This is the first installment in the Tarot of Timeless Truth segment of the ezine. I continue to await the bi-monthly installments of Ms. Leila Vey as one of the newest ezine contributors.

For further information, feel free to visit Leila's website or send her an email.

Tarot is a marvellous tool for manifesting change in your life. Concentrating on its archetypal energies can bring about profound changes as their messages become integrated with our deepest understandings. Tarot is powerful because we can learn to internalize the energies so that they become part of our essence. When we internalize their energies, they are ours to use as needed.

There are several ways that Tarot can be used to manifest change, but they are related in that they are all methods to train and focus our intent on what we desire.

Tarot Meditation

Tarot provides a powerful focus for meditation, and can be an effective tool for change, attraction and healing when practised on a regular basis.

Let's suppose you are having difficulty balancing your emotions, find your home life in turmoil, and desperately need some peace. You might choose the Temperance card as your focus to help along the healing process and find the harmony you are looking for. In a quiet corner where you will not be disturbed, sit comfortably with your back straight. Study the tarot card carefully. Note all the colours, symbols, and nuances. Study the card until you can recreate it entirely in your mind's eye.

Now close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Relax every part of your body, from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. Feel the stress melt away from your body each time you exhale. Feel yourself connected to the depths of the earth and to the outer reaches of the universe.

Now visualize your Temperance card and keep the image in your mind's eye for as long as you can, and think of nothing else. If your mind wanders or it begins to fade, gently and without judgement redirect your focus to the tarot card. The longer you can do this, the better. Directing your focus like this takes practice. Do not expect to be able to sustain the image for more than a minute or so to begin with. The more you do this exercise, however, the longer you will be able to hold the image in your mind to the exclusion of all other thought.

On occasion, you might find the figures in the card moving or communicating with you in some way. Simply watch with an open heart, keeping other thoughts out of your mind.

When you are finished visualizing, breathe deeply and count from five to one. Open your eyes. Record impressions for future reference. Sometimes valuable information can be gleaned from meditations such as this, and if you don't journal your experiences, you might not benefit from the help offered to you.

Journeying

Journeying is actually another form of meditation, and is very powerful for obtaining guidance or solutions to challenges. As with the meditation method above, this technique can take some practice for most people, but the rewards are well worth the effort. Anyone can learn to do this, so take heart and have patience with yourself.

Decide which tarot card is most "qualified" to provide you with the guidance you need. Its energies should correspond with the issues you are facing. For example, if you are having some trouble with a particular person in your life and are looking for a way to cope with challenges arising out of that relationship, you might choose the Lovers card to gain insight into the significance that relationship has for you, or if you are faced with a risky new opportunity and feel afraid to move ahead, you might want to use The Fool and learn what he has to teach you. Study your chosen card carefully until you can completely recreate it in your mind's eye.

Relax, ground and centre. When you are relaxed and at peace, envision the card in your mind. Note the frame around the card; it is a doorway, a portal into the card. Imagine the card growing larger and larger until it is large enough for you to step over the frame and go in. If the people in the card are blocking your entrance, just imagine them a little further away so that there is room for you to get around them. Take a deep breath and enter.

Look around you. What do you see? Listen carefully. What do you hear? Concentrate on the smells and sensations you feel. Is there a breeze? Is it warm? Is it cool? Feel yourself in the card. Find the central figure(s) of the card. What are they doing? Do they notice you? Wait respectfully for them to acknowledge you, or spend some time exploring. When they are ready for you they will find you.

Do not be afraid to venture beyond the horizon. There is a whole world beyond the confines of this picture, so feel free to explore, noting anything and everything that catches your attention.

When you make contact with the guide (central figure) of the card, ask him or her to show you the truth you seek, and be open to whatever he or she has to show you. Be patient and listen carefully. Stay focused on the guide and do not allow your mind to wander elsewhere. Remember to thank the guide when your time together is over. When it is time to go back, make your way to the portal, (the frame), and step through it to return to your own reality.

Take a deep breath and count from five to one. Open your eyes. Be sure to record what you learned, observed, and any other impressions you have before they fade.

