A Card for Your Day--> 6 of Cups

It's nice to see that you are back to love and emotion after that little scuffle with the 5 of Wands, readers. I had my share of skirmishes, too. I bickered with my grandson most of the evening. Would that I had remembered our card for the day!

Your card for this day is the 6 of Cups. I've used the Gothic Tarot by Joseph Vargo.

In this card is a lady ghost reading a book in a crypt. Maybe it's a photo album, maybe it's a journal, but she is remembering past times. Today's theme is nostalgia. Heartfelt memories and joyful reminders of the past may sneak up on you today. It's already happened to me. I woke up this morning to pictures from my past on Facebook. A friend decided to share some scenes from a shared experience in 1980. While the photos plucked my heartstrings, I was also reminded of the bittersweet memories of that time. It would be easy to dwell on that today. Remember, though, that the past is past. Don't let these sweet memories keep you from the work of today. Sometimes this card can be read as a karma card. Do some stressful situations seem to be happening over and over in your life? Do you find yourself involved with the same types of people? Examine these opportunities carefully because valuable soul lessons may be learned if you navigate them successfully this time.

We Interrupt This Program for a Message from Our Ancestors

A client asked me to do a reading about an ancestor of hers who she believes has been sending her messages all her life. It is a fascinating story involving dreams and synchronicities since childhood. The signs have really picked up lately, and she believes she is beginning to tie all them all together.

Ever had one of those dreams that sticks with you for life because you know it means something? This client has had several of those as well as some uncanny messages through divinatory sources since she was eleven years old. A recent dream pretty much tied them all together. A trip to her local genealogical library, a synchronous random passage in a book, and an Internet search verified her assumptions—that a family spiritual tradition died out in her family a generation ago. Her ancestor is urging her to research and regain her heritage. Can she trust this message?

This is just the kind of story we love, so we did a 10-card Celtic Cross spread to examine all the angles. I used the Radiant Rider-Waite deck. The Ace of Swords in the center is the truth card. She has wanted to get to the truth of these dreams and signs all her life. To know without a shadow of a doubt what these things mean. Crossing her is the Ace of Wands. This card speaks to the birth of a powerful inspiration. She, however, admits that she has resisted falling into impulse on this matter. She wants solid answers that what she believes is true, so this energy has indeed “crossed” her.

At the root is the Page of Swords. He is a clever thinker. He can put all the puzzle pieces together. He is all Air, all mind. He has keen insight as well. This represents my client. She has collected the pieces of the puzzle and can put them all together into a cohesive, convincing picture. She however lacks certain knowledge, so she doubts.

In the recent past is the Magician. These are the magical influences that have come into the client’s life. This issue is about a spiritual inheritance, so this card takes on a much deeper meaning here. She has been contacted through dreams, divination, random synchronicities, auspiciously timed gathering of facts, and more.

The 4 of Wands at the top gives us the general flavor of the reading. This celebratory card is often about rites of passage. These messages have been coming for a long time, but the client has just moved into a place where she can connect the dots. The next step is to accept where this is taking her—hence, the rite of passage.

The Page of Pentacles is in the near future. This card is the student/apprentice. Knowledge of the family tradition died with the ancestor. The client has resisted accepting her clues at face value because it is so easy to get lost in Fluffy Bunny Land in matters like these. Without concrete knowledge she doesn’t venture forward. But how can she get that knowledge? It has died with her ancestor. She must approach this with a more childlike, less severe attitude. If she wants the blessing, she will have to rely somewhat on faith. This looks like a good solid “yes” answer from the universe. In some books, I have seen this page connected to the solitary journey of the vision quest. I think that might apply here.

The client is represented by the High Priestess card. The HP trusts her dreams and intuition. She prompts us to look deep inside ourselves for our own answers. That’s a good message here.

The outward influence that is affecting the client is the taboo of veering away from standard spiritual practices, or a belief in surface matters rather than inner truth. She looks at things of this sort like a fanciful flight of whimsy that could steer her into some bad dodo. Her eyes got kind of big when I pulled that Devil card, though, so I pulled another for clarification (after I took the picture, and you know the trouble I have with pictures sometimes. I didn’t take another one.) The King of Swords is a person who relies over much on his intellect, but I think this card is also telling her to continue to read, research, and use her intellect. Just recognize that it can be an obstacle if held on to too tightly. At some point, intellect needs to merge with wisdom and faith.

