The Tarot Practice
Symbol-rich visual tools like tarot are especially useful when we're connecting with the land and our own land-bodies as mythic and story-filled maps to read and explore.
With that in mind, the following tarot spread is more of an outline than a firmly defined spread meant to help you explore your own mythic landscape. Each position can hold multiple suggested meanings for you to choose from and you can make your choice of meaning before you cast your cards or after the cards have been cast. If there are multiple meanings you're interested in you can cast more than one card for that position - but I wouldn't cast more than three cards at a time for each position (I mean, you can also ignore this suggestion and cast an epic spread if you think that'll be of use to you!).
You can cast these cards before you (as illustrated in the graphic above) or you can choose to cast them around you, aligning with the four cardinal directions, and the final three cards placed in front of you or in a triangle around you. You're encouraged to speak the name of each card position as you draw your cards (e.g. saying "I look to the west and see my place of dreams" as you cast the card for this position).
It is also useful to have a piece of paper and pen or drawing supplies nearby during the reading to sketch any symbols from the cards or ideas that come to you during the reading for your own oracle map.
Mapping the Land
Card 1. I look to the east and see my place of practice.
This card can represent current habits and practices, long-term callings, your sensory environment, inspiration, overwhelm, areas of work and study in your life, and/or the present. It can also represent the energy of air in your life - the breath of your lungs and oxygen throughout your body - and how air shapes and forms you.
Card 2. I look to the west and see my place of dreams.
This card can represent deeply held dreams, your place of feeling, of memory, emotions like bliss, hope, and grief, and/or the future. It can also represent the place of water in your life - including your bodily fluids and the way they carry life throughout your body - and how the energy of water shapes and forms you.
Card 3. I look to the south and see my place of vision.
This card can represent your creativity, your sense of justice and ethics, love and relationships, anger and frustration, and/or possibility. It can also represent the energy of fire in your life - from digestive heat to the light of physical vision - and how fire shapes and forms you.
Card 4. I look to the north and see my place of bones.
This card can represent your ancestors, things that have been lost, stability and foundations, what you have buried, scars of experience, and/or the past. It can also represent earth in your life - including the soil of your land-body and the life it grows and sustains - and how earth shapes and forms you.
Card 5. I look below and see what I keep hidden.
A card that illustrates the areas of your life that you keep hidden, shared with very few people if anyone. Sometimes this veers into shadows or more traumatic experiences, but other times it shows a part of you that you haven't figured out how to express to others or don't feel a need to share right now.
Card 6. I look above and see what shelters me.
This card can represent community practice, myths, folklore or religious traditions that have shaped your sense of the sacred (for better or worse or something in-between), cultural inheritances, and/or networks. A particularly challenging card in this position may represent an oppressive energy - such as institutional discrimination - that deserves some healing attention and solidarity with others.
Card 7. I look within and see what guides me.
This card can represent holy ones, God/dess/es, guides, value systems, recovery practices, and/or your inner compass.
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Remediation: If you are looking to populate your map with helpful guides and companions, you might cast Chosen Family: A Tarot Spread for Finding One Another.
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