TAROT SHAMAN: Gated Spread Book 1

Connect to your Animal Spirit

By Tali Goodwin & Marcus Katz

Copyright © Tali Goodwin & Marcus Katz, 2013

Published by Forge Press, Keswick
All rights reserved.

WHAT OUR STUDENTS SAY …

I am extremely thankful for these exercises. I feel like I could spend years contemplating these results and still not get to the bottom of the insight I have gained.

C.C.

This exercise as well as the others have spoken volumes. Thank you for sharing this experience with us.

R. G.

Incredible knowledge so easily shared … This has been a journey in which I have learned a lot of new things and feel very satisfied.

L. J.

Very moving and effective. I cannot wait for the next gates!

Y.

I suddenly realized I have been dreaming like crazy since I started these exercises! Very intuitive stuff about my situation, and about my Tarot!

L.

We have used real-life examples and authentic feedback throughout this series, anonymously, from our students in Tarot-Town. We thank them for their engagement with these experiences over the years.

About the Authors

“I’ve found my Blasted Tower, but I think it’s bent.”

Katz to Goodwin, Typical Conversation.

Tali Goodwin is the co-author of award-winning and #1 best-selling Tarot books, including Around the Tarot in 78 Days, Tarot Face to Face, and Learning Lenormand. She is also a leading Tarot researcher and is credited with the discovery of A. E. Waite’s second tarot deck, kept secret for a century, published as Abiding in the Sanctuary. She has also uncovered and published the Original Lenormand deck, and with co-author Derek Bain, the original Golden Dawn Tarot images in A New Dawn for Tarot. Her research into the life of Pamela Colman-Smith with new photographs will be published as The Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot by Llewellyn Worldwide in Spring 2014. She is co-Director of Tarosophy Tarot Associations (Worldwide) and organizes the international tarot conventions, TarotCon.

Marcus Katz is author of the ground-breaking Tarot book and teaching system, Tarosophy, and is the co-founder of Tarosophy Tarot Associations (Worldwide). In addition to Tarot books with Tali Goodwin, he is the author of The Magister, an 11-volume opus on the Western Esoteric Initiatory System, The Magician’s Kabbalah, and the forthcoming Path of the Seasons. He teaches students privately in the Crucible Club, available by application.

Contents

WHAT OUR STUDENTS SAY …

About the Authors

Contents

Preface

What is the Tarot?

What Are The Top 10 Wrong Ideas About Tarot?

The Tarot Shaman

Chapter 1:         The Guardian of the Gate

Chapter 2:        The Journey

Chapter 3:        The Summoning

Chapter 4:        The Spirit Catcher

Chapter 5:        The Invocation of the Animal Spirit

Conclusion

Bibliography

Websites & Resources

Kindle Tarot Books & Series

Preface

Tarot to Engage Life, Not Escape It.

Marcus Katz

You are about to go on a journey and experience real magick.

Grab a Tarot deck, and we are good to go!

The purpose of Gated Spreads is to overturn the common use of Tarot cards as a means of “telling” the future, or providing a brief insight into our life and motivations – and hence our future possibilities. The teaching of Tarosophy encourages the use of Tarot as a divine language; one which connects us to the deeper world underneath the apparent one which we often take for granted. A gated spread requires you to take action in your life, from which change emerges naturally. This is not the empty promise of a feel-good self-help book, but a call to action – your action – to change your life through Tarot.

Our Gated Spread experiences have been offered for several years to the public, and now for the first time we provide them in handy self-study packages on Kindle. In each of these individual books, you can experience shamanism, relationship and romance insight, creativity, alchemy, and even delve into your ancestry, all using just a tarot deck.

We have also ensured that this is not a book of fictional examples that sound too good to be true. Our books are based only on real-life testing and the actual experience of real people like you, encountering magick often for the first time. We have taught these methods and have run workshops and gated spread weeks for many years, and have hundreds of experiences which have constantly shaped what you are about to experience for yourself.