Attracting Needed Energies

Meditating on a card is one way to bring the energies of that card into your life, and this is definitely an excellent place to start. In addition, set the card that represents the qualities you are striving for by your work area so that your eyes fall on it frequently throughout your day. The more this image is brought to your attention the better.

Another way to focus on a card's energies is to create an affirmation for it. Choose a card that best suits your needs, create an appropriate affirmation and memorize it. Repeat it often throughout your day, and conjure up the image of the card, or envision the affirmation manifesting itself in your own life each time you say it. Repeat the affirmation like a mantra whenever you can. Set the affirmation to a simple tune, and chant it when you are driving, stuck in a traffic jam, or in the shower.

There is a passage in Deuteronomy that reads, "these words . . . shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deut. 6:6-9) This passage was written to instruct the Hebrews on how to internalize the laws of Moses and a love for God, and serves as excellent advice when you are trying to internalize any positive attitude, or attract helpful energies into your life. The mantras of Eastern spirituality, also, serve the same purpose and are powerful vehicles for growth and change.

Feel free to get creative with your affirmations. They can be as long or as short as you like, as long as they are purely positive in nature. Set them to music and chant them. Beat a drum as you chant, or dance. All these activities help add energy to your intent, and help you get into the spirit of it all.

Dealing With Negative Energies

We are all plagued at some time or another with negativity, doubt and other destructive influences. Just as tarot can be used to attract needed energies, it can also be used to banish negative energies.

Choose a card that best represents the energy you are having trouble with. For instance, if you are feeling picked on or persecuted, you might choose the Ten of Swords. If you are fighting with family members, you might pick the Five of Wands.

Write down the negative influence that you are struggling with on a piece of paper. Fold the paper in four and place it on the floor or table in front of you. Now concentrate on the tarot image and direct all your frustration, negativity, doubt and anguish onto the card. (It can take it!) Pour the depth of your hurt and anger into the card. Sometimes the characters in the image might become animated. That's fine. Let them do what they do as you simply direct your negativity to the card. When the negative feelings begin to subside, imagine a big, bold, red "X" stamped over the card. See the "X" grown brighter and bigger until it completely blots out the image on the tarot card. With considerable force, but not enough to break anything, slam the card down on top of the folded piece of paper, face down, and place a black, or very dark, rock or stone on top. Walk away and go about your day, leaving behind your negative thoughts.

Later, when you are calm and feeling okay, remove the stone and the piece of paper. Burn the paper and bury the ashes, along with the stone, somewhere away from your own property. Let the earth soak up and neutralize what's left of your negativity. Thank Spirit, go home and cleanse your tarot cards to remove any residuals.

Tarot Magick

Magick is simply a tool for focusing one's concentration and energy. Really, it is a powerful form of prayer, and like prayer should never be used to impose your will on others, or to inflict harm on anyone or anything. Always use focus your intent on changing and improving yourself. You will find that even if you think your issues have to do with external influences, when you change yourself, everything begins to change for the better. Your own outlook has tremendous power to colour how you view and cope with all the challenges in your life.

As you might have guessed, we have already been talking all along about magick, although we used different terminology. We discussed journeying, meditation, attracting needed energies, and banishing negative ones. We used tarot as a tool to focus our concentrated wishes. These are all magickal practices.

Tarot can also be used very effectively with other tools like crystals, runes, Kabbalah, astrology, colour magick and candle magick, to name only a few of the possibilities. Tarot and magick is a fascinating subject, and several excellent books have been written about it. One excellent book is called Tarot Spells by Janina Renée. There is much valuable information out there for your growth and enrichment!

Copyright © 2003, 2004 by Leila Vey
Excerpts taken from Tarot Of Timeless Truth by Leila Vey, ©2003 by Leila Vey, New World Media Artists.
All rights reserved. No portion of this text can be reproduced without the written permission of the author.

Leila Vey is the creator of Tarot of Timeless Truth deck and book. She is also a songwriter, recording and performing artist, mystic, medium, intuitive, empath and spiritual counsellor. Leila's profound love for Spirit has led her to study a variety of esoteric arts, including world religions, astrology, runes, Reiki, metaphysics, natural magick and more. She is deeply respectful of diversity and each individual's need to find his or her own truth. She dedicates herself to being of service to help others enrich their own spiritual path.