Entering the Cards- my personal journal.

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 05 Aug 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Jaykob	05 Aug 2003
I'm very new in using the cards. I'm also a very private person, but I finally got the nerve up to post some results from my meditation excercizes. The following are excerpts from my journal, worded exactly as I originally wrote them. What I wrote may be hard to understand and poorly worded because I had to write very quickly because what I "imagined" seems to fade very quickly after the experience. They describe my first three experiences "entering" the cards. Feedback is appreciated. I hope you find this interesting. BTW, I use the Universal Waite Tarot Deck. 7-2-03 Entering the Priestess. Within a white castle ordained with towering statues of men in arms, and within a white sanctuary smelling of rosemary, thyme, and cinnamon I beheld a hallway that seemed to span forever. Flanking the ground which was white marble were towering columns that went very high and then arched inward. In the distance, down the hall, was a bright shining light. I got closer to it without walking. When I got to the light there sat a short petite looking young woman with brown hair and brown eyes. Upon her head was a gold tiahra. She had white robes on and was barefoot. She approached me, wearing a slight grin. Behind her was a stone throne. She stood one step above me, so although she was shorter she was still eye level with me. She clasped my face gently with her hands and I looked into her eyes. Then she reached down into her robe and pulled out a small gold key with a green gem grafted to it. She told me that the key unlocked all doors, even ones that I shouldn't necessarily open. I noticed the key was cold to the touch. She told me that the key would not always feel so cold. She warned me to use it wisely, because it could open the way for my success and my dreams. 7-23-03 Entering the Devil. I went into the Devil card and I felt no fear. The area I arrived in was dark, damp and wet. The air was musty and unpleasant. To my right was a man wiht a chain around his neck. The Devil towered above us sneering but I had no fear of him. He was definetly alive but seemed not to notice anything going around him. He stood still like a statue. I spoke to the man and asked him why he was chained. He told me that a woman he loved died long ago and that, because of it, he decided to chain himself to the beast. In inquired as to the nature of the Devil. He told me that the beast didn't feel joy, for he himself is the prisoner who must guard the chains. He told me that the beast cannot ever satiate his desire to control others. Suddenly, the man turned the questioning on me. "Why are you chained?" he asked me. Suddenly I loooked down and realized that I was chained to the black pillar as well. I didn't know how to answer. "Is there a way out?" I asked. "Of course" he responded. He pointed to a lock which attached the chain around my neck. "You may leave at any time." Suddenly I realized I was holding something. I heald up my right hand and found that I was holding the key that the priestess had given to me. I realized that I had locked the chain around my neck and I really could remove it at any time. 7-24-03 Note: Although I acknowledged I could remove the chain, I still didn't. 7-24-03 Entering Death. I traveled into the Death card today. I met the most interesting character yet. The terrain seemed stagnant and lifeless. I heard a crow in the background. The rider, the priest, the child, and the woman were all motionless as if frozen in time. I searched for a sign of life and I found that the king beneath the horse which Death (the rider) rode was actually still alive. I went over to him. He was lying face down now. I turned him to the side and he laughed. I asked him if he was dead and he confirmed that he indeed was. I asked him what death was like. He said it was merely a transition. I confesed that I doubted a lot of what he was telling me, the Tarot, and the very images I was imagining. he laughed again and told me that my doubt is part of the path. He told me that virtually nothing is forever. He told me that only change is forever; eternal metamorphosis; constant ascension. He assured me that my doubt would not and could not last forever. He continued talking and told me that my own death was near and with it the end of many of my doubts. I nodded, and then suddenly I noticed his crown which layed just a few inches away from him. He must have been a king, I thought. I asked him if he had enjoyed being king and if he wanted me to place his crown back on his body. He smiled and told me that he had taken on a new kind of kingship, and that he had no more need for his former crown. "I have already inherited something greater." he said.

