Tarot Card Journeying

My good friend Christiane and I exchanged a few comments earlier today about how realistic the landscape is, or could be while journeying into a card. Our exchange had me thinking all day, as I have seen detailed landscapes before, on other journeys I have embarked on. The Rider Waite-Smith deck does have a more traditional landscape displaying water on the ground, its a universal image amongst Tarot readers, so it was a fair point from Christiane.

Journey to the Moon was different as it entailed a visit into a tarot card, and abstract one at that. There is no landscape to speak of, there’s no suggestion of land, mountains, or even settlements. The focus of the Moon really has nothing to do with any of those things. The journey itself was a very personal experience and once inside the card, the landscape on this occasion, was irrelevant.

But that’s not true of all journey work, and I can certainly remember the first time I managed to get underground, the first time I met my power animals. The landscape in that journey was very visible and important to my trek. I had to make mental markers so I knew how to return. I even remember the sounds in the forest.

I have also encountered both types of landscape during the same journey: the abstract and the familiar. A garden with plants, butterflies and trees that I touched; to what seemed like a very large studio set. It was one of the most incredible journeys I have been on, and one that stays fresh in my mind to this day.

So what does all this mean? Quite simply that each journey is different and unique. What’s more important though is the journey itself, and your reason for travelling and not necessarily the landscape or its features. It can only be decided if these are relevant either in the planning stages, or during the actual journey itself. Keeping a journal or a written record of your adventure is advisable, I really enjoy re-reading mine from time to time. I either remember something I had forgotten, or it spurs me onto a new one…

Either way, journeying is an excellent method of spiritual advancement. It can provide you with answers to inner issues and give you insights into things you are about to embark on in life. It can help you when you feel stuck, or feel a lack of direction. And of course, let’s not forget, it’s also a wonderful way to get to know your Tarot cards better.