It’s Day #2 of our Birthday Celebration! 

Today I’m releasing our teleseminar on the Death card from our private Gaian Tarot Circle archives. Talking about the Death card might seem strange for a celebration. But it was one of our most powerful calls.

In it, I tell the story of how I came across a dead heron in a decaying boat on one of my rambles around the island, and how I “recognized” it as my Death card.  Then we moved into an intense and lovely discussion on grief, death and dying.

From the GTC Forum, after the call:

[James Wells]: After listening to this beautiful conversation, I’m struck by how many of us need music, ceremony, and respectful holding/witnessing in times of death, whether that of a person or that of a situation or idea.

 

What emerges for me from this card and the conversation around it is that it’s not death itself that people are afraid of or uncertain about, it’s dying.  Questions such as, “Will I feel it?”, “Will it be painful?”, “If it’s painful, will I be aware of that pain and begin to panic about it?”, “If it’s violent, will I feel everything?” and more such questions come to mind.  So it’s very good to know about Nora’s (and others’) sacred work as a midwife of the dying. To be held, washed, and sung to is a reassuring alternative to entering a mindspin about what might happen.

 

As tarot practitioners, perhaps we’re also called, in a sense, to be midwives of death/dying.  Relationships falter, jobs end, friends betray trust, people give up a familiar home to move somewhere else.  There is, I believe, a piece of the unconscious that experiences all change as death.  How might we tarot folks find the courage to shepherd, companion, and midwife those who come to us with their concerns about life’s changes, transitions, and endings?  How might we carry out that shepherding, companioning, and midwifing with grace?  Going back to my first sentence, perhaps we could remember that a tarot consultation is a ceremonial holding of the situation and we can do our best to shape an experience that honours what is happening for people.  How might YOU do so?  I’d love to hear about that.

At the end of the call . . .

We each turned up a card to answer this question:

How do I honor that which has ended in my life?

Listen (streaming):

Or:
Download file  (control-click or right-click on the link to download)

You can download the audio file for your own private use, but the link will be live only through Sunday, June 10^th.

GTC Members: Continue the discussion in the Forum. 

And remember . . .

If you join the Gaian Tarot Circle this week — through Sunday June 10^th — you’ll pay only $1 for the first week, then $10/monthly or $100 annually. The regular price is $13/monthly or $127 annually.  (Never fear, if you are already a member and are paying the higher rate, your rate will go down.)  You can try us out for a month, and if you decide we’re not a good fit, you can unsubscribe. No problem!

And . . . (this week only) I am offering a 20% discount coupon for a Gaian Tarot reading with me for all new and current GTC members (you’ll have to book the reading by the end of the year.)  Check out my reading page here.

Happy 2^nd Birthday, GTC!

The recording is now ready!   (There’s a bit of a glitch with muting near the beginning, but it’s over quickly! It picks up again about 3:20 minutes in.)

Download audio

This teleseminar is open to the public, as part of the GTC’s 2nd Birthday Celebration, so please tell your friends! 

“A Four-Fold Path to Tarot Excellence” with James Wells

Imagine your tarot readings pulsing with presence and truth, lavish with heart and possibility.

Mmm…doesn’t that feel good?

What needs to be at the table in order for that to happen?

One model for how to be a complete tarot consultant is the Four-Fold Way, an approach by anthropologist Angeles Arrien that calls upon the gifts of four archetypes: Warrior, Visionary, Healer, and Teacher. Living the ways of all of these archetypes brings us to wholeness; practising them in our tarot work imbues our sessions with power, creativity, love, and wisdom. Rooted in indigenous understanding, the Four-Fold Way is a suitable companion to the Gaian Tarot’s nature-honouring core.

Join James Wells to explore and awaken the four archetypes in your calling as a practitioner of tarot. You’ll discover those which you naturally embody and those which need strengthening so that your readings can be artful acts of insight and healing. During the call, you’ll receive helpful information, do a reading for yourself using Four-Fold Way concepts, and integrate your discoveries through group sharing.

This enriching time together will inform your tarot work for a very long time. Please join James and the rest of the Gaian Tarot Circle!

Some simple preparation for the June 7th call:

Your deck should be separated into five sections — Majors, Fire, Water, Air, and Earth.  (James will be using the Gaian Tarot for this class, but you can use any tarot deck you like.)

