White Light Tarot^TM

ã White Light Tarot^TM
P.O. Box 470533
Brookline,MA 02445

Table of Contents

The Rediscovery of Reiki Energy............................... 1

Buddhism in the West..................................................................................................... 2

The Five Precepts........................................................................................................... 2

What Exactly Is Reiki Energy?.................................... 2

Historically, the most documented source................................................................ 3

In the essence of reiki.................................................................................................... 4

Tarot --The Occidental Symbol Set.......................... 4

Tarot Meaning, History & Symbols........................................................................... 4

Chakras --The Oriental Symbol Set.......................... 6

Chakra Meanings, Mudras and Asanas..................................................................... 6

Applying Reiki................................................................................................................. 6

Interpretation................................................................ 6

Positive Card Meaning.................................................................................................. 6

Negative Card Meaning................................................................................................ 6

Integration...................................................................... 6

Using Meditation........................................................................................................... 6

Introduction 1

Seven Keys to Combining Tarot and Reiki

At the center of your being, you have the answer; you know who you are, and you know what you want.
Lao Tzu 6^th century BC, Taoist Philosopher

Concept key        FOR EACH CARD:   Chakra Color   Tarot Meaning   Interpretation

t

he aim of this book is to bring together different ways of looking at problems and issues we all experience at some time or another. When we have an emotional disconnect from the world, we yearn for a deeper understanding of the underlying ailment, we seek possible solutions, and we want to feel better quickly. To this end we will look at tarot as a source of archetypal behavior patterns, and reiki as a source of energetic properties that influence our behavior. The hope is that by combining these two instruments, we’ll be able to understand the best course of action for feeling better.
The book is organized in a conventional manner. The introduction discusses the history of reiki and tarot and attempts to offer a glimpse into their cultural. The bulk of the book examines every card and its associated chakra color. You’ll find a chart for quick reference at a glance with keyword, color and main tarot interpretation. We start with the twenty-two major arcana cards followed by the four minor arcana suits, Swords, Wands, Cups and Disks.

 

The Rediscovery of Reiki Energy

Reiki is an ancient practice that was rediscovered by Dr. Mikao Usui in Japan the turn of the 20th century. Dr. Usui  was a teacher, Christian Missionary, Buddhist monk, government administrator and finally became the founding father of Reiki. As the story goes, Usui Sensi spent many years of study in America, India, China and Japan trying to understand and replicate the healing powers of Jesus and Buddha.

Buddhism in the West

Perhaps found in Upanishads, the Vedas, or some other Sanskrit scriptures, Usui found texts that described the movement of energies, and symbolic hand postures, but the texts did not disclose how to turn this energy on.  Therefore, in 1914, Usui made the pilgrimage from the Zen temple in Kyoto where he lived, to Mt. Kurama. There he would fast, contemplate, and sit for 21 days in meditation, to find out. Part of the time, he spent meditating under a waterfall, which opened his crown chakra allowing him to receive the knowledge of reiki.  Eventually, disciples would take the knowledge to Hawaii, where it would spread over the course of the 20^th century. 

Like aspects of Buddhism, Zen and Taoism, the emphasis is on mindfulness, honoring life, and our ancestors. Similar in style to the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, and the Eight Fold Path to enlightenment[i], living by the Five Precepts is an approach based on fundamentals that focus the mind, and calm the spirit.

What Exactly Is Reiki Energy?

If you want to know what reiki means, just think of  The Force from Star Wars. Reiki is sort of like the Force. In Star Wars, Yoda describes the Force to Luke by saying,  Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes.

When describing reiki, we often describe it by breaking apart the two Japanese characters that make up the word.  Rei translates to  Light and  Ki translates to  Life-force , and it is pronounced (ray-key).  The philosophy in Star Wars of mind over matter, not being seduced by the easy path to power through feelings of hate, anger, and aggression, and that we re all connected, all these concepts come from the same foundations as that of Reiki.

Historically, the most documented source of these concepts is found in the ancient Hindu text of the Upanishad.  These sacred texts were written in Sanskrit over several centuries, and starting as early as eighth century BCE. When was that? Well, for an idea of  how long ago that was, it s about the same time as the first Olympic games, the Ting dynasty, and Sodom and Gomorrah, roughly 3700 years ago. So this stuff is old, but interestingly not outdated. The books discuss practical ways of expanding awareness through yoga, which in itself is a philosophy. Additional documentation is in early Taoist and Buddhist texts dating as early as 2000 BC. Recent discussion includes possible linkage of the early Vedas, the Norse and Greek writings as well, spreading as the Indo-European tribes dispersed throughout the continent.

In the east, the body is a considered a  sacred temple , so surgery was never considered an option. Ways of healing that did not break apart the  sacred temple were found, hence energy healing. In the foundations of Western culture we find that the Greeks also described the energies of what made up the body and the universe.  Greeks (Aristotle) believed that all the matter in the universe was made up of four basic elements-earth, water, air, and fire. Upanishads in India, in ancient times, identified these elements respectively as "Prithvi, Aappas, Vayu, and Thejas " and added one more element "Akash" to identify space in which these elements interacted with appropriate forces to sustain the universe. These were termed " Pancha Bhuthas," and the philosophers, by sheer inspiration, tried to unify all these into a coherent picture of space, time and matter. [ii]

And oddly enough, we have come full circle and find validity in these descriptions of the universe again. In our own age of scientific enlightenment, this view of the universe metaphorically describes the same things that scientists like Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos; professor of mathematics and physics, Columbia University, are grappling with in string theory, or the theory of everything. 

