Tarot News blog has news and information of interest to the tarot community.
Are You Comfortable?
A helpful tarot exercise and some great new events!
Are You Comfortable?
Sometimes it's good not to be.
I think most of us value comfort quite highly. There are plenty of ways that comfort truly is important. My shoes must be always be comfortable. In fact, all my clothing needs to make me feel great. I want my friends, clients and students to be comfortable in my office. I want to feel comfortable driving my car.
Comfort can be an issue in terms of ethics as well. Going outside of one’s ethics should make one very uncomfortable.
We often speak of the “comfort zone” in both positive and negative ways. We want our friends to be comfortable with us, we want home to be a beloved comfort zone. However, we also know that sometimes the comfort zone is a trap that keeps us from our success.
There are plenty of things that are good for us to do that aren’t always comfortable. Yoga, exercise, study, and learning new things often drive us out of our comfort zones, and toward success.
Sometimes we stay in relationships that don’t serve us because we are too comfortable to leave. Sometimes, when people come from dysfunctional backgrounds, they find comfort in partnering with people who have the same dysfunction. This never works out well.
Our feelings of comfort and discomfort can be like an antenna to help us sense danger. The problem is that in some situations discomfort indicates danger. In other situations, it’s comfort that become dangerous.
Sometimes the things that make us uncomfortable are the very things we need to do.
Pushing out of the comfort zone toward new ways of being healthy and successful isn’t easy, but very often it is the only way to reach our goals.
Out of the Comfort Zone with the Tarot Fives!
Tarot has much to teach us about getting out of the comfort zone. While some cards, like the Nine and Ten of Pentacles, can speak of comfort, other cards, like the Fool, encourage us to throw caution to the wind and take a leap of Faith.
One great lesson comes from the progression of Four-Five-Six in each suit, including the Major Arcana.
As an exercise, look at this three-card progression in all five places it appears. In each case, this is what you will see.
Four is always a comfort zone. Five is what happens when we leave that comfort zone. It’s expansive, and not always comfortable. Six is the place of victory.
If we are never willing to sustain the discomfort of the Five, we will stay in our comfort zone forever, and never reach the success of the Six.
Look at each of these progressions. Do you see stories of your own life here? Do these cards give you courage to get out of your comfort zone and take the uncomfortable leap toward success? Which suit’s story resonates for you most? What advice and lessons do you see in these cards?
The Week in Review
This week I am happy to welcome a new guest blogger to my Community Blog. Read this great article about one of my favorite topics; how astrology and tarot work together.
From Around the Web
While Halloween is over, the spiritual energy of this special day lasts for a few weeks, allowing us a time to connect with our departed loved ones in spirit more easily than at other times of the year.
This week I am sharing three of my favorite posts from this Halloween to help you make that connection over this next week.
First, a poem from Robin Renee.
Next, from Kimberly Essex, thoughts on how to use tarot to communicate with loved ones in spirit.
Finally, from Marcus Katz, a tarot spell for Halloween.
This is an important time of year for diviners and magical people. Many of us take time to share our thoughts, and our craft, online. Of all the offerings I saw this year, these were my favorites. I hope you like them too!
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, November 7 through Sunday, November 11
FPG Samhain 2018: A Journey Beyond the Veil
Maddox Ranch 2211 W Bella Vista Street, Lakeland, FL
Join us for a day, the weekend or the entire festival! Visit the FPG website for more information!
Wednesday, November 14, 7 to 9 pm
Special Class: Elemental Magick
Christiana’s Conference Room
1025 SW Martin Downs Blvd, Suite 203, Palm City, FL
In this class you will learn the metaphysical properties of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, and how to harness these energies for healing, divination and manifestation.
Visit the event listing on my website to register!
Sunday, November 18, 4 to 6 pm
Special Class: Explore the Tarot Court Cards
Christiana’s Conference Room
1025 SW Martin Downs Blvd, Suite 203, Palm City, FL
Join us as we delve into the sixteen tarot cards that often confuse us most! The Court cards help us understand ourselves and each other and offer critical information in our readings. This class will clear the confusion and help you get the most out of your tarot readings.
