Visual Impacts

[Croat]

A question for y'all based on what we know about ancient temples...

 

For context, almost all ancient temples were built with paramount importance placed on the optical play of light and shadow.  This was particularly true when aligned with the movement of sun and/or stars, but regardless temples were almost never oriented arbitrarily or constructed without intentional visual manipulation of pilgrims' subconscious experience.  In short, visual staging was a key part of religious experience vis-à-vis ancient temples. 

 

Fast forward to today and how you interact with Tarot.  Beyond just ritual, do you intentionally manipulate light and shadow when doing a reading?  Set the visual stage, so to speak?  If so, why?  What is your purpose in creating a particular visual experience coupled with your reading?  And perhaps a more weighty question:  do you think visual staging can have an impact on how you read the cards?

[DanielJUK]

I personally haven't tried this but I read once that some people have candles or change the lighting, so maybe only some symbols or parts of the card are seen. Ohh that could be a good exercise to only show some part.

 

I think there was an exercise in ISG a while ago where only part of the card was shown. I can't quite remember but it was a very interesting experience.

 

I might try reading with just candlelight, because I scry that way and it brings fascinating symbols to me.

 

Some decks make new landscapes when you put the cards together. That's in the deck design, like the Majors or Suits can make a bigger picture together. 

 

I think the idea of manipulating is maybe to get a better intuitive, more personalised message perhaps? Like this part or symbol (s) are the most important here. Not sure but that is what I would take from it.

[Mister]

20 hours ago, Croat said:

And perhaps a more weighty question:  do you think visual staging can have an impact on how you read the cards?

 

Certainly, quiet extremely so, even.

Intentionally setting the lightings is something I do not, precisely because of the impact. Not on me, on the sitter.

It would require a predetermined focal point, an emphasis you did decide on before doing your read, which is not in the best interest of the one you're reading for.

The focal point of each read should develop naturally. Of course, that is only possible within limitations, such as a spread.

 

However, I do avoid reading in dark places if there are light places available.

 

Now, imagine the following situation: You read on a cloudy day out in the open. The sun is hidden behind the clouds. Now, a question has been posed and as you are a reader, you'll be shuffling already. You place the second card, and the clouds burst open, there is light and warmth, you place the third and it is dim again, the weather stays the same on the fourth and fifth.

Whatever the question, whatever the cards, that second one where the light came out will draw special attention - if not yours, then your sitters.

 

I am sure that setting the lighting belongs more in the sphere of ritualistic magic in the context of a freemasons, druids or reikian initiation and the like, less in the sphere of everyday reads, where you encounter the hues of life, not neccessarily in a harmonious assembly.

 

Long story short, setting the lights also requires to prep the expectation of the audience.

During a standart read, that expectation is to get an answer, plain and simple. And so, the setup should be plain and simple, too.

According to my idealism, that is.

[Raggydoll]

20 hours ago, DanielJUK said:

I personally haven't tried this but I read once that some people have candles or change the lighting, so maybe only some symbols or parts of the card are seen. Ohh that could be a good exercise to only show some part.

 

I think there was an exercise in ISG a while ago where only part of the card was shown. I can't quite remember but it was a very interesting experience.

 

I might try reading with just candlelight, because I scry that way and it brings fascinating symbols to me.

 

Some decks make new landscapes when you put the cards together. That's in the deck design, like the Majors or Suits can make a bigger picture together. 

 

I think the idea of manipulating is maybe to get a better intuitive, more personalised message perhaps? Like this part or symbol (s) are the most important here. Not sure but that is what I would take from it.

Another method is to look intently at the cards for a minute or two, and then close your eyes and see what comes to you. Sometimes a specific symbol will reappear in my mind - perhaps doing something new or different. 
 

Yet another method is to scry by looking intently at the cards until your gaze becomes hazy and you enter an altered state of mind. No thinking, just experiencing. Then you can have wild visions based on the imagery in the cards! (Banners becoming snakes, colors pulsating like blood etc. 😊)
 

But to answer the original question- I typically do not set the stage with any particular kind of lighting. The atmosphere and the magic is in my mind, no candle light required! 

[Marina]

I don't think visual staging has much of an impact on me, because I have read in the most unlikely places!  Like, zero ambience!

 

THAT SAID… I do think that soft warm light like candle, or the presence of fire (as in a fireplace during winter) can shift my focus and make the reading a more ritualistic and immersive experience, which I really like too.
 

One exercise I have tried is to take off my glasses (I'm short sighted) and try to look at the cards without them… This will

sometimes help me notice colour, light and shadow patterns I wouldn't have seen otherwise.

Edited 1 hour ago by Marina

[Croat]

24 minutes ago, Marina said:

One exercise I have tried is to take off my glasses (I'm short sighted) and try to look at the cards without them… This will

sometimes help me notice colour, light and shadow patterns I wouldn't have seen otherwise.

Taking off your glasses and obscuring vision...  what an interesting approach to a reading!  That is akin to how ancient temples were typically designed as a transition from light to shadow as one entered deeper toward the sacred.  Kind of like your approach, they were designed to progressively obscure visual acuity and shift rational awareness toward subconscious reactions.  Brilliant on you!

[Nemia]

For my tired old eyes, actual daylight is best. I try to read in a well-lighted, well-organised space, and I like it to smell good. I have diffusers all over the house, and I like to light incense before I read the cards or put up my decan, moon phase or weekly cards, just to show some respect and love to my cards. 

 

I have done readings in the most unlikely places, and as long as I'm focused, I feel that the cards themselves create a special space. 

 

For anyone interested in the settings of ancient temples, I can recommend Rachel Pollack's book "The Body of the Goddess". It talks about the importance of a spiritual connection between the physical appearance of a place (its similarity to the outlines of a female body) as an ideal place to set up a temple. 

 

I remember when I was a student, a professor of ancient and antique art also mentioned that some places have a special aura. That's one of the reasons why later religions built their temples over older temples. Yes, they wanted to show their victory over an old religion, but they also felt the special meaning of a place. 

 

I have felt such "places of energy", as we call them in German, at different old temples in Greece and Germany. It's a total sensual experience - you hear, see, feel and even smell it.