Now for an interesting aside—she has gotten this card before when doing her own readings about this ancestor. The card that represented her ancestor was crossed by this card, and at the time, she felt that possibly her ancestor’s husband was against her spiritual gifts and insisted that she suppress them. This is quite possibly the reason they didn’t get passed down to the next generation in a God-fearing Southern community.

The 2 of Cups is a meeting of like-minded souls at the beginning of a fulfilling relationship. This is certainly what the client hopes is the case between her and her ancestor.

The Wheel of Fortune is a wonderful outcome for this reading. The wheel is turning and it definitely looks like the Fates are trying to nudge her into a new, important direction. All in all, I think this reading points to a positive direction in terms of stepping out into new spiritual territory.

A Card for Your Day--> Five of Wands

Competition is a fact of life, gentle readers. Your card for the day brings it front and center. Witness the Five of Imps from the Halloween Tarot by Kipling West. (Don't witness the bad photo. My life is an endless stream of dead batteries lately, and I am forced to rely on my camera phone.)

Advice: You may face some stiff competition today and have to fight for what you want. The rivalry is apt to get heated, but stand your ground. Be firm but play fair. Use the current political discourse as an anti-role model. Assert yourself but don't be vicious or catty about it.

Your Card for the Day--> The Lovers

Gah, readers. What's going on? So far all your cards for the day have been Cups cards and now you've drawn the Lovers not once but twice. This card is from the Gothic Tarot by Leilah Wendell. She photographed headstones from cemeteries around the world to create this tarot.

Advice for the Day: Cups have to do with the heart, emotions, and the psyche, among other things. The Lovers card has to do with Big Love (not the HBO show, but soupy, sloppy, big throbbing heart love). The Lovers also means there is a choice before you, but with all these Cups cards you've been getting lately, my bet is on the more emotional interpretation. So, listen to your heart, make the big gestures, and be awesome to one another.

What to Expect When Booking a Party with Tarot by Yvonne

First of all, if you are hosting a Halloween costume party, I will be happy to come in costume. In fact, I would love to come in costume. If you let me know what your party theme is in advance, I will try to dress the part.

I will bring my cards and other props, which usually include crystal balls, table spreads, candles, and various witchy trappings. You will need to provide me with a relatively quiet space (private or semi-private is preferred as people usually ask personal questions), a table and two chairs. I’m not picky. I have used a TV tray and 2 folding chairs before. You’re setting the stage as you see fit. If you want to create a gypsy fortune-teller or graveyard atmosphere, feel free. Many times I’m at the kitchen table or outside on a picnic table around a bonfire.

Let your folks know how long I will be there, then let them come one at a time for readings. I will do a basic 10-card spread for each person. The readings will usually last about 15-30 minutes. If you have lots and lots of guests, I can give 3-card readings. If you take a look at this blog, you will get an idea what the readings can entail. They can get really serious or be all in good fun. It all depends on where your friends take them. I can tell you that 9 times out of 10, people ask serious questions. That’s why I want to provide an atmosphere of fun and mystery, but I don’t want to demean the process in any way.

I am available to spend up to three hours at each party. If you’ve only invited five people, then I will leave when they have all received readings. If you’ve invited 100 people, I will read for three hours unless we have made prior arrangements. After that, my coach turns into a pumpkin and I must fly away home. And truly, much longer and your friends are generally sloshed, and nothing good ever comes from reading for drunk people.

I usually bring water, but it would be nice if you peeked in once or twice between readings to see if there’s anything I need. Doing many readings at once is demanding. Having a snack or drink through the process helps a lot. Usually people stream in the whole time I’m there and I don’t get a chance to pop over to the refreshment table. The occasional check-in is very much appreciated.

I prefer payment in advance. If you haven’t paid in advance, I expect payment during setup. If I wait until three hours in, you’re usually very busy with guests and sometimes forget that I need payment. That’s understandable, so let’s do it beforehand. It is best if I come at the beginning of the party. See the drunken friends comment above.

I believe in the power of tarot. It is a valuable tool for self-discovery. However, I will never tell you that you have a curse that requires more paid readings. I will never offer to work spells to remove said curses. I won’t try to scare you or coerce you into getting more readings. I will never encourage you to grow dependent on tarot readings. In fact, when I feel clients are leaning too heavily on tarot advice instead of making their own decisions, I immediately begin to “wean” them. Tarot should never take the place of legal, medical, or financial professional advice, however it can work in tandem with all of these.

That’s about it. If you have further questions, please ask. I will do my very best to provide great entertainment at your party! Believe me, people love to get readings and they will remember your party for a long time to come.

OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER: These services are provided for entertainment purposes only.

