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…

Thanksgiving

Anthonius Claessins, c. 1538-1613

To give thanks,  we must have gratitude; but gratitude is such a subtle thing – it requires an awareness of what we have, what others don’t, how fortunate our lives are.  My son is studying European history and I said to him that his life today, with its running water, antibiotics and soft clean sheets and clothes, is of a better quality than most nobles were.   

Four Seasons,  by Philip Haas,  New York Botanical Garden

To be alive today, in the West, in America, in New York City, means you can easily access some of the greatest art, thought, humor, food in the world.   But to make any of this meaningful we need to add people.  Thanksgiving is a time to reconnect with friends and family.  For without love, life is hard, even if the bathroom taps are gold…

So I am thankful for living a life better than any Kings five hundred years ago, for the internet which offers endless entertainment, and for my clients, friends and family, who give it all meaning.  

Today's poem

I love poetry,  I think it’s like chocolate truffles – tiny but dense,  rich and carrying far more weight than expected – but unlike truffles,  they are calorie free!

Here’s one I read by Mary Oliver this morning:-

 

 

Today
Today I’m flying low and I’m

not saying a word.

I’m letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.

The world goes on as it must,

the bees in the garden rumbling a little,

the fish leaping,  the gnats getting eaten.

And so forth.

But I’m taking the day off.

Quiet as a feather,

I hardly move though really I’m travelling
a terrific distance.

Stillness. One of the doors

into the temple.

Life and Purpose

I do readings for people in transition, and one transition is retirement.  I meet people who worked hard all their lives, and have saved enough and have their own homes and come to me and say, why am I drawing the 8 of swords,  what’s going on here, why am I not happy?  And my answer them is that everyone needs a purpose. 

We all need a reason to get out of bed.  If you don’t have a purpose, you start to feel lost and hopeless. Especially goal driven people, who worked so hard to create this retirement, they want to feel respected.   

One woman told me flat out that she would not volunteer, would never ‘work for free’. But she is 72 and can’t find anyone to hire her and does not need the money, so won’t take work she feels beneath her.  She’s unhappily trapped.  Her daughter was so grateful when I said, don’t think of it as working for free - think of it as mentoring.  She had made her money in real estate, and there are many young women, starting out in real estate, who could really benefit from an hour a week with her, talking through their problems, getting her help and advice.  She nodded and said that she could see herself doing that, that felt purposeful, respectful.   

What do Tarot readings give you

A good tarot reading shows you how the present is creating your future.  Your actions today are the foundation for tomorrow’s accomplishments or failures.

The Tarot is like a pure clear mirror, showing you where you are putting your energy now, and how that is going to affect the future.  It illuminates what you know, but then shows you how your present is going to impact the next 6 months. 

by John Breitweiser

One of the most common responses I get it is ‘you’re right, you’re right,  I knew this, and now I can see how it’s playing out.’  My most difficult readings are when people don’t want to talk about the present, they just want a different future, and I have the heavy task of telling them that the future will be no different,  if they don’t alter what they are doing now…

Queen of Cups

 When you look at the Queen of Cups, the woman entranced with the fantastical cup that she has created, it is a warning from the cards not too get too lost in your own thoughts, to make sure your fantasies match reality. 

 But that can sound a bit judgmental.  I found this amazing mosaic by Irina Charny,  (I just love her work!) and to me it just looked like the Queen of Cups.  Here the Queen is losing herself in her own music,  and that just felt to me like a much more loving way of viewing her.  

 I just have to edit this because I saw this beautiful Queen of Cups by Robert Scott - the artist whose deck I bought through Kickstart a while ago (he's yet to finish it,  but it's definitely going to be worth the wait!)

and this is what he writes about her:
"The Queen of Cups represents the role of water in the context of water; the emotional center of the court cards. She is kind, affectionate and comforting. She is perfectly accepting - receiving others without judgement of any kind, and stands for calm reflection and introspection. She is the queen of the still pond, the surface of which is a mirror. The Queen's own nature is hard to grasp, for when you gaze into her depths, you only see yourself."

Was he unfaithful?

One question I find the tarot can always accurately answer is ‘ is s/he having an affair’ 

However recently I did a reading where a woman asked,  ‘did he sleep with other people while we were together?’ and she drew 

King pentacles / 9 of swords / 6 cups R / 4 cups. 

She felt he could have been a good boyfriend/ but also felt huge anxiety/ she needed to see the situation very clearly, without rose tinted glasses or being overly romantic/ and she was getting lost in her own thoughts.

That is not a clear answer and I was puzzled.  Usually the cards are really specific around this question.

6 of cups

 

So I asked more about the relationship.  Turned out her big fear was that he would be pressured by his family to have an arranged marriage.

Now I can understand the cards. They indicate that he did not sleep with anyone else while they were together, but he was emotionally unfaithful; he did let his family introduce him to other women.  There was no sex, but he did think about marrying them…   

The second I said that she nodded vigorously, that made complete sense to her.

4 of cups

Those cards, they are so subtle...

Reading in public spaces

Kitchenette, where I do my 8.30 pm readings

I do all my readings in local cafes.  Every so often I get a sweet email like this:  (this is real email exchange that I had with a client)

Hi Liat,

I was wondering if we could be pretty private at the cafe you are planning to take me to? I honestly don't want other people overhear you readings of me. Hope you would understand me.

So I wrote back: I know people have these concerns but I’ve never had any problem and no one has ever said afterwards that they were at all nervous or felt intruded upon. I have no other options, I do all my readings at cafes, but also, all the reviews you read came from these public readings…

And I got this charming reply:- Yes, it's NYC. No one cares! I will stop worrying and will look forward to seeing you pretty soon.

At Le Pain Quotidian,  where I do my 5.30 readings

  

Cafe Josephine,  where I do my 3 pm readings

10 of Cups

I call this the Happy Ever After card. It looks like the scene at the end of the movie where they smile and hug under the rainbow and the words ‘and they all lived happily ever after’ appears. Of course, happily ever after is never constant, but this is a card of contentment, of joy in a family/home environment. If I’m asked if a relationship will work and this card appears, we both smile.
 

It’s a wonderful outcome card, and I’ve also seen it as a basis card, if you operate from this basis, though troubles may come, you can sort them out and give them the proper balance, because home is safe and strong and loving… 

I like this image of the family pets snuggling before the fire, this is the coziness and hominess that this card holds.