The Healing Power of Tarot

A lightning strike then a loud crash.  The tower comes tumbling down and we are thrown from on high to crash-land below, beaten and broken.  The only way to face a ‘tower card’ moment is to stand up, brush the dirt off your knees, and begin to build again.  In a time like that, when all seems lost, you look to the distance and see a small shining light.  Subtle at first, but growing lighter by the day as you pass through a long tunnel. And then as you reach the end of tunnel, there she is - hope.  

There are certain moments in your tarot study when you become taken aback by the sheer wonder of it all.  How the cards not only bring us truth, but do so poetically.  In tarot, the Star card comes right after the destructive force of the Tower card.  At a time we need it most.  The Star card shows a beautiful maiden at the edge of a lake.  She is pouring two cups of water - one into the great healing lake, and another onto the sand.  Glittering stars illuminate our lady as she dips one foot carefully into the waters of our subconscious and places the other firmly on land. She is of course the Water Bearer, a personification of Aquarius.  

I used to be baffled when I first learned that Aquarius is in fact an Air sign.  I thought as a ‘water bearer’ it made much more cosmological sense for Aquarius to be grouped in with the other water signs.  But when I meditated on the Star card it began to make sense to me.  The star card is about hope, renewal, and inspiration.  These are ideas and constructs that we form in our mind, and our mind is ruled by the element Air.  Yet, water is ever present in the Star card.  Water as a symbol is usually connected to healing and the subconscious.  It is the combination of both the healing power of water and our mind’s capacity for hope that brings us to a state of true healing.  This is what the Star card represents to me.

When this card appears in a reading it foretells a time of calming energy and mental stability.  These things are necessary after facing any kind of drastic upheaval or change.  The Star card gives us permission to forgive both others and ourselves so that we can move on to the next stage of our life.

I like to mediate with this card whenever I’m facing a difficult time within my life.  I visualize myself next to the lake featured in the card.  I imagine my toes caressing the smooth sand at the water’s edge.  Dipping my hands into the healing water, a bright light forms in the ripples and travels up through my body bringing me into a state of calm.  I then go in search of the beautiful maiden.  Finding her off in the distance beneath a tree, I ask her how I might best move on from my difficulties and bring balance again into my life.  

In my experience, when I do this visualization and meet the water bearer, she usually gives me good advice.  Of course, I believe that it is really just my own subconscious that is coming forth and proving the answers I need to grow. Just as the maiden dips her toe into the water of our subconscious realm, we do the same when we participate in tarot readings or meditations.  The healing guidance we need is always there, within ourselves, and tarot is a tool that helps us discover it.

Do you use tarot to help you get through difficult times?  Share your experiences with the healing power of tarot in the comments below.  While I associate the Star card with healing, is there a different card that you like to use for healing spells, meditations, or tarot sessions?