If you look at something and say (or write) what you see, your reflection will inevitably reveal to you something about what you’re perceiving. If you take it one step further, and observe your observations, then you can begin to learn how your conscious and unconscious interpretation of the world is affecting how you experience the world.

There’s that phrase: The world is as you are.

We don’t experience the world exactly as it is. We experience the world through the filter of our perception. The nature of our individual perceptions are determined by our beliefs, our past, our imagined future, our emotions, our body. Our perception, and by extension, our reality, is shaped by a host of factors of which we are not even aware. By observing the way we perceive and interpret the world, we can begin to discern the unseen factors that seep out of our subconscious minds and infuse themselves into our reality.

THE WORLD IS A MIRROR, AND SO IS TAROT

Tarot is a collection of images that can be used to provoke reflection. Their common reputation purports them to be a tool for fortune-telling, perhaps revealing to you the day and time at which a potato will fall from the sky, hit your head, causing you to fall and break your leg under the arm of an excessively sized SUV, only meet the love of your life whose leg has also been broken lying next to you in the hospital. My use of the cards is not as a tool for divining the future, but rather to stimulate a participant’s reflection on the present moment and the residue of the past that we carry into our days.

The cards randomly selected to represent the human being as a plant (seed, stem, and flower).

How? You look at a card. It needn’t be some superstitious vessel of extraterrestrial communications--though if you’re into that, more power to you. You look at a card and you say what you see. Each person finds a story that is totally their own. You’re not discerning the story that is inherently in the cards. You’re using the cards’ images to externalize, through spoken reflection, the story that is inside of your mind. The story that we all unwittingly project onto our days. When we observe this internal story that shapes our lives, we find within it the patterns that we have been running. These are patterns of belief, patterns of fears and dreams, patterns of emotion, patterns of action, and more.

If we are not aware of the patterns of perception that shape our lives, how can we change or steer them? We can’t! But if we take a look at ourselves, inside ourselves, we will discover our inner machinations and the product they are constructing, which is our reality.

It is from that perspective that I do tarot readings for myself and others. In the reading below, I arranged three randomly drawn cards vertically and chose to interpret them as if they represented the parts of a flower: the seed, the stem, and the blossom.

1) THE SEED

What is under the surface, or in the works, trying to emerge?

The card drawn to represent the seed is card 21, The World. What is the most immediate interpretation I found in this? That the the seed contains the world. What does this mean, practically speaking? I took it as a reminder to myself that any project or endeavor may initially seem small or even useless. But if it is given the proper nutrients, any endeavor can potentially yield significant fruits.

I would like to say that I focus only on my process in the present moment, not on “the fruits of my labor”, but there is always that voice in my head, questioning me. Where is this going? What’s the point of this? What will come from this? I try to remind that inner voice that if we are ever going to produce any juicy fruits, we must focus on the process of making them. We must focus on enjoying that process in itself, not for what we wish it might produce.

What are the proper nutrients for a creative aspiration? For me, they are perseverance and playfulness.

Perseverance, so that the seed is given the time it needs to grow. This could be minutes, hours, days, or even years, depending on the scope of the endeavor. There are moments of resignation, in which the towel is disheartenedly thrown into the abyss of preconceived failure. These moments are not excluded from the process of perseverance! These moments of doubt are natural. Sometimes they may even necessary in order to reassess a situation. Perseverance doesn’t imply an absence of doubt. It simply means that, after awhile, I dust off my bruised knees, stand up, and keep on rolling my wheels down the road.

Playfulness is the other ingredient. Why? So that the project and the process of its realization retains its vitality--and so that I enjoy it! The playful mind is more open to experimentation and the discoveries that come from it. If we find it naturally easier to access playfulness through a certain pursuit, we will be more apt to find joy and inspiration in it. This joy and inspiration are practical because they are the fuel that enable us to continue the work. If we feel stagnant or stiff while we are working on something, the results are likely to be equally rigid and dry. If we are playful in our work, its contents and its effects will carry that same vitality and the world will respond it.

Back to the card: A seed contains an entire world. A chosen endeavor can contain massive potential. Both require an attentive gardener. Remember the potential within the seed and strive to bring it out, lovingly and playfully.

2) THE STEM

What is happening and being processed in the present moment?

To represent my current and recent circumstances, I drew card six, The Lover. The central figure in this card’s image, who I presume to be the Lover, is caught with his feet pulled in two different directions. His head is dwelling on that which makes rational sense, the safe and familiar. The entire rest of his body, his gut, his sex, and his heart, are all turned toward that which inspires love. This is represented as a person, a romantic partner, but its interpretation need not be strictly romantic.

The Lover depicts an individual torn between the Head and the Heart. The Head wants to do what is familiar and stable, even though its usefulness may have expired. The Heart, on the other hand, knows what intrinsically feels right. Often, the inclinations of the Heart may seem irrational because the Heart tends to follow a more unconventional path that presents to its traveler the unknown, the unpredictable, the unstable. It presents to us all of the dark forms and shadows that can lead the Head to recoil, run for the hills of its homeland, crawl under the softest blanket, and suck whichever thumb is the largest as though it is the devil’s lollipop, flavored with the sinister sirens’ promise of safety and opioid comfort.

In this light, the Lover is a reminder to heed the Head’s caution but not be enslaved by it; to hear and value the Heart’s impetus; and to follow that which ignites beneath our bottoms the flame that makes life worth living.

