New Year's Wishes

Neil Gaiman said it beautifullly a few years ago:- May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.


Wishing you all good things for the new year...

Liat

My Current favorite review

I am so grateful when people write reviews about our readings. I'm up to 90 reviews at Citysearch right now, and if Yelp didn't filter most of the reviews, I would have 60 there (you can read all of them by clicking on the word 'filtered')

This is my favorite current review - from Citysearch
I went to Liat 6 months ago and I was so mad about my cards that I just wrote off our first meaning. Half the things she said were thing I didn't want to hear or thought they were completely wrong. After 6 months everything she said would happen has happened. I decided to go back to her and tell her everything and this time I had an open mind. She is truly understanding and you can tell she only wants the best for you and that you may not get the cards you want but take it in and do something about it. I will definitely see her again and have already recommend her to my friends.


And I loved it because it was completely true about her feelings. I remembered our first reading and I could see she didn't want to acknowledge what I was saying... but I can't change the cards. If that's what I see, that's what I report... So I was so happy when she returned and told me that she hadn't believed me and didn't like what I was saying and then everything I said came true and now she's ready to listen again...

A lot of the reviews talk about how I don't sugar coat things. But I've come to the place in life where I really do prefer a hard truth to a soft lie. If we start with truth we can get somewhere, but if we hide in lies, it's all soft and sinking quicksand and there's no way out...

Transitioning

I often see the two of swords, when people have moved from defending themselves to an entrenched position and in danger of becoming defensive. It’s a hard card to live with, and one of the things I always tell people is that although the woman in the chair is safe, she’s also isolated and can no longer see the situation clearly.


So the question is always, how do we get out of that position? The other day I had a reading where the client drew the two of swords and in the position on top of that card, she drew the Queen of Swords. And I said - that’s a perfect transition!


Before she would go from having two swords up to putting both swords down and then being too vulnerable, and then lifting both swords up and feeling trapped. The solution is to have one sword up, strong and capable of defense/protection, but it leaves the other hand free, to reach out and connect.


I love the visual short hand of the tarot.

Much to be thankful for

Thanksgiving is my favorite Holiday. I like it for lots of reasons, but mainly because a) the food is delicious, b) there is no crazy gift buying agenda and c) it asks us to be Thankful. I’m always grateful to be reminded of things to be thankful for.


I don’t want to sound so pure, like I don’t get snarky and mean… but I do think we rush through our lives and the details sometimes blur, and taking a day (or three!) to prepare a festive feast, or to sit with others who have prepared food with love and care, and then to have time to walk in the woods and see the earth get ready to wind down for winter, leaves making a soft cushion, ready for snow, helps us become part of the life cycle again.


I know we are always separating ourselves from nature, being warmer or cooler than the weather outside, being dryer or cleaner than any animal could be. But I think it’s always worthwhile to remember life goes in cycles. That thanksgiving and autumn fall in the same time, that family and food are precious to me and that it really is only about time together, that there is no gift giving frenzy, just makes this my favorite holiday.

Lots of Knights…

I’ve gone through what every individual card means in this blog, now I am going through what clusters of cards mean… What does it mean if you have lots of knights in your reading? Again, I have to put in the caveat that the court cards are amongst the most complex of the tarot cards and need sensitive interpretation.

You put the knight cards in front of you and the first thing you see is a lot of young men on horses. There is an adolescent intensity here, a rushing towards something, a yearning. In their youth, they are not jaded or cynical, but rather they believe in their causes fiercely, and are willing to fight for their beliefs. And the most important thing the Knight needs to know, with all his action and his feelings – is he riding in the right direction?


The Knight of pentacles is stuck, needing movement, the knight of cups, also known as the seeker of hearts, is more deliberate, and often looking for love. The knight of wands is all energy but often not enough planning and the knight of swords is storming forth with anger and impatience. And all 4 are hoping to make it to Death, the other horseman in the tarot deck, who is riding in the right direction and is all about transformational change.

Article in Nerve.com

A couple of weeks ago Colette McIntyre from nerve.com contacted me and asked if she could do an interview, asking for sex advice from a psychic - and here it is!

