SEE WHAT THERE IS TO SEE

Here is another part of the material I put together for Readers Studio. It comes under the category of pondering what Tarot is, what it means to us, and how we use it. The reading at the bottom, based on what I call “The First Directive,” is one I will be doing in my upcoming Tarot On The Hudson class here in Rhinebeck, May 26 (if interested in joining us, please write to Zoe matoff, zoemaat@hvc.rr.com. I also hope to do an exercise inspired by the suggestion from Simone Grace Seoul’s teacher.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES and QUOTATIONS
Or, WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT TAROT

1. Seeing and saying are almost the same word. In Hebrew or Arabic style, they both would be SNG. Can we Say if we don’t see? Can we See if we don’t say?

2. In Tarot begins responsibilities. This is a paraphrase of a famous story title, “In Dreams Begin Responsibilities,” by Delmore Schwartz. What is the responsibility of a Tarot reader? What is not the reader’s responsibility?

3. “You ask me for a reading. I tell you not your future but a seed for a dream.” Simone Grace Seol, Korean Tarot reader. What is a seed for a dream? How do we tell that to someone?

4. And from her teacher: “Look at them in a relaxed state and say out loud what you see.”
An exercise, and a way of reading:
Have deck in front of you face down.
Close eyes, and breathe, to put yourself “in a relaxed state.”
Let yourself feel energy of deck, and of top card. Do not try to guess what it
might be, or mean.
Turn over card. Staying in relaxed state, simply look at it.
Say what you see. Not what you think it means, but just what you see.

4. “There is no knowing for a fact. The only dependable things are looking and listening.”
Richard Powers, novelist, in “The Overstory”

5. “The First Directive” (as used in my fiction, in various contexts, since 1980’s)
See what there is to see.
Hear what there is to hear.
Touch whatever you touch.
Speak the thing you must speak.

As way to read Tarot. This can be done as a spread, for the way you read cards, but also these are questions to keep in mind when reading for others.
1. What is the essential thing to see, in a single card, in the reading.
2. What message are the cards telling us? How can we hear it?
How can we hear what the querent is trying to say to us? How can we bring
that to the reading?
3. What is the thing in the reading, in the querent’s life, that we must truly touch?
How can we touch it/them?
4. What is the essential truth of the reading? How do we make sure to speak it?

Notice there is no “Feel what there is to feel.” This was not conscious, but obviously deliberate. But your guess as to why ss as good as mine! And notice that feeling is part of the way to read cards described above.

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