Tarot News blog has news and information of interest to the tarot community.
Hopes and Fears
Perhaps hopes and fears work together to help us achieve our goals.
Many traditional and modern tarot spreads have a position called ‘Hopes and Fears’. It is not one card for hopes and another for fears. Rather, it is a single card drawn at random to describe both hopes and fears at the same time.
For years I thought this was odd. How could hopes and fears occupy the same space?
Recently, the truth came to me. In a very real way, our hopes and fears are the same.
We hope that what we fear will not come to pass. We fear that what we hope will not come to pass.
We know that we cannot live life dictated by fear. Nor can we hang on to false hope. Yet, hope is often what gives us the courage to take next steps to fulfill our goals. Fear is also a motivator. Fear can hold us back, but fear can also move us forward. Sometimes our fear of losing spurs us on toward the win.
Perhaps hopes and fears are perfect partners, designed to give us every motivation to live the life we desire.
The StaarCorner
For StaarCon 2023, we are scheduling our Friday sessions a bit differently than we have done before. On Friday we will offer four intensive sessions, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. Attendees will choose one intensive to attend in the morning, and one to attend in the afternoon. Recordings for all sessions will be available during the AfterGlow.
Just prior to the opening ceremony we will have a sound bath with Jenny Stafford of Resonant Sound Healing. Jenny has studied, practiced, and taught multiple healing modalities for the last twenty-five years. She is also a passionate tarotist.
Jenny will guide us in using the healing frequencies of the sound bath in conjunction with specific tarot cards to set our intentions for our time at StaarCon.
After the sound bath we will have a short opening ceremony. The official events of the day will end with a Tarot Improv session led by Mitchell Osborn.
The tiki bar will be open for evening festivities for in-person attendees. Online attendees can gather in the Accelevents lounge for some after-hours social time before the four tracks of session begin Saturday morning.
Tickets will be available soon. You will be able to purchase tickets for single days, two days, or all three days of StaarCon 2023.
Interpreting Hopes and Fears
In my eleven-card Celtic Cross, Hopes and Fears is the penultimate card in the spread, Card 10. You may use a different sort of Celtic Cross, or a different sort of spread, that also has a Hopes and Fears position. You may also want to try a single-card reading for Hopes and Fears.
The question is, how do you interpret a card that is pulled to talk about both hopes and fears?
The key is entirely in the context of the card that is drawn.
Look at the card. What does it represent? Does it speak to something you have, something you want, something you actually hope for, or something you actually fear?
Think about your feelings about the card, and your relationship to those feelings. How does this speak to what is going on in your life?
When you look at a card from the perspective of hopes and fears, it can give a great deal of advice. A card drawn this way can help you understand your goals and reach them. A card drawn this way can help you mitigate your problems. A card drawn this way can help you acknowledge and verbalize your worries.
The Hopes and Fears card is truly a card of healing and attainment.
The Week in Review
I had a fabulous time on my Tampa Bay Area Tarot Tour this week! Thank you to everyone who had readings and hosted parties.
I will return to my regular schedule of livestreams on my YouTube channel in the coming week.
Tomorrow evening, Thursday, at 7 pm, all members of my channel are invited to join me for a free class on tarot magic!
From Around the Web
I was so honored that a card I pulled during a livestream inspired this great blogpost on LibraDoesTarot.com.
The Tarot Blog Hop for the Summer Solstice is well worth a read. Start with Joy Vernon, and follow the links to see what all six bloggers had to say.
Here is a new song inspired by tarot!
Join Us for Class Tonight
Tonight, Wednesday, June 29, at 7 pm ET, you can join us for a class called “What the Court Cards Want You to Know”. In this class we will learn all the different ways to interpret and work with the sixteen Court cards of tarot. That is, the Kings, Queens, Knights, and Pages. These cards are often considered the most difficult in the deck because they are so versatile.
You can attend the class on Zoom or in person in Palm City. Get your ticket and join us tonight!
Guidance on the Journey
“I need you to tell me that my worst fears will never come to pass in my lifetime”.
That is a request that a tarot reading cannot always fulfill.
Sometimes the cards can be very reassuring. In those cases, we can be very comfortable relieving our clients, or ourselves, of those dire worries.
Sometimes, though, the cards cannot confirm that the things we fear will not happen.
Divinatory tarot is powerful. Divinatory tarot has the power to help in every circumstance.
