Tarot Therapy Volume 2: The Seekers Quest

By Steve Hounsome

This book is an exploration and examination of the Major Arcana of the Tarot, as experienced and understood by the author, Steve Hounsome. In the ten years since he published the first in this three volume series, Steve has undertaken his own ‘Seekers Quest’ and here he presents this unique view of the Major Arcana.

In what is at times a highly personal account of his experience with the energy of the cards, Steve demonstrates how the energy or power of each of the cards can be used in a therapeutic way to promote healing and development of the self. For those working as professional Tarot readers this book can be an invaluable aid, but as Steve himself found, this must first be done within you. This book shows you how.

Volume 3 of the Tarot Therapy series will explore the energy of the Minor Arcana.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Hounsome
• Release date: Sep 3, 2012
• ISBN: 9781899878185

Steve Hounsome

Steve has been involved in this field for thirty years now and has completed a wide variety of studies and activities in this time.Steve holds qualifications in the following subjects -* Progressive Healing* Psychic Studies* Esoteric Soul Healing* Tarot* Bach Flower Remedies* Basic Counselling SkillsThe training Steve has completed is as follows -* One year Progressive Healing, Sanctuary of Progress* One year Psychic Studies, Sanctuary of Progress* Meditation - 2 years, private tutor* Natural Magic, 1 year, Marian Green* Ritual Magic, 1 year, The London Group* Esoteric Soul Healing, 2 years, Isle of Avalon Foundation* Bach Flower Remedies - Foundation Level Certificate* Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids - 12 years, now initiated Druid memberSteve has also attended lectures and workshops too numerous to mention over the years and continues to add to his knowledge and experience by attending events as they occur and maintaining his own regular sacred practices in Meditation, Yoga and Chi Kung.Steve has had articles published in many magazines, on a variety of the subjects he works in. These include Positive Health and Pagan Dawn, as well as many of the smaller titles produced in the Pagan and holistic communities.Steve has appeared on TV, twice alongside Derek Acorah on Granada TV's show 'Psychic Livetime' and acted as examiner on the Living TV series 'Jane Goldman Investigates', overseeing the work of Michelle Knight who taught the Tarot to Jane.Steve acted as advisor and consultant for the New World 'Music of the Tarot' CD, for which he also wrote the accompanying booklet.Steve has had ten books published -* Taming the Wolf: Full Moon Meditation* Practical Meditation* Practical Spirituality* Tarot Therapy Vol. 1: Tarot for the New Millenium* Tarot Therapy Vol 2: Major Arcana, The Seekers Quest* Tarot Thrapy Vol 3. Minor Arcana: The Map of the Quest* How To Be A Telephone Psychic* The Tarot Therapy Deck* The Gamble-Hounsome Tarot: The Tarot of Gnosis* Tarot for GriefSteve also plans to produce his own 'Tarot Therapy' deck and a major new course and workbook, called 'Sacred Living'.Steve has taught in person across the South of England and by distance learning internationally. Apart from his own private events, Steve has taught at Adult Education Centres in Hampshire and was tutor of the 2-year Tarot course at the prestigous 'Isle of Avalon Foundation' in Glastonbury, Somerset. Steve has tested and trained psychic readers for some of the leading telephone psychic companies in the UK, working across the world.Steve was a Founder Member and Secretary of the Professional Tarot Society and was also Secretary of the British Psychic Registration Board, although both these organisations are no longer in existence.Though a member of these Groups, Steve's approach to spirituality is an eclectic one, as he feels that every path has something to offer. He reads widely on spiritual subjects and incorporates what he learns into his teaching, in its various forms.Steve feels that a sense of the sacred for each individual is vital to the maintenance of health and well-being and for the fulfillment of our potential and development. More personally, Steve has a deep love of many forms of music, runs long-distance and cycles. He follows his own programme of yoga and chi kung. He enjoys visiting sacred and natural sites and watching football, remaining loyal to his origins by supporting his home-town team, Brighton & Hove Albion.

Book preview

TAROT THERAPY VOLUME 2 – THE SEEKERS QUEST

By Steve Hounsome

TAROT THERAPY VOLUME 2 – THE SEEKERS QUEST

Published by Steve Hounsome @Smashwords

Copyright © 2012 Steve Hounsome

Discover other titles by Steve Hounsome at Smashwords.com:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/226899

ISBN 978-1-899878-18-5

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system

or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, scanning, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the author.