RATES

Private consultation--$45 (Paypal payment must be cleared before phone or Web appointment)

Party--$150 for up to three hours

Other events--Priced on an individual basis

A Card for Your Day--> 9 of Cups

The 9 of Cups is the 9 of Ghosts in the wickedly awesome Halloween Tarot by Kipling West. This, dear reader, is your card for the day.

Make a wish! The 9 of Ghosts is a most auspicious card. The Universe is smiling upon you and wants to give you your heart’s desire. Formulate that wish and let it pass over your lips. Taste it. Want it. That’s the first step. Now let the Universe have it, then try and act surprised when it comes true.

Wuv, Twu Wuv

Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam... And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva. --The Impressive Clergyman from The Princess Bride

Two subjects monopolize my time as a professional tarot card reader—love and money. I have to say, though, that love wins. When I worked on a 900-number tarot phone line, the most frequent question I received was “Will we be together?” Sometimes that was followed with “Will he leave his wife for me?” It seems love is the topic over which we have the least control. This is made worse by the fact that we have no control over who they love. Yet the heart wants what it wants. No wonder love is the big question when it comes to readings.

I want to say a few things about love readings. First of all, I won’t answer a “Is he/she cheating?” question. Even though I have total faith in the cards, user error is always a possibility so I’m not going there. I also squirm a little when reading for the other half of the relationship who isn’t present. That’s a bit of a gray area for me…but I do it because the relationship is very much the business of the person getting the reading. I try to tread softly. Also, be advised that the “Is he/she my soul mate?” question is a tricky one. If they murdered you in a jealous rage in another life and here you are again, then you’re going to have a lot to iron out in this life. Although there may be a soul connection there, it might not be all roses and puppy dogs. I’m just sayin’.

I like to do very straightforward readings when it comes to love. I shuffle and lay the cards in three stacks. First is the client in the relationship. Next is the other person in the relationship. The third stack is for the relationship itself. The first two stacks are self-explanatory. The third stack treats the relationship as an entity. This is a very important aspect of the reading. Sometimes the wrong people hook up and disaster ensues. Sometimes all is well. This stack gives a sense of the reality of the relationship.

Drawing one card from each stack gives me a real quick snapshot of where everyone is at. If that isn’t enough information, or if the answer needs clarification, I will draw more cards where needed. These readings aren’t hard, per se. What is hard is the jumble of feelings and unmet desire that sometimes emanate from the client. Sometimes the cards work to help them face their feelings in a difficult relationship.

Here is a recent love reading I did for a client using the lovely Lover’s Path Tarot by Kris Waldherr.

The first stack represents the querent. What a snapshot! She is a very sensitive and intuitive woman who is extremely loving and compassionate. She is the embodiment of the Queen of Cups. She is also divorced (Queen of Staves, the Woman Alone) and has a young son (Prince of Staves). Of course, her free loving nature is curtailed by responsibility toward her son. She is going to be very cautious about who she brings into her life. In this deck, the Prince of Staves is a person with passion, creativity, and integrity who creates change in the world. She can create the relationship she needs by being true to herself.

The second stack represents the new fellow she’s just met. I had to go to my pendulum to figure this one out. One the one hand, he could be a busy but very passionate man who has trust issues. On the other hand, he could be a scoundrel who juggles women and does anything he can to score. By asking a series of yes-no questions, it looks like my client would do well to ask him if he is seeing someone else. It’s a new relationship. There is so far not a lot to lose. I didn’t get the impression that he is a player looking to put more notches on his bedpost. This, of course, led me to do a side reading about this guy and his intentions. I drew the 6 of Wands, the Knight of Pentacles, and the 2 of Cups. He feels like he is very lucky to have met my client, is a dependable guy, and is feeling a deep connection with her. So, not a horndog.

Looking at the third stack, the relationship can grow if both parties trust their inner guidance. It is so easy to be swept away with emotion and passion in relationships, but the Wisdom card cautions them to go with their gut when dealing with one another. Ask for honesty. Expect it. They should be careful not to create illusions about themselves to seem more desirable (7 of Cups) but approach each other with real honesty about needs and desires. If they can manage this, this could be a significant relationship for both of them (Lovers card).

See how sticky love readings can get? They’ve just met. It is reasonable to believe he may be seeing someone else—most people are. A desirable, reasonably successful man probably is seeing other people. If he's keeping it a secret, it may be because he is programmed to believe women will not accept the behavior. Change the paradigm. Bring it out into the open and work it through. It will be a refreshing change of pace, I'm sure--if he is indeed an honorable man. It may seem like I’ve just broken my own rule on the cheating question, but they aren’t fully invested in the relationship yet. Clearing this up is as easy as asking. They aren’t in that phase of the relationship where they should demand exclusivity, but by requiring brutal honesty of one another, they can lay the foundation for a real relationship.

