The Courage to Bloom

It is spring in the northern hemisphere. Here in Florida, the changes are subtle, but they exist. People who say that Florida does not have seasons have not spent enough time in Florida.

My favorite images of spring, however, come from my many years in the northeast. In early spring, when there is still snow on the ground, colorful flowers push their heads up through the snow to get to the sun. This feels like such an important metaphor for all of us.

Do you want your face to feel the sun? Do you want people to see your beauty? Do you want to act in hope for the future? Then you must have the courage to bloom, even under a blanket of snow.

This reminds me of an inspirational poster many of us had on our bedroom walls as teens in the 1970s. The quote is from Anais Nin.

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

My inner teenager still loves this quote. My outer adult values the reminder that every time we choose not to blossom, we are making a clear choice to be less.

What does blooming look like for you, at this time in your life?

What are the risks you must face in order to bloom?

These are great questions for contemplation, discussion, and divination.

I often see the seasons as invitations, or even imperatives, to do what the earth is doing. In spring, as the earth is renewed and replenished and blooming, we must look to our own renewal, and we must bloom.

The StaarCorner

We are so excited to announce that Maria Alvíz Hernando will be traveling from Spain to present an intensive at StaarCon 2024!

In her three-part intensive, Maria will teach you her Nine-Card Tarot Tableau. Wherever you are in your tarot journey, Maria will give you an important tool. This tarot reading technique can help you use the cards to find any information you might need, and to answer any question you might have.

Mark your calendar now to join us January 19-21, either in person or online. Tickets will be available soon!

Questions to Ask the Cards

The messages and spiritual lessons inherent in tarot beseech us to strive, and to reach for the stars. If we work with tarot, we know that our blooming is inevitable, no matter how we might try to hide and avoid the responsibility of that success.

What are the right questions to ask the cards as we work to release fear, and normalize the idea of being and doing our best, rather than hiding our light?

We opened this newsletter with two questions.

What does blooming look like for you, at this time in your life?

What are the risks you must face in order to bloom?

This becomes a great two-card spread to help you explore what it will take to allow yourself to bloom.

There are many other questions you can ask. I think questions specifically about fear are helpful.

What am I really afraid of? Is a fabulous question to ask the cards under numerous circumstances.

I believe that we often identify that we feel fear, but do not often enough discover why we are afraid. Knowing that can make all the difference.

The Week in Review

If you are a member of my YouTube channel, please join us tomorrow, Thursday, March 30, at 7 pm ET for a members-only livestream. Our topic this month is Tarot and Intuition. We will discuss what intuition is, how to develop and trust your intuition, and how to read tarot more intuitively. I will perform some examples of intuitive tarot reading and explain my process.

Join the livestream tomorrow!

From Around the Web

The Tarot Blog Hop celebrated the first day of Spring by contemplating ‘Dawn’. Visit the Master List, read the topic challenge and see how five tarotists each explored the concept.

I found an old blogpost on a florist website that discusses some fortune-telling traditions associated with flowers. This includes instructions for divining with a pansy blossom!

The vernal equinox was last week, but it is not too late to perform a tarot spread for the season. I love this new spread from Almanac Supply Co.

Creation and Divination

There are so many ways to get creative with flowers and divination.

Plants and flowers provided many of us with our first divination experiences. Perhaps we were plucking petals off a daisy one at a time to determine whether he does, indeed, love me. Maybe we were blowing on a dandelion to make our wishes come true. I remember bouncing seeds on my hands to determine how many children I would have and twisting an apple stem to predict the first letter of my husband’s name.

Now, I look for flowers to speak to me. If flowers are anywhere in my field of vision, I allow my intuition to come out and find messages from the flowers. It may be their color, their shape, or their placement that helps determines the message.

Most tarot decks have flowers and foliage entwined in the images. It can be a good practice to go through your favorite working deck, find the flowers in the images, and see how the flowers might inform or enhance your interpretation of the cards.

We can include flowers in our divination rituals. Floral incenses, flower essences, and fresh flowers can all enhance the divination experience. Each flower has a magical energy and purpose, so include the flowers that have potential to fulfill your goals.

There are many divination tools that are based on flowers. Because flowers inherently have symbolic meaning, they are easy to incorporate into oracles.

While actual physical flowers many have limitations in terms of divinatory uses, flower images can convey the energy of the flower without its physical fragility.

If you were to create a flower oracle, what flowers would you include, and what would they mean?

Upcoming Events

Card and Craft Academy

Classes presented by Christiana are available right now at Card and Craft Academy!

Christiana’s Candle Magick
Christiana’s Eleven-Card Celtic Cross
Finding Meaning in the Minor Arcana
The Major Arcana, Magical and Mundane
Practical Tarot Techniques
Psychic Tarot
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
Tarot Beyond the Veil
Your Journey Through the Tarot Court
Tarot Stories, Trends, and Blends
Tarot Readings for Personalities and Relationships
Clarity in Every Tarot Card
Tarot Flow Workshop
Making Magick with Tarot
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
The Elemental Major Arcana
Minor Arcana Numbers, Elements, and Truth
Personal Healing with Tarot
Create and Interpret Custom Tarot Spreads
What the Court Cards Want You to Know
How Spirit Speaks Through Tarot

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

Email cgaudet@cardandcraft.com
On the web www.christianagaudet.com
Online classes www.cardandcraftacademy.com
StaarCon information www.staarcon.com

YouTube @YourTarotFairyGodmother
Instagram @christianatarot @staarcon

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.

