Card One, the Overall influence: Ten of Cups

The ten of Cups as the overall influence indicates that contentment, or need for material security, may have made the dreamer soft and too yielding to another person. The lightning flash of awakening reveals a new landscape of potential. Ask what needs to faced? What fears or needs keep you bound?

Card Two, suggested action: Six of Swords

The six of Swords is in the place of Suggested Action. Perhaps the dreamer needs to shake off complacency and inappropriate compromise. It may be advisable to move out of the current situation and move into calmer waters, leaving troubled waters behind.

Card Three, outcome or result, Page of Swords

The Result or Outcome is the Page of Swords, indicating that a spiritual quest will reveal what is truly important in life. It's time for a new adventure which may unveil dimensions of the dreamer's self which are barely glimpsed.

Synthesis
The Tower was chosen as a significator for this dream because of the central image of the lightning bolt in Tarot card XVI and the dream. This card lends an overall meaning of awakening from a period of self-imposed bondage. As a Major Arcana the Tower brings archetypal energies to bear on the dream's analysis.

The Tower invites the dreamer, in this case a young man in waking reality, to break out of his chains and choose a different way of responding to the influences in his life. The dreamer might ask himself, "What have I been blind to? Where am I not seeing the truth of the situation? In what way have I kept myself in the dark?

The young man reported a new awareness and increased ability to act on his situation. He was open to truthfully looking at his situation no matter how painful. The central image of lightning in his dream, and the Tower in his reading, enabled him to see that he had been in denial in his relationship. He longed for the idyllic scene depicted in the Ten of Cups but when he became honest with himself he saw that was not possible with the woman in his life. Prior to Tarot work with the dream he had held fast to his ideal vision, feeling unable to see the truth of things.

The Six of Swords showed him the necessity of leaving the current state of affairs and gave him courage to act on his new-found awareness. The castle as the destination in the dream encouraged him to hope for ultimate happiness in a relationship.

The strong action depicted by the Page of Swords further strengthened his resolve his to move forward in his life, seeking what he really desired. The dreamer claimed his feelings on the horse had been powerful in the dream and showed promise that he could connect with an ideal female companion. He chose to terminate the relationship and focus on himself and healing.

2. Two card spread: The Gift
The first card shows what the central issue of the dream (or reading) is. The lesson card may seem contradictory or paradoxical at first. Allow time to meditate on how the pain of the lesson can be turned around and seen as a gift, or a blessing in disguise. Look for the pearl of transformation hidden in the experience. The second card reveals the lesson, gift or silver lining in the situation.

Dream title: Nighttime visitation (A prophetic dream)
Note: The following dream sequence occurred over a matter of several years. The woman was haunted for years by these dream experiences and what they might mean. I believe this illustrates how a recurring dream may be the soul's attempt to change a point of view or transform a mind set over time.

A young, married woman dreamed of a terrible fatal accident. In the dream, her first husband rises from a mangled car and appears in front of her. She woke around 1 AM, feeling frightened and alarmed; the shocking images staying in her mind. Early the next morning the dreamer received a phone call, informing her that the young man had indeed been killed in a fatal car crash at the time of her dream.

Although the young woman viewed her first marriage as a painful mistake which had ended in betrayal, she was deeply saddened by his sudden death.

Dream title: Stairway to the light
Several months after that dream, the deceased young man began appearing regularly in her dreams. Sometimes these dreams recreated incidents from their relationship and caused emotional pain, but at other times his presence seemed to serve as a warning or prelude to something in her waking life. These periodic appearances spanned several years.

Finally one night the woman dreamed she saw the young man on a spiral staircase, waving to her. Brilliant white light shone out of a doorway at the top of the spiral stairs. The man waved goodbye, communicated she would not see him again, and ascended the stairs, disappearing into the light. She never dreamed of him again, but still carried some emotional scars from the relationship.

Dream interpretation
This series of dreams falls into the category of unusual communication or messages from dreams. These dreams seem to be actual experiences rather than typical symbolic messages. The woman was haunted by these experiences and sought a deeper understanding. We chose to do a two-card spread, asking about the core message and the lesson or gift which might be contained in the experiences and their symbols.

