Welcome to my personal blog.
Here you will find my musings, thoughts and observations, all inspired by my experiences as a full-time professional tarot reader.
If It Were Easy, Everyone Would Do it! Lessons From the Suit of Wands
If you are an artist, healer or entreprenuer, you can find special wisdom and inspiration in the tarot suit of Wands!
When we look at the key words and images typically associated with the suit of Wands in tarot (also known as Staves, Batons or Clubs) we sometimes miss the inspiring spiritual message inherent in these cards.
Each of the four suits of tarot, known collectively as the Minor Arcana, is associated with one of the Four Elements. Typically, we associate the suit of Wands with Fire, although there is a less popular tradition that associates Wands with Air instead.
When we look at Fire and Air together, we see the thought process that brings us to a place of creative and spiritual inspiration. From that perspective, we can see how both the masculine elements, Air and Fire, inform the suit of Wands.
My preference is to view the Wands as the messengers of the Fire element, bringing us creativity, inspiration, passion and spirituality.
There is a school of thought that suggests that, in tarot, the Major Arcana delivers spiritual messages, while the Minor Arcana only deals with mundane matters.
I find mundane advice and spiritual direction in all seventy-eight cards. In fact, I wonder if the element associated with each Minor Arcana suit might give us information about the way we could approach the suit, or what magick the suit might offer us.
For instance, can we find inspiration in the fiery Wands? Can we find truth in the airy Swords? Can we heal our hearts with the watery Cups? Can we ground ourselves with the earthy Pentacles?
I often find myself pondering a particular suit, and the lessons held within it.
Just as we find a story in the Fool’s Journey through the Major Arcana, so can we see a Fool’s Path in each of the Minor Arcana suits.
This week, I have been thinking about the story of the suit of Wands in regards to entrepreneurialism and creativity.
So many people see, in the Ace of Wands, simply a flash of excitement or a lust for passion. Yet, this creative energy that burns within us must sustain us throughout the arduous journey toward success.
The disappointment in the story of the suit of Wands is that the culmination, the Ten of Wands, does not show success realized. In the Ten, we are carrying the product of our endeavors, and weighed down by it, as we trudge toward the town, presumably to finally sell our wares and ultimately realize our success.
I don’t interpret the Ten of Wands in a negative way, though many readers do. I do see it as a sobering reality check for those of us who follow our passions as career.
Inherent in the Ten of Wands is the artist’s burden and the psychic’s curse; that drive we have to do what we do even at a cost, the fire that burns within us, and the dream of our ultimate success.
Unlike the suits of Cups and Pentacles, it is not until we advance the story through the Court that we realize our true success.
We can see, in each of the Wands cards, part of the journey toward creative and entrepreneurial success. When we tell the story beginning with the Ace and working up to Ten, I see it this way.
Ace: A burning motivation, a creative inspiration.
Two: The planning, dreaming, goal setting and manifesting that goes into a project.
Three: That first moment when you see that your project is having some success.
Four: Building community and structure for your project.
Five: Struggle, perhaps with creative direction or resources management.
Six: Success! Your plans are working out and your project is successful.
Seven: When you are successful, everyone and everything wants a piece of you. You must struggle to stay on top of your game.
Eight: There is a moment when your project becomes its own entity, separate from you. In this energy, anything is possible!
Nine: Success comes at a price. Here, we see the responsibility of continuing the project and meeting expectations.
Ten: We can see our greater success is within reach, but we must stay dedicated to a difficult path in order to reach it.
In this story, we see the energy alternating between success and struggle. So it is in the life of any artist, reader, and entrepreneur.
Often, when I mentor other readers, or read for artists and business owners, these are the cards that appear repeatedly. And, often, the message is the same.
If you are dedicated to your goals, and willing to do what it takes, you can be successful, but it won’t be easy.
The suit of Wands reminds us that many are called, but few are chosen. When we seek success, we know that many share our goals, but many will not succeed.
The suit of Wands gives us a bit of advantage in the knowledge of the struggles along the path. The cards comfort us with the reminder that if it were easy, everyone would do it!
Pro Tarot: When Compassion Makes You Crazy
Some frank talk about assumptions, attachments, compassion and anger at the tarot table.
