The Magick of Your Name Tarot SpreadYour name is no accident. There is magick in your name that you can harness with this Tarot spread.

Start by adding up the letters of your first name:

A=1....B=2....C=3....D=4....E=5....F=6....G=7....H=8....I=9

J=1....K=11.... L=3....M=4....N=5....O=6....P=7....Q=8....R=9

S=1....T=2....U=3....V=22....W=5....X=6....Y=7....Z=8 

EXAMPLE: Lisa = 3+9+1+1 = 14 = Temperance

Reduce any number greater than 22 to a number between 1-22 to correspond to one of the Major Arcana cards. Place the corresponding Major Arcana card at the top of the table.

This Major Arcana card corresponds to your life purpose.

The next step is to choose a quality that you wish to embody for each of the letters or your name.

EXAMPLE:

L - loveI - inspirationS - self-confidenceA - abundance

Pull a card for each of these qualities and place them below the Major Arcana card that corresponds to your name.

Contemplate how each of the cards mirror or challenge the expression of the qualities you chose to embody.

Contemplate how each of these cards relate to the Major Arcana card and your life purpose.

Here are the cards I pulled for myself this morning from the Book of Shadows Tarot Vol 1.:

LISA = 14 = Temperance / Ostara

L - Love: 6 of Fire/Saturn (6 of Wands)I - Inspiration: 1 of Air (Ace of Swords)S - Self-confidence: Wisdom (The High Priestess)A - Abundance: Maiden of Air (Knight of Swords)

6 of Fire and Saturn speak of integrating Masculine/Father energies at the heart level.1 of Air shows me what I already know - Inspiration is my forte. A steady flow of ideas from an infinite source... and I often wake up knowing what to write about.II Wisdom. My self-confidence is intimately tied to the work I do and my spiritual calling. When I'm on my path, nothing can rock my confidence.Maiden of Air... Too many ideas perhaps. There is a need to focus on that million dollar idea.

The work I do is all about Healing and Temperance is the main healing card in the deck.

Now you try it! Have fun! :)

How to Calculate Your Personality, Soul & Shadow Cards

My Soul Card - The Empress, the B.O.T.A Tarot

There are a couple of different methods that you can use, but I'll describe the method Mary K Greer uses, and that you can read more in-depth about in the superb book Tarot for your Self.

Let's first take a look at you calculate your personality and soul cards. According to Mary K Greer you add the numbers of your birth date like this:

Example: 13th of April, 1975

134

+19751992

You then add each digit in the sum: 1+9+9+2=21, keeping any number from 1-22.

In this example, 21, The World, is your personality card. As this is a double digit number, you can reduce it further to a single digit number by adding 2+1=3. 3, The Empress, is your soul card.

If the sum is greater than 22, you reduce the digits until you have a smaller number. If the sum then becomes a single digit number, the personality card and the soul card are one and the same.

In one instance, a person can have more than two personality cards, and this happens when the sum is 19. Cards 1, 10 and 19 then all become both personality and soul cards.

Number 22 corresponds to 0, the Fool, with number 4, the Emperor as the soul card. According to Mary K Greer, these two cards also work more as a unit rather than as a separate soul and personality cards.

In the table below, you will find some key words for each numerological constellation, and also see which card is your Hidden Factor or Shadow Card. The term "Shadow" here is used in the Jungian sense to refer to those aspects of ourselves that we'd rather keep in the subconscious and therefore tend to project onto others.

Personality & Soul Card Patterns

Hidden Factor,

Teacher/ShadowConstellation Principle

1-1

10-1

19-10-1

10 + 19

19

10

Magician

(Sun, Wheel of Fortune, Magician)

Will and Focused Consciousness

2-2

11-2

11 + 20

20

High Priestess

(Judgment, Justice, H.P.)

Balanced Judgment through Intuitive Awareness

20-2 113-3

12-3

21-3

12 + 21

21

12

Empress

(World, Hanged Man, Empress)

Love and Creative Imagination

4-4

13-4

22-4

13 + 22

22

13

Emperor

(Fool, Death, Emperor)

Life Force and Realisation of Power

5-5

14-5

14

*

Hierophant

(Temperance, Hierophant)

Teaching and Learning

6-6

15-6

15

*

Lovers

(Devil, Lovers)Relatedness and Choice

7-7

16-7

16

*

Chariot

(Tower, Chariot)Mastery through Change

8-8

17-8

17

*

Strength

(Star, Strength)Courage and Self-Esteem

9-9

18-918*

Hermit

(Moon, Hermit)

Introspection and Personal Integrity

The Personality Card tells you how you tend to respond to others based on past experience, as well as how others perceive you (roughly corresponding to your Zodiac Rising Sign). The Soul Card describes your inner drive and motivation, roughly corresponding to the Soul urge in a Numerology reading.

Do a reading with your Birth cards to find out what lessons they are currently bringing into your life.

Calculate your Tarot Year card.

How to Calculate Your Tarot Year Card

The Wheel of Fortune - My card for 2013

Using the same method as you did for your Personality Card, you add the number of the day and the month you were born to the year you want to check your card for.