Visit the event listing on my website to register.
Monday, November 26, 7 to 8 pm
Global Tarot Circle on Facebook Live
Join me on my Facebook business page for an hour of readings, study and fellowship with tarot enthusiasts from around the world. Simply visit my page and look for the live feed!
Wednesday, November 28, 7-9 pm
Tarot, Gratitude and Healing: Using the Tarot to Heal
Christiana’s Conference Room
1025 SW Martin Downs Blvd, Suite 203, Palm City, FL
I have space for a small group of people to participate in a free workshop designed to use tarot to help us heal from past hurts and remove current obstacles.
Some understanding of tarot will help you get the most out of this experience.
Bring your tarot deck and a notebook.
Advance registration is required to attend. To register, please call or text 561-655-1160.
Halloween Dreams
Discover two tarot cards that can inspire your dreams!
To me, there are three Halloweens. I love all of them.
First, there’s children’s Halloween, with costumes and parties and trick or treating. When I was a young child in Southold, NY, the children had a Halloween parade in costume down Main Street every year. The parade was hosted by the Fire Department. At the end we would each receive some Halloween treats from the firefighters. I loved that parade almost as I loved trick or treating.
When my kids were young, I enjoyed celebrating Halloween with them; carving pumpkins, finding costumes and taking them to the best trick or treating neighborhoods to collect candy and marvel at the decorations.
In my family Halloween had personal meaning as well because it was my father’s birthday, and my birthday was just six days prior. Along with costumes and candy came cake and presents, making this time of year even more special.
The second Halloween is adult Halloween, featuring elaborate costumes and nightclubs with costume contests and scary-sounding drinks. In my younger years I loved seeing a dance floor rocking with clowns, devils, animals and ghouls.
The third is spiritual Halloween; the day equidistant between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice when the veil between the living world and the spirit world is at its thinnest. I can always feel the thinning veil this time of year. Part of the way it affects me is in my dreams. About a week prior to Halloween and a week after, my dreams take on greater focus and meaning, and often serve to give me direction and insight.
Tonight, and for the next week, pay special attention to your dreams. If you are struggling to solve a problem, ask that a solution be given you in a dream. If you a missing a departed loved one, ask that they visit you in your dreams. Dreamtime is always powerful, but especially so tonight, and this week.
Whichever Halloween you celebrate, and however you celebrate, I hope you have a marvelous time!
Register for Your Mercury Rx Tarot Healing Session This Week
This year I am once again offering powerful Mercury Retrograde Tarot Healing Sessions during the last mercury retrograde of 2018. This is a great time to let go of old hurts, baggage and beliefs in order to welcome 2019 ready for the best year ever.
You can read more about this special session, and schedule yours online quickly and easily!
The deadline to schedule your session is November 6.
The High Priestess and the Moon
In the Major Arcana of the tarot there are two cards that speak specifically of dreams, of the murky waters of the subconscious, and of traveling beyond the veil that separates the world of the living from the spirit world.
Those cards are the High Priestess and the Moon. These cards can carry very different meanings one from another in tarot interpretation, although they share many things in common. They both have a feminine energy and are both related to the element of water.
In a reading, the High Priestess can speak of perfection, wisdom, balance, meditation and womanhood. The Moon can speak of mysteries, treachery and the use of magic.
These two cards can appear together in a reading more often than you might think. When they do, pay attention to the great spiritual power they evoke when combined.
Each of these cards reminds you to pay attention to your intuition. Each of these cards teaches you to look inward to find truth. Both these cards send you on a journey of spiritual exploration. Both cards can help you hear guidance from your ancestors and loved ones in spirit.
You can use these two images to inspire you, and to invite Spirit into your dreams, by placing them near your bed, or meditating with them prior to sleep.
The Week in Review
This week I shared some thoughts about self-reading on my community blog.
We had a blast at Global Tarot Circle last week. You can watch it in archive on Facebook.
From Around the Web
I found a great post from Ethony this week about working with a stalker card. This is a must-read for every tarot enthusiast!
