Does the Tarot predict your future or is it a means of self reflection? 

For centuries the Tarot has primarily been used to predict the future for others.
But is that truly why this deck of mysterious cards came into the world?

Under the inspired guidance of my treasured friend, psychiatrist Cees van der Kroef, I learned how the archetypes and the four “suits” in tarot symbolize universal human qualities we alle carry within ourselves in our own unique and personal way. As a result I developed my own interpretation of the Tarot: the Nan Yar – Who Am I Tarot, translating the swords, wands cups and coins into challenges, insights, Gifts and Tools.  

The 12 Holy Nights

In the winter of 2023–2024, I embarked on a journey through the 12 holy nights with the Nan Yar – Who Am I cards, following an ancient pre-Christian ritual of indigenous peoples who followed the moon calandar.

For them, the dark days around the turn of the year were tied to the difference between the solar and lunar cycles.
While Earth takes roughly 365 days to orbit the sun,  the moon completes twelve cycles around the Earth in 354 days. This twelve-day difference was seen as a time outside of ordinary time.

For our ancestors in the Northern Hemisphere, this was the perfect moment to retreat in harmony with the stillness of nature—reflecting on the past year while preparing for the potential and opportunities of the new one.

Essentially, we still do this today: we look back, make resolutions, and set intentions, igniting  our inner light during the darkest days of the year.

In today’s hectic holiday season however, filled with shopping and lavish dinners, this form of contemplation is often snowed under in ways our ancestors never intended.

A Daily Island of Calm and Contemplation.

The Nan Yar cards provide a simple way to create a small island of calm each day in what has turned out stressful period of the year.

The principle is simple:

1. Draw one card each day, either online via this website (to the right of this blog) or using a physical Nan Yar – Who Am I deck.
2. Record in a special journal what the card reflects for you.
3. Feel free to read the card’s explanation, but more importantly, notice what it evokes within you.
4. Place the journal next to your bed when you go to sleep, within reach, along with a pen.
5. Upon waking, write down a few keywords of dreams or thoughts that are still lingering in those precious few moments between sleep and waking up.
6. Keep your journal within reach during the day, not only to drew a new card for the new day, but also to register some afterthoughts that might pop up as a result of earlier sessions.

Following this practice over the 12 nights, creates a dialogue with your inner world—a series of daily stepping stones, little moments for yourself, from which surprising insights find the inspiration to emerge.

According to ancient natural traditions, the boundary between heaven and earth was also thinner during this period—a moment to connect with ancestors who paved the way for your existence. Cosmically, the 12 holy nights are a time during which nothing is required, yet everything is possible, a pause to reconnect with yourself.

A Document for Later

Even when you only write down a few keywords every day and morning, your 12 Holy Nights Journal ultimately becomes a document you can revisit—either for yourself or for others who may gain insight into how you experienced life during that particular time.

Need some inspiration? Take a look at the blogs I wrote around de solstice of 23/24.

Wishing everyone 12 beautiful holy nights and a meaningful and inspirational 2026.

Ingrid

The post The 12 Holy Nights Ritual appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Will you be in The Hague during the NATO top and want to have some nice quiet introspective moments?

On the evenings of June 23, 24, 26, 27  I’ll be hosting  small circles to do some light energy exercises, a short peaceful metta meditation  and a playful moment to gain insight in whatever is going on in your life using ordinary playing cards.

Location: Central The Hague at the edge of Grote Markt  (exact location will be shared after registration)
€15 per evening
Language: English with Dutch subtitles when needed
Max. 12  participants

No experience needed — only an open heart.

➡️ Send me message using the contact form or info@energycounseling.nl and let me know which date(s) you would like to  join in and I’ll be in touch.

The post Peace Circles in The Hague appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

 Our  biggest strength is to embrace our biggest weaknesses.

Soulchess, a 3  minute 22 seconds listen to.

Well here it is.I have to admit it. I’m addicted to the chess app on my phone.

Whenever I feel overwhelmed — when the world gets too loud, too close, too much, when there’s too much yet to perfectionate — I reach for the little green icon and disappear.

My chessapp is my hideout.
My digital monastery.
A safe haven from the dreads and threads of daily life.

