There are fools and then there are Fools
boxxleman said:
I have been being called "a fool" (that card constantly comes up in readings now). I feel as if I am a fool.
The Fool has many positive qualities, such as fearlessness and a childlike sense of wonder and zest for life. In Zen they talk about Beginner's Mind, and that's just The Fool dressed up another way. There is nothing at all wrong with that. But the negative fool can step right off the cliff, or can be afraid to step at all (been there myself, many times). Perhaps the Fool is coming up a lot so that you'll study every aspect of the card and the archetype that you possibly can, for a while. I find when I do that with repeating cards, I get a lot from them, and then . . . they stop appearing quite so frequently.
boxxleman said:
It also seems I have lost some kind of faith in the cards, and it feels I have to pray more in my alone time. Any advice?
Well, I don't think we should have faith in the cards. That's like having faith in the paper that scriptures are printed on, or in the key that opens a treasure chest -- when it's the wisdom or the treasure inside that we seek. As a Christian (as with any religion) one's faith is supposed to be in God, isn't it? But perhaps the real problem is faith in yourself, and if God can send you aid in the form of readings, then perhaps it's your ablity to interpret the readings that you're having trouble with, and that certainly explains your fear of being the Fool.
My suggestion is to let yourself be The Fool, for a while. Just RELAX about it! We're all fools to some degree, being imperfect humans. We are also all perfect humans on another level that we're mostly unaware of, here in earthly existence. But we are here in earthly existence right now, so what's so bad about being a fool? Do you honestly know anyone who isn't? Behind all their posturing and pretension? (We all put on a good show as much as we can for others.)
In creative work, I find that the best way to approach any delusions of a need for perfection is to just
let it rip -- allow myself to make mistakes, to write the worst, or paint the worst thing I possibly can. That loosens up and shakes out all my projections and expectations, and lets my true self (my inner Child or Fool) come out to play. Treat the Tarot like a game for a while, and have fun with it! Don't take it so seriously.
boxxleman said:
One last question. How does one go about "shuffling" the cards?
Here too I would play a little. Rearrange and sort your cards in different orders. By numbers, by suits, by colors, by feelings or first impressions. The physical act of shuffling for me depends on the cards. You might want to practice shuffling with a deck of playing cards so you don't feel too serious about how to do it. Shuffle, shuffle, and shuffle. Try new ways you come up with on your own, and don't be afraid of being awkward at first. Every new skill we learn feels strange and awkward at first.
If you have a deck that is fragile or inflexible, you'll have to come up with a different way of shuffling it. For my Motherpeace, which just won't shuffle evenly in the usual riffle fashion, I start pulling cards off into first two piles, then three, and if two or more cards come off at a time now and then I don't worry about it. That's part of the randomness of the process.
I wish you well with regaining faith in yourself and your play/work with the cards.
Nevada