Main Quest Content

Videos

This week we begin to systematically explore all 78 cards in a traditional tarot deck, beginning with the 22 cards of the "Major Arcana," and you will find the first in a series of videos ("The Fool's Journey: Act 1") that compare the versions of these 22 cards found in Ma Deva Padma's Osho Zen Tarot (the "Deva" Deck), and the Pamela Coleman Smith/ Arthur Edward Waite, Smith-Waite deck (the "Pixie" Deck). This is the video where you will really start to understand more clearly, exactly what is happening with our dear Fool and their amazing journey through life. 

You will also find a video introducing Ma Deva Padma's new deck (November 2023), "The Sacred She Tarot." This deck, along with Rich Black's "Black Deck" are very strongly encouraged for student purchase. They have both become beloved "primary decks" for me, that I work with all the time, and I think most people will feel similarly about them. The Sacred She Tarot is especially encouraged, as it represents an opportunity to see the journey of one artist, Ma Deva Padma, as she embodies the lineage that goes from 1909's Pixie Deck, to 1994's Osho Zen Tarot, to now nearly 30 years later, when she again interprets the Fool's journey. To see these decks compared, as you will in the upcoming Minor Arcana and Court Card video series, could be very valuable for your understanding of the deeper possible meanings of the cards, and to actually work with all three decks more valuable still.

The third video for this week "30 Principles of Tarot Practice: 16-30" continues on from last weeks video, and is highly encouraged for a deeper understanding of what we are learning in this class journey.

The fourth and final video is an edited excerpt on "Psychic Abilities and Tarot Practice" from the 2nd live Zoom meeting from 2024, and I consider it essential content for this class. If I were to summarize the skill that we are developing, it is to use the spiritual technology of tarot cards to open a psychic channel of communication with your higher self. Therefore anything we can learn about developing psychic abilities, and any telepathy experiments that we explore, will be very helpful for opening that channel.

Again, please note that there is more video content here at the start of class, and less in later weeks, so there will be extra time later if you fall behind. 

Tarot/ Altar Crafting Assignments

1. Continue to do regular 5 card spreads and altar practice. Do this on as many days this week as you can without feeling like it is a strain. There is a sweet spot between rigorous discipline and total self-motivated joy that we are aiming for. Take your time and enjoy the process of arranging a beautiful altar at the same time you are moving into a trance state and pulling cards.
   
   Ideally this should be at least a 15-20 minute practice, but it could also be fun to sometimes do a speed session when you don't have that amount of time. It is quite possible to pull five meaningful cards in a couple of minutes, and you could also shuffle with the intention of stopping at the point when the "right 5 cards" are on the top of the deck, and you can just turn them over in a spread. In this case it might be especially important to take a photo of the spread, so you can refer to it throughout your day, and it would also be great to take 5 minutes to journal about the cards.
2. Since we are beginning to explore the major arcana in the Pixie and Deva decks, you might consider pulling out all 22 of these cards from each deck to begin to meditate on them with more focus. You might just concentrate on the first 8 cards explored in this week's video, perhaps journaling on your relationship with one or more of these cards, or you might try spreading out all 22 cards on a table or your bed to take them all in as a whole. It is one thing to see them spread out on the video. It is another to hold them in your hands and see them spread out in your own space.
3. Take the 22 cards from the Deva or Pixie deck, or mix all 44 cards together, and shuffle and pull cards intuitively. You could pull a "card of the day" to reflect and meditate on, and you could also do 5 card spreads drawn only from the major arcana. 

Tarot Exercises:

Besides continuing to practice the five card spread and altar practice every day whenever possible, there are two other assignments I'd like you to try out.

This week we continue to systematically look at the full 78 card structure of the tarot, and focus on a comparison of the major arcana cards in the Pixie and Deva decks. 

First Exercise: Bring the major arcana cards from both decks together, spreading them out on a large cloth, or perhaps on your bed/blanket, and placing both Fools side by side, followed by the Magicians from both decks, and so on.

