Everyone thinks of the cliché of a headscarfed tarot reader predicting when you will meet your prince charming, but tarot can be used in a much more literal way for self-discovery. There’s a wealth of information in the cards to help you discern how you feel now, and how to make the best choices based on the information the tarot flags up during your reading. It’s much more proactive than solely predictive ways to use the cards. I like to call it ‘tarot for self-empowerment’ because it helps you get to the root of the issues at hand, and therefore make your choices from a place that is more aligned within and without.
Although during a reading we can explore questions like “What is most likely to happen if I do X?” I find it’s really useful and empowering for the client to also explore questions like “What do I need to know about X?” or “How can I best carry out my plans to do X?” This can help you to tap into information that’s hovering right outside conscious awareness, but which may be influencing your decision-making process, as well as giving you a “heads up” as to which positive steps you can take to optimally influence the way your plans unfold.
The archetypal images of the tarot cards contain a plethora of information about you as a client, and about people in your world, the situations you face, and the social milieu in which you face them. They can be read and explored with all these levels of information in mind, giving a much fuller and deeply rooted picture of your world than just “Will he call me?” (But of course, it is fine to ask that too.)
One of my favourite decks is called Tarot of Reflections. I love it because the images lend themselves to both psychological and spiritual interpretation. In fact, reading with these slants in mind is how I love to read the cards because it helps to show what people are doing emotionally and spiritually which is working out positively for them, and where it may be useful for them to reflect further if they wish to make a change. I also love to do readings that illustrate how people are feeling in a situation or feeling about each other – information you may wish to tap into if you are considering taking a relationship further, expanding your role within an organisation, etc.
A tarot reading also often shows an answer to a question which many people often forget to voice out loud: “Is this a good time to act?” Many times clients come in with a great idea and the reading shows that the time is not yet or that they could tweak what they are doing before bringing their plans to fruition. Or, that the time is simply not now, it is further ahead… and your reading can often also show you how you can spend your energy and resources wisely in the interim. It can help you clarify practical steps you can choose to take… or not.
I like to say that tarot shows “a snapshot in time,” how things stand now based on the information at hand. Different information coming in or you taking a different action will change the angle of the snapshot.
For me this is the beauty of tarot – it can be used to help you explore your current situation from so many different perspectives, allowing you to make choices that are grounded, intuitive, and informed.
Click here to book a tarot reading with Dana Mayer at triyoga Camden.
Dana Mayer is a shamanic energy healer and tarot reader who brings together her knowledge of energy healing, shamanic methods, tarot and psychology to deliver a treatment unique to each client. In addition to her shamanic training, she holds a BA in psychology and is currently completing a training in body psychotherapy. With a grounding in reiki and various forms of shamanic and energy healing systems, a spiritual/embodied view informs her readings and healings. A former music journalist and dance teacher, Dana brings her experience of many walks of life and many human situations into her work.
