RB TAROT: A somatic oracle for Radical Bodies, Resilient Lovers, and Biodynamic Rebels
Hello Responsive Body community! We have been exploring a myriad of ways to incorporate somatic technology into previous systems and technologies, not only to infiltrate and subvert ways of thinking, but to allow for an expansion of how these systems and technologies are learned, used, and maintained. One of the ways we have delved deep has been through cartomancy, or tarot. Tarot can be a spiritual practice as we see throughout modern media and occult history; a psychological practice, as we see Jung's breakdown and use of the tarot archetypes for deep therapeutic treatment; or simply as a game to ponder and question and have a few laughs with friends on a quiet evening at home.
Regardless of the approach, the symbols and imagery allows us to unlock our creative potential as well as offer us a profound look into our somatic experiences.
We have played around with tarot readings in our Responsive Body Practitioner Training sessions, in our Mentorships meetings, and even our Leadership circles meetings! It offers us ways to look, analyze and feel through our day, our bodies, our meetings and our relationships!
I would like to share with you all the extremely popular Smith-Rider-Waite Tarot deck, which is based on the classic Tarot de Marseille, but through the lens of Responsive Body. Those familiar with the Smith-Rider-Waite tarot will see that the order of the cards remains the same. We still have a Major Arcana, and four suits that make up the Minor Arcana.
To those new to reading Tarot, we have very easy descriptions of each card and questions to engage your experience while reading the cards.
We have altered the names of the cards to better suit the symbolism and language that the Responsive Body team feels more connected to. However the numbering of the cards remains the same. For example Card 0 (zero), which is usually called The Fool, has been renamed The Joyful Beginner. And in order to make it easier, the images of the cards have kept the original Smith-Rider-Waite names and designs.
I would personally like to thank T. Moreta for the occult perspective and the endless cackling tarot sessions, Jean Stultz for the laser-sharp embryology perspective on the cards, Dani Galvez for hearing my incessant talking and giving me so much to process on tarot as well as RB technology during our one on one meetings, tsim nuj for the inquisitive perspective that kept me opening more and more questions and lines of thought, and holly johnston for the incredible somatic perspective on the world that has flowed into these cards, and for green lighting this project. Thank you my sweet RB family for the ongoing love and community that allowed for this wonderful project to bloom so wonderfully. In more than 15 years as a tarologist I hadn't had this much fun delving into the cards and letting them shift and grow so organically, so communally, so freely. Thank you all for the marvelous contributions.
So please enjoy, for the next 22 days the Responsive Body Major Arcana Tarot breakdown. Every day we will post one Major Arcana card. If you are already a Tarot reader, try incorporating it into your usual practice. If you are new to it, let each card tell you what to look for on the day you see it. How can you connect to it? How can you see it unfold throughout your day? How can you find the card within your body?
Let us know how this card connects with you!
Love,
Lucca
0 - THE JOYFUL BEGINNER
This card shows us the seed of curiosity that leads us to a new path. This is the time to be as open as possible to learn new information with utmost joy. The pleasure of play that bursts outwardly from the sensations within us are our true guides in our way. The impulses that drive us in order to find out what can be done on the trail ahead. When our brains are in a state of free flow play, we have the greatest capacities for developing new neural pathways and synapses for inputting information. This pursuit of curious pleasure, of exploring and failing on purpose to uncover the new within us is what allows us to be the quickest learner in the room. The seed that bursts with yearning into a prism of infinite possibilities. What is making you curious? What pleasure can you find in the unfolding of a new path?
