How I discovered Tarot as an astonishing tool for spiritual awakening
My 40th birthday was fast approaching, and I was not happy. In fact I was growing desperate.
I sensed strongly there was much more to life – and myself – than I was experiencing. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I just knew deep down there was something BIG that I was missing out on. What was it? Where could I find it?
The vexing part of this mystery was that my life was quite good by nearly any measure: I was happily married; we owned a nice home; I was (mostly) happy in my job as a mail carrier; and we had our health. I had a lot to be thankful for, and I knew it.
Seriously, what could possibly be missing?
Then one day, about a month before I reached my Big 4-0, I spoke with a trusted friend about my struggles. I was open for pretty much any suggestion.
She listened carefully, and then she made a very strange suggestion: TAROT.
Frankly, I was speechless.
I wasn’t a fortune teller or a psychic, I told her. “That stuff is silly”, I said as a defense against such an odd suggestion.
Yet the moment she mentioned tarot, a tiny but very powerful possibility came over me. Although my logical mind dismissed tarot immediately, on a deeper level I sensed otherwise. Before then I’d never even considered using tarot cards. My friend said she understood they could potentially help those struggling for answers.
It didn’t make any logical sense. It just felt right somehow. Looking back, I see this as that crucial moment when the intuitive part of my mind finally overruled the reasonable part. I guess I had to be desperate enough to hear it.
The next few years were like nothing I’d ever experienced before. I discovered all I suspected I was missing, and then some.
I came to understand why I’d been struggling so badly, despite the good life I was blessed with. I’d been separated from the thing that makes life fulfilling and truly worth living. For my whole adult life I’d searched outside myself for things to gave my life meaning.
But tarot opened me up to the place I never thought to look:
It was all within me.
Tarot introduced me to the profound, magical presence that resides within us all, and which goes by many names: the inner light, the essential self, the divine source of love and wisdom that was within me the whole time.
Ahhh, so this isn’t for fortune telling! What I discovered first hand, by using these cards day after day, is that tarot is an effective and fun method of intuition, that when used with mindful purpose, becomes a tool for spiritual awakening.
Wow. This changed everything.
Discovering the truth, wisdom, and love within me was a profound experience. My awakening started slowly at first, as I learned to use tarot. Before long big things began to change:
- My heart and mind opened to new realities and possibilities.
- I saw myself and my life from a more Big Picture perspective.
- Love and inner peace became more consistent dynamics of my life.
- I felt newly engaged with others and myself.
- Solutions to problems revealed themselves more easily.
- Where they didn’t, acceptance became more possible.
- I became confused and struggled with all these inner changes.
This last one is much less rosy than the others, but it’s true. Awakening is awesome in the literal sense, but it brings real challenges to ourselves and our loved ones. It’s a lot to process, which is both the blessing and the curse. That’s why the full path of awakening includes learning to come into peace and acceptance of who we truly are. We expunge the outworn parts of ourselves, discover our essence, and eventually we come back home.
During my awakening experience I became eager to help others awaken too. I got certified as a Professional Coach, and started helping men and women who are going through their own version of what I went through. Whether it’s a “midlife crisis”, or just feeling like there is more to themselves and life than they are currently experiencing.
To assist those undergoing their awakening – especially those suffering the challenges of midlife – I wrote a concise manual based on my experience. Rise & Shine: A Guide for Experiencing Your Midlife Awakening is for those navigating their version of this path.
To this day, I’m not a guru or a psychic. I have learned to be intuitive and I’ve gained a much more spiritual outlook than I ever had. For 40 years I wasn’t interested in intuitive methods at all, including tarot. Yet in a flash moment of intuitive clarity, on that fateful day talking to my friend, I became ready to discover something different.
I continue using tarot to awaken to the truth, wisdom, and love within me everyday. And I’m blessed and honored to help others awaken too.
A little more about me:
- I met my incredible wife Dawn at a blackjack table in Las Vegas. It’s safe to say that cards have been very good to me!
- I am a HUGE fan of The Beatles. (as you could tell by my little Beatles Tarot blog project!)
- I enjoy nothing more than quiet time in nature with a camera, journal, and lots of time to spend among the trees and wildlife.
- I literally couldn’t wait to enter this life. I was born at home, and it happened so suddenly my father had to deliver me right there on the spot. (Thanks again, Dad!)
- I love animals, especially our three cats Maggie, Otis, and Sammy.
- I am a long-suffering fan of the Buffalo Bills, and am completely convinced that we are finally going to win it all this year. (Clearly I don’t use tarot for fortune telling!)
- My sense of humor is largely formed by MAD magazine and Monty Python (I never said I had great taste!)