Tarot and Meditation with Keziah Gibbons

Summary

Tarot Bytes Episode Summary Title: Tarot and Meditation with Keziah Gibbons
Host: Theresa Reed | The Tarot Lady
Guest: Keziah Gibbons
Release Date: September 19, 2022

---

Introduction to the Episode

In Episode 236 of Tarot Bytes, host Theresa Reed dives into the harmonious intersection of Tarot and meditation with special guest Keziah Gibbons. This insightful conversation explores how integrating meditation practices can deepen one's Tarot reading experience, enhance personal growth, and foster a more intuitive connection with the cards.

---

The Synergy Between Tarot and Meditation

Theresa opens the discussion by highlighting her belief in the power of meditation and its natural alignment with Tarot practices. She poses a foundational question:

Theresa Reed [00:00]: "How can meditation help somebody's Tarot practice?"

Keziah Gibbons [01:13]: "Tarot can help signpost you towards resources, both external and internal, and meditation can help you to activate those resources."

Keziah explains that Tarot serves as a guide to accessing various resources—such as tools, materials, people, and internal qualities like courage and confidence. Meditation complements this by activating and strengthening these internal resources, enabling a more profound and centered Tarot practice.

---

Building a Consistent Meditation and Tarot Practice

Theresa shares her experience of using meditation to calm her busy mind, especially before Tarot readings, to better interpret the cards' messages:

Theresa Reed [02:38]: "Meditation is a way to center myself and really help me to hear what the cards are saying a little bit better than when I'm coming at it when I'm in a panic."

Keziah agrees, emphasizing the importance of being centered to achieve more objective and insightful readings:

Keziah Gibbons [02:38]: "Being centered when we start to work with the tarot is really important, and meditation can help with that."

She further discusses how meditation aids in recognizing and understanding the narratives we construct in our minds, allowing Tarot readers to discern objective insights from internal biases.

---

Demystifying Meditation: Accessibility for All

Theresa addresses a common misconception that meditation requires a blank mind, encouraging a more nuanced understanding:

Theresa Reed [03:37]: "Meditation isn't about making your mind blank. It's about making friends with your mind as it is."

Keziah reinforces this by differentiating between various forms of meditation, such as mindfulness, which focuses on observing thoughts without striving for a blank slate:

Keziah Gibbons [03:37]: "Mindfulness is really about noticing those narratives and not trying to get this blank mind, this blank slate."

She advises listeners to approach meditation with flexibility and to seek guided sessions if needed, making the practice more approachable for beginners.

---

Practical Applications: Integrating Meditation with Tarot Reading

When asked how to incorporate meditation into Tarot practice, Keziah provides actionable strategies:

Keziah Gibbons [07:13]: "Use guided meditations to notice your reactions to a Tarot card, observe the symbols, and embody the card's energy."

She elaborates on her approach, which includes:

• Noticing Initial Reactions: Observing emotional and intuitive responses to the card.
• Exploring Symbols: Delving into the imagery and symbols present in the card.
• Embodiment: Imagining oneself within the card to fully embrace its energy and message.

Theresa underscores the value of guided meditations, especially for those new to either practice, enhancing the depth and richness of Tarot readings.

---

Addressing Challenging Cards Through Meditation

Theresa raises a pertinent concern regarding difficult Tarot cards like The Tower, which can evoke fear or discomfort:

Theresa Reed [08:22]: "I got the tower card. This is so scary. It's triggering me. I'm uncomfortable."

Keziah responds empathetically, explaining her approach to creating empowering meditations for such cards:

Keziah Gibbons [08:22]: "The Tower card acknowledges an experience. It’s about stripping down and making anew, allowing space for something new to happen."

She shares her process of transforming challenging energies into opportunities for growth and renewal, drawing inspiration from Buddhist practices and NLP techniques to empower the querent.

---

Creating Guided Meditations for Tarot: Inspiration and Process

Theresa inquires about Keziah's method for developing her extensive collection of Tarot meditations:

Theresa Reed [10:01]: "Can you tell me about your inspiration and process for creating these guided meditations for the tarot cards?"

Keziah details her 18-month journey in crafting 78 unique meditations, one for each Tarot card. Her approach includes:

• Card of the Day Practice: Using daily draws to inspire meditation themes.
• Structured Integration: Aligning meditations with Tarot suit characteristics—Swords with mindfulness, Wands with energy work, Cups with heart-focused practices, Pentacles with embodied scans, and Major Arcana with spiritual and value-based reflections.
• Intuitive Development: Allowing each card's inherent energy and symbolism to guide the meditation's focus and structure.

She highlights specific examples, such as the Ace of Cups' flow and The Devil's theme of reclaiming personal power, showcasing the tailored nature of her meditations.