While I’m playing though, I know deep down inside I’m avoiding..

Something I don’t want to face.
Something I should be doing.
Something inside me still unfinished, unsaid, undone.

I used to scold myself for that:
But then someone — or perhaps I should say something — made me realise:

It’s my Soul who is doing the playing
All my Ego does is move the pieces.

My Ego plays fast.
It defends the familiar, even when it hurts.
It jumps to conclusions. Reacts rather than creates.

It often assumes the worst.
and most of all fears to lose, even when winning means staying stuck.

And my Soul?
My Soul waits.
It plays the long game, without a care about the score or winning

Soul makes its silent  moves without Ego being aware….yet..

Soul watches for openings — not to attack, but to invite.

Soul is not interested in checkmate.
It’s Ego’s Soulmate.
Only there to make Ego aware what on earth it is doing….literally.  It whispers into my subconscious; nudges me into the moves I COULD be making, by making me aware I’m addicted to my chess app.

Sometimes, she lets a piece fall on purpose.
So I’ll notice what I’m clinging to.
What I’m scared to lose.
What I keep guarding, instead of releasing.

And when the board is chaos,
When I don’t know what’s mine or where to go
My soul stays calm.
She stays.
She observes.
and sets the board again.

Soulchess I found is an initiation,
a beginning to insight of who I am.

It isn’t about winning.
It’s about remembering who’s playing.

When you recognize this…
Maybe you’re at a board too.
Or at some other distraction.
Maybe you’re a serial binger.
or workaholic or a diary-filler from dawn to midnight.

If so, know this:

Your Soul is patient.
She bides her time waiting to implement her own purpose.
waiting for you to stop blitzing through your life…
So you start to create and  feel her next move. Until you get bored and delete your chess app to focus on what matters and play your two cents to make this world a better place.

So what’s your vice? What’s your Ego getting at? And what is your Soul secretly making you aware of? What really moves you? What moves did you recently make?  In our Pilgrim gatherings we talk about things like this. In the end we all walk our our path on the same earth. Find out more on the pilgrimpage. energycounseling.nl and the blog Soulchess, the difference between checkmate and soulmate.  Bring your own set of Ego and Soul and let’s play…

The post Soulchess appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

You are cordially invited to  a presentation on the Lifestyle Vision Quest, Tuesday May 20th at the Natural Health Center in Scheveningen.

R.S.V.P through the NHC events page, section: Life Style Vision Quest

 What are you looking for in life? What is your inner voice telling you? Are you living the logistics or embracing the journey in full?

Each and every one of us has the birthright to a unique life mission, a potential with boundless possibilities.
This promise starts in how you  connect with yourself and the world around you. When you  tend to look away, give away or follow suggestions made by commerce, politics or what you think others think of you,
it might be time take a look inside and do a reality check, using the love and wisdom of the inner sanctuary we all have within.

10 ways in which a  Lifestyle Vision Quest will help you to:

1. Enhance your Potential

 The reasons for doing a lifestyle vision quest are as personal as one’s fingerprint. It will however at least do one thing: it will lead  you to your Potential as it is ready and waiting for you right now.

2. Become aware of your Freedom of Choice

 Do you find your life  journey is often  conditioned by what happens in the world? Or do you resonate with your personal mission and embrace your  inner voice?  A vision quest helps disclose the great many options  to choose from between those two.

3. Co-create your Life- Journey 

Is life something that happens to you or are you the co-creator? In a vision quest imagination, intuition and inspiration, the three layers of  your being in body, mind and spirit,  are  especially vivid and as always ready to  give you a peek in what is possible.

4. Keep Balance

A vision quest in its true form is a reality check and mindful way to maintain  balance; to reflect on the question  if your patterns are in sync with your mission.  

5. Find your true self

A Vision Quest opens portals to the core being of who you truly are.

6. Communicate better with yourself and the world around you.

A lifestyle vision quest helps you  distinguish fact from fiction,  reality from illusion, make-believe from genuinity and agenda’s  from unintentional misunderstandings.  
It was William James, (1842-1910)  founding father of psychotherapy in the U.S who said: 

 “Whenever two people meet, there are really six people present. There is each man as he sees himself, each man as the other person sees him, and each man as he really is.”