This book is ideal for first time users of Tarot or the experienced reader who is looking to activate the tarot in their life. We have ensured that you are given the necessary instructions and clarifications (from our previous teaching and feedback given by students) to experience true magick in your time using this book.

Before you begin, you may wish to join our free Facebook group if you have any questions about Tarot, and also download our free keyword guide to tarot cards and standard spreads from our site:

www.mytarotcardmeanings.com

What is the Tarot?

The tarot as most commonly recognized is a family of card decks, most often 78 cards divided into four suits of 14 cards (10 numbered cards and 4 Court cards for each suit) and 22 Major cards. There are presently about 1,000 different decks in print or circulation, and many more out-of-print, rare and collectable decks.

Although it can be proven that the tarot was developed in the early 15th century, a lot of books still suggest that it was used by the “ancient ...” and then provide lists of the unproven, non-factual ideas which results in a conflation of tarot and those very ideas.

The earliest names for the tarot are Italian. Originally the cards were called carte da trionfi (cards of the triumphs), but around 1530 A.D. (about 100 years after the origin of the cards) the word tarocchi began to be used to distinguish the tarot cards from a new game of triumphs or trumps then being played with ordinary playing cards.

You are actually seeing in the cards some direct examples of the triumphs – the procession of floats common at festivals in Italy at the time – particularly in such cards as The Chariot and the Court cards. There is even a Christian tarot in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; the cards were used to depict virtues, the liberal arts and sciences, and other aspirational notions from their earliest development. In fact, it could be said that the cards were originally educational or self-development tools, although that could also be debatable.

There is no evidence that the tarot were used by gypsies, originated in Egypt or were used for divination prior to the 1700s, despite popular occult lore that the cards have embodied ‘ancient teaching’ from time immemorial. It was not until a pseudo-connection between the Hebrew letters and the tarot was published in 1781 – by Comte de Mellet, in Antoine Court de Gebélin’s Le Monde Primitif – that esoteric interest began to appropriate the cards to embody occult teaching.

The earliest list of the 22 cards which have become known as the Major Arcana is given in a sermon against their use by a monk writing in Latin around 1450-1470 A.D. This sermon is sometimes called the Steele Sermon as it belongs to the collection of Robert Steele.

[This above section which we think is so important to teach is repeated in each booklet in this series, and is an extract from Tarosophy, by Marcus Katz].

Which Tarot Deck is Best for This Gated Spread?

Our students have used a range of decks for this experience, and of course the standard Waite-Smith is a favorite. However, students have used these decks with particularly good results:

         Tarot of the Magical Forest

         The Shapeshifter Tarot

         The Fey Tarot

         The Legacy of the Divine Tarot

Other decks such as the Druidcraft Tarot, particularly themed on a pagan perspective, will also work very well with this particular experience. You can also use an Oracle deck such as the Shaman Wisdom cards.

You may wish to use a deck with a larger number of animals on it during this particular gated spread!

What Are The Top 10 Wrong Ideas About Tarot?

Nature has much to teach us in her vast classroom … What you find in Nature is what works. It wouldn’t be there if it didn’t. Boundless wisdom awaits.

Bill Plotkin, p. 178

There are many wrong ideas about the tarot that seem to be popular. We would like to present quickly some common myths about tarot that you may have heard already, and change your view!

1. The tarot did not originate from Egypt, the gypsies, the Templars, Atlantis or a secret order.

2. You do not need to be gifted or given your first tarot deck – you can simply buy a deck for yourself.

3. You do not have to keep your tarot in a silk bag or bag of any particular color.

4. You can let other people touch your cards if you choose.

5. There are no real ‘rules’ in tarot, but some generally agreed good ideas.

6. The keywords for cards are not set in stone; they can be modified depending on the deck, the reading and the question. However, there are basic concepts specific to each card in the deck, which form a basic language.