BBC Travel ran a story this week about fortune telling in Iran!
Heron Michelle shared an amazingly personal and poignant account of her internal tarot reading method on Patheos. Again, required reading for tarotists!
Upcoming Events
Sunday, November 4, 4 to 6 pm
Tarot Meetup: Cards and Conversation
Panera Bread
2894 SW Town Center Way, Palm City, FL
Join us for fellowship, readings, tarot study and more! The meeting is free to attend, show your appreciation by supporting Panera while you are there.
Bring a tarot deck or borrow one at the meeting.
Wednesday, November 7 through Sunday, November 11
FPG Samhain 2018: A Journey Beyond the Veil
Maddox Ranch 2211 W Bella Vista Street, Lakeland, FL
Join us for a day, the weekend or the entire festival! Visit the FPG website for more information!
Wednesday, November 14, 7 to 9 pm
Special Class: Elemental Magick
Christiana’s Conference Room
1025 SW Martin Downs Blvd, Suite 203, Palm City, FL
In this class you will learn the metaphysical properties of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, and how to harness these energies for healing, divination and manifestation.
Visit the event listing on my website to register!
Sunday, November 18, 4 to 6 pm
Special Class: Explore the Tarot Court Cards
Christiana’s Conference Room
1025 SW Martin Downs Blvd, Suite 203, Palm City, FL
Join us as we delve into the sixteen tarot cards that often confuse us most! The Court cards help us understand ourselves and each other and offer critical information in our readings. This class will clear the confusion and help you get the most out of your tarot readings.
Visit the event listing on my website to register.
Attention and Energy
This week's newsletter offers a profound new two-card tarot spread.
During a class I was teaching last year I made a student giggle when I begin a standing meditative exercise with the instruction for everyone to “stand with your feet on the floor.”
It was certainly a laugh-worthy moment. How else could one possibly stand?
What I meant to say, and should have said, was to bring your attention to the connection between your feet, the floor and the ground beneath.
My misspoken meditation points out some important points about how we work with energy.
Energy work, be it in meditation, healing, magick or divination, requires us to find the high spiritual energy that is inherent in the things we do every day, like breathing and standing.
We breathe autonomically. We stand on the floor without conceiving of the miracle that keeps us attached to this spinning planet. Yet, our breathe is the vehicle that meditation, magick, healing and divination possible. The connection between our feet and the ground below creates our spiritual grounding, and our ability to manifest health and prosperity. We sleep because we must, yet our dreams are often the gateway to guidance from loved ones and guardians.
When we give spiritual attention to our mundane tasks and activities, we are able to change and channel the energy around us, for healing and manifestation.
Take a Class in Palm City!
I am so pleased to be offering classes and special events in my Palm City conference room. Friends at a distance, don’t worry, I am working on offering on-line versions of these class as well. Keep your eye on this newsletter for more information about that soon!
Friends in the area, please mark your calendars and reserve your seats for these upcoming classes!
On Sunday, October 28, from 4 to 6 pm, I am teaching “Explore the Minor Arcana”. This class will introduce tarot beginners to the forty numbered cards of the Minor Arcana. Experienced readers will discover new ways to understand and interpret these important cards.
On Wednesday, November 14 from 7-9 pm I’m offering “Elemental Magick”. In this class you will learn how to harness the energy of Earth, Air, Fire and Water for healing, divination and manifestation.
Our November tarot class will be devoted to the sixteen Court cards; the Queens, Kings, Knights and Pages. These are the cards we often use to identify and describe ourselves and each other. In a reading, they can represent us and the people we know, but they can also offer advice, prediction and focus.
In this class you will learn to understand the Court cards when they present in a reading, and to use the Court cards to better understand yourself.
The class fee for each of these classes is $30. Class size is always limited. Our conference room offers an excellent atmosphere for small group discussion and intimate learning experiences.
Follow the links above, or in the Upcoming Events column, to register for these classes. I hope to see you in my classroom soon!
Attention and Energy Tarot Spread
I have a friend who always says, “where attention goes, so goes energy”. Think about what that means if we spend our time paying attention to our worries and fears!