7. Be content with what is.

Rather than estimating you need something else first before you can do what you think you need to do, a  vision quest shows you how all you need is already there and how  life is already  complete as it is under the given circumstances.

8. Find Fulfillment. While it is often seen as a way of correcting a wrong, Karma in its essence is a destination.  It’s up to up to the challenges, insights, gifts and tools of every unique individual how to  position themselves in what happens in life. The secret is to have the inner voice have  its say, while using the brain as a compass

9. Be Connected to yourself and the world around you in a wholesome way.  The way you connect to the world begins with the way you connect with yourself. A life style vision quest helps you explore what resonates for you.

10. Explore  your own truth. What comes to your mind when thinking of a Life Vision Quest…?

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The post Ready for a Lifestyle Vision Quest? appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

While Archetype XII of  the Major Arcana is titled ‘The Hanged Man’, I prefer to describe its deeper meaning as ‘looking at the world from a different perspective.”  The upside down figure actually seems quite in control. This card is in fact often described as someone who ‘dances’ , which may weel be seen as creative form of  getting on in life.

The idea of turning the world upside down might be daunting or even scary. Staying stuck in last years patterns however might be just as daunting.
Inevitably change comes with challenges, but also with new beginnings, the perfect start of a new year on this January 1st

So, this last card of the 12 day winter solstice contemplation makes a perfect starting point for new year’s resolutions.  What are you going to do different from last year in this new year to come.  And again remember to ask yourself  before going to sleep today if your dreams  might have something to say in the matter as well

Wishing you a creative, content and inquisitive 2025

Ingrid

 to read more on the practice of the winter solstice contemplation ritual click here. 

Click XI The Force to read more on the meaning of the card.
Draw your own card on the right side of this blog and see what it summons up from your inner imaginings.

The post XII:Looking at the world from a different angle appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

The Bigger Secret, – the Major Arcana-  of the Tarot  contains 22 Archetypes symbolising the life-travellers characteristics during the journey on earth.
Card number XI:  The Force is right at the middle of it. You may well see it as the Macrocosmic source of the personal Microcosm you were gifted at birth to live your unique life in.

The Archetype of “The Force” is depicted opening the mouth of lion. This King of animal kingdom is  often used  as symbol  of spiritual source  Those who read the `Narnia Chronicles’ by C.S. Lewis, or have seen the movies based on the books, may recognise the lion ‘Aslan’ as the spiritual conductor of whatever goes on in the storylines..

Next to being the middle card of all Archetypes of the Major Arcana, The Force is also precisely at the centre of the seven cards that characterise the Journey of the Soul during life on earth. Basically all other 21 cards evolve around it.

When “The Force” comes your way during winter solstice contemplation you may want to explore what forces gave you strength during the past year or perhaps even ‘forced’ you to take certain actions. The next question might be what courage, strength you want to assemble fort the year to come.

And before going to sleep today, remind yourself to have a look in your dreams as well and ask what gives you strength.

May The Force be you

Ingrid

 to read more on the practice of the winter solstice contemplation ritual click here. 

Click XI The Force to read more on the meaning of the card.
Draw your own card on the right side of this blog and see what it summons up from your inner imaginings.

The post XI:The Force appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

”10″ is the number where ‘1’ and ”0′ meet each other again; ‘”1″ as the number of potential and ‘”0″  as the number of eternity.

The number 10 might well be the ultimate number to use in a midwinter solstice contemplation, as it is both a number that asks you to summarise your previous impressions and experiences of the year that passed, as well as to give closure to anything that needs to be given closure to,in order  to make space for experiences and impressions in the year to come.

What comes to mind when contemplating on the year that was? Is there someone or something you overlooked? Have you made peace with your own perhaps less fortunate happenings and given yourself credit for the changes that did work?

The suit of Gifts, are about one’s personal holy grail, the things we set out to do in life to fullfill our life-mission. A vision quest on what matters to you.

We tend to think of ‘Forgiveness’ as reserved for things we did to others. Making amends with yourself on why you did what you did, might yet be a bigger accomplishment and creates the freedom for new beginnings

 to read more on the practice of the winter solstice contemplation ritual click here. 

