Who is Julia Gordon-Bramer?

Sometimes people searching for my scholarly work on Sylvia Plath, or for my poetry or short stories, find this blog accidentally, and get confused. Yes, I am the same Julia Gordon-Bramer. I am three things, quite equally divided: a tarot reader, a Plath scholar, and a writer (sort of my own version of the triple-goddess, if you're familiar with Robert Graves' writings). At this stage in the game, it would be impossible to pick one as my passion is enormous for all. Additionally, I'm also a college professor, another thing that I love, and it's been a great way to communicate the passions above. Being a professor is less a definition of me, however. It feeds and sustains the other aspects.

I thought I'd blog here about these aspects, to give you a better understanding of me, my approaches, and my great blessings.

Tarot--
I have been reading tarot cards since I was sixteen years old. That's almost thirty-two years now, at the time of this writing. I grew up never considering myself as "psychic," per se, but rather knowing that there was something different about my perceptions. I knew that I feel connections on very deep levels, to the point of taking on a person's pain, fear, anger, love, etc. Honestly, it's sometimes been a problem. I've spent a lifetime learning to separate and detach. I knew that I could walk into a room where something had happened, and that the room itself held onto the vibrations in ways that were sometimes oppressive. I knew that an event would take place that everyone else could seemingly shrug off, and good or bad, I carried the feelings of it for days.

From the first time I held my own deck, the tarot has always spoken to me, always been a part of me in this indescribable way. I was knocked out by the beauty of it, and initially taught myself to read from the little white booklet that comes with every tarot deck. I think that this was a great way to learn, actually. I was going on the bare bones card interpretations, and forcing myself to rely on natural first impressions, hunches, and feelings.

For many years, I read the tarot cards relying on books because I did not truly trust my own intuition. I will say that the best book I have found, and the book that taught me the most (with uncannily accurate interpretations), is Jane Lyle's Understanding the Tarot. While it is out of print, it can often be found for a song on websites such as Alibris and Amazon. There is a great deal of information on the Internet as well, and Mary Greer's Tarot Blog has always proved a fascinating resource for me, with fun clips, interviews, and discussion.

Life, however, has taught me the most in regard to being an excellent tarot reader. Over the years, I have been developing myself intuitively, through tarot and in other ways: drawing pictures from mental projections, reading people without cards, and prophetic dreams and visions. For the record, I believe that many of my spiritual gifts strengthened and clarified when I began to practice A Course In Miracles. ACIM is not a religion, but a series of steps along with scripture for enlightenment. It is about connecting with the God source, and owning one's own power as a child of God. I recommend it to everyone.

If someone were to ask me what my greatest spiritual power is, I would say that it is to connect with people, to see their own godliness, and directing them to reach their highest potential.

Plath Scholarship--
When I began graduate school, working toward my Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, I almost immediately realized that the work of Sylvia Plath, my favorite poet and author since my teens, was loaded with imagery and symbolism from the tarot. At the advice of my professor (who was also a fan of my tarot reading, brought me into his classes to read the cards, and was the one to encourage me to go professional), I began pursuing just how deep these symbols affected Plath's work as part of my Poetry Form and Theory final semester project.

Thus began "The Plath Project"--my working title for Fixed Stars Govern a Life: reinterpreting the work of Sylvia Plath through mysticism and the tarot. I have been at it almost five years now. My first discovery was initially that the book Ariel--and all of Plath's work--is built upon a framework of tarot order: the first poem of Ariel, for instance, "Morning Song," is card number zero, for the Fool. Take a look. If you know the meaning and appearance of the Fool card, it's all right there. Likewise, card number one, The Magician, is her poem, "The Couriers," card number two, the High Priestess, is "The Rabbit Catcher," etc.

That took me about three months to identify. That was the easy part. I began to write a narrative of Plath's life, before her husband Ted Hughes (widely known as a cabbalist, alchemist and occult practitioner), her time with Ted Hughes, and what Ted did with Plath's work after her death. It still stuns me that no one thought to look at Plath's oeuvre in this way in the almost fifty years since her death. I began to build my case for reading Plath in a new light.

