Image via WikipediaLife is a process of cycles. Using a symbol tool like Tarot is a way of finding out which cycle is in operation in our life, and where we are in each cycle.

The Tarot cards cover all forms of experience, and existence as we know it. When we draw a card, the cardboard and the symbols on it become a clear mirror in which we see ourselves and our situation.

Buy a set of Tarot cards.

Also, buy a blank, unlined notebook to use as your journal. You want the pages to be unlined, because you want to be able to create pictures in it. A few pens of  various colors are also useful, as are coloring pencils or paints. Even if you decide that you will write your journal on a computer, do get the blank unlined notebook for your drawings.

You can’t draw? Nonsense. If you can draw a line, a triangle and a circle, you can draw. We’re not selling your drawings as works of art here. They’re not meant to look good. They’re meant to exteriorize your feelings. Let me give you an example.

I’m going to suggest that every morning, when you come into your office, before you start working, you sit down and draw a Tarot card so you can get in touch with your subconscious mind and use its help throughout the day.

The card you draw is your Daily Card. As you calmly and quietly contemplate the card, a number of feelings may come up. You take your journal, turn to a blank page, and start doodling.  Just draw a doodle, using as many colors as you wish, or just use a pencil or a pen.

Doodling is fun. In fact, keep pads and pencils around your house, so you can doodle as the feeling strikes you.

L.J. Read of The Enchanted Mind, wrote:

“It is well established that much of our creative expression is birthed in the unconscious mind. To use creative expression and solutions in your everyday life, it is necessary to dip into the unconscious at will. Doodling is one way of doing this. Doodling allows the unconscious to render in symbolic expression. Symbols have universal as well as personal meaning. When you are stuck for an answer to a problem or looking for creative innovation, the technique of doodling will unleash the hidden symbolic powers of the unconscious mind.”

By no stretch of the imagination would you ever call your doodles works of art. They’re not meant to be. They can be as ugly and as meaningless as you wish. The thing is, they won’t be meaningless. They are you, communicating with you.

Image via WikipediaIf you haven’t played with tarot cards, you have a treat in store. The cards will enhance your creativity and will teach you about yourself. In essence, the cards give you a compass so you can navigate the deep waters of your subconscious mind.

First acquire your deck

You can buy a tarot deck almost anywhere. Try your local bookstore, or a specialty or gift shop. If you can’t find cards locally, you can buy them online at online booksellers like Amazon.com.

Get to know the cards by using your tarot deck as a relaxation tool

Using your cards as a relaxation aid is the fastest and easiest way to use their ability to enhance your creativity. This is because the key to creativity is communication between your conscious and subconscious minds, and between your logical left brain, and your holistic right brain. This happens most effectively when you’re relaxed, or asleep.

Information tends to bubble up from your subconscious mind when you combine relaxation and a repetitive simple activity. Many artists and writers find that their best ideas come to them when they’re driving, or gardening, or taking a shower, for example. They relax, their conscious mind is engaged with the repetitive activity, and ideas arrive, bubbling up from the subconscious.

The relaxation process with your cards is easy. Here’s how to do it:

Not only is the process easy, but it also acquaints you with the cards.

* Take your cards out of their box, and sit in a comfortable chair. Make sure that you have adequate light so you can see the cards clearly;
* Take a couple of deep breaths. Hold each breath for a moment, and then exhale;
* Close your eyes, and scan your body. Can you feel tension anywhere, such as in your shoulders, or between your eyebrows? Consciously relax those areas of your body. Feel as if you’re standing under a warm shower of spring rain, and the rain is washing the tension completely out of your body;
* Open your eyes and stretch. Smile;
* Take the cards one by one, and just look at them in a relaxed way;
* The key here is not to strain. Enjoy the process. Try to recapture the feeling you had as a child when you paged through a picture book;
* Look at a card for as long as you wish, then move on to the next.

If any strong emotion comes up, don’t try to repress it, whatever it is. On the other hand, don’t cling to the emotion either. Take a couple of deep breaths, and go on to the next card. In a future article we’ll suggest some ways to use the emotions that arise, but for the relaxation exercise, go back to looking at the cards in a relaxed way.

How long should this relaxation process take? Anywhere from three to 15 minutes.

Keep a notebook handy when you relax with your cards

When you use the relaxation process (you can use it several times a day if you wish) you’ll often find that you get inspired. Ideas which come up for you may be related to your primary concern, such as a project you’re working on, or to a relationship problem, or to a new way you could approach a task. Or they may seem to come out of nowhere at all.

In order not lose your ideas, keep a notebook or a tape recorder handy. You’ll find that if you don’t make a note of these ideas, they’ll vanish: they tend to be as ephemeral as dreams. Even if you’re sure that the idea you just had is so brilliant that there’s no way you’ll forget it, write it down.