Many years ago, in my office in Central Village, CT, I had a client who asked me a question that stuck with me for years.
The question was, “My boyfriend just got out of jail for allegedly molesting a child. I need daycare. Do you think I should let my boyfriend watch my child while I work?”
I found the question shocking and scary. I answered it without consulting my cards.
“Of course not! Why take a chance with your child?”
Years later, I’ve come to believe that I handled this situation badly. I should have kept an open mind, and done the reading.
Somehow, at the time, honoring the question with a reading seemed like participating in, and propping up, a certain kind of unhealthy thinking.
Just this week, in a conversation online, I was reminded of this when another reader posted about a seemingly obvious question that she refused to read on, for much the same reason that I had refused to read on that question so many years ago.
Most professionals have specific go-to analyses and advices. If a doctor sees your jaw is swollen, she will automatically assume you have a dental issue. If a police officer sees you driving erratically, he will automatically assume you have been drinking. A marriage counselor may always advise communication. A physical trainer may teach the same exercise routine to people of similar age and gender.
Sometimes these assumptions do turn out to be erroneous. Nonetheless, these assumptions allow professionals to efficiently serve their clientele.
These sorts of assumptions do not often help tarot readers.
While we tarot readers develop theories about life and spiritual beliefs that inform our practices, I think we need to avoid those professional go-to assumptions. If we catch ourselves talking about cards, people or situations in definitive, sweeping terms like “always” and “never”, we have stopped being oracles and have started simply vomiting common wisdom.
I once knew a reader (thankfully no longer practicing) who, every time she read for a young girl in love, would put down the cards and launch into a pre-canned lecture about hormones, pheromones and neurotransmitters, and how the existence of these things proves there is simply no such thing as true romantic love.
While I have certainly met those who needed to understand the role biology was playing in their feelings and actions, this couldn’t have been sage wisdom for each and every young girl she read for.
Clearly, this older reader was coloring her readings with her jaded and unhealthy view, that love is impossible and nonexistent.
When I refused to do an actual reading for the client who wanted her ex-con BF to babysit, I was also inappropriately coloring my interaction with a client.
The social media friend who posted about refusing a reading said something that made me think. She said that the question she was asked made her angry out of concern for the client’s wellbeing.
This made me ponder the very few times in 25 years I have gotten angry at the tarot table. It happened, much to my dismay, just this past week, for the first time in many years.
Reading my friend’s comment made me consider something I had not thought of before.
It may be that we tarot readers, in our process of empathy, intuition, divination and communication, develop a strong desire for our clients’ happiness and wellbeing, perhaps because we can so clearly see their possible happy outcome.
When we see a client thinking or behaving in a way that feels unsafe and unwise, we sometimes get mad. I have often questioned what the trigger is for that anger. Now I realize it is compassion for the client, and frustration that we see they are making things harder on themselves.
While we are all human, becoming angry with a client for any reason doesn’t seem conducive to a good process. I know I have felt terrible the few times it has happened.
My desire for my client’s wellbeing and happiness is a good and natural thing. Most readers share that desire. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t do the work we do.
I think the mistake happens when we let our empathy for our clients become an attachment. Much like the physician who must accept their patience’s nicotine addiction, perhaps we must meet our clients where they are. We can suggest changes they can make, we can offer new perspectives, but we mustn’t attach to the idea that they have to change, or listen to us, or take our advice.
Many readers have complained to me about the clients who never seem to listen to them, but always come back with the same questions and problems.
It occurs to me that, not only must we release attachment to the hope that our clients will allow themselves to make positive changes, we must also never give up hope that they will, one day, heal.
Sometimes an addict must go to rehab many times before they really enter recovery. It took me many tries to quit smoking successfully.
Healing takes time and false starts, and people can’t heal until they are ready.
I think we tarot readers are at our best when we strive to be patient with people, and speak in gentle tones, rather than angry ones.
At the same time, the fact that our compassion for our clients is great enough to spark anger may be an important part of the psychic and energetic connection we make with them.
As in all things, balance is the key.
I'm Teaching "Anatomy of a Tarot Reading" at Tarot Summer School
Here is everything you need to know about Tarot Summer School and the course I am teaching!
I'm so excited to be teaching a class for Tarot Summer School this year!
