Nothing better than trying to make something perfect while people gawk at you; behold the 3 of Pentacles, a young artisan busy at work, trying to focus while a few onlookers gather. What are they offering? Is it advice, or criticism?
Here’s a secret when this card shows up in your readings; 3 of Pentacles likes the audience, either way, at this stage. He’s unsure of his skill, but not of his enthusiasm for the task. He wants people to know about his new pursuit, and he will welcome a chance to explain or defend his decision to dive in.
So it is with anything new we take up; initially we want to share it broadly, and be seen doing it. We are imprinting in an effort to make it stick. You saw me walk to mass every morning for the last two and a half weeks, yes? That’s right, that’s who I am now. I am Morning Mass, rain or shine.
This is who I am, we say. But that’s not correct; it is more honest to say, “This is what I’m trying to be.” 3 of Pentacles is trying it on for size; whether he sticks with it remains to be seen.
Most people take up Tarot as a fun hobby, or become interested in the astonishing and beautiful variety of decks and styles. Tarot cards are fun, and early on when you can’t read very well yet, or you read better than expected and frighten your friends, you can just say, “Oh it’s not real, who knows, this is just a game, it’s silly.” You have an out, if you need it.
But if it takes hold, a genuine interest in Tarot can advance it to a spiritual practice. Intuitive Tarot, when used as a way to know yourself better and not just as a divination tool or opportunity to speculate about the energetic weather conditions, can guide self-reflection and illuminate dark corners.
The person mentioned above, Morning Mass, didn’t get struck by spiritual lightning at church and then say, “Now I’ll do mass every morning, since my soul has finally picked a team.”
Morning Mass, we would hope, took up the practice of daily attendance in order to get somewhere; an effort to practice the things that would lead to a soul unfolding.
Practice, then fulfillment. Of course it can go the other way, in those rare events of sudden and stunning spiritual clarity. But a spiritual discipline does not need to first define the destination, only the objective. You do not have to wait until you believe, or have an unexpected and transformative experience. A practice helps you engage with your worlds, both inner and outer, and the practice itself will take you where you need to go.
Any spiritual practice will also reinforce, refine, and develop the ideas converging around the beliefs that center you until they take more form. And when you feel blown off course, the practice can be both the life raft and the winds that take you back to shore.
I like Tarot as my spiritual path and practice, because Tarot always points directly back to the person who is the subject of the reading. You might come to me for a spread about your relationship with your boss, and get a sense of the energy at play; but the cards will only talk about how you can make your life better, not how to change your boss’s behavior.
No reading is going to let you off the hook in terms of your responsibility to a situation or relationship, and no good spiritual practice will, either.
If I decide the practice of making my bed is good for me, and helps me go through the day calm and centered, I will not derive the same benefit if I ask someone else to make it for me. Nor would I get anywhere if I hired a stranger to go to mass most mornings, light some candles, and tell me all about it later.
The Tarot is a fantastic tool for learning more about ourselves, the energies around us, and how we relate to both inner and outer worlds. Even without doing a traditional spread, you can pull cards in the morning to anticipate what energies you are going to meet that day, or check them at night as a review, to give context and fullness to what you might have experienced.
I prefer the evening review, because the cards can give me perspective and sometimes shift how I feel about the day. That’s what I want from my spiritual practice; the ability to redeem experiences that might have first struck me as negative and deflating.
It also gives me a chance to do a follow up reading along the lines of, “What could have made this experience better?”
A morning card drawn first thing could be slid out of the deck after asking for guidance on the best attitude to bring to the day, no matter what happens. A few cards hastily pulled in the midst of a difficult situation can also reveal and realign the energies at work.
In all these cases, Tarot as a spiritual practice and path is not about worshipping the cards. The cards are a tool to reconnect the human existence with its Divine source. The cards can plug you back in, to whatever power source you have pledged your devotion.
In any practice, that is key; from what are you drawing spiritual sustenance? Your spiritual practice and your spiritual health will only be as good as its origins. Your questions, too, and how you phrase them will also determine the value of the insights given. Like prayer, in a traditional faith, you will get the most help from Tarot as a spiritual tool if you come with both hands open and a genuine wish to grow into the best soul you can be.
The 8 of Pentacles has surpassed his earlier incarnation as the 3 of Pentacles; something stuck, and gave him not only engagement but growth. A rote, static spiritual practice eventually bangs up against the edges of its neat and tidy framework, and that is counter to the endlessly unfolding, Divine source of all creating. The 8 of Pentacles never finishes his work, no matter how accomplished he becomes, because it is continually evolving.
A spiritual practice, like Tarot, has flexibility and expansion. The cards always, always direct our attention to our role in a situation specifically, and provide more insight and information. The more you use them, the better it gets; like the 8 of Pentacles, as your familiarity and comfort level with the deck increases, the less you need an audience, or to prove to anybody that you’re doing something good for yourself, and others.
“The 8 of Pentacles never finishes his work, no matter how accomplished he becomes, because it is continually evolving.”
Yes!