So I spent the morning with James Wanless and we did a group reading on what was needed to support America in it’s “renewal.” I found it to be fascinating – and as many of you know “you can’t make this shit up.”

The second part of the reading was to apply each aspect to ourselves. If we are one, the change that we implement in ourselves reinforces and supports the change in the world. “Be the change that you want to see,”

We split the cards up into the 5 different sections (4 Suits and Major Arcana) and then drew from each stack. So, here we go.

I – MAJOR ARCHETYPE: Definition of the big picture
We drew BALANCE, which is an VIII.

II- CRYSTALS: Mental world
We drew DELUSION, which is a 10

III – CUPS: Emotion.
We drew the Nine of Cups FULFILLMENT.

IV – WORLDS: Physical World
We drew 10 of Worlds REWARD

V – WANDS: Spiritual World
Nine of Wands INTEGRITY.
INTERESTING ASPECTS OF THE DRAWING

Four out of the five cards we drew were nines or tens. That is fascinating and fantastic in my mind. In a simple way, nines and tens represent the end. A ten can also be seen as a one which is the beginning. I think that we all would like to believe that at this time we have just ended an era and are beginning a new one.

The Major overall idea that needs to be addressed is BALANCE. That feels essential to me in order for our country to be renewed. For the mental card we drew, we viewed the card of DELUSION (also a 10) in two different ways. One, as a warning as to how things have been, what we need to move away from. Another aspect of delusion is moving out of the box towards creative vision. Moving away from the way things have been done.

Emotionally we need to find FULFILLMENT. (9) The ways in which we as individuals and as a country have been looking for fulfillment has been delusional and out of balance. We need to come from a more balanced space. Find ways to create and feel true fulfillment. Moving from the head to the heart.

What Action do we need to see? What needs to be seen in the physical world. The 10 of Worlds REWARD was drawn. We interpreted this card in a similar manner as the card of Delusion. Something to watch out for – wanting instant satisfaction, a reward without doing much. I believe in Obama, and I believe there will be change, we will be rewarded, but I think it’s going to look different. I think it will be a truer more honest reward than what we have experienced in the past. The Reward card also represents the completion of all things brainy and physical with a movement towards our hearts and our emotions.

The last card we focused on was what virtue and quality we need to focus on in order to see the renewal in America. We drew the Nine of Wands INTEGRITY. I don’t think there could be anything more right on than that. I see Obama as having so much integrity. I see us as individuals needing more integrity in our actions, our ways of living and the ways we do business.

SO – BRING MORE BALANCE INTO YOUR LIFE, DON’T BE DELUSIONAL ABOUT WHERE WE ARE AS INDIVIDUALS AND A COUNTRY. FIND A TRUER WAY TO EXPERIENCE FULFILLMENT AND THE REWARD WILL COME THROUGH INTEGRITY.

The fusion of Tarot and dreamwork can be one of the most powerful tools in our Magician’s kit, leading to ‘aha’s’ of sudden self-awareness, a deliciously absurd centeredness, and seemingly miraculous keys to manifesting our deepest desires.

Working with the Voyager Tarot and with dreams conjointly can dip us ever so delicately into the shiny dark pool of our personal and collective unconscious mind, to discover treasures of healing, abundance and joy.

There are many strategies for achieving this fusion. One technique that I find particularly useful is to meditate on a Major Arcana card (or sometimes a Minor, like Courage or Reward, when appropriate to one’s questions or needs of the moment) right before bedtime. Visualize meeting the Magician or whomever, in a sacred space in Nature, after you have relaxed deeply, using whatever relaxation technique works best for you. You can ask the archetype on your chosen card any question: ‘when will I land a job in this economy?’ or ‘how can I end my feud with Bob?’ or indeed, anything else. You could ask the archetype to help you heal or manifest. If you are working with the Magician, a delightful ritual called ‘The Magician’s Ritual-Meditation for Manifestation’ is suggested in the Voyager Tarot Guidebook (James Wanless: Voyager Tarot-Guidebook for the Journey, Fair Winds Press, 1998) pp. 109-112.

Or, one could simply adopt a receptive Priestess mode, by receiving the archetypal energy of the chosen card in silence, filling oneself with that energy. Just bask in the energy of Strength or Fortune or whatever, without any questions, manipulation or strings attached.

Trust that one’s question will be answered or that there will be a sense of peace, resolution and clarity. Sleeping with the card under one’s pillow can work amazingly well as a reinforcer!

In either case (active or receptive), please don’t forget to jot down impressions, dream images, hunches or action nudges as soon as possible after waking up. It doesn’t matter whether you’re groggy as all get out, beautifully red-eyed and grouchy when the alarm goes off at 6 a.m. Just write. Don’t edit or play the perfectionist-just write it down in a dream journal! Other ideas for journaling and working with dreams are explored with passion, wit and thoroughness by Robert Moss. (See Robert Moss: Conscious Dreaming: A Spiritual Path for Everyday Life, N.Y. : Three Rivers Press, 1996.) One technique I’ve learned from Moss is to approach the Tarot as a shamanic friend (not as a god or as the representative of an ineluctable fate), a Wise One who can help us to unravel and decode our dreams. This should be done right after waking up & journaling the dream.

Sometimes, I find myself spontaneously ‘dreaming the Tarot’, without any prior meditation before sleep.

I would like to share an archetypal Tarot dream with you, one that I had a few weeks ago:

I am in this large, bright, airy house talking to a real estate agent. I suddenly realized that he was Xipe Totec, the Aztec god of the Spring, who appears as the central figure in the Time Space card in the Voyager deck, although he looked like a nerdy, balding old-young man , bespectacled, white shirt with rolled up sleeves and bulging waistline in this dream, not like his appearance in Voyager, dressed in sacrificial human skin. With him, a couple of murmuring goons (the karma judges?). I realized that this was a positive ‘Judgment/Aeon’ dream.

They quizzed me intently re: my motivation. Why did I want ownership of this house? Seemingly satisfied with my answer, Xipe handed me the keys to this bright airy house in a wooden bowl.

I woke up feeling good. Subdued excitement.

I see this as a very positive dream. The ‘house’, in a Jungian sense, could be the house of my self, ‘owned’, scripted and controlled by others. I am finally ready to take ownership of my self and my life and to craft it independently of others’ scripts. (Parents, codependent friends, lovers, bosses etc.) It could reflect my readiness (with cosmic ‘permission’ and blessing) to move out of hovels and constricted spaces into bright, airy surroundings and to claim my rightful abundance.