Moongold	05 Aug 2003
Thank you for sharing these, Jaykob. You do seem to travel right into the card and give a perspective that I have not heard before. Do you plan to revisit each card because it seems as though the stories remain only partially told? Many blessings

Mimers	05 Aug 2003
Jakob, That was great to read. It is very interesting to read your experience and compare it to my own. I did the same thing with the cards. Something very interesting with me was that often in my mediatations with the cards, often other cards would be involved. Thanks for sharing that with us. Mimi

Jaykob	05 Aug 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Moongold Thank you for sharing these, Jaykob. You do seem to travel right into the card and give a perspective that I have not heard before. Do you plan to revisit each card because it seems as though the stories remain only partially told? Many blessings I have revisited the Devil Card. Maybe I'll type that one out later. As for the stories being partially told, I don't really go into the card with the expectation of a full tale unfolding. Normally only a small part of the card catches my attention, and usually one I had not expected to. Before I entered the Devil card, I had sort of expected to talk to the Devil himself, but once I was in the card, I wasn't interested in doing that anymore. It just didn't seem that important. Before I entered Death, the last person I expected to converse with was the dead king. When I look back on it now, though, it makes complete sense. I went in wanting to learn about death, and I talked to the only dead person in the card.

Little Baron	05 Aug 2003
Thank you for sharing Jaykob. Very nicely guided. I have done a little bit of this before but unfortunately, lost the files that they were written in. Will try it again though. You have inspired me. Cheers and best wishes Yaboot Ya

RainbowFire	05 Aug 2003
that's amazing. You talk about medidation and visualisation as if it's easy... for me, it isn;t. I know this isn't the right thread to discuss it so I'll just say that's very insightive. especially the high priestess... I seem to have less trouble with "dark" or "feared" cards, ie Hanged Man/Death/Devil

firemaiden	06 Aug 2003
Wow Jaykob, it all seemed so real, and you've put it so vividly. Now you've gotten me interested in trying the same. Thanks!

Phoenyx	06 Aug 2003
Wow Jaykob, that is really good! Wish I could do it, but sometimes I'm just way too scientifically oriented. >.< Images just seem to be images. *is trying to break down the walls to her intuitive side now*

Jaykob	06 Aug 2003
Hmm...I don't want to give the impression that I'm actually seeing all these things vividly. It's not always like that. I don't even know if I could describe it as seeing everything. My eyes are closed and all I really see is nothing. I sort of imagine these things, and not very clearly. Sometimes I'll lose the images too, and I'll have to refocus in order to get myself back into the "story" that my mind is making up. It's not like I just step into the card, and I'm in a totally new world. I'm still very much aware of what's going on around my physical body as well. Hmm...I just realized that this kind of meditation is very hard to explain.

samreid26	14 Aug 2003
wow! they sound really realistic! i've just started, so i havn't gone that into the cards. but i sure would like to! :D it sounds really amazing! i would love to hear more! :)

fairyhedgehog	22 Aug 2003
These are pretty amazing meditations, thank you for sharing them with us. Quote: Originally posted by Jaykob I sort of imagine these things, and not very clearly. Sometimes I'll lose the images too, and I'll have to refocus in order to get myself back into the "story" that my mind is making up. That's how it is for me too :) It always amazes me how powerful this kind of thing is though. I was doing a lot of visualisation at one time and I can 'see' some of the places I imagined even sitting here with my eyes open. But, as you say, it isn't like seeing with your physical eyes. More like a waking dream, perhaps, but one that you can control?

lunalafey	22 Aug 2003
That was wonderful! Phoenyx, RainbowFire, think of it as a day dream....

Cerulean	23 Aug 2003
I've been exploring a Thoth alternative deck and I liked the bare landscape of the Death card. Your interesting meditation shows me how a mental landscape can be populated...it's usually easier for me to transition into wakefulness and sometimes imagine a storyline in the early morning. The landscape that was described in the tarot card was an empty desert landscape with a horned skull...as if a steer or ram. The description of the card said it wasn't barren, the beginning of life was pulsating underneath the bare surfaces. Anyway, I see what you posted of tarot cards as starts of mental landscapes and then an evolving story--not easy for me in daily life unless I grasp a concept first. It takes me awhile to accept the images that evolves into a story. So for me first, the landscape in the card is barren, and then after awhile, the scenes and play of the characters evolves. I think I want to find the growth underneath the mental landscape or tarot scene, so I'll think of that concept tonight. Best wishes.

RedWood	23 Aug 2003
Thanks for posting..Those were amazing.. When the King in the Death card says your time is coming soon..that you freak you out a bit? how did you take it? If i am not being to nosy.

The Entering the Cards- my personal journal. thread was originally posted on 05 Aug 2003 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.