Tarot, Karma and Reincarnation We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. Karma comes from the root kri, "to do". The principal is based on the idea that actions determine your destiny. One becomes good by good action and bad by bad action. Each karma, or action, generates a vibration that continues to vibrate in the mind. These vibrations are subconscious impressions. Like attracts like. Love attracts loving acts, malice attracts malice. The attraction and reaction is non-judgmental, and does not involve the operation of morality or a single divine judgment. Fate and Karma are very different. Fate means that one's life has been predestined. Karma is exactly the opposite. With Karma, your destiny is completely under your control, be it for good or for bad. The basis by which the two work is something of a paradox, and is suggested as a further area of study. Karma works hand in hand with reincarnation. Reincarnation means rebirth of the soul into a new body based on the soul's spiritual level, for the purpose of learning certain life lessons. It is a journey of the soul, simply put. The soul makes a choice about the lesson it will learn during a physical incarnation, and the lesson(s) are largely based on the karma built up during past incarnations. There are three "psychological" ways to gain an awareness of past lives. 1. Dreams - It is possible in dreams to get glimpses of previous lives. If you're in a dream, but with a different body, it could be one of your previous incarnations. Dreams are an interesting way to relive past life events. While dreaming, you temporarily lose touch with your worldly life. This is the time where your buried past life memories have a chance of surfacing because you're more free to experience them. 2. Hypnosis or Past Life Regression - With this method, you are put into a hypnotic state in an attempt to free past life memories and identities. Under hypnosis we are more relaxed and able to look back at our past lives; we don't have the inhibitions that normally keep us from having such memories during regular consciousness. 3. Meditation - If we are able to meditate deep and to a certain level, we can access past life memories. Again, by meditating, we lose our worldly concerns and inhibitions and are more receptive to the complete truth. The soul can be described as the eternal energy that sustains your body and makes your body seem real. The soul contains all of the intelligence that allows your body to function. It is the only constant in your many incarnations. Your body is like a mask, hiding your true self, the soul. You really don't die. Upon leaving the physical plane, you first go through a resting period where you are in a very deep sleep. People have described this as much, much deeper than your deepest sleep while on Earth. After you have refreshed and recharged yourself, you then enter a new world where things are different than the physical plane. This world is called the astral plane. At this level, the rules are different in some big ways. There is no real concept of time on this level. In addition, you are given the power of thought projection, the power to create things from your thoughts. Also, the body needs no sleep or food. The basic theme of the astral plane is that since you've shed your physical body due to bodily death, you can learn more about your astral body. This astral body lies under your physical body when you're in the physical plane. After remaining a certain amount of time in the astral plane, most of us reincarnate back into the physical plane. We have to choose the appropriate situation and birth mother for our next incarnation. Then the cycle is complete. Outside of the psychological ways of investigating karma, evidence of the operation of karma can be viewed in the ancient "arts of divination". The arts include but are not limited to: astrology, numerology, palmistry, and rune systems. Astrology Astrology provides the clear evidence of karma. The natal chart outlines the traps or temptations, special talents, self defeating techniques, and love partners that are partly or wholly influenced by karma. The path of karma running through your life is most clearly revealed in the natal (birth) horoscope. A natal chart, cast for a person’s birthplace and time, provides a microcosmic application of the macrocosm overhead. In the modern Western world, this chart takes the form of a circle made up of twelve portions. The planets are placed in the circle, their position relative to each other forever fixed in time. As the birth of a person happens only once, the natal chart is frozen, a blueprint of karma – the strengths and weaknesses inherent in a person’s being. Astrological event charts look at the nature of time – its possibilities and potentials – at any given moment. The goal of the event chart is to understand the way that the momentary energies interact with the innate karma of the natal chart. Transits are a way of seeing how life unfolds. Transits give insights into the tides of karma. The tides cannot exist without the sea, and the affects of the moving