Tarot reading: The future of her business in these strange times

I thought I’d share a few readings I’ve done recently to show an example of my style. Ashley (not her real name) asked, “I am curious about how my business will fair during social distancing.”

For this question, I did a general three card spread, where no card has a specific question or meaning but all cards are interpreted together. I pulled the Hierophant, the Queen of Wands and the Fool.

In this reading, I see Ashley as the Queen of Wands, balancing the competing energies of the Hierophant and the Fool like an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. The Hierophant calls for structure and routine, and the Fool is oblivious to conventions or expectations, so he just follows whatever impulse occurs to him regardless of consequences. They are truly opposites in energy and approach. It’s up to Ashley to balance those competing impulses in order to successfully navigate these strange times.

The Hierophant says that during this time of international panic and crisis, Ashley is making the most of her gifts. He is raising his hand as if to give blessing or benediction to her path. The Hierophant says don’t break from your usual routines or rituals or at least rely heavily on those you can maintain

As I said, I feel like the Queen of Wands is the querrant, Ashley, a charismatic go-getter who sees what she wants and charges ahead to make it happen. The Queen shines her light bright – I feel like people will be naturally drawn to Ashley for guidance

The Fool is a wildcard. He doesn’t behave in conventional ways, and is somewhat outside of society. Ashley will need to work with his creative energy to find new ways of progressing as we all pass into this uncharted new territory.

Two major arcana in a three card spread means that Ashley is facing a time of significant change in her business. She has important decisions to make that will have a meaningful impact on the directions her business will take. She needs to think about the effects of her decisions on the community, and be open to new ways of running her business. The Hierophant says favour the status quo, and the Fool says expect the unexpected – with Ashley/The Queen caught in between these opposing forces. Notice how the Queen is looking at the Fool, but her shadow self, the black cat, is looking toward the Hierophant. Ashley is likely conflicted about the path ahead; should she trust what her intuition is telling her (favour the status quo) or her logical brain (which favours the unconventionality of the Fool)? Her success will come when she finds a way to harness both of these opposing forces. I think the outlook for Ashley’s business is very good, but she may be in for a bumpy ride to get there.

Ashley was very happy with this reading. She said she absolutely identified as being the Queen of Wands, and could feel the two paths pulling her in opposite directions. She said, “Overall, I rate your reading 5 stars. The reading gave me a lot of insight into my situation, was extremely helpful to me and provided a lot of value! I would absolutely recommend you as a Tarot Reader to others!”

I’d be curious how any other readers might interpret these cards. Do you see additional insights for Ashley? Anything you might have read differently?

Tarot books: Kitchen Table Tarot

One of the first tarot books I read was Kitchen Table Tarot by Melissa Cynova. I had had very little exposure to tarot, and knew practically nothing about the cards, their meaning, or how to read, and found it an excellent introduction to reading tarot. Cynova has a breezy, chatty and accessible style that was particularly helpful when I was brand new to trying to wrap my head around and not be overwhelmed by what can be a complex and intimidating system of meanings. It truly does feel like Cynova is sitting across the table from you, chatting about what she’s learned through years of reading tarot for others. She has a very modern sensibility, and strips away most of the esoteric mysticism I was expecting from a tarot book.

The majority of the book is composed of card interpretations, including an interpretation for reversals as well. Her descriptions and examples are rooted in the modern world. She describes, for example, the Knight of Cups: “He sits in the quad. Jeans, a white T-shirt, and a worn copy of Vonnegut dangling limply from his hand as he stares out into the distance. He smokes, of course, and his dark hair is tousled and curly. […] He looks sad, and his sadness is on your mind for the rest of your life. Dear heavens, does this one make an impact. He is so romantic, I can’t even stand it.” The flip side of this, though, is probably my only concern or complaint about the book: the interpretations were great for a quick understanding of the character of each card, but I found I needed other resources to develop a deeper and more comprehensive ability to interpret the cards myself

Despite the casual tone, there’s a lot of information packed into this book. In addition to Cynova’s personal anecdotes and insight, she weaves in some basic numerology and astrology and suggestions for reading and building spreads. She offers advice on the ethics of reading for others and considerations for going pro, but I found this book would be more appropriate for those looking to understand tarot for fun and personal study.

If you’re looking for a fun read that serves as a great introduction to tarot reading, I’d recommend this book. I got it from the local public library!

When the Tower comes to call

By far, the most anxiety-inducing card in the tarot deck is the Tower. A lightning bolt slams into a tower, shattering it and sending poor hapless folks plummeting to what looks like certain death.  It’s generally read as a harbinger of cataclysmic change and destruction brought on by forces entirely out of your control.