Telephones...

I’ve always had a bit of a frustrating relationship with phones. For some reason I don’t hear very well on them, especially when there is a lot of background noise. There’s no point taking calls when I’m out – people want to set up appointments and I have to look at my calendar which is at home, so all I can do is say I will call them back. But my iphone has terrible reception in my apartment…


Friends laugh when they hear my phone message, which essentially asks to send me an email. But emails are clean and reliable for me, and while a few do go astray, most of them are answered pretty quickly. However phone messages languish until I can find a moment... But that moment somehow is always after 11pm when I can’t return any of them…


All of which means, I apologize, but phone is really not the best way to connect with me, email is far better! (and yes, I am sending them out at 11 pm but that doesn’t bother anyone!)

Hope to hear from you soon,
Warmly,
Liat

Changing Decks

People like reading from old decks, there is something about the sense that other hands have handled these cards, that they have a history, that they (and I!) like. However, over the course of a year, hundreds of people will have shuffled those cards and after a while they start to look tired. I change my deck about once a year, when the old cards start to get frayed and dog eared. The time has come… today I start with my new sleek deck…

I use a version of the Rider Waite deck, called the Radiant Rider Waite Tarot, which is basically a brighter, more colorful version of their original drawings.

If anyone wants the old one, just drop me a line and you can come and pick them up…

Lots of pages

I've gone through each card individually, now I am going through clusters of cards. What does it mean if your draw lots of pages in your reading? Every time I start discussing the court cards I always feel that I have to add the warning that court cards in particular need sensitive readings and a generic approach doesn’t work with them. A page can mean many different things depending on the context.

Phew, said it, now I can go on with what does it mean if you draw lots of pages?


Well, first it depends how old you are. If you are under 26, it means it’s all good. You are starting, new, fresh, young, and putting yourself out there. However, if you are older, it means that you feel a little young for your position, and need more gravitas. And if you are over 40, it means you really need to examine your life, you should have older, more established cards and you are feeling too unsettled, too inexperienced, and are making too many ‘newbie’ mistakes… (Or it could mean that you have lots of children in your life… see, it needs sensitive readings!)

Lots of ten's

Over the past few years, I’ve gone through every single card of the tarot and looked at their meanings (just type the card you are interested in the upper left hand corner and it should appear!) Now I am looking at the numbers. I’m just finishing the pip cards – the numbers cards, and then it’s only the court cards left! What does it mean if we draw lots of 10's in our reading?



It means life is particularly action packed and intense right now. The 10’s link to the Wheel of Fortune, the card of karmic change. Tens are about completion but of course we’ve only really completed when we are dead, so at the same turn of the wheel, we start again…


10 of cups is when we want to hold the moment, have the ‘happy ever after’; 10 of pentacles is when growth and stability are hampered by tradition/family demands; 10 of wands is when the burden is too much and we feel like we are endlessly pushing the rock up the hill and the 10 of swords is when change is inevitable, we can’t survive the current situation, in order to be able to get up, we must change.


I read somewhere that the 10’s were the culmination of the physical and spiritual aspects of each suit, the end of the long road, and the last of the pip cards. If you draw a lot of tens, then you are coming to the end of cycle, but it’s an intense ending, with a bang, not a whimper…

September 11th, 2011

I live a few blocks from the World Trade Centre. We moved to the US in January 2002. I knew, of course, that 9/11 had happened, and felt horror and sadness and shock, but I didn’t understand what it meant that the city below Canal Street was closed; I didn’t know where Canal Street was. I did know that I found the Upper West Side completely overwhelming, and that when we moved into Tribeca in February, a mere 5 months after 9/11, at a time when most people were moving out, it felt like a small, quiet haven. There were often times when there were no cars on the streets at all in the middle of the day (almost impossible to conceptualize now) and when I walked around with my then 4 year old, people noticed us, said hello, seemed glad someone was moving in.


I’ve lived in Tribeca ever since, feel very much part of the village life here. I was president of the PTA at the local public school; I served for a few years on the Community Board, I’ve attended many meetings about restaurants and community growth, several meetings on the World Trade Centre specifically.


