Brigid Bishop on Life, Love and The Art of Living

Although many fear The Tarot as a paranormal portal to another world that allows both good and evil influences to enter the human realm, the Tarot is actually a tool for stimulating personal spiritual growth.

The Tarot, known by the general public as primarily a divinatory tool, has many more productive uses than divination for the enlightened and educated individual.

What the Tarot is not, is a fortune telling mechanism that will predict exactly what the course of events of your life will be. Although the Tarot can be used effectively for divination, the Tarot will only present to the Reader what will happen if the current course of events remains unaltered, so Free Will always allows you to alter the future presented in the cards, either in a positive or adverse manner. It is key for the Reader and the Querent to mark specifically what path they are on consciously in order for a Reading to be an effective consultation of the esoteric.

When a client comes to me, obviously afraid that perhaps they are violating their religion in some way, or feeling "edgy", I always pull out my favorite Major Arcana card to put them at ease and have them gain an understanding of how the Tarot truly is a spiritual tool that evolved from a very mainstream religion. I show them The Lovers. Go ahead and search the internet for a picture of The Lovers as portrayed on the Universal Waite Tarot Deck, look at the card and you will easily discern which Bible Story is depicted. Yes, it's all about Eve and Adam and The Garden of Eden.

Once a client sees this obvious correlation they typically relax and lose their fear of the Tarot cards and hence, receive a better reading.

The Tarot is paranormal in the sense that it allows us to tap into the Collective Unconscious, and by doing so, we are tapping into all the knowledge that ever was or will be. We are also tapping into the subconscious of the Querent at the same time, tying the two together, and of course, the more open and relaxed the Querent is about the cards, the better the Reading experience will be for them.

As a spiritual tool, the Tarot should be handled with care and respect. Many believe that the Tarot should be wrapped in a black cloth and cleansed with sea salt or another symbolic "clean" substance, i.e. holy water, oil, sunlight or the light of the full moon. I find that "bonding" with your cards is most effective in ensuring you are working well with your deck.

By bonding I meant that you should connect with your cards spiritually, on an individual basis. So, if holy water is symbolic to you of purity, by all means, use this to clear any negative vibrations from your cards, or if sea salt is your prefered cleanser, use it, whatever brings you a sense of purity should be what you use for the cleansing of your cards.

By treating your cards with respect you will begin to recognize the spirituality within the images. The cards have absolutely no power as inanimate objects, however, if you form a psychological and physical bond with them you will empower them when you commence reading for yourself and for others.