What We Believe
Concept illustration of Meditation.
Every time I attend a tarot conference, even one I run, I leave with new ideas and perspectives. StaarCon 6 was no different.
I am a full-time tarot professional and magic practitioner. I am also a deep skeptic. The rise of social media, news-for-entertainment, deep-fake videos, and AI has made me more skeptical than ever about everything. I fully believe that skepticism is a literal lifesaver. I grew up in the 1960s hearing my elders tell me not to believe everything I read. Never has this admonition been truer.
This means that whenever I gather with my metaphysical peers, I hear and learn things that don’t necessarily match my personal belief set. I listen respectfully, of course, but my inner skeptic can be very noisy inside my head.
I expected this to happen during Pamela Chen’s headlining session about the Akashic Records. Instead, I paid attention, and during the meditation, I had a legitimate experience that made me wonder whether the concept of the Akashic Records might be more useful than I'd thought. In that moment, I opened my mind to accept something as possible that I hadn't fully believed before.
Over my life, I have changed my mind many times about what I believe, especially spiritually. New evidence, new experiences, and new perspectives create a need to grow and change.
I've noticed that many people are uncomfortable with changing their beliefs, or when they see someone else change theirs. I think this is because people struggle to distinguish between a belief and a fact, or between what is subjective and what is objective. They may also think that if their belief changes, they must admit they were wrong before, and that can feel bad.
We call our spiritual journey a faith journey, not a fact journey, for a reason. Anyone who says they know for sure what is true or not true about things we cannot fully see is either lying or delusional. Yet, our spiritual practices and beliefs are so important to our well-being and so defining of our lives.
Many people crave certainty. Yet real magic and real spirituality happen in the liminal space of wondering. We are always growing and changing, and our spiritual understanding of the universe can change, too. When we see our spiritual journey as something that evolves as we do, we stay open to new practices and possibilities every day.
Comedy and Tarot workshop by Karen Rontowski at StaarCon 6.
The StaarCorner
StaarCon 6 was delightful! I think everyone who attended enjoyed seeing old friends, meeting new friends, and learning, exploring, and creating together. The Marketplace was full of amazing readers, artists, and merchants. Our headliners, Pamela Chen and Karen Rontowski, each gave an amazing presentation.
All our presenters, panel discussions, and facilitators were excellent! Our volunteers were amazing, too! And of course, we are grateful to our attendees and our exhibitors. Our sponsors, Weiser Books, U.S. Games Systems, Inc., and Llewellyn Worldwide, along with Magic Oma (Serena Fox), Marion Kirk, and Beth Conklin, helped make our event a success.
People are already watching recordings of the StaarCon 6 sessions on our new online conference platform, StaarCast. Our presenters will soon offer new sessions there, so watch for the schedule!
As we plan the StaarCon 6 AfterGlow, we are also planning StaarCon 7, so watch for those announcements!
StaarCon 6 group photo.
A woman reading tarot.
Do You Believe in Tarot?
Something that either makes me laugh or irritates me (depending on my mood) is when people speak about belief in terms of tarot.
“I don’t believe in tarot.”
“I read tarot because I believe in it.”
“Do you believe in tarot?”
Here is why I think this is a silly conversation. We believe in ideas and values. We believe in spiritual forces with no hard proof. Tarot is none of those things. Tarot exists. Tarot exists physically, artistically, and historically. You can buy a tarot deck right now and hold it in your hands. This literally requires no belief at all.
When people talk about tarot in the context of belief, they're discussing the power some of us find it has to guide or embody energy. Yet, that feels like a very individual experience. We all have our own unique relationship with tarot.
For example, a predictive reader might say they can use the cards to glimpse the future. A tarot reader who doesn't make predictions wouldn't say this. But is that difference based on different beliefs? I don’t think so. I think it is based on practice and experience.
I think if tarotists believe things about tarot, it’s a sign they aren’t spending enough time working with their cards to discover how tarot actually works in their lives.
