Toni Gilbert

Do you view astrology as a belief system?

2009-02-27T09:39:00.000-08:00

I don't see astrology as a belief system, although I am sure some see it that way. I see it holistically, and more of a way to view the world, a perspective that is broad and inclusive. It is an art and so the information is subject to the perspective and intuition of the astrologer (and their developmental level). The archetypes of astrology have many traits that can be seen as light and shadow aspects. I see the archetypal attributes on a continuum from negative to positive. All levels of the continuum are Divine. When practiced with a broad view, astrology is a spiritual interpretive art form. For more about how I practice, read this article about the Healing Arts on my personal site http://www.tonigilbert.com/scope_of_practice/

While Sun sign astrology is a starting place, it does try to lump the individual into a certain set of traits. One has to consider the rest of the chart, the development of the individual, transits and so on. Astrology is a complicated art and takes many years of study to understand. So, if you have just started, don't give up. Read books by Liz Greene and Robert Hand to understand the archetypes better.

I try not to have any solid belief system because when you come to conclusions and believe in something, it closes the door to further explorations. I find astrology a fascinating study and who knows, it might even be right on. In my use of it, it has a positive effect on people in that it tells them that they are indeed a part of something grand and Divine....the entire cosmos. That is a new perspective for some. Toni

Do you have experience using guided imagery with Achalasia?

2008-04-27T11:26:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth, No, I haven't worked with Achalasia (characterized by difficultly or an inability to swallow food) but I have seen the condition. I would bet that guided imagery (GI) would be a good tool to use.

However, I usually start with talk therapy and explore the psychological aspects of a condition and their symbolic implications. In this case it would involve at least the 5th chakra and possibly the 4th. Issues of feeling unloved may be involved, the client may be unable to speak their truths or have an inability to "swallow"what life has handed them. Then I might ask them to shuffle the Tarot cards and layout four cards that represents: the portrait of the self, what is conscious, what is unconscious and an outcome card. (More instructions are in my book Messages from the Archetypes.) Sometimes just being able to talk to someone about psychological issues goes a long way towards client healing. After talk therapy, and when the client was comfortable with our relationship, I would progress to GI...sometimes in the first session but usually at least the second session.

You cannot separate the mind from the body and that with every symptom, we should also treat what is troubling the person emotionally....which may be at the root of the problem in the first place. The unconscious mind speaks to us in symbolic images through dreams and since the body cannot speak, it also expresses itself symbolically. The chakra system is a good energetic map that can lead us and our clients to solutions. There are some good books on chakras: Anatomy of the Spirit by Carolyn Myss, PhD, Eastern Body Western Mind and Wheels of Life by Anodea Judith, PhD, and Healing the Split by John E. Nelson, MD.

Shuffling and laying out a few Tarot cards and having a discussion around their images also goes a long way towards the client bringing issues to the surface to be healed. Then guided imagery to a safe place and then "possibly" progress the imaginary journey to the site of the symptoms in the body (one must go with the psychic flow of the client).

The symptom may or may not be responsive to this type of therapy. It is worth a try before resorting to botox treatment or surgery.

Currently, I am studying aroma therapy and can see that essential oils might also be useful to the holistic practitioner. In this case, it might be quite powerful to breath in an aroma along with GI. You could also bring color into the imagination session too. And on it goes. The possibilities of the healing arts in medicine is endless.
In healing, Toni

Beginner Therapeutic Tarot Counseling

2008-04-07T14:29:00.000-07:00

From my perspective as a holistic nurse with an education in nursing, art, psychology and transpersonal studies, I suggest the beginning Tarot Counselor have the following education.

Starting with mainstream psychology and progress to transpersonal psychology. You may or may not want to get a mainstream counseling degree. I didn't get one because I wanted to work in health psychology and there still isn't a good mainstream track for that and so I custom designed my education to suit my bliss.

From my perspective, you are dealing with human conditions and need undergraduate classes in psychology (at least). Basic psychology 101 is an overview of psychology and will broaden your mental horizon. For instance, you will learn what the four tracks of psychology are about. They are behavioral, cognitive, humanistic and transpersonal. Then take a class/s in abnormal psychology. This is a real eye opener class. It has so much information that sometimes it is given in two classes. This will take you a long way in knowing how mainstream views dysfunction and how to see from this perspective. After that you might want to read books by Dr. Arnold Mindell. He sees the same things but frames the dysfunctions as "extreme states". So one can get two perspectives on "dysfunction" to carry with you to your sessions. It will also serve you well to be able to recognize delusion and psychosis and choose not to work with people who display these symptoms. If you really like psychology classes, personality theory is good too.

If you can find a class on Jungian psychology (he coined the term transpersonal) that will serve you too. If you can't find one, get a book about him. He wasn't a good writer and his writing is hard to read. One about his methods are better. This will give you a holistic overview of psychology. Although he didn't work with Tarot cards, he was familiar with the symbols of transformation, which is basically what you are dealing with as a tarotist.

I do interactive Tarot counseling using a projective technique. To do this type of counseling, you need to study dream interpretation on an ongoing basis. When you shuffle and layout the cards you are basically getting a dream in the form of Tarot images. Also, as you become familiar with your own symbolism, you can discuss it, as appropriate, with the client. For example, "If this was my dream symbol (or Tarot card symbol) it would mean......" Sometimes this works to jostle an insight loose for the client. I might do this after their interpretation. Or I may just offer the traditional meaning of the card.

Take a look at my personal website under biography to see how I undertook my preparation as an alternative counselor www.tonigilbert.com . Be well, Toni