Tarot Pathworking

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 26 May 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Phoenix	26 May 2002
I have seen this mentioned around here a few time, and was wondering what it was???

Major Tom	27 May 2002
You've asked a larger question than you may have considered. lol There are many activities to pathworking. It's basically working card by card through the major arcana - often comparing the cards to the Cabbalistic Tree of Life. I'm sure the are others here who can give a better, less capsulated answer. 'Entering a card' is a good pathworking activity. Creating your own deck is another. }) There are many books on pathworking. One of my favorites is The Book of Tokens by Paul Foster Case which provides meditations and explainations for hebrew letter and Tree of Life associations. By all accounts, pathworking is a beneficial activity for the practitioner. That's certain been my experience. })

RedWood	27 May 2002
Great question Phoenix..I was just about to make a thread myself.

Zhritza	29 May 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Major Tom There are many activities to pathworking. It's basically working card by card through the major arcana - often comparing the cards to the Cabbalistic Tree of Life. Does this mean that pathworking doesn't touch the minors at all? I don't know about you guys, but I'm more concerned with my grasp of the different meanings and implications of the minors than of the majors... I understand big heavy stuff pretty easily, it's all the normal things that are part of daily life that I have trouble with :P

Jenny-Li	29 May 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Major Tom There are many activities to pathworking. It's basically working card by card through the major arcana - often comparing the cards to the Cabbalistic Tree of Life. I'm sure the are others here who can give a better, less capsulated answer. 'Entering a card' is a good pathworking activity. Creating your own deck is another. }) Hm, the word "pathworking" itself is rather intriguing - but what does it refer to? When the good Major Tom wrote "working card by card through the major arcana" it made me think of re-working the Fool's journey, but that wasn't among the examples... Would that apply? What does the term refer to - what's the purpose of it? Is it a Kabbalistic thing altogether, or is the Kabbala just one possible way of "doing it"? And what is "entering a card"? (Oh - I think I just figured this one out for myself - that's when you meditate on being inside the card scene? Please pardon the "linguistically challenged" Fool here...! :D }) :D) Looooots of questions here, folks.... Who's gonna do me the honour of enlightenment...? Jenny :)

Faerie Lin	29 May 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Qolus Does this mean that pathworking doesn't touch the minors at all? I don't know about you guys, but I'm more concerned with my grasp of the different meanings and implications of the minors than of the majors... I understand big heavy stuff pretty easily, it's all the normal things that are part of daily life that I have trouble with :P Same here Qolus, I have to put forth alot more thinking and sensing for the minors. Lin

raeanne	29 May 2002
Hi all, To me the word “pathwork” refers to any number of spiritual based activities, not just working through the major arcana cards. Anything that helps develop your understanding of the spiritual path you are on can, in my book, be considered pathwork. Sitting and meditating on one of the minor arcana cards would be pathwork if you see a specific need to meditate on that particular card. Because the majors usually deal with the larger issues in life, I think most people would be drawn to working with these cards more than the minors but I don’t think pathwork limits you to just the majors. There is also the pathwork that takes a person “between worlds”. In the shamanistic traditions there are a wide range of spiritual experiences that would classify as pathwork.

Ravenswing	06 Jun 2002
hi all-- pathworking, as i have found in my explorations, deals more with the major arcana than the minors. the reason for this is that the minors can be considered as events, places, activities-- but in a self-contained sphere. on the other hand, the majors move you from one place to another. (a little kabbalah: the minors are placed in sephiroth, the major are pathways that connect them-- hence 'pathworking') the best book i've read on pathworking is "Archetypes on the Tree of Life" by Madonna Compton (though it might be OOP). basically, you 'enter' the card. get into a meditative state and scan the card. (if you have any guides or the such, contact with them will help) start at left top and slowly go across the image in 'bands' (five works well). after you do this a few times, close your eyes, re-create the card in your mind and step in. explore around, talk to whomever you meet. it's quite an experience, and personally, i see no reason to exclude the minors, though i would run through the majors first. i hope this is clear enough. if you've got any questions, please drop me a line. LVX steve LVX

The Tarot Pathworking thread was originally posted on 26 May 2002 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.