Mindful Tarot: Bring a Peace-Filled, Compassionate Practice to the 78 Cards by Dr. Lisa Freinkel Tishman blends the principles of Zen Buddhist practice with the tarot. The result is a meaningful text that will develop your tarot reading skills at three levels: (1)
Tishman is an extensively published and celebrated poetry scholar, Zen Buddhist minister, certified mindfulness educator, and former humanities professor and dean at the University of Oregon (UO). She is also the founding director of UO’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program.
Tishman currently serves as an interfaith chaplain at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Springfield, Oregon. You can find a wealth of free resources and contact Tishman for her tarot reading or counseling services at Calyx Contemplative Care.
In this episode of Sightsee the Tarot, we explore Dr. Tishman’s mindful PULL approach to tarot reading and work through her signature Chariot spread.
PULL-ing the Chariot Reading
Download and print out the below worksheet while you follow along the guided tarot reading in this episode. You can also save the worksheet as a template for your daily mindful Chariot readings.
Your Daily PULL with the Chariot
Reading Notes Worksheet [PDF]
For those working with the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot deck, the below linked PDF is to the same worksheet, but keyed to the SKT.
For the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot Deck
Your Daily PULL with the Chariot
Reading Notes Worksheet [PDF]
You can bookmark and access the below videos from your smartphone so they’re always handy and within reach for your daily mindful tarot practice. Of course, they work for oracle cards as well.
One Minute of Meditative Breathing
Guided Breath Work
Following Tishman’s mindful tarot practice, devote just one minute a day during the “Pause” aspect of the PULL method to focus on your breath work. Transform your regular shuffling before a card reading into a meditative practice with the below two-minute guided card shuffling.
Two Minutes of Induced Relaxation
Mindful Card Shuffling
That’s a total of three (3) minutes a day. In Mindful Tarot, Tishman suggests setting aside approximately half an hour per day to your personal spiritual practice, which can include card reading for yourself. With the foregoing guided videos, that’s 3 minutes of meditation, then proceed with 10 minutes to do your tarot or oracle card reading, and then take another 15 minutes to look up the card meanings, scry into the card images for intuitive hits, and journal about your reading results.
For the Unknowing aspect of the PULL method, look up the card meanings for each card you drew in your Chariot reading. This is a great way to work with Tishman’s text, Mindful Tarot, which provides a wealth of well-researched, insightful, and practical card meanings. There’s of course also my book, Holistic Tarot. An alternative book of card meanings, which is a totally free download, is the Medium White Book, though it’s keyed specifically to the SKT deck.
Acclimating to a New Deck
Tishman’s Chariot spread is a great one to use daily in your mindful tarot practice. Keep a journal of your daily readings and at the end of each week, take the time to review all readings from the past week and ruminate on how those readings have panned out.
If you’ve been meaning to get to know a particular tarot deck better, using the deck in a dedicated manner for your daily Chariot readings is a fantastic way to get acclimated with the deck. If that deck comes with a guidebook, even better. Take the time each day to look up the card meanings to your three-card draw. Journal your impressions and in no time you’ll become fully acquainted with the deck.
The Chariot spread and PULL method can also be applied to any oracle deck.
Download the Chariot and PULL method reading worksheet, print out seven copies of it, and commit to a daily mindful reading for at least one week. See how it fits for you and also, how your tarot practice deepens.
Working with the SKT?
If you’re working with the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot deck, then applying a mindful tarot practice with Tishman’s PULL method and the Chariot spread will quickly deepen your familiarity with the deck. There’s a worksheet specially keyed to the SKT deck just for you.
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