Drawing good cards

Had a funny moment with a client the other day.  

She is having difficulties with her ex husband and co parent, and wanted to know more about it. Her ex and his new girlfriend and expecting a new child and she is worried about how that will impact their son,  who is six.  But the cards show he will continue to engage with his son,  which she is ambivalent about.  But we both acknowledged that it's healthier for children to have both parents involved in their lives,  and it's never good to push the father away.  

She drew mainly positive cards around the situation and seemed annoyed that the cards were rosier than she felt. 

I said to her that sometimes anxieties can feel overwhelming in the moment,  but the cards are saying that big picture,  things are going to be okay.   Whilst she feels like the Page of  Swords reversed today,  her outcome was the Queen of Pentacles - grounded,  down to earth and doing well financially.

She took that onboard and said she felt better after the reading... 

Old and New Love

A while ago one of my regulars came to see me. This was her third reading with me and each time someone comes,  I can connect the dots better.

Last time she came,  interested in someone relatively new in her life,  but the cards didn't like him. She drew the Page of Swords/  Page of Cups/ 7 wands reversed around him.  

This time she came and said because of the cards,  she wasn't angry with him,  or with herself when they broke up.  She could see that they wanted different things.  Neither of them was a bad person,  but he wasn't grounded or ambitious enough for her,  she doesn't want page energy (let alone 2!),  she's 32 and ready for a King.

This time when she asked about love in the future she drew  Strength / 9 cups R / Lovers   Much better, more adult cards.  But also a warning - sometimes the 9 of cups (I call it the fat and happy card) is about contentment,  being happy with what we've got.  But when it's reversed,  it can mean don't settle, it's okay to have standards and boundaries.  Her cards were searching for a proper,  equal Lover this time,  no more pages,  she's worked on her strength and ready for the real thing now. 

If the first tarot card reader doesn't say what you want to hear...

Sometimes a person will come to me,  and as I give them news they don't want,  they reveal that I am the third (or fourth,  or for one girl,  fifth!) tarot card reader they have seen recently and all of us said the same thing... but they don't want to hear it!

A while ago I had a very sweet Indian girl come to see me.  She was pale with shadows under her eyes.  She said that she had gotten drunk one night and said to her boyfriend that it was all too much,  but by the time she figured out she wanted back in,  he now wanted space.

She asked if they would get back together and drew

World Reversed / 5 swords / page wands Reversed / 6 swords

Even if she wills it and makes a reconciliation happen,  it won't last,  she's riding in the wrong direction,  it will end in swords (tears, pain,  moving on with sorrow, a hard learning experience)

Then she told me I was the fifth tarot card reader she had seen that month.  Fifth!  And all of us said the same thing,  it's not going to happen,  it's not going to work.  But she wants to find the one who tells her it will. This is why I believe in tarot.  Five total strangers,  five separate decks, none of us invested in the outcome and all of us see the same thing. 

So I said to her that she will do as she wants (of course) and she doesn't have to listen to us,  but she needs to listen to herself.  There was something wrong in the relationship which started her drunken ramble,  and she needs to find a way to resolve that. She said he was always distant and punishing (why want him at all?!?  The mysteries of the heart.)  And if she begs him to return,  then he can continue that pattern with impunity.  It's only if she backs away and puts herself first,  can she give him the space to see what he's missing and if he wants to move forward.  She nodded slowly.  He has to have some breathing room to see what you are bringing and you have to have some breathing room to see what he brings to you too.  I said words to that effect four or five times.

And then she agreed,  she would give him some space.  

Five months later she returned telling me he was talking to her and also to another girl,  what should she do. And she looked at me and started to laugh.  Of course I was going to tell her to let him go.  And she knew it was time. She really didn't want to,  the heart wants what the heart wants,  as the song goes.  But you can't will another person to want you back,  you can only torture yourself over it, until you are tired of the torture.  After 5 months,  she was starting to tire of the torture.   

Two years later she came to ask me about another boy altogether.  The cards were much happier with him and we both sighed with relief.  I haven't seen her again.  I can only hope they are still together.  

outcomes

I did a tarot reading for a woman recently,  and her possible outcome was the 10 of swords.  No need to be a tarot reader to understand that card - it's more than one sword in the back,  it's despair and fear.  It's paralysis.  

But when she asked about how she would do,  if she separated from her husband,  she drew the 9 of wands.  Sure,  there is a struggle and a battle.  She has a bandage on her head.  But she is standing upright, ready to protect,  ready to defend and fully capable.  And it's wands,  energy, not swords,  a knife thrust. 