When tarot cannot assure us that we will not have to meet a challenge that we fear, tarot can do something even better.
Tarot has the power to help us find our strength, and our courage. Whatever life may bring us, tarot has the ability to help us meet each challenge, and each joy, the best way possible.
The key is in the questions we ask of the cards. Sometimes the best question is not, “Will this feared thing happen?” Sometimes the best question is, “If this thing should happen, what can help me handle it?”
By helping us know we will be able to handle any challenge, tarot can turn our fears into hope.
Upcoming Events
Card and Craft Academy
Classes presented by Christiana are available right now at Card and Craft Academy!
Christiana’s Eleven-Card Celtic Cross
Finding Meaning in the Minor Arcana
The Major Arcana, Magical and Mundane
Personal Tarot: Reading for Yourself
Sharing Wisdom: Reading for Others
The Meaning and Magic of Tarot Reversals
Journey Through the Major Arcana
Your Journey Through the Minor Arcana: Numbers, Elements and Truth
Your Journey Through the Tarot Court
Tarot Stories, Trends, and Blends
Tarot Readings for Personalities and Relationships
Fearless Wisdom Tarot Workshop
Tarot Keywords and Interpretations Workshop
Tarot Spreads Tools and Techniques Workshop
Tarot for Magic and Mediumship
Tarot Communication for Clarity and Depth
Weaving the Tarot Reading Story
Minor Arcana Numbers, Elements, and Truth
Create and Interpret Custom Tarot Spreads
Catch up on your missed Zoom webinars and more!
cardandcraftacademy.com
About Christiana Gaudet
Card and Craft, Inc.
Southeastern Tarot Artists and Readers, LLC.
Christiana Gaudet
3559 SW Corporate Parkway
Palm City, Florida 34990-8152
On the web www.christianagaudet.com
Online classes www.cardandcraftacademy.com
StaarCon information www.staarcon.com
Private telephone, Skype, FaceTime, Zoom and in person readings and instruction are available by appointment.
Tarot parties at your home or office are available throughout Florida.
Call or text toll free 866-99TAROT (866-998-2768)
Palm City 772-301-0232
or call or text 561-655-1160
for more information or to schedule your event.
Agent inquiries are welcome.
Tarot Topics Newsletter
Volume 5 Issue 26
June 29, 2022
Animal Wisdom
How animals share their wisdom with us.
Many people find spiritual insight and wisdom by connecting with the natural world and its inhabitants. For this reason, animals play an important part in many spiritual paths and practices.
Connection with animals can happen when we observe them in nature, or when we spend time with our pets. Animals can appear in our dreams, or in symbols. Animals are often pictured in tarot and oracle decks. Animals are the icons in many systems of astrology. There are numerous decks of divination with animal themes. Many English names for yoga postures are named for animals.
We visualize ourselves as specific animals in order to nurture their characteristics within ourselves. We try to have the heart of a lion. We try to be like a duck and oil our feathers, or shed our skin like a snake.
When I was growing up, I was amazed that my cat could wake me up from across the room, simply by staring at me. It was clear that this animal had some psychic ability, (back then we called it ESP) or at least that the cat and I shared a psychic connection.
I feel the sighting of a wild animal is a portentous omen. I interpret the omen based on what the animal is, what it is doing, how I feel about it and how I feel it applies to what is going on in my life. There are also books and websites to help us understand traditional animal symbolism.
I take the presence of an animal in a dream as seriously as I do when I encounter one in real life. For me, the symbolism is what matters.
There are so many ways for us to find wisdom in our connection to animals. The more energy we devote to paying attention to the messages of the animals around us, the more profound insight we will receive.
Make Your Plans to See Me During My Northeastern Tour!
I will be in Connecticut March 27 through April 8. I am available for parties, groups and house calls in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York City.
I am also offering private readings by appointment at True Bikram Yoga in Madison.
To make your appointment, please call or text 561-655-1160.
I will be teaching two workshops while I am there.
In Madison, on Sunday, March 31 at 7 pm I am teaching ‘The Journey of Life: The Major Arcana of Tarot.
In New Haven, on Sunday, April 7 at 7 pm I am teaching ‘Oils, Intuition and Manifestation’. Learn more about these workshops, and register in advance!
What the Animals in Tarot Have to Say
While there are many animal-themed decks, there are also many animals pictured in most tarot decks.
For this exercise, use a Waite deck, or other fully-illustrated deck that isn’t specifically animal-themed. Look through the cards and find the following.