The opposite is also true. If we give our attention to the things that matter most to us, the energy that flows there will certainly make a positive difference.
Here is a quick two-card contemplative tarot spread about how we direct energy in our lives.
Card 1: Where I need to put my attention.
Card 2: The result of sending energy in that direction.
Sometimes a small spread can be hugely profound. When I performed this for myself my first card was the Page of Cups. I need to put my attention toward communicating my heart. For me at this moment that could not be truer as I am working on some writing projects that are very important to me. The second card suggests that my result will be the Ace of Pentacles! This is as good sign for the commercial success of my projects, but also for the idea that I will give birth to something of substance and value.
Try this spread for yourself and see how the cards can motivate you to put your attention and energy where you can do the most good!
The Week in Review
This week I am opening registration for you to be able to receive a special Year End Mercury Retrograde Tarot Healing Session with me during the final Mercury retrograde of 2018, November 16-December 6. I am taking appointments for this special tarot session in advance. Read about the energy Mercury offers us when it is in retrograde, and what that energy can help us do for you! If you are ready to harness this energy for your own healing, now is the time to make your appointment!
In keeping with our topic this week, here is a post about energy I wrote back in 2013, “Three Examples of Hermetic Wisdom in Action”.
From Around the Web
I found an article from The Atlantic that supports something I have believed for a long time. Read “The Benefits of Optimism are Real”.
There can be a downside to placing too much emphasis on being present in the moment. Check out “When Mindfulness Goes Wrong” on Upworthy.
With Halloween just around the corner, perhaps you are looking for a special tarot spread to try at this very sacred time of year. Here’s one from Falcons and Pentacles.
Upcoming Events
Sunday, October 21, 4 to 6 pm
Free Class: Crystal Power for Tarot
Christiana’s Conference Room
1025 SW Martin Downs Blvd, Suite 203, Palm City, FL
Join guest teacher Mary Ellen Collins for a free class! Mary Ellen will teach us the art of crystal casting, and how to incorporate stones into your tarot reading. Bring your tarot deck, Mary Ellen will have crystals for you to use in your practice readings.
Class size is limited and currently full, please call Christiana at 561-655-1160 to get on the wait list.
Wednesday, October 24, 7-8 pm
Global Tarot Circle on Facebook Live
Join tarot friends from around the world for an hour of readings and tarot study. This session will celebrate the season with instruction and exercises for using tarot to connect with loved ones in spirit.
To join, simply visit my FB business page, hit LIKE and look for the live feed!
Sunday, October 28, 4-6 pm
Explore the Minor Arcana
Christiana’s Conference Room
1025 SW Martin Downs Blvd, Suite 203, Palm City, FL
Register now to take this class focusing on the forty numbered cards of the Minor Arcana.
This class will equip you to interpret these cards in your tarot readings, and to find the mundane and spiritual wisdom locked within them.
Class size is limited. You must reserve your seat by paying the $30 class fee. Visit the event listing on my website for more information.
Sunday, November 4, 4 to 6 pm
Tarot Meetup: Cards and Conversation
Panera Bread
2894 SW Town Center Way, Palm City, FL
Join us for fellowship, readings, tarot study and more! The meeting is free to attend, show your appreciation by supporting Panera while you are there.
Bring a tarot deck or borrow one at the meeting.
Wednesday, November 7 through Sunday, November 11
FPG Samhain 2018: A Journey Beyond the Veil
Maddox Ranch 2211 W Bella Vista Street, Lakeland, FL 33810
Join us for a day, the weekend or the entire festival! Visit the FPG website for more information!
Wednesday, November 14, 7 to 9 pm
Special Class: Elemental Magick
Christiana’s Conference Room
1025 SW Martin Downs Blvd, Suite 203, Palm City, FL
In this class you will learn the metaphysical properties of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, and how to harness these energies for healing, divination and manifestation.
Visit the event listing on my website to register!
