My Current Favorite Deck

Okay I admit it - I have way too many tarot decks!  It's one of the real joys of the internet,  the huge range of cards and images that are available.

When I started reading (really,  before the internet was anything!) you could basically access what was available at your local book/ esoterica shop and that was it.  Then you could start to order things online. But now, there are thousands and thousands of Decks.  There is no way anyone could know them all. 

But I often trawl for tarot images,  that can bring a new perspective to a card.  And I've come across The Cosmic Cycles Tarot by Miriam EG (Illustrator)

The illustrations are excellent and she really brings some new ideas and depths to her tarot interpretations.

I'm trying to be strong and not buy yet another deck,  but who knows...

All pictures are from the Cosmic Cycles tarot deck

Comfort to the afflicted and afflict the comfortable

So I read this just now - that the job of clergy is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable,  and that's so sharp and smart,  I wanted to repeat it here.

I am not clergy!  But often people come to me in search of comfort,  and if they are afflicted,  I am so happy to comfort them.   I have many readings where I encourage my clients to be kinder to themselves, to be softer on themselves. 

But I still remember the reading where the woman came to me from wealthy Westchester,  with nothing but contempt for her husband who had not reached C level (He was not a CEO, CFO or even COO)  She felt that she had hitched her horse to the wrong wagon and wanted to have an affair.   

I told her that she should get a job. When her husband found out about the affair she would need it, and if she got very engaged with her job, she might not even want to have an affair. She got really cross with me.  I guess I was afflicting the comfortable there.  But it was just the idea that the man she had married and had children with had not risen to the level she expected and she wanted to punish him with an affair. Whereas I  was saying, you're in your early 40's - why don't you go out and get into the C level? But clearly she thought that was impossible for her and was angry at me for looking at that option. 

Those cards,  they can be tough! Definitely comforting the afflicted but they can certainly be an afflict to the comfortable - or vexing to the contemptuous. 

The Hermit

The hermit is always a tricky card.  Some people really don't like the idea of it - off on your own and introspecting,  a hermit hiding in a cave.  And the Rider Waite image can be a bit off putting

But I try to sway them to it - he's not passively waiting for answers to come to him,  he is actively looking, bringing illumination to dark corners. 

By chance I came across this card - 

And I just love it!  Such a beautiful,  feminine and easy to read version of the Hermit.  There she is, having walked into the woods,  built herself a fire,  and is now finding enlightenment, clarity, power in a very feminine witchy way.  This is the work of Deborah Blake, and her Everyday Witch Tarot

This is why I keep looking for tarot cards.  Sooner or later,  the perfect one that just explains everything for me,  just appears. 

Breaking in a new deck

In the past,  people have asked me to do skype readings for them,  and asked me to shuffle the cards,  while they look on,  a world away.  And all I got was mud.  I really need you to shuffle the cards,  that's where the magic lies for me.  So in order to do a reading with me,  you need to have access to a tarot deck.  You can use one you already own,  borrow one from a friend or buy one.  Often people get a new deck solely to have a reading with me.  

I ask that if you get a new deck,  break it out on the day you get it and start shuffling immediately.  It will feel strange. The cards are new and sticky and they are also weirdly large (nearly twice the size of a normal playing card) and it's not easy or smooth to move them around.  

That's why I ask that you shuffle them and rearrange them for about 5 - 10  minutes a day,  three to four days before our reading,  so you get the mechanical order out of the cards,  and get your own energy into them.  

Any way you want to shuffle is fine - some people crack them like card sharks,  some people smoosh them around,  some people are painstakingly thorough,  some people spill them out and pick them up again.  All of these are as good as each other. 

If you are borrowing a deck from a friend, just make sure you shuffle them frequently,  so that they become yours.  And then get your friend to reshuffle them when you return them. 

Skype Readings

Life changes and you change with it...

In the near future I will be spending a lot more time in Sydney, Australia.  But I can still do readings for you,  where ever you are! 

We can read via skype or facetime.  But I need you to shuffle the cards,  that's where the magic lives.   You can use any deck you want (as long as it is a proper tarot deck with 78 cards.) If you are buying one specifically for our reading I recommend the Rider Waite Radiant.  

Once you have a deck, just email me - tribecatarotreader@gmail.com or text me (but no phone calls,  sorry) on 646-241-8244 and we'll set up a time and then the reading can happen in the privacy of your own home - or office,  or where ever you would like!

My readings are usually $120 for an hour or $70 for half an hour.  If you are buying a deck to read with me,  I'll pay for the deck and our first virtual reading will be $100.

