Goddess Tarot - 0 ~ Beginnings: Tara

Instead of the Fool, this card is called Beginnings and is represented by the Tibetan Goddess Tara. According to the LWB, she has the power to heal all sorrows and grant all wishes. She is also honored as the protectress against the many fears that block men and women from living in happiness and harmony.

Here is some information on Tara: http://dharma-haven.org/store/arya-tara.htm#INTRODUCTION

This card is personally one of my favorites in the deck. By looking at the position of her body, it looks as if Tara is similar to the traditional depiction of The Fool in many Rider-Waite inspired decks. (the cliff, her dress depicted like she is running, she's looking behind her...distracted like the Fool is often depicted) However by looking again, it also looks like she's dancing. Perhaps this is just to show that this Goddess is there to protect us on OUR Fool's Journey. So which do you think it is? Or does this card tell you something else?

I foun this on a web site:

"In the legends of Tibet where the worship of the Goddess Tara is still practiced in the Buddhist tradition, it is told that the goddess Tara is the feminine counterpart of the Avalokitesvara, the Buddha who is reincarnated as the Dalai Lama.

It is told that she first appeared rising from a lotus blossom in the lake that had formed from his first tears of compassion, tears that fell when he first beheld the scope of suffering in the world.

Because of her essential goodness, she was granted the right to assume her human form as a man. But Tara elected to remain in her womanly form.

The Goddess Tara vowed:

"There are many who wish to gain enlightenment
in a man's form,
And there are few who wish to work
for the welfare of living beings
in a female form.

Therefore may I, in a female body,
work for the welfare of all beings,
until such time as all humanity has found its fullness."

The ancient goddess Tara in her many incarnations has many gifts to share with contemporary women. Tara embodies the feminine strengths of great caring and compassion, the ability to endure stressful and even terrifying moments, the acts of creation, and the source of sustenance and protection.

Demonstrating the psychological flexibility that is granted to the female spirit, the goddess Tara, in some of her human forms, could be quite fierce and wild.

Refugees fleeing the horrors of the occupation of Tibet by the Chinese armies recounted numerous stories of the Green Tara that protected them during their torture and guided their flight to freedom.
In other of her forms, such as the White Tara, she embodied inner peace and spiritual acceptance. She symbolizes purity and is thought to be part of every good and virtuous woman.

Tara is an archetype of our own inner wisdom. She guides and protects us as we navigate the depths of our unconscious minds, helping us to transform consciousness, our own personal journeys of freedom.

It is the goddess Tara who helps us to remain "centered". The myths of the Goddess Tara remind us of our "oneness" with all of creation and the importance of nurturing the spirit within."

I found this interesting... although now I don't have time to analyse the card itself, I'll come back later with my impressions of the card.

Anjo

By the way, the site is:

http://www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/goddess_tara_white.htm

Tara

Seems like I remember reading on the Web, a site that said Tara is the oldest goddess that continues to be worshiped into modern times.

I also remember (maybe that same site) said that Tara worship can be found in other parts of the world. For example, an ancient goddess in Sweden has a similar name and attributes as the Eastern Tara.

At least, I think I read this. I don't think I dreamt it up! I wish I'd written down the site now! Edit: LOL- Anjocoxo very helpfully provided the link that I was thinking of! And it was Finland, not Sweden.

One of the things that strikes me about this card is how by looking over her shoulder, she seems to be inviting us to join her or is checking to see if we are following.

It's like she is saying, " Come on! Hurry up and join me! There's a whole world of wonderful and diverse experiences just waiting for you. It's yours! All you have to do is trust me, and make the leap!"

I guess I feel like it isn't so much that she is going to make the leap herself, but that she is there to help and encourage us (the viewers/readers) to make the leap.

When looking at this card, I always get the feeling that she is looking directly into my eyes. I find a great deal of compassion, joy, and love in her gaze.