My class is "Anatomy of a Tarot Reading". Whether you are a new reader, one who uses tarot for personal introspection, a pro reader or an aspiring pro, this class has something for you.
Here's a promo video.
Here is an in-depth class description.
What’s the difference between remarking about a series of cards, and giving an actual tarot reading?
That’s what we’re going to explore in this class.
Every tarot reading is a unique experience.
Every tarot reader has a unique style.
And yet, there are specific qualities that create a transformative tarot experience, versus an experience that is confusing, or limited in its helpfulness.
I’ve divide the process of tarot reading into seven distinct steps. We’ll handle each step as an individual section. Please perform the exercises that I provide in each section – that’s where you will find how each technique works best for you.
The seven steps we’ll be working with, in order, are:
1. Preparation
A tarot reading begins with our own mindset and perspective. We’ll discuss helpful mindsets that make the complex process of tarot reading flow more easily.
A great tarot reading takes place in sacred space. We will look at the steps it takes to transform any reading area into a temple of divination.
2. Invocation
A tarot reading can connect us to, and be informed by, the spirit world. We’ll discover ways of inviting Spirit into our tarot reading process, and recognizing Spirit’s voice within the cards.
3. Intuition
It’s impossible to give a great tarot reading without acknowledging and welcoming your own psychic nature. We’ll work with opening the Third Eye, and discover the specific connection between tarot and the brow chakra, and how we can use that connection to derive specific information.
4. Operation
Most tarot classes focus solely on tarot operations. That’s because what we specifically do with the cards is a huge part of what makes a tarot reading.
In this section, we’ll discuss your options in spreads and card-reading techniques.
5. Interpretation
Tarot cards have key words, spiritual lessons and classic interpretations, but how do they translate into an actual reading? We’ll explore interpretive techniques that will help you tell the story and deliver the message.
6. Presentation
We may SEE what the cards are saying, but how we SAY what we see is what makes the reading. We’ll talk about the best ways to present the reading to different types of clients in different settings.
7. Manifestation
Every tarot reading is an opportunity for tarot magick! It is always possible to find ways to work with the energy of the cards to create the best possible outcomes.
On a practical level, a great reading usually ends with a plan for action; something the client can use to move themselves forward toward their goals.
Before we begin, let me say one final thing by way of introduction.
I believe that it is impossible to teach another person to read tarot. All we tarot teachers can do is help you discover how the cards speak to you. My goal is to create a space for you to explore your intuition, your interpretive skills, and your connection to the cards and to Spirit. From there, the possibilities for what you can do are limitless!
If you still haven't signed up, here's more to entice you. Here's a list of teachers, and the classes they will be teaching!
● Benebell Wen - Tarot and Shadow Work for Activating Dynamic Power
● Kate Fisher from Daily Tarot Girl - Learn the Tarot Court Cards
● Vix from New Age Hipster - Tarot For Your Chakras
● Avalon Cameron - Ritual Tarot
● Chris-Anne Donnelly - Creating Your Own Tarot and Oracle Deck
● Jenna Matlin from Queen of Wands Tarot - Tarot and Feng Shui
● Christiana Gaudet - Anatomy of a Tarot Reading
● Carrie Mallon - Tarot for Empaths
● Ethony* Dawn - Money Magic & Manifestation with Tarot
● Kelley Knight from Modern Mystic Tarot - Building Your Brand and Business
● Jessi Huntenburg- Reading Tarot Intuitively
● Melissa White from White Sacred Soul - Mediumship and Tarot
● Hazellie Wong - Charting Your Future with Tarot & Numerology
● Jaymi Elford from Inner Compass Tarot - Tarot for Goal Manifestation
● Jessie Hughes from Pomegranate Tarot - Tarot Journaling
You can purchase a season pass, or take just the classes you want.
Now it is time to travel to the Tarot Reader's Academy, learn more and
SIGN UP NOW!
An Evening with the Six of Swords
What does it mean when the Six of Swords stalks two readers at a military fundraiser?
Last week I had the privilege of offering readings at a very special fundraiser. My friend Mary Ellen Collins and I were the tarot readers at the 6th Annual Chefs Helping Heroes Fundraiser for the Renewal Coalition, an organization that helps wounded veterans and their families.
