TALKING TAROT AND ANIMAL GUIDES.

Towards the end of 1998 I bought a pack of "Medicine Cards" while down in Glastonbury, at a mysterious little shop tucked away in a small courtyard. ("Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals" written by Jamie Sams and David Carson, Published by Bear and Company, ISBN 0-939680-53-X) They are in essence, a Tarot deck with an Animal / Native American theme. Unlike more classical tarot decks there are no suits, each card has a unique animal depicted on the card. However it's only later on in 1999 that I've started to use the deck, for reasons I'll mention later on.

Obviously I make no claims of mystical connection or authenticity with this deck. The deck is a mishmash of various Native American beliefs and totemism, with embellishments where required. However, that's not really important, at least to me. This is because there is a lot of misconceptions about Tarot reading. Forget Mystic Meg, Gypsies, James Bond, or any other preconceptions you may have about Tarot. A Tarot deck is really a tool of thought. It allows a person to meditate, to focus their thoughts on a single subject and ask themselves questions about it. It cannot tell the future, however it will allow someone to better understand their current situation from what information they know, and from that predict possible outcomes.

Tarot works in the following way. Firstly the reader thinks of a question or subject they wish to think about. They then deal out the cards in a certain pattern called a spread, from which they'll take a reading. We'll take a basic spread of cards called the "Medicine Wheel" spread, but is also known as the "Time and Tide" spread in more "classical" Tarot decks. The cards are laid out as follows;

   N
 W C E            N=North, E=East, S=South, W=West, C=Centre.
   S

The West, Centre and East cards are supposed to reflect on past, present, and future situations respectively. Meanwhile the North and South cards represent positive and negative influences.

The cards themselves each have separate meanings depending on their animal, but these meanings are vague in their nature. This allows the reader to make their own interpretations as to what the card layout means. For example the Wolf card symbolizes the "Teacher". The wolf is a pathfinder, loyal to the pack yet individualistic. It also implies strength and the ability to learn and teacher others, as well as the ability to stand alone and listen to the teacher within us. If the card is reversed or "contrary" then the meanings of the card is reversed too, and make indicate that the reader has a limited view of something and so forth. As it can be seen, there is a lot of scope for interpretation in such vague terms, and so by asking "Well what could this mean?", the reader is actually analysing the situation they wish to explore. It's a different way to explore a subject, and so it may provide answers which may not have arose using normal thought processes.

Say I were to ask myself "What kind of Job should I go for?", and the Wolf card appeared in the East. That may imply I should consider teaching, or it may imply that I should listen to the wolf within me. But already I have two new avenues of thoughts to follow, which may provide me with an answer. Also the interpretation of the card may vary depending on what other cards are present in the spread. And that's the very basics on how tarot works.

As a slight digression, the act of talking to a spirit or animal guide in a dream or on the astral plane can work in a similar manner to Tarot. The person can ask their guide various questions about something, and have them reply to those questions as if they were a separate entity. Therefore guides tend to have two limitations because of this. The first is that the guides are limited in their knowledge, they know only what the person knows because they are simply an extension of the person. The other limitation is that they can't ask a direct question of the guide. Again this is because they're limited in their knowledge, but also because the person has asked themselves the question already and have not been able to come up with an answer. Therefore their guide will do no better.

The association of the Tarot pack with spirit animals is an aid to relaxation and meditation. The "calling forth" of the reader's totem animals is a quiet, meditative processes which calms the reader and allows them to relax. This allows them to think more clearly without being distracted. It is for this reason I've followed the preparation guide within the book. This is essentially the setting up of a stone circle, which the reader sits in and calls forth the animal guides. I've gathered stones from all over the country while at various meets with Weres and Furs, so they all have personal significance for me. This allows me to reflect on who I am, how I feel, and who I've become. It's this gathering of suitable stones which has caused the delay in using the deck, to give it personal meaning and a sense of respect.

Tarot requires some kind of belief, so that the reader can give the readings a sense of respect and concentration. If they weren't serious about the readings, then they wouldn't be able to concentrate, thus defeating the purpose of the reading. Hence the slight mechanical, scientific tone of this essay, it's because I'm concentrating more on the mechanics rather than the motivation behind Tarot. Belief provides that motivation. I find it more credible this way, but I stress it's purely how I read the instructions, and it's my own take on how to use a Tarot deck. After all, I can't _disprove_ that animal spirits aren't helping me either. :)

When someone first uses the medicine cards, they're supposed to find out which nine power or totem animals they have influencing them. The first two totems are consciously chosen, while the remaining seven totem animals are taken randomly from the deck. However this is supposedly guided by whatever animal spirits are guiding them. These last seven totems are associated with compass directions.

My totems are as follows;

Right Side
Wolf: No surprise then that the Wolf was chosen. The Wolf has visited me in several dreams and I have a very strong emotional bond with the Wolf. The wolf is known as the "Teacher".

Left Side
Coyote: Again, I connect strongly with the Coyote and see him as another phenotype, so he was a logical choice. Coyote is the "Trickster".

East
Raven: The East is a very influential totem, and since I also feel a strong connection with Corvids I was overjoyed to see this card appear. A very powerful totem too, meaning "Magic". I was expecting a selection of completely bizarre and unusual animals to appear...

South
Butterfly: ...such as this. "Transformation".

West
Frog: ...and this. "Cleansing".

North
Bat: "Rebirth". Curious how I managed to get three cards in a row that suggest change of some kind.

Above
Turtle: "Mother Earth" A connection to the earth, nature, and the ability to protect one's self.

Below
Porcupine: "Innocence" The power of faith and trust. Hmmm, I suspect this one is in contrary, and therefore something I should learn.

Within
Buffalo: "Prayer and Abundance" Spirituality and generosity? Again, all these make someone think about themselves, how they see themselves and how others may see them. Yet another tool to focus someone's concentration.

For completion, I also came across a smaller sized pack based on the medicine cards, called "Medicine Cards: Just for Today". ("Medicine Cards: Just for Today", written by Jamie Sams and David Carson, Published by Bear and Company, ISBN 1-879181-46-0) Slightly smaller than a deck of playing cards, the reader is supposed to draw a single card every day and at the bottom of each card there is a message. This message will then influence the reader throughout the day, and at the end of the day the reader can then review what the card may have been trying to tell them.

For example, the message for the Wolf card is "Find new paths and options. Break through. Be a role model. Share your inner knowing." Therefore a person may attempt to do things they normally wouldn't do during the day, things that will hopefully have a more positive effect on that person. So again, Tarot is being used to change the way someone thinks.

So to summarize, Tarot decks (and to some extent animal and spirit guides) are a useful tool for bringing about a change in the way someone thinks. Perhaps it's because of this ability to change something that Weres find Tarot of such interest? Or is it because many Weres have acute self-awareness, and so Tarot is a useful tool for examining themselves objectively? Or is it simply the association of animal symbolism? Perhaps the answer is, ironically, in the cards.