Tarot News blog has news and information of interest to the tarot community.
To Be the Bigger Person
This week we explore ways to handle difficult people, and how tarot helps us do that.
When we speak of ‘being the bigger person’, we are not speaking of body weight or size. ‘Being the bigger person’ is an expression that speaks of magnanimity, compassion, and forgiveness.
Being the bigger person means that we do not respond to pettiness, rudeness, or immaturity in kind.
Most of us were raised to believe that there is inherent moral goodness in being the bigger person. It can also be in our own best interest to be generous and compassionate. When our personal brand includes a reputation for rising above petty behaviors, there are rewards. We earn the trust and respect of those around us.
Sometimes it feels draining to always be the one to have to rise above the bad behavior of others.
“Why do I always have to be the bigger person?”
“Must I give a pass to this sort of behavior?”
These are questions that arise at the tarot table quite often.
It is understandable to be frustrated with the bad behavior of others. It is normal to struggle against the desire to fight fire with fire.
There is a deeper issue here, too. Being the bigger person should not mean being forced to tolerate abuse. Being the bigger person does not mean allowing others to push past our boundaries.
There is a certain amount of strategy involved in deciding how we need to react to insult, overstepping, or unfair behavior. It matters who the perpetrator is to us. Their intentions matter, and their capability to understand the harm they have caused matters.
Sometimes we need to be the bigger person because we simply are the bigger person. We can take spiritual comfort in the fact that we have a greater capacity for kindness and understanding than some other people do.
Sometimes being the bigger person means having the courage to stand up to a bully, come to someone’s defense, or call out a harmful behavior.
Sometimes strategy dictates that we pick the reaction that is likely to give us the best outcome.
What it means to be the bigger person may change according to the situation. Yet, there is one thing that never changes. That is our need to be clear about the motivation for our own responses. When we need to respond to something unpleasant, we need to check in with our higher self. Are we being reactive, or proactive? Are we acting out of hurt, or out of wisdom?
What is the best possible outcome for this situation, and how can we achieve that?
In the end, that is what it means to be the bigger person.
The StaarCorner
We are excited to announce that Michelle Barrie will be a presenter at StaarCon 2022.
Michelle Barrie is a Reiki Master Teacher and Cartomancer based in Southeastern Florida. She has dedicated her life to mastering and exploring many forms of divination and energy healing modalities. Her most beloved medium is Lenormand.
At StaarCon, Michelle will teach a session on how to use Lenormand cards for mediumship.
Mark your calendar for StaarCon 2022, which will be held January 21 through 23. Tickets will be available soon!
Did you miss Making Magick with Tarot?
Take it now in archive at Card and Craft Academy on Teachable!
Includes the class materials and a recording of the live webcast.
Our June Zoom Tarot Class
On Thursday, June 24, 7 pm to 9 pm ET, join me for the Fearless Wisdom Tarot Workshop on Zoom
Are you a fearful tarot enthusiast? Are there specific cards that make you nervous? Do you want to read for yourself or others, but worry about the cards that might appear?
Join me for a workshop that will help you embrace the healing power of each card, and your own skill and wisdom as a tarot reader.
In this two-hour workshop you will take a deep dive into the cards that disturb you the most. You will learn new ways to process dark images and find the healing and helpful truth within them.
You will learn some best practices for fearless and wise tarot reading, including setting your ethics and boundaries, invoking spirit and creating sacred space.
I Will Be in the Tampa Bay Area This Weekend
There are only a few openings left for house calls in the Tampa Bay area and private sessions in my Wesley Chapel AirBnB this weekend.
If you would like an in-person session with me in the Tampa Bay Area June 11 through 14, please call or text 561-655-1160 to make your appointment.
Tarot Helps Us Do the Right Thing
When we have a moral quandary and are not sure how to respond to a difficult interpersonal situation, tarot can help!
It is a good practice to ask helpful questions of the cards, and to pull a single card, or a few cards, to answer each question.
When the issue is with a person, you might ask questions about what is motivating that person, or the best way to hand that person.
You might ask questions about what the best possible outcome is, and how to achieve that outcome.
You might even as a question as general as “What is the right thing for me to do in this situation?”
If you are feeling sad, angry, or bitter, you can ask the cards for ways to process your feelings.
