I don’t often speak of my relationship with the system of tarot, which is a method of inviting and allowing for the voice of spirit to speak to us that was developed centuries ago. Such systems of consulting with the helping spirits have been around since the beginning of human record in some form or another. The Irish use tea leaves, indigenous people throw sticks and stones, the Chinese use coins, the Celts have runes – these methods are time tested and as common as fire. Instinctually humans always find the way to connect with greater intelligences Personally I would never have thought of initiating a study of tarot had a dream not led me directly to it. Having trusted dreams implicitly for decades before that, I began. The dream came before my life fell apart, the contact with spirit that was created through this method was salvational in the next years.

After about 10 years of using the system in my personal prayer and meditation times, I began using it to help assist others, adding to what I had long done with people through ministerial and psychological training. The added insight to what we work with and talk about has been undeniably on point, powerful and useful.

Recently I have been struck as The Devil card came up over and over again in readings, after hiding away from my readings mostly for years. I have come to realize that this is an often misunderstood card. The mention of the devil often throws a person into fear and the idea of victimization to powers beyond one’s own control. However in the context of each of these recent readings I have seen more clearly than ever that the devil card represents the temptation to give in to one’s own most negative thoughts, fears and attitudes that zap the person of strength, perspective and power. The devil is not an outside force, it is an internal force. It is not outside of one’s own ability to manage, it is within it, and is our challenge and obligation to manage it.

We are creators, not victims. The world is as we see it. As Thoreau says, we see the world not as it is but as we are. If we decide to trust, love, have compassion and mutual respect, then we create that world. It is not easy to do this, it is hard and a challenge. But it is possible. All you need is love.