7. The cards are not evil – no more than any art or printed material is “evil”.

8. You do not have to be intuitive or gifted in some special way – you can learn, and develop your tarot skills in any way.

9. The ‘ancient Celtic Cross’ spread has not been used for centuries, and it is not particularly ancient and it is not Celtic.

10. There is no single right way to read tarot – we encourage every reader to discover their own unique voice.

The Tarot Shaman

I’m embedded in this world, yes – but I am not bound, not imprisoned.

David Abram

What is a shaman? There are many definitions, but for simplicity we will use those given in the popular books of Carlos Castenada. In the Teachings of Don Juan, he gives an account of the requirements of the Shaman, the Person of Knowledge. He says The Shaman must be:

         Learned

         Of Unbending Intent

         Clear of Mind

         Laborious

         A Warrior

         Unceasing

         Possess an Ally

Whilst we see that the Tarot cards of the Magician, the Chariot, the Hermit, Strength, Emperor and the Wheel may symbolize the archetypal qualities of the first six of these qualities, we may also need to locate an Ally – in this case, the Spirit of the Tarot itself, to guide us further. But first we must encounter the Dweller on the Threshold – the Guardian of the Gate.

You may like to note in your journal which cards you personally see associated with the first six qualities that Castaneda gives for a Shaman. You may also like to record your dreams during this week which will often become more vivid.

More particularly, a Shaman is one who mediates or travels between the worlds; the visible world and the world of spirits. In this “technology of ecstasy”, through various means of attaining altered states, the Shaman communicates and interacts with the spirits of these unseen places. In doing so, they conduct healing, divination, and other feats of magic.

In this book, we provide you a means of using tarot to act as the language – the mediator – between you and the unseen world. Actually, it is the tarot deck which will become your shaman, and you will talk to the unseen world through it.

Of course, the unseen world may speak to you directly as well as through your tarot, so be prepared to look for signs and omens in the world around you throughout the week-long period we suggest for this experience.

Tarot Shaman: Gate 1

The Guardian of the Gate

Our first Gated Spread tells us what we must overcome to go onto the next gate – it is a warrior’s challenge. We cannot even begin to approach the mysteries unless we prove ourselves in some serious manner.

So for your first Gate, take a tarot deck and shuffle, considering everything that frightens you, then lay out 3 cards in a line (vertical or horizontal) as follows:

1. What is the Guardian?

2. How must I Fight?

3. What is the Reward?

Take these three cards and consider how they might relate to your life over the next day. What is the nature of the “fear” that has been divined by the first card? What is the manner in which you must overcome this fear indicated by the second card? What does the third card suggest you will gain as a reward?

I take out these cards in my reading:

1: Guardian – The Blasted Tower

2: Fight – Ace of Swords

3: Reward – Empress

I guess I start to see the Guardian as a fear of disruption and sudden failure. The fight is keeping clear to an idea, and the reward is a general natural growth.

Now – most importantly, decide on a definite ACTION tomorrow that will meet the requirements of this gate. Something in your life – not too dramatic unless you feel called to do so – that will respond to the divination of these three cards.

So I decide in my case that tomorrow, Saturday, I will try and do something extremely surprising, that fits to my ideas, I’ll overturn an expectation and overcome a barrier by starting to write an essay I have been prevaricating over. It’s not much of a challenge in terms of being a warrior, but I’ll determine to do it. The Ace of Swords!

We have found in previous gated spreads that there are profound similarities and interesting differences in the lives of those sharing this experience.

Here is a very simple example from a student, showing that the tarot can be very simply interpreted and do not always have to be very dramatic events.

1. Guardian - Three of Wands

2. Fight - Ten of Cups

3. Reward - Queen of Cups

My fear is that I am on hold in my life until some unknown event happens, or that I just put things off in general (3 of Wands). To fight that I need to remember to enjoy what I have, that I have enough, that I am enough (10 of Cups). The reward will be an increased ability to just go with the flow (Queen of Cups).