Join me at Masters of the Tarot at Omega Institute
I am glad to be one of the five teachers presenting the Masters of the Tarot conference at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, this summer. The conference is July 23 through 25.
Founded in the late 1970s, Omega is a unique retreat center that is known and loved by many in our community.
Mary K. Greer and Rachel Pollack have presented a tarot conference there every summer for decades. Of course, last year Omega was unable to open.
I am very excited to be a part of this iconic event as the world begins to restart. Make your plans to join us there!
The Week in Review
The June issue of “The Cartomancer” is out, and available in print and digital format. You will find a lot of great content in this magazine, including a cover story written by me, and a review of StaarCon 2021!
This past week I taught a free class on YouTube. If you missed “Minor Arcana Four, Five, Six” you can catch the replay.
I was excited to get a mention in The Tarot Lady’s monthly “Hit List”.
From Around the Web
From Thought Catalog, a wonderful article about what it means to be the bigger person.
From Odyssey, here is permission to not always be the bigger person.
From Business Insider, here are strategies for dealing with difficult people at work.
Northeastern Summer Tour
From July 26 through August 9, I will be based at True Bikram Yoga in Madison, Connecticut. I will be available for house calls and parties throughout Connecticut, and for private readings in Madison.
I will be able to travel to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York for parties and larger gatherings.
Dates are already booking quickly. Please call or text 561-655-1160 to get your party date or private appointment on the calendar.
Cards for Your Consideration
Which tarot card might ask us to be the bigger person? I think there are many! Major Arcana 8, Strength, comes to mind as a card of compassion. The Six of Pentacles might tell us to be charitable.
There are also cards which tell us to have good boundaries, such as the Seven of Wands and the Four of Pentacles.
Justice, the Ace of Swords, and the Knight of Swords tell us to do the right thing. Sometimes the right thing means standing up, sometimes it means drawing a boundary, and sometimes it means being gracious and forgiving.
Upcoming Tours and Events
The Palm City office is now open to the public, so make your appointment now!
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
New!Catch up on your missed Zoom webinars and more!
cardandcraftacademy.com
Card and Craft, Inc.
Christiana Gaudet
3559 SW Corporate Parkway
Palm City, Florida 34990-8152
On the web www.christianagaudet.com
Online classeswww.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 4 Issue 23
June 9, 2021
Little Bites
We solve big problems a little at a time.
You may have heard the Chinese proverb that “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’”.
This week at the tarot table I have talked with so many people who are feeling overwhelmed, for a variety of reasons.
Though their situations were different, the ultimate question was the same.
“How do I handle this?”
While the cards had specific and individual advice for each person, they all each received a similar message as well. That message is a bit of wisdom that is good for all of us to remember.
When facing a daunting task, don’t tackle it all at once. Don’t get ahead of yourself in figuring out how you are going to manage the things that will come in the future. Look at what is on your plate today, right now, and take it in manageable little bites.
Some people call it taking ‘baby steps.’ I don’t love that analogy. Babies take small, wobbly, faltering steps because they don’t know how to walk. Addressing something that feels overwhelming in little bites takes wisdom and mastery.
It is easy to feel overwhelmed when we look at the whole of a thing, whether that thing is starting a business, catching up on piled up work, going through a divorce, or healing from a loss. Yet, when we focus simply on one task at a time, our mission becomes bearable and doable.
It can take some finesse to figure out what the little bites are, and what in what order they must be done. That’s where divination, counseling, or a trusted expert can help.
It’s important to remember this, too. The bigger the task, the better the reward will be when we get through it. When we are suffering, it is hard to consider that there will come a time when we will feel joy once more. When we are overwhelmed, it is hard to know that there will come a time when we will be able to relax. Yet, when we chew through our difficultly in little bites, eventually we will get to the other side of it.
The StaarCorner
I was so excited to interview Gita Rash for this week’s episode of StaarCast. I am working on a review of her new deck, The Mahabharata Oracle. During the interview I was surprised to learn that, years ago, I had an interaction with Gita that helped inspire her to design her deck!
Since StaarCon has a mission to honor our artists, this is a very special episode of StaarCast.
You can watch the video on YouTube or listen to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
Visit the StaarCon website to stay up to date on all things StaarCon!
Tarot Beyond the Veil
On Tuesday, October 27, from 7 pm to 9 pm EDT, I am teaching a very special class on Zoom.
