It’s December, and the winter holidays are upon us. Chanukah candles, advent calendars, cookies, seasonal music and holiday parties are what’s on many people’s minds right now.

The holiday season can be a lot of fun. The holiday season can be deeply spiritual and meaningful. The holiday season can also be stressful, for many different reasons.

How can you feel more blessed and less stressed this holiday season? Here are three ideas.

First, celebrate what you feel like celebrating, based on your spiritual beliefs, your mood, your resources and your priorities. Holiday guilt is something we let other people do to us, and something we sometimes do to ourselves. Let there be no room for guilt and “shoulds” this holiday season.

Second, remember that your presence is a greater gift than any present you could buy.

Third, if you’re just not feeling it right now, or if you have other things on your plate more pressing than the office Christmas party, that’s ok. Sometimes tragedy, illness, loneliness or other circumstances can make the holiday season feel more like torture than celebration. If you don’t feel able to participate in the festivities right now, use this time to heal and to take care of business. Don’t let advertisements or well-meaning friends or family make you feel that you are wrong for living your life the best way you can.

One person’s happy holiday is another person’s irritation. One person’s amazing holiday party is another person’s most anxious moment. One person’s beloved holiday tradition is another person’s dreaded obligation.

This year, let’s give ourselves and each other permission to enjoy the festivities in the ways that feel best to us. 

Three Ways to Add Tarot to your Holiday Celebrations

We don’t always associate tarot with the holidays, unless we are hoping for a new tarot deck from Santa. However, there are many ways to incorporate tarot into your holiday observances. Here are a few I’ve thought of. I am sure that you can think of many more!

Design a special holiday tarot spread. What about one card for each of the Chanukah candles? Or one card for each of the twelve days of Christmas, or each of the seven principles of Kwanzaa, or each spoke of the Wheel of the Year? What about a spread shaped like a Christmas tree?

Incorporate tarot images in your holiday party decorations. Tarot cards make great name tags and seating assignments! You can even hang tarot images from your tree!

Practice “tarot gifting” with your friends. Simply choose a card that represents what you want for someone special. Spend some time meditating with the card, and visualizing that person experiencing the benefits of the energy of the card you have chosen. You can give your friend a copy of the tarot image you chose, and let them know what it means to you, and what you envision for them.

In this way, tarot cards can become a very special kind of Christmas card!

How will you add tarot to your holiday festivities this year?

Image from Gilded Royale, by Ciro Marchetti.

Your One-Card Weekly Reading

Your one-card reading this week is the Seven of Swords.

This, the “Thieves’ Card”, is a warning to be clear about your integrity and your intentions this holiday season. Do not be tempted to spend more that you have in terms of money, energy, time or other resources.

Often, this card will appear when we are not trusting ourselves, or when someone around us is behaving in an untrustworthy manner.

Sometimes, the Seven of Swords will indicate trust issues in general, and will encourage better communication. That’s good advice for anyone anticipating a family holiday gathering!

The Seven or Swords can also tell us that it’s time to get crafty. If you have something to accomplish with limited resources, this card advises you that you can find a way to get it done. Sometimes holiday planning requires us to be a little bit sneaky in order to create a wonderful surprise!

The Week in Review

Finally, a lot of studying is beginning to pay off for me. I am beginning to incorporate the very useful Lenormand cards into my tarot work. You can read a bit about this process on my personal blog.

From Around the Web

Would you like to be better prepared for what this month holds for you in terms of opportunities and challenges? Check out Zuri’s numerology forecast for December on AskZuri.com.

An esteemed tarot colleague, Bonnie Cehovet, has published a lovely short post on Flash Fiction entitled “Peace.”

Creativity is in the air this time of year. Here is a wonderful poem called “Lady Winter”, by Theodora Goss.

Song of the Week

I have two songs for you this week.

In keeping with last week’s theme of gratitude and the beginning of the gifting season, here’s “All Good Gifts” from the musical “Godspell”.

In celebration of the beginning of Chanukah this week, here are the Maccabeats with “Candlelight-Hanukah”.

Image from Pixie's Astounding Lenormand, by Edmund Zebrowski.

Learning Lenormand

Card Twenty-Seven: Letter

Letter is about written communications. This card may appear to discuss anything that is communicated in writing. Letter can refer to an email, a report card, official documents and certificates, or casual correspondence.

Letter is a neutral card. Whether the communication is welcome or unwelcome, positive or negative, will be determined by the surrounding cards and the context of the question.

Likewise, the nature of the document will be revealed by surrounding cards. For instance, Letter plus Heart might be a love note, while Letter plus Tower might be a tax document.

The playing card association for Letter is Seven of Spades, which can indicate small arguments, another form of communication.

Next week we will explore Card Twenty-Eight, Man.

Enjoy the Gift of Tarot this Holiday Season

Wherever you are in the world, and wherever your loved ones might be, it’s easy to give the gift of a world-class tarot reading.

I offer gift certificates for readings by phone and Skype, as well as in-person readings in my office in Lutz. You can also get a gift certificate for tarot mentoring for the aspiring tarotists in your life. Certificates are also available for tarot parties by Skype, or in-person tarot parties in Florida.

Simply call or text me at 561-655-1160 or email me to discuss your gift-giving options.

If you are in the Tampa Bay area, you can also enjoy the gift of tarot at our Holiday Open House! See the Upcoming Events section of this newsletter for more details.

If you have questions, family issues or holiday stress, or if you want a forecast for your 2016, you can always give the gift of a great reading to yourself! I am available to read for you, by appointment, throughout the holiday season.

Upcoming Events

Sunday, December 6th, 3:30 pm
Tampa Bay Area Tarot Meetup
Madam Lenormand’s Tarot Soup Recipe
Panera Bread
23388 State Road 54, Lutz, 33549

Professional reader Michael Newton-Brown will share his technique of using tarot and Lenormand to create a comprehensive professional-quality reading.
Join us at Panera for food, fellowship and a great learning opportunity. Visit the event listing on my website, or RSVP on the Meetup site.

Tuesday, December 8th, 11 am
The Fool’s Journey
Port Tampa City Library 4902 Commerce St, Tampa, Fl. 33616

Join us at the library for a presentation of the Major Arcana of the Tarot. Visit the event listing on my website for more information.

Wednesday, December 16, 7 pm
Global Tarot Circle
A Free WebEx Event Available Exclusively Online!

Spend an hour with tarot friends around the world! Log in on your computer, tablet or smartphone, or join the call on your telephone! Expect readings, new ideas, enlivening conversations and great tarot knowledge!
For log-in information, visit the event listing on my website.

Sunday, December 20, 1-5 pm
The Tampa Bay Area Tarot Meetup
Holiday Open House
Beef O’Brady’s Private Room
21539 Villages Lakes Shopping Center Drive, Land O’ Lakes, FL 34639

Stop by with some canned goods for Feeding America Tampa Bay, and let us pamper you for the holidays! Enjoy free readings and healing sessions in exchange for your donation.  Readers and healers are welcome to volunteer, call 561-655-1160 for more information.

Visit the event listing on my website to find links to websites of our growing roster of readers!

About Christiana

Christiana Gaudet
Origins Spa and Wellness Center
1537 N Dale Mabry Highway #102
Lutz, FL 33548

Private telephone, Skype and in person readings and instruction are available by appointment.

Tarot parties at your home or office are available throughout Florida. 

Call 813-948-4488, toll free 866-99TAROT,
or text or call 561-655-1160
for more information or to schedule your event.

Agent inquiries are welcome.