HallowQuest - lesson 1 - Meditation and Diary Keeping.

[PathWalker]

Catlin begins the section of the first five lessons by saying:

“Before we set off on our quest, we need to spend a little time in preparation. . . Lessons 1 - 5 give us guidelines for meditation, study and practical work, and provide a grounding as well as a personal map for ensuing quests. Give plenty of time to this preliminary section before you go on to Part Two. Each lesson needs a minimum of a week’s work.”

 

 

Lesson 1 begins with a discussion and helpful suggestions about meditations as used in the quest. These meditations are to lead you into the cards, to meet the characters, explore the landscape and find your own inner meanings in the symbolism and journey. There’s discussion about breathing, and earthing and grounding.

 

Next comes a section headed ‘Diary Record’.

Here you’re encouraged to create and maintain is a journal that covers your daily and perhaps deeper weekly work with the course and the deck. Headings suggested are:

Date

Time

Moon phase

Weather

Meditation subject

Report

Card of the day

Reading

Special/important/noteworthy event of the day

 

Tasks includes looking through the whole book in a relaxed way, questions about how we are preparing for the course and how we might need to make changes to our routines. Then some work with the deck, and the beginnings of keeping the journal.

Daily Tarot Companions Reading leads us through a 3 card reading format, splitting the deck into three parts - Greater Powers (majors) Lesser Powers (minors) and Courts.

 

All of these sections has examples, so that we can see the kind of note-taking that might be helpful now and later when we look back.

 

 

Please use this thread for your responses, thoughts or questions about lesson 1.

 

PathWalker

 

 

[PathWalker]

PathWalker’s responses to Lesson One.

 

After reading through the sections on meditation, breathing, diary keeping, I wrote:

 

“I won’t say I’ve got to grips with all this yet. My work is sporadic, and sometimes brief, but I still to think to try is better than to wait for the perfect time”

 

 

In terms of the preparation and routine changes:

 

“I will need to push and press myself forward, not to fall away with time. I will need to make sure I find the time and space for each week’s journey.”

 

At the end of the page I see I have written:

 

“At some point early in the course i.e. during the first 5 lessons, I noticed that I didn't really feel comfortable with the "experience (lesser powers), guide (Courts) & teacher (greater powers)" thing.

I kept trying for a while, afraid of 'doing things wrong' but it just didn't make me feel that I understood what the cards were expressing.

 

Then I thought, hang on, this is meant to be about helping me move forward on the journey, these aren't set rules I'm sure, they're helpful guidelines. So if they don't work for me, what does?

 

So I made it more simple, and this is currently what I do ( I realise I may have to change this as I get further into the course). I divided the cards into two piles only; one pile is all the number cards. There are no figures at all on the number cards, they are all scenery. So this is where I am, or has something to say to me that links to a natural type of place or energy. This works for me, links with my own spiritual walk. Of course there are the Aces/Hallows in this pile, so sometimes a slightly different message.

 

The other pile is all the courts and the majors. These are often figures, these will accompany me on that journey, or speak to me. Occasionally there are non-figurative cards, but their major arcana energy has something to say to me. I find the little green book from the current printing useful here too, as it actual poses questions for the cards, this helps if I'm wondering how the cards link together for any one day. For now this works for me”

 

 

It seems important to me still, that we should feel free to change things somewhat in order to make the journey process work for us. I hope my example might be of help to others who need to make it ‘fit’ better for them.

 

Blessings

Pathwalker