The Science of it all

This is a reprint of an old blog post I've written previously - but that was in 2013,  and I doubt any of you are going to go that far back into the archives,  so here it is again

The Science of it all

I had a reading with a young man recently and I started with my usual question – have you had a tarot reading before and he said over a hundred. Well, that’s a lot of readings!  He said that one of the reasons he went to so many psychics was that he was studying physics and was interested in the science of psychic phenomena.  So I gave him my blood transfusion example:

My prediction for psychic phenomena –

Let’s go back in history for a minute. People always saw blood and had theories about blood, but until much later than you would think (1900) they did not know about blood groups. The rudimentary tools for blood transfusion were around in the 1700’s and the first human to human transfusion was recorded in 1818.

When doctors first had the technology, they tried blood transfusions from strong animals to sick humans. (and why not, we eat and digest animals, there was no obvious reason why we wouldn’t be able to take their blood directly) but of course most of the humans died, and those transfusions were soon banned throughout Europe.  Then they tried transfusions from strong people to weak.  Unsurprisingly, most humans died, even after a transfusion, though more mysteriously for the doctors at the time, some did not, and in fact got better…  Because the doctors didn’t know about blood groups, they couldn’t make sense of their results.

There are many, repeated studies, showing that meditation (focused thought) has a real, measurable impact on blood pressure, heart attacks, anxiety (which seems like cheating, because that’s a mental issue to begin with, but it has physical symptoms which meditation can allay) What we think about these automatic systems in our body, can affect those normally unconscious processes.

So my prediction for the years 3010 – so grateful if someone could keep this alive in the internet for that long for me to be vindicated – my prediction is that there will be a strong and solid science for psychic phenomena, and they will have a reasonable explanation as to why sometimes studies worked and sometimes they didn’t.

Perhaps, like blood types, there are psychic groups, and some groups enhance each other and some negate each other and the types of people who become scientists fall more into the group A mental abilities, and the types of people who work on their psychic abilities are group B and Group A and Group B negate each other…

All of which brings me back to Tarot. The theory of Tarot is that while shuffling the cards, the person imbues their energy into them. That energy then affects which card goes where, and then when you read the cards, you see what is going on in that person’s energy.

Doesn’t sound like it makes too much sense, does it? And yet, time and again, I see it. I see people with money worries draw only money cards; people with relationship issues draw cards exactly about their particular relationship. A woman came and saw me and I said, your house card is in disarray and your lover’s card is upside down. And she said, she had just moved, because her husband had an affair and the divorce was just finalized. I promise you that I don’t say that to every person who comes for a reading!

Each time the cards fall into a different pattern, and that pattern reveals something true and real about what is going on in that person’s life. I don’t have the science to explain it, but then again, I don’t need it. I can see the reality in front of me

Seeing the now

Tarot is a way of exploring the present to understand what is going to happen in the future.  It doesn't 'predict' the future,  so much as look at what you are doing now and what that will create.  It looks at your ingredients and says,  this is the cake you are baking...  If you want a different cake,  you need to put different ingredients in! 

It does show you where your energy is strong - sometimes you want love,  but your love energy is weak and your work energy is strong - if you focus on work right now,  your rewards will be greater.  

It's not a way to say on June 15th so and so will happen.  And it's not really great on time - so it says soon,  but as humans,  we want soon to be now and waiting 5 months can feel like not so soon.  

One common question I get is when am I going to meet someone I love.  And if  you draw three cards and one of them is a strong relationship card,  I smile and say soon!  But sometimes you draw one card after another and a dozen cards later there is no relationship card.  Then I say,  you have to shift what you are doing in the present in order to bring that energy into your life.  If you keep doing what you are doing now,  it won't come in the foreseeable future. And then we discuss what else can be done.   

It's not set in stone - I always tell people you can change all of this,  but that requires some conscious action of your part,  which can be hard.   

Even if you draw wonderful cards,  work will be great, life is sunny,  and then you stop working hard,  because the outcome seems assured - that's when it stops.  

So a tarot reading is a way to take your temperature,  give yourself time to look at your life,  your desires,  your goals and what you can do to give yourself the best possible outcome. 

And finally, Am I on the right path

Most of us can endure any how if we are certain of the why.  If you know why things are happening,  you can cope.  But often it can take years to figure out the why.  And that's where Tarot is helpful.  

Am I on the right path?  Am I playing it too safe? Am I taking too many risks? Should I move cities,  states,  countries?  What would happen if I did?  All the big questions - am I where I'm meant to be? Was I right to change fields? Should I talk to my parents again?  I've explored all these questions and more in my tarot readings. 

The cards are like musical notes,  each one having a meaning but gaining clarity and resonance when they fall next to each other.  So it's not just the single card,  but what the three cards together (I usually draw 10 cards for the cold reading,  and then 3 cards for each question) combine to mean. 

Just spending a dedicated hour giving time and attention to these matters can help. 

The second question - finding work

After love,  the other most common question that people have when they come to me is about work.  

If you have options,  I ask you to give me no information,  just think about Job A,  Job B,  Job C etc and we draw cards and the discuss.  I laughed when one client drew the devil for his start up job and the 8 of pentacles for his much more stable,  still in a great industry,  job.  I told him I was glad I didn't know so it didn't look like I was guiding him to the more conservative,  reliable job.  And that it's clear that start ups can be the devil to work for! 

On a more practical level,  I tell job seekers to make sure their linked in pages are bright and shiny and up to date. It's now industry standard for most job searches. For more information on that,  go here.  And once it's gorgeous, put a link to it in their email signatures,  so it's on every email they send out and it makes it effortless for anyone networking for them to pass the information on. 
Clients have also recommended ZipRecruiter and Indeed.  

What I tell people is that job hunting can be exhausting,  and I recommend you do it,  really focus on it,  for 4 hours a day - preferably from 9 am to lunch. And then you give yourself the rest of the day off,  guilt free.  You can't actually job search for 8 hours daily,  all you will feel is burnt out and depressed.  Check sites,  answer emails,  find networking events. And then go to the gym,  have drinks with friends,  have fun.  Allow yourself to have a life as well as look for work.