3) THE BLOSSOM

What is the form that could eventually blossom from the current work?

In answering this question, I am not discovering the future that will definitely happen. I am describing the future that I imagine or would like to happen. Contemplating the future reveals a possible outcome, but the future that does eventually take form is dependent on our actions in the present and the contents of our imagination.

Cart 16, The Tower God was drawn to represent the future flower that could take form from current undertakings. This image suggests that the seed and the stem could potentially culminate in a blossom of explosive wonder. Explosive wonder may sound dramatic or excessive, but this card is exactly that. Uninhibited inspiration belting out its song from the mountaintop.

The tower is a representation of the human being. What’s going on with this Tower-being? They are exploding a confetti of color, an almost ejaculatory exclamation of ecstasy and beauty. Because of the card’s title, this confetti that has erupted could be seen as the human being’s inner divinity finally breaking free of its container, much like a volcano that becomes active after centuries of dormancy. Except that this lava will (hopefully) be a harbinger of creativity and inspiration.

Divinity has overtly religious connotations, but it can also be defined in a looser, more universal way. If you have a bite of chocolate cake that sets you off, subtly writhing in a subliminal, cocoa-infused orgasm, and moves you to declare, “This cake is DIVINE!”, it doesn’t matter whether you are religious or an atheist.

The divine can refer to that which feels sacred, meaningful, or purposeful. The feeling of the sacred is not restricted to religion, chocolate cake, or anything else. It's a feeling available to those who choose to access it and cultivate it. Whatever the divine might mean to a person, this suggests that the "divine" can emerge through the human being who has surrendered themselves to working with the creative forces that knock upon the door of their imagination and their heart.

If you are interested in an approach to tarot that uses it as a stimulus for your own self-reflection, in which we focus on how you perceive your world and how your patterns of perception shape your experience, I am available for free tarot readings. They are conducted in person in Austin, Texas or online via video chat. Send me a line at benjonmiller@gmail.com if you like.

On my blog, you can find more writings on art and alchemical thinking, interviews about creativity, psychologically-oriented reflections on tarot, and more. You can check out past posts in the categorized list below.

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Art
- Jul 2, 2018 About the Folks Who Think You Stink (Notes on Performance and Life)
- Jun 22, 2018 The Freedom and Fear of Being Yourself (Notes on Performance and Life)
- Apr 3, 2018 Public Alchemy: Notes on Street Performance
- Dec 1, 2017 Why the Tutu?
- Sep 14, 2017 Art is a Portal
- Aug 17, 2017 Put the Potatoes on Your Face
- Dec 28, 2016 How to Make Magical Oranges
- Dec 19, 2016 Wakey Wakey, Inner Kiddo
Interviews
- Jul 18, 2018 Artist Interview: Kayle Karbowski
- Jun 4, 2018 Artist Interview: Sally Nicholson
- Apr 23, 2018 Interview: Yogi Ron Katwijk
- Mar 1, 2018 Artist Interview: Lawrence Blackman
- Feb 21, 2018 Artist Interview: Samantha Blumenfeld
Magical Thinking
- Jun 21, 2023 Magick for Reshaping Life and Transmuting Trauma
- May 18, 2023 Magick is a Sentient Entity: Using the Imagination to Co-Create with Magick
- Dec 4, 2020 The Healing Voice: Wounds, Addiction, and Purgation
- Aug 5, 2019 Celebrating Your Misery
- Jun 21, 2019 White Peacocks, Constipation, and Emotional Liberation
- Aug 23, 2018 Melting a Snowball of Misery
- Jul 2, 2018 About the Folks Who Think You Stink (Notes on Performance and Life)
- Jun 22, 2018 The Freedom and Fear of Being Yourself (Notes on Performance and Life)
- Apr 16, 2018 Questions for Limitations
- Apr 3, 2018 Public Alchemy: Notes on Street Performance
- Jan 5, 2018 Chaos' Playground: Finding Gold in the Shitstorm
- Dec 1, 2017 Why the Tutu?
- Sep 14, 2017 Art is a Portal
- Aug 7, 2017 Three Reasons to Destroy Yourself (Or Not)
- Jul 6, 2017 Nerves and Tutus
- Feb 19, 2017 Why Does Heartache Happen?
- Jan 15, 2017 Following Fear
- Dec 28, 2016 How to Make Magical Oranges
Tarot
- Oct 24, 2019 TAROT QUESTION #5: Why does my skin crawl with wonder and fascination as such important relationships in my life are connected by the eyes?
- Oct 11, 2019 TAROT QUESTION #4: How long will it be until I have a new job?
- Sep 25, 2019 TAROT QUESTION #3: Why can't I find more hours in a day?
- Sep 3, 2019 TAROT QUESTION #2: Do abusers know they're being abusive, or is that just their sense of reality?
- Aug 25, 2019 TAROT QUESTION #1: Why is the Present Moment So Much All the Time?
- Aug 18, 2019 Today's Tarot: Shifting Pain by Surrendering to It
- Aug 13, 2019 Today's Tarot: The Golden Devils Inside You
- Aug 12, 2019 Today's Tarot: The Moon of Self-Loathing
- Jun 27, 2019 Today's Tarot: Snot, Beauty, and Tea for Pain
- Feb 28, 2018 Today's Tarot: The World is in the Seed
- Aug 26, 2017 Tarot as a Tool for Reality Construction