Tarot Beyond the Veil is a class about using tarot to connect with spirit.
In this class we will learn ways to use tarot for mediumship.
In a tarot reading, we can be in direct communication with our angels, guides, and loved ones in spirit. In this class, you will learn a variety of techniques to conduct these deeply spiritual readings for yourself and others.
Class fee is $37.50. Register now on Zoom.
Learning Tarot in Little Bites
One task that can seem daunting is learning the seventy-eight cards of tarot, and then learning the intricate art of seeing how those cards work together in a reading. There is so much to know and remember, even beyond what we must intuit.
Like most daunting tasks, the best way to learn tarot is in little bites. Here are three ways to do that.
Card of the Day (COTD)
Every day, preferably at the same time, draw a card at random. Look up its meaning in numerous sources, look at the image, thing about what the card might mean to you in this current moment, and other ways this card may have spoken to you at other times in your life. Journal about the card. Later on, look back and see how this card was reflected in your day or week in ways you might not have expected.
Tarot in Sections
Learn tarot one section at a time. You can start with the Majors only. Learn these twenty-two cards and do readings with only these cards. Then you can learn the Minors either by suit or by number. When you feel comfortable with a new section, add them in to your readings. Eventually you will be reading with the full deck.
One Card a Week
Put your tarot deck in order. Each week, starting with the Fool and moving forward in order from there, study one card. See how the energy of that card shows up over the course of the week. During the week, read everything you can about that card, and work to form your own understanding of it. After seventy-eight weeks, you will have a very clear understanding of the tarot cards.
The Week in Review
This week I shared a blogpost about why self-reading is important for tarot students.
I do live broadcasts on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays on my Facebook business page, and Tuesdays and Wednesdays on the StaarCon Facebook page.
I also do regular free classes and meetups on my YouTube channel.
From Around the Web
The Llewellyn blog has had some great entries lately. Check out this Third Eye Tarot Exercise from Barbara Moore.
Here is a Simple Tarot Spread for Tackling To Dos from Empath Editor.
From Healers Wanted, here is an article about tarot and anxiety.
Cards for Your Consideration
When confronting overwhelming tasks, the Sevens of tarot offer a great deal of wisdom and insight.
In tarot, I see the number Seven as related to the journey of the individual, and the journey within. These cards each describe something we can do for ourselves that no one else can do for us.
The Seven of Cups reminds us to use our imagination to consider what is available to us and warns us against fearful imaginings.
The Seven of Wands reminds us that we are able to multi-task, and strong enough to stand against multiple attacks and superior odds.
The Seven of Pentacles instructs us to tend our garden tirelessly, knowing that it will one day bear fruit.
The Seven of Swords asks us to be on the alert against treachery, but also remind us to think craftily to solve our problems.
The Chariot affirms that we are the masters of our destiny, and able to bring together what we need to move forward.
Events and Tours
Happy birthday Christiana!
Best wishes from all of us at Card and Craft.
Tarot Topics Newsletter
Volume 3 Issue 43
October 21, 2020
How Much Should I Tolerate?
Patience is a virtue, but where is the breaking point?
There is no doubt that life on planet Earth requires a great deal of patience. We must be patient with ourselves, with others, and with time itself.
But, how patient is too patient?
How much bad behavior should we tolerate from an employee? How patient should we be with a disrespectful child? How much hurtful behavior should we tolerate from a spouse, or a boss?
How much slack should we cut ourselves when we cheat on the diet, or don’t finish the novel we want to writ3?
Every person falls short sometimes. We are all deserving of understanding and forgiveness.
During difficult times, we all need some extra room.
Yet, there comes a time when enough is enough. The trick is in knowing when that time is.
The nature of the relationship, and the relationship history, is important to take into consideration. Likewise, the nature of the problem.
It doesn’t make sense to destroy a good relationship, or to quit a good job, simply because someone is having a bad day.
Yet, many who were raised in seriously dysfunctional households have been inadvertently trained to overlook bad behavior. Sometimes, after years and years of tolerance, something inside them screams ‘Enough’, and begins to demand change.
Sometimes the key is simply to firmly and politely express our feelings. That is, to explain why a certain behavior is hurtful, and can no longer be tolerated.
Sometimes we need to re-evaluate our sensitively to a behavior. Maybe the problem isn’t the specific behavior, but rather our perception of it.