Tarot interpretation of The Gift spread

The core issue The lesson or gift

Queen of Swords XIII Death

The Queen of Swords is the Mother of Air, ruling by the power of the mind and the cold, clear abstract quality of reason. She is often described as a widow, but a woman who can bear her sorrow. The Queen of Swords is a strong woman who has steeled herself to the pain life can bring and now uses her wisdom and experience to help others. The Queen shows that the young woman dealt with her pain by living in her mind and closing her heart.

Death is the fundamental symbol of change and the transitory nature of physical forms. In the context of this dream and reading the message might well be, "This too shall pass." The young woman went on to marry again, have children, and heal from the pain of her early marriage. The gift was the transforming change that time brought.

Synthesis
Using Tarot with these dreams allowed her to work through the choices and emotional consequences of the early relationship. The woman expressed shame that she hadn't been strong enough to refuse his proposal of marriage. She felt her decision to marry was driven by passion, and she felt unable to act in her own best interest. She said her friends and family saw the true dynamic of the relationship but supported her choice.

Perhaps the first husband chose, or was compelled, to linger to reduce some karma from his part in causing the woman pain. After the dream interpretation and the Tarot reading the woman felt relief, forgiveness and deepened understanding. She realized the pain inflicted by her choices and the subsequent betrayal had caused her to close off her vulnerability because the residual pain was buried inside and unacknowledged. Using Tarot and dreams together this woman was able to accept the healing potential in her experiences and break through decades of resistance and she was finally freed from her lingering pain.

3. Significator Spread - Dominant image(s) - One to Four cards

Choose one or more dream symbols, then select a significator card, or up to four for striking symbols, and meditate on the card(s) chosen. After this, using one of the cards as a reading significator, perform another of the suggested spreads.

Two-card significator spread, multiple significators
The following dream was interesting to me since Tarot cards actually appeared as symbols in the dream. I chose two Tarot cards from the dream for the Tarot spread.

Dream title: The Intruder/Stalker
A man who has been stalking me gets into my house while I am away. He ransacks the house, and as his "calling card," leaves two of my Crowley Tarot cards pinned to my burgundy bedroom curtains: the Death card and one of the Swords...like 7, 8 or 9. He places the cards in the shape of a cross, the Death was vertical and the swords on top of it, horizontally placed and intersecting it.

I am having a hard time phoning for police help. There seems to be much chaos and lack of cooperation from the "others" around the neighbourhood. No one seems very concerned about this invasion and my terror but me. And then Brugh Joy walks in, with a hat on, and wearing a lot of red. He approaches me and kneels down and embraces me, offering comfort and safety. He asks if he can stay with me. I feel so much better!

Dream interpretation
Masculine energy forcibly "intrudes" into the house or "consciousness" of the female dreamer. The man had been "stalking" her, suggesting that integrated maleness was not a part of her awareness, or perhaps masculinity and relationships were perceived as a threat. The stalker "ransacked " the house, completely destroying the feminine order she had so carefully created and guarded. The man left a "calling card" in the form of a cross made of two Tarot cards.

The woman tried to phone police, (authority figures) for help and had trouble. This could mean that traditional answers will be of little value.

In the end Brugh Joy, a well-known healer and dream symbol interpreter, known for working with shadow or dark-side issues, arrives to comfort her. He is wearing a hat, symbolically cloaking conscious thoughts, and dressed in lots of red, the quintessential male colour. (I felt the hat to be an important clue since articles which cover the head generally indicate concealing or covering conscious thoughts in the matter. The dreamer could not recall any details about the hat such as colour or description which might have revealed what kind of concealment was occurring).

I believe the thrust of this dream suggests that the woman is struggling to integrate the masculine and feminine aspects of her own nature, believing that these archetypal energies are at odds with one another. The dream's threat comes from an unknown stalker who is clever enough to send a powerful symbolic message. Her rescue arrives in the form of someone she trusts and respects who is dressed in red. In the end, the solution to the crisis comes from the very masculinity she fears.

Tarot Interpretation
Since Tarot cards appeared as symbols in the dream, I decided to work with these cards for the dream spread. I placed the Death card in a horizontal position and chose the eight of Swords, a woman blindfolded and tied, surrounded by swords, as the crossing card. Tarot cards were dominant images in the dream.

