, it may lead to the overthrow and humiliation of the dominant sub-self and then we have an intrapsychic 5 of Swords situation, or we may feel trapped in the 8 of Swords. Example: The Mutiny of the Sub-Selves Think of a time that you made a plan to do something constructive, such as go on a diet, stop smoking, pay your bills on time, or clean your house. Let’s take the diet example. “You” are clear about what you want: to lose ten pounds before vacation by cutting calories. Who then gave you amnesia when ordering at the restaurant? Instead of grilled fish, there is a hamburger and French fries on your plate and you are eating them. Your plan to lose weight by substituting less caloric food was sabotaged by other sub-selves who literally seized control of “you” and gave you an overwhelming impulse that got you to order what “they” wanted to eat, not what “you” had planned. I think of this as a “mutiny of the sub-selves.” No matter which sub-self wins, there is no inner peace because the conflicting goals have not been harmonized and the struggle for dominance and control will continue. “You” will make goals without consulting all parts of you, and “they” will do their best to sabotage them because “they” want something different. If you want inner peace and more control over what you actually do in your life, here is a simple model using Tarot cards that has worked for me and might work for you: 1. Recognize that an inner struggle is going on within you. 2. Identify the different combatants and their points of view. 3. Find a solution that they all can agree on. Tarot Exercise: Resolving an Inner Conflict Step 1. Ask yourself the question: What am I conflicted about today? Step 2. Choose a card from your face up deck that represents “you” with regard to this conflict. This works best when you look through your Tarot deck with an open mind and choose this card by gut feeling without any preconceptions. • Put this card in the center of the spread face up. • Say what that card means to you in this situation. You may want to write it down. Step 3. How many basic positions are there in this inner conflict? • Shuffle and cut your deck as usual. • Draw as many cards from the face down deck as you have different inner points of view about your issue. Step 4. Name the point of view each card represents. • After you name a card’s point of view, turn it over and place it around your central card wherever you feel it belongs. • Meaning: Say what this card means to you in that position. • Agenda: What does this particular inner sub-self want? • Continue until you have laid down all of these cards around your original card that you picked to represent the dominant “You” in this situation. Step 5. Look at the relationships between your central card and these other points of view. • Do any naturally seem to support your central point of view? • Do some seem antagonistic to it? • Where are the conflicts? • Is any Suit in the majority? Step 6. Draw another card from the face down deck that will represent a way to harmonize these points of view. Turn it over and place it across the central card. • What does this card mean to you in relation to your issue? • How could you use it to harmonize the different needs of your sub-selves? • How does it relate to your initial card that it crosses? • You will know if you have hit on a good compromise because there will be a sense of relief and rightness— a sense of “This could work well enough.” NOTE: This is a compromise among warring parts of you that is meant to quiet an internal conflict. Therefore, it may not feel perfect. It should, however, feel adequate. What this method aims for is to find a compromise that is good enough that all the sub-selves involved can agree to it. This is very similar to an attempt to reach a consensus in any group of people. The idea is put to a vote, and if the solution proposed is acceptable to all (even though it may not have been anyone’s first choice), the motion goes forward and people stop arguing. In our case, this means inner peace prevails for a while. A Sample Reading for Mrs. S The Querent’s issue: I am feeling very housebound and would like to go out tomorrow with friends and do something unplanned and spontaneous. My husband wants me to stay home with him. I am very bored and staying home does not sound at all appealing. I am not sure what to do. Background: Mrs. S described herself as an extrovert who likes to be out and about with her friends. She enjoys meeting new people. She says that she feels revitalized through her interactions with others. She described her husband of many years as a home-loving introvert who is rarely comfortable around other people. He is satisfied to have her as his main companion and often finds being with other people draining. As a result, he prefers her to stay home and keep him company. This situation creates a conflict whenever she would rather go out and have spontaneous social adventures instead of staying home with him. Mrs. S says that she would welcome his company when she went out, but what is fun and invigorating for her, would be painful and boring to him. She said that she felt very conflicted about what to do. Mrs. S’s Goal: I want a Tarot Counseling reading to clarify what is going on internally within me to create this conflict and, ideally, I would also like to find a solution that both I and my husband can live with. Step 1: My Conflict—Should I go out tomorrow and socialize with friends even though my husband wants me to stay home and keep him company? Step 2: My dominant conscious attitude (sub-self) – Ace of Cups Meaning to Querent: I want to go out and refill my Cup. Agenda of this Sub-Self: Socializing to revitalize myself. Step 3: She pulled 4 more cards to represent the opinions of her other sub-selves who seem to be involved in this issue. Card 1: 10 of Pentacles Meaning to Querent: It would keep peace in the home if I stayed home and sat around, but I would feel like the old man in the card—an onlooker. I want to be one of the people out interacting in the world. Agenda of this Sub-Self: Keep Peace in the home and stay home. Card 2: 5 of Wands Meaning to Querent: This sub-self is ready to fight with my husband about this issue. Agenda of this Sub-Self: Fight for my right to go out whenever I want. Card 3: 4 of Pentacles Meaning to Querent: This part of me is focused on holding on to all the good things that I already have. It doesn’t want to fight because it sees open confrontation as putting the good