Every situation is different. What each situation has in common is this. We all have a right to express our feelings. We all have a right to feel comfortable in our relationships. And, we all make mistakes.
The more we understand the things we can and cannot tolerate, and the more we can be clear about our needs and expectations, the better our relationships will be.
The more willing we are to make changes for ourselves and for the people around us, the less we will need to do the painful soul-searching as we try to determine the things we should and should not tolerate within a difficult situation.
The StaarCorner
Tickets for StaarCon are now available on the StaarCon website and on Eventbrite. You can choose from a number of packages, depending on your needs and your availability.
If you are interested in a weekend of art, mysticism, divination, cartomancy, fellowship and education, please make plans to join us at StaarCon!
Some of the exciting highlights of StaarCon will include presentations by Mary K. Greer and Benebell Wen, as well as a day-long preconference intensive with me, Christiana Gaudet.
If you have questions about StaarCon, please don’t hesitate to call or text me at 561-655-1160.
StaarCon Presenter Amie Mouser
Tarot, Oracle, Numerology, Life Coach, Vocal & Energy Healer
Weigh Things Out with Tarot
So often we find ourselves needing to pick and choose our battles. We wonder how much we should take. Should we make a change? What would be the best way to approach a difficult conversation? What is our partner’s capacity to hear us and understand our frustration?
When these are our challenges, tarot can be our best friend, our comfort, and a great tool for creating strategy.
The best technique I have discovered for using tarot in these situations isn’t a specific spread.
Rather, it is often better to make a list of your questions, and pull a single card, or a small group of cards, to answer each question.
If you are deciding whether or not to have a difficult conversation, you can ask questions about the person’s ability to have that conversation, their likely reactions, and the best way to approach the conversation. You can also look at the possible outcomes if you have the conversation, or if you simply wait and keep your mouth shut.
If you are feeling upset about a situation, you can use the cards to check in with yourself to see if you are over-reacting or over-personalizing something. Sometimes interpersonal problems come from within.
You can also use the cards to discover the lessons and opportunities for personal growth that are being presented to you by the difficult situation at hand.
The Week in Review
This week I shared a blogpost on things to do when a tarot card doesn’t seem to make sense.
As always, I shared many live broadcasts on both Facebook and YouTube. Please remember to Like and Subscribe!
Don’t miss my free YouTube class on tarot reversals coming up this Sunday!
You can find all my live YouTube classes and tarot meetups, archived and upcoming, in a single playlist on my YouTube channel. Take the classes you have missed and set a remind for those that are scheduled.
From Around the Web
Here are three tarot spreads to help you check in with your relationships.
Starcana has your July tarotscopes!
From Instyle, here are your July horoscopes.
Cards for Your Consideration
There are many tarot cards that can speak of patience, communication, boundaries, and how we get along with each other. In fact, most tarot readings will give core messages and advice on these very topics.
This week let us consider the message of the Seven of Wands, in the context of considering our tolerance levels.
The Seven of Wands can speak of deftly handling numerous tasks or deflecting numerous assaults. The character is this card is able to deal with everything that he is facing.
This can be a card of multi-tasking. This card can also suggest a person with an overly defensive attitude.
Is it possible that the card might say that, even though the person is able to tolerate all of these attacks, he shouldn’t have to? Does the Seven of Wands ever appear to say that enough is enough?
I think that, within the context of the question, and of the surround cards, this might occasionally be the case.
Just because one is capable of handling something, doesn’t mean they have to, or that they should continue to.
The next time you see the Seven of Wands, consider whether this card is simply confirming your ability to handle your situation, or gently suggesting that enough is enough.
Events and Tours
Tarot Topics Newsletter
Volume 3 Issue 27
July 1, 2020
Cope, Hope, and Use the Soap!
It's not easy, but we are equal to the task.
What unique times we find ourselves living in! As scary and uncertain as things seem right now, there is significant spiritual power, and a weird sort of privilege, in being asked to experience something that has literally never happened before.
Each of us will encounter different kinds of challenges during this time. Yet, there are some things that we will all have in common. One of those things is stress!
The irony here is that, when I Googled to look for ways to reduce stress, most of those activities are things that we can’t do right now. We can’t go to the gym or the yoga studio or get together with friends. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to connect online, and plenty of ways to develop a fitness practice in our own homes.