Contents

Introduction

Chapter One The Concept of the Major Arcana

Chapter Two The Path of the Soul

Chapter Three The Seekers Quest

Chapter Four The Fool

Chapter Five The Magician

Chapter Six The High Priestess

Chapter Seven The Empress

Chapter Eight The Emperor

Chapter Nine The Hierophant

Chapter Ten The Lovers

Chapter Eleven The Chariot

Chapter Twelve Strength

Chapter Thirteen The Hermit

Chapter Fourteen The Wheel of Fortune

Chapter Fifteen Justice

Chapter Sixteen The Hanged Man

Chapter Seventeen Death

Chapter Eighteen Temperance

Chapter Nineteen The Devil

Chapter Twenty The Tower

Chapter Twenty-One The Star

Chapter Twenty-Two The Moon

Chapter Twenty-Three The Sun

Chapter Twenty-Four Judgement

Chapter Twenty-Five The World

Appendix One: Major Arcana Correspondences

Tarot Therapy Products

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

It has been many years since the first Volume in this series and since then many people have asked me when Volume 2 is out. Whilst I am very flattered and grateful to be asked this question so many times, I must admit that my original intention was to follow up Volume 1 immediately. However, what I have come to know as the Spirit of the Tarot had other ideas!

The subject matter of this second Volume, the Major Arcana, is generally regarded as depicting the path of the soul on its journey to evolution; the Journey of the Fool, or as I prefer and have given this volume the subtitle, The Seekers Quest. The simple reason this Volume has taken the time it has to manifest is that in the view of the Spirit of the Tarot, in order to be able to write about it in the manner I wish, I must first live some more of that journey.

This has meant experiencing the energy of the cards, or rather allowing that energy to infuse from my soul to my body and thence to my outer life. It is for this reason and because of this process that my life, and indeed my self, have changed completely and in profound ways, which I could never foresee - even with the benefit of the Tarot!

I have come to realise and to know this energy as the one true thing in life, the most important, fundamental and essential basis to all our lives and perhaps remarkably, these energies are depicted and encapsulated for us in 22 pieces of laminated card that calls itself the Major Arcana! The continuing popularity and burgeoning spread and development of the Tarot is testimony to the fact there must be something in it, something that entices, beguiles and even traps people on their own particular Quest.

These 22 images are so powerful because they are captured essences of the human soul as it travels and tries to make sense of the manifest, human, tangible world. There are a great many books on the Tarot being written and published all the time, all being added to by many and wonderful interpretations and thoughts now readily available on the internet. Each of these has something to offer. What has emerged in the world of Tarot publishing is something of a standard format for Tarot books. This consists of an introduction to the Tarot with something of its origins and history, followed by that particular author’s opinion on what the cards mean. This is usually now illustrated with some ‘spreads’ that the reader can use, with the current trendy task of providing some sample readings, always called ‘case studies’, just to prove that the meanings work and to encourage readers to try it themselves.

I have taught the Tarot to a great many students worldwide now for many years. First there is a brief introductory course, then a full, professional course and finally a Diploma level for the braver and hardier of my students. To complete all these courses to any level of professionalism takes several years, during which students, like myself, usually find that they undergo transformation. At no time in their studies do I direct or try to tell them what the cards mean.

There is a simple reason for this – I don’t know!! Having worked with the Tarot for over 20 years now I have come to a conclusion that may seem startling to print in a book such as this i.e. one about the Tarot, but it is a vital starting point, here at the beginning of our Quest. I have come to the realisation that Tarot cards do not, of themselves, mean anything! They are energy, nothing more, nothing less. This concept is so important that I think I will repeat it here for you –

TAROT CARDS DO NOT MEAN ANYTHING!

One of the many exercises I set my Tarot students is to arrive at their own definition of the Tarot, at the beginning of one course. Many produce wonderful, wordy and even quite enlightened statements of what they believe the Tarot to be. Each of these has something to offer and each serves a purpose for that student. They then revisit this definition at the end of the course to see if they still agree with it. At this point I hope to see some change at least, for this is evidence of the student having entered into something of the transformational process that their Quest has given them.