And I said to her,  the 10 of swords is her fear,  which keeps her passive and paralyzed.  But the 9 of wands is how she feels once she takes action,  once she moves on.  And she gave a huge sigh,  she can do it.  It will be okay,  she will survive it,  and she won't have any knives in her back,  she's stronger than that and can defend herself.  Her homework was to scroll the web and find a version of the 9 of wands that really speaks to her,  and keep it close - either as front page of her phone/computer,  or printed out by her desk - somewhere where she sees it daily,  and let that energy carry her. 

It was a good reading. 

I've been writing this blog for over 14 years

When I get a request from a new client,  I often direct them to my blog,  and when they book a reading,  I send them a link with the Celtic Cross, so they know how to lay out the cards.  This is the layout I always start with,  from which I do my cold reading,  where I don't know you or your story,  and just tell you what the cards tell me.

So I had a new client recently,  and sent her the link with the Celtic Cross and she said when we had our facetime reading,  she said,  wait,  this link is from 2012.  And I said,  well,  I wrote it a while ago,  but it's still accurate and,  no,  no,  she interrupted me.  I mean you've been writing about the tarot for over 11 years.  Well,  I replied,  I've been writing this blog since 2009,  but I've been reading cards for much longer than that.

You should tell people that! she almost yelled at me.  I mean,  you've been doing this forever!

I thought I had been telling people how long I've been reading the tarot and writing the blog,  but she thinks it's not obvious enough,  and she wants me to emphasize it more.  So here is a blog piece to be clear - I've been writing this blog for over 14 years and reading the cards for much longer than that.  

If you have any questions about various cards,  you can always type a word beside the B in the upper left corner,  (eg,  page of swords) and any blog pieces I've written about it will pop up,  so you can read further about it. 

I'm always encouraged when my clients want me to improve my marketing.  Really,  word of mouth is the best referral I have.  So far I've read for 3 of her friends.  If you would like me to read for you,  please contact me on liat@albanyconsult.com or text me on +61 477 433 555 and we'll set something up... 

Tarot and Tattoos

I love tattoos, I'm fascinated by them, by the idea of etching something onto my skin.  I have a pintrest page full of them, collecting them on line before I  chose the perfect one to go on me (I actually think one is too hard to chose, and I may have to have go with three... )

 

The other day I was in a café and the waiter had a tattoo of the 3 of swords on his arm.  I've seen it before and still think that's a hard card to carry around all the time.  (this is a photo from the 'net,  I didn't want to ask him for one)

But it got me thinking - if you were going to have a tattoo of a tarot card, what would you choose… 

These are beautiful cards,  but I don't know if I want them on my arms either... I think I either want something very subtle

or completely over the top

 

 

 

 

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

Page of Swords

O these swords… the gift of the swords are that they are intellectual, analytical and forthright. But they learn through pain.

So the page of swords, standing with some energy and gusto, has to learn his lessons the hard way. He doesn’t want to follow the map, he wants to find out for himself. When you draw this card, life is sending you some challenges. This is an opportunity for self knowledge and growth.

I love the Inner child version, which shows Pinocchio, looking at himself in the mirror. It’s time to ask, who is pulling my strings, and before I worry about lies I tell to others, let me worry about lies I tell to myself… This is a time to look at yourself in the mirror and acknowledge exactly what is going on.

The shadow side of the swords is when you refuse to learn, arrogantly asserting that you know it all. It about not being logical or forthright,  but stuck in adolescent certainty.

The many faces of the suits

The playing cards we are so familiar with have a clear relationship with the Minor Arcana. As the picture above shows, modern cards have a relationship with the Tarot suits. The suits are divided into 4 groups - wands, cups, swords and pentacles, though there is certainly plenty of variation on those themes. In the Inner Child Cards that I also use, the 4 suites are wands, hearts, swords and crystals.

The four major groups hold 4 distinct energies.


Wands are fire, energy, ambition, initiative, creativity, passion
(wands can also be represented by sticks, batons, staves, rods etc)


Cups are water, emotions, intuition, love, empathy, the Holy Grail
(cups can also be represented by hearts, harps, flowers, esp roses, chalices, etc)


Swords are air, intellectual, sharp, cutting through illusions, objectivity, Truth
(Swords somehow are the most common suit, rarely changing. I guess swords are such a definitive image!)


Pentacles are earth, work, coins/material possessions, security, comfort.
(pentacles can also be represented by coins, stars, crystals, discs, bells, etc)

Each suit goes from Ace to ten, and then has 4 court cards - the page