Loyalty to Details- on another level there is tremendous sensuality expressed in these cards. Which woman could fail to fall in love with the young man on the Lovers Card (VI). Which man could resist the fabulous star of Hope (XYII). The Hanged Man (XII) looks so uncomfortable suspended between his past and present he would feel so much better if only someone gave him the initiative to release himself. The royal household of Emperor (IIII) and Empress (III) remind us of what we could achieve if we put our minds to it, and of the material things we could enjoy as a result of endeavor.

The court cards with their serious purposeful faces deal with our day-to-day obligations, our messages, journeys and business matters. They also remind us of our need to associate and communicate with others and of course, of our commitments to those who depend upon us. The Hierophant (V), Priestess (II) and the Hermit (VIIII) require us to use above mere materialism, to study and reflect and also of our obligations of charity and mercy to others. The Judgment card (XX) and the World (XXI) take us through even as far as the completion of our earthly lives, and remind us that we will enter a new world one day which has its own Halls of learning and which will offer us many adventures in other places even after we leave here.

There is a great deal of interest in the occult these days and in all forms of fortune-telling. It is quite the thing to own a pack of Tarot cards and better still, to be able to use them. There are books which are supposed to tell you how to read the Tarot. Tarot cards are a popular present, all of them are sold with an instruction leaflet or booklet. These instructions tend to be terribly confusing, contradictory far too brief.

THE ORIGIN OF TAROT CARDS

Nobody knows for certain where Tarot cards originally came from but they see to share the same roots as playing cards and the game of chess. There are claims put forward that China, India or Egypt is the birthplace of the Tarot. I feel sure that influences from all these places, and a good many more, have been drawn on by the early card designers. It is probable that the packs which finally emerged, more or less in their present form, in the fourteenth century were developed from those which were carried by traveling people and gypsies during their periodic westerly migrations.

An early card game which was called "Tarocco" in Italy and "Tarot" in France used the now familiar format of four suits of cards numbered from Ace to 10 with figures of King, Queen, Cavalier and Page. The suits were in the familiar form of Cups, Staves Rods or Wands, Swards and Coins (or Pentacles) although the names changed slightly from one country to another or even from one are to another. This game actually used the 22 Major Arcana cards which were used as trump cards: the only one which still remains in playing card packs as the Fool which is now called the Joker.

Tarot cards have gone through a number of phases of popularity and banishment over the years, and are at the moment once more extremely popular. The image that they have of being slightly dangerous in some unspecified way, only serves to increase their attraction. In actual fact, Tarot cards are not in the least dangerous as they rely upon the intuition, and possible psychic powers of the reader and in no way release dangerous or frightening forces. If the reader treats them with respect but does not worry too much about any one particular reading, then they can be entertaining, informative and a useful guide to future actions.

The act of laying hands on the human or animal body to comfort and relieve pain is as old a instinct. When experiencing pain, the first thing most people do is to put their hands on it. When a child falls and scrapes her knee, he/she wants her mother to touch it (or kiss it) and make it better. A mother's instinct when a child is feverish or ill directs her to place her hand on the baby's forehead. Human touch conveys warmth serenity, and healing. It also conveys caring and love. When an animal is in pain, a dog or cat's first instinct is to lick the pain area- for the same reasons that a person applies touch with her hands. An animal mother will also lick her young in distress. This simple act is the basis for all touch healing techniques.

The living body, human or animal, radiates warmth and energy. This energy is the life force itself, and has as many names as there are human civilizations.

The Native American Iroquois people call it Orenda. It is known as Prana in India, Raach in Hebrew, Barraka in the Islamic countries, and Chi in China. Ch'I or Ki is an electrical type of energy that creates the body, and determines the state of health. When Ki departs the living organism, life has departed. Ch'I or Ki is also the essential life force of the Earth, the planets, the stars, and the heavens, and these sources of the energy affect the living body's Ki. Everything alive contains Ki and and radiates it- it is the bio-magnetic energy of the aura.

In the life force energy of Reiki, the person who is attuned as a Reiki lealer has had her body's energy channels opened and cleared of obstructions by the Reiki attunements. He/she now not only receives an increase in this life energy or Ki for his/her own healing, but becomes connected to the source of all universal Ch's or Ki. This life force energy is the source of life itself and far older in concept and fact than any religious philosophy.

