Uploaded December 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
A meditative guided tarot reading exercise to connect with your ancestors. This video is both a 10-minute meditation and a guided ancestral tarot reading. The companion blog post offers more insights on how to deep-dive into your Ancient Ones 3-card reading: wp.me/p32or0-7OX
Ancestral Tarot: Uncover Your Past and Chart Your Future by Nancy Hendrickson and published by Red Wheel Weiser guides you through using tarot to connect with your ancestors, unravel family mysteries, and to help heal multigenerational trauma.
The techniques that this book teaches will help you identify and access ancestral gifts, messages, powers, protectors, and healers, and also help you to navigate your DNA and ethnic heritage.
As Mary K. Greer writes about this book, “This is a tarot book of the very best kind. It is a journey to the self through the spirits of those who’ve come before.”
Hendrickson is a tarot master with over 40 years of experience in the field of genealogy and previously featured in the New York Times. Learn more about her work at www.sageandshadow.com.
SIGHTSEE THE TAROT is a series on my channel through which I take you on a tour of tarot books, spreads, techniques and tips, different decks, and more.
PLAYLIST of all videos in this series: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0x6BzLuplwar0jcbmIu2MaX3RMVEs0ik
Series Page: tinyurl.com/sightseethetarot
Deck Pictured on Video Thumbnail Image: The Lost Tarot (22 Major Arcana, Limited Edition) by Hansjurgen Bauer
Decks Pictured in this Video: Tattoo Tarot: Ink & Intuition by Megamunden; Tabula Mundi Tarot by M. M. Meleen; Golden Universal Tarot by Lo Scarabeo; The Muse Tarot by Chris-Anne; Influence of the Angels Tarot by Jody Boginski Barbessi; Sun and Moon Tarot by Vanessa Decort; Thoth Tarot (U.S. Games, Premier Edition)
Decks Pictured in the Opening (in order): SKT Revelation; SKT Vitruvian (card backs); SKT First Edition; SKT Revelation; Bad Bitches Tarot by Ethony Dawn (card backs); SKT Vitruvian; SKT Revelation; New Era Elements Tarot by Dr. Elenore F. Pieper; Smith-Waite Tarot Deck: Centennial Edition
BENEBELL WEN
benebellwen.com
This video is closed-captioned for the Deaf, H/H, and ESL/EAL communities.
A meditative guided tarot reading exercise to connect with your ancestors. This video is both a 10-minute meditation and a guided ancestral tarot reading. The companion blog post offers more insights on how to deep-dive into your Ancient Ones 3-card reading: wp.me/p32or0-7OX
Ancestral Tarot: Uncover Your Past and Chart Your Future by Nancy Hendrickson and published by Red Wheel Weiser guides you through using tarot to connect with your ancestors, unravel family mysteries, and to help heal multigenerational trauma.
The techniques that this book teaches will help you identify and access ancestral gifts, messages, powers, protectors, and healers, and also help you to navigate your DNA and ethnic heritage.
As Mary K. Greer writes about this book, “This is a tarot book of the very best kind. It is a journey to the self through the spirits of those who’ve come before.”
Hendrickson is a tarot master with over 40 years of experience in the field of genealogy and previously featured in the New York Times. Learn more about her work at www.sageandshadow.com.
SIGHTSEE THE TAROT is a series on my channel through which I take you on a tour of tarot books, spreads, techniques and tips, different decks, and more.
