Psychopompic Tarot: Case Study 1
As a refresher (my understandings), psychopomp work differs from mediumship in that a medium’s main goal is communication and a psychopomp’s goal is restitution. In this case study, I’m exploring the use of tarot as a tool within psychopomp work; both as a way to aid in the truth-expression of the spirit and validation of work completion.
I am extremely honored to have been able to help this spirit not feel so alone & progress along her soul’s journey. The work has been completed on my end with nothing else needed of me that I am aware of, however, this blog will serve as my evaluation of the process utilizing tarot instead of simply recanting the experience. I feel that writing in a manner of evaluation instead of story-telling for the sake of proving my skill keeps me honorable to the ethics of this kind of work. The privacy of spirits is just as important to me as the privacy of my living clients.
The spirit, whom I will call Claudia, had been reaching out to me for about a week before I was able to sit down and go through this process with her. Psychically, I was experiencing feelings of another presence in my energetic space, left ear ringing [a personal symbol I connect to earth-realm beings: humans, elementals, etc.] and synchronicities of personal death related symbols: most notably magnolias & ravens. What felt different about this specific spirit interaction vs others was that it didn’t feel like this spirit was physically in my space, it felt more like they were “ringing my Otherworldly doorbell.”
Regardless, the reading and process went as follows:
⚫️Confirmation of a spirit requesting addressment.
-10 of Pentacles, Ace of Wands, Knight of Swords, King of Pentacles, The Chariot, 2 of Wands
-Undercard: 2 of Swords
*Legacy & fulfillment. An Otherworldly garden. A goal for peace and paradise. This confirms a soul is around & ready for a journey of consciousness. The sacred torch is lit indicating request of life-force drive & devotion to the Flame. To seek the light of Other & return to source. King of Pentacles would encompass a hold on material necessities required for travel on the Chariot. They’re stuck, longing for travel & venture-ment but not making any progress. They may also be holding on to their position of control, logically understanding next steps but lacking the compassion required for embodying such progress. I’m feeling an attitude of “okay. It is what it is. Cut it all off and let’s go.” Which only amplifies the frustration of being in liminality. There may be some fear of letting go entangled with pride. They want on that road, that chariot, as things are moving with or without them, but they can’t seem to relinquish their position/title/anxiety to take that step.
⚫️What is needed in this space for them?
-8 of Cups, The Hermit, King of Swords, Ace of Swords
-Undercard: 5 of Cups
*A reminder of that which is still going good for them. That they aren’t alone in this journey. That this process isn’t a loss but a re-connection, a page turning, a new chapter. That this isn’t the end but a new beginning. The unknown & darkness they are experiencing may feel isolating & riddled with all sorts of grief, fear, ~~it may be a black mirror reflecting their essence & story~~ but the Hermit brings a light guiding them through the darkness returning hope & direction. The King of Swords & Ace of Swords become the authentic ownership of Truth. No longer running from the beliefs & lies, fears & mistakes once held onto for false comfort. But instead, embarking into the presence, on a soul’s journey, releasing the angst & suppressed emotions so they may finally get onto that chariot & go through their door.
⚫️Related Notes from Corresponding Otherworld Journey
*Immediately saw an old golden glowing book already open, flipping its own pages to find the next empty page. This image overlayed my tarot cards still out on my desk from the “What is needed in this space?” question. When the pages stopped, the words “And I was a girl once…” began playing over & over in my head.
During this journey is where the name Claudia popped up.
After going through my Journeying process and traveling to meet her, the same words “And I was a girl once…” were expressed by her on a loop upon greeting her.
(This was also the first time it felt like “energy” was the stronger language rather than words being “spoken.” In all the Journeys I’ve done into the Otherworld, I typically experience ~70% “spoken” and 30% “energy” as means of communication. The percentages were flipped in this case.)
It felt like she was expressing that her family wasn’t mourning her in the way she expected. She expressed “I wasn’t that bad. I did my best.” It felt like there may be a discrepancy in how she viewed her life decisions and the individual impact those decisions had on her family. As the energetic language began to shift, it felt like we were moving away from denial & a hyper-independent perspective towards acceptance & understanding. The releasing of the guilt that comes when our intentions don’t align with impact.
The rest of the details of this journey are not relevant to the evaluation of utilizing tarot within psychopomp work.
⚫️Is our work with Claudia completed?
-Ace of Pentacle, Ace of Swords, Knight of Pentacles
*Yes, progress achieved, journey in motion
Evaluation
I feel like this case was a very solid start towards merging these practices. The psychic sight of seeing a book overlaying my cards was extremely validating for me in multiple ways. My initial thoughts involved the application of allowing the spirit’s Truth to be voiced & expressed via tarot, so seeing it being expressed so energetically literal was incredible! I do have a journal dedicated to my Journeys in the Otherworld, but I also have a specific “aged” faux leather journal dedicated to psychopomp work with the intention of documenting the stories of the souls I encounter. This case feels like confirmation that this dedicated ‘soul’s storybook’ is a good choice. Everywhere I go, I constantly express how I read tarot in a story-based format, of which I’ve yet to see another person who reads similarly to me, so seeing that psychic image was heartwarming to say the least!
The attitude of “okay. It is what it is. Cut it all off and let’s go” that I had felt while reading the cards seems very much in line with the attitude of denial & hyper-independence felt whilst Journeying. It’s as if this initial confirmation reading helped establish a connection and served as a form of “intake” greeting where Claudia was able to communicate her perspective and desires. Like, sitting down with a client and asking them what brought them in today. They’re allotted the agency to express themselves & their needs before any spiritual insight on my part is given. I really enjoyed the addition of this “intake” space as it made us feel slightly less like strangers when I Journeyed to her.
I feel like the “What’s needed in this space?” question accurately correlated with the energetic shift into acceptance; tarot just gave a lot more language to the situation than the energetic assumptions I psychically inferred within the Journey. This may prove to be really helpful in furthering my understandings of a situation, to gleam what’s really needed, and possible mechanisms for how to help a spirit per situation. This reminds me of the benefits of doing divination before a spell working or other types of spiritual work: to help procure an idea of what you’re getting yourself into. I can see a possible downside, however, of engaging with tarot for “what’s needed” directly before Journeying, in that I may need to take extra precautions against biases. While I trust my abilities with tarot, the reading adds another avenue of potential influence to my perception & expectations.
The black mirror imagery I received with the reading is intriguing to me. I don’t wish to elaborate much on this aspect because I don’t want to share those details about my Journey to the public, but that imagery makes symbolic sense with where I ended up meeting Claudia in the Otherworld.
After the Journey was concluded, having that extra confirmation with tarot that all is good definitely eased my typical worrywart-self. 10/10 lol!
So overall! I think a few more cases exploring truth-expression & confirmation of conclusion will be helpful before seeing how I can attempt to merge these practices further.
Stay tuned for Case Study 2!
-
Alyssa