In the essence of reiki is the idea is we have the ability to conceive and conduct ourselves in such a way as to bring about our desired destiny. This is not to say that we don t have  free will , or that outside circumstances don t also influence our lives, but it is interesting to note that there are now scientific proofs of mind over matter. We must remind ourselves constantly of this, and one way to prepare the mind stay open to possibility and flexibility is by using tarot and reiki together as one interlocking healing, and intuitively expressive modality.

Tarot --The Occidental Symbol Set

Tarot cards are at least 500 years old, some playing cards from China date back even farther.

There is no definite lineage to the tarot, other than 13^th century Italy. Filippo Maria Visconti [iii] commissioned the cards in celebration of his soon to be born heir.  It turned out to be a baby girl, and so when the child reached the mature age of twenty, an additional deck was commissioned for her marriage.  The decks use family members and the Greek Pantheon to illustrate customs and concepts of good and evil. The cards were used in a games of chance, one called Tarocci.

Philo, of Alexandra, was the first thinker to employ the term  archetype . [iv]

Tarot Meaning, History & Symbols, For each of the cards an interpretation honors the old but also makes way for new psychological areas to explore.  Jung was a pioneer in bringing the ideas of archetypes and collective unconscious to the fore. Although, not as relevant to the treatment of many psychological diseases, some parts of Jung s findings are still embraced as tools to help us explore our own deeper motivation and yearnings. The notion of collective symbolism, the seemingly random event not being random at at but processing inherent causality, and our ability to sense a wider array of reality than that which we can verify physically, are all part and parcel of using the tarot as a tool to reach the higher self.

Chakras --The Oriental Symbol Set

 

Integration
Intuition and psychic abilities allow us to connect to the world beyond our five senses. There are many tools available to assist us, but the most useful tool in ones arsenal is the ability to calm the mind. By calming the mind, we allow insights to foster new patterns of connection that can help relate the spiritual realm to the everyday realm in which we live our lives. Meditation creates space for intuition to blossom. When we are trying to figure out the right thing to do, what to do next, what happened in a situation gone bad, or why we are sick, we are often in an agitated state, and so getting answers might seem difficult, but it need not be. Our first action of quieting the mind allows us to consult our higher self.

Meditation means focused, relaxed, concentration.

Using Meditation - by getting quiet within the self, and listening to the breath for a moment, one can clear the chatter in the mind. To begin, try counting the breaths to five. Do this three times and then start automatic writing, or consulting any number of tools such as tarot cards, runes, I-Ching, or scrying. These tools help with interpreting the information that we get intuitively. When we are calm we can focus and see beyond our immediate surroundings, and we are able to connect to other people and places on the etheric or spirit level. When we connect on the spirit level, we are linking souls or experiencing joining of mind to our true self or spirit, which is part of the universal mind. Whatever we like to call it, the ability to calm the mind is essential to understanding a course of action that will offer healing results.

I believe that we know the answers to most of the questions plaguing us ourselves, and if we can focus well enough, we can often heal ourselves. It is simply a matter of self-empowerment to use the tools ourselves. This is not to say that a psychic, therapist, or doctor is of no use to us, their job is to help us use whatever tools necessary to help us heal. By offering their take on a situation, they expand our own ability to view the situation. Sometimes we need a new perspective and what better way to get one than from a different persons point of view. A sympathetic but objective person can help us heal difficult problems. Physical healing can also take place, or aliments can improve or disappear with the help of a trained professional.

I have experienced first hand healing results from connecting on the etheric plane. I was helping to heal a friends strep throat with Reiki. The strain of strep that he had contracted was from a nursing home. The infection was not responding to a normal course of antibiotics. He had been sick for over a month and had taken at least two full courses of antibiotics. Reiki allows for long distance healing. He is in Georgia and I am in Boston, but we could connect on the etheric plane, so we arranged that I would send Reiki energy to him when I went to bed. There was no set time, as we just left it loose. I went to bed one night at about one in the morning and I did a session. I got into a meditative state to link to him on the etheric plane, and I began sending Reiki energy. I finally went to sleep about two-thirty. I had been in touch him that I through email to check on his progress, but this time it was startling.

He reported to me that he had felt better between one and two-thirty and had finally fallen asleep about two-thirty. I emailed back that what he said confirmed that it was working, as that was exactly the time that I had been working on him. I told him that I would double my efforts. He continued his medical doctors advice taking antibiotics, but by adding Reiki therapy three times a day, by the end of the week, my friend was going out to a party for the first time in almost six weeks. I am convinced that the ability to connect to people beyond touch is truly possible and can be very healing. We are not limited to our five senses in reality, and in fact, the senses can be a distraction to connecting to the truth. The old adage seeing is believing is outdated, or perhaps the idea of seeing needs updating to include the ideas of universal mind, synchronicity, and connecting to source. I am convinced that if we can focus our abilities we can figure out the solution to any situation. With concentrated effort, we can heal the planet and each other.

© 2007 White Light Tarot^TM