The Sceptic's Tarot

Most people deal with unpleasant and upsetting memories by either trying to suppress them, or wallow in them to the point where they cause depression and anxiety in the present. The ‘Lessons learnt’ tarot technique will help you gain a clearer perspective on the memory and turn it into an opportunity for learning. It works well as a journaling exercise.

1. Focus on the memory of an event that you found upsetting for some reason. Try to recall as much about the incident as possible, but not to the extent that the memory leaves you depressed and in a negative mood.
2. Shuffle your tarot deck and draw a card at random.
3. Note the strengths and positive qualities associated with the card. (For this exercise, ignore any negative connotations of the card, or translate them into positive qualities.)
4. If you had the strengths and positive qualities represented by the card, how would you have handled the upsetting event?
5. If you wish, draw several cards and repeat the exercise with all of them.
6. Reflect on what can you learn from this exercise, how to handle similar events in the future.

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Image: Lonely playtime by Jason Parks, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0