Update: Follow-up with this client revealed that he is indeed in a long-distance open relationship. The client is feeling it out to see if this is agreeable.

A Card for Your Day--Page of Cups

You would not believe the trouble and agony I went through to get this picture posted this morning. It all began with some dead rechargeable batteries and involved a camera, a phone camera, two computers, two memory cards, and a lot of swearing. And the picture is not  good besides.

All that has nothing to do with today's card, the Page of Cups from the Faerie Tarot by Nathalie Hertz. In fact, it is the polar opposite of the feelings this Page inspires. I know I promised you spooky tarot, and I really hoped I would draw one of the creepier cards from this deck--but alas, the Universe ain't having it. So I scooched my Dracula mug into the picture to give you a scare.

But I digress...

Your advice for the day: Be available. Open to intuition. You may get some good news or an invitation. Put down your jaded sarcasm for a day and be innocent. It'll be fun. Maybe a blurry picture is good here. Remember how Doris Day used to be all fuzzy when the television camera panned in for a close up? It made her seem dreamy and bursting with love. Be that.

Mo' Money, Mo' Money

Especially these days, questions about money rank high in the tarot card readings I do for people, second only to the subject of love. Will I get that job? Will this business be successful? Can you sort out my inheritance? There are as many questions about money as there are people who ask them. I will tell you up front: Tarot can answer these questions. Be warned--you will most likely get an examination of your attitude toward money and prosperity as well. This is one of the things I love about the tarot. You may think you are asking the most mundane or unspiritual question ever, but the cards will often bring it back around to your soul’s work.

So here is a reading I did for a woman who has been unemployed for some time due to a layoff . I used the very beautiful and inspiring Robin Wood Tarot.

Despite her best efforts, she hasn’t been able to find a job. Today’s job market is an employer’s dream. So many people apply for each job that the employer can be extremely picky. She so far hasn’t been picked. Instead she is looking to her strengths. Can she build her own business? How can she make money doing something she loves to do? She has two avenues she would like to pursue. One is a consulting job. The other is selling high-end crafts. For her reading, I shuffled the cards and laid out a pile for the consulting job, a pile for the craft job, and a pile for something else. It’s possible that there is another job possibility on the horizon, so this pile serves as a “wild” card.

Let’s start with the Something Else pile, the third one. This exactly mirrors the job situation in the current economy. Not enough of them. Looks like we need to concentrate on the first two ideas.

Pile #1 is the consulting job. The first card, the Tower, is always an attention getter. This card means either the idea has a false foundation or she is going to get the rug pulled out from under her. Justice and the Emperor point to potential legal problems and fines. Is there some legal issue surrounding this option? Yes, she answers. Until those can get resolved, this option is not the preferred one.

Pile #2 is the handmade crafts option. Looking at all three options, this one immediately seems the best. The 3 of Cups signifies celebration and good times. The Magician points to the creativity involved with this option, also to the idea that she can create the job exactly as she wants. The 4 of Wands indicates harvest and harmony. Not only is this option the best of the three, but it is a strong direction for her to take. Looking at her three options, this one is definitely the one she should pursue.

She likes the first option and isn’t ready to give up the idea, so we did a second reading on the consulting job. If she works out the legal issues, will this career path be lucrative?

It is very obvious that this particular line of work has been a dream of hers (7 of Cups). It is something she has fantasized about doing for awhile, and is true to her idea of who she is (Ace of Swords). The word of warning with this particular cups card is that she will need to get a clearer focus to make her dream a reality. There are too many ideas. Pick one. She’s got to refine her focus and create some concrete goals. The Knight of Pentacles is good here. He represents laying a careful foundation. This knight is cautious but dependable. AND he points the way to riches, as seen in the 10 of Pentacles. This card is often called the Wall Street card, and bodes well for money matters. It is also a card about ancestry, and the client tells me that the business she is considering has family ties—an ancestor ran a similar business.

To wrap up, I advised the client to explore both options. The crafts option appeared to be more fun and creative—and the least hassle. The consulting option, once the legal issues were cleared up, could be a good fit as well.  It, however, would require a slow and steady buildup before money could be made.

A Card for Today, 3 of Grails

Here is a delightfully dark deck called the Tarot of Vampyres by Ian Daniels. Today’s card is the 3 of Grails.