Action: So, for tomorrow I am going to do some cleaning that I have been putting off. Then I am going to bask in the comfort of a clean house.

We will then be given the next Gate by the Tarot Shaman tomorrow and continue our journey into the Tarot Shaman’s Path and meet our animal guide in the Tarot, having proven our worth at the first Gate.

There are many forms of shamanistic practice and at the end of this booklet of the Tarot Shaman Gated Spread we will provide a reading list for those who wish to know more about Shamanism worldwide, from the archaic to the contemporary! Whilst there is no particular connection between Shamanism and Tarot, many of the methods and approaches found in shamanistic practice can be applied to deepen our experience of Tarot in a profound and practical way.

The Journey

In this next gate, having overcome the Guardian, we go on a journey to meet our Animal Guide. Of course, we must travel but we must also do so in a relaxed attitude – the world is closer to us than we imagine!

There is a great scene in the book based around a re-imagining of Anglo-Saxon shamanism, The Way of Wyrd, by Brian Bates, where the shaman is taking a student through an exercise – he says; “Relax! You are tying yourself in knots with tension. Relax and your Guardian Spirit will cut through the fog of your life like a sunbeam”. He then jokes that the student must have been chosen by an Owl guardian as he is looking so wide-eyed and intent! Humor is an important part of Shamanistic training, as is trickery!

So in our second day of the Tarot Shaman, our Shaman will take us on a dance …

Tarot Shaman: Gate 2

The Journey

Our first Gated Spread told us what we must overcome to make progress and we acted upon this divination. You will have received the reward indicated by the spread, or at least deepened your appreciation of what holds you back from progress.

So for our second Gate, we set off on our journey to prepare for our later meeting of our Animal Guide - which will follow in the week, with further teaching on Animal Symbolism.

You will need at least 10 minutes or more, your deck & a small notebook and pen/pencil – and suitable clothing for the weather conditions and environment in which you are situated, because you may be going outside!

To commence the spread, shuffle your deck considering all the journeys you have been upon. Consider what you learnt, who you saw, what you recall.

When you are ready, stop shuffling and take the top card from your deck. We do not use REVERSALS (upside-down cards) in this particular gated spread.

Make a note of the card in your notepad, and perhaps a brief note (to be expanded later) as to what it tells you about JOURNEYS.

For example, I pull the Knight of Cups from Roxi Sim’s Pearls of Wisdom deck. He tells me that the Journey should always be full of delight, and not to miss the opportunity to go on detours to interesting places along the way!

You then make a journey – even if it is only into another room in the house, or outside, based on that card. For example, I chose to go down into the kitchen (Cups) from the library. When you are in that new location, choose the next card, and do the same as before – in fact, I got the Knight of Swords, which told me I must be prepared for a journey and cut through things quickly! So I simply walked across to the drawers and picked out a small (blunt!) knife.

Continue to work through the cards, taking either small steps, going on long-distance journeys, picking items up along the way, or simply learning about journeying from the comfort of your armchair!

STOP when you reach a place or lesson from the cards that just feels right. If you are in any doubt, it is not the place. Make a note of the final card which you have received to have brought you to this place or taught you a particular lesson about journeying.

You may have pulled 3 cards and not moved at all, you may have pulled 30 cards and travelled a hundred miles in the day. It is up to your journey.

When you are at this place or point – begin to consider how far you have come since you started the journey. Consider what you learnt yesterday about your fears and what must be overcome. Find strength renewed in this place, which is a “power spot” as it is called in the works of Carlos Castaneda.

When you have contemplated this journey, you can return! You may return to this spot again, or it may just be a one-off visit. You can even make a map of the cards and the locations through which you have journeyed! This is what we call a geographical spread, such as the one included in this download here [it is a PDF file] where we teach how to use your property as a spread and other methods!

We will then begin to summon our Animal Spirit and learn about Animal Symbolism in the cards in our next Gate exercise tomorrow.

