As part of our free Conscious Community lecture series, A.R.E.’s CEO and executive director, Kevin Todeschi, recently spoke to a group of people at our Virginia Beach headquarters on the subject of dreams and dream interpretation.

Toward the end of the lecture, which is available for viewing on our YouTube Channel and also on our main Dreams and Dream Interpretation web page, Kevin offered an experiential activity to audience members. He called it the “psychic game,” and stated that he and his wife, psychic Mary Roach, have used the process for years. In short, with the assistance of someone else, you are able to access your subconscious mind to gain insights that can assist you in a decision-making process.

Nearly 25 years ago, Kevin helped me make a decision about a job choice that I was facing using this same “game.” And I want to share with you why I think it works, not just some of the time, but every time. Just as dream symbols and Tarot card symbols also work, every time. That’s not to say that every Tarot card reading you receive is accurate, because those readings are given by someone else. But if you, yourself, interpret the symbols you receive, you’ll always be right. Just as Edgar Cayce noted that the best interpreter of a dream is the dreamer.

Let’s say a woman named Jean had a dream about a dog entering her office at work. If she asks someone to interpret her dream, she may receive helpful tips about the meaning of dogs as dream symbols, and perhaps the meaning of a dog at work. But what if she happens to be absolutely terrified of dogs? Will the tips she receives from others have as much meaning to her as if she had considered the symbols for herself? Probably not. What if she isn’t scared of dogs but works at a place that allows employees to bring their dogs to work? Might that change the meaning of the symbols? Probably. In other words, Jean knows more about Jean than anyone.

If Jean were to interpret these symbols for herself, she would automatically consider other aspects of her life. I believe that not only could the symbols help Jean, but they can help you too. Because what happens when we consider the meaning of a symbol? Whether it came from our dream, a reverie, a tarot card, or someone else’s dream—our subconscious mind will find the relationship between the symbol and ourselves, and this can offer us insights.

Let’s test the theory right now. I just pulled a Tarot card for the day. I want you to interpret the card as if you had received it for yourself. I will do the same and offer my self-interpretation here. Even though this was my “card of the day,” it can be your card of the day too. Because, it doesn’t matter what the card is… it matters how you interpret it.

The card is the King of Wands. In the picture, a king is sitting on his throne, looking toward the right, holding what looks like a long staff; the staff must be new because it still has small offshoots of branches with leaves growing off of them. There is a lizard on the ground nearby. The card interpretation offered, in summary, states that the card represents: “leadership, passion, charisma, experience, energy, influence” and then suggests that I “sit down and think about my goals…” There is more to the interpretation, but I will tell you what I feel the symbols offered on the card mean to me, and why.

First, the king and the lizard both remind me of work. The word “king”—after all—is a job title. As for the lizard, I see many running around our campus, and the Leaping Lizard Café is just two floors below my office in the same building. The king looking toward his right reminds me of the future. New offshoots on the staff, remind me of new growth.

So, my interpretation of this card is that, though I have been extremely busy at work “working,” the future holds more time for planning, visioning, and reflection, and it further suggests that taking time to do this could bring “new growth.” Overall, I find the card to be very positive but also advisory. All of these thoughts were spurred on by the symbolism in the card--taking time to pull the card and consider the symbols initiated the process within me that might have occurred with another card and other symbols. Perhaps because the timing was right for me to consider these things.

Like dream symbols, and the psychic game, a Tarot card symbol can offer you the chance to access your subconscious mind to explore something that you already know. What does the card represent for you? Your subconscious knows, and no answer is wrong.