What I couldn't deny, though, was that as I was pulling apart this work, really looking deep into double meanings and such, there were other occult influences. Tarot, for one, is based upon the Kabbalah. Hermeticism, an occult practice drawing from ancient roots with a self-actualization/magician spin, calls it Qabalah. Hughes was a known practitioner. Tarot and the Qabalah led me into the mysticism of the Hebrew language and Gematria; alchemy (especially Jungian alchemy); Greek mythology; astrology and astronomy; and the parallels with history and the world; and the arts and humanities. I came to see that Plath's poems each contained six facets which mirror the six sides of the Qabalah's Tree of Life. It got deep. It has been a time of rigorous and intense study for me. I have never learned so much, and Plath's genius continues to astound me.

Lucky for me, as a tarot reader, I had a cursory understanding of some of this. Also lucky for me, as a tarot reader, this work has given my tarot work so much depth and understanding of the cards' meanings, symbolism, etc. The Plath Project has made me a better, smarter, more spiritual person. I have had an education and a half through this work, delving into classics, history, philosophy and ideas so heady they had frightened me away from studying them for too many years prior. Five years ago, I had no concept of alchemy beyond the Philosopher's Stone and maybe some Harry Potter references. Today, I am a student of Jungian alchemy and the process of individuation, with special attention to its application through the tarot. I am still teaching myself the detail-laden aspects of astrology, Greek myth and the epic poems, the medieval classics, and more.

Sylvia Plath

Knowing how to unlock each of Plath's poems gave me exciting ways into her meaning--meaning that once one knows what to look for, seems quite obvious. And yet, even her most famous poems have been completely misunderstood. Until now. It is my life's work, and my greatest joy next to love of my family and friends. I have learned the hard way that academics are slow to open their eyes and instantly dismiss spirituality as BS. It will take a while to get them to see. But the rest of you? I welcome you to my work. I am trying to publish chapters as I can, and nearing completion of the book. I hope to find a publisher this year, if I can only find the time to start looking.

Writing--
I have been a writer since I was six years old, when I learned that my letters to family entertained and amused. As an adult, I have worked in virtually every field of writing: journalism, marketing, advertising, public relations, technical and more. I played with poetry and stories off and on through my teens and twenties, and began to get serious in my thirties. It wasn't until my forties (isn't this the time when we find ourselves and life begins?) that I really had something to say, some personal power to draw from, and had discovered my own voice. I began to publish poetry and stories, and to even win some awards. Like all writers, I have had my ups and downs. As I study the Tao, attempting to separate from the ego as best I can, I am less interested in submissions and defining my success through publication. Still, I get articles, poems and the occasional story published fairly frequently. You can find some of my work searching my name online, or write me for a list of publications.

Thanks for your interest!

Origins of Tarot, and What Matters.

Last night, I dreamed that I wrote this blog, and made it public here, and so I knew that I must.

Toward the end of last year, I had a weird experience. I'd done a presentation for the library on tarot, and put that presentation on YouTube. I was soon attacked by this zealous group of people who are on a kind of crusade to educate the world on tarot as a card game. Perhaps you saw my earlier blog entry about this.

After some research, I did misspeak in my presentation on what is tarot lore, versus what is proven. When one is writing, it is much easier to be careful, to fact-check, etc. I tend to do my presentations ad-lib and from the heart; they are not something I memorize and rehearse.

Anyway, it is true that the first tarot cards were found in 14th century Italy, and that these cards were used for a card game called "Tarocci." Absolutely true.

But tarot has its mysteries. The name Tarot comes from the Hebrew Torah, and the Latin, Rota (as in "rotate"), meaning circle of life. With its twenty-two paths, the tarot's major arcana coincidentally aligns perfectly in symbol, numbers and meaning against the structure of the ancient Jewish Kabbalah (and even more perfectly corresponds with the Hermetic Qabalah established by Aleister Crowley in the early 1900s, after he switched the position of the Strength and Justice cards--a change that has had occultists split for decades). The Kabbalah (or "Cabala," if you're looking at the Christian version, or "Qabalah," if you're a Hermeticist) is believed to be a divine template of the universe. It is how the universe works, and the order and structure of all things.