It is now time to meditate on the differences and similarities between the two decks.Try to connect with the inspiration Ma Deva Padma found in the Pixie deck, and see if you can understand her unique interpretations/evolutions of Pixie's major arcana cards. The Pixie deck is the only deck she worked with before creating the Osho Zen Tarot, and so we can be confident that she drew her main inspiration from Pixie's deck.

See if you can understand her choices with each card, but try not to get too intellectual about it. Allow your intuitive mind to take over the process, and see if any cards have new guidance for you after this exercise.

Second exercise: With both of the full 78 card Deva and Pixie decks, divide the cards into 3 stacks for each deck. The first stack for each deck should have your favorite cards, the ones that make you that happiest and bring you the most pleasure (your "enthusiastic yes" cards). The second stack for each deck should have the cards that activate strong negative reactions or that trigger challenging feelings (your "decisive no" cards), and the third stack for each deck should contain the more neutral cards. Make note of how many cards you have in each stack.

Ask yourself why you have such positive associations to your enthusiastic yes cards, and more negative associations to your decisive no cards. With the more positive cards recognize how they are a positive mirror of your most important positive traits. With the more challenging cards, do your self-love practice, and then recognize that these cards might reveal some of your own shadow material.

See if you can transform the shadow card into a loving message from your higher self. Perhaps write out a dialogue with your higher self about these shadow cards, imagining that it is your best friend or a loving therapist that is talking with you about these cards.

If you are wanting to experience your two decks at a more intuitive pace, before systematically going through all of the cards, you could wait another week or two before the last two assignments above.

Skywatching/ Astrology Assignments

As mentioned last week, there are no official main quest skywatching assignments until week four, so rest up unless you want to go side questing.

Thought Forms/ Magic Spells for Week Three

"When I live in flow, I become a surfer of consciousness catching beautiful time waves to my highest potential"

"I have always practiced loving self-talk. When I notice that I am talking negatively to myself, I imagine the way I talk to my most beloved friend. I then bring that quality of voice to myself."

Side Quest Content

Perhaps the most important side quest video is the introduction to Mars and Jupiter. Below this video you will see some information about how and when to best develop intimacy with these two planets. This week I would encourage a focus on Mars, and next week on Jupiter.

You might consider going on your own journey to see what some of the best astrologers have written about these two planets. Allow yourself to be pulled towards these books/ articles through internet searches/ artificial intelligence prompts. Perhaps ask Chat GPT to research the most popular online articles on these two planets from both an astronomical and astrological perspective.

The second side quest video is from 2019 when we were first starting to explore some telepathy experiments as part of the class journey. See below the video for a written summary of suggested experiments. Students in both the 2019 and 2024 versions of the class were given the option of having a "telepathy buddy" to do some of these experiments with.  For this standalone version of the class, you can email me if you are interested in finding a buddy who is going through their 8 week journey at the same time as you, or, as the community on our class Discord server develops, you might also reach out there. 

Another option would be to find a close friend or family member who is curious about telepathy, and see if they want to try out some of these experiments. Maybe have them check out some of the suggested YouTube/film content to get excited about it, and then have fun with the experiments. I guarantee this will deepen intimacy between the two of you. 

The third side quest video is from 2019 and is called "Shuffling 2: With Intros to More Decks." This one goes deeper into the practice of "shuffling meditation," and I also introduce some additional decks that I don't explore in the new 2024 recordings. This could be a good one to check out if you are needing a little extra help with your shuffling skills, and also good if you are wanting to see some more decks. 

The fourth video is an overview of the suggested YouTube content for weeks 3-4. These suggested videos are all just meant to be fun additional enrichment to your class journey, and you can check out anything you feel pulled towards.

The last video is a description of a skywatching/ portaling experience I had in 2019 along with a suggested "Portal Log Template" for recording/journaling your skywatching experiences. I modeled this template after a scuba diving log that I worked with when I was young, and I think it could be a fun way to deepen your skywatching/astrology practice.

Enjoy!!!