Every now and then my cat Tara decides to look for new sleeping perches and hiding places. It’s as if she sees the whole house with new eyes, and notices things she never has before. Dark shadows open up into cozy corners. Vast heights are brought down to her level. Everything morphs into a new scene, which she traverses or manipulates (sometimes including her people) to suit her purposes.
It sounds an awful lot like creative work, doesn’t it? But it also reminds me of Tarot reading.
In our dreams the same thing happens. Our unconscious presents things we’re familiar with, but they appear in new ways. Home furnishings that wouldn’t in waking life survive a flood are sometimes submerged in dreams, and so are we, able to traverse the depths in our own houses without drowning. Sometimes we fly. In my flying dreams I often need to move my limbs a little, just as if I were dog paddling, but in the air rather than in water.
If we can view Tarot cards with these same dreamers’ eyes, bending the rules of reality a little, we can read them in a whole new way, the way we look at abstract artwork or find shapes in clouds.
The ability to see the same old cards with fresh eyes brings a depth to my readings that I don’t achieve any other way. That’s essentially how intuition works. It skips over the logical steps and paths that our mental processes usually take, and arrives at an answer anyway, sometimes a surprising answer that is equally surprising in its accuracy.
In each reading, I can retreat back into traditional or learned meanings if I choose, or I can see the cards with new eyes. Sometimes I find that a combination of the two works for me. I also sometimes see multiple layers of meaning in one card.
Next time you look at a Tarot card, pause for a moment to see it with new eyes. I’ll bet you can if you try. Tara is certain you’ll like it. And by the way, will you move your stuff off that shelf up there so she can nap on it sometimes?
“That’s essentially how intuition works. It skips over the logical steps and paths that our mental processes usually take, and arrives at an answer anyway, sometimes a surprising answer that is equally surprising in its accuracy.”
I love this explanation of intuition. I read your article as well. You’ve taught me so much with your posts on Tarot…thank you.
Marion – Thank you, it’s always nice to hear something has been of help. 🙂