LEARNING TO READ THE TAROT PROFESSIONALLY

Reading the Tarot is first and foremost a matter of being a psychic - channelling information from the spirit realms and conveying it to the client. The tarot cards and their positions in the reading merely serve to open the door to this information and provide a structure through which the information can flow.

You cannot channel that for which you have no conceptual framework. An ancient roman, if sent an image of a plane by spirit, could not see it clearly. They would see a bird or a strange spear, because they have no concept of a plane. In a similar way the metaphysical framework which comprises the intellectual content of the Tarot serves to provide a range of conceptual tools which your mind can then use to hold the information you psychically channel.

Few people come to the Tarot with fully developed psychic ability. In such cases the intellectual content of the Tarot can be used by the reader to construct, as it were, a mental ladder to the level of spirit and provide access to the psychic information. In such cases channelling is still occurring, but it is not a conscious, controlled process, but rather a subconscious influencing of how the intellectual content is arranged during the process of interpreting the cards. However, in the long run the aim is to develop the ability to freely channel.

In order to channel one must receive and transmit information clearly. One must not contaminate what comes through, or misinterpret it, with one’s own "stuff" - prejudices, preconceptions, biases, wishes, etc. One must therefore learn to recognise and put this stuff aside. This requires becoming familiar with it and clearing as much of it as possible.

The process of becoming a Tarot reader is thus a 3-fold path:

1. Self-development to clear one’s own stuff and know oneself as well as possible so as to read clearly.
2. Learning the modern intellectual content which makes up the deck. This involves knowing the cards and their inter-relationships, and gaining at least a basic understanding of the Kabbalah, Astrology, Numerology, Myth, and Jungian Psychoanalysis.
3. Developing psychic awareness.

These three paths are woven together through regular practice of readings to develop a familiarity with the process.

The course will therefore include:

1. Exercises designed to promote self-knowledge and to clear personal issues and biases which could hamper inner clarity. This will require a commitment to daily meditation as well as other exercises to be completed (some in class and some at home).
2. Intellectual study. Book lists will be given. Essays and assignments will be set. Students will be encouraged to find areas of personal interest and deepen their studies in those areas.
3. Regular practise at Tarot readings. Students will have to prepare and submit case studies.

This work may be intellectually or personally challenging at times. This course is not designed to be easy, but neither is it designed to be hard. However, in choosing to undertake this course recognise you have chosen a path of spiritual and personal development. This is immensely rewarding and potentially life-changing, but it does require dedication and perseverance.

Tarot Course Description