The purpose of an intuitive reading is to receive guidance from a higher order of reality. This begins by dropping into quietness and, from a place of silence, stillness and solitude, waiting for the veil between the realms to become thinner and the conversation to open up. More specifically, we seek to dwell on the frontier between the material realm and the subtle realm. The material realm is the visible world of the planet Earth. The subtle realm has many names depending on the tradition: the kingdom of heaven, for instance, the imaginal realm or the noosphere. The subtle or imaginal realm is the world of creative thoughts and ideas, the point of origin of critical thinking and epistemological breakthroughs. The noosphere is the sphere of reason and light as opposed to the biosphere of the earthly plane, the world of matter and incarnate life.
Insights and guidance blossom at the interface of the visible and the invisible, on the periphery where the subtle convenes with the material to form, and inform, consciousness. Reciprocal exchange grows and swells as we learn to bridge the material and the imaginal. It also requires that we stabilise states of being that enable us to stay on the rim of intelligibility and cultivate a steady connection with a higher will.
The seasoned contemplative is someone who has learned to maintain a strong and enduring connection with other orders of reality. Detached from the subject/object configuration she or he has stabilised a state of objectless awareness, like the monk who doesn’t pray any longer because he has become prayer, a living presence in the world. These are people at ease with the apophatic practices that support spiritual attentiveness by espousing objectless awareness. Apophatic practices become dominant when we have pierced the veil of self-reflective awareness and find ourselves swimming in contemplative consciousness.
Before we get to this level, most of us will have trained in, and practiced, a wide range of cataphatic practices, that is, practices designed to develop object-focused awareness so as to observe and discern the many levels of bodily sensations, feelings and thoughts arising in our experience. These practices comprise the foundational ground of mindfulness. Their purpose and design is to induce changes in perception and cognition, therefore opening up to new levels of awareness.
A structured intuitive reading belongs to the body of cataphatic practices. Carefully designed and well delivered, it can hoist us to other orders of reality and move us towards objectless awareness and the communion with the divine or sacred.
To support the shift from magical thinking, and cognition shaped by direct causality, to reciprocal exchanges between realms, and full participation in the dynamic patterns of reciprocity, I do card readings using the Osho Zen Tarot deck in a Celtic Cross spread. I find this particular configuration helpful for apprehending the cruciform nature of reality, observing the unfolding nature of human consciousness and taking stock of where we are on the odyssey with wholeness.
The Celtic Cross spread has 6 cards. At the centre there are two cards, the first illustrating the heart of the matter of the guidance and the second any aspect influencing the core issue shaping our experience and direct encounter with reality.
The Vertical Axis is structured around two cards representing the unconscious and conscious influences. This axis provides information regarding our movements through different stages of consciousness. It illustrates developmental growth, our progress in terms of individuation and emancipation, the interface between psychological integration and spiritual growth. It also follows the blossoming of love into compassion, all of which ask us to die to the small constricted, self so as to be born to the expansive Self, none other than wholeness of selfhood or ensouled individuality.
The Horizontal Axis examines our participation in life on Earth, in particular our forms of social engagement and relatedness, as we transition from individualism and self-centredness to empathy and complete solidarity with the human condition. The two cards provide information on old and new relational patterns and, within relational spaces, our awakening to the unified self which comprises both our essential nature and our collective nature.
The reading enables us to see which of the waves of the odyssey we are surfing and where we are invited to direct our attention.
In terms of Self-Discipline and Personal Mastery
In terms of Self-Knowledge and Mindfulness
The card reading is organised around four aspects of dialogue: intercession, conversation, configuration and inspiration. When aligned, these four components take us out of the transactionality of giving and receiving and usher us in to the relational field of reciprocity and solidarity.
Intercession
We start by naming the guiding spirit we communicate or commune with: God, a Saint, a deceased person with whom we feel a strong connection, a guardian Angel or simply Love. We then ask them to take over the reading for the highest good.
Conversation
We put forward the topic for which we wish to receive insights and directions. It is good to work with an open-ended and provocative question with a simple formulation such as
Dear Guiding Spirit, what would you like me to know about – theme ?
I recommend selecting a theme for which there is a genuine curiosity and a willingness to venture into the unknown or unfamiliar. A provocative question is likely to induce the confusion, bewilderment, astonishment or surprise that is conducive to transformation.
Configuration
The six cards of the Celtic cross spread reveal the configuration of the energies, both ascensional and relational, informing the situation for which we seek insights and guidance: card 1 and 2 for the core issue; card 3 and 4 for the vertical axis; card 5 and 6 for the horizontal axis.
When sitting in a face-to-face session, after calling in the guiding spirit and stating the question out loud, the questioner picks the six cards and places them on the mat upside down. Each card is then turned over following the defined sequence for the Celtic Cross spread. If we are working online, before we meet, I pick the cards on behalf of the questioner, invoking their guiding spirt and saying out loud the question.
Once the cards have been picked, positioned on the mat and turned over, we stay in silence with the configuration waiting for the pattern to reveal itself and yield its wisdom.
In the case of a face-to-face meeting, after the silence, we slowly open the conversation to share the first reactions to the configuration and how it is to receive it. We then move into what is slowly emerging and being revealed.
Inspiration
I provide a detailed illustrated report on the configuration. It includes a commentary on the core issue, the vertical axis, the horizontal axis and the interfaces between both axes. In completion of the report, I offer an affirmation or aphorism to continue the inner work. This can be a poem, a prayer or a bespoke practice. The idea here is to keep the conversation open and allow more information to float in either during meditations or at night-time in dream material.
In the case of a face-to-face meeting, the report summarises the discussion and contains suggestions for the next steps.
When working online, I do the card reading, write the report and send it to the client. We then meet to discuss the reading and the report.
It is possible to do a reading without a report.
The Words & Music Guided Meditation is a good segue to the intuitive reading, a possibility to follow on with an in-depth exploration of what has been revealed.
An intuitive reading with a 60-minute meeting or call and a full report costs 1500,00 kr.
An intuitive reading with a 60-minute meeting or call without the report costs 750,00 kr.