Which cards picture animals that are intrinsic to the card’s meaning? Here, look for animals like Strength’s lion and the Fool’s dog.
Which cards picture animals to depict the cards’ element? Here, I am look for the birds in the Swords cards, for example, and the lizards in the Wands cards.
Now look for imaginary animals. Are there griffins or dragons? What do those animals say to you about the cards on which they appear?
Now look for the rest of the animals. That is, animals that are not iconic for the cards’ meaning, and are not there specifically to symbolize an element.
How many animals how you found? What information do they give you about the card on which they appear?
Go back to the first animal cards you found, like Strength and the Fool. What do their animals tell you about each card?
How does considering the animals enhance your understanding of your cards?
The Week in Review
If you missed our February Global Tarot, you can watch the archive on YouTube. Our next Global Tarot Circle on Facebook Live will be March 18, so make plans to join us.
This week I posted on my personal blog some thoughts about tarot interpretations and keywords. How do you handle it when your take on a card is different from your friends’? Read When Tarot Keywords Diverge.
From Around the Web
Here’s an interesting article from The Daily Dot about our online tarot communities, and the role they may be playing in our society.
From Best Self Magazine, here is a piece about using tarot to increase mindfulness and self-awareness.
Check out this new animal deck-in-progress. The Major Barkana is a dog-themed tarot designed to raise money to provide service dogs to disabled folk.
Cards for Your Consideration
My favorite animal tarot deck is Lisa Hunt’s Animals Divine Tarot, now sadly out of print. Lisa Hunt’s art style is detailed, realistic and haunting. Over the years her contribution to the tarot has been intense and unique. Animals Divine Tarot, like many of Lisa Hunt’s decks, falls into the category that I call ‘archetypal assignment’. Hunt works with the archetype of each card and find a matching character within the body of her theme.
In Animals Divine Tarot, each suit is illustrated with animals associated with their element. The Swords suit is graced with winged creatures. The Cups suit features aquatic life. The Pentacles are land mammals, and the Wands are depicted by insects and reptiles.
The Court cards, and the Major Arcana, are deities associated with animals.
If you are lucky enough to own a copy of this out of print deck, enjoy it! If you happen to find an affordable used copy, consider adding it to your collection.
Psychic Gallery at ZeroPointe in Fort Lauderdale
Join me for an exciting event in Fort Lauderdale on the first day of Spring!
On Wednesday, March 20, 7 pm to 9 pm, I will present a psychic gallery at ZeroPointe Healing Foundation, formerly Center for Inner Wisdom, located at 4849 N Dixie Hwy, Suite 2, Oakland Park, FL 33334.
I love doing psychic galleries, because the energy of sacred space, and the energy of a group united for a single purpose, can create the perfect environment in which to receive powerful messages from Spirit.
In a psychic gallery with me, each person receives pertinent information and insight. Group members hold space and support each other, and benefit from hearing and witnessing every message.
The energy of the vernal equinox will add a powerful dimension to the readings on this special evening, bringing the opportunity for each of us to find balance and initiate new beginnings.
Tickets are $30, and seating is limited. Register now!
Special Class at Dream Angels - Your Journey Through the Minor Arcana
Join me at Dream Angels in Tequesta this week on Thursday, February 28, from 7 to 9pm for a class on the Minor Arcana of tarot.
In this class tarot enthusiasts of all levels of experience will learn simple-yet-profound techniques to remember, understand and interpret the Minor Arcana cards of the tarot.
This class is geared for all tarot enthusiasts. Even if you are brand new, this topic will be a great place to start!
This class is part of a monthly tarot group that meets the 4th Thursday of each month, hosted by Mary Ellen Collins and me.
Class fee is $25 at the door, $20 prepaid up until the day before. To prepay, please visit the Dream Angels website.
New Video Class Available: Christiana’s Eleven-Card Celtic Cross Spread
I am very excited to share a new tarot class with you, appropriate for tarotists of all levels of experience. In this class you will learn my eleven-card Celtic Cross tarot spread.
As many of you know, this is by far my favorite tarot spread. If I have every read for you, you’ve seen this powerful spread in action.
This class is designed to teach you to perform this spread, but also to teach you a great deal about working with tarot spreads in general. As you take the class you will perform this spread for yourself. Along the way you will add a number of important tools to your tarot toolbox.
The first one hundred students will receive a $10 discount on the $35 class fee, so sign up now!