One student in particular struggled with a definitive statement of what the Tarot was for him, even at the start of his Course. We left it at that and then at the end of his course he produced what for me has come to be that definitive and indisputable summary for defining and explaining the Tarot. He said simply:

‘Tarot Is’.

This particular Zen-influenced definition of the Tarot is perfect in as much that the Tarot cannot be defined. The Tarot is unlimited and to define it in a manner such as this is to limit it, and that which is energy cannot be limited. Energy, like the Tarot, simply is. It flows, moves, has life of its own, indeed even may be life, but it cannot be explained, not in mere words anyway. .

What we can try to do, from our limited, veiled and biased human perspective is open ourselves to an understanding of the energy that is depicted in the cards chosen during a reading. The task of the Tarot Therapist, as I prefer to call them, is to assist the client to come to understand the energies in and around them as shown in their cards and to offer such guidance as they are able. This is done by explaining the energies of the cards and in discussion with the client, offer therapeutic and empowering responses to them. This, we hope, has the effect of helping the clients to help themselves. The skill and experience of the Tarot Therapist, at many levels, is utilised in explaining first what the particular energies are, how they may be affecting the client and how they are responding to them or not, as the case may be.

So the task of this book then becomes an attempt to explain the energies of the Major Arcana cards. In Volume 1 we explained the structure of the Tarot and saw that the Minor Arcana shows us the four levels of the self in its four suits -the physical, emotional mental and spiritual in Pentacles, Cups, Swords and Rods respectively. When we combine these four elements, based as they are on Earth, Water, Air and Fire, we reach the blessed, fifth element, that of quintessence or ether. This is the Major Arcana.

This is a combination of the four worldly or human elements and in their combining they produce a ‘total greater than the sum of its parts’, a holistic approach surely being the one for 21st Century understanding of the Tarot. The Major Arcana cards are then the complete and total human being. The spiritual or sacred view of the complete human is that of the soul. So the Major Arcana shows us the soul, the higher self as it is often described. Or rather they show us the energies of the soul.

Our souls have chosen to incarnate on the Earth at this particular time so that they can evolve. The Major Arcana cards show us something of this individual lifetimes method of evolution and learning by depicting in pictorial and symbolic form the energies of the soul. The Tarot Therapist, to be of any use to their clients, must be able to know what these energies are and the only way to do this is to experience them for themselves. In many ways it is our response to the energies our soul is experiencing that really counts and whether we allow ourselves the chance to learn a lesson at the soul level. In the hands of the experienced, compassionate and intuitive Tarot Therapist much help can be given that is incredibly valuable, for there is nothing more important than the path of the soul for us to find peace and contentment.

Once you have read the book it is then for you to come to what I hope will be slightly more of an understanding of the Major Arcana cards, what it is and how it works. Armed with the mental awareness of these energies I exhort and encourage you to explore them for yourself, open yourself to these energies by working with the cards, see how they are manifesting in your life and how you are responding to them. It is really only this process, which can be done in a great many ways and to which I will offer many suggestions as we progress through the book that will allow you to understand the Major cards as energies and give you the ability and power to use them, for yourself and others.

It is vital to understand that you are working with energies when you are working with the Tarot and that these energies act as a blueprint for who we are and what we experience, in the physical, manifest world of matter. In other words, energy and matter are interchangeable.

Following on from this, if the Major cards show us the energies of the soul and the Minor cards show us the energies of the human level, within and without, what comes between is the response. This is the interpretation, knowledge or understanding of the Tarot Therapist that can bring the cards alive for the client and help them to understand what is going on for them. In the case of the Minor cards they have in their reading these show what is happening and in the case of the Major cards, why it is going on.

The soul receives its energy from the Divine and by allowing ourselves to fully open to and receive those energies we can align ourselves and lives with who and what our soul would have us be. So a Tarot Therapy reading can be an opportunity to (re)align yourself with your Divine Plan. It does this by outlining how you can change the energy of your soul, as depicted in the Major cards selected, into matter, physical, practical action and living, via the Minor cards in your reading.

This is part of what the Spirit of the Tarot has taught me and this volume is my attempt to pass enough on to help you in your Quest.