I’ll admit that I’ve dreaded the day when this card comes up for me in a reading. Destruction and cataclysmic change are definitely not on my list of things that I enjoy. I’m dreadfully adverse to even the most benign sorts of change. And yet, I laughed when I turned up the Tower as my card of the day yesterday, because no day in recent memory more perfectly embodied being powerless to forces beyond your control. The situation with the COVID-19 virus is escalating quickly: my kids’ schools are closed for two weeks after next week’s March Break, events are being cancelled, and new cases are getting closer and closer to home. It’s an unprecedented world situation and none of us have any power beyond our own small spheres of influence.

Image of Tower tarot card

We have a lot to learn about fear from the Tower, though. Sometimes fear itself can be more powerful and more debilitating than whatever it is that we are afraid of.  Note that the Tower is that it isn’t the end of the cycle; it comes about two-thirds of the way through the Fool’s Journey, and what follows in the wake of the destruction wrought by the Tower is enlightenment. Once we’ve hit that hard bottom, no matter how terrifying the fall might have seemed, we have survived to fight another day. With luck, maybe we’ve even been empowered by lessons learned along the way.

So one hopes that we, collectively, can learn something from the chaos that the Tower marks today. The lightning has struck and the tower is falling. What can you do?

Quote of the day: Good Omens

My favourite book of all time is Neil Gaiman and Sir Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens. I’m sure I’m on my fourth or fifth reading by now, and I’ve watched the series on TV and even made my own pilgrimage to St James Park in London, where Crowley and Aziraphale fed the ducks.

Sir Terry doesn’t make a secret of his disdain for fortune tellers, though ironically, he has created all my favourite literary witches. I’m currently reading the Witches arc in the Discworld books and realizing that I am equal parts Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, and as I start my fifth decade on the planet, I’m more in tune with my inner witch than ever before.

I came across this quote this morning and laughed out loud. Sir Terry may not put much stock in fortune telling, but when it comes to tarot, this is still pretty good advice. I’m not much of a prognosticator, but I do believe in the power of context. You’re not done when you read the surface of each card; it’s the narrative, the story and the context that matters. You need to link the cards back to real life.

Anyway, probably not what he had in mind, but I still found it shareworthy and may yet use it as a tag line for the blog! 😉

Why pull a tarot card every day?

When I started researching the best ways to learn tarot, I saw two recommendations that resonated with me. The first was to keep a tarot journal, and the second was to draw a card every day and think about that card on and off throughout the day to see how / if the card’s energy manifests in your day. I was originally tracking them on a Google docs spreadsheet, but then it occurred to me to start sharing them on Instagram instead. I liked the synergy of that, because many years ago I taught myself photography through a photo-every-day project I called “Project 365.” I have often said it’s hard NOT build technical skills when you take 10 minutes or more to practice every single day.

Sharing the photos to Instagram has a couple of extra benefits. First, it gives me somewhere to talk about tarot, because I always want to talk about tarot. Second, it pushes me to be a little bit thoughtful about the card I’ve pulled and the context it brings to my day. And third, I just like the challenge of finding a little theme to make the photo more than just a tarot card lying on the counter. And finally, I’m starting to find a bit of community of people who also like to talk about tarot. (See point one above.)

Drawing a card each day has been an amazing way to be mindful and present in my day, though. How often do we look back at an ordinary day and say, “What did today mean? What was the dominant theme of my day? What energies were at play?” Sometimes if I don’t get around to pulling the card until later in the day, I’ll ask “What did I overlook today?” instead. Most days, I can see clear linkages between the cards and the overarching mood of the day. In the days when I am bursting with enthusiasm and creative sparks of ideas, I’ve pulled a lot of wands. Wands are about the fiery, passionate energy of intuition and inspiration. When work is heavy on my mind, swords come up. Swords deal with intellect, mental clarity and communication. And to be honest, some days I just scratch my head and shrug when I try to link the card to whatever happened that day, but even then, occasionally with hindsight the link becomes more clear.

I do find that pulling a single card every day doesn’t give me the same shiver of insight and connection that more complex or intentional spreads have done. I think one card on its own is sort of like an appetizer; it’s almost like the insight is a little diluted and non-specific, and you need a few cards interacting with each other to make a satisfying meal of it. It truly is a great way to not only learn the basic interpretations of the cards, but to see what they might mean playing out in real life.

Do you pull a daily card? How to you use it in your life?