Tarot and Chakras

Heart Chakra

Tarot is an exciting tool for divination, a magical symbolic language that can show us direction in life. But sometimes it can feel overwhelming or intimidating to address your questions and concerns to the tarot. A way to be more at peace before you even start shuffling the cards is to think about your questions before you ask them. Say them out loud, write them down, or communicate about them on some level. Then elevate your questions by raising them to the highest form possible.

Too often tarot cards are used to answer questions that are based on fear, such as “Does my boyfriend still want me?” The heart is not present. But the same question asked as “What can I do to develop the best in our relationship?” can offer a creative vision. The statement, “I don’t like my boss” can be addressed to the tarot as “How can the problems I experience with my boss help me to grow and become aware?”

To help you elevate your questions to fully comprehend tarot as a tool for spiritual healing, become familiar with the ancient Hindu system of the seven chakras. (Chakra means wheel in Sanskrit.) Each chakra represents different energy patterns in our body. When all seven chakras are balanced, we can attain our highest level of energy and creative potential.

The first chakra, located at the base of the spine, correlates to basic survival issues. In times of war or extreme illness, this chakra is strongly activated. Once survival issues are resolved, procreation can occur through the second chakra, the genital area, which channels sexual and creative energy. The third chakra, located in the solar plexus, represents power and the pursuit of material gain. Most people in the world, consumed with the mundane challenges of everyday existence, live in these three lower chakras.

It is the fourth chakra, the heart center of love, caring, and compassion that introduces the realm of transcendence and spirituality. Fourth chakra was personified as the loving kindness of Buddha, the sacred heart of Jesus Christ, the merciful goodness of the Chinese goddess Quan Yin; and in religious and spiritual disciplines that emphasize living from the heart, such as “Love they neighbor as thyself”.

Moving upwards from the heart, the fifth chakra is located in the throat. This chakra is associated with the spoken work and the power of words to heal (and harm). The sixth chakra, also referred to as the “third eye”, is located between the eyebrows. It is associated with creative vision and clairvoyance. Inspiration comes down to use through the seventh chakra, the crown center. In our modern technological environment, many of us have closed the seventh chakra to avoid being overwhelmed by external stimuli. But in a peaceful, meditative environment, we can open the seventh chakra to receive spiritual guidance.

Working with the magic of tarot symbolism brings us to the heart center, above the mundane realities of the first three chakras. On a higher metaphysical level, working with tarot cards can open up the seventh chakra of divine inspiration and the sixth chakra of creative vision. Insight communicated through the fifth chakra, tempered with compassion of the fourth chakra, can create a tarot interpretation of the most effective healing alchemy.