---

Accessing Keziah Gibbons' Tarot Meditations

Theresa provides listeners with information on how to access Keziah's guided Tarot meditations:

Keziah Gibbons [12:40]: "The meditation course is called Daily Tarot Meditation Ritual, and it's on the Insight Timer app."

Keziah mentions that her offerings include a variety of courses and over 85 free meditations available on the Insight Timer platform, fostering a supportive community through interactive classrooms where users can ask questions and share experiences.

---

Final Tips for Integrating Meditation with Tarot

As the conversation draws to a close, Keziah offers parting advice for beginners looking to meld meditation with their Tarot practice:

Keziah Gibbons [13:29]: "Allow yourself to notice your reactions, have fun, and enjoy developing a relationship with your cards and yourself."

She emphasizes the importance of openness and enjoyment in the process, encouraging readers to use meditations as tools for deeper integration and understanding of their Tarot journeys.

---

Conclusion

Theresa wraps up the episode by highly recommending Keziah Gibbons' work for those eager to enhance their Tarot and meditation practices. She directs listeners to Keziah's Instagram, website, and the Insight Timer app for more resources. Theresa also invites listeners to explore additional Tarot content on her website, thetarotlady.com, and encourages leaving positive reviews on iTunes to help others discover the podcast.

Theresa Reed [15:04]: "The tarot cards tell a story, but you write the ending."

This episode serves as an invaluable guide for Tarot enthusiasts seeking to deepen their practice through the mindful incorporation of meditation, offering practical techniques, empathetic insights, and accessible resources to foster personal and spiritual growth.

---

Resources Mentioned:

• Keziah Gibbons' Meditation Course: Daily Tarot Meditation Ritual on the Insight Timer app
• Keziah's Website: KaziahGibbons.com
• Keziah's Instagram: @kaziah_gibbons
• Theresa Reed's Website: thetarotlady.com

---

Notable Quotes:

• Keziah Gibbons [01:13]: "Tarot can help signpost you towards resources, both external and internal, and meditation can help you to activate those resources."

• Theresa Reed [03:37]: "Meditation isn't about making your mind blank. It's about making friends with your mind as it is."

• Keziah Gibbons [08:22]: "The Tower card acknowledges an experience. It’s about stripping down and making anew, allowing space for something new to happen."

• Theresa Reed [15:04]: "The tarot cards tell a story, but you write the ending."

---

This episode of Tarot Bytes offers a comprehensive exploration of how meditation can enhance Tarot practice, providing listeners with both philosophical insights and practical tools to embark on a more intuitive and centered Tarot journey.

Transcript

[Theresa Reid]

Foreign. Hello and welcome to Tarot Bites. I'm Theresa Reid, the Tarot lady. I'm the author of Tarot no Questions Asked, Mastering Art of Intuitive Reading. Also Twist yout Fate, Manifest Success with Astrology and Tarot. And I'm your host for this podcast series. This is episode 236 of Tarot Bites, the podcast where I dish out short, entertaining, bite sized lessons on how to read tarot. And for today's episode, our topic is Tarot and meditation. And my special guest is Keziah Gibbons. Welcome, Keziah.

[Keziah Gibbons]

Thank you so much for having me. Hi, Teresa.

[Theresa Reid]

So good to have you here. I know that you do a lot of work with meditation, and I love meditation too. I'm a big believer in it. So let's start off by talking, jumping right into it. How can meditation help somebody's Tarot practice?

[Keziah Gibbons]

Right. So the short answer is that they both help you access resources. So what I mean by that is that the tarot can often signpost you to resources. So sometimes we think about external resources. This can be tools, it can be materials, it can even be people or groups who can help us. But we also have internal resources. Our courage, our strength, our confidence, our knowledge. These are all internal resources. So what I like to say is that the tarot can help signpost you towards those resources and. And meditation can help you to activate those resources.

[Theresa Reid]

And how long have you been doing meditation and tarot?

[Keziah Gibbons]

I've been doing this professionally for about 10 years now. Although I've always had an interest in both.

[Theresa Reid]

I think a lot of Tarot people are naturally drawn to other practices. And I think meditation is something many of us are drawn to because, you know, we're trying to quiet our mind. And like you said, we're trying to access those tools within which tarot can be one way to do it. But when your mind is all over the place, it's much, much harder to hear that information. So I find that meditation is a way to center myself and really help me to hear what the cards are saying a little bit better than when I'm coming at it when I'm in a panic. What do you think about that?

[Keziah Gibbons]

Yeah, absolutely. Being centered when we start to work with the tarot is really important, and meditation can help with that. And it can also help us to understand how we're framing our reality. So often we create narratives in our minds and sometimes we believe what we're telling ourselves. And so it's easier to get a more objective reading if we are aware that these narratives are there and we can decide then whether we're going to choose to believe them or not.