Sunday, November 18, 4 to 6 pm
Special Class: Explore the Tarot Court Cards
Christiana’s Conference Room
1025 SW Martin Downs Blvd, Suite 203, Palm City, FL
Join us as we delve into the sixteen tarot cards that often confuse us most! The Court cards help us understand ourselves and each other and offer critical information in our readings. This class will clear the confusion and help you get the most out of your tarot readings.
Visit the event listing on my website to register.
Heal Your Heart with Venus Retrograde
This week’s Tarot Topics offers a tarot spread for Venus retrograde in Scorpio.
The planet Venus, associated with matters of the heart, went retrograde October 5. It goes direct November 16.
Venus retrogrades every eighteen months for forty to forty-three days. The first few weeks of this Venus retrograde is particularly significant because romantic Venus is in passionate Scorpio until October 31.
Planetary retrograde offers us a time to reflect, review and release whatever the energy of the planet happens to be. Since Venus is about romance, love and matters of the heart, and Scorpio adds to that a passionate intensity, this week is the perfect time to look back to our past heartaches and find ways to heal from those old stories.
During this time, we may find ourselves thinking about old relationships, or even planning reunions with loved ones from the past. We might be tempted to rekindle an old flame.
Most of us have suffered romantic loss or heartbreak in the past, and we have all suffered heartache of some sort, so Venus retrograde can bring up old hurts for many people.
Often, we tell the story of our old wounds in ways that aren't true, and that make the story more painful. Venus retrograde supports us in reviewing our old stories and finding new truth within them. You can explore the tarot spread later in this newsletter designed to help you do exactly that.
Within the tarot deck are many messages about looking to the past, the true nature of love, and healing the heart. Of special significance for Venus retrograde is the Six of Cups, which speaks of nostalgia and past love.
Beyond divination, there are many ways to heal and open your heart chakra during this Venus retrograde. Essential oils, yoga, journaling and meditation all offer an opportunity to release old pain and clear the way for new love.
Since it happens less than once a year, take advantage of this powerful retrograde to bring healing to your heart! If you find yourself feeling out of sorts this week, longing for the past or feeling regretful, you can blame it on Venus.
Venus retrograde is also a time to heal your relationship with yourself. Self-esteem can suffer during this time. Venus is associated with beauty, and so we can often become dissatisfied with our appearance during Venus retrograde. As much as you might want to, now is not the time to contemplate a major style change, but it is time to treat yourself to some pampering.
Remember, it's hard to love another if you don't love yourself. This week, be gentle with yourself, and take this Venus retrograde as an opportunity to heal your heart.
I'm Headlining at FPG Samhain!
I am really looking forward to FPG Samhain 2018: A Journey Beyond the Veil, where I will be a headliner. The dates of FPG are November 7-11. This year, FPG is at a new location; Maddox Ranch in Lakeland. In addition to three workshops, I will also be offering gallery readings in a special "Tarot Showcase".
The three workshops I am offering at FPG are as follows.
Tarot Basics and Beyond
If you are curious about tarot, or a devoted tarotist, this workshop has something for you. Tarot beginners will get a basic overview of tarot structure, traditions and techniques, and will be introduced to the twenty-two cards of the Major Arcana. Experienced tarotists will get not only a refresher, but a new understanding and perspective of both the cards and techniques for reading. Bring a tarot deck or buy or borrow one at the workshop.
Tarot and the Four Elements
The Four Elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water, provide the cornerstone of astrology, tarot, and many types of spiritual practice.
This hands-on workshop is an exploration into the many way you can work with the Four Elements in your tarot practice, and the many ways the Four Elements can help you understand your tarot cards, and yourself, more clearly. Bring a tarot deck or buy or borrow one at the workshop.
Tarot Key Words and Interpretations
If a tarot card can mean many different things, how do we know how to interpret the cards in a specific reading? Do we have to memorize card meanings? What if the classic card meaning doesn't fit in the context of the question?
Whether you are a beginner or advanced tarot reader, chances are you've struggled with these questions, and others, as you strive to makes sense of, and find wisdom in, your tarot cards. In this workshop, you will learn some easy-yet-insightful systems for interpreting any combination of cards in any situation. More importantly, you'll learn to find the way your own intuition and spiritual guidance can lead you to find truth in every tarot reading. Bring a tarot deck or buy or borrow one at the workshop.