Here is a real account from the journal from one of our students.

I start on my back porch. I drew the Knight of Swords – and think about my feelings about journeying. When I go on an adventure or trip or new class, like the Knight of Swords I am feeling inspired, excited, and full of hope and expectations. I also tend to rush in like an excited puppy!

Today when I looked at the knight I felt how he was encumbered by his "uniform", the clothing he wears to show he plays a certain role. This connected me with the Gate 1 lesson as I need to let go of expected roles and constraints.

I felt the need to run a bath for myself and go into the tub. Here I have no outer garment. I can connect with the flow and healing energy of the water. I draw the Hanged Man - before rushing into anything I need to feel how I feel in this place. It is a perspective of realizing in some venues some energies do not feel right for me. However this perspective - and I am also able to feel remotely - is needed before choosing to partake or go on any adventure. I need to look beneath the surface of things, people and places.

I'm in my bed now. It is the place where I have the most relaxation and peace; meditating, journaling or journeying. This is especially in the quiet of morning when my cats are all resting beside me.

Here I pull Justice - important because she was my “Reward” on the Gate 1 journey. After the above insight about calibrating the energies I go into, I am given the OK sign here, by spirit.

Now I pick out the next card, and it is the Moon - staying connected to my intuitive nature. Getting both sides of my brain in harmony, singing the same song, baying at the same moon ... working together on the same goals ... a duet, a team.

My final card is the 9 of pentacles - this is my Guardian from the first gate. I look at her differently. I see there is nothing wrong but her own image of herself. She needs to venture out into the world and sit with her insecurities.

Is it fear of myself, for who I am? Yes.

I go out to a diner in a nearby town bringing my mini-deck of Universal Waite.

5 of pentacles - today this card tells me that everyone has handicaps, pains, struggles. Before I leave the waitress tells me she has trouble slowing down ... I can relate. I think of the Knight of Wands.

Home. Back in my bed. I am using again my Sharman-Caselli Tarot.

As I pick up my deck I see on the bottom the Queen of Pentacles. I think as I shuffle how she is now the mature me, grounded. She is guarded by the bull head on either side of her. She sits confidently on her throne ... her own life's structure and foundation. The natural elements of nature are all around her being in a lovely wild garden. A rabbit near her feet shows her lightness of step ... she holds her life, the pentacles, in her lap where she can ponder and move through life thoughtfully.

I finish shuffling the deck. I turn over the top card.

It is the Queen of Pentacles.

Tarot Shaman: Gate 3

The Summoning

The symbolism of Tarot is populated with animals – birds, reptiles, fish, and mammals, real and imaginary. A wonderful example of how these are used as complex symbols is the exquisitely-named but hardly-known article here, The Aviary at the Gates of Heaven which discusses the birds used on the Empress Tarot card in the Thoth Tarot.

However, in the Shamanic traditions, animals are seen as messengers and guides – spirits in their own right. Whilst we will examine this symbolism more tomorrow, for today we are going to do a very simple exercise to start to summon our animal guide.

The Summoning

In this next gate, having proven ourselves and embarked on a journey, we will take our sacred place and begin to summon a spirit of an animal from our Tarot deck. First we must have the animal choose us – by consulting with what the Sufis call the “Counsel”.

This exercise is rather simple. Go through your deck and select out all the cards that have an animal on them. If you are using a pagan deck or animal oracle deck this may be all of the cards, of course! If your deck has no animals at all, you may wish to select an alternative deck.

Then shuffle, and place these cards FACE-DOWN about you, on the floor, in any pattern – perhaps a circle. Take any natural object, such as a crystal, stick or stone, and place it at about the centre of the spread.

Begin to move the object around, feeling it respond to the cards.

When the sensation of calling or pulling is strongest, place it upon that card.

Leave the object there. DO NOT LOOK AT THE CARD. Put the other cards away.

Now spend the day wondering what the spirit of the card is – try and see its calling you or summoning in the activities of the day.