The Kabbalah's Tree of Life, with its stations and branches, represents this circle of life. The Norse, the Celts, and American primitive cultures have all had their versions of the tree of life, reflecting these same ideas. After all, truth is truth, no matter what the package, and it is available to anyone open to it.

The ancient practice of alchemy, adopted as a Hermetic science, also perfectly corresponds with the tarot and Kabbalah. So does Astrology; Greek, Roman, Norse, and Celtic mythology; the Hebrew alphabet; and a Hebrew form of numerology called Gematria. It seems that the deeper one digs into the tarot, the more of these spiritual and occult systems reside there. In the tarot's pictures, there are no accidents: there is a reason a flower may be portrayed as a rose, for instance, and not a lily. There are reasons for desert landscape, or a background with distant ships, rivers or trees. Even the coloring of the cards serve to function in card meanings and interpretation.

When one looks at all of the influences upon the tarot, it is clear to see that these cards resonate wisdom that existed long before Christ--and yet, is often compatible with Christianity. Spiritual philosophy expressed in the tarot reaches back to ideas and practice as long ago as the ancient Egyptians and ancient Greece. Can we prove tarot existed then? No. Not on paper, anyway. Paper cards don't last thousands of years, but wisdom does. One must take the time to learn the meanings to understand. The majority of people are not interested enough to do this work.

The great psychologist Carl Jung was interested enough. Jung determined that the pictures on the tarot represented ancient human archetypes which are true for all cultures. Every group of people, from every time in history, has a Mother, for example. Or the Lovers. Or the Emperor, or the wise old man. They have events considered to be good luck, victory, and tragedy. These are the personalities and stages of the human experience, as reflected in the tarot's major arcana. The minor arcana holds the more mundane details of our every day living. Think of the major arcana as the characters and phases, and the minor arcana as the stories that happen to them.

Through his own exploration of the tarot with himself and his patients, Carl Jung developed Jungian alchemy: the process of reaching self-actualization, or "Individuation," as he called it. It was the Jungian idea of the Philosopher's Stone, the turning of lead into gold.

It is no wonder a single tarot card, then, can be so loaded with representations! Some tarot readers may be well-versed in the Jungian psychological aspects, but less knowledgeable about the astrological end (which is the case for me, although I'm working on that). Some tarot readers may be strong astrologers, students of myth, or practicing alchemists-- understanding that alchemy is a three-fold study of laboratory, psychological, and spiritual work, and the tarot cards then might be tools for their own experiments and growth.

It doesn't matter, so long as the goal is benefiting humanity through personal and spiritual growth. The tarot is a tool we can use to become the people we are meant to be. It is a way to understand our higher selves, to become conscious, and to be better all-around. It is not that the tarot is such a magical thing, in and of itself. It is that we are magic, and it shows us a way to wake up to this wonderful fact.

Yes, some people make tarot out to be only a card game. I'm sure it's a fine one. But I think of using tarot cards only for a card game as sort of like using your state-of-the-art, Web-connected super-computer only for its little clock function in the bottom corner of your screen.

Let's see, live, and love within a larger, greater, unlimited world. The only thing stopping you is if you are too lazy to do the work.

In Peace,

Julia Gordon-Bramer

The Humongous Tarot Blog

For information on my professional tarot reading services, please visit: www.nighttimes.com/tarot.htm


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I get a lot of questions about Tarot. I was thinking about starting my own blog on that subject only, to separate it from this one (which is supposed to only be writing, but you know how that goes...).

I decided it would just be too much to maintain another blog. And I don't have a whole lot more to say on the subject than what I've written below. So, if you're interested in Tarot at all, dig in. If it's not your bag, I won't take offense. Here goes:

Is Tarot Evil?

One of my dearest friends is hyper-Christian and feels uncomfortable about my Tarot stuff. While I respect her opinions to separate from anything spiritual that she feels uneasy over, I’d like to explain a few things:

The most important thing to know is that Tarot does not call spirits, good or evil, into play. This isn’t a Ouija board, a séance, or even a prophesy. The idea behind the Tarot is that, because we are all one, of one spirit (which I call God), we all have access to that knowledge and power. We are considerably wiser and more in tune with ourselves and others than we realize. The Tarot is just a tool to tune in this knowledge.

