Tarot for Your Self: A Workbook for Personal Transformation

300 Pages·2002·110.99 MB·English

by  Mary K. Greer

2ND EDITION
arot
T
for
our elf
Y S
A Workbook for Personal Transformation
By
Mary K. Greer
NEW PAGE BOOKS
A division of The Career Press, Inc.
Franklin Lakes, NJ
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Copyright  2002 by Mary K. Greer
All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright
Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or
by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by
any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented,
without written permission from the publisher, The Career Press.
TAROT FOR YOUR SELF 2ND EDITION
Edited by Nicole DeFelice
Typeset by Eileen Dow Munson
Cover design by Lu Rossman
Printed in the U.S.A. by Book-mart Press
To order this title, please call toll-free 1-800-CAREER-1 (NJ and Canada:
201-848-0310) to order using VISA or MasterCard, or for further information
on books from Career Press.
The Career Press, Inc., 3 Tice Road, PO Box 687
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www.careerpress.com
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ISBN 1-56414-588-3
001 TFYS Front Matter.p65 2 2/11/02, 1:41 PM
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the expressed
written consent of the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief pas-
sages in connection with a review.
Photographs by Ed Buryn
Original illustrations by Susan St. Thomas
Diagrams by Mary Greer
Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to print:
“Six of Cups” copyright 1962 by Diane Wakoski from the book Inside the
Blood Factory by Diane Wakoski. Reprinted by permission of Doubleday and
Co., Inc. “The Empress #8” from Smudging by Diane Wakoski. Published by
Black Sparrow Press, Los Angeles, copyright 1972. Reprinted by permission of
the author. Excerpt from “The Queen of Wands” from the book The Queen of
Wands by Judy Grahn. Published by The Crossing Press, copyright 1982. Re-
printed by permission of the author. “The back fence/the ancient Celtic Cross”
from A Passage of Saint Devil by Duncan McNaughton. Published by Talonbooks,
Ltd., copyright 1976. Reprinted by permission of the author. “What Made Tarot
Cards and Fleurs de Lis” from Selected Poems 1943-1966 by Philip Lamantia,
copyright 1967. Reprinted by permission of City Lights Books. Excerpt from
“Zero: The Fool” in Pieces by Robert Creeley, copyright 1969. Reprinted by
permission of Charles Scribner’s Sons. Excerpt from The Greater Trumps by
Charles Williams. Copyright 1950 by Pellegrini and Cudahy. Reprinted by per-
mission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Inc. “Princess of Disks,” a previously un-
published poem by Diane di Prima, copyright 1983 by Diane di Prima. Printed by
permission of the author. “A Tarot Story,” a previously unpublished short story
by LiAnne Graves, copyright 1984 by Lianne Graves. Printed by permission of
the author. Tarot processes developed and taught by Angeles Arrien in her classes
used by her permission. Adaptation from “Images of Interpersonal Intuition”
from the book Awakening lntuition by Frances E. Vaughan. Published by Anchor
Books, copyright 1979. Used by permission of the author. Reproductions of the
Aquarian Tarot deck, copyright 1970, and the Morgan-Greer Tarot deck, copy-
right 1979. Used by permission of Morgan Press, Inc. Reproductions of the Church
of Light Egyptian Tarot deck, copyright 1936, 1964. Used by permission of the
Church of Light. Reproductions of the Motherpeace Tarot deck, copyright 1981.
Used by permission of Vicki Noble. Reproductions of the Moon and Sybil cards
from the Amazon Tarot deck, copyright 1980 by Elf and Dragon Press. Used by
permission of the artist, Billie Ports. Reproduction of the Sage card from the
Amazon Tarot deck, copyright 1980 by Elf and Dragon Press. Used by permis-
sion of the artist, Prairie Jackson. Reproductions of the Voyager Tarot deck,
copyright 1984. Used by permission of Jim Wanless. Reproductions of the Xultun
Tarot deck, copyright 1976. Used by permission of the artist, Peter Balin. Tarot
cards reproduced by permission of U. S. Games Systems, Inc. from the following
decks: Aleister Crowley Thoth Tarot deck, copyright 1978 by U. S. Games Sys-
tems, Inc. and Samuel Weiser, Inc. Native American Tarot deck, copyright 1982
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by U. S. Games Systems, Inc. Rolla Nordic Tarot deck, copyright 1981 by U.S.
Games Systems, Inc. Sacred Rose Tarot deck, copyright 1982 by U. S. Games
systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Further reproduction prohibited.
Rider-Waite Tarot cards reproduced by permission of U. S. Games Systems,
Inc., Stamford, CT 06902 USA. Further reproduction prohibited.
First published, October 1984
Printed in the United States of America
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To Ed Buryn
And
Casimira Greer Buryn
][
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cknowledgments
A
I would first like to thank Tristine Rainer for her book, The New Diary: How to
Use a Journal for Self-Guidance and Expanded Creativity. It was through reading
and working with her book that I realized what was to me of most importance in
the Tarot: the personal search for self-understanding. Her book was the key that
made all the pieces fit, and she demonstrated through her way of writing—as if she
were talking to me as a close friend—the way in which I too wanted to reach my
readers. Any similarities between her book and mine are due to my admiration for
her writing and the inspiration of her ideas.
There are many readers, artists, teachers, counselors, healers, thinkers, ma-
gicians, and movers of Tarot, especially in the San Francisco Bay area, that I have
been privileged to know and study with. I have used what they have taught me,
along with my 15 years of independent study, to the extent that their ideas have
blended and merged with mine. I have tried to acknowledge their seed ideas and
creations throughout the book, and I want to give special thanks to: Angeles Arrien,
Vicky Noble, Suzanne Judith, Diane di Prima, Dori Gombold, Joanne Kowalski,
Jim Wanless, Hilary Anderson, Ed Hoscoe, Tracey Hoover, Jean Samiljan, Gail
Fairfield, and Luna Moth—all practitioners of the art of Tarot. For what I have
learned from them in the fields of psychic development, astrology, healing, and
crystals, I would like to thank: Tamara Diagilev, Oh Shinnah, Merlyn, Dale Walker,
Aaron Greenberg, and Yana Breeze. And to my best teachers of all, my students
of the last eight years, I offer this book in gratitude.
Special thanks go to four people who were my coaches and midwives as I gave
birth to this work: foremost to Ed Buryn, who inspired, encouraged, edited, cooked,
washed dishes, and made this whole book possible. To my friends: artist and as-
trologer Susan St. Thomas, whose illustrations grace these pages; to Tarot and
past-life counselor Dori Gombold, whose writing skills and knowledge of Tarot
smoothed many an awkward passage; and to Howard Fallon, who introduced me
to the wonders of word processing and provided the computer support.
I’ve dedicated this book to Ed, who knew I could do it and without whom it
would have taken many more years, and to our daughter Casimira, born at the
time the book was first conceptualized and who has grown with it.
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ontents
c
Subject Directory 11
Preface 15
Introduction 19
Chapter 1 Getting Acquainted with the Cards 27
Chapter 2 The Tarot Journal 51
Chapter 3 Reading the Cards 75
Chapter 4 The Celtic Cross Spread 89
Chapter 5 The Court Card Personalities 103
Chapter 6 Permutations: Reading in Depth 117
Chapter 7 Dealing with Moods, Emotions, and Relationships 139
Chapter 8 Prosperity and Planning 155
Chapter 9 Becoming Conscious of What You Create 173
Chapter 10 Healing 187
Chapter 11 Crystals and Tarot 201
Chapter 12 Design and Creativity with the Tarot 213
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