working with guides or going solo.

Another view of tarot is that it is a defined pathway for raising one above the animal level of this existence and entering another spiritual level..

A personal path with sign posts or checkpoints pointing to the next step along the path...

Even showing the path down wards back into the more dense layers and the pitfalls along the way....
Not a very commonly accepted understanding...but that doesn't make it any less "off" than any other understanding...

No use of guides here. My reading style is much more similar to Ravenest's.

I think that the cleavage that exists in the Tarot community regarding the use of guides really has to do with those who view Tarot as supernatural, and disagreements on how, exactly, it is. Some people see Tarot as endowed with a power of its own, where the cards are more or less conscious and choose to express certain messages to the reader and querent. Others see Tarot as a conduit for supernatural beings--guides, angels, or even some form of immanent divinity--to express their higher knowledge. (And then the naturalists are off in a corner having a party of their own.)

From what I've observed, I would say that most people who work with spirit guides in Tarot are people who developed independent religious or mystical views regarding the existence of spiritual entities, either prior to or parallel with their Tarot practices. I don't think that Tarot itself is inherently linked to the use of spirit guides, in part because even within the community of people who work with guides, there's no consensus regarding what those guides are and how they're related to the readers. Everyone has a different personal take.

This does not, of course, mean that Tarot can't be used in conjunction with spirit guides. Clearly it can, and many people do so successfully. But I think that doing so is very much a subjective, personal practice, and isn't objectively tied to some kind of external essence of what Tarot is. (cf. this thread)

No guides..
I lay out the cards and interpret the symbolism that I see on them..

closerwalking said:

I include the querent and their "guides" in this. It is fun and rewarding to include them in the readings. and outcome is much more helpful. esp. when someone comes with complex issue.

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What do you do when your querent doesn't have guides?

I think of reading Tarot as connecting with my unconscious or inner self. However, this inner self may be communicating with spiritual entities that you could call guides.

I find all these tools are the most helpful when they are used as psychology tool.

Laura Borealis said:

What do you do when your querent doesn't have guides?

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part of the purpose of the readings I do is to help people become aware of the guidance that they have available to them. There is so much help avail to us within and around us,- in nature,- in what I call the invisible realm( the skies, the cosmos), So I often start the reading with asking the querent who she or he would like to receive guidance from? something within themselves or someone outside of themselves? I ask them if they have a trusted spiritual being they already work with? would they like to invite this Spiritual presence to join them in this reading? this works for folks who come from religious background. Holy Spirit, Jesus, God, archangels, guardian angel, etc. I find it helpful to encourage a person to dialogue with their body wisdom for example, if they have health issues. and if they are clueless, ie this is whole new concept to them, I have various card decks, that they can pick a card from. Plus I silently within myself start the reading by calling on both my guides as well as the guides that will help this reading proceed in highest good for both of us. a concept that makes sense to me that I first heard of from the I Ching, is that everyone has what they call the Sage. over here it is sort of similar to the guardian angel concept. although their explanation of the sage is much more than just a protector. Is more a best wise friend that can help you in all ways. So I silently call on the querent's version of this for them too. One of the things I love to see is that awe, surprise as they become aware of their perhaps hidden "helpers" inside of them or outside of them. I'd be willing to give anyone here a sample reading via skype? if you'd like to explore this?

JackofWands said:

No use of guides here. My reading style is much more similar to Ravenest's.

I think that the cleavage that exists in the Tarot community regarding the use of guides really has to do with those who view Tarot as supernatural, and disagreements on how, exactly, it is. Some people see Tarot as endowed with a power of its own, where the cards are more or less conscious and choose to express certain messages to the reader and querent. Others see Tarot as a conduit for supernatural beings--guides, angels, or even some form of immanent divinity--to express their higher knowledge. (And then the naturalists are off in a corner having a party of their own.)

From what I've observed, I would say that most people who work with spirit guides in Tarot are people who developed independent religious or mystical views regarding the existence of spiritual entities, either prior to or parallel with their Tarot practices. I don't think that Tarot itself is inherently linked to the use of spirit guides, in part because even within the community of people who work with guides, there's no consensus regarding what those guides are and how they're related to the readers. Everyone has a different personal take.

This does not, of course, mean that Tarot can't be used in conjunction with spirit guides. Clearly it can, and many people do so successfully. But I think that doing so is very much a subjective, personal practice, and isn't objectively tied to some kind of external essence of what Tarot is. (cf. this thread)

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Tarot itself is fairly young discipline compared to other divination methods. so there is no consensus on hardly any aspect of it. I think there is too much rush to place this young divination method into a box. It is still becoming. And also the world we live in now, is very new phase of life, crisis mode. It is natural that use of Tarot is expanding to meet needs of larger population. Myself in my own journey of exploring things along this line, consistently, I very quickly outgrow, what is currently known. my exploration of them very quickly takes me out of the box. When I go into something, I go into it in depth. like a research scientist, learning the most from my experiments with it, ie applying it, playing with it, seeing how well it works within my own life. For me Tarot is still in explorative place. In my journey, very few tools have the flexibility to keep up with this sort of exploration. The moment one says something is only this thing, ie, creates boundary, it stops growing. This is the way I learn, but I know others learn by putting up boundaries and studying deeply within those boundaries.

I take JackofWands comment : " within the community of people who work with guides, there's no consensus regarding what those guides are " as more indicative of the modern 'spirit guides' movement than its relationship to tarot. It is certainly much newer than Tarot (in this 'spirit-guides' form ).

In ceremonial magics of the evocative and invocative type (dealing with 'other' entities), there are certainly guidelines, laws, rules and practices to be able to determine 'what those guides are', their 'origins' , motivations, aims and effects .... BEFORE one 'lets them in'.

In the 'new-age' this baby seems to have been thrown out with the bath water; if it is an 'entity' and it is communicating with you, it is assumed all good, and of the 'highest spiritual import.

Often, for some, these 'independent' entities or 'spirits' can be a 'split syndrome' from the psyche. The psyche itself (like the human body ) works in levels of importance and one system ruling or regulating another. A 'hierarchy' IS established, but it all needs to work holistically BUT be able to recognise malfunctions and 'foreign contaminates' .

To boil that all down to the syrup ... one needs to know (from the magical perspective) what exactly is one dealing with, not accept things at 'face value' and create a clear distinction between any 'assisting spirit' and any ' malevolent spirit' (who, just like some people we have met, may be very good, subtle, or even unknowingly be masking their true intentions). In a tarot reading, I believe this can emerge as projecting one's psychological imbalances and syndromes into a reading ... usually not via the reading interpretations ... but by projecting their psychological associations into the reading ( divided by a subtle thin line in some cases)

I assumed that is the dynamic JackofWands is touching on ?

(sorry JofW if I missed the mark.)

ETA ... an interesting discussion similar to this, but more focused on the guides side than the tarot side ;

'Contacting Spirit Guides Safely' @ http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=222920

re-pete-a said:

Another view of tarot is that it is a defined pathway for raising one above the animal level of this existence and entering another spiritual level..

A personal path with sign posts or checkpoints pointing to the next step along the path...

Even showing the path down wards back into the more dense layers and the pitfalls along the way....
Not a very commonly accepted understanding...but that doesn't make it any less "off" than any other understanding...

Click to expand...

But do you see this as a process of working with 'your spirit guides' , or not ?