Sacred Practices and TArot

People who know me know that I love podcasts. One that I really enjoy is Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. If you are a Harry Potter fan, I highly recommend this podcast.
 
The hosts, Vanessa Zoltan and Casper ter Kuile, don’t just talk about the books; they talk about them as if they are sacred, as if we can find wisdom and revelation in them. A book doesn’t necessarily have to sanctified by someone or some organization to be sacred. They read the books, one chapter per week, and then examine the chapter in details through a theme, like forgiveness, love, humor, loneliness, commitment, being a stranger, change, confusion, etc.
 
Another thing they do is draw sacred practices from different traditions, practices that were designed to be used with that tradition’s sacred text, and use them with the Harry Potter stories. One that most of us are familiar with is Lectio Divina. Another is Ignation Contemplation, which is very similar to something many tarot lovers already do: imagine the scene and put yourself in it.
 
Vanessa and Casper introduced me (through their podcast) to a new practice called Pardes. It’s from the Jewish tradition and is a method for exploring a specific passage in a text, usually the Torah. It is such an easy thing to extrapolate this practice to a tarot card.
 
It is only four steps. I almost said “four easy steps” but I don’t think they are necessarily easy. Spiritual reading and contemplation isn’t like vegging out binge watching The Magicians or something (however, it is also an activity I can recommend).

1. Peshat/Surface: describe what is literally happening in the card.
2. Remez/Hints: look for deeper, hidden, or symbolic meaning beyond the literal
3. Derash/Seek: this is a fun one! With this one, you look for resonances or similar occurrences of a symbol or some aspect of the text, or in our case card, that runs throughout the text. For example, if you are doing Pardes to the King of Swords, you may think about crowns that occur in the other cards in the deck or with the Fool, you may think about other times red and white flowers or a companion animal are present.
4. Sod/Secret or Mystery: This is a message that is given through inspiration or revelation (or intuition)

 
Give it a try and let me know what you thought. Better yet, try it with some friends or a meet up group. Enjoy!

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May you always find new ways 
to see the beauty 
in the things you love.