things that I already have in jeopardy. Agenda of this Sub-Self: Hold on to what I already have. Card 4: 3 of Cups Meaning to Querent: This sub-self just wants to go out and have some fun! Agenda of this Sub-Self: Let’s party. Card 5: The Solution—Ace of Pentacles It took the querent a couple of minutes to understand how to use this Ace to solve her problem. The Ace itself suggested newness, something she wanted, but now the Suit had switched from Cups to the realm of Pentacles. Two of her four sub-self cards were in this suit (10 of Pentacles and 4 of Pentacles). This suggested to her that she should think about what she already had at home (Pentacles) that could be used in the service of her desire (Ace of Cups) for novelty and social interaction outside the home. At first the querent thought that the Ace of Pentacles was suggesting a new absorbing project that she could do at home—like cleaning out her closet, or getting out her rarely used paints and coloring a mandala. However, none of the above addressed her need to get out of the house, see other people, and experience novelty. Then the compromise solution occurred to her. Mrs. S lives in a condo development with a clubhouse just a short walk away. The clubhouse has a pool, a gym, and lots of exercise classes full of people. One of the reasons that they bought here in the first place is because she liked the idea of having someplace to go where people congregated. She realized that she also had a very practical Pentacles practical project to do there as well. She had lost her membership card and needed to pick up a new one at the clubhouse in order to use their facilities. She was pretty sure that her husband would be happier knowing that she was nearby and would be back in a few hours. Was this perfect? No. Was it good enough? She thought so. Mrs. S said that this compromise certainly felt more interesting and hopeful than starting a fight with her husband or resentfully staying home.  Dr. Elinor Greenberg, PhD, CGP, CPTRis an internationally renowned Gestalt therapy trainer who specializes in teaching the diagnosis and treatment of Borderline, Narcissistic, and Schizoid adaptations. She has been studying tarot since 1995 and is psychology consultant to The Tarot School, where she earned a Third Degree in Tarot. She is a member of B.O.T.A. (Builders of the Adytum) and has been certified as a professional tarot reader by the American Tarot Association. Dr. Greenberg is the author of Borderline, Narcissistic, and Schizoid Adaptations: The Pursuit of Love, Admiration, and Safety, which demystifies the diagnosis and treatment of personality disorders. 
The 2017 Readers Studio website is here!
Click the poster above to get on the 4-month Payment Plan! Best Practices for Professional Readers
AN INSPIRATIONAL TALE FOR
THOSE IN THE "TAROT CLOSET" By Gina Thies
October kicks off a busy professional reading gig season for
the last 3 months of the year. I’m typically booked for as many as 10 to 12 events in October alone. Doing this work puts me in the position where I meet individuals from all walks of life that are exposed for the first time to a legitimate tarot reader. Sometimes, I have an after hours encounter, an opportunity to share my gifts. Just recently, after working a Halloween party, I stopped at a local restaurant to pick up a “to-go” order to have at home. I ordered a drink at the bar to enjoy while I waited for my order to be prepared. A gentleman walked in and sat in a seat near me, greeted the bartender, and ordered a drink. We found ourselves chatting and I mentioned my day was over and I was looking forward to going home to relax. He asked, “What do you do?” I replied, “I am a psychic.” He protested against believing in such things. Being very accustomed to this sort of reaction, I did not insist on anything. He then asked what I could “see” for him. Since I was “off duty,” my tarot cards were in the car. I asked him to give me his hands instead so I could read his palms. After a few moments he said, “There is no way you could have known all of that from looking at my palms!” and asked for more. Then the gentleman said something I didn’t expect. He said, “You have shifted what I believe. I now have to reevaluate my perceptions, beliefs, etc. This is incredible! Thank you for your insights. May I pay for your drinks and dinner?” Immediately I was reminded of times when I would have never mentioned what I do in public. I thought of the countless people who have had to hide or still hide out in the ”tarot closet,” and some for very valid reasons. Often I tell students and other readers that a spark shines brightest in the dark. This work often brings light to some of the darkest situations in human existence, but if you choose to offer this service to others, it’s a lot more challenging to do it from the closet. Also, people are more open if you are confident, certain of your gifts and your purpose. Upcoming Events:
 Tarot Salon
Forest Hills, New York
November 7, 14, 21 and 28 Our popular Monday night Salons are the
hottest thing in tarot instruction!
 2016 Fall Intensive Forest Hills, New York ADVANCED COURT CARD ARRAY November 12 – 13, 2016 It has been our experience that the single biggest factor in achieving happiness, fulfillment and all kinds of personal power is a deep, detailed self-knowledge. Heightened self-awareness is the key to choosing the experiences you want to have. The Tarot School specializes in techniques of self-knowledge. Tarot Psychology is the main body of those techniques, and the Court Card Array is the most detailed and specific of them all. Court Cards are the most complex cards in tarot. But when they come together in the small universe of the Court Card Array, their energy becomes nuclear. Within the Array, Court Cards are transformed. They explain who you are and what you can do in the normal world of everyday life in more detail than any other form of Tarot Psychology. They intensify normality by an order of magnitude. And if you want more there is more, as much as you’d like. This is an advanced intensive. It is not for beginners. We will share more with you here than has ever seen the light of day before. If that appeals to you, come join us in November. Click Here to register! DATES: Saturday, Nov. 12 - Sunday, Nov. 13 TIMES: 11am – 7pm both days TUITION: $250 LOCATION: Forest Hills, NY (address provided upon registration)  Readers Studio Teleconference -- Free! November 20, 2016
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