Stepping Into Your Cards

I'm very new to learning Tarot and came across a suggestion to learn the Court Cards by becoming relaxed and then imagine stepping into them. (I'm so sorry that I don't know where exactly I read that so I can give credit).

Yesterday afternoon, I did my relaxation routine and found it so easy to step into the Prince of Wands card. I was amazed at how willing I was to listen and learn about myself. The Prince of Wands took me on horseback to a camp in the woods and then I was turned over to the care of another man who took me to a castle where I was treated well and pampered. The message I got was in order to have the relationships that I seek, I must be able to drop my independent (I can take care of myself attitude) and allow someone to "take care of me".

Last night I was able to step into the King of Wands card and he took me by wagon to a destination (?) which required an overnight stay. We arrived at an Inn and as we entered, he went to the bar (which of course was not proper for a lady) so I was directed to follow the girl on the stairs. I spent the night alone and then we departed the next morning. My lesson from this was to "allow" the males in my life the opportunity to take care of me and not be so independent that I don't need them. Allow them to be males!

I found several things startling. One was how real everything seemed. I was very lightly into the scene and could come and go from the visualization to my own world whenever I wanted. The other was the deep realization on my part of the lessons offered to me. Because I didn't know my surroundings or what would happen, I watched and learned. I actually experienced the feelings of letting someone take care of me and depending on a male to protect me. I felt like I was eating the food and touching the bed and feeling the clothes and the best part was feeling so feminine and delicate! I was a much smaller size than I am or ever have been for that matter!

When I left the King of Wands visualization, he was looking at me as if to say "I'll be waiting for you when you wish to come back."

Imagine my shock this morning when I pulled a single card for the day and the King of Wands was what I turned over!

Has anyone else tried this method? I'm so new to the Tarot. I have no idea what to expect. I'm more than amazed so far! It seems like a wonderful way to remember the cards when you have an experience to recall.

MYFIGO said:

I'm very new to learning Tarot and came across a suggestion to learn the Court Cards by becoming relaxed and then imagine stepping into them. (I'm so sorry that I don't know where exactly I read that so I can give credit).

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<smile> It could have been any of us.

MYFIGO said:

Has anyone else tried this method? I'm so new to the Tarot. I have no idea what to expect. I'm more than amazed so far! It seems like a wonderful way to remember the cards when you have an experience to recall.

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Yep, many of us have tried it. In fact, synchronistically, I was just talking about that here, about two minutes ago.

I put aside a few months to do with with every card at least twice or thrice some time in the early or middle eighties (I've never been good with dates, forgive me), and it was a really, really rich learning experience for me.

What I'd do, was at first I'd walk along the corridors that the borders formed (floor, walls and ceiling) until I was right at the end, and I'd find the scene in the card would usually be about the drop from the "floor" that the shallow end of a backyard swimming-pool usually is. I'd stay there for a while, watching, and listening, and looking from side to side, to see how the scene and activities extended in directions that were out of view when being outside the cards. Often I'd just sit there on the edge of the corridor, dangling my legs into the image, swinging them slightly.

My next visit, I'd jump in and wander around a little, being respectful and deferential towards any characters in the card (after all, I am the intruder here!), and not engaging directly with them unless they addressed me first (which was more likely to happen with Minors and junior court than with Majors and senior court).

My third visit, I'd approach them with the care and respect I'd approach a member of royalty crossed with an awesome intellect crossed with a spiritual-leader-of-the-world, and ask them, very politely, if they could spare a moment to tell me what I most needed to know about them.

Awesome stuff.

And I've never taken hallucinogens.

So far I've only stepped into the 2 of Pentacles. He was a nice guy, and an old woman in that world gave me a basket. But I haven't done it again. It's not an entirely comfortable experience for me. In fact, when I tried it with the Ace of Pentacles, I got spooked and fled the card! LOL Maybe entering the cards is something I'll have to do gradually over time.

MYFIGO said:

I'm very new to learning Tarot and came across a suggestion to learn the Court Cards by becoming relaxed and then imagine stepping into them. (I'm so sorry that I don't know where exactly I read that so I can give credit).

When I left the King of Wands visualization, he was looking at me as if to say "I'll be waiting for you when you wish to come back."

Imagine my shock this morning when I pulled a single card for the day and the King of Wands was what I turned over!

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There's a book you'd love by Gareth Knight, called "The Magical World of the Tarot: Fourfold Mirror of the Universe". He talks about the tarot in exactly these terms - as if it is a living, breathing being, and goes through the same process you've described here - stepping into the card, seeing the images as living beings, and interacting with them ... fantastic stuff!

And interestingly, what you seem to be doing quite naturally is what Carl Jung (famous Swiss psychiatrist) called 'active imagination', which is where you interact with your unconscious in a way which allows you to form a living, working relationship with it.

I can't think of a better dynamic masculine figure than the King of Wands to act as your 'guide'. Lucky girl ... have fun!!

I've done this with a lot of the cards, and it's always interesting. I learn something new every time I do it!

My technique is to first look at the image, and try to take in as much of it as I can, without doing any assessing, analizing, or interpretting. Just looking at the card and noticing the practical visual details. Then I close my eyes and try to relax, and then visualize myself descending..... I imagine I'm walking down a spiral staircase that is leading to the wise center of my being, and picture that I am going down it, a step with each breath, until I feel like I'm at the 'bottom'. Some times that takes a long time, sometimes it's quick.
There is a door at the bottom, I open it up and go through, and then look around and/or ask questions of whoever/whatever is there.