One of the things that can happen while doing the “cattle call” (short readings for a line of people) is that many people in the group will receive the same card.
It usually takes me a little while to realize that a repetitive card at a party is speaking to the group, as well as to the individuals who receive it.
For instance, at a Bar Association gala almost everyone received Major Arcana 11, Justice. After the sixth one I realized that I was reading exclusively for attorneys and their spouses.
At an office Christmas party, just about everyone received the Six of Pentacles. “You are such a generous person” I said once, twice, three times. Then I asked what the nature of the business was. It turned out they distributed grants for student funding.
The repetitive card that came up at the Helping Heroes event was the Six of Swords. I must have seen that card for eight people, or more, in two hours. The funny thing is, it didn’t register for me until afterwards, when Mary Ellen asked me if I had seen the Six of Swords much that evening.
As a matter of fact, I had, and clearly, so had she!
Why was the Six of Swords such a predominate card for this audience? Many of the party attendees were active military, or veterans, and their families. Everyone was there in support of wounded warriors. Still, there are other cards I might have more readily expected to see.
I call the Nine of Wands “The Wounded Warrior”. But that wasn’t the card that presented itself so forcefully.
For me, the Six of Swords is often about sailing toward smoother waters. In fortune-telling tradition, the Six of Swords is “journey over water”. It came up for at least one person to discuss an upcoming deployment.
Aleister Crowley called the Six of Swords “Science”. It’s easy for me to connect that to the Waite-Smith image. The Swords are almost floating over the water, to remind us to value logic over emotion; the essential goal of the Scientific Method.
The Esoteric Title for the Six of Swords is “Lord of Earned Success”. That certainly makes sense for the audience, both in terms of military service as well as the obvious financial means of the generous people who supported the event. It was evident from the beginning that the event was a very successful fundraiser for the cause, so that could also be “earned success”.
The specific mission of the organization is to provide no-cost retreat getaways for recovering soldiers and their families. There is no doubt, anecdotally, that this program is saving marriages, and, perhaps, even saving lives.
The “retreat” card in tarot is Four of Swords. As I consider this, I see a story emerging that give the Six of Swords profound meaning for its persistent appearance that night.
When we look at the Three, Four, Five and Six of Swords we see the story of every wounded warrior. With Three, we see the actual injury. With Four, a time of rest and recovery, With Five, the battle that every solider fights when they leave the battlefield.
Finally, in the Six of Swords we see the resolution – the soldiers’ ability to heal by allowing themselves to return to a world that makes sense to them; a world different from the world of warfare.
The job of the Renewal Coalition is to provide a space of safe normalcy for those whose lives have been anything but normal.
Whether for a group in a single evening, or over a long period for an individual, repetitive cards (or “stalker cards” or “frequent cards”) are an interesting phenomenon.
Some of them, like the Devil that appeared in each of my readings long ago during an unhealthy relationship, are like a bitch-slap from the Universe, meant to wake you to a harsh reality.
Others, like the Six of Swords at this event, take some time to contemplate.
After the event, Mary Ellen and I wondered about the Six of Swords, and what its message might be.
We agreed to each blog about it.
Now that you have read my thoughts, visit Mary Ellen’s blog and see what she had to say!
Magic with the Two of Wands: Strength, High Rank and Wealth Without Shame
For the Spring Equinox Tarot Blog Hop, some magic and musing about wealth, inspired by the season, the Two of Wands and the Picatrix.
It’s Ostara, or the Vernal Equinox. That means it’s time for another Tarot Blog Hop. This time our wrangler, Joy Vernon, has given us many options for our seasonal task, ranging from your-head-might-explode-with-mystical-brilliance to share-a-seasonal-recipe.
I chose something in between.
Joy was inspired by her tarot group’s work with the Picatrix, an ancient book of astrology and magic.
Per the Picatrix, now is the time to use magic to manifest “strength, high rank and wealth without shame”.
Of all the options and information that Joy gave us, the thing that struck me most was that odd phrase, "wealth without shame", and its connection, via astrology, to the Two of Wands.
Tarot is a youngster when compared with the Picatrix. Yet, the connection between tarot and astrology allows us to assign the Two, Three and Four of Wands to the three decans of Aries (and thus the vernal equinox), and to the magical directives found within the Picatrix.
