The Reiki Principles and Tarot Elements.

This article was originally published on Reiki Rays: 

https://reikirays.com/82055/the-reiki-principles-and-tarot-elements/

This is something that came to me while teaching a Reiki lesson to students that have also been to my Tarot classes. One of my students then noticed how the Reiki principles also track with the four cardinal directions. 

For me, this connection provides an enrichment between these. 

These are the Reiki Principles. 
     🌛 Just for today, I will not be blinded by anger.
     🌛 Just for today, I will not be blinded by worry.
     🌛 Just for today, I will feel grateful.
     🌛 Just for today, I will do my work honestly.
     🌛 Just for today, I will be kind to every living thing.
                                          by Mikao Usui, I don't know who translated it.
                                              I added "be blinded by" and "feel"

The Tarot Elements are:
     🌜 Fire - represented by wands
     🌜 Water - represented by cups 
     🌜 Earth - represented by pentacles 

     🌜 Air - represented by swords 
     🌜 Spirit - represented by major arcana 

And now we combine them. 

Just for today: 

🌕 I will not be blinded by anger - Fire🔥🜂 - Wands|

🌕 I will not be blinded by worry - Water🌊🜄- Cups🍶 

🌕 I will feel grateful - Earth💎🜃 - Pentacles✪ 

🌕 I will do my work honestly - Air🌪🜁 - Swords⚔

🌕 I will be kind to every living thing - Spirit☥∞ - Majors💀

In knowing these, when I do a Tarot spread to help with a conscious, I can be mindful of where I may need to strengthen a Reiki principle in my life in relation to the question. Or even tell me that I'm doing better than I think I am! Some examples: 

1. If I'm getting a lot of wands maybe instead of stewing in anger or blindly acting out in anger I need to work on setting a boundary and choosing to transform that anger into a drive to make things better, transmuting it to purpose and hope. 
2. Or perhaps I am getting a lot of cups as an indicator that perhaps I need to transmute worry into faith hope and trust. 
3. Maybe with pentacles I need to remember to enjoy what I do have, to feel and be grateful for that. 
4. With swords maybe I need to see what justifications I am making in making choices for someone instead of empowering them, or being dishonest with myself about myself. 
5. And with spirit, I need to always remember who I am and who I want to be  and to allow all things to exist, honoring transformations. All the stories must be told. A tree can only grow so fast even in the most ideal conditions. 

Here are some reading examples.

A quick one card reading, "What do I need to keep in mind today?"

I pull a Queen of Swords. 

Swords is what I call the "cutting through the BS" suit. It's also about transformation, thoughts, reasoning, truth, and ethical logical behavior. The Queen of Swords is a logical person who gets things done, and is meticulous, but can be quite stern. This card could be reminding me that part of doing my work honestly is stay true to my personal code of ethics and not let others pressure me into doing something that's a bit underhanded. So I could say, Ah, swords, a reminder to do my work honestly, and to be sure that I see things clearly and logically. 

Here is a spread for Body Mind and Spirit. What are things going to look today (or this trip, or this visit, etc) for my Body Mind Spirit?

1: Body 

    5 of Pentacles, ah, pentacles, I need to remember to feel grateful for what I do have. My physical self will needs some tender loving care because its gonna feel impoverished about something, maybe from lack sleep, or sleeping wrong, or over exercising, etc. Now I am prepared, I can talk softly and kindly to my body and remember to be grateful and feel grateful for my body as it is, no judgments attached.

2: Mind

    Wheel of Fortune, ah, major arcana card, spirit, I will be kind to every living thing, including myself. Wheel of Fortune, okay, the rolling-with-the-punches this-too-shall-pass card. I need a  "I got this kind" of attitude and help from guides to make things run more smoothing. Just roll with it. In this way my mind will be sharp and accepting and thus able to feel kindness no matter what is going on.

3: Spirit 

    10 of Cups. Spiritually, I'm rocking it, all is well and wonderful! Look at that rainbow of 10 of cups. So much joy and hope right now! I don't even have to worry about being worried. Just for today I will not be blinded by worry will be EASY, like it's not even there at all! Awesome. 

All three taken together we have, in short:  gratitude of body, kindness of mind, easily worry-free of spirit, no matter what's going on during this challenging day; simply rolling with it all in good humor - calm of heart, and clear of mind.