From the book: “We are urged to embrace the simple joys of life and to welcome the love and support of others. This card stands for simple yet sublime pleasures that touch the depths of our hearts.” No further commentary needed. Be on the lookout.

Here are some selected cards from this beautiful, haunting deck. It's like watching a Twilight movie or an episode of Vampire Diaries while doing a tarot reading. Pretty people doing terrible things.

Epic Rap Battle: Tarot vs. Ouija Boards

I’m going to ask the tarot the question that I know a lot of people are wondering. How is using the tarot to contact the dead any different from using a Ouija board or some similar device?

Maybe you’re like me and have been warned away from Ouija boards all your life by bad movies and your mother. I never liked the idea of them, even though I have a small collection. I love them and I’m drawn to them, but I don’t use them. In fact, when I put them out on display, I have visions of spirits peeking through them like windows from the other side, just waiting for me to invite them in—not visions as in revelations, but visions as in crazy mental images.

I’m conflicted about these spirit boards because as a child they gave me some good information. My cousin and I participated in the Ouija board craze as tweens in the ‘60s. One day we (like millions of other kids) asked the spirit of the board to tell us who it was. It spelled out E-F-F-I-E. We laughed. What a hilarious name. So we told my grandmother, and her face went white as a sheet. Effie was my grandfather’s sister. Not only that, but she read palms and the tarot for anyone who came asking. My cousin and I didn’t know this. In fact, we had never even heard the name mentioned prior to this. That’s when we were scared off Ouija boards.

I’ve told that story about a million times whenever spirit boards are mentioned. Like most of you, I’ve felt that we can invite all sorts of nasties into our lives if we have unprotected Ouija. In essence, we are turning on the beacon and using a bullhorn in the spirit world to call for random spirits to come on in—both good and bad. We’ve all seen the movies and had our share of scares. On the other hand, Effie got through to me. My interest in the tarot and things unseen certainly got a jump start that day.  So like most things, proceed with caution. I use a pendulum to get yes-no answers all the time. I don’t see how that is much different. This is my opinion, but let’s ask the tarot.

The question: How does using the tarot to contact our Beloved Dead as we’ve been discussing here differ from using a more dubious (to some) device like the Ouija board?

The cards (from the Morgan-Greer tarot deck):

“Wow” is becoming an overused word on this blog. But, wow. I shuffled and cut the deck into two piles. The top pile is about Ouija boards. The bottom pile is about tarot. Let me state that the kind of Ouija board use I’m talking about is the kind where people just pull down a board and start asking questions. (I have no doubt that spirit boards can be highly effective tools for the spiritually adept.) Sure, people can just pull down a tarot deck and start asking questions, but the tarot system requires study and practice to make sense of it. It is inherently a more thoughtful process.

The bottom card on the Ouija pile is the Magician. The bottom card on the tarot pile is the High Priestess. Remember that I use these cards to inform my readings, just as I might use a card that jumps out of the deck while shuffling. Both these cards have to do with spirituality and otherworldliness. The Magician is a more outward energy that manipulates the elements around him. The High Priestess is the inner wisdom that comes through meditation and deep spiritual insight. So already we see that one is a more yang, aggressive process while the other is more yin and receptive.

The cards I pulled for each further amplified the differences. With spirit boards, the entities that you contact can come from a place of grief, sorrow, or confusion (5 of Cups). They might be lost or angry. In fact, they may be in any of those famous five stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, or acceptance. This is where you have to be careful. It takes someone skilled in such things (as denoted by the Hermit card) to suss out these messages. It’s kind of like tuning in a radio. You can listen to static and everything out there or you can tune into the right program. Responsibility is the key in these sessions. The Knight of Pentacles represents taking practical, safe steps when using these boards. It’s not a game! I would be lying to you if I said there weren’t some ugly things out there. The knight also appears to be on guard against outer forces. Pentacles is the suit of the material plane, and it really looks like he is protecting the material plane from spirit invaders.

The first card in the tarot row is the Ace of Cups. These readings come from a place of deep and abiding love. Not only that, but they can bring cathartic, emotional healing. Sure, the dead connect with us as with spirit boards, but the recipient of the reading almost always heals some broken part of themselves. It is a two-way process. The 2 of Pentacles tells us that balance is the key—balance within ourselves and balance between this world and the spirit world. We can’t become too obsessed with either. The Dead don’t hang around waiting for our calls. They have their own work to do. However, they are invested in giving us direction from time to time because they love us. We each have to stay firmly planted in our worlds. The Death card here represents our Beloved Dead. This is the major difference between the two processes, in my opinion. We aren’t contacting random spirits, good or bad. We are contacting our Dearly Departed, whom we love and who loves us. Big difference.