Once, I had a little study group in my home where I was doing this with friends. I skipped the Empress week, I don't remember why, but they met without me. The next week, when I went to see the Emperor, I asked him what he had to teach me, and he snarkily said, "I won't teach you anything, because it's important to do these things in the proper order, and you haven't!", and then ignored me for the rest of it, due to my lack of self-discipline.

Another powerful experience I had involved the Priestess...... I got such an overwhelming sense of -silence- inside that card. She was sooooooooo quiet, I had to be quite too. We just listened together. It was great.

I've had a few interesting experiences with the Tower. When I look at it normally, I see the lightning hitting.. but when I've stepped into it, it's become something that feels very solid, heavy, and imposing. It feels like a prison. I have felt then like I can't wait for it to blow up.

I do this very often and find it remarkably helpful and not just with the courts. There is an Intuitive Reading Circle (you'll need a week's membership and 25 posts) that posits this exact idea and lets us try it out on each other.

The only card that I have never 'entered' is Death. I have tried by I metaphorically hold onto the card's frame and refuse to enter. Go to town with that one Dr Freud.

Alta said:

The only card that I have never 'entered' is Death. I have tried by I metaphorically hold onto the card's frame and refuse to enter. Go to town with that one Dr Freud.

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Not related to entering cards, but quite probably related to your feelings in this instance, twelve years ago I was sharing my life with a quite reasonable person (in terms of what came later), and early on, my computer was in the living room but theirs was in the bedroom. They were sitting at the computer going clack-clack-clack on the keyboard pretty much as I am now, and I was spread out on the bed, meditating. I went out of body just for the practice, really, and found myself in an all-grey/silver landscape: silver sky, silver river in front of me, charcoal-grey unusually-shaped hills on the other side of the river, a weathered-grey jetty, rather a ricketty one, in front of me leading out into the river where a flat-bottomed barge-cross-sampan was tethered. On this boat was a boatman (perhaps I should call him/her a ferryman!) holding a pole obviously to be used to propel the craft, wearing a dark hooded cloak covering every part of him, and just standing there with one hand (sleeve) extended towards me in invitation. S/he was utterly still, but I felt strongly - STRONGLY invited to walk out on the jetty and climb into the boat of my own free will. It was entirely up to me. I knew what was at stake: I get to know immediately what lies after death, for once and for all. I'd get to die quietly and peacefully, with no pain, no agony, no sickness - I'd just stop breathing. It was incredibly tempting - as someone with a mysticval path, I see death as the next logical step after a limited lifetime here, anyway. The only thing in the way was a tiny baby in another bedroom (she's now a thumpin ' great teenager, and NOW he doesn't offer!)

I could still hear the keyboard typing away, and I knew my partner was - or liked to think themself - rather perceptive. Surely they would know I was having an existential crisis? I don't think I needed them to come over and tenderly invite me back to the land of the living: I would have been happy with a momentary faltering on the keyboard and a called "You okay?" across the room. But no, they weren't going to be even that useful (hell, they were no good for laundry, or doing dishes, or putting out garbage!). I was left to make my entire decision on my own, as a solitary decision, for my own reasons and with the equal weight of a compellingly interesting experience and an easy death on the one hand and an obligation to raise a family on the other.

I'm here, so it's pretty obvious what decision I made. But not a week goes by when I don't remember that occasion and regret the choice I made - aside from anything else, I don't think I'm going to get any second chances at a pain-free exit strategy. I *do* remember walking out on the jetty about halfway along, and identifying by feel that I was barefoot, and it was rather splintery and the nails were working loose, making it unpleasant to walk on , not something often encountered in self-made visions, and much more likely to be a part of something real.

Alta, perhaps you can't bring yourself to enter that card properly simply because there's a part of you that feels that going into it is rather like my climbing into the boat on that day, irreversible. I'm not going to comfort you and say if course it isn't, it's only cardboard, just do it, because that would be disrespectful of your feelings and also, simply wrong. Respect your feelings. You obviously still have stuff to do here (which I did too), so look, but don't touch. I knew I could get very close to that boat, a lot closer than I did actually get. I knew the moment of no return would be when I tool the outstretched hand and simultaneously put my first foot on the boat. If, for you, it's that final stepping into the card, then do it only when you have your affairs in order, all the loose ends tied up, the fridge cleaned out, and no regrets. Be real about it.

Good comments nisaba and thanks for sharing that. I think that you are correct for me as well.

Entering cards becomes an out of body experience, in the sense that I am peripherally aware of my surroundings but I get fascinated by the interior of the card itself. The more you do it, the more alive it becomes and it adds huge depth to readings sometimes as well because what you see for one querent may be altered quite a bit for another.

Nisaba, that's a great story! Perhaps it relates to this statement from 'Spiritual Interpretation of Scripture'. And no, it's not Biblical scriptural but all spiritual writings, from all times.

'The object of our Search for Truth is to gain a spiritual awareness of existence that we may live spiritually perfect & realize immortality without the change called death.'

I think it's definitely possible.

Amazing experiences

Thank you all for your in depth replies. And thank you for the book suggestion! I will put that on my "must have" list! I see that I have a lot to look forward to, learning Tarot and this website!

Last night I drew the Fool. My experience with him was short, so I'm going to try again this evening.

I don't expect to have a problem with the "Death" card because I view it in so many ways, but we'll see when the time comes!