At the end of the day, you can write down your experiences and look at the card – comparing your feelings and the animal you see on the card.

Here is a neat example from actual practice:

I performed the exercise this morning. I left the card atop my bedside table which doubles as my altar. We spent the day at my mom's house with family. We came home drained from the sun and playing in the pool. When I walked into my bedroom I remembered the card but did not turn it. I showered and watched TV for a bit.

I tell you all of this because when I turned over my card I had the Queen of Wands which features a black cat at her feet. This is odd to me because I am fiercely allergic to cats. My mom has cats that I tried to avoid but seemed to follow me everywhere today. My mom even teased me saying that they loved me. Then while we were watching TV my husband was watching something about panthers, which are just really big cats.

I cannot believe how this has played out.

Tarot Shaman: Gate 4

The Spirit Catcher

Now we approach the last stages of our first experience of Tarot Shamanism, today we are going to create a special sigil – magical symbol – to focus the energy of our Animal. We are going to do this by performing a special type of one-card reading called a “drill-down” reading.

The Spirit Catcher

This Spirit Catcher is in some ways similar to a Veve in Voodoo traditions or a talisman in the Western esoteric traditions. In a sense it is also a mandala. It acts as a focus of the energies of the spirit. It can be used by placing it on one’s personal altar, hiding it somewhere of import, or carrying it about on ones person. You may wish to take this magical diagram to the place of power you discovered in your Journey Gate and ritually burn it or bury it.

Take your deck and shuffle it whilst considering the guardian you have overcome and the journey you took, and the animal which was revealed at the last gate. Concentrate on that animal and ask “How May I honor your Spirit?” Take out one card.

Lay the card face-up and make a note of the key symbols, items, objects, colors even, in each of the following areas of the card:

Illus. Spirit Catcher Template

So it might be that the upper-left section of the card contains just sky. You could write in that section of the box, “Blue” or “Sky”. Select the most prominent symbol in that area of the card for YOU, whilst also thinking of the animal.

Then imagine that this box represents a new SPREAD.

The top two sections are “How you Honor me in your spiritual life”, the middle two sections are “How you Honor me in your thoughts and feelings” and the bottom two sections are “How you Honor me in your daily activities”. These are the three levels of the world.

Take each of the two symbols and read them as if they were a pair of very simple Tarot cards. What comes to mind? Write down your feelings and impressions.

In this manner of reading, each individual card becomes a Mandala. It is also a spirit catcher in that for the next two days you must live according to these divinations before completing the last Gate.

These activities must honor your ANIMAL SPIRIT in all levels of your life. You should also record any dreams or events of note during this time.

An Example

Again, here is an actual student example from one card.

My animal was the Hare. I drew the 2 of Wands and split it into the squared off sections.

How I honor in Spiritual life - the red crystal (passion) and the white crystal (purity of purpose) were the 2 symbols that stood out for me in the top 2 squares.

How I honor in Thoughts & Feelings - it was the Key in the middle of the 2 middle squares that stood out. To me that's about opening up, "unlocking" my thoughts & feelings and my intuition.

How I honor in daily activities - this one was interesting as it was the closed chest (again in the middle of the 2 squares) that stood out. To me a closed chest stands for hidden truths. It's the Key (my thoughts, feelings) that are crucial to me opening up (hidden truths) so that I can live and act according to my truth. The Key (thoughts, feelings) are also crucial to unlocking the passion and having a purity of purpose. (In the Legacy of Divine Tarot there is also a closed chest in the top half of the card.)

Tarot Shaman: Gate 5

The Invocation of the Animal Spirit

“The morning breezes have secrets to tell; don't go back to sleep.”

Rumi

We come now to the final Gate of this week-long Gated Spreads experience. We hope you have enjoyed learning about the Tarot through the animal symbolism of the cards and by engaging with your life in a Shamanistic approach. We have also looked at the concept of “drill-down” reading with just one card, which you can apply to your general tarot practice, turning one card into a deep reading!