One year I accidentally booked some readings on 9/11, but I won’t do that again. The energy is too weird: too many people, too much grief, excitement, anger in the air. I won’t walk down there today. It’s too crowded and there is too much security. But I am glad that they are getting the pools filled. I look forward to walking by them one afternoon. My hope is that it will give a chance for reflection.

It’s all in the cards

Sometimes well meaning friends try to tell me that it’s not the cards that give information, rather it’s my training as a therapist, or my ability to read people, the cards themselves are so general and vague and the person can see whatever they like in what I say, they argue. But, I reply, I read for strangers every day, and every day I tell them something I could not possibly know, and it’s not vague at all, it’s specific and personal.

Recently I did a reading for a woman, and after 40 minutes of chatting she asked one last question about her mother. She had not mentioned her feelings toward her mother at all throughout the reading and this last question was almost an afterthought. She drew Star reversed/ 5 of swords Reversed / 2 of pentacles Reversed.


I looked at her and said you have a relationship where neither of you get what you wish for, either she or you feel like the other one is stealing their swords, and that you feel you are always dropping the ball around her and letting her down. And she gasped and said, ‘how did you know?’

I didn’t know… I only described that the cards told me…




The two gorgeous paintings are by Chidi Oyeke
Procession
Pot of Life

All information is useful…

I have been reading cards for over 25 years, both here and in the UK and in Australia. When I got to the US, I started reading for friends, and then friends of friends, but eventually that group started to wear thin. One day, in late 2009, I looked at the latest Groupon email and thought, maybe I could expand through them…

When I contacted them, their representative was not receptive. "No, we won’t consider you, you’re not professional."
What do you mean I’m not professional? I’ve been doing it for years.
"You’re not on Yelp, you’re not on City Search, we’re not interested."

And she hung up, leaving me feeling very unsettled and rather depressed. It took me a week or so, as I mulled over it, and I came to realize that she had given me really good information. So I looked up Yelp and Citysearch, and, shaking off any anxieties, I got myself listed on both of them.


In a full circle, about 7 months later someone from Groupon rang me - "We’ve seen your amazing reviews on Yelp and Citysearch, would you like to be on Groupon?" Their offer didn’t work out financially for me, but was I very pleased that they had rung!

That’s what I mean when I tell people all information is useful. Even when it is something you don’t expect or want to hear, once you know it, you can use it, and improve your situation.

Lots of 9’s

When we get 3 of one number, it usually intensifies the message of each card. If you get lots of 9’s, the end is within sight, but we are striving harder to get there.

The 9 of cups is contentment, striving towards the happy ever after of the 10 of cups. The 9 of wands is striving towards victory, but facing one battle after another. The 9 of swords is when the swords we carry turn against us, and the battle must be confronted before your anxieties ruin everything. The 9 of pentacles gaining entrance to the garden of luxury - the reward after the striving.


But if you get a lot of 9’s it means that there is an edge to your energy, a striving that isn’t being satisfied and isn’t complete yet. You need to go to the Hermit, the major arcana card associated with 9, and start to work through your own journey to get to the next state. 9’s are about figuring out what you are seeking and then finding it.



The first picture is by Ocean Surf Life by Gay Jefferson
And the second image is Striving for a Composed Image by Jason Altobelli

What is the difference between an astrologist and a tarot card reader?

Recently a few people have asked me what is the difference between astrologists and tarot card readers.


Both require in depth knowledge of their own particular field. I always say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I don’t know much about astrology, so I immediately tell people that I know nothing, rather than act on the small amount of knowledge that I do have. Essentially, both astrologists and tarot readers are looking at the patterns in your life, but astrologists are looking at it via the movements of the stars and sun and tarot card readers are looking at it through the energy revealed by the cards you draw.


I usually give the analogy that we are both musicians, but the tarot card reader is playing the piano while the astrologists is playing the violin. We can appreciate each other’s skills and don’t always replicate each other’s results, even though we are both making music…


I always like to credit the images if I can
The first image is Jack Frost by Christopher Mir the last image is from Alan Scheurman's CD cover Old Patterns and sadly I don't know who created the middle image.