CHAPTER 1 - THE CONCEPT OF THE MAJOR ARCANA

The Seekers Quest shows us the philosophy of the Major Arcana in one of its many aspects. When we understand the variety of approaches to these twenty-two cards, we can understand the many levels on which it works.

There have been a great many works produced on these differing aspects, the majority of which are of an esoteric nature. This is of course, entirely in keeping with the nature of the Major Arcana itself. For a more complete knowledge and therefore appreciation of the power of the Major Arcana, the most relevant concepts are explored here.

That the Major Arcana can be presented in such concepts is an indication of its adaptability and ability to speak to us on levels other than that of the everyday and conscious. The same is true of the individual cards that together make up this great work. Just as each card must be inwardly accepted and its power recognised and allowed its transforming effect, so must the Major Arcana be given the same space within the Tarot Therapist for its true and consequent effect to occur in the client.

When any one card is active in a client’s life, that is, its energy affects them during a phase or situation they are going through, they must work with this power and learn to go with its flow if they are to learn the lessons it has to teach them fully and make real progress. The job of the Tarot Therapist is to explain that flow and assist the client by guiding them through the process as best they are able. This cannot be done unless the complete concept of the Major Arcana and its flow is first and fully understood and absorbed at its differing levels by the Tarot Therapist.

One of the most immediate ways to present this information is in the form of a table of correspondences. It should be made clear that this is not a ‘quick reference’ chart that can be consulted during a consultation. The only things that should be consulted at this time, besides the cards of course are the therapist’s intuition and the client. Information presented in this tabular manner is at best limited, but does allow for seed-thoughts to be planted in the mind that can grow and shape themselves according to the understanding and individual characteristics of the therapist. It is precisely this freedom that we must accept, in order to encourage the therapist to develop for themselves their potential in this field. Such development is beyond the scope of this, or any book alone, since it must be a work in progress.

The Table of Correspondences is included as suggestion only. The information is culled from many diverse areas of source material, not least my own experiences, opinions and feelings from my years of using the cards. You may well disagree with some of my choices, as such lists do vary. You are therefore encouraged to compile your own, the act of which provides for an excellent method of widening your scope of understanding the cards. For ease of presentation and reading of the text the Table of Correspondences is printed as Appendix 1.

Each ascription to a card can be used as a jumping off point from which to undertake your own research, meditations and discoveries. More details of the correspondences are given in the chapter for each card, allowing this table to be a further introduction to both the nature and outworking of the energy of the card and a graphic way of depicting the links between them. The progress from card to card can be easily seen in many of the correspondences, as can the relationships formed at the many different levels they reach. The table shows us the concept of the Major Arcana in a form that allows for individual perception. Because we have no explanations of the correspondences we can use our intuition and instinct to guide us. When as a Tarot Therapist you access and utilise this intuitive understanding it may even give you the basis of the interpretation you apply to each card in your work with them. Study of the Table of Correspondences can reveal many relationships between the card and offers endless hours of pleasure, or frustration, depending on your disposition.

COMPLEMENTARY OPPOSITES

The next two concepts of the Major Arcana explored reveal some of the most important and significant relationships between the cards and show the beginnings of the multi-layered approach one can take to it.

The concept of Complementary Opposites is one that was first expounded by the late, great esoteric writer and practitioner Dion Fortune. I do not propose to extol her virtues here, for this has been done repeatedly and her writings are widely available and do so for themselves. Though sometimes difficult to read, her books tell us much about the nature of things and the Universe in which we live. Her concept of Complementary Opposites is one that echoes a much older concept, or spiritual law, surmised in the saying ‘As Above, So Below’.

The term complementary opposite is at first a meaningless one, but on exploration, makes perfect sense. Primarily it shows that all things have their ‘equal and opposite reaction’, to borrow the scientific terminology of the concept. Each half needs the other for its very existence, yet is diametrically opposed to it in nature. Together however, they create the perfect whole and cannot exist without the other. This is shown in symbolic form in the now ubiquitous symbol of the Chinese Yin-Yang, reproduced below to illustrate the point. It is to be noted that within each large area of black or white, there is a dot of the opposing colour, giving the necessary and vital balance to its own nature. In Western terms the image of the chequered square is comparable to that of the Yin-Yang symbol, being used as it was in many ceremonial temples.