In this final Gate we pull together our experience by embodying and being empowered by the animal spirit we have been called by - and which we have caught by honoring it.

The Invocation of the Animal Spirit

We now invoke and embody the Animal Spirit. This step uses a variation of a magical practice taught by urban shaman and modern chaos magician Jan Fries, whose books we recommend, particularly Visual Magick.

Living the Animal

On a largish sheet of paper, draw a rough sketch of your Animal Spirit. This can be heavily stylistic, symbolic or realistic.

Place a cross on 5 places on the diagram. These could be key features such as the eye, a wing, tail, etc. Write in each position, “This is the vision of my spirit”, “This is the spiritual power of my spirit”, “This is the balance of my spirit” or whatever may be appropriate to that part of the animal.

Now take your deck and shuffle whilst contemplating the journey that has brought you to this place, the fear you had to overcome, the calling and the catching, and the honoring of your animal spirit.

All the Gates have led to this divine moment.

Take out a card when you are ready for each of the place on the animal. These cards represent the animal’s response to you. They are the divination for how you can invoke these powers and qualities of your animal spirit. They tell you how to live the animal.

So for example, if I had a bat, and I had placed one of my crosses on its ear(s), writing, “This is the secret sense of the Bat, my sprit”, and then drawn the 7 of Disks (Thoth Tarot) in that position, I would read it as follows: “Failure and Sloth – the secret sense of my animal spirit is present and invoked when I give up trying and relax, surrender.”

You will now have five points of invocation of your Animal Spirit.

As a Tarot Shaman you can use these cards to draw upon the power of your animal guide, perhaps leaving them visible in your sight before sleep and communing with your animal in dreams.

You may also create a montage of the cards chosen to represent your animal, or otherwise use the cards to remind you of all that you have learnt during this week.

Another method to explore is creating an affirmation based on these cards and their relationship to your animal spirit.

Here is an example from one student, using her animal spirit of the Horse. The five points were chosen as:

Tail for protection

Ear for psychic power

Brain/Head for secret knowledge

Eye for Vision

Legs for spiritual power.

And the cards she received and her interpretations were:

Tail - Strength: strength of character, courage and taming the inner beast. Need to show strength of mind.

Ear - 9 Rods: Engage in a high degree of mental and physical activity. Stay focused, concentrate and be disciplined without straining myself.

Brain/Head - Wheel of Fortune: recognize the synchronicities in my life and accept that there is more than the external world. Be adaptable, versatile and have a sense of humor!

Eye - Page of Cups: engage in dream-work, active imagination and emotional enthusiasm (seems to be a recurring theme for me lately!)

Legs - Queen of Rods: Seize me path and rush enthusiastically forward, devouring details. Follow a path that allows me the full expression of my creative will.

Conclusion

“For me there is only the travelling on the paths that have a heart, on any path that may have a heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge for me is to traverse its full length. And there I travel – looking, looking, breathlessly”.

Carlos Castaneda, p. 185

In honoring your animal spirit, you will discover more avenues and direct communication from that aspect of the universe, and can continue to use your tarot as a tool to bond with that spirit. It will lead you into many new personal discoveries and adventures.

There are many other shamanistic methods of exploring the Tarot, and many aspects of animal symbolism which can be pursued. We trust during this week-long taster experience you have been given a new angle on your Tarot, and look forward to welcoming you on our other Gated Spreads in the future.

You can share your experiences in our social site, Tarot-Town, and ask questions. The site is free with membership of your national Tarot Association, with many other member benefits.

Bibliography

Abram, D. Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology. New York: Vintage Books, 2010.

Andrews, T. Animal-Speak.

Bates, D. The Way of Wyrd. London: Hay House, 2005.

Castenada, C. The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge. New York: Pocket Books, 1976.

Fries, J. Visual Magick. Oxford: Mandrake Press, 2000.