Lots of 8’s

I've gone through all the individual cards and the suits, now I am looking at the numbers. What does it mean if we draw lots of 8's in our reading?


Whenever I think of the figure 8, I see it lie sideways, and make the shape of infinity… Eight in tarot is a number of karma and destiny. It also asks us to see things clearly.


I like the progression from the 8 of wands, energy wasted, to the 8 of swords, feeling trapped, to the 8 of cups, walking away with wisdom, to the 8 of pentacles, solidly back in the groove. The eights encourage us to evaluate our situation, let go of what doesn’t work, and make way for the new.

The image of the 8 in crop circles comes from psychedelic adventure
The beautiful quilt of the 8 of cups was made by Joyce Hartley

Independence Day

As people, we don’t have one day of suddenly becoming independent. We have independence moments – a college graduation, when you learn to fix the dishwasher yourself, when you organize a business loan... those moments are worth celebrating!

Of course independence means something different to each person. No one is truly independent, ‘no man is an island’. I always think of humans as a pack animal. We need other people around us, people we can rely on, people who rely on us; family, friends, work mates.


A 50 year old woman I read for recently lamented that since her grandparents death, she has no one to go home to, no one to give her shelter from the storm and allow her time to regroup.

A lot of the people in their mid twenties who come to me are also struggling with what does independence look like for them, some thought they would be further ahead than they are now, some still want to stay home.


A sense of independence comes when we find we can do certain things on our own, and carry certain burdens for those we love, and feel a sense of competence in the world. And that’s worth some fireworks!

Adding light to your life

I'm forever telling people to light candles. Lighting a candle is an ancient ritual and helps create a sacred space...

Well here is a beautiful idea - 365 candles, each inscribed with an inspirational word.

I'm far more likely to use one a week, so this will keep me going for years! :)



Now that I've had some time to think about it, I've decided on these candles - I will burn one a month till it goes, and then find the charm on the bottom of the candle... what could be more charming?

Steering through a tarot reading

Sometimes readings go in themes. I had two readings in a row the other week where three quarters way through the reading, the person confessed that they had been to a different tarot reader the week before (I know, it’s my fault, making people wait so long to see me!) But I wasn’t annoyed, instead I said, well, were the cards the same or different?


One, a man, said that both of us had given the exact same outcome, though my cold reading was better. Seeing that the outcome was that he should stop dating women and let himself recover from a broken relationship, he agreed that he indeed would stop torturing himself and those poor women and only hang with friends till the end of the summer.


The other, a woman, told me that both I and the other reader had told her that her ex, would not come back to her (she then told me that he had since moved in with another woman) But she didn’t see why that couldn’t happen and wanted to wait…


We are all the captains of our ship, and if we have our heart set on one direction, a tarot reading can warn of rocks ahead, but we can’t change the course, only you can…

Lots of 7’s

In case you’ve just dropped into the blog, earlier I went through each individual card (you can look them up by typing the card name in the top left hand corner next to the B - or just starting at the very beginning of the blog and wandering through) Now that I’ve gone through the suits, I am going through the numbers. What does it mean if you draw lots of sevens in your reading?


Seven links with the Chariot in the Major Arcana, a card of will power and drive.


Seven is a powerful number in our lives, forever linked with the seven days of the week and the famous phrase ‘on the seventh day God rested’ – meaning seven is a natural number of stopping and thinking, work and evaluation, introspection and contemplation.


In tarot, the 7 of pentacles is literally thinking about the fruits of your labor, the 7 of cups is having too much choice, not knowing what to think, the 7 of swords is betrayal, someone stealing your capacity to think, and the 7 of wands is the struggle to find your voice, to defend your thoughts to the world. If you draw many 7’s in a reading, the cards are telling you to stop, watch your choices, think very clearly about the matters at hand.



I can't always credit the images, I don't always know where they came from but when I do know, I always try to acknowledge the artist.
The image of the Chariot is by Joe Bandel
The beautiful cloud photo was taken by Angela Craggs
And the lovely last image is by Michael Devine
I don't know where the first image came from, if you do, please let me know...