First image Second image

Death Eight of Swords

In a reading the Death card signals that a profound change is called for or is in process. To the dreamer, allowing alien masculine energy into her consciousness may be akin to a kind of death. This symbolic intruder may herald a complete change or "death" to her familiar way of life. Certainly a dramatic shift is indicated, a fundamental realignment in the way she views herself and "others" seems to be called for.

The eight of Swords shows someone who has been chained by their choices and circumstance but who is actually able to move out of the situation of bondage if they choose. They remain imprisoned by their own consent. What is required is removing the bonds and the blindfold and seeing the truth of the situation.

Probing the nature of the terror and sense of violation symbolized by the "stalker" is important. What is the dreamer so afraid to face that she blinds herself or wears a hat to hide her true thoughts? Perhaps she fears that her sense of identity, who she believes she is (or is not), would cease to exist if she faced the aggressive, male energy who violated her symbology sanctuary.

Synthesis:
In her waking life the dreamer was working with issues of relationship and how her expectations had effectively created a barrier to intimacy. She both feared and desired an intimate relationship with a male partner. She had created a cocoon-like sanctuary in her home where she felt safe and protected, but she was lonely and unfulfilled. Part of her longed for a partnership, but another part didn't want her sanctuary (or control) violated.

Working with Tarot and the dream symbols she realized that she was her own worst enemy, creating her own imprisonment. She was able to bring awareness to a conscious level that she couldn't have things both ways. In order to experience an honest, intimate relationship she would have to become vulnerable and trusting. She accepted the paradox that her comfort in the dream had come from archetypal masculine energy. The dreamer reported that this process melted some of her self-imposed barriers.

4. Four Seasons Spread dream
I had this dream while writing TAROT AND DREAMS. I had already written the interpretations for the Tarot cards, so I used the book exactly as I had written it, and as I hoped readers would do, to interpret the following dream.

Dream Title: Four Seasons
Beginning: I awoke in the predawn hours, around 3:30 AM, realizing I had been given a new Tarot spread. I called it Four Seasons. The spread consists of five cards, one in the center, and four laid out and interpreted like the qualities of the seasons. When I woke this gift felt very significant to me.

Middle: I am sitting on a beautiful hillside in the mountains. It is late afternoon on a glorious fall day. I am alone, sitting on a blanket, casting the four seasons spread. Brilliant sunlight filters through Ponderosa pines. I realize it is 5 PM, and I have a long hike to my horse before the sun goes down (dusk or dark). I gather my cards and blanket. Baron (my dog), is now with me as we prepare for the walk down the hillside. I feel full and overflowing with a sense of gratitude as I easily climb down the hill in plenty of time.

End: I am in my childhood bedroom. The twin beds my sister and I slept in are in the room, and I feel my mother's presence. I watch my new granddaughter, as she sleeps. I feel total bliss. As she starts to wake she rolls over and then sits up. I am amazed that she can do this at only three months of age. I carry her into the kitchen and say to my husband how grateful I am to have the gift of this baby. I take her back into the bedroom to change her diaper and dress her. Her mother, my daughter, there. She takes the baby a moment, smiling with her own joy. My granddaughter turns to me, giggles and gives me a big, wet kiss on the mouth. All of her actions are beyond normal capacities for a three month old baby. I wake feeling tremendous joy and gratitude.

Interpreting the dream symbols
Beginning: New Tarot spread suggests the need or opportunity for a new outlook or "interpretation" of circumstances. Five is the number of change, so five cards indicates a change is called for. The spread was a "gift" in the dream, given by what I felt was my Higher Self. Four seasons implies both the cyclic nature of events and a possible time frame.

Middle: The hillside in the mountains means to me that the obstacle in the project is less difficult than if I were climbing a mountain. The situation is beautiful and idyllic. Late afternoon suggests that the time elapsed is "three-quarters" spent. I notice in the dream that it is five o'clock in the afternoon. There are also five cards in the spread that was given. Therefore the number five is important. Five is the number of change and adaptation, hinting that a change of mind may be in order. (This was born out by the subsequent Tarot reading).