The second most important thing you must know is that nothing is set in stone and your future can be corrected if you don’t like what a reading says. What’s the point in it, then? you might ask. The purpose of the Tarot is to show you the track that you’re on. Nothing more. We all know so much more about ourselves than we consciously realize. We know when we’re leading ourselves into trouble, falling into old habits, deluding ourselves or others out of insecurities and need. Likewise, we know when we’ve fallen into our groove, when we’re doing the thing that we are called to do. The cards just reflect it back. It’s a mirror. If you don’t like the reflection for tomorrow, change what you’re doing today. And it can give you guidance as to how.

How do you know if you can read Tarot?

* You must be the type of person who can meditate, be hypnotized, and/or slip into a dream state fairly easily. That said, you will NOT be in a trance while you’re reading (usually, anyway), but if you’re that type, you can access the following more readily…

* You must be able to trust your first impressions and feelings. A surprising number of people are unable to do this (and that’s all intuition is, really).

* Tarot is very personal. Much of it is intuitive. There are no hard and fast rules. You will create what you need, in that moment. What’s right for you can’t necessarily be taught or told to you—although some guidance helps at first. Here I am.

OK. Think you qualify? Here’s how to get started.

1.) Buy some cards. Someone once told me that cards are more powerful if they are given to you as a gift. I don’t agree. The cards are whatever you want to believe they are. Cards that have designs that speak to you on an artistic and emotional level are bound to be more powerful. So… experiment. And watch out for those sets that have gorgeous Major Arcana designs (that the package shows in front), but very plain Minor Arcana cards. The plain ones are considerably harder to read until you’re an expert. I have been reading for almost 30 years and I am not that much of an expert yet.

2.) Some people are creatures of habit, and will only have successful readings in the same place, with the same rituals. Some need a candle burning. Some need quiet. Others, like me, can read in busy places like coffee shops, parties, classrooms, etc. In my experience, extroverts can take the commotion, introverts like the peace. Again, there’s no right or wrong. Whatever works for you.

3.) Keep your cards somewhere that is specially designated for them. I have a special drawer, and the only other things besides my cards are other sets of cards, candles, some guidebooks (when I feel like referring to them), and some journals and pens for when I want to record a reading. Some people believe in keeping your cards in silk. Some people insist upon a wooden box. I think that’s all a bunch of hoo-ha. They’ll work anywhere. They are not magic. It’s us who are the magic. They are just the tools.

4.) Get one or more good books that help you to readily define the cards and learn the basic spreads. Go to your local bookstore and thumb through some ‘til you find one that appeals to you. The right one(s) will tell you it’s it. Then, read the introductions, look up cards, practice the spreads. When you feel you’ve got a handle on the fundamentals, put the books away.

5.) Take time living with each card—especially the Major Arcana cards. Carry a single card around with you every day. Study it. Look at all the different codes and patterns within the picture. Realize that colors mean something. That shapes change. That it’s all metaphor and symbolism. Read the definition of the card and find those same meanings represented within the picture. This is how the meanings will stay with you.

6.) Some cards will become very special to you. Let them. I slept with the Strength card under my pillow for a year during my divorce. Superstitious? Maybe. It wasn’t that I believed the card could do anything for me. It’s that I wanted to dwell in the concept of it, and have the vibrations of the idea stay with me in my unconscious.

It’s time to trust your own senses.

So… you’ve mastered the Celtic Cross, maybe the Horseshoe spread, and some others that you’ve learned in your book. How do you start becoming independent from that book to rely solely on your intuition?

I still check the book now and then. Especially when I’m reading for myself. The reason is that I am often too biased and too concerned about my own outcome to give myself accurate readings. I taught my best friend how to read, just so that I could have an objective perspective and get out of my own way. If it’s a subject with an outcome that you’re ambivalent about, that’s a different story. Your intuition should be fine.

I do not recommend a Tarot reader read for her own children, or other loved ones, with regard to anything where you’re interested in the outcome. It’s too easy to put all your own hopes and fears into it.

How Many Layouts (Spreads) Do I Need to Know?