I am also excited that I will be offering low-cost readings in vendor's row throughout the festival.
FPG is affordable and fun. Visit their website for details and registration.
Venus Retrograde Tarot Spread
Here is an original six-card tarot spread for Venus retrograde. You can arrange the cards in any shape you like. You can try this spread with an oracle deck as well as a tarot deck. Feel free to expand each position to two or three cards if you like.
Remember that your past heartache may be from a romantic relationship, but could also be from a family issue, career disappointment or any other heartache.
Card 1. What is a heartache from the past from which I haven't yet healed?
Card 2. How do I perceive this story in ways that aren't true?
Card 3. What is something that is true about this story that I need to see?
Card 4. How can I release the pain of this heartache?
Card 5. How can I be a better friend to myself at this time?
Card 6. What can I manifest as I go forward with an open and healed heart?
The Week in Review
This week I added a review of Tabitha Dial's book Creative Divination: Read Tea Leaves & Develop Your Personal Code. I am excited that Tabitha has made this information available for us. Tea leaf reading seems so mysterious, but she makes the process accessible!
From Around the Web
If you want to explore more divination in honor of Venus retrograde, here is a spread to try from New Age Hipster.
From Angelorum, here is another Venus retrograde spread along with some very clear astrological information.
Here, from the Hoodwitch, is some magic for Venus retrograde!
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, October 10, 7 to 9 pm
Explore the Major Arcana
Christiana's Conference Room
1025 SW Martin Downs Blvd, #203, Palm City, FL
Register now for this tarot class appropriate for beginners, or anyone wanting to deepen their tarot practice. Visit the event listing on my website for more information. As of this writing there are still a few seats left. You can call 561-655-1160 to register immediately.
Saturday, October 13, 11 am to 6 pm
Treasure Coast Pagan Pride Day
1400 E Midway Road, Fort Pierce, FL
Celebrate the season with a full day of workshops, performances and vendors! I will be teaching a workshop and offering low-cost tarot readings under my tent!
For more information, visit the event listing on Facebook.
Sunday, October 21, 4 to 6 pm
Free Class: Crystal Power for Tarot
Christiana's Conference Room
1025 SW Martin Downs Blvd, # 203, Palm City, FL
Join guest teacher Mary Ellen Collins for a free class! Mary Ellen will teach us the art of crystal casting, and how to incorporate stones into your tarot reading. Bring your tarot deck, Mary Ellen will have crystals for you to use in your practice readings.
Class size is limited, please call Christiana at 561-655-1160 to RSVP.
Wednesday, October 24, 7-8 pm
Global Tarot Circle on Facebook Live
Join tarot friends from around the world for an hour of readings and tarot study. This session will celebrate the season with instruction and exercises for using tarot to connect with loved ones in spirit.
To join, simply visit my FB business page, hit LIKE and look for the live feed!
Sunday, October 28, 4-6 pm
Explore the Minor Arcana
Christiana's Conference Room
1025 SW Martin Downs Blvd, #203, Palm City, FL
Register now to take this class focusing on the forty numbered cards of the Minor Arcana.
This class will equip you to interpret these cards in your tarot readings, and to find the mundane and spiritual wisdom locked within them.
Class size is limited. You must reserve your seat by paying the $30 class fee. Visit the event listing on my website for more information.
Sunday, November 4, 4 to 6 pm
Tarot Meetup: Cards and Conversation
Panera Bread
2894 SW Town Center Way, Palm City, FL
Join us for fellowship, readings, tarot study and more! The meeting is free to attend, show your appreciation by supporting Panera while you are there.
Bring a tarot deck or borrow one at the meeting.
Wednesday, November 7 through Sunday, November 11
FPG Samhain 2018: A Journey Beyond the Veil
Maddox Ranch 2211 W Bella Vista Street, Lakeland, FL
Join us for a day, the weekend or the entire festival! Visit the FPG website for more information!
