Transformation through Awareness, Reflection, Opportunity, and Truth.
I had the most awakening experience yesterday at the Joy’n the Journey workshop I co-facilitate with my friend and colleague Georgina Terry. The session was about acknowledgment so to make it fun and exciting, during our celebration of the participants’ acknowledgments we used the tarot deck to introduce a game . The object of the game was for each of the participants to acknowledge something in themselves, in others and have others acknowledge them.
No one present except myself had ever used the tarot, it was not introduced as the tarot, but as a card game, so that no one came to the game with any preconceived ideas, or beliefs.
It was simple. We spread out the cards in the centre of the participants, face down, and instructed them to choose four cards, explaining that whatever cards they chose would be the perfect card for them.
On looking at the cards you could see everyone’s face and attitude started to change, some of the cards had words or images that made them feel uncomfortable.
- They wanted to change the cards,
- They wanted to use another deck with happier faces
- They could not imagine how to see something positive in some of the images
- They did not know what the card meant
- They wanted to have the right answer
I insisted that we carry on as I wanted to show them how varied everyones wisdom, experience and perspectives are. I shared with them that they would have to be open and listen to what their intuition was telling them. If they were open the answers would arise from within them. There are no right or wrong answers here, just different perspectives.
I asked them to look at the cards and choose one that represented Who they are now and share the significance of the card with others.
They needed to share something positive about the picture that acknowledges who they are. For some it was easy for others a bit challenging.
Next they were to choose a card that represents what empowers them - very interesting exercise. Some of the motivations were positive, while some were negative. Some were motivated in seeking of pleasure while others in the avoidance of pain.
The twist came when they had to shuffle the two remaining cards in their hands and face down choose a card without seeing the image. The chosen card would now represent something for which you would be acknowledged by each person in the group. This was challenging for most, as they had left the cards that made them feel uncomfortable in their hands. This represented blind spots.
Once again I asked each participant to focus on something positive for which to acknowledge the person. It was amazing to see how each person had interpreted the card, what they saw in each card, yet never having used the cards or aware of the traditional meanings, had each touched on one of these meanings and added another dimension.
Each person could not see anything positive for themselves, yet by the end of this round each person had acknowledged them for something different and had come together with their perspectives to see the essence of the person.
The last card was a gift you could either give to the group or any one particular person as a gift, or acknowledgment.
These were the cards that were the most difficult for them to look at in the beginning, but now they were able to see the value of the pain, the shadow, the darkness, and find the light they needed to shine for the group or person.
Everyone was joyous, playful, excited, energized, enthusiastic and enlightened by the experience. It opened their eyes to other peoples’ perspectives and saw the benefit of listening and learning from shared perspectives. They also got to learn something new about themselves that they can now acknowledge.
Another empowering workshop - I was awakened and enlightened to see T.A.R.O.T. in action.
The transformation from closed minds to open minds and hearts through awareness, reflection, opportunity - different perspectives, and the truth. Tapping in to their own truth, their inner wisdom and intuition.
W.O.W. moment - Women of Worth.
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