Think about a dream that you may have had recently, and write a brief paragraph about the dream in your notebook. Now read the paragraph, and find three key points from your dream, and write them too, leaving space underneath each entry for more writing.

Randomly draw three cards from your deck of Tarot cards, and place them in a row going from left to right. Write the name of the first Tarot card next to the first theme you recorded, the name of the second Tarot card next to the second theme, and the name of the third card next to the last theme.

Now write down what you see in each card. Use the probing questions, as in previous lessons. Write a brief sentence or two that describes how the meanings on the card relate to the theme in your dream. Finally, write a one or two sentence summary, as to what the dream, through your interpretations of the Tarot cards, is trying to teach you.

The themes I chose for my dream were discovering rooms, fixing things, and a storm. The cards that I picked from my Rider-Waite Tarot deck were The Empress, The Seven of Wands, and the Ten of Cups.

The Empress is seated, surrounded by water, grass, and trees. She is voluptuous, comfortable, and holding her staff. There are pomegranates – a symbol of fertility – on her gown, and a pleasant but watchful expression on her face. I related her to the 'discovering rooms' aspect of my dreams by the lushness of her surroundings; the grass and the trees around The Empress are growing, and the house in my dream was 'growing' rooms – even if they were rather creepy!

The Seven of Wands, being the second card, related to the fixing things aspect of my dream. On the card, the figure is on a cliff, holding a staff, and other staffs are in front of him. His face is pensive, rather anxious, and he looks like he is fending off the staffs with the one he is using. His footing is sure, but his situation is questionable, as there is nowhere for him to go. The sky behind him is blue, with neither cloud nor horizon visible. When applying this to the dream aspect, the figure in the card is working hard at beating off the staffs that are rising up to him, indicating that perseverance and hard work is going to be required to get everything fixed and as it should be. The outcome may not yet be determined, but the task still has to be undertaken.

Finally, the Ten of Cups related to the third aspect of my dream, the storm. The image on the Ten of Cups is one of rainbows and blue skies. There is a family in the foreground, looking very happy; the man and woman are arm in arm, and the children are skipping and playing. There is a pleasant country landscape in the background. When applying this to the dream aspect, it makes me think of the rainbow after the storm, how a storm can come through and clear the air, making things fresh again.

My summary, therefore, was that the circumstances in my life were growing, and I was going to have to be diligent and apply hard work if I wanted to stay on top of the situation, but that the outcome was favorable, that the storm would pass and all things would be fresh and settled again.

In previous weeks we've been doing exercises that help is to learn how to 'read' the Tarot. This lesson is going to look at another way we can interact with the Tarot, and that is through meditation.

Go through the cards in your Tarot deck, and choose a card that looks nice, peaceful, and calming to you. This card will be different for different people, but the ones that I like to use are The Sun, The Star, Temperance, The Ten of Cups, and the Hermit. You may choose another card, if it resonates with you more than one of these.

Using the probing techniques we have been using throughout this series, study your chosen card, and write down your observations in a notebook. Now think of a time in your life when you were really happy and relaxed. It might have been a time when you were with your family or friends, a time when you were alone on vacation and enjoying your own company, it doesn't really matter, as long as the experience was positive, uplifting, and relaxing.