Dreaming Tarot

[willoe]

[I hope this is the appropriate place for this thread. I considered the "Divination" area of AT, but this seemed more tarot-related than dream-related. I consider this to be a tarot reading I did while I was asleep with some interesting results, that I wanted to share with other tarot readers in the interest of getting tarot-centric answers. If I am mistaken, I apologize to the mods in advance. ]

So a few nights ago, I had a dream. I don't remember many of the details, but there is one thing that stuck with me.

I dreamt about a deck of tarot cards. In my dream, I saw a dark purple box with the name "The Tarot of the Dark Faerie" across the front. It almost looked like the Paulina Tarot in that vaguely pretty-goth kind of way, but it had a definite edge on it- very dark and twisted. I drew a single card and it was the nine of swords, but instead of the picture that should have been there, there was a mirror.

Has anyone ever had bizarre tarot dreams? What would you make of this, which is in my mind essentially a one card reading? Am I reading way too far into this?

 

[Taamar]

The intersection of dream analysis and tarot is... fascinating. So you dreamed of tarot, and in your dream you drew the 'nightmare' card. And you saw yourself in it. Could it be that you're creating your own strife and drama where there's no need? Or is your fear of something holding you back?

 

[nisaba]

I dreamt about a deck of tarot cards. In my dream, I saw a dark purple box with the name "The Tarot of the Dark Faerie" across the front.

ooo -

I'm not big on fairy decks, but -

I drew a single card and it was the nine of swords, but instead of the picture that should have been there, there was a mirror.

I'm interested. Did the card look like a card with a picture of a mirror, or did the card or a portion of it turn into a real mirror? Either way, it's telling you that you need to address Nine Sword issues embedded in your life possibly so deeply that you don 't even realise they're there.

Has anyone ever had bizarre tarot dreams?

Hell, YEAH! all the time.

 

[willoe]

Taamar: It is interesting, isn't it? I think what I've come to is more of a "fear holding me back, but very, very subconsciously". That just makes more sense for me, personally.


Nisaba: I've never come across a faerie deck that I've ever liked. They're usually too frilly foo foo for me. This one, though... This one I would have bought.

The card back was just like the other cards in the deck, but the entire front of the card face was all a mirror. I remember seeing my eye in it and wondering how I didn't notice before that it wasn't a piece of cardstock like the rest of the deck. lol, crazy dream thoughts.

I do think that you're right about the buried issues. I'm a famous bottler of emotions and the like. It's probably time for me to air out some of those closed rooms.

 

[FadeToWhite]

That is a fascinating dream. I think you should definitely do some work with the 9 of Swords; meditate on it or even do a spread about it to see what it means. I agree with Taamar, I think it may indicate that you have a 9 of Swords situation somewhere in your life which needs to be addressed.

I dream about the Tarot all the time. I've found that I dream about it more when I have the cards near me; I have been keeping my favorite decks on my bedside table lately, and have been dreaming about them a lot more. Recently I fell asleep with my new Rider-Waite deck in my hand and dreamed intensely about the cards. In my dream I was talking with the Kings and possibly the Emperor; I wish I could recall what was said, but the dream faded very quickly.

Sometimes I go to sleep with a deck under my pillow when I need some guidance - I almost always have a dream about the cards, which sometimes gives me insight.

-FadeToWhite

 

[willoe]

Thanks for your input, FadeToWhite! I think I'm definitely going to start sleeping with my deck under my pillow- everyone that I've spoken to with experience in that area really seems to recommend it.

This is a lot of awesome information.. Thanks to everyone for pitching in their two cents, and if anyone else has more insight, I'd love to hear it.

 

[nisaba]

That is a fascinating dream. I think you should definitely do some work with the 9 of Swords;

It won't hurt to do some magical work with mirrors, either.

 

[misfitknits]

eye, mirror, work on the soul

very interesting. i have dreams about tarot. only one that i REALLY recall. i was in a store, someone had told me to go there because they had tarot decks. there was a tiny stand with decks, and they were all ABSOLUTE CRAP!! not ones that really exist, just crappy dream decks! lol.

anyways, why not try a dream analysis spread? it would probably offer a lot of insight. i do agree you should do SOME kind of work with it. repressing emotions is soooo bad for you, in so many ways.

*note: my first thought when you said the card was a mirror? scrying mirror. i see that you describe it as an actual silver mirror, and seeing your eye in it, but it was the first thing that came to mind. the eye is also interesting, "windows to the soul" and all that. it could also be just saying that you need to "LOOK" at yourself more deeply *or your issues, soul, whatever*.

 

[FadeToWhite]

Okay, I had another dream last night. Hoping to get some insight.

I dreamed I was getting a deck in the mail. It was very Egyptian-mythos-inspired and was called The Cheops Deck (I am good at remembering names from dreams). I looked up Cheops and it turned out he was, in fact, an Egyptian pharaoh (Wikipedia info here). It came a few cards at a time, in a large magazine format (larger than other magazines, perhaps reflecting how Tarot cards are larger than regular playing cards). The cards were on a piece of printed cardstock in the middle of the magazine and just "popped" out. The art, while the subjects were Egyptian god/desses, was very Art Nouveau style (which is interesting since I recently bought an Art Nouveau Tarot deck).

I think this dream is more reflective/introspective than it is divination-centered ("divinatory"?). "Cheops" reflects my childhood obsession with Egyptian mythology; getting a few cards at a time reflects the format of the book I'm reading right now (Tarot 101 by Kim Huggens), which studies the Major Arcana in groups of three or four; and the visual style of the cards reflects my recently acquired deck.

Thoughts? And is there a real "Cheops Tarot"?

 

[Cerulean]

I enjoyed the descriptions and thought...

how it takes awhile for me to process dreams.

One thing that came to mind is how cleansing dreams are to process quite a bit of information. I cleared my shelves this past season of all the purplish faery oracle and tarots and there were quite a few. There is a silvery and lavendar copy I kept called the Shadowscapes which is at a glance somewhat Paulina-style. However the Realm of the Dark Faery is a tarot--but really is in pastel. It might be twisty--but in a good way. If you believe the dream is inspiring you to check out such decks--or highlighting the wisdom of avoiding such a theme for your tarot decks---I think the significance is you noticed and remembered the dream better because of the tarot imagery.

The Nine of Swords as a mirror is a great dream image--for the reflection of the card would be about you in the RWS world of meanings. I like how your psyche is developing a kind of tarot language in your first dream. If any of this resonates, might be worth thinking a little bit...

The second dream seems to be using the Greek Cheops term of the Egyptian site of Giza?--I may have mistyped or misread when doing my own google search. There are really lots of Egyptian oracles and tarots, so if I were meditating on this, I would think a little more and research or think about what Egyptian art personally means to me.

Your mind might be eagerly developing. Tarot vocabulary of images--and it's only been a week with two vivid tarot dream sequences. It maybe a little bit early in your tarot art studies to say what action to take.

Hope you keep notes and enjoy the dream journal process.

Cerulean