Can she make the jump? Of course, and probably has many times. However, her primary role is to encourage and protect those who are willing to venture forth into the unknown. Thus her swirling and joyous dance high on the hilltop.

Thank you for this beautiful description, Anjo and Riversea, and the site is quite special as well.

The actual image of Tara on this card has a green border and I wonder if that does not represent the dual understanding of Tara the Green as well Tara the White. Lotus flowers are one other symbol and I wondered (can’t see properly) if there is lotus flower in her tiara, or head piece, whatever you call it.

There do not seem to be many other symbols commonly attributed to Tara in the card, although the colour orange is, and her dress is orange coloured. See the animal to the right of the image? I wonder what that means.

The site said that diamonds, rose quartz, pink tourmaline, emerald ( any pink or green stones) were associated with her, and this delighted me because I’ve just bought some beautiful rose quartz for myself. These are the first stones I’ve bought and I love them – the colour, the coolness. I hold them in my hands every morning on getting up, as part of my prayer for the day.

More and more, this deck seems quite wonderful. It has quite a different mythology than any other deck.

The forest cat

From the workbook:

"Stories about Tara reveal the worries that concerned the people of ancient Tibet: for example, she is reputed to protect her followers from the fear of elephants and snakes. But the most dangerous fears are often insidiously masked. These are the ones that can wreak the most damage to our self-confidence and peace of mind, keeping us from living as happily as we'd like."

http://www.exoticindiaart.com/product/ZI59/ "protection from lions and pride"

I haven't gotten far in the book, but since this is the first card, one of the things I wrote was "hidden danger" then quoted a bit of Blake's "Tyger, tyger burning bright..."

While I'm not sure entirely what I meant by that, I think part of what I was thinking that are REAL dangers lurking out there. We do need to venture forth, but that doesn't mean go without guides or protection. Even the dangers themselves have a certain gloriousness, like the tiger burning brightly in the forest night.

The cat might also represent the aspect of the Green Tara. As mother cats are very protective of their kittens, so the Green Tara watches over and protects her followers.

Oh... and the cat is the only animal on the card. It is the dog of the traditional Fool, only it is apart from her. It is in the frame of the card, and seems completely indifferent to the action of the main picture.

Tara's gaze

Looking at the card now... She is actually looking a bit down. I still feel that she is looking at me though. Guess I've put myself in the world of card!

Tara

Here's the description: A young lady, with a beautiful red and orange dress, is standing in front of a fantastic landscape, and she's looking back. I also think she's looking at us, inviting us to go with her on this new adventure about to start. She looks like she's floating on air.

The border is green with trees and we can see a lion (looks like a female lion) looking also to us from behind of one of the trees. It seems like everything in the card (the woman and the lion) is inviting us to join them, which increases the interaction between the readers and the cards.

Yes, I suppose the lion represnts the traditional dog, and the green border is related to the "green tara". She really looks as if she's starting something new, especially if we have in mind that she's on "orange" ground, and preparing to move to a greener part of the nature with trees, moving on from one colour to another.

There are also the mountains in the back, which are related to a higher understanding. She probably is moving towards a higher understanding, and is inviting us to go with her. It seems like, by starting to use this new deck, we are going to start our own journey towards greater understanding of life and of the cards themselves.

I'm sorry if this looks like rambling, but those are the things that come to my mind as I look at the card.

Anjo

I just received this deck, and I am so excited to study it.

Tara is one of my favorite goddesses- I have a little notebook with a picture of her on it, and I write down all of my fears, worries, obsessions in that book, knowing that she will love me, "despite and still". In this card, we see her in movement, which seems quite different to me compared to how she is usually shown. She is dynamic here, a force, with her sunny gown and crown, the golden grass beneath her feet, and the clouds billowing among her skirt. She is moving from golden grass- makes me think of the "gilded streets of heaven" to the green grass of real life. She is encouraging me to step out of the oblivious into consciousness. The snowy mountains lay before us, promising difficult crossings, but with Tara as my guide, I do not fear.