Example: You were born on the 3rd of April, and want to know your card for this year, i.e. 2007

34

+20072014

 You then add each digit in the sum: 2+0+1+4=7, keeping any number from 1-22. 

In this example, 7, The Chariot, is your Year Card.

In Tarot for Your Self, there are graphs that you can copy and use to show your year cards from age 0-21. There's also a table that makes it quick and easy to figure out the card for each year.

Mapping out my own personal Year Cards, I couldn't help but notice that I got married during a Chariot year – twice. Call me a slow learner 

It is interesting looking at the graph and trying to figure out what main events may have been influenced by the energies of the Year Cards. It also adds a lot of depth doing this in combination with an astrology reading.

My Soul Card is the Empress (Venus) and my Personality Card is the World (Saturn). I find this fascinating, as I'm a Capricorn sun sign (ruled by Saturn) in this incarnation. My Shadow/Teacher card matches my Piscean North Node and I also have a Water dominated birth chart. 

As for the Empress, I don't have much Venusian influence in my birth chart, but I've always seen myself as a creative soul. My Year Card is the Emperor and this is very apt as I am going through my Pluto Transit this year. Perhaps it would have been even more spot on with Death as my Year Card, but I believe that the Shadow energies of the Death card are active during

the Emperor Year. 

Let me know how you are getting on in the comments below if you already use this method, or are beginning to experiment with it. How does it match or contradict your astrological birth chart? I look forward to hearing from you!

Check the table below for astrological correspondences:

0 The Fool The Element of Air (Uranus)1 The Magician Mercury2 The High Priestess The Moon3 The Empress Venus4 The Emperor Aries5 The Hierophant Taurus6 The Lovers Gemini7 The Chariot Cancer8 Strength Leo9 The Hermit Virgo10 The Wheel of Fortune

Jupiter

11 Justice Libra12 The Hanged Man The Element of Water13 Death Scorpio14 Temperance Sagittarius15 The Devil Capricorn16 The Tower Mars17 The Star Aquarius18 The Moon Pisces19 The Sun The Sun20 Judgment The Element of Fire21 The World The Element of Earth (Saturn)

Birth Cards ReadingHave you checked your Tarot birth cards yet? Your birth cards are based on your date of birth. The numbers calculated help you find your Soul (inner desire/motivation), Personality (similar to the Zodiac Rising Sign) and Shadow(Jungian term for repressed stuff) cards yet?

Do you wonder what these cards and archetypes have to do with your day-to-day life? Whether you are aware of it or not, these main archetypes continuously create lessons and scenarios for your soul's growth. In order to find out what is happening with this right now, you may like to try out the little Birth Cards spread I created:

Quickly brush up on the original meanings of your Birth cards if you have forgotten and then take a closer look at what is happening right now:

1.+ 2. Main current Theme/Challenge on your Soul path, i.e. shows your inner motivation levels3.+ 4. Main current Theme/Challenge with regards to your talents and how others perceive you5.+ 6. Main current Theme/Challenge when it comes to stuff you are projecting on others. Be mindful of the fact that this could also concern a 'golden shadow,' i.e. things you admire or are jealous of in others because of fear of owning your own power

SAMPLE BIRTH CARDS READING

This reading is for a 3 Soul, 21 Personality and 12 Shadow combination:

None of the original birth cards are present. This makes the message of this reading slightly less critical. However the 3 of Swords resonates with the Soul card and therefore gets more 'points' in this reading.

Soul card theme/challenge: There is a sense of taking a new direction with these two cards.

Temporary confusion is likely. A feeling of wanting to give up completely may be present.

Personality card theme/challenge: The Moon here resonates with the 9 Numerology of this person's year card. This tells us that it is both possible and likely that the inner changes indicated by the Soul card theme/challenge actually originate in interactions with other people and feelings of isolation, rejection and abandonment (reading the Moon and the 3 of Swords together).

The 3 of Swords here also resonates with the current constellation of Saturn in Libra.

Shadow card theme/challenge: These two cards definitely speak of a golden shadow and a fear of owning one's own power - especially when it comes to yang/masculine qualities, as represented by the rather phallic Ace of Wands. The challenge is to gain a bird's eye perspective and restore hope about the possibility of a more balanced and integrated state of being (The Star).

Being ME * Self-Development Tarot Spread *The quote below inspired the spread I created this morning for reflection and personal development. Desiderius Erasmus's words spoken half a millennium ago made me ask "How do we become ready to be what we are?" There is no better tool for answering this question than the Tarot which holds the key to all aspects of self as well as to the soul alchemy process of becoming that which we truly are and freeing ourselves from self-imposed limitations. 

Before laying the cards out according to the layout in the spread below, feel free to choose a significator for yourself. I would use my soul card, The Empress, but you may prefer one of the court cards.

