Tarot News blog has news and information of interest to the tarot community.
Always a Journey
This week I share some thoughts as I travel throughout the Northeast on Tarot Tour. Life is always a journeys and never a destination.
We use the word ‘journey’ to talk about travel. We also use this word to discuss a metaphoric journey, such as our educational journey or our journey with an illness.
Poets, philosophers, and songwriters have written about life as a journey.
I think this is a good way to think about life. Rather than cataloging our mistakes and heartbreaks, we can see each difficulty and each joy as an important part of our journey.
Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited with the well-known expression, “life is a journey, not a destination”. While setting goals is good, the only goal we are sure we will meet is to be present on the journey.
When we remember that life is always a journey, we remember that travel is sometimes arduous, sometimes smooth, sometimes fun, and sometimes educational. We can be prepared for whatever we might encounter on the road ahead.
See Me in the Tampa Bay Area
I will be in the Tampa Bay Area June 23 through June 27. During that time, I am available for house calls, psychic house parties, and private sessions by appointment at my AirBnB in Wesley Chapel.
We will have a tarot meetup at Panera Bread in Lutz at 3 pm on Sunday, June 26. I hope you will plan to join us if you are in the area!
For more information, and to schedule your session with me, please call or text 561-655-1160.
The StaarCorner
We are excited to welcome Arwen Lynch-Poe, the Professional Joy Seeker, to StaarCon 2023 as a presenter. Arwen’s tarot journey began in 1985 with one deck. Now Arwen is a tarot consultant, medium, psychic, writer, teacher, and more. Arwen has authored many decks including the Fairy Tale Lenormand, Secrets of the Mystic Grove, the Gift of Tarot Pack of Three Envelopes, Elle Qui, Practical Tarot Wisdom, Bianco Nero Tarot, the Field Guide to Garden Dragons, and Gentle Creatures Wisdom Deck.
Arwen will be presenting an interactive tarot workshop to help readers of all levels of experience find deeper meaning in their tarot interpretations.
Mark your calendar now for StaarCon 2023, January 20 through 22.
The Fool’s Journey is Your Journey
When we learn tarot, we often speak of the cards as “The Fool’s Journey”. This term was coined by Eden Gray in the late 1960s. The concept that the Fool is the star of the story told by tarot, and the other seventy-seven cards represent the experiences and lessons along the Fool’s Path is now considered a primary way of understanding tarot.
We can learn a lot about our own journeys in life by studying the Fool’s journey.
Sometimes divination and study can go hand in hand.
Shuffle your tarot deck. Ask for a card that helps you understand something about your journey in life. Pull one card at random. Think about what the Fool learns from that card. Then consider how that card makes sense on your own journey.
Join Me for Tarot Class on Sunday
It has been a long time since we have gathered for a tarot class at True Bikram Yoga! Join me on Sunday, June 5, at 6:30 pm for Techniques for Tarot Healing at True Bikram Yoga, 1347 Boston Post Road, Madison, Connecticut, or on Zoom.
Bring a tarot deck or borrow one at the workshop.
For tickets and more information, call True Bikram Yoga at (203) 350-0343 or visit their website.
The Week in Review
This week I have been on my journey. That is, my Northeastern Tour. I am so grateful to everyone who is hosting host parties, and everyone who has come to see me at True Bikram Yoga in Madison.
I will be here through June 5. Please reach out to schedule your in-person session in Connecticut, or you session by phone, Skype, FaceTime, Messenger or Zoom.
I will be back in my Palm City office June 7.
From Around the Web
Here is a Spiritual Journey Tarot Spread from Emerald Lotus.
Ryan Hanley has some thoughts on the journey of life.
If you have never studied The Fool’s Journey in tarot, here is a place to start.
What the Court Cards Want You to Know
On Wednesday, June 29, 7 pm to 9 pm, join us for a hybrid tarot class about the tarot Court cards. You can attend in Person in Palm City or online on Zoom.
