Yasmine Galenorn - Tarot Journeys

As always, I dedicate this book to Samwise, my dear husband who believes in me almost more than I believe in myself. I also dedicate this book to Caly, Morgana, Brighidthe cat, not the goddessand little Apple, our four furbabies with us now. And to our four blessed Rainbow Bridge girls: Tara, Luna, Pakhit and of course, Meerclar.

I thank the cards, I know youre aware and listening.

And to Mielikki and Tapio, my Lord and Lady. To Ukko and Rauni, and Brighidthe goddess, not the catwho all have a place on my altar and in my heart and soul. Thank you for sustaining my magic and my psychic gifts. As always, I surrender to Your call.

Blessd Be!

(This introduction is updated to reflect the changes that have happened from the first publication of this book in 1999, until now2016):

In 1981, a year after I pledged myself into the service of the Gods, I received a deck of Tarot cards as a gift. The man who bought them liked the pictures but couldnt use the deck, so he gave them to me.

Little did I realize as I shuffled the cards and laid out my first spread, that my life would undergo dramatic changes from that action. Years would go by before I would manifest those changes, but the stage was set, the journey begun.

I had taken my first steps into magic, I had studied meditation for years, but the Tarot opened an entirely new gateway. I found I had a real talent for the cards. From the beginning, my readings were surprisingly accurate.

It didnt take me long to memorize the meanings of the cards because I connected with the images. Excited about learning this new skill, somewhere inside my heart I knew that my talent would help not only myself, but others. So I set about the task of becoming a Reader. I knew there were other decks out there, but I decided to focus solely on the one I owned, at least in the beginning, so I wouldnt muddy my vision with differing viewpoints about the cards and what they represented.

I slept with my deck under my pillow, instinctively knowing that our energies would bond. I meditated on each card, examined the images, analyzed them, then let my subconscious mind guide me to new divinatory meanings. When I laid out a spread, I listened for that inner voice, waiting for the words that would add to what I already knew about the card.

After a year or so, I began to read for friends, tentatively at first. I admit to being nervous. Then, as now, I knew that some people who go to psychics take every word as gospel. Early on I recognized my responsibility as a Reader and always cautioned my clients against blindly accepting my advice. My confidence increased as the feedback began coming in. I could read with the cards. I was a good reader! I began reading for any friend who asked me and soon became very populartoo popular.

When you read the cards for free, without any expectation of an exchange, some people will take advantage of your goodwillthey wont leave you alone. Others ask the same questions over and over, wanting to hear a different answer because they refuse to work on their problems. After a while, I became cautious about offering my services.

Then, in 1988, a friends mother asked me to read her cards. I did. After the reading was over, she looked at me and said, How the hell did you know all that? Before she left, she wrote out a ten-dollar check and handed it to me.

That was the first time anyone paid me for my time and it felt good. She respected the energy I expended on the reading. It broke me out of my fear of asking for money, although for the next couple years I still didnt do many readings for cash.

I had an 8-to-5 job at that time, I was trying to write on the side, and was coping with an abusive and unhappy relationship I should have ended years before. I didnt have the time or energy to offer my services on a professional basis.

In 1990, everything changed. I ended my relationship. 1991 saw me quit my job, take my cats and move into a converted school bus. To earn money for food and other supplies, I began to read cards for the public. It allowed me the freedom to write. I soon developed a loyal clientele, some of whom came to me for years.

Fast forward twenty-five years from 1991, to 2016.

Over the past years my circumstances have changed dramatically. I own a beautiful house and have been married to a wonderful man for twenty-three years. We have four cats still, but they are different babies than when I first wrote this book back in 1999, but all part of our family. Im now a New York Times bestselling author of urban fantasy and paranormal romance, and have sold over forty books. I long ago stopped reading tarot on a professional basisI dont have time, and it took a toll on me. But my friends and I all still read for each other and the cards are still an almost daily part of my life.

Ive also deepened my studies into the Tarot. I own a number of decks, collecting those I find attractive. I also use the Tarot in magic far more than I used to. And Im still learning from the Taroteach new deck teaches me something new. The master always remains a student.

Over the years, Ive come to realize what an important tool in self-transformation Tarot can be and I still believe that one of the easiest ways in which to use the Tarot for self-illumination is through the use of guided meditation.

There are many books of Tarot meditations out there, but when I wrote thisand even nowthere are few that look at the major arcanas archetypical journey from a Pagan point of view. When I first wrote this book, most Tarot meditations on the market seemed to focus on Kabalistic studies, or from a New Age viewpoint. Even then, I recognized the need for a book of meditations that explores the major arcana in ways and terms familiar to Pagans, Witches and Wiccans.

As a tarot reader, I know how much knowledge can be derived from the deck, but it helps to have that guidance in familiar terms and imagery. I wrote Tarot Journeys to fill that void.

I hope that through use of the meditations within this book, through the journeys I provide, you will find guidance and inner direction to help you along your own personal path. I present the book, almost entirely as first published, because theres very little I felt needed updating save for appendices, and so forth.