Well, I feel better about that now. Remember that all spiritual tools—tarot, spirit boards, crystal balls, pendulums, and the like—can be used for good or ill. It is all about intent. I thank the Universe for graciously communicating with us as we ask these heartfelt questions.

Card for the Day: The Lovers

Today's card comes from the Vampire Tarot by Robert M. Place. Spooky. What I love about this deck is that it explores the literary world of Bram Stoker. It's a beautiful, dark deck.

The Lovers card can be about Big Love. It can also be about choices. I'm not surprised this one came up today because I was just thinking about this card when I was doing the spreads about the spirit world. Spirits choose whether they will move on or not. In this life and the next we choose our paths. Choice is vital to our spiritual progression. Everday we choose between virtue and vice.

So I ask you, gentle reader, which do you choose today?

In Which I Attempt to Unravel the Mysteries of the Afterlife through Tarot

Before posting the third part of the blog series on the tarot and communicating with the dead, I had some questions of my own. I profess to not having a blueprint of the afterlife. I am tempted to make sweeping statements sometimes that are not grounded in anything but opinion. I want you to know that I, too, am muddling through this.

My thoughts turned to our Beloved Dead and our Ancestors and how we are all connected through that amazing cosmic glue called love. What can I say with conviction? What is the truth of the matter? So I decided to do a tarot reading on it.

When I pull out my deck, I always look at the card on the bottom. That card is usually a reference to the reading that is about to come. This morning, the card on the bottom was Death. Can’t get anymore literal than that, can we? Here are the cards:

I started to write a long explanation of what each card means, but it all came clear after a minute or two. It’s so simple, it hurts. This life is a painful process. We die, becoming participants in the cycle of life/death/rebirth. We are enlightened and empowered on the other side. (The Sun card comes up so much in these readings. Usually in response to the question, “Are you okay?”)

Lest you think I’m flippant about this, I’ll give you a little more detail. The 5 of Pentacles is the card of loss and destitution. It speaks to impoverishment, to the human condition. The Empress is Mother Nature herself. She governs the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Where the 5 of Pentacles represents loss, the Empress represents abundance. She is a nurturer who soothes anxieties and eases pain. She is also the portal through which we must pass when this life is over. Having emerged from this life through the door of our death, we step into the next phase of existence. The Sun represents enlightenment and empowerment as well as creativity and rebirth.

Our Dearly Departed have much to share with us. They have completed the work of this life. They desire to help us by shining a light on the things that weigh us down—in the ways that they can. Yes, I believe they continue to participate with us here.

Okay, so I know you people. You’re thinking, “That’s all well and good, Yvonne, but what about the BAD spirits that we hear so much about? I believe they are out there, but I’m making a distinction here between random, maybe not so well meaning spirits and our loves ones who have made the next step into the soul’s progression. I call the later the Beloved Dead or the Dearly Departed because they care about us and their communications are helpful.

This should really be another blog entry, but it’s pretty exciting so I will continue. I consulted the cards again about the other kinds of spirits. This is what I drew:

Some fight against death and are so obsessed with their struggles here on earth that they can’t move on. Some can’t release this life and its trappings and refuse the next phase.

The 6 of Swords is a very literal ride across the River Styx, isn’t it? This represents death and the journey to the afterlife. Here are a couple of categories that spirits who refuse to move on may fall into: The 7 of Wands is about our struggles and fights. The uphill battle. These are the people so invested in some struggle or strife that they won’t move on. Maybe they feel they have to stay and help loved ones through hard times or see some problem to its conclusion. I believe these spirits can find some resolution and move on in time. Or not. Next is the 4 of Pentacles. This is the person who can’t let go. They clutch their lives and material trappings around them tightly. If they can learn to let go, they will move on.

I don't really know what happens to these spirits once they choose to stay here. Common sense tells me they can make the decision to move on later. Those who refuse to move on may grow in frustration and anger or simply fade out...I'm not real sure. That's an entry for another blog.

If you have questions about any of these things, ask away. We'll consult the cards about it.

Card for the Day: 5 of Cups

Today's card is the 5 of Cups from the Gothic Tarot by Joseph Vargo, my favorite of my many vampire decks.

This card represents sorrow and regret, but with some consolation. It's a bittersweet inheritance or a loss with something remaining. I often read this card as grief. In many decks, three cups are knocked over, but two remain standing. It indicates that though there is grief and sadness, all is not lost.