Looking forward to reading for you!

warmly

Liat

After every reading

After every reading,  I give you a post card with the cards you drew written down.  I photograph that postcard and if you come and see me again we can see if there is a change or a shift in the cards.  If you come regularly,  we start to see patterns in the cards.   

I have descriptions of every card we discussed in my blog.  If you want to know more about a specific card, just enter it in the upper left hand corner (near the B, blog symbol) and it will come up.

I also encourage people to go on google images or pintrest to find images of certain cards that speak to them,  so if you are riding the Queen of Cups energy, you can find a version that speaks to you and keep it on your phone,  or by your computer,  to let the energy infuse your day.

What do the cards bring

I have worked as a psychotherapist in both London and Sydney, and often wished I could bring my cards into a session there.  I never did, (the hospitals I worked in would not have like it) but I’ve always thought that a good deep tarot reading can cut through 6 months of therapy. The cards don’t lie, and they don’t hide. Often people tell me that they hadn’t planned to talk about an issue, but the cards just brought it up...

The cards also talk about the difference between one offs and patterns.  Sometimes when asking about love the cards indicate that you are in a repetitive cycle, and that while this person is very different from the last, the pattern of the relationship is the same. 

 

Sometimes the cards show that this man is the exception, and he is not good for you but other men have been and will be again. 

Sometimes the cards say that this relationship is worth investing time and energy in, that even though nothing can be guaranteed, the cards like him, like the energy he is bringing into your life. 

All this is something I couldn’t necessarily tell from one therapy session, but the cards always know…

Keep a Copy of your Significant Cards close by.

The Empress is one of my favorite cards,  glowing with possibilities,  fertile,  able to give birth to new ventures,  new life plans,  new babies.  So when people draw it, I often tell them to find the version of the card that they most like,  and use it as their phone wall paper,  or on their computer,  somewhere where they will see it often and be reminded of her energy. 

Of course,  I tell people to do this with other significant cards too,  I’m just using the Empress as an example here. When I was first learning the cards, there were far fewer options, but today there are so many amazing versions of each card, and some will definitely speak to you more than others.

So if you get a particularly significant card, look it up on Google Images or Pintrest.  Read my blog piece,  or anyone else’s blog piece about it,  and keep it close to you.  Let the energy feed you and you’ll get there quicker…

Five of Wands

The 5 of wands is another card I see often describing New York situations, especially around work.  We all want the 3 of pentacles in our work space – creative, harmonious work.  But often we get the 5 of wands – people hitting at each other with sticks.  I remind my clients that life in New York City can be like a game of hockey -  loud and boisterous and sometimes, unimaginably, people will actually block your goals.

But for the most part, this is a game without malice (the malicious situations get different cards:  the 5 of swords or the 7  of swords often appear)  If you are sitting on the field without joining in, it can be frightening, everyone thundering above your head. The only way to win is to participate - get up and grab your own stick, and play along - then New York can be exhilarating. 

The New York cards

There are some cards I think of as more typically New York than other places, that I see more here than I have previously – of course it might be a more second millennium kind of card too, as I have been reading here for the past 10 years.  My next few posts will be about these cards.

I’ll start with the Seven of Cups.

7 cups, Rider Waite deck

The seven of cups is about having choice,  but instead of feeling empowered,  “I have all these options!” the drawer feels overwhelmed,  “I have all these options but can only chose one…”  and there are consequences,  seen and otherwise, of each choice.  So now I stand paralyzed (or crouch if you are looking at the beautiful card below!)  not knowing which cup to select,  which cup to let go of. 

I find that New York in particular has this obsession with keeping options open.  But what I tell people is that after a while, making no decision becomes its own decision, and some of these cups will naturally disappear if they are not chosen. Some may go for a short time, some may go forever, that is life.  But choosing a cup, finding a direction, even if it not the ultimate direction but merely a side path, gives  life energy. 

7 of cups,  Klimpt deck

People often say to me that they don’t want to have regrets.  I think standing paralyzed and not choosing creates a regret of its own. So my other answer is that regrets are not cancer (unless we make them so.)  Regrets are risks that don’t pay off in the short term in the way that we had hoped.  And even if they make it to the long term (I will always regret not buying New York real estate when we arrived in 2002!) it doesn't mean that we should not act.  It just means that we lived and learnt.

