Using The Tarot With Dreams That Got Away

[The card on the left is the Seven of Cups from the Rider / Waite / Smith Tarot deck.]

We've all had a dream that on awakening just evaporates, leaving us grasping after it. The three Tarot card exercises below offer different ways of possibly retrieving some important aspect of just such a dream.

Before I go on, I'd like to stress that I do not necessarily believe that all dreams need to be remembered to have served their purpose. However, I do believe that when we have that sense of frustration or yearning on not being able to remember a particular dream, it may be useful to try one of these Tarot layouts. Also you will note I mention the idea of a dream evolving. I believe all dreams -- remembered or not -- are unfinished, that they are all going somewhere, just as our lives are.

You need not be familiar with The Tarot to use it with dreams – remembered or not. When working with dreams, your intuitive responses are at least as, and maybe more valuable than knowledge of The Tarot. All you really need do is listen inwardly to whatever surfaces while viewing the cards. Whatever you think on first viewing the card is often most important. Frequently it offers a welcome insight, though occasionally it may seem silly, or off-putting. In the latter cases, don’t immediately reject that insight, but try to see how it may apply to you and your life. If you have a sort of "Ah HAH!" experience when viewing a card, it may very well be relating to some aspect of the unremembered dream.

A note here to experienced Tarot card readers: The traditional meanings for the cards can also be instructive. Especially when a card seems "dense." However, in my experience intuition trumps meaning on the rare occasion there is a conflict or contradiction between them. Almost always, though, I find my intuition and the meaning amplify each other nicely.

Lastly, remember to keep notes of the cards you pull and your responses to them.

THE PROCESS

With each of the below layouts, simply shuffle the deck, following the instruction for what to concentrate on in the exercise you are doing. Then choose the appropriate card or cards at random.

* * * *

#1: DYNAMIC DREAM LAYOUT

Read through the five questions below. Then pull five cards at random after shuffling the deck and lay them out, one below the other. The cards may relate, in order, to these questions:

Card 1 = Where was the dream coming from?
Card 2 = What was the dream trying to tell me?
Card 3 = How was the dream trying to evolve?
Card 4 = How can I best help that evolution?
Card 5 = What is Spirit saying through this dream?

* * * *

#2: ONE SHOT

Choose one of the options below, and think about it as you shuffle:

(1) What is an important underlying theme of the dream I've forgotten?

** OR **

(2) What was an ACTUAL image in the forgotten dream? (This question might trigger some dream recall when you see the Tarot card.)

Then pull one card at random. What is your response, given the question you were asking?

* * * *

#3: BEFORE AND AFTER

Look through all the cards of your Tarot deck and choose a card that somehow feels like it might relate to the forgotten dream, whether it makes sense or not, whether you like the card or not.

Then put this card back in your deck and shuffle thoroughly.

With the deck face up in one hand, go looking for the card you chose. When you find it, the card beneath the card you initially chose will be:

"Where the forgotten dream was coming from."

and the card above it will be

"How the forgotten dream was trying to evolve."


* * * *

Have fun fishing for those slippery dreams that entice!

Resource: My thanks to Eva Yaa Asantewaa for the inspiration for exercise #3; you will really enjoy a visit to her resourceful site which includes Tarot, book reviews, and much more.

‘til next time, keep dreaming,

Roswila
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FUTURE POST(S):Using Your Dreams to Create Poetry & Stories (4 fun exercises)* * * *