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How to Use This Book |
I have always had a weakness for "fill-in-the-blank" workbooks. In my opinion, they are the next best thing to a personal tutor. Where it is often easy to "just read" a how-to book, a blank series of lines across a page are hard to "just read". Interaction is demanded. This book is meant to be your confidant, instructor and companion for one year. At the end of 365 days, if you have followed this course of study religiously, you will have reached a level of expertise equal to that of a Certified Tarot Consultant, the fourth level of certification offered by the Tarot Certification Board.
Each page of this book is designed to be dated and filled in for each day of the year. Where advance preparation is needed for a particular day, I have tried to anticipate how long may be required to prepare and have assigned these tasks in plenty of time to be ready when the actual project rolls around. I have designated days of the week in order to assign more involved projects to the weekends when most people have more time to spare. If your life has a different structure, the days of the week can be ignored and rearranged so that the Saturday and Sunday assignments correspond with your days off. Since the first lessons deal with selecting your deck, and this project seemed ideal for a Saturday, that is where the adventure begins.
Even though some of the optional activities require special items and materials, the only items you must have is a deck of Tarot cards, a camera (disposible works fine) and a separate journal with at least 78 pages. The first few lessons will direct you in the purchase of these items. To begin your exploration of the phenomenal world of Tarot, all you need now is a writing instrument and a quick flip of the page.
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Day 1 - Saturday
Congratulations! You are about to begin one of the most exciting years of your life. By studying Tarot, you are also going to be examining personal values, honing teaching techniques, exploring writing skills and generally having a lot of fun.
The booklet you now hold in your hand is a result of 20/20 hindsight. I struggled with mastering Tarot for 3 years before I discovered guidance in the American Tarot Association. My pace immediately went from a sluggish, random wandering into a focused, streamlined course of study which took me through four levels of certification in a year (with the fifth level well under way). What I have tried to do in this book is to recreate my year of study in an interactive, flexible format. Even though I have geared the outline of this material to the levels of certification offered by the Tarot Certification Board, certification is not manditory. Due to the fact that I owe everything I have obtained to this structure which is recognized by the ATA and TCB, it is impossible to design a book like this without these certification levels as reference points.
If you make this book a part of your daily routine for the next 365 days, you will find yourself absorbing the meanings of the cards, rather than memorizing them. Most weekdays, you can complete the required activities in fifteen to thirty minutes. Weekends include some activities which take a little longer; however, other than the daily card, all activities are optional.
Let's begin!
1) Go buy a tarot deck. Make certain the deck you buy is a true tarot deck. It should contain 78 cards, preferably with distinct pictures on the Minor cards (1 - 10). Some decks designate the Minor cards by pips, just as our contemporary playing cards do. You will know your deck when you find it. It will feel right in your hand. You will feel connected to the art work. Your will know,
2) Go buy a Tarot notebook. Your Tarot notebook should have at least 78 pages. Once you get your notebook home, beginning with one of the Aces, write a card name at the top of each page. This notbook will become your own personal Tarot dictionary. "Your Tarot Year" is designed to replace a Tarot Journal you may see mentioned in most introductory Tarot books. If you feel you will need more room for journaling than these pages provide, you might want to copy these pages and put them in a looseleaf notebook to allow for additional writing pages.
3) Get a camera. A disposable will do. The camera project is designed to force you to look for the energies of the Tarot cards in your daily life. More will be explained tomorrow
4) Why do you want to study Tarot?
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1) Take out your new deck. Find the Fool. The Fool indicates a person taking the first step on their hero's journey. It is a foolish journey from other people's perspective. Who is your greatest critic of your study of Tarot?
Why?
Compare their reasons for not wanting you to study tarot with your reasons for wanting to study it that you listed on the previous page. Which is more important to you?
2) Shuffle the deck thouroughly. Cut the cards and recombine them. Draw one card from the top of the deck. This is your first daily card. The key to learning absorbing tarot is honor your daily card. If you find it is too hectic in the morning to draw your daily card, draw it the night before. If you miss a day, go back and draw a card for the missed day, concentrating on the events of that day while shuffling and cutting the cards.
Write the name of your card.
Write the definition of the card from the materials which came with the deck.
NOW THE IMPORTANT PART! Enter things in this journal that happen to you through the day. Should they reflect the message of your daily card in any way, make a special note of how that connection was made. That special connection is a hook which will connect that card to your mind.
----------------------- 3) Through the week, look for photo opportunities that would reinforce the meaning of your daily card. A disposable camera can be kept with you at all times and works well for this project.
Day 3
Daily card
Description in accompanying booklet
Journal entry
Photo taken?