The entire scene is framed with a green forest, archetypal for me of the world tree. The tiger or mountain lion lurks behind a tree, speaking of the occult, the hidden. This is my own animal nature, and that of uncontrollable forces. This is something not necessarily to be feared, but to be respected. I get the feeling that this large cat is Tara's familiar. As if she was the woman in Strength, who could use gentleness to charm the lion into docility. With Tara, I know that nothing can cause harm unless I allow it.

Goddess Tarot - 0 ~ Beginnings: Tara - Information on the goddess Tara

After doing much research, here is some information on what I've come across about this goddess. First of all, Tara is pronounced Tārā - the marks over the a's indicate that they're pronounced as a long a, therefore, it would sound like tay-ray. According to Kris Waldherr's accompanying manual for this goddess, she describes Tara as being one of the most important goddesses in Tibetan Buddhism, revered as the compassionate mother goddess, capable of healing all sorrow and granting all wishes. She appears in many forms and colors, each representing a different aspect of her divinity. She is honored as a protectress against the many fears that block women (and men) from living in harmony. The mythological stories about her reveal the kind of fears that were of concern to the Tibetan people. She was said to protect her followers from the fear and attack of elephants and poisonous snakes. Tara's name translates to mean, "she who causes one to cross" in indication that she will help all her devotees to cross safely to the other side of their fears to greater wisdom.

According to an article on Wikipedia, (see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_(Buddhism)), she is considered to be a bodhisattva, which, in Buddhism is "anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings." There is much more to the concept of bodhisattva which you can research on your own time if it interests you, but I'm leaving it at this point because I don't think it need be further explained in order to understand this goddess and this card - in actuality, going through it in every tradition of Buddhism would be confusing and off topic.

Moving further into the ideology of this goddess, she has also been called the "mother of liberation", and represents the virtues of success in work and achievements. As noted in the first paragraph by the artist, she appears in many different colors representing her different qualities. Here is a list of the most popularly known:

* Green Tara - known as the Buddha of enlightened activity
* White Tara - known for compassion, long life, healing and serenity; also known as The Wish-fulfilling Wheel, or Cintachakra
* Red Tara - a fierce aspect associated with magnetizing all good things
* Black Tara - power
* Yellow Tara - wealth and prosperity
* Blue Tara - transmutation and diffusion of anger

On the card, Kris Waldherr draws Tara in a golden dress with a red sash and golden crown. The edging on this card is green forestry. She appears to be standing in a yellow wheat field that her dress seems to melt away into. Further ahead is a green valley and blue mountains in the distance. She is moving forward from the wheat field toward the green valley and blue mountains with her head looking back behind her, which is typical symbolism for The Fool - walking forward into possible danger but not looking ahead. In my opinion, the symbolic colors for The White Tara, The Yellow Tara, The Red Tara, The Blue Tara and The Green Tara are all displayed in the picture.

From the accompanying paperback manual from the kit version, here is the author's listed meaning for this card:

"Meanings: Time for the start of a great journey. Innocence that allows one to be open to blessings. New beginnings. Optimism and trust. Feeling protected by divine forces.

Reversed or weakly aspected: A need to look deeper into an opportunity before proceeding. Folly or naiveity. Overconfidence - leaping before looking."

Any thoughts on this card?

Druidess_Fianna, thanks for reviving this study group! I love this deck and read with it a lot.

I'm really glad you mentioned Tara as a bodhisattva. It's been hard for me to associate her with the innocence of The Fool, given her role as a protectress. She seems so powerful - it's hard to imagine her taking a risk. She was one of the goddesses I just didn't get in this deck.

But a bodhisattva, although protected by her great compassion for living things, is definitely taking a huge risk and going on a great journey. So Tara becomes both the protector and the being who is innocently stepping into the unknown. One of the greatest "risks" can be opening your heart with compassion to others. I think this card brings that heart into the traditional Fool symbolism.