Click on the 10 of Gifts to read more on the meaning of the card.
Draw your own card on the right side of this blog and see what it summons up from your inner imaginings.

The post 10 of Gifts: Forgiveness appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Today,on this ninth day of the winter solstice contemplation following the footsteps of our pagan ancestors in  the way they would use the ritual  in pre-christian days; I am just going to describe the essentials of the Nan Yar Who Am I card  ‘9 of Tools’  for inspiration.   ‘

One of the interpretations in numerology is that ‘9″ is the number of (inter)connection, everything being part of everything else with nothing being an exception to the rule.

While we may separate one from the other in daily life society, in the Spirit World nothing stays behind. Every gesture, movement, act of kindness or malice for that matter, is equally importent and will transform into something else, returning to sender what sender  initialised.  Just something to think about.

As 9th card of the  suit of Insights – which are all about personal development that is ignited while experiencing the challenges of life – it asks you to look for the moments in  the year that passed, when you felt a true connection to yourself and your intentions in life and the effect this had from the greater good. What did it give you in return?

And remember to remember your dreams tonight; see what they have to reveal about your intentions

 to read more on the practice of the winter solstice contemplation ritual click here. 

Click on the 9 of Insights to read more on the meaning of the card.
Draw your own card on the right side of this blog and see what it summons up from your inner imaginings.

The post 9 of Insights: Inspiration appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Today, on this 8th day of  practising the 12 -day  winter solstice contemplation ritual the way our pagan ancestors used to perform it in pre-christian days,  we take a closer look at  the Nan Yar – Who Am I personal development card titled  ‘Imagination’, the 8 of Gifts.

One may wonder why humanity was gifted Imagination. It plays an important part in how we view ourselves and the world around us and works both ways, either in disbelief of something being possible or in recognising that all big  steps forward in the development of humanity were created in the realm of imagination first.

In numerology the 8 stands for Karma, the endless chain of ever evolving lifetimes that shape the development of every unique human being and therewith ultimately the greater good.
Tilted 45 degrees either way,  the 8 reflects the so-called Lemniscate, the symbol that stands for the infinite nature of energy. Nothing ever stays the same. Everything at the some point turns into something else, yet whatever it changes into, it always holds some  form of energy creating something else. In the Macrocosmos nothing goes to waste.

When wood is set on fire, it turns into ashes.  Ashes in turn fertilise earth and make way for new life. This is how it works with everything. Every action, gesture, thought, word, feeling, wish, desire, gift or other form of energy,  ultimately results into something else. Even the energy of animals, plants and minerals own this potential for change.

∞

Questions you might ask yourself  while looking back at the year that was during the winter solstice ritual is what changes occurred in your life in the year that passed and which of your own actions played a role in creating those outcomes

With past and future irrevocably interconnected as symbolised in the lemniscate, you can also look ahead at what you would want to change, using of course…your imagination.

And thirdly, before going to sleep, set the intention to remember your dreams, keeping pen and paper close, so you can dot down keywords straight after waking up and record what ‘product of your imagination’ your dreams came up with..

 to read more on the practice of the winter solstice contemplation ritual click here. 

Click on the 8 of Gifts to read more on the meaning of the card.
Draw your own card on the right side of this blog and see what it summons up from your inner imaginings.

The post 8 of Gifts: Imagination appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

The 7 years cycles of consciousness

While we are all born in Body,Soul and Spirit, we loose touch with Spirit the moment we ‘set foot on earth’. The ‘setting foot’ may be taken quite literally. As long as we are babies, unable to walk or talk and seemingly  unaware of existence, we are still very much in touch with  Spirit World where everything on earth originates from.
It’s when a baby arrives at what is sometimes referred to as  ‘the terribles two’s, the stage of development when a child starts to walk and talk (back) and begins to refer to itself with a version of its given name or starts to use the personal pronoun ‘I’ to identify itself with, that life starts to change. From the budding human being  starts to  develop a will of its own and begins its encounters with  the lessons of life.

