Different Strokes: Tarot & The Symbolon
I began my relationship with tarot cards in my first year of college when my brand-new college boyfriend took me to a house that a few of his friends were renting. There were, as I recall, a number of other things with which I was also unacquainted that were going on there as well. I would soon be able to identify at least one of those things — the unmistakable scent of marijuana smoke — on a regular basis. Art college was a veritable magnet for those into alternative methods of accessing a creative mindset.
Any kind of mind-altering substance had always — and still does — put me off. My special brain has been spawning so-called visions since I was kid so I had never been the least bit tempted to mess around with anything that would make me even more different from most people than I already was. But tarot… that was a very different story… literally, it was countless stories that could be put together much as a puzzle is put together. I was intrigued.
I got “a reading.” I have no recall of what it said. I did, however, the very next day, make my way to what was at the time the largest used bookstore in the city of Philadelphia. In my mind, that place was the best store anywhere… especially on an allowance. I found a couple of books on the tarot and, because I was, of course, looking around, I also got a couple of books on astrology which I’d also been interested in since childhood. I was a strange child. (perhaps that goes without saying)
When, in the early 90s, I found myself immersed in the process of becoming an alternative healer — that’s a whole ‘nother story — I also found myself, in a by-the-way sort of way, doing tarot readings. It was kind of funny for me because, as a child, I had read about “fortune telling” in the encyclopedia Britannica to which I was addicted. It had showed up under the category “gypsies” which was another childhood fascination of mine. I can recall wondering how the gypsys did that, how they somehow translated clubs and spades and diamonds and hearts and numbers “readings” for people. In retrospect, after being introduced to the tarot, I realized that the gypsies had probably been reading tarot cards which had been around for centuries.
So, I read tarot for a couple of decades and then, pretty much out of nowhere, last year, I decided that I was done with it. I still don’t know exactly what switch flipped or where, but something did, and my intuition is flawless, so I paid attention and gave my cards away.
About a year and a half later, totally by chance, I came across an essay somewhere in which the author was referring to something called The Symbolon. The piece went on a tauntingly mysterious description of the Symbolon cards and their use, and for whatever reason, I was intrigued. I dug deeper. I finally found a place where I could purchase a deck; it was not inexpensive but, again, something was driving me.
The cards came with a small book that was in the box with them. On each of the pages in the book was a small image of each card with information about how to interpret it based on where the card showed up in the standard three-card reading. The cards themselves were not numbered and I found the use of them so challenging, having to look each one up in this little book, by picture, that I did something I would never have dreamed of doing to a tarot card; I took a permanent marker and wrote the page number from the small book on the matching card because it was taking an insane amount of time to do a reading. Thankfully, I was practicing on my closest friends, who were so tickled to be getting a reading of any kind at all that they didn’t care.
Then, one day, online, hunting around to see if I could find out any more information about this mysterious Symbolon deck. I found exactly the information that I wanted; It wasn’t cheap either, but it’s been worth it. It is a book, just shy of 200 pages pages long, detailing the history behind the evolution of the deck. Long story short, it is the result of a close relationship between two psychiatrists, both of whom were wise enough to understand the depth of myth and history that have created the world in which we live. It then goes on to give extended interpretations of each of the cards and their meanings in the different positions in the readings. Symbolon readings are not at all like tarot readings in that they deal, not with “issues” but with the person — or more specifically, the Inner Persons — who have been presented with or are dealing with an issue.
Therein lies the biggest difference between the tarot and The Symbolon: interpretation. There is no interpretation when using the Symbolon. The information is read straight out of the book. Another difference is that , while a tarot reader shuffles a deck, and lays out the cards, a person who has requested a reading using the Symbolon, picks their own cards, with their left hand (right brain) out of the shuffled mass of cards that is spread out before them.
Tarot cards have generalized attributes but, depending on their placement and relation to other cards, they can be open to interpretation, they have to be, because their “meanings” are generalized, and depending on the situation in question, could mean one thing or another thing. The cards of The Symbolon are exceedingly specific — often painfully so. There is no room for interpretation, which is what tarot is all about, and that interpretation depends as much on the reader of the cards as on the cards themselves. One is not a “reader” of The Symbolon; one facilitates a reading, because the reading is right there, in the big book, fully and painstakingly explained.
A Symbolon reading is not for the faint of heart. It calls a spade a spade and, in a way that Tarot never does, almost confronts the person seeking the reading as to their motives — or needs — behind doing so. You don’t ask these cards anything you don’t really want to hear the truth about.
The Symbolon cards are remarkable. I have never been so impressed by a form of divination as I am by these cards and I’ve been working with various forms of divination for decades. For myself, the thing I like best about them is that they take me out of the equation. I don’t have to “interpret” anything; all I have to do is read what’s in the book to the person who’s asking for clarity. Being an ‘interpreter’, being a reader, can be somewhat stressful work. You have to open yourself up to the energy of the person that you’re with in order to properly interpret the cards. It may not seem like much at the time, but, over time, it can wear you out a bit. I think that’s what had happened to me; I think I just got tired of reading tarot.
The Symbolon Is complex and many layered. If a person is interested, they can also explore their astrology via the interpretations provided by the cards, as each card has astrological and planetary designations.
I have to say that I also love the effect that these readings have on the people who are receiving them, because, generally, they are astounded by the truths that are revealed. (As was I when I did my own.) Back when I was reading tarot regularly, I had some people who would call me every other week for a reading. That always seemed to me to be less than ideal, because ideally people would know their minds enough to go at least longer than a couple of weeks without requiring a reading. I don’t have that problem with The Symbolon, although I have had people call me back a week later or so to say that they have finally assimilated the truth that they had been confronted with and they “get it.” Now that’s the kind of response I like. That, to me, seems exceedingly useful. Nobody is going to get dependent on these cards… or me. The truth can sometimes be a little hard to swallow, but it is always filling.
I have found a vehicle that is of exceptional service to others and is, as well, appropriate and satisfying for me. I am content.