Harner, M. The Way of the Shaman.

Katz, M. Tarosophy. Chang Mai: Salamander & Sons, 2012.

Katz, M. & Goodwin, T. Around the Tarot in 78 Days. Woodbury: Llewellyn, 2012.

Katz, M. & Goodwin, T. Tarot Flip. Forge Press, 2012.

Plotkin, B. Soulcrafting: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and the Psyche. Novato: New World Library, 2003.

Steinbrecher, E. The Inner Guide Meditation. York Beach: Samuel Weiser, 2006.

Waite, A. E. Pictorial Key to the Tarot. London: Rider, 1974.

Wallis, R. J. Shamans/Neo-Shamans: Ecstasies, Alternate Archeologies & Contemporary Shamans.

Websites & Resources

If you enjoy new learning, and want many more ways to use your Tarot deck, we encourage you to explore our websites. You are also welcome to join us in your national Tarosophy Tarot Association, where as a member you will instantly receive thousands of pages of materials, and tarot video courses for every level.

We look forward to seeing you soon on your Tarot journey!

Tarosophy Tarot Associations

http://www.tarotassociation.net

Tarot Professionals Facebook Group

http://www.facebook.com/groups/tarotprofessionals

Free Tarot Card Meanings & Spreads

http://www.mytarotcardmeanings.com

Hekademia Tarot Course

http://www.tarosophyuniversity.com

Tarot Town Social Network

http://www.tarot-town.com

Tarosophy by Marcus Katz

http://www.tarosophy.com

The Tarot Speakeasy Blog

http://www.tarotspeakeasy.com

Tarot Book Club

http://www.tarotbookclub.com

The Tarot Review

http://www.thetarotreview.com

TarotCon International Tarot Conventions

http://www.tarotconvention.com

Fortune-Telling Laws

http://www.fortunetellinglaws.com

The Original Lenormand Deck

http://www.originallenormand.com

Learning Lenormand

http://www.learninglenormand.com

Kindle Tarot Books & Series

Check out all our other books and series for original and exciting ways in which you can use a deck of tarot cards to change your life.

Gated Spreads Series

Set 1

Book 1: The Tarot Shaman (Contact Your Animal Spirit)

Book 2: Gates of Valentine (Love & Relationships)

Book 3: The Resurrection Engine (Change Your Life)

Set 2

Book 4: Palace of the Phoenix (Alchemy)

Book 5: Garden of Creation (Creativity & Inspiration)

Book 6: Ghost Train (Explore Your Past)

Set 3

Coming Soon – Enter the Temple of the Gods.

Tarosophy KickStart Series

Volume I.

Book I: Tarot Flip - Reading Tarot Straight from the Box

Book II: Tarot Twist – 78 New Spreads and Methods [paperback]

Book III: Tarot Inspire – Tarot for a Spiritual Life

Tarot Life Series

Tarot Life: A revolutionary method to change your life in 12 Kindle pamphlets.

1. Discover Your Destiny

2. Remove The Blocks

3. Make Decisions Better

4. Enter the Flow

5. Ride the Lion

6. Connect to Service

7. Find Equality

8. Die To Your Self

9. Entering Unity

10. Becoming the Real [available from October 2013]

11. Your Keys to Freedom [available from November 2013]

12. The Depth of Divinity [available from December 2013]

Also in Print and Kindle

Tarosophy: A ground-breaking book packed with original ideas.

Around the Tarot in 78 Days: The ideal beginner book, a three-month course through every card. An award-winning book, recognized by the COVR New Age Industry Award for Best Divination Book 2013.

Tarot Face to Face: Take your tarot out of the box and into life!

The Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot: Learn the real meanings of the world’s most popular tarot deck. [available Spring 2014]

Tarot Turn Vol. 1 - 3: A massive crowd-sourced reference guide to all 12,200 possible combinations of reversed Tarot card pairs.

May a full deck of possibilities be yours …