According to some esoteric traditions this development from child to young adult, to adult, to middle age and older and old age, takes place in stages of 7 years at a time. As  William Shakespeare phrases it in his play:  ‘As You Like It’ :

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players
They have their exits and their entrances
And one man in his time plays many parts
His acts being seven ages.

All too often we wonder why we have to go through certain experiences, how come we ‘deserve’ this and that.
One of the rather unnerving answers to this is that without realising it, our own stand in life, the way we behave and view the world around us, is in many ways  the cause of the way it unfolds, even when circumstances seem too unjust, harsh and inhumane to expect to comply with, like so many world citizens are experiencing right now.

Questioning ones own part in the circumstances one finds oneself in while contemplating on the year that passed during winter solstice contemplation can be confrontational, especially when one is inclined to look for who to blame on what went wrong, rather than to look for one’s own accomplishments and what  to be grateful for.
Reviewing imperfections and vulnerabilities however and looking what can be done differently in the year to come is also an act of healing; which is basically what life evolves on.

VII: The Chariot is the  7th card and therewith last card of the row of seven card that characterise the life journey in the material world.

When this card comes your way you may want to review your outlook on life.  What laws do you live by? Do they correspond with what you intuitively know to be true? And before going to sleep focus on wanting to remember your dreams. They tend to reveal aspects of yourself that stay away from daily life experiences.

 to read more on how to practice the winter solstice contemplation ritual click here. 

Click on ‘the Chariot to read more about its meaning
On the right side of this blog you can also draw your own card and see what it summons up from within.

The post VII: The Chariot. appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

Do you still have old diaries ? When you re-read these records of your life story, do you recognise yourself in what you wrote down maybe decades ago?  I find old journals can hold surprising revelations, describing life lessons that had yet to reach their full potential at the time they were recorded, yet already sort of glimmered at the horizon of conscious awareness with thoughts and feelings that years later start to make sense.

Journaling I find, is like talking to a life coach, but then that life coach is you, yourself . It’s a process. While writing, I find my way through, forests, fields, seas and mountain ranges of words and sentences until at some point I find myself ‘out of the woods’ or ”on top of the world’, rescued from my sea of troubles.

Journaling is a very important part of the ritual of mid-winter contemplation. It’s a way of talking to oneself through writing. Giving titles to the dreams one has, helps to  become more aware of their meaning. Words and sentences are like magic in that sense.  They hold the ability to transport thoughts, feelings and intentions to higher levels of understanding

The gift of expressing oneself – either through painting, sculpting, dance,  song, sound or any other form of art  is a precious human trait and certainly there for a reason, going as far back as the times when humanity as we know it today was still in it’s early stages.  Art may well be among the oldest tricks in town to get in touch with the true essence of who one is.

The first written expressions ever found date back to roughly 3400 years B.C.  within Sumerian civilisation, a relatively short amount of time on the scale of human history.

In our present day and age, writing, using language is the main source awareness. Even more so it often supersedes, intuition or inspiration. But just like midwinter contemplation originates from ancient ways of looking at life, the written word also contains deeper meaning. Words have Soul and Spirit. The way we use them tells a lot about who we are.

 to read more on how to practice the winter solstice contemplation ritual click here. 

  On the right side of this blog you can also draw your own card and see what it summons up from within.

The post 6 of Tools: Journaling appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

The Tarot of Marseille  the Nan Yar Who Am I cards are based on, depicts card number V as The Pope.
Seeing the Marseille Tarot came into the world at the end of medieval times, when the pope in Western Culture had been regarded as the representative of God on earth for more than a thousand years, the interpretation of this  Archetype as the spiritual aspect of life on earth makes sense.

As the interpretation of the Tarot changes throughout the ages; depending on the stage a culture is in and many other religious beliefs have found their way into the western world, we can nowadays see card number V: The Pope, as a representative of a more widely ranged set of spiritual components embedded in the way we look at life on the western material plane.

For some this will imply they begin to acknowledge a divine presence within themselves, while others will refer to the belief system they recognise themselves in, whether that’s Buddhism, Hinduism, Paganism, Humanism, Gnosticism or any other belief system that represents the way one thinks and feels about the existial basics of life..