While everything that has life has Ki, a Reiki attunement connects the receiver in an increased way to its limitless source. Upon receiving the first attunement in Reiki I , the receiver becomes a channel for this universal healing energy. Forom the time of the attunement and through the rest of her life, all he/she needs to do to connect with healing Ki is to place his/her hands upon himself/herself or someone else and it will flow through him/her automatically. The attunement, by placing the person in direct contact with the source of Ki, also increases the life force energy of the person who has received it.

The process of attunement of initiation is what sets Reiki apart from every other form of laying on of hands or touch healing. The attunement is not a healing session, it creates the healer. In Reiki I , the student receives the first combined attunement (foru attunements, if he/she takes the class from a Traditional Reiki Master). He/she receives an additional attunement in Reiki II, and one more attunement in Reiki III. Each degree's attunements increase the positive power of his/her ability to channel Ki. It is the attunements themselves that are Reiki, and without this process-which must be passed directly from Teacher/Master to student-the healing system is not Reiki but something else.

Attunements are given one-on-one and may be made into a beautiful ritual or done quicly and without ceremony. Either way, receiving an attunement is a magical gift. Receivers experience as many different things as there are students. Some perceive colors, others see pictures, some reexperience past lives -especially past lives in which they have had Reiki before. Some are filled with light or a feeling of total peace, wonder or love. Some students may perceive more than others do. The sensations are definite but very gentle. When asked to place his/her hands upon someone else to bring the energy through, the new Reiki healer may experience for the first time the Reiki characteristic of heat radiating through his/her hands.

Traditional teachers say that if you receive Reiki in this lifetime, it is because you have had it before in other incarnations. They say that Reiki is a remembering, and I believe it goes further than that. We have all had Reiki in past lifetimes; it is a part of our genetic heritage and part of all of us.

Reiki is divided into three degrees. Reiki I, the attunement itself heals physical level dis-eases in the person who receives it. Reiki I healing sessions are primarily for self-healing. The Reiki I healer can also do healing for someone else who is physically present. Such healing is known as direct healing -the healer must directly place his/her hands upon himself/herself or the other person.

It takes three or four weeks to adjust to the Reiki I attunement. During that time the Reiki energy may turn on at odd non- healing moments. The person may feel spacey or tingly, have intense dreams including past life dreams, or experience detoxification symptoms. These can include diarrhea, running nose, or increased urination. The person will still feel well. What is happening is that the energy is adjusting and increasing the new healer's capacity to channel it. More Ki energy is entering her aura and body than he/she has experienced before, and his/her aura and chakras are clearing. If the process becomes uncomfortable, doing a healing on oneself or another rebalances the energy and decreases the sensations. After receiving Reiki I, it is best to do as many healing sessions as possible for at least the first month, including a daily self-healing.

Reiki I, the symbols are already in the healer's aura and they emerge unconsciously through his/her hands when he/she heals.

Reiki III is the Master/Teacher's degree. The attunement involves spiritual level energy and achieves spiritual healing in the person receiving it. This energy is pure joy; oneness with all life, and connection with Goddess source.

In doing healing sessions, the Reiki III practitioner experiences a further increase in his/her ability also reaches a higher level. Reiki III includes two more symbol keys, more esoteric information on the symbols, and the method of passing attunements. This degree is only recommended for the serious healer, and especially for those who wish to teach Reili and make Reiki a major part of their lives.

The healer may or may not know what needs healing, but the energy has an intelligence far beyond human and will go where it is needed. It is not drawn from the healer or from his/her aura, but from the life source. The healer places her hands on the series of positions that constitute a session, and Reiki does the rest. The energy also heals on all of the body's levels- physical, emotional mental and spiritual.

Reiki energy heals the whole person. In healing a headache, for example, Reiki may also heal other organs and levels. Though the healer's hands are on the person's pain area, his/her head, many headaches have their source in the digestive system. If the headache is caused by intestinal disturbance, the energy goes to the intestines, as well as to the head pain. These are both physical-level areas. If the headache has emotional causes, stress for example, Reiki also heals on that level. Likewise if the source of pain is at the mental or spiritual body levels. If the person receiving the healing also has another disease, perhaps allergies. Reiki will act there too, whether he/she has mentioned it to the healer or not.