Zener cards: A brief history:
Zener cards were developed in the 1930's and were intended to try to test ESP. Twenty five cards in total with symbols of a circle, cross, square, star, and three wavy lines in five different colors were shuffled and the backs only shown to subjects to see if they would “know” what symbol and/or color was present.
Today, many people use zener cards to try to help develop their intuition or psychic abilities. I find that they are also a fun way to calm the mind. By engaging the clairs, it enables me to stay in the present moment by focusing on each card and paying attention to any sensations.
What are the “clairs”? The term “clair” means Clear.
-Claircognizance is clear knowing.
-Clairvoyance is clear seeing.
-Clairgustance is clear tasting.
-Clairsentience is clear feeling.
-Clairaudience is clear hearing
-Clairalience is clear smelling
Because I am so avid Tarot enthusiast, I decided to Mix the two together and came up with Zener Cards Tarot Style.
About the cards:
Zener cards Tarot style is designed to follow the structure of Tarot in that it contains 5 each of the four suits of the minor arcana and 5 cards to represent the major arcana.
Wands are the Fire element. Along with the dierent colored wand is also an upright triangle ( the alchemy symbol) to represent this.
Cups are the Water element. Above each colored picture is the matching color of an upside down triangle which represents it’s element.
Swords are the element of Air. These cards will contain an upright triangle with a line .
Pentacles are the element of Earth, and each card also contains the corresponding elemental symbol of an upside down triangle with a line.
The Triple Goddess is being utilized to represent the major arcana of Tarot. Above each colored Triple Goddess, is a correlating circle symbol to represent spirit.:
So how can the clairs be engaged with Zener cards, and in particular, these Zener cards?
If you are looking at the back of a card and a song pops into your head talking about fire, pay attention. Chances are the card is a wand, the fire element. This would be Clairaudience. If you have your eyes closed, and you see something green, this may be alerting you that the color is green. This would be Clairvoyance. If you automatically just KNOW what the card is, you would be experiencing Claircognizance.
How to play: These methods can be used with regular zener cards, Zener meets Tarot, or even regular playing cards, if you choose!!
Cards can be used by yourself, with a friend, or even as a group activity.
Individually.
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On your own, Zener card Tarot style can be used as a meditative tool. Take a few deep breaths and focus on the image of the card. Take note if any thoughts, feelings, memories or sensations arise from the image, element or color. At this time, you can also allow this exercise to bring you into the present moment only. While looking at an image, you can ask yourself questions such as “how do I feel right now?” “What am I hearing right now?” What smells are around me at this moment?”
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Shuffle the cards or pick a card at random, but do not look at the image until you have seen if you can guess what it is. This can be done in rapid succession by saying the first thing to come to mind; or a slower method by taking a few breaths or closing your eyes and focusing on any information you receive through the clairs.
With a friend or as a group activity.
1. One person draws a card at random and looks at the image. They then try to convey in their mind only the image they are seeing. The other person, or group will try to guess the card that person 1 is looking at. This same method is done by person 1 describing the image in their mind only. Example: saying over and over in their mind- “green sword”. The partner, or group can see if they “hear” or “see” the image and guess what card the holder has.
Statistics:
From my research, it was noticed that sites seemed to range with the probability of correct answers being in the 20 -25% range.
Do not get discouraged if you feel that your percentage is low. This is a great tool to flex your intuitive muscles, calm your mind and connect with yourself, or have a bit of fun with others.
Enjoy.
*images produced using Ai
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