[Theresa Reid]

You know, there are so many people, I love that you said this, that think that meditation is all about making your mind blank. And you know, I always say, no, it's about making friends with your mind as it is. And I love how you really frame this as being able to look at the narrative with your story too. What are your thoughts about people who say, I can't meditate, my mind is too busy, I can't get a blank slate.

[Keziah Gibbons]

I would say to give it a go and to find guidance. Because firstly, there are some forms of meditation where the idea is to clear your mind. There are many, many forms of meditation where the idea is not to. So for example, mindfulness, which is one of the most common forms of meditation, one of the most well known and one of the most well evidenced, is really about noticing those narratives and not trying to get this blank mind, this blank slate. So I would say to give it a go, but perhaps let go of some of the expectations and also to find good guidance, because with good guidance you can do it. And there's no shame in having guidance in meditation. I've been a meditation professional for 10 years. I like to listen to a guided meditation. That's okay.

[Theresa Reid]

I think actually guided meditations are really helpful. You know, I use a guided meditation to get to sleep, which may sound very strange to some people, but I've been using it for quite some time. And as soon as I start listening to the meditation, meditation, my. And I've got a busy mind, my mind really starts to settle in and I get some of the most deep, profound sleep because it really lulls me into that. Meditation isn't just about, you know, we're doing it to get spiritual. It can be used for so many other reasons. And that's one of my favorite ways to use it.

[Keziah Gibbons]

Yes, so many people use meditation for sleep. And it's one of the gifts of meditation that we can create the state within ourselves that we want to have using meditation. We can do that with a two minute meditation or a two hour meditation. And if there is one that you like that works for you to get to sleep, then you'll also be training your mind to go to sleep every time you listen to that meditation.

[Theresa Reid]

When I was a very little girl, I remember I always had trouble sleeping. Again, very busy mind. I read a newspaper article and the newspaper article said, if you have trouble going to sleep, what you need to do is you need to relax your body Parts one at a time, starting with your toes. And I used to do that when I was a little girl. I didn't know I was meditating, I didn't know what I was doing. I was just desperately trying to get to sleep. So my first introduction to meditation was that. What was your first introduction to meditation?

[Keziah Gibbons]

So I think I did mindfulness before I ever did meditation. And, and that was around uncomfortable experiences. So there it was having food that was a lot more spicy than I was used to. I can remember telling myself, I'm not enjoying this, but it's not going to kill me, so why don't I just try and experience it and notice what that's like. And much, much later I learned that this is one of the ways that we approach mindfulness. And then I started doing Reiki 20 odd years ago now. And as part of that, I was invited to learn some more about mindfulness. And from mindfulness I began to learn about other types of meditation as well. So it happened very organically, I think.

[Theresa Reid]

I think oftentimes with these metaphysical practices and interests, they do kind of like seem to one thing leads to another, like a lot of little rivers leading to some sort of a big ocean. So here's the question then. So how would you explain to somebody how they could bring meditation into tarot, into their tarot practice? What's an easy thing anybody can do to start?

[Keziah Gibbons]

Well, I have some specific guided meditations for this. So for example, guidance on looking at a tarot card or an oracle card and noticing your reaction to it, noticing your internal reactions to it, noticing any questions that arise, noticing the different symbols that you see in the image and how your reaction changes, what are the narratives attached to that. And then jumping in, imagining being in the card, embodying the card and noticing how that is. So it's all about noticing what your response is to the card. And of course, as a tarot reader, this gives you some depth and richness that that will be useful in all of your readings.

[Theresa Reid]

I agree with that very deeply. But what do you say to people then who say, well, I got the tower card. This is so scary. It's triggering me. I'm uncomfortable. I, I don't want to go into this, I don't want to experience this. What do you say to that?

[Keziah Gibbons]

So I have recently made a meditation around the tower card. I've recently made 78 meditations around all the cards. And there were certain cards like the Tower, the Ten of Swords and so on that people do find a little bit frightening. And they might not want to go and sit for 10 and 15 minutes and go into that energy. So firstly, I always say with these cards is that they're acknowledging an experience. So if the tower card comes up with someone, it's usually because there is something in their life that's already happening. The card doesn't make it happen that the, the tower card is acknowledging. And then it was still a challenge to decide how to create a meditation that's empowering around these cards. So for the tower, I actually used a meditation which is about stripping down and making anew. So it's still quite an intense medit. It's inspired by some of the, the Buddhist practices. And you actually imagine yourself going down to nothing and then building yourself back up again, which is what the tower is about. And that's the gift in the tower. It's the resource in the tower, as you know, that, you know, here we have a chance to let go of that which we might have been holding too tightly onto and creating space for something new to happen.

[Theresa Reid]

That's really beautiful. And you said that you make these meditations, so obviously you have guided meditations that you make for people around the tarot. Can you tell me about your inspiration and process for creating these guided meditations for the tarot cards?