1. How free is my soul? Place this card on top of your significator if you have chosen to work with one.2. Mirror - An aspect of self mirrored back to me by others that is influencing my ability to be true to myself at this moment.3. Self-talk - How my self-talk is affecting my ability to be true to myself.4. Soul Alchemy - A healing aspect/influence that I can access right now to help me heal that which needs healing.5. Shadow - What I am trying to hide from myself out of shame or fear. This could be something I project onto others, either in a negative or positive way. The latter is known as a 'golden shadow' which signifies fear of success.6. Leave behind - Something I need to let go of in order to free myself.7. Love this! - An aspect of Self that I need to embrace and nurture right now.

Your Tarot Reading Is Only Ever As Good As Your Question

Your reading is only ever as good as your question. This is because your question creates focus.

A Tarot card has a thousand different meanings depending on the context and the question asked. A professional reader uses your question to tune into the right meaning.

You can still do general readings, of course. Mostly the guidance in a general reading will be... well, general. If you are really interested in moving forward, you must make sure to ask the right question of the cards.

Don't be afraid to sit in silence and tune into the core of the issue you are trying to resolve. Look beyond first impressions. Be prepared to own your own shit (i.e. that which you tend to project onto others).

The more specific the question, the better and the more focused on aligning your ego personality with your higher self, the better!Questions that begin with 'How...?' are particularly useful, as the Tarot loves to provide practical action advice.

By the way, it's a myth that you can't ask yes/no questions. You absolutely can. Just be prepared for a 'maybe' or 'it's still in the balance' type answer as most things in life aren't set in stone.

The same goes for timing. Yes, you can predict timing with the Tarot but it's not usually 100% accurate as, again, it depends on circumstances not set in stone. Personally, I depend on the astrological correspondences for timing.

Asking the same question over and over again will greatly annoy the cards and add to your confusion. Don't do it and don't go to a different reader just because you weren't happy with the initial answer!

When you ask the right question, the reading you receive will resonate deeply with your own inner knowing. The best readings are always the ones that make you go, 'Hey (or Doh!), I knew that!'

The Affliction Tarot Spread - A Guide to Dealing with SufferingCharacter cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. - Helen Keller

Job and His Friends by Vladimir Borovikovsky

Having suffered multiple afflictions in the past few years, culminating in several incidences of backstabbing and betrayal this year, I was told the other day by a 'friend' that it was all happening because of my own negativity and inability to relinquish the ego.

Story of Job, anyone?

The story of Job is a wonderful reminder that we are sometimes made to suffer, not as a result of our own iniquity but for reasons known only to God. It's also a reminder of what we must sometimes endure in the name of 'friendship.'

It's a popular New Age notion that we are the gods of our whole existence. Yet ancient wisdom teaches us that mostly we don't get to choose the cards we are dealt but only how we play them.

So be comforted if you are sitting there with a shitty set of cards, surrounded by 'friends' who tell you it must be your own fault; It's not your faulty thinking or your inability to understand the Law of Attraction that caused all this, no matter what they say.

You know you have done all you can to stay positive and be a light in the world. Divine justice operates in mysterious ways and friends who think they understand the laws of karma well enough to preach at you instead of giving you a comforting hug have a thing or two coming.

Also, all illnesses aren't of our own making and if you suffer a miscarrige, the reason may not be revealed until you are reunited with your angel baby on the other side.

That's not to say we can't learn from it all in this life time - we can. But there will be times when we have to wait patiently for things to turn around and answers to come. In the end, only kindness matters. And this is the lesson Job's 'friends' so utterly failed to understand.

There are times when the Refiner's Fire is unbearable because we seem so utterly cut off from the comforting embrace of God. These are the times when all we can do is cry for mercy and wait for the break of dawn like the man nailed to the ground in the 10 of Swords.

Yet the end product is always worth the suffering. Because the refiner's fire turns out nothing but the purest gold.

I have created a spread that you can use whenever you feel afflicted. Hopefully, it will help you see the bigger picture a bit better which can be helpful. It's also reminder to lift your eyes and ask for mercy. Know that it is there even when you can't feel it.

1. The Source of Your Affliction - this card gives you a fuller understanding of what it is you are currently experiencing

2. The challenge - this card shows you the challenge you must rise to meet even though you may feel that you can't take another step. The dynamic between the first two cards and the final card contains the hidden lesson.

3. Friends - this card shows you what kind of support you have available from friends. It's entirely possible that you have some great support there - not all friends are like the friends of Job! If so, don't be afraid to let them in. They will be just as blessed in the giving of support as you are in the receiving. However, don't fret if this indicates that enemies are surplus to requirement with friends like yours. This is not a permanent state of affairs - only part of the test. Forgive them for not being able to see the full picture.

4. Enemies - this card shows you a source of negative influence right now. It is usually other people and will be related to the source of your affliction somehow. The 5 of Swords in this position is an indication that someone is actively trying to curse your life.

5. The Voice of God - use an Angel card for this position, as a comforting embrace of divine mercy. You may also want to place an Angel card over your friends/enemies while blessing them and also over the Source of Your Affliction.

Bless a thing and it will bless you. Curse it and it will curse you...If you bless a situation, it has no power to hurt you, and even if it is troublesome for a time, it will gradually fade out, if you sincerely bless it. - Emmet Fox