This will keep us efficient and on track for the various sections of the call.

>>>Download the handout for this call here (PDF).

Recommended Reading:
Angeles Arrien, The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer, and Visionary
Angeles Arrien, The Tarot Handbook: Practical Applications of Ancient Visual SymbolsCynthia Giles, The Tarot: Methods, Mastery and More

GTC Members:  Discuss the call in the Forum here. 

PLUS!!!!!!

A Chance to Win a One-Hour Tarot Consultation with James!

People who participate in A Four-Fold Path to Tarot Excellence on June 7 are eligible to win a FREE personal session with James!

Why is he giving away a free one-hour consultation?  Because he lives for occasions when the tarot sparks “aha!” moments, enlivening people’s best qualities and motivating them toward their goals.  In fact, he loves those moments so much that he wants to share one with someone on the call.

James’s way of working with the tarot is very different from just spouting off a list of pre-fabricated meanings to try and impress the client.  It’s less about “accuracy” and more about “insight”.  This deep way of interacting with the cards allows the person to come first.  Tarot, as James teaches it and uses it, is a proactive tool.  Neither the cards nor “fate” make things happen, YOU do!

James is excited to share this manner of using the tarot with you!  In an age that values separation, greed, and brokenness, a meaningful conversation over these symbolic cards can catalyse sharing from the heart, connection, healing, and the generous offering of our gifts to our beautiful aching world.

The winning name will be drawn from a list of who is present — on the phone or in the chat room — during the teleclass.  Will you and James be looking at the tarot together in a free one-to-one session?  Join us on June 7th and find out!

JAMES WELLS is a Toronto-based motivational listener, consultant, teacher, host, and facilitator who is dedicated to merging soul and strategy.  From childhood, he has been curious about what makes people and the universe tick.  Through tools and processes such as circle methodology, tarot, reiki, and journal writing, James and his clients and students are inspired to remember their creativity, resourcefulness, and wholeness.  Whether at home or abroad, whether in personal sessions or in workshop settings, he provides an experience of council mind.  In his “me time”, James enjoys reading, writing, music, walking, close friends, and good food.  He is the author of Tarot for Manifestation and co-creator of the soon-to-be-released Circle Ways Tarot Deck.  Please visit him online at http://jameswells.wordpress.com/

Join the forum discussion on this post

Open to the Public, not just GTC members . . .

Inspired by Tarot Imagery

Download here

Please join me and James Wells, Bev Haskins, Andrea Mathieson and Jeannette McCullough on this free teleseminar for an experiential look at the elements of Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit, especially as they appear in decks like the Gaian Tarot.

How might the tarot be a means of listening to Gaia’s whispers, cries, and laughter?

What is the deeper, larger reason for us to listen to these elements of Nature?

We invite you to join us for this call — part meditation, part teaching, part conversation — held in the sacred circle we create in the ethers between our telephone and computer lines.

Have any tarot deck with you when you call in — the Gaian, if you have one. If you don’t have a deck, no worries. Just have a symbol of each of the four elements plus Spirit with you during the call.

This teleseminar will give you just a hint of what you’ll experience during the Gaian Tarot Retreat this coming October in southern Ontario, Canada.  Whether or not you plan to join us then, we look forward to having you on this call.

Pass it on! Please invite your friends to join in!

Join the forum discussion on this post

New Log In Box

We’ve added the option to connect your GTC account with either Facebook, Google, or Twitter. This makes logging in much easier and faster!

You don’t need to; you can still log in with your GTC user name and password by clicking on the left grey down arrow. Here are a few video’s to help if you not sure how to connect them.

Facebook

Google

Twitter

Join the forum discussion on this post

Unable to see anything

Keep getting redirected to the Whoops?

Most likely you have not logged in.

When logging in try ticking Remember me, and when you come back to the site you’ll have a better chance of being logged in.

If you are logged in, please make sure to contact us or send Shari an email, letting her what problem you’re having.

I can’t get into the chat for the calls.

If you are having difficulty getting into the chat, close your browser, go back to the call page, and enter chat 1st. Once you are in chat, then connect to the call, and return to chat. You should still be connected.