We all have to find ways to cope with stress. So often, we deal with baseless fears; anxieties that aren’t founded in fact. Unfortunately, our current situation offers us legitimate things to fear. We spend a lot of time finding ways to relieve and release our baseless fears. But how can we cope with fears that have a basis in fact?
If we let fear rule us, we become ineffective. We have to be able to live our lives and cope with our new temporary reality.
One important component in this fight against fear is to have hope. We must maintain a hopeful vision for the future. Another important component is to make sure we are doing everything we can to protect ourselves and the people we love. We must make common-sense decisions that will give us the best chances of a good outcome.
In these difficult times, we each must rise to the occasion, and live within the circumstances in which we find ourselves. That means that we all must find ways to cope, have lots of hope, and use the soap!
The StaarCorner
Plans for StaarCon, our international conference to be held in Palm Beach Gardens in January 2021, continue to move forward. We are optimistic that our current struggles will be behind us by then!
Since soap is on our minds this week, I want to tell you about a vendor who will be at StaarCon. Zuri Eberhart of Yatzuri.com.
The Yatzuri Shop sells a great selection of crystals and magical tools. Zuri also makes soap, bath scoops and other body care products. Not only are Zuri’s creations high quality and hand-crafted, they are Reiki-charged!
Visit her website now, and plan to stop by Zuri’s table at StaarCon, where she will be happy to teach you about the magic of crystals, herbs and candles.
StaarCon Presenter Zuri Eberhart
Tarot Reader, Numerologist, Reiki Master
Finding Hope in the Cards
Now is a great time to study tarot, or to deepen your tarot practice. If you have time, you can begin a Card of the Day tarot practice. Do this by pulling a card to study, contemplate and journal about every day. You can also watch YouTube tutorials, take online classes, and read blogposts about tarot.
You may even want to consider a tarot mentorship with me!
Tarot isn’t just about asking questions and receiving answers. Tarot is a book of spiritual wisdom in picture form. Each card offers lessons for life and hope in difficult times.
During times of high anxiety, it is important not to focus that anxiety into tarot reading. Rather, look to tarot for comfort and hope. Let tarot offer you spiritual understanding and strength in difficult times.
Join us for a Class on Zoom: Finding Meaning in the Minor Arcana
My first Zoom class will be tomorrow, Thursday, March 26 at 7 pm EDT.
The Minor Arcana is comprised of forty numbered cards and sixteen Court cards, divided into four suits. Although the term ‘Minor Arcana’ means ‘lesser secrets,’ there is nothing minor or lesser about the amount of information, inspiration and insight you can derive from these cards if you understand their meanings fully.
In this class, newer tarot readers will develop strong skills for working with these cards when they appear in a reading. Experienced readers will add new understanding and techniques to their tarot practice.
Class fee is $37.50. Register and receive your link on Zoom!
The Week in Review
This week I took a break from writing about tarot and instead shared a blogpost of my favorite lesser-known dystopian novels. It seemed appropriate, and many people have some extra time to read these days.
During these difficult times I am doing a lot of free live videos on both YouTube and Facebook. Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel and Like my Facebook page so that you can be notified when I go live.
From Around the Web
Professional tarot reader Denour Lacoste has just created her new YouTube channel. Check out her great review of Hoodoo Tarot, and hit subscribe while you are there.
While you are checking out newer tarot voices on YouTube, don’t forget Marion K Tarot, who is offering some great readings for your sun sign!
Here’s the Master List for the 2020 Ostara Tarot Blog Hop. See what a group of tarotists each had to say on the same topic.
Cards for Your Consideration
I bet a lot of my tarotist friends will agree that we are all feeling the Seven of Wands right now! There is so much taking our attention, and so much to worry about.
The Seven of Wands suggests a defensive posture. At this time, we must be on guard, and be vigilant against infection. At the same time, we want to be aware of our strength and ability to handle the pressure we are under.
When we consider the character in the Seven of Wands, we see that he deftly handles everything that comes at him. He is a giant. No matter what the world throws at him, he will succeed.
We must be like this character. We must be able to hand many things at once. Yet, we must do it with confidence, and know that what is thrown at us will be no match for our abilities.
Upcoming Events and Tours
Tarot Topics Newsletter
Volume 3 Issue 13
March 25, 2020