Consider this my friends: Not all is lost.

(Wow, these cards are so far continuing the theme of the blog posts for the day. Click on the picture if you want to see a larger image.)

My Dad's Message

After writing my last blog entry, I decided to do a reading to see if I could reach my Dad. He died 9 years ago, and I have never opened channels to him. It’s complicated.

The first reading was so very complex. It presented an accurate snapshot of how Dad left things when he died. I always said he was a horror show under a thin veneer of civilization. That’s harsh, I know. He wasn’t evil, just conflicted and mean-spirited and judgmental. When I envision him, I see a dragon crouched on his treasure hoard. I’m not going to sugarcoat it—he was stingy in every way. He was also very paranoid in his last years.

That reading is way too messy for our purposes here. It would take a long time to explain all the details. It was spot on, though. And it gave me the sense that Dad has done a lot of work since he left us. The reading also said that soon I would have my “aha” moment about Dad and be able to put all these things into perspective. Read on.

I did a second reading this morning using a different spread and based on the info I already had. Number 1: Dad and I both recognize there was a lot of hurt on both sides. Number 2: Dad is repairing his own soul and wants us to heal as well.

I started the reading with four cards that represented Dad. These would let me know I was in fact talking to him. They are descriptive. Judgment tells me he’s met his maker. Died and gone on. This card also heralds a fresh start. The two pentacle court cards describe him as a very materialistic man. The King of Pentacles is connected to the sun sign Taurus, which he was. The 7 of Cups says he was very self-indulgent, pandering to his own fantasies and whims. That’s Dad. (Later for clarification, I drew the 6 of Swords, telling me that he is past all that now. In both readings, he stressed that he is not that person now.)

The next four cards were Dad’s message to me. He wants success and happiness for me. He sees that I am stressed and sad about things in my life and wants to help. I drew the Queen of Pentacles next. He wants me to contact my Mom. He believes she can help me, that we can help each other. (And there was a very specific thing he wants me to tell Mom.)

At this point, I experienced an odd emotion from him—compassion. It was my undoing. I cried. I recognized that our relationship was a two-way street. I spent a lot of time pushing against him. I told him I forgive him. The revelation came when I asked him to forgive me. I have never asked my Dad’s forgiveness. I always felt perfectly justified in the things I felt about him. He prompted me to draw more cards.

The 2 of Swords. Dad says, “We’re even now. Let’s put down this feud.” (Said with much love and compassion. He let me know he put it down a long time ago.)

And then his perspective of our relationship: So many Wands. I am impulsive where he was practical. I was always running off half-cocked, never seeing the big picture. I was constantly on the defensive when it came to him. I will own that. It’s true. This wasn’t more of his judgment. This was a true explanation of how he viewed me in life and why we were always at loggerheads.

So I next asked him for guidance. What would you tell me, Dad? The Five of Wands is a card about strife and competition. Not malicious stuff, but the stuff of life. The message: Life is a struggle and you’re fighting your way through it right now.

The next card was the 9 of Pentacles. Dad said, “You are a strong woman. You can handle all this.” Exactly the warmth and the love and the guidance I so wanted from him in life. This was Dad’s pat on the back and the encouragement that every child yearns for from their parent. “I have faith in you. You can do this.” Is it sad that Dad never said this to me in life? I think so. But he has said it now.

Friends, I was bawling, and I still tear up every time I read over this. With this message, I have been given a healing release of emotion. The grudge and all the twisted feelings I have retained about my Dad all this time are gone. Today I let the mean Dad go.

Card for the Day

Here begins our one-card readings using my various spooky decks. My all-time favorite is the Halloween Tarot by Kipling West. This looks like a lightweight, fun little deck, but let me tell you--it's a heavy hitter. It reads every bit as seriously as my Rider-Waite decks. When I looked over my collection for decks to use in this endeavor, I discovered that I have five...FIVE...vampire decks. Seems a little much, even for me. But I digress.

Our Card for the Day is the Ace of Ghosts, the Ace of Cups in standard decks. Love! Ghosts! This is some mighty synchronicity considering my last post. Pure, unadulterated love. So keeping with the spirit of the blog post, love is all there is. Have it.

Her Daddy’s Spirit

With this post I wanted to get into a little tarot theory—how tarot is a symbolic language, how reading the tarot is an art, how each tarot reader creates his own language based on the general interpretation of each card…

But what I want to do is tell stories about the Dead.