planets require the sea of our natal karma to come into being. Transits can mark times of crisis and triumph, chances to advance, and times of transition, danger and hope. It could be argued that moments of "fate" take place when there are strongly planetary/energetic interactions with our natal karma. Numerology Each day of the year has a unique energy created by the combination of the energy of the numbers that make it up. The same is true for the name that is given at birth. Each letter has an energy, and their sum represents a natal "energetic" blueprint. The day of birth and the name given on that day are not accidents. They are determined by karma and reincarnation pre-birth choice. Unlocking the secrets of the numbers reveals why a person is here, what their lessons will be, and where their karmic challenges will lie. Some dates and names carry heavy atonement for karma. The most heavily karmic names for women are Ruth, Victoria and Huette while the most heavily karmic names for men are Rudy, Victor and Hugh. The Connection of Astrology and Numerology Both astrology and numerology share a similarity that they can both be natally calculated and recorded. A person’s natal "blueprint" for karma can be locked into an astrological chart or a diagram of numbers and letters. The process follows a pre-defined, "scientific" approach. The natal chart and numerological numbers are not obtained intuitively. The procedure can be documented in a book or programmed into a computer. The procedural method of astrology and numerology is both a strength and a weakness. The strength flows from the fact that anybody can do it with the proper training and/or tools. Analysis after the factual creation of the karmic maps can be very standard too, not requiring intuitive intervention. The relative absence of intuition is also the weakness of these methods. Intuition Webster's defines intuition as "quick and ready insight;" and "the act or process of coming to direct knowledge without reasoning or inferring." It is derived from the Latin word "intueri" which means "to see within." It is a way of knowing, of sensing the truth without explanations. Intuition is something that we are born with and use everyday. Intuition is present in everyone because it is a survival skill, not a spiritual intention. In this form it is an unconscious tool, an extra sense outside the analytical, logical and rational side of the brain. In an untrained form intuition is very powerful. Intuition warns us who is "dangerous", when to be fearful, and when to jump into a situation. It can become a more reliable and valuable tool when the language of intuition is understood and developed. Untrained intuition can be confused with emotional desires and fantasies. Accurate intuition enables you to gain vital and valuable insight into yourself, family, friends, business associates and the world around you. More importantly, intuition provides you with guidance so thoughts and actions are nurtured to produce hopes and dreams. The three psychological ways to gain an awareness of past lives, and the karma associated with them, share a traits of: You temporarily lose touch with your worldly life. You don't have the inhibitions that normally keep you from having such memories during regular consciousness. You lose your worldly concerns and inhibitions and are more receptive to the complete truth. The rote and standard of astrology and numerology do not easily fit these traits. Intuition works best when the three traits are practiced. Intuition then flows, revealing the sensing of truth without explanations. From this sensing the revealing of past reincarnations and the path of karma begins. Tarot The goal of tarot is to momentarily disengage the individual from the control of the mind so their soul can get a message through. Throwing a cluster of objects to produce a specific result is normally beyond the mental capabilities of most people and so this lets the soul take charge. The cards bypass the mind by having the person pick cards as directed by spirit. The tarot enables the individual to tap into their own intuitive abilities by serving as a focal point for spiritual intervention. The symbols in the tarot are like symbolic clues we receive throughout life. Events in the world that occur seemingly at random, such as a gust of wind or a falling leaf, are symbolic guideposts of impending events. The tarot reading is simply the intentional allowing of synchronism to furnish a sign. The tarot is a navigation tool for our lives. Symbols in the framework of a tarot deck provide direction. A "reading" of tarot symbols gives you information about the present. Since the present is a seed for the future, the reading offers a vision of a "probable" future. Once the future has been glimpsed, it can be altered to either insure or deter what is seen. The tarot gives feedback about one’s location along life’s journey. The reading shows the possibilities, giving us choice and greater control over the destiny. The application of tarot’s "in the moment" reading ability to the karmic/reincarnation based past and future