Exercise: Dream and Tarot Integration Mandala

For this exercise, you'll need a writing instrument, a piece of paper (I use butcher paper), a tarot deck, and a dream of some sort.

Optional: I also use a plate (to trace a circle around) and colored pens.

1. Write down a dream narrative and the date you had the dream
2. Title the dream without thinking too much - write that under your dream narrative
3. Within the dream narrative, circle the image (person, place, thing, event, action) that most attracts or repels you
4. Draw a serving-plate sized circle under your dream narrative
5. Pull a tarot card from a face-down deck
6. To the left side of your circle, record which deck and card you drew
7. Study the tarot card you pulled then put it to the side
8. Without looking at the card again, what aspect of that card comes to your mind first

Now, about that circle you drew - that circle is your mandala. It integrates.
You'll be representing two things inside the circle, however you want to represent them.
One thing is the image from the dream that most attracted or repelled you; the other is the element from the tarot card you drew.
Put these two images together within the mandala however feels right to you. Do what you want with the images - create a scene with them, create a pattern with them, whatever you choose. Add elements into the mix as they feel right to you.

When you feel your mandala is complete, give it its own title (again, without thinking too much), and/or write a sentence condensing what your mandala means to you at this time.

If you are inclined, you can also write a "powerful question" to bring from this exercise into your daily life.

I tried this exercise over the weekend, to flesh out a grocery store dream (another recurring image in my dream repertoire - see hair washing for another). Here are the gory details:
-The key image was fake grass - the kind that produce sits on in a grocery store.
-The tarot card I pulled, from the Thoth deck, was 3 wands, pointing down (reversed?) - a very yellow/orange card. My eye was drawn to the intersection of the wands and the flaming star there.
-It's hard to portray the mandala that emerged in "print" - Basically, I drew in the center of my circle a core of yellow with orange flames, and bordered it all, including flames, by fake green grass. Apples and oranges rested at the bottom of the mandala. And I put the number 3 in blue above the fruits.

The sentence?
Basically the mandala looked really, really feminine. It looked like things were still early in whatever process - still "gestating" or "cooking" - and that there's still a lot of fake mixed in with the real.

The conclusion:
I need to relax and let things cook. I also need to be mindful of that fake stuff - it could stifle the flames or be ignited by them - neither of which is very good.

The question:
1. What's the fake stuff?
2. Do I need to intervene - or will it simply get burned off in the cooking?