Zoom parties and group instruction available almost everywhere!

Call toll free 866-99TAROT (866-998-2768)
Palm City 772-301-0232 x102
or call or text 561-655-1160
for more information or to schedule your event.
Schedule online at cardandcraft.10to8.com.

Agent inquiries are welcome.

Tarot Topics Newsletter
Volume 6 Issue 13
March 29, 2023

The Gift of Flowers

Flower blossoms are so fragile to the touch. Yet, flowers are powerful in many ways. The gift of flowers brings happiness and communicates so much.

We use flowers to commemorate important life passages, such as weddings and funerals.

There are many Biblical references about the lessons we can learn from flowers.

When we were young, we did divination with flower petals; he loves me, he loves me not.

There are flower essences and oils which we use for healing. There is a symbolic language of flowers which we can use to perform readings.

The scent of flowers can be mood-altering, delightful, and healing.

In mediumship, our loved ones in spirit often send us the image of flowers as a way of communicating with us.

When we grow flowers, we engage in an ancient ritual which brings hope and joy into our lives.

Flowers bring beauty to us. They also bring the power of healing, wisdom, and communication.

Pay attention to the flowers you see as you go through your day. As you observe them in passing, think about what message they may have for you.

Flowers are a gift of the spring, a reward for surviving a difficult winter.

Flowers are a tool of healing and communication, as well as a joy to behold.

The StaarCorner

Ciro Marchetti is a talented tarot artist and a dynamic speaker. We are grateful to have him serve as part of our Constellation, the planning committee for StaarCon.

We were also excited to have Ciro as a presenter at StaarCon 2021.

Now you can see Ciro’s presentation, “A Journey as a Companion of Fools”, on the StaarCast YouTube channel!

If you missed StaarCon 2021, or if you want to revisit this great presentation, check it out on YouTube, and make sure to subscribe to StaarCast.

Did you miss Clarity in Every Tarot Card?
Take it now in archive at Card and Craft Academy on Teachable!
Includes the class materials and a recording of the live webcast.

Tarot Flow Workshop Live on Zoom

On Thursday, April 22, 7 pm to 9 pm EDT, join me on Zoom for a Tarot Flow Workshop.

In this exciting class you will learn and practice techniques that will help you get into the flow of a tarot reading. Topics covered will include energy work, intuition, formulating questions, working with tarot spreads and dialoging with the cards. These techniques are good for self-reading as well as reading for others.

Join me for a unique and enlightening tarot learning experience. Class fee is $37.50. Register now.

Create a Flower Tarot Spread

Do you have a favorite flower? Why not use that favorite flower to create a new tarot spread?

You might consider the traditional meaning of the flower and use that as a theme for your spread. Or you might think about how the flower makes you feel and let that feeling be your theme.

You can use the structure of the flower to structure your spread, both in terms of the placement of cards and the number of cards. For example, you might have one card for each petal, or leaf. You might have a single card for the stem or use an upright row of cards to create your flower stem.

Let your inspiration and your imagination work together to create and perform your own original flower spread.

Have an In-Person Private Reading in Connecticut

I will be in Connecticut for one week this spring,  May 21 through 26. During that time, I have a limited number of openings for house calls, small parties, and private appointments at True Bikram Yoga in Madison.

If you would like to see me in Connecticut in person in May, please call or text 561-655-1160, or email me to reserve your appointment time.

I am looking forward to seeing you!

The Week in Review

This week I shared a blogpost about the Four of Pentacles.

I do a number of live broadcasts each week on my YouTube channel. Please subscribe and join me there!

From Around the Web

Carrie Paris shares a way to divine with flowers.

Maddie Elruna shares her thoughts about flowers in the Waite Smith Tarot.

Texas A&M Horticulture Department shares a list of flowers and their meanings.

Cards for Your Consideration

It would be very difficult to find a tarot deck that does not include flowers somewhere in its design. Some tarot designers consider the flowers as part of the symbolism of the cards. Other artists may simply add flowers as they feel inspired, without considering the meaning of the particular flower.

Some flowers become emblematic for the card. For example, the sunflower in the Waite Queen of Wands, or the white flower on the flag of Death.

When you perform a reading, take a moment to consider the flowers that appear in the cards you pull. Is there a feeling or a message you get from simply looking at the flowers?

Upcoming Events and Tours

Palm City office appointments will be available starting June 4th!

Card and Craft Academy

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Classes presented by Christiana are available right now at Card and Craft Academy!

Christiana’s Candle Magick
Christiana’s Eleven-Card Celtic Cross
Finding Meaning in the Minor Arcana
The Major Arcana, Magical and Mundane
Practical Tarot Techniques
Psychic Tarot
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
Tarot Beyond the Veil
Your Journey Through the Tarot Court
Tarot Stories, Trends, and Blends
Tarot Readings for Personalities and Relationships
Clarity in Every Tarot Card

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Catch up on your missed Zoom webinars and more!
cardandcraftacademy.com

Tarot Topics Newsletter
Volume 4 Issue 14
April 7, 2021