The sixteen Court cards, typically called Pages, Knights, Queens and Kings, can be some of the most confusing cards in the tarot deck.
This is because these cards are very versatile. They can reference the people around you. They can also reference parts of yourself. They can behave like any other tarot card and offer advice, comment, and prediction.
In this two-hour class you will learn easy ways to understand and work with these sixteen cards.
You can join us in person or online. Every student will receive access to a recording of the class. Visit EventBrite to purchase your ticket.
The class will be available at cardandcraftacademy.com after July 8th.
Guidance on the Journey
Can tarot cards that traditionally reference travel also be interpreted to represent the journey through life, or any metaphoric journey? I would say yes, though some more than others.
For me, the Chariot is a card that often indicates travel. All four Knights can speak of travel as well. The World can speak of international travel.
Traditionally, some people see the Six of Swords as travel, as well as the Eight of Cups. I am less likely to interpret those cards as a literal trip.
The card that most often will speak to me of the journey of life, or a metaphoric journey, is the Fool.
Which cards often speak to you of travel? Which cards indicate a need to view life as a journey, or to focus on a metaphoric journey? How much overlap exists for you between these groups of cards?
When it comes to how the cards speak to each of us, we all have our own personal relationship with each card. Yet, we will all have cards in our personal tarot vocabulary that reference each aspect of life. Literal travel and metaphoric journeys are often themes in tarot readings, even if the cards that express these things may differ from reader to reader.
When we discuss literal travel in a reading, we might be predicting a vacation, or a business trip. When we discuss a metaphoric journey we may be using the cards to help frame a chapter in life in order to find ways to cope, or ways to make the most of a specific undertaking.
Upcoming Events and Tours
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 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 22
June 1, 2022
Laughing All the Way
Learning to laugh at the joy of life, even at the tarot table.
Although this is, in many ways, a different holiday season than usual, some things remain the same. Holiday music is here! Different people feel different ways about 24/7 Christmas music. I have to admit that I kind of like it. Even though we hear the same songs every year, sometimes one will strike us a bit differently. From that, we might learn, or grow, or find a new perspective.
This year the song that did that for me is “Jingle Bells”. It is not really a Christmas song. But it is a happy song about enjoying winter weather. Living in Florida, snow references at Christmastime become fun and ironic.
The line that has stuck with me all week is “laughing all the way”.
I think it is interesting that “Jingle Bells” remains such a popular holiday song. How many of us have ever ridden in a one-horse open sleigh? And, if we did, why would we laugh all the way?
Laughter is a universal response to many different situations. In the song, there is probably nothing funny about being in the sleigh. The laughter that is referenced is the kind of laughter we do at amusement parks. Sometimes we laugh, not because something is funny, but because we feel joy. We laugh simply because we are having fun.
Children do this quite naturally. We often think about children laughing, not because they heard a joke, but because they are playing, and enjoying their play.
As adults, we don’t laugh this way as much as we did when we were children. We might laugh at jokes, at a comedy show, or at a funny movie. We might laugh in an unkind way, making fun of someone else’s misfortune.
Now, whenever I hear the song “Jingle Bells,” which I am sure I will hear an infinite number of times each and every holiday season, I am going to use it to remind me to laugh, simply at the joy of living.
There is something deeply spiritual about joyous laughter. There is even a yoga practice called “Laughter Yoga” which teaches people to practice laughter for their well-being.
Sometimes we need to laugh in the face of things that scare us. Laughter can be part of the grieving process, too.
Life is never easy, and only sometimes fun. Yet, there is always joy, and always humor.
Sometimes humor feels inappropriate, or irreverent. In spiritual matters, I think laughter can always be part of prayer, worship, and divination. If laughter hurts someone, or makes fun of someone in a hurtful way, it may indeed be inappropriate. Yet, if we can laugh at ourselves, and laugh at both our joy and our pain, our laughter can often lighten our load.
The StaarCorner
You can now see the agenda for Staarcon and see the Accelevents platform where we will be holding our conference. Tickets are available!