7 of cups,  urban tarot deck

So these Seven of cups remind us to make a choice and live with it, and if it doesn't pan out the way we had hoped, then we will course correct and make another one… 

Tarot of Quotes

That Pinterest - aside from me having a new rule of not visiting the site after midnight,  it has given me great pleasure.  There are such a range of Tarot images out there,  that explore and shade the meanings of the cards.
 

I have discovered some new tarot decks there that I hadn’t seen anywhere else.    Tarot of Quotes is from an English tarot card reader who is creating something really beautiful (it’s still a work in progress) I love that the internet lets me access all these amazing thoughts about tarot,  lets people put their own imagery up -  even if it's only one card,  one new image can just tweak your understanding and let it fall into place. 

After a reading we usually decide which cards were the most important and I recommend that you Google the image,  find a version of the card that speaks to you and then put it up in your office or on your computer, to let it keep guiding you.

Inspiration

I always encourage people to record the readings.  But after each reading I also give you a postcard and write the cards you drew on it.

 

You can then go and look up any cards on my blog (or any other blog) and I often asterisk the important ones.  I encourage people to find certain ones and print them up and put them by their computers, to remind them of our discussion. 

 

One client just sent me this image – all her important cards, pulled from her own deck, sitting in her work station,  showing her the way…

Tarot Gardens

When I started reading cards in the 70's there was little variety.  Basically you bought the one deck and 2 books the shop offered and had to be satisfied with that. But things have certainly bloomed since then! 

Every so often I just Google tarot images to see what comes up,  and this time I was floating around Pinterest (isn’t that a way to kill an hour or three!) and came across the Tarot Gardens in Tuscany   

 

I’ve never heard of them before,  but they have some amazing sculpture by Niki de Saint Phalle based on the Major Arcana tarot cards.  I particularly loved her version of the Hierophant, who really does look like this in my head too

More beautiful images from the garden here and on so many pinterest boards!  As a friendly warning, don’t go there after midnight or you won’t get to bed till 2 am!

Motherhood

 

A new father came for a tarot reading with me and one of his questions was about his wife, and he drew sun / 8 of swords / strength – and I think that is the most perfect description of early motherhood that I’ve heard in a long time – sun,  happy,  warm,  bright,  8 of swords,  trapped,  scared,  unable to see clearly  but then she gets to that very feminine version of strength,  where her clarity and calmness makes the lion fall in line…   

Now doesn’t that sound like the mother of a 3 month old to you?

I hope the cards are wrong…

One of my regulars who comes and sees me every 5 months or so, bounded in last time, so happy about this new boy that she had met.  I was so glad to see her happy and I wanted it to work, but when I looked at the cards, they were clearly not encouraging: 5 pentacles / 6 swords / 6 cups / 10pentacles.   The cards saw her feeling out in the cold, moving on with sorrow, needing to see things clearly and him having family issues or complications. 

And when she came this time I said, as I always do, don’t tell me anything let me see what the cards say. And the first card was the 10 of swords and I looked at her, and said, it didn’t work with him did it?  I had so hoped the cards would be wrong!  And she laughed at me and replied you know the cards are never wrong…

It turns out that this was a good learning relationship, she set clear boundaries, and she felt good about the breakup.  And we are hopeful for the next relationship (though that 6 of cups keeps popping up.  It’s so important to let go of the rose tinted glasses and see clearly…)  

I always differentiate between what I see and think/want and what the cards say.  If we ever disagree, the cards and I, I always give them more weight…

The cards just know...

People often ask me how I can be so sure of the cards,  and I say it’s because I see it every day… 

The other day a woman came to me,  we did the cold reading, where I don't know anything about her,   and there were some troublesome cards there – 10 of swords,  justice reversed,  page of swords.  But when I mentioned them she just shrugged and said they didn’t apply to her.  She was here to talk about whether to have a second child.  Her marriage was in a good space and she was worried that a second baby would change things, but it was the right time… so we talked about that for a while but the cards gave it no traction.  They were not interested in that topic at all. 

Finally we drew some cards on her marriage, and there was the tower.  And I looked at her and I hate to say this to people - if they think their marriage is in a good space, who I am to tell them any different? - but these cards were really clear. So I said there was something destructive going on, and until that was cleared,  I couldn’t get any other information.

And she looked at me,  and her eyes teared up and she said,  I didn’t want to talk about this,  this is not what I came here to discuss… and then she told me of her 3 year affair and how it has ended recently because he has married someone else.  

This is not something I could have known or suspected, but this is something the cards saw very clearly, and no decision about whether to have another child could be made without taking it into account…

All these beautiful images are by Andy Cherewick