When this card comes your way, you might want to contemplate on questions outside the logistics of life, such as : Why Am I here? What is my purpose in life? What gives my life meaning? Or the biggest biggie of  the Western World since the first recorded ‘Know Thyself ‘ inscription on the temple of Apollo in ancient Delphi, indicated people started to wonder about themselves: Who am I?

And of course…what better place to explore ones spiritual components than in ones dreamworld?

V: The Pope, is the 5th card of the 22 Archetypes of the Major Arcana, also known as the Bigger Secret. These 22 cards are divided in a so called Nil-card – without a number – and 3 rows of 7 cards. In total this makes 22 cards of which 21 are divided in 3 layers:

• The first row of 7 , cards I – VII characterises the life traveller on the Material World.
• The second row of 7 cards VIII- XIV characterises the Soul Journey of the life traveller
• The third row of 7 cards reflect the Spiritual Facets the life traveller is gifted at the birth and remain part of the Eternal Journey – including the present life on earth, regardless whether the life traveller is aware of this.

Looking at these 3 categories, the archetype of the Pope, the 5th card (out of 7) characterises the life traveller in the material world.

 to read more on how to practice the winter solstice contemplation ritual click here. 

 Click on The Pope  to read more on its meaning

 On the right side of this blog you can also draw your own card and see what it summons up from within.

The post V: The Pope appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

While the numerology of the number 4 is all about balance, as written on the 4 of Insights card, it can also be a bit limiting, like is stated on the 4 of  Challenges when set patterns get the better of us; or even boring to an a certain extent, when we start doing things automatically without thinking, like described on the 4 of Gifts.

When practiced as the art of observation however, as described on the 4 of Tools it can lead to a very balanced outlook on life. Like with all other  numbers, the number 4 is open to many different interpretations.

What do you associate the  number  4 with? What role does it play in your daily life? Does it ever occur in your dreams?

Suppose the 4 of insights was your inspiration card for this 4th night of the midwinter contemplation; what would it mirror for you?

 to read more on how to practice the winter solstice contemplation ritual click here. 

 Draw your own card on the right side of this blog and see what it summons up from within you.

 To read more on its meaning, the 4 of Insights.

The post 4 of Insights: Balance appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

The third card of the 12 day challenge of the winter solstice contemplation, explains a bit more about the 3 of Tools:  a cord of the minor arcana, also known as the lesser secret, that mirror your stand in daily life.

While the 22 cards of the major arcana – also known as the bigger secret- mirror the universal human characteristics each and everyone is born with; the minor arcana depicts how these characteristics are applied by each an everyone of us in a unique way in daily life. There are as many unique applications, as there are over  8 billion people in this world today.

With 3, as the number of creation and Tools as the suit of 14 cards that depict the worldly tools at our disposal to explore the material world, the 3 of Tools, with ‘dreams’ as its key word, plays an important part during the winter solstice contemplations.

Next to asking yourself what this card reflects in relation to your  explorations in daily life. the 3 of Tools also reminds you to explore your dreams to see what messages they might bring from the spiritual world or even your own deeper knowing.

 to read more on how to practice the winter solstice contemplation ritual click here. 

Of course you can also draw your own card on the right side of this blog and see what it summons up from within.

 To read more on its meaning, click the 3 of Tools.

The post 3 of Tools: Dreams appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.

The Popess, the card carrying the roman numeral II, is all about the wisdom we all carry within as life-travellers on earth. She comes right after card I: the Illusionist. While the Illusionist can still paint a different picture diverting things from what they really are, the inner wisdom wisdom card characterised by the archetype of the Popess signifies what we know to be true deep down inside. Our intuition – no mattere how doubtful one is  at times about its properties – is hardly ever wrong.

The Popess is card number II  of  the row of 7 cards that are all related to the material plane. Within that physical reality she mirrors the characteristics of inner knowing and is closely connected to the realms of our dreamworlds.

Suppose this were your card to reflect on and take with you in your dreams.; what would it summon up for you?

 to read more on how to practice the winter solstice contemplation ritual click here. 

Of course you can also draw your own card on the right side of this blog and see what it summons up from within.

 Click on  the card of the pope’s to read more on its meaning.

The post II: The Popess, Inner Wisdom appeared first on EN Energycounseling.nl.