This week on StaarCast I was excited to catch up with Maria Luisa Salazar, who will be presenting at StaarCon in both English and Spanish. See how a science teacher became a full-time tarot professional!
You can watch the interview on YouTube, or listen to it wherever you get your podcasts.
We are so excited for StaarCon, and for the amazing team of presenters and exhibitors we are assembling. We hope you will plan to join us!
Tarot Stories, Trends, and Blends Live on Zoom
Join me Thursday, December 17, 7 to 9 pm EST, for a tarot webinar that will increase your ability to find meaningful information in every reading.
While a single tarot card can give a great deal of insight, the skill of tarot reading is in understanding how the cards work together to tell a story. This class will teach practical techniques for combining the meanings of cards and connecting the cards in a reading.
This will be the last Zoom class until February 2021, as we prepare for StaarCon in January.
Class fee is $37.50. Register now on Zoom.
Is Tarot Funny?
Years ago, I started a photo album on Facebook entitled, “Is Tarot Funny?” The goal was to find picture of people laughing during tarot readings and collect them there. All these years later, I still have only two photos. Yet, I know for a fact that a lot of laughter can happen at the tarot table. A lot of tears can happen there, too. I suppose it is hard to have one without the other.
I try to give my students the ability to find the humor in a tarot reading when it presents itself. Sometimes the cards speak in ways that are so poignant, or so ironic, that it really does seem funny.
Sometimes laughing helps us relax enough to find our intuition, and to find deeper meaning in the cards.
The important thing to remember is this. That we are laughing at the tarot table does not mean the information is trite, or that we aren’t taking the divination process seriously. A good tarot reading will elicit a great number of emotions. The more we can be present for those emotions, the better the reading will be.
The Week in Review
2021 is almost here, and it will be the Year of the Hierophant! Find out what that might mean, and learn more about tarot numerology, in my new blogpost.
Did you catch my class on YouTube, Time and Tarot? You can watch it in archive, and you can check out the rest of my YouTube channel while you are there!
My Facebook business page is where I do live readings most Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
I am also live on the StaarCon page on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
From Around the Web
Learn more about Laughter Yoga.
Here is a Happiness Tarot Spread from Maven Unmasked.
Sun Goddess Tarot has a Christmas Tree Tarot Spread for you.
Cards for Your Consideration
There are many tarot cards we might associate with laughter. The Fool, of course, can represent merriment. So can the Three of Cups.
The element of Fire is often associated with humor. Therefore, the Ace of Wands can inspire laughter, and all of the Wands court can speak of people with good humor.
The card I want to specifically consider is the Knight of Wands. In the way this card is illustrated in the popular Waite-Smith tarot images, he seems too big for his horse. There is something goofy about him.
Other decks picture him differently, but many find a way to express a certain care-free aspect of the Knight’s personality. In Word Spirit Tarot he is lounging on his back while riding his horse.
Like all Court cards, the Knight of Wands can represent a person, a situation, a quality of being, or a piece of advice. In any of those cases, laughter, joy, or humor might be a part of the equation.
The element of Fire is also associated with creativity, passion, motivation, anger, spirituality, and sexuality. That humor is in that mix speaks to its power.
The Knight of Wands might be one of the more humorous Fire cards, not only because of how he is often pictured. As a Knight, he is youthful, and may be expressing the joy of youth. He is in pursuit of something. Indeed, he may be actively pursuing fun!
Upcoming Events and Tours
Tarot Topics Newsletter
Volume 3 Issue 50
December 9, 2020
Tarot Topics Weekly Newsletter 5/21/2014
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In tarot, the Knights are considered masculine, but can refer to people of any gender. Typically, Knights are young people; perhaps teenagers or young adults. Knights can also be anyone who is in pursuit of a particular goal. The nature of that goal is determined by the suit.
Your one-card reading this week is the Ace of Cups! This is a very auspicious card. The Ace of Cups can predict a new romance, a new friendship, or the birth of a child.