I am not a ghost whisperer. I’m not what I would call a medium, but sometimes the Dead get my attention when I’m reading tarot. Most often this happens when a client has recently lost someone and has them strongly on their mind. It’s that point where they haven’t let them go yet, while they are still very much intertwined energetically. Based on my experiences, I believe spirits like to hang around until they are sure everything is going to be all right.

One Halloween, a lady asked me if her newly deceased father was okay. The question had barely left her mouth when he was right there, standing behind me. The only way I can explain how I knew he was there was that I got the chills the minute he got there and I kept them until he left--that and the fact that he was insistent that she get her answer. I didn’t hear him with my ears, his words just formed in the center of my brain, clear as a bell.

She was depressed and sad. She was pretty sure that death was the end. The cards said he was happier than he had ever been in life. He was free of pain and worry. The cards said his only worry was her. He wanted her to be happy. To quit grieving for him and have the life she always wanted. As is always the case in these readings, his love for her was so strong that the air felt soupy. I tried to let her know.

She told me he had been an electrician, and he was the go-to guy whenever anything needed to be fixed. I told her she might experience his presence by flashing lights or other disruptions in electricity. Generally the dead use the things they were familiar with in life to communicate with the living.

I could tell she didn’t really believe me. She said as much. We came to the end of the reading. I kept hammering away at what the cards said. I felt like I had stuck my finger in a socket throughout the entire reading. When she got up, he said, “NO! Bring her back.” I didn’t. I moved on to the next readings. I knew that nothing I could say would convince her.

In between every reading he tried to get me to bring her back. It was an insistence in the back of mind. When I was ready to pack up for the night, he came back full force. “Gah,” I said. “Okay.” I asked the hostess to bring her back. I told her that her dad wasn’t going to let either one of us go until she really heard him. I pulled a few more cards for her. I said the same things in different ways. I reminded her to watch for electrical…”Wait,” she interrupted. She was staring at something behind me. “What?” I asked.

She said, “Do you realize that the lights behind you have started flickering?” It was Halloween. The hostess had hung Halloween lights behind me in the window. They had not flickered all night. But now, in a last ditch effort to get his daughter to hear him one more time, the lights were blinking on and off.

She heard him.

We could come up with all kinds of practical reasons why those lights started blinking exactly when they did. I prefer to think it was her daddy’s spirit. To me, that is the simplest explanation. I wish you could have seen the relief that washed over her. Or heard the life-affirming, healthy conversation about life and death we had afterwards. Or watched how she carried herself as she left for home.

So…

Here is what I know. In my experience, the Beloved Dead won’t tell you where they buried the money. They don’t care what you do with the inheritance. None of that matters anymore. In most cases, the thing that remains after they pass is pure, unadulterated love. That is the glue that holds us together, in this life and beyond.

Welcome to Tarot by Yvonne!

Hello friends! Welcome to my blog. I had planned to wax poetic about tarot in this first post, but instead I'm going to ask the tarot what we need to know about this blog launch. As I shuffled, the Queen of Pentacles jumped out of the deck. I read these jumpers as undercurrents to my readings. The Queen of Pents heralds a time when intuition and reason work together beautifully. Through this blog I hope we can experience the spiritual energies of tarot and bring them through our lives in a tangible way.

A quickie three-card spread using the Universal Waite deck gave me the following cards.

Temperance is a card of alchemy--blending energies, creating new things, channeling cosmic energies, and finding balance between opposites. Tarot helps us do all that.

Next is the 4 of Wands. This is a card of celebration. I love the tarot. Every reading to me is a reason to celebrate because it has the potential to change reality. Every card is its own revelation. When we put them all together, we create a statement that has the power to change lives. I hope we have a fantastic time doing it here.

Finally, the King of Pentacles is the embodiment of success and accomplishment. He has his feet planted firmly on the ground. He is the epitome of balance--and truely, tarot helps us come to balance and wholeness. Isn't it interesting that we are looking at both the King and Queen of Pentacles in this reading? Male/female. Again with the blending of opposites--the alchemical marriage of intellect and soul.

Can tarot do all that? Yes! It helps us access the deep undercurrents of our soul. It uncovers our hidden motivations and reveals the paths that are open and clear before us. I have heard the tarot called the Poor Man's Therapy and I agree wholeheartedly. If we meditate on the messages we receive, we can find balance and purpose in our lives.

Well, look at that. I've waxed poetic about tarot after all. Through this blog, I hope to talk about the tarot, what it means and how it works. I want to tell you some life-altering stories of readings I've given (names changed to protect the innocent). I want to share the little insights that come through a life with the cards. I hope that you'll come back often and share this journey with me.