I gathered my blanket and cards, and joined by my dog, Baron, (I feel responsible for him), and hiked down the hill to join my horse. I do not have a horse, but to me this represents independence and carries the meaning of a magical steed. I arrived with ease and in plenty of time. My feelings were joy and gratitude. I interpreted this to mean I would finish the manuscript on time if I paid close attention to timing and focus and remained responsible.

End: Being in my childhood bedroom with my infant granddaughter, and in the presence of my mother and oldest daughter, signified to me that the young and developing project (the book manuscript), symbolized by my granddaughter, was thriving and proceeding beyond normal expectations. The kiss from my granddaughter suggests that this project will "breathe new life" into my work. Throughout the dream, and when I woke, I experienced intense joy and gratitude.

Tarot symbol interpretation
Later that day I shuffled a deck of Tarot cards, laying out the Four Seasons spread, asking for further insight or deeper meaning for this wonderful dream. The cards which appeared in the reading were:

1. Centre - where you stand - the issue
Three of Pentacles
Meanings are material works and the master craftsman is recognized.

2. South - what's hidden and needs to be acknowledged
Queen of Cups
Receptivity and the positive direction of energy. Stay focused!

3. West - what needs to be released
Four of Swords
A balanced mind. A period of rest and retreat.

4. North - what needs to be achieved
The Tower
Awakening and release from a stagnant condition.

5. East - what's needs to be birthed
Nine of Wands reversed
Don't view everything as a battle; stop fighting circumstances. Get ready for a change.

Synthesis of Dream and Tarot Symbols

When I compared the cards in the reading with the symbols of the dream my understanding of the message was deepened and intensified. I felt the reading's outcome, the Nine of Wands reversed in the East, actually related to the beginning of the dream where I was given the "gift" of a new interpretation. I sensed I was being given a "heads up" where coming circumstances were concerned and that my attitude was vital. I have the choice to "change my mind" and view events as an exciting challenge rather than a stressful battleground.

The three of Pentacles in the centre was a heart-warming beacon of hope that the work would be well received. The Queen of Cups in the South indicated the vital importance of focus and proper direction of energy. Care should be taken to stay on target and not waste time.

The Four of Swords in the West seemed to indicate that a quiet period of seclusion and solitary writing life might be nearing an end. The Tower in the North spoke powerfully of seeing things as they really are and preparing for a new vision of the lay of the land.

This dream and subsequent Four Seasons Tarot spread resulted in a new way of looking at work and powerfully demonstrated the role of our attitudes. As a Capricorn with a finely honed sense of duty and responsibility I had a choice. Rather than seeing projects and work as mountains to be climbed, or obstacles to be overcome, the alternative is to embrace the activity joyfully. The process was healing and therapeutic.

Other Tarot and dream suggestions

Use more than one deck of Tarot cards to work with your dreams. One set of cards should be clear in conveying the archetypal symbols and images. Additional decks, including whimsical, artistic or unusual interpretations of the Tarot, can be used for dream spreads.

A Deck of Dreams

Collect images that strike you from photographs, greeting cards, magazines and catalogs. Cut and paste them onto coloured construction paper or poster paper and assemble your own Tarot deck. By "bridging" the dream images into the waking dimension you strengthen you intuition. These images can be used to create your own personal Tarot deck, literally a "deck of dreams" to be used for personal and individual interpretation. (These cannot be reproduced for other than your personal individual use). Draw the dream, or make a collage or a dream mosaic, using your collection of images.

Personal Dream Glossary

Because dreams contain both universal and individual symbols, a personal dream symbol index is an invaluable tool. Your Dream Dictionary can be accumulated in a spiral or loose leaf binder, in an index card file, or as a computer file: convenience, accessibility and ease of adding entries in alphabetical order is the key. Make your personal symbol guide a resource you add to and draw on frequently. Decorate your Dream Dictionary with pictures, drawings and images. Later you can incorporate the material in your personal dictionary onto your own Tarot card for your deck of dreams.

Using Tarot symbols and interpretations of cards to deepen both dream analysis and Tarot work will be covered in the next sections of the book. Tarot should never be a replacement for good judgment, abdication of responsibility, or reduced to a parlour game. We seek the counsel of the Higher Self where we need a broader perspective and a grander view and have exhausted our human resources. Toward that end, Tarot and Dreams will give an overview of Tarot' structure and symbols and interpretations which are tailored toward working with dreams.