Tarot for Testing Times
Tez Hammond
Hello!
At this time, with a global pandemic and all that entails, you may be asking yourself ‘is Tarot relevant right now?’ and I want to say yes, absolutely. In fact, even more so. We are all feeling isolated and our minds are full of worries and concern about our health, the health of our families and friends, and on top of that we are worried about our jobs and our finances. We have no certain knowledge of when this will end which makes it even harder to stay grounded.
We’re all undoubtably to some degree experiencing a constant state of low level stress. Instead of the normal ups and downs of stress levels caused by a variety of different stressors, which can be more easily managed, this type of stress is always there. The scientific term for this is ‘allostatic load’! We may not even be aware of it, and we may think that we’re fine. That is why it is really important to check in with yourself. How are you really feeling?
As you’ll be aware, we are being bombarded with all kinds of conflicting and confusing messages. It’s hard to filter this out so it is so important that you find a way to channel the information in a positive way,
You would have to be completely shut off for it not to affect your vibrational energy. And at the moment the situation is that we just can’t get away from it. On top of this you will have energy ‘vampires’ who, however much you love them, will increase your stress levels as you find yourself dealing with their energy as well as your own. Our normal stress relievers just aren’t there anymore, We can’t see our friends, socialise or go to the gym. It’s then tempting to go for a ‘quick fix’ which will often be unhealthy choices that will make us feel even worse. This will not only affect us emotionally, but physically too, weight gain, blood pressure and by compromising our immune system. And we need to keep that tip top right now.
It is so important, as well, during these challenging and destabilizing times that we try to stay aligned and grounded. I want to share some of my ideas and suggestions to help your schedule of self-care and to make sure you manage to thrive.
I’ve also included a spread below that I use to make sure I am asking the right questions. This helps to discover how I am really feeling and what strategies I can use to deal with that. If you read Tarot for yourself and others this is a very useful place to start. This grounding is a really important aspect of self care and is our first obligation to ensure that we can care for others.
In this time of uncertainty, what we need most right now is structure. 2020 is the year of the Emperor, what better way to manage our lives at the moment than with structure and discipline. Make sure that you establish a routine. By pulling a daily tarot card, you can start to create a ritual like brushing your teeth, and this can signal the start of your schedule for the day, as well as help you to stay present. It’s like saying to yourself, ‘this is five or ten minutes for me, my space, my time for myself’.
Make sure you close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing. Create the intention to clear your mind of all the ‘noise’. Then open your eyes, shuffle and concentrate on your question for the day ahead. A really good question to ask when you pull your card is ‘what do I need to focus on today to stay grounded and in alignment with my higher purpose’. Or whatever else resonates with your during your meditation.
This is a really good way to start your day instead of switching on the news or catching up on emails. It can focus your mind, ground your inner self, and help you filter out what isn’t helping you.
You’re going to have days or moments when, however much you may plan, draw your daily card and stick with your routine, it all feels too much. You might feel overwhelmed, panicky or just a little anxious, and this is normal. You might not know where the feelings have come from. Is it from something that has happened, something you’ve done? Or has it come subconsciously from someone else? Whenever you feel like this you can draw a ‘calming card’. Again, close your eyes, concentrate on your breathing and focus on your body. Ask yourself, where are you feeling this? Then, consciously locate and area of discomfort or irritation. Where can you feel it? What would you normally associate with this part of your body? What emotion does it generate?
Right. Now open your eyes and focus on that feeling. Then, draw a card, keeping that focus. This will help you determine your current emotional state. Shuffle again if you like, then draw a second card. this will give you insight in to how you can move on from this emotion. This doesn’t just have to be during the Pandemic. You can use this any time in the future when you are feeling stressed, uncertain and overwhelmed.
The difficulty at the moment is that we just don’t know what is true and what isn’t. We hear so much about the origins, the scale and potential duration of the Pandemic, along with what we should be doing to keep ourselves and our families safe. Then we have our friends and loved ones who are keen to share their views, their slant on the daily statistics, their optimism or pessimism. It’s not surprising that we end up confused and uncertain.
Again, this can be a perfect time to bring out your tarot cards. As before, close your eyes, breathe in deeply, and as you breathe out, focus on your body to wherever it is that you find your inner truth originates. Whether this is in your gut, your heart, your mind, wherever, just focus on your inner voice. Focus on the question ‘what do I know to be true at the moment?’ Keep focusing as you shuffle and then choose just one card Whenever you feel you’ve read or listened to too much news, taken on the fear of your loved ones, you can use this to just tune in again to your own inner wisdom.
This spread will help you to ground yourself, discover how you’re really feeling, what your challenges are and how you can move forward.
The first card is your inner, subconcious emotion. The second card is the outer challenge you are facing and the third card is how you can deal with this and move forward.
Mine shows that I have a seed of inspiration that I’m wanting to plan and move forward with. frustration at not being able to do this at the moment The King of Pentacles is showing that my challenge is that I’m concentrating on the material side and need to move more from material to spiritual wealth and sharing this with others. The Ace of Cups shows that I need to do this with compassion and creativity.
