The Difference Between Love and Relationship
In a conversation about unconditional love recently, a friend said an interesting thing. She said she didn’t really believe in unconditional love, because, in a relationship, there are always expectations. She wasn’t wrong, and she got me thinking about an important distinction that we don’t always remember to make. That is the distinction between love and relationship.
First, let’s clarify that there are many kinds of love, and many kinds of relationships. There is a stereotype that suggests that we tarot readers are constantly talking about romantic love. The truth is, at my table I spend as much time untangling the intricacies of parent-child relationships, friendships, and boss-employee relationships as I do romantic ones.
It’s also true that love is an energy that exists outside of relationships. In other words, we must be able to feel the energy of love within and around us, in the form of self-love and spiritual love, even when we are all alone.
Another truth is that not every relationship is based on love. Some relationships, like work relationships and even some family relationships, are based on necessity rather than affection.
Relationships do and must have expectations, communication, boundaries, respect and common goals. Not all relationships need love in order to prosper. Yet, the more love we have in our hearts, the more we prosper.
Unconditional love in childhood is critical to our healthy development. All our relationships are enhanced when we cultivate within us the high vibration of unconditional love. We can do that in a number of ways.
One effective way is with heart chakra meditation. When we breathe into the heart center, and open and clear the heart, we breathe in the energy of unconditional love in a way that is palpable, and that radiates through us and around us.
Another way is to consider our memories and think about times when we felt truly loved. When we capture that memory and revel in it, we bring love into our hearts.
It’s sad to say that not every person has memories of feeling loved. If you can’t access such memories, it will be even more vital for you to do work such as heart chakra meditation.
You can also do a guided meditation where you visualize Higher Power as a large human, either male or female, who can hug you, or rock you like a baby. The peace and sense of love that can come from such a visualization is tremendous.
It’s important to work to cultivate self-love. So often the path to self-love begins simply with ceasing self-deprecation, self-loathing and self-criticism. Do you speak to yourself more harshly than you speak to those you care about? If so, you need to change the way you talk to yourself and think about yourself.
Another way to cultivate the energy of love is to practice radical non-judgment. Be discerning about your own choices but refrain from thinking judgmental statements toward yourself and others. You will notice a tremendous change in your own energy when you are able to shift your thinking in this way.
Unconditional love is real and vital. Unconditional love has no expectation other than to exist and be experienced. Relationships are real and vital, too. Relationships have conditions, expectations and specific needs. When we nurture love independent of relationships, we are able to experience all aspects of life, including relationships, in a more satisfying way.
We are getting so excited for our first-ever international tarot conference, StaarCon, to be held in Palm Beach Gardens January 22-24, 2021!
Registration will be open soon. In the meanwhile, we are pleased and grateful with the number of presenters who have already agreed to participate.
If you check the StaarCon website, you will see we added three new presenters this week, Anne Stern Walner, Brenda Elizabeth and Zuri Eberhart. Our goal is to give every person who attends StaarCon the opportunity to learn and grow, no matter their specific area of metaphysical interest nor their current level of expertise. I know that the addition of these three teachers brings us closer to achieving that goal.
Two-Card Spreads for Relationship Understanding
You can find many different spreads for relationships if you look online and in books. What I am presenting here is the very simplest form of relationship spread. That is, spreads that are only two cards – one card for each person in a two-person relationship.
You can use these spreads to quickly shed light and offer advice for any type of relationship.
The way to perform these is to think of the question, then think of one person, pull a card, and then think of the next person and pull a card. In other words, you might say, ‘What do we each need from each other right now?’ and then say, ‘This is me’ and pull a card, and, ‘This is Mary’ and pull a card.
If the person you are in relationship with also works with the cards this is an exercise you can do together. You can decide together on your question, and then each pull a card to represent yourselves in the relationship. The discussion this can engender is profound and healing.
When interpreting these cards pay attention to the characters in each card and how they might be interacting with each other. Are they looking away from each other, at each other or in the same direction? Are these cards that easily go together or are they in conflict?
Use whichever question(s) make the most sense in the situation. You can also make up questions of your own.
How are we communicating with each other right now?
What do we need from each other right now?
What can we each do to make our relationship better?
Who are we in this relationship?
What do we each need to understand about each other?
Three Special Events This Week
Tonight, Wednesday, February 19, at 7 pm is our class, Tarot Readings for Personalities and Relationships. Tickets are $37.50 and are still available online, or by calling 561-655-1160. The class will be held in my Palm City office.
On Saturday, February 22 at 10:30 am EST I will give a free live webinar on my YouTube channel called Working with the Tarot Court. Grab your cards and let’s work together to understand these versatile cards!
On Sunday, February 23 from 3 pm to 6 pm will be the Grand Opening Celebration for the new Palm City office. This celebration features a presentation with Ciro Marchetti and a psychic gallery with me.
It’s free to attend. As of now, there are no seats left for the event. If you would like to be on the wait list, please call or text me at 561-655-1160. If you have reserved a seat that you will not be using, please let me know!
If you have your reservation and are planning on attending, please bring a snack to share if you can. This promises to be a very exciting event!
The Week in Review
This week I shared a tarot exercise which can help you learn new ways of understanding your cards in a reading.
Each week I do at least three live broadcasts on my Facebook business page, Christiana Gaudet. I archive these on my YouTube channel. I also do a monthly hour-long webinar on each platform. On Facebook I do Global Tarot Circle, and on YouTube I do an informational tarot webinar. This month’s YouTube webinar will be held this Saturday morning!
From Around the Web
I was thrilled to get a mention on The Tarot Lady’s Hit List this month!
Here are some techniques to open the heart chakra.
Here’s what Psychology Today has to say about unconditional love.
Cards for Your Consideration
While many tarot cards speak of relationships, there is no one tarot card that speaks more clearly of unconditional love than the Ace of Cups.
In a reading, the Ace of Cups can indicate a new relationship or a new romance. Yet, this card also has a deep spiritual significance.
Archetypally, the Ace of Cups is both the Heart Chakra and the Holy Grail.
In this card we see all aspects of love. We see the spiritual nature of love as the energy that heals us, binds us together, and demonstrates something that is more powerful than ourselves.
The Ace of Cups can encourage us in the practice of heart healing and heart chakra meditation.
The Ace of Cups invites us to partake in developing an understanding and experience of unconditional love.
Upcoming Events and Tours
Tarot Topics Newsletter
Volume 3 Issue 8
February 19, 2020
