Play

December 13th, 2016 § Comments Off on Play § permalink

#0 The Fool - Rider Waite Smith Tarot

This Big Think video featuring Emmy award winning director, Diane Paulus, reminds us why it’s so important to play like the Fools we all are …

Self-Awareness

October 11th, 2016 § Comments Off on Self-Awareness § permalink

Here’s an interesting short video from Big Think featuring comedian Jim Gaffigan. In it he talks about the importance of self-awareness, something Tarot’s Hermit would certainly applaud.

Solitude

July 13th, 2016 § Comments Off on Solitude § permalink

RWS_Tarot_09_Hermit

Take a look at the Big Think video below featuring Scott Barry Kaufman. In it, the scientific director of the Imagination Institute at the University of Pennsylvania discusses the psychology of solitude.

Turns out that the Hermit is right, spending quality time alone can be a really really good thing …

Mirroring New Love

June 28th, 2016 § Comments Off on Mirroring New Love § permalink

2 of Cups - Rider Waite Smith Tarot

In the Big Think video below, Jane McGonigal, senior researcher at the Institute for the Future, discusses the phenomenon of mirroring, a typically unconscious behaviour we engage in when feeling a sympatico of sorts with another person.

While watching it, the image of the Rider Waite Smith 2 of Cups popped into my head. It’s a pretty great example of what mirroring new love might look like.

Ritual

June 9th, 2016 § 0 comments § permalink

It’s a different perspective on ritual than we’re used to seeing in the Tarot reading world, but in the Big Think Video below, Michael Puett nicely explains how everyday rituals can open up new opportunities for personal growth and change.

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Power Breathing

May 30th, 2016 § 0 comments § permalink

2 of Swords - Rider Waite Smith Tarot

When I look at the woman in the Rider Waite Smith version of the 2 of Swords card, I imagine her being in a state of meditative calm. I see her sitting quietly in front of the big water focusing her mind and breathing in and out in a steady relaxed rhythm.

Finding our own way to such calm can sometimes be a challenge, especially when our breathing is neither steady nor relaxed. That’s where power breathing can help us out.

In the Big Think video below featuring Jane McGonigal, we’re taught not only how to power breath, but also why it can be even more effective than deep breathing to help us achieve the mental calm pictured in the woman from the 2 of Swords. Take a look…

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Enlightenment

May 22nd, 2016 § 0 comments § permalink

For some scientific insight into the process of enlightenment, take a look at the Big Think video below with Dr. Andrew Newberg … The Neuroscience of Enlightenment.

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Passion – Harmony, Obsession, and the 5, 6, and 10 of Wands

March 31st, 2016 § 0 comments § permalink

In the Big Think video below, cognitive psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman talks about two kinds of passion – harmonious and obsessive.

Harmonious passion is when we’re engaged in an activity that’s healthfully integrated into our identity and makes us feel good about ourselves. We feel in control, with no external necessity to act in any particular manner. We’re doing something because we really want to, whether or not anyone else is looking, or cares.

6 of Wands - Rider Waite Smith Tarot

On the other hand, obsessive passion involves some sort of external contingency, like self-esteem, or the need/desire to please someone else. It’s the type of thing that makes us feel like we have to win at all costs, or there’s no value in playing at all.

Though we can certainly get things done with obsessive passion, it’s harmonious passion that’s more likely to lead to creative insights, not to mention an overall sense of well-being.

5 of Wands - Rider Waite Smith Tarot

Kaufman’s description got me thinking about Tarot and what cards in the Suit of Wands (the suit of passion) might indicate either harmonious or obsessive passion.

Harmonious passion might be reflected in the 6 of Wands, the card of spiritual victory. When it appears in a reading it often points to the successful integration of one’s identity with one’s activities. The win described in this card comes from commitment and a natural enthusiasm for a particular activity, not from a need to defeat someone else, or from doing something because we think others hope or expect that we’ll do it.

For obsessive passion we might look to the 5 of Wands, and/or the 10 of Wands.

10 of Wands - Rider Waite Smith Tarot

With the Five, there’s a sense that passions are flaring, creating a situation where people are pitted one against another, and a win can only be achieved through the defeat of someone else. Passion, in this case, is raised through conflict and rivalry rather than an inner sense of enthusiasm or constructive curiosity.

With the 10 of Wands, there’s a sense that our passions are leading us, but that the load is heavy. We may wish to put some tasks or activities down, but for reasons outside of ourselves, we feel we just have to keep at it. In this case harmonious passions are subverted as we try to maintain our strength to keep doing what we feel we should rather than what we truly want.

To hear what Kaufman has to say, take a look at the video below, and if you’ve got a Tarot deck handy, take a look for yourself and see what cards you think might describe harmonious and obsessive passion best.

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Mindful Meditation

March 17th, 2016 § 0 comments § permalink

Here’s another interesting short video on mindfulness meditation that reminds us how to do it, and why we should.

Take a look at James Doty’s Big Think video, a How-to Guide on Mindfulness Meditation from a Stanford Neurosurgeon

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Mindfulness – Keep it Simple

January 22nd, 2016 § 0 comments § permalink

If you’ve been trying to practice mindfulness but are having some trouble, you might want to take a look at the Big Think video below with Rasmus Hougaard.

In it, he describes some of the roadblocks people face when trying to meditate, while explaining that in order to succeed, it’s really a matter of keeping it simple.

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