You need to know right now that you can create your own layouts. You don’t have to memorize a hundred different spreads. When I first began doing the Celtic Cross spread (which is a practical, all-encompassing spread that I suggest everyone learn), I sometimes had a card that was especially intriguing, where I wanted to know more. In that case, I’d lay a ‘clarification’ card over top of it—the next card in the deck. Sometimes I’d do a number of clarifications. Trust that the order doesn’t matter, that the right cards will settle where they need to be.

Sometimes, the clarification just makes you want to dig into that aspect deeper. You can do ‘mini-crosses’ inside the Celtic Cross. Just lay an overhead, past, present and future around the card of intrigue and you can often get a clear picture of what’s going on there.

Sometimes all you need is one card, for a Yes or No question. But know that Tarot is almost never that simple. I know some readers who will interpret a straight-up card as a yes and a reversed card as a no. Sometimes this works. For instance, I may ask: Will I ever get my book published? and my answer may be (I’m just making this up) a Queen of Pentacles, straight up. That would be a definite yes, because pentacles are around material wealth and success. However, in reverse, there can be problems with money, greed, etc. There would be a real negative aspect to the success, emotionally and financially, if the success were achieved. But maybe the card I picked was a 5 of wands. Well, fives are a struggle, but wands are creative. So I’d say yes, with a struggle and perhaps a long wait. But what if it’s in reverse? Well, that’s defeat, so the answer would be no. You see… your answer is largely in the symbolism of the card you pick, and what your intuition tells you that it means.

Reading the Symbols

Learn the basic meanings of the symbols, and the rest comes easily. The numbers all have associations: Aces are beginnings; Twos are partnerships; Fives are conflict, etc. Learn the traits of the suits: Cups are love and emotion; Wands are creativity; Swords are reason, logic and action; Pentacles are materials and things of the world. Everything hinges upon these basics.

People will begin to show up for you, based on their personality description. My husband is always the King of Pentacles: a fair, grounded man who is successful, responsible and dependable. I am the Queen of Wands: a creative, energetic woman who has extreme passion for art, animals and children. When I’m really on top of my game, I’m the High Priestess. When I am at my worst, I am the Queen of Wands, reversed. Children and teenagers are all Pages. Young men (or immature grown men) are Knights. Some men never become Kings. Some women never become Queens. If you get a Knight of Swords, you know he’ll be able to charm you. If he’s in reverse, he’ll not only charm you, but he’s cruel and will hurt you too. The reversals almost always take the aspects of the upright card, and cast it in the most negative light.

It is perhaps unfair to men that the cards do not have a mid-life set of cards to represent women. As youth, we all share the Pages. But women go right to becoming Queens, while men have their transitory Knight period. Perhaps women are Pages longer. Perhaps historically, they’ve mated and married faster and younger than men, and this is represented. Or maybe the cards know something we don’t about development?

If you’ve ever done work with dream analysis, you will understand that everything means something. Just as when you dream and your brain codes the events and feelings of the day with strange symbols, so it is with the cards. One day, the World card may represent the world in its most literal meaning--the Earth. Another day, it may mean world-wide success, and another day, it may mean a loved one who ‘is the whole world’ to someone. Or, it can mean ‘whirled’—homophones can come into play, too. Everything is a clue and interpreting is a wonderful, intuitive game. The way the question is worded steers the interpretation.

Once I watched a Tarot reader announce that someone had back problems—but it was a card that had no obvious physical attributes to it at all. She showed me how, in that particular deck design, the swords were stacked in a way that reminded her of vertebrae. Simple as that. She just followed her hunch. This is how we read.

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There is nothing more fun to a Tarot reader than reading for strangers. It's a blank slate--you have no background or knowledge on them whatsoever and it's just pure reflecting. These are often the best readings, and I have had many cry with emotion, hug me, and tell me how amazing I am. To which I just say, "it's not me. You're just seeing what you already know. You could do it too."

There are some other uses for the Tarot, beyond just understanding a situation, knowing what’s going on with someone else, or determining one’s future. They're terrific help to writers and artists. They can be used to influence situations, with yourself, and with others. I may blog about these another time. Write me if you’re interested.