Tarot exists, and that's an indisputable fact. What we do with tarot usually comes from our own experiences and skills, not from belief. Each of us must figure out what we find to be true about how tarot works in our lives. That is a process of experimentation and experience, not belief.
Tuesday, October 20, 7 pm to 8:30 pm: Third Tuesday Tarot: Questions and Answers
The Week in Review
It is great to get back to my regular livestreaming schedule! You can catch me most Mondays and Fridays at 9:30 am, and Saturdays at 7 pm, on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch.
If you missed the Tarot and The Shadow Self free livestream webinar, you can watch the replay on YouTube.
I have a busy schedule this spooky season with parties and local appearances, so that will interrupt my regular broadcast schedule, especially on Saturday evenings as we get closer to Halloween.
Speaking of local appearances, you can catch me at Boston House in Fort Pierce every Friday evening in October, from 8-10 p.m.
This Sunday, October 18, at 2 pm ET, members of my YouTube channel are invited to join me for some readings as I record the November TarotScopes.
On Tuesday, October 20, at 7 pm, join me in my Stuart location for an in-person tarot class. This is a monthly offering called Third Tuesday Tarot. This Tuesday, we will begin discussing how we use tarot to answer questions.
Ciro Marchetti’s self-published Encore Tarot is now available in a new edition from U.S. Games Systems, Inc. I co-wrote the guidebook with several community members and was pleased to see a tarot spread I created and shared in the book on the U.S. Games Facebook page. Try the spread and tell me what you think!
From Around the Web
I was so pleased to see that The New York Times Wirecutter has published an article about eight great tarot decks to buy for yourself or give to a friend.
If you are exploring your beliefs, a custom tarot spread could help. Incandescent Tarot has some ideas on how to do that.
Five years ago, Sasha Graham hosted Joe Monteleone for a beginner tarot class. I just found the recording on YouTube! If you want to learn tarot or need a new perspective, check this out!
The Seven of Cups tarot card.
Tarot Wisdom for the Week
When we think about belief in tarot, the first card that comes to mind is the Hierophant, the Pope. This card represents authority, especially religious authority. Yet, if we're exploring the evolution of belief, the Hierophant isn't the right card, since authority doesn't like being questioned. The Hierophant archetype can even be described as someone who presents belief as fact.
Which card, then, would encourage us to consider the possibilities and allow for evolution on our journey, whether we are considering political, spiritual, or any other set of beliefs?
I think the Seven of Cups is a good choice here. We often see the Seven of Cups as decision-making, fantasy, imagination, and illusion. I think all those things can combine to describe the process of figuring out one’s spiritual truth, or deciding what one believes is true or right without clear facts or proof.
One thing I like about Waite’s Seven of Cups image is that it is clear all the cups offer something, but not everything offered is pleasant. We are asked to consider our choices carefully, lest we take a cup that offers unpleasant consequences.
Figuring out our belief sets is like that. It is very easy to choose to believe something that harms ourselves or others. Even if a belief reflects nothing real, the injuries it can cause are all too real.
Unseen hands leafing through a calendar.
Upcoming Events
Tarot Business Panel at StaarCon 6, left to right Hilary Parry Haggerty, Joseph Farrar, Christiana Gaudet, Heather Gaffney-Darnell.
About Christiana Gaudet
Card and Craft, Inc.
Southeastern Tarot Artists and Readers, LLC.
Christiana Gaudet
770 SE Indian Street, Suite 10
Stuart, Florida 34997-5604
Locations in Port Saint Lucie, West Palm Beach, and Stuart, Florida!
Email cgaudet@cardandcraft.com
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Tarot Topics Newsletter
Volume 9 Issue 41
October 14, 2026
Christiana Gaudet Your Tarot Fairy Godmother banner.
Third Tuesday Tarot is an ongoing, beginner-friendly class exploring how tarot speaks to you, with each session standing on its own. This month's class looks at the questions we bring to the cards and the ways we find our answers: how to frame a question that opens a reading up, and how to recognize the answer when the cards give it. $20 class fee; advance registration required.