PLAYLIST of all videos in this series: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0x6BzLuplwar0jcbmIu2MaX3RMVEs0ik
Series Page: tinyurl.com/sightseethetarot
Deck Pictured on Video Thumbnail Image: The Lost Tarot (22 Major Arcana, Limited Edition) by Hansjurgen Bauer
Decks Pictured in this Video: Tattoo Tarot: Ink & Intuition by Megamunden; Tabula Mundi Tarot by M. M. Meleen; Golden Universal Tarot by Lo Scarabeo; The Muse Tarot by Chris-Anne; Influence of the Angels Tarot by Jody Boginski Barbessi; Sun and Moon Tarot by Vanessa Decort; Thoth Tarot (U.S. Games, Premier Edition)
Decks Pictured in the Opening (in order): SKT Revelation; SKT Vitruvian (card backs); SKT First Edition; SKT Revelation; Bad Bitches Tarot by Ethony Dawn (card backs); SKT Vitruvian; SKT Revelation; New Era Elements Tarot by Dr. Elenore F. Pieper; Smith-Waite Tarot Deck: Centennial Edition
BENEBELL WEN
benebellwen.com
This video is closed-captioned for the Deaf, H/H, and ESL/EAL communities.


![Interpretation of I Ching Hexagrams
This is Part II, concluding the lecture and workshop.
Part I: Yarrow Stalk Divination, https://youtu.be/r9wnPOtBbK0
Worksheet download: https://benebellwen.files.wordpress.com/2023/01/interpreting-your-i-ching-reading.pdf
Learn more about I Ching, The Oracle: https://benebellwen.com/i-ching-the-oracle/
Timestamps:
00:15 Animated Walk-through of the Yarrow Counting Method
00:36 Yi Xue (I Ching scholarship)
01:02 Image & Number (Xiang Shu Pai) vs. Meaning & Principle (Yi Li Pai)
01:11 The Image and Number Tradition
01:55 The Meaning and Principle Tradition
02:42 Six Esoteric or Mystery Traditions of Interpreting the Yi
03:35 Why Philosophy and Cosmology Matters
05:00 Operative Result Yielded from I Ching Divination
06:24 Review of Part I: What Your Hexagram Result Should Look Like
06:57 Review of Relevant Taoist Cosmology
07:34 How the Primary Hexagram Changes to the Secondary/Transformed Hexagram
09:02 Identify the Trigram and Driving (Five) Movements Result
09:47 Changing Lines in Both Hexagrams are the Cruxes of Change
10:49 Consulting the Book and Reading the Entries
11:42 Innate Qi Qualities the Six Lines Exhibit
12:11 Wu Xing: Five Phases of Change (Five Movements)
12:43 Wu Xing Correspondence Reference Tables
13:45 Revisiting the Innate Qi Qualities of the Six Lines
14:41 Comparing Your Hexagram Result to Innate Qi of the Lines (Dignities)
16:06 The Confucian Concept of Lei, via I Ching philosopher Cheng Yi
17:23 Rulers of the Six Lines (Six Line General, Innate Attributes)
18:59 Reading a Locked Hexagram (Single Hexagram Result)
19:51 Reading Primary + Transformed Hexagrams (Hexagram Pair Result)
21:39 He Tu and Lo Shu Diagrams Informing the Hexagram Reading [Ref. Vid.: https://youtu.be/zAME24d0rGw]
22:40 Decide: Reading the Thesis Statement vs. Reading the Entire Dissertation for Divined Insight
23:14 Diving Deeper into All Lines Analysis
24:20 Interpreting the Ancient Line Text Figuratively
24:58 Interpreting the Secondary Transformed Hexagram
25:24 Primary vs. Transformed Hexagram Attributes
25:59 Comparing the I Ching to the Tarot as Divination Tools
I Ching, The Oracle (North Atlantic Books, 2023), https://benebellwen.com/i-ching-the-oracle/
- Amazon (US): https://a.co/d/cmm0qLP
- North Atlantic Books, a California-based non-profit publisher: https://www.northatlanticbooks.com/shop/i-ching-the-oracle/
- Penguin Random House: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/724023/i-ching-the-oracle-by-benebell-wen/ Interpretation of I Ching Hexagrams](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_Pd-yv7h2mQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![Taoism: A Decolonized Introduction
We’re still having audio-video syncing issues. Be sure to turn on Closed Captioning for the subtitles. That’ll help clarify any confusion caused by audio hiccups.