is possible if one believes that the past, present and future are all happening at the same time. The paradox of fate and karma appears. As with any metaphysical paradox, there is an answer to it, but we cannot immediately grasp it if we think in terms of our physical, time based reality. In consultation of the tarot, one can ask anything in any way. You can ask why, what, how , when, and where about any issue, decision, or aspect of your inner or external life – past, present, and/or future. Your questions may be specific or general. The tarot can respond to whether you should, can, will, or are. Karma and reincarnation questions are as valid as any. The tarot cards can communicate in a combination of two ways: symbolically and intuitively. A symbolic reading is also known as a "book" reading. An accepted, predetermined meaning is applied to the card. The quality of a symbolic reading is determined by the reader’s understanding of card meanings/symbology, both alone and along with other cards. The symbolic reading is kin to the procedural methods of astrology or numerology, but the element of spirit "picking" the cards in the moment adds an energy factor that the others do not have. The soul/spirit picks the cards at the moment of the question, when intuition can be focused, instead of at the moment of birth or the time of naming. The second method of reading is via intuition. When the cards are read intuitively, they "speak" to the reader, and there is no knowledge of underlying symbology required. The intuition of a reader picks up on the pictures in the cards or some other unclassifiable method. Some intuitive readers don’t require the cards, and use them only as a backdrop to a answering a querent’s question. Other intuitive readers use the cards as a "jumping off point", and the reading moves forward from the first impression received from the cards. An analogy of this is being shown on a map that one is somewhere in the Southern United States, and then determining the probable climate based on the time of the year. Most readers use a combination of symbolic and intuitive reading. Tarot Spreads Questions are often structured in the tarot through a spread, or layout. This is a symbolic pattern of positions, each with a given meaning. A card-symbol is selected for each of these positions and interpreted in relation to the assigned meaning of the position. Individual spreads lend themselves to different questions. A spread is like a map. It is a preplanned structure that the seemingly random, but synchronious events, can fall. The maps can be very defined or very rough. An analogy is if one considers the position of Greenville SC to Atlanta GA. The "mapping" between the two can be at these possible levels: . They exist (this is a very valid starting point!) . They exist in this dimension . They exist on planet Earth . They exist in the United States . They exist in the Southeastern part of the United States . Greenville is north of Atlanta . They are both located on HWY 85 . … and so on The more defined the spread, the more specific the answer will be. The drawback of a very specific spread is that the universe does not like to be pigeonholed. The right question and the right spread is important. Spirit, however, may or may not cooperate fully with the intended "map", and if other information is supplied, the answer will make no sense if plugged into a question with the supplied "map". Why will Spirit seem to not cooperate? There are a variety of ways to get a "wrong" or non-understandable answer. The question is not important compared to something else going on in the querent’s life. The analogy is that the querent is asking what color shoes they are wearing while a truck bears down on them. The answer seems wrong, but the person is just not open to hearing the reply. The querent wants to hear another answer. The parameters of the question were too largely defined, and it is not know what question or person the cards are referring to. The parameters of the question were too small, and the answer is bigger than the box provided. Multiple questions were asked, and multiple answers are given. Confusion results. The question has been asked many times, and Spirit is just tired of answering. Another tact is being tried by the spiritual guides/soul, and we haven’t figured it out yet. And there are more. This is only a sampling. Practice and being open to the voice of the divine are the paths through these difficulties.   Summary Tarot, karma and reincarnation have no special link. Tarot is merely a tool, a good tool, that can be used to explore the realm of karma and reincarnation. The advantage of tarot over astrology and numerology is the ability to tap deep into the intuition to discover answers. This presents both a difficult challenge and a wonderful opportunity. As spreads are the voice of the tarot, one will be presented next for further exploration. The proper use of spreads on the potentially tricky and paradoxical questions of karma/fate and reincarnation requires planning, practice, and a will to listen to answers that aren’t expected.