[Keziah Gibbons]

Yeah, so it was a really long process. I spent about 18 months going into creating these 78 meditations and they all showed up in different ways. So, so I was, I didn't go about them sequentially. I have a card of the day practice. So if I'm sitting down to write a meditation, I'm going to use my card of the day and, and create a meditation for that. And so there was some kind of. There's some structure, as the tarot has structure. So for example, the swords, there's a lot of mindfulness meditations, the wands, more kind of energy work meditations, of course, incorporating the elements in there as well. The cups is a lot of heart stuff and gratitude meditations. The pentacles, there's a lot of embodied and body scan meditations. And then the major arcana, there's a lot of spiritual and values meditations. But then within that, some of the cards would just suggest to me this is what the meditation has to be. So, for example, the ace of cups came to me really clearly. You know, this is. We have this image of flowing in lots and lots of the ace of cups. And so it's all about that connection to source and allowing that source energy to flow through you. And that was really really clear. Some of the others took a little more thinking about. So, for example, the tower one that I mentioned, the. The devil one's another one where, you know, it's another car that challenges people. And again, it's usually acknowledging something, so the devil will acknowledge that you're giving your power away in some way. And so I'm an NLP trainer as well. So I used an NLP technique to take that power away from the devil in. In this meditation. So some of them came quite organically, and they all came at their right time and in these. In these different ways.

[Theresa Reid]

And, you know, I think, again, guided meditations are so helpful because a lot of people, especially people who are new to meditation, or new to Tarot for that matter, you know, they don't really know where to start. And a guided one could really help people to lead into the. Or lean into, I guess, the. The car, the meaning of it, the experience of it. And that could be much more helpful than trying to figure it out on your own. So if people want to access your Tarot meditations, where. Where can they find this?

[Keziah Gibbons]

So the meditation course is called Daily Tarot Meditation Ritual, and it's on the Insight Timer app, which is an app with thousands of free meditations and then hundreds of courses. And. And the. The course is. Is part of that. And you get. Also get access to a classroom there so you can ask questions about experience. I love it because it's a community. So that's the best place to go to to find these meditations.

[Theresa Reid]

Awesome. I will make sure to include a link in the show notes so people can access that. I think it's a really brilliant idea and really helpful for folks. Are there any other tips that you want to share for beginning Tarot meditators? Any other quick tips?

[Keziah Gibbons]

I would just say again, allow yourself to notice. Allow yourself to have reactions if you have reactions, and then notice those reactions. And there are so many ways that you can use Tarot meditation together. You know, one of the things I often do when I've done a reading for someone is I might prescribe a meditation with one of the cards. One of the cards is significant, and people can find that, that can give them extra information that they didn't fully get in the reading, because, as you know, sometimes it will take a little while to integrate. So that can be part of the integration process after. After having the reading as well. And just to have fun. You know, this. This work can be very serious, but it can be fun as well. And, and those two don't exclude each other. So, you know, enjoy the process. Enjoy developing a relationship with your cards, with yourself, with meditation.

[Theresa Reid]

That is amazing advice. And if people want to know more about your work, where can they find you?

[Keziah Gibbons]

Because I so I'm on Instagram at Kaziah Underscore Gibbons. I have a website which is Kaziah Gibbons.com and Insight Timer is where I have most of my work. I've got five or six courses up there and about 85 free meditations on there as well. So that's where you can find me.

[Theresa Reid]

Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your time and wisdom with me today. I really appreciate you being here.

[Keziah Gibbons]

Thank you. It's been amazing to talk to you, Theresa.

[Theresa Reid]

All right, people, well, you are definitely going to check out Keziah's work. If you want to learn how to bring meditation and tarot together to deepen your practice, you could be deepening your meditation practice and your tarot practice at the same time. I highly recommend checking out their work and get over there. Check it out. The Insight Timer may have a whole lot of new things that you fall in love with as well. All right, people, well, that wraps up this episode of Tarot Bites. And of course you can check out lots more tarot goodness on my website, theterolady.com I've got free tarot astrology lessons, lots of books, hundreds of blog posts, astrological forecasts, and many other good things. Read a Scope out. Enjoy. I want to thank you again for listening. I hope you have a beautiful day. By the way, if you like the podcast, you know what I want you to do? Get on over to itunes and leave a kind review because that will help more tarot curious people find their way to tarot Bites. And as always, I like to close up by saying pay close attention to your intuition throughout your day. Let it guide you into making brave, excellent choices. Remember that you are always in the driver's seat of your life. You are in charge of your decisions, your plans, the action steps that you take or don't take. You're the boss. If you don't like where your life is headed right now, well, you can change that. Nothing is ever fixed in stone. The tarot cards tell a story, but you write the ending.