... If a techie witnessed the wholly inefficient Luddite way I cobbled this video production together, they would probably die of a brain aneurysm …
Timestamps:
00:00 Why another “Introduction to Taoism” video
00:19 Historical textual definition of and references to the Tao 道
01:29 Canonical statement defining the Tao “一陰一陽之謂道”
02:39 Cultural understanding and usage of the term 道 [Syncretic Taoism]
03:40 Formalizing Taoism 道教 during the Eastern Han
03:50 Scope of Taoism “道教” prior to the Eastern Han
04:42 Conflating Buddhist doctrine with the Tao 道
05:33 Institutionalizing Taoism in the Common Era
05:50 Taoist Beliefs – Four Cornerstones
Wu Wei 無為 and Zi Ran 自然
True Name 真名 and True Form 真形
Taoist Cosmology
Xuan De 玄德 (The Mysteries)
06:53 The Dàoshì 道士
07:15 Taoist Practice – Four Cornerstones
Invoking Spirits 崇拜鬼神
Divination 占卜
Ceremonial Rites 祭祀
Shamanic Witchcraft 巫祝
07:59 The Fāngshì 方士 (Methods Master)
08:14 Taoism is the indigenous Chinese tradition premised on three fundamental assumptions
08:24 [1st] Working with spirit entities (and what that means) [鬼神崇拜]
09:39 Classifications of spirit entities in Taoism (and Chinese folk beliefs)
10:23 [2nd] Studying cultivation methods for transcendence [神仙信仰與方術]
10:32 Inner alchemy 內丹術 and outer alchemy 外丹術
11:43 Taoist occultism during the Warring States period (472 – 221 BC)
11:55 The five mystical arts 五術
13:02 [3rd] The Huang Lao 黃老道 doctrine [黃老學說中的神秘主義成份]
14:53 Two Key Concepts to Huang Lao Taoism (the highest priorities of the Taoist)
Political doctrine of Lì Mín 利民
Philosophical doctrine of Wu Wei 無為
16:38 Historical uses of the term Huang Lao Tao
18:16 Mathematical Structure of the Tao 道 (mirroring the Yi 易, in I Ching 易經)
19:29 Taoism and the I Ching: the Tao referenced in the I Ching
20:23 Taoism from the Hundred Schools of Thought
20:48 Taoism as a school of philosophy
22:18 Western Thought: Taoist Philosophy vs. Taoist Religion
22:37 Eastern Thought: Taoist Beliefs & Taoist Practice
23:10 Evolving understanding of the Tao in Imperial China
23:58 First use of the term Taoism 道教 (Confucius)
24:14 Taoism is exemplified by the Six Ancestral Sage Kings [堯舜禹湯文武]
24:53 Dào Dé Jing 道德經 and Dào Dé Tiān Zūn 道德天尊
25:25 Religious personifications of the Tao Te Ching
26:08 Summary and closing remarks
***
Related Past Videos:
Wu Wei 無為 (Taoist Non-Action), https://youtu.be/TzAFobogs3Q?si BNWxmGDIXqw8jn6
Your Inner Palace and the Akashic Records, https://youtu.be/iGJdxTTywHc?si=r5bY9muFzSrhdYd1
Three Mysteries of Taoist Scriptural Tradition, https://youtu.be/gJcit-CTXnc?si=EJH3n3z3Pgd50e4u
Tao Te Ching and Feminist Metaphysics, https://youtu.be/IqUlYQDtPrY?si=5w1Npbu-0QA6qxHf
What Does It Mean To Be Taoist, https://youtu.be/FbpUm82U4dg?si Ctl9NNlDNwF6rlp
The Lo Shu Magic Square (雒書, Luò Shū), https://youtu.be/zAME24d0rGw?si=h1ER0OrreB3V6gst
***
Playlist: Introduction to Taoist & Buddhist Mysticism, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0x6BzLuplwZuQpc3ubW97MwPXb1mk9hE
Learn more about I Ching, The Oracle: https://benebellwen.com/i-ching-the-oracle/ Taoism: A Decolonized Introduction](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ad54Mpm5UX0/mqdefault.jpg)