It’s also interesting to note that for each decan (third of an astrological sign) the Picatrix describes an assigned image. The knowledge that images hold power is something else the Picatrix and tarot have in common.
I have an affinity for the Two of Wands. To me, this card reminds us that everything is possible if we are willing to dream it, and willing to work to bring it into being.
The Two of Wands is the “Lord of Dominion”. The magic of the card is to recognize our own inner Lord of Dominion; to understand that we have sovereign power over the paths we choose and the lives we lead. Our only limitation is in our failure to recognize that power.
Because of this, I often think of the Two of Wands as the card of manifestation. There is something ouroboric about doing manifestation work with the card of manifestation that feels powerful to me.
That strange and archaic magical goal of strength, high rank and wealth without shame aligns with the Two of Wands for me, and fits my current magical musings precisely.
I have a problematic relationship with wealth that began even before my career as a successful full-time tarot reader. In an era when extreme wealth is enough to qualify a person to reside in the White House, I must assume that my own feelings about wealth are significantly out of step with the culture in which I live.
For better or worse, I was raised to believe that materialism is dangerous, that greed is a sin, and that there is a type of spiritual grace found only in poverty. My father was a United Methodist minister, whose faith translated into a commitment to social justice.
There’s a huge contrast between the Christianity I learned in Sunday School and the doctrine of the modern “Prosperity Gospel” that suggests that material wealth is a sign of God’s approval, and that impoverishment is an indicator of God’s disdain, which justifies our own disdain for the poor.
As a full-time tarot pro, I’ve had to deal with tarot enthusiasts who think I am a mercenary bitch because I make my living with the cards. I’m a red-headed Scorpio, so they may have gotten the bitch part right, but, mercenary? Little could be further from the truth.
The concept of wealth without shame invites me to consider the shame, or potential shame, I have felt about the prospect of acquiring some meager personal wealth.
While my father was a gentle pastor, my mother was an artsy hippie. Mom didn’t want to buy a desk, she wanted to make a desk with a wooden door laid across stacks of cinder-blocks. Her favorite store was “Sal’s Boutique”, the Salvation Army Thrift Store. From my father, I inherited a sense of spiritual mission. From my mother, a thrift shop aesthetic. Together, they impressed on me their favorite motto; “Live Simply, That Others May Simply Live.”
I am learning that there is a difference between simple living and self-denial. Self-care seems more important now than when I was younger. At some point, wealth becomes access to greater self-care, and that can’t be a bad thing.
Being a tarot pro adds another dimension to wealth-shaming. There is a school of thought amongst some tarot enthusiasts that it is somehow bad and wrong to take money in exchange for a reading. I won’t even justify that notion with an explanation.
However, it’s important to note that most pro readers go through an emotionally trying process to find peace with taking money for their services.
Another complication is that there exist pro tarot readers who routinely scam their clients by using scare tactics to extort expensive gifts and large sums of money. Much of the general population does not make a distinction between what that sort of tarot reader does, and what I do.
Because of this, In the general society within which I live, there is a cloud of shame and suspicion around the tarot profession. That makes it difficult to take the same pride in the rewards of my labor that most people have without thought.
There is a twist on "wealth without shame" that might feel ironic in that context. There are ways to make money that would feel shameful to me. As a business owner, I can choose to operate within my ethical boundaries. Never do I have to do something that feels wrong because I am "following orders".
I look to the Two of Wands, then, to manifest a new paradigm around resources in my life – a paradigm where I may enjoy the fruits of my labor (my "strength and high rank") without shame, and with an open heart and hand.
I picture myself with a globe in my hand, standing over the long horizon.
In the number Two I find the balance of fare trade. The wealth I receive is equal to my needs. The services I provide are a good value for all.
In the Fire of the suit of Wands I find my passion, my spiritual calling, and the life energy with which I create this new personal paradigm. May I use this energy to bring insight and healing to others, and may it bring me vitality and youthfulness long into my old age.
In this season of Spring, in the balance between light and dark, I hatch the metaphoric eggs of new ideas, new vision, new inspiration and new opportunities. I welcome new life bursting all around me.
May these blessings of the season be yours as well!
