VI The Lovers: Inner Marriage

The Lovers. VI. Visconti-Sforza tarotWe all search for Union with something larger than ourselves. Some of us find this in the romantic other, some in a muse of art. Some find this ecstatic embrace in Nature, some in the relationship with a god or goddess. It can also be found in service, in spiritual practice, or in devotion.

Wherever you find your heart & passion taking you beyond your small sense of self, to being part of something that is great, & good, may you journey a little further on that path today. Happy Valentine’s Day!

If you treated me as we treat teens, I’d be O.D.D., too!

Anger Taking Form NAOO photoA colleague on a forum recently asked about the best techniques for working with a teenager diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder. This was my reply:

 
“Virtually all of the teens I’ve met who have been diagnosed with O.D.D. are only oppositional in certain situations. When they are treated with the same respect afforded adults, treated fairly, have reasonable boundaries set & upheld without judgment, are involved in co-creating future consequences, & do not feel as though they are in double binds, they are not oppositional. You do have to take time to work to develop trust so they can actually believe that you are an adult who will treat them with respect, of course…. I’ve also found that praising the talents they’ve developed (including pushing adults’ buttons) & processing how those skills have served (& hindered) them is pretty helpful. I’ve been working with teenagers in this way for 35 years, & it seems to work well.”
If you’re a teenager interested in exploring who you are, how you are in the world & in your relationships, or are searching for meaning, call me to see if Transpersonal TherapyDreamwork or Therapeutic Tarot with me might be what you’re looking for: Renee Beck, MFT 510-387-0341.
If you’re a therapist working with teens & feel as though you could use some consultation or some help with your process, you can call me, too!

The Benefits of Therapeutic Tarot

The Tarot is a collection of images of archetypes — concepts common to our shared human experience — that show up in different cultures in different forms. For example, all cultures have images of a Creator/Destroyer, the Journey, the Hero, & Death/Rebirth. These archetypes are readily found in religion, myth, & stories. (Can you think of a good film or book that doesn’t have those in some form?) Images are the language of the unconscious, just as words are the language of the conscious mind.

We live in a very conscious-mind culture, & imagery (& music, or poetry, which is a way of using words to evoke the imaginal) is a way to get below/beyond just the logical, rational normal way of doing things. It’s a way of accessing the relational aspect of consciousness, where we can connect things &create understanding in ways that our “thinking brain” doesn’t. A Therapeutic Tarot reading is about a specific question, & the way the cards are laid out specifies a different aspect of the question in each card position; the cards are drawn, & the archetypes are synchronistically shown in relationship to each other.

What happens then depends on the purpose of the person doing the reading. Some people want to foretell the future (which I don’t do, since everything that happens between “now” & “then” can & does change the future); some people want to tell people what they want to hear. I like to have a dialogue about what the person sees in the cards, talk about the archetypal meaning, discuss how that relates to his or her inner & outer life (especially inner), & how she or he might use & apply this insight to make better choices or to create changes in how to do things that might improve his or her life.

When integrated into psychotherapy, Therapeutic Tarot can add richness of dimension into your own healing or growth.

For a free 15-minute interview about Oakland Transpersonal Therapy & Dreamwork, or to schedule a Therapeutic Tarot Consultation, contact  reneebeckmft.com

The Fool

In the Tarot, The Fool card is represented by the number 0. While 0 numerically means “nothing”, looked at mystically, the zero, an image of a circle, represents the all & the nothing, the center & the surround, connection & continuation. The Fool card represents a state of being in touch with the larger oneness, with a sense of the numinous.

The Fool reminds us to maintain a childlike wonder & joy at the simple marvels of existence. The word “fool” means empty-headed, insane, & is derived through French from the Latin word “follis” for blacksmith’s bellows: a leather bag filled with air. When we are in touch with the sacred, we do go a little out of our minds, because what we are experiencing goes beyond normal, day-to-day thinking.

And as wonderful as our minds are, they are only part of our experience. The Fool suggests that we embrace the entirety of who we are, to open to the mysteries of life, to the beauty & knowledge present in any moment, if we can just go a little out of our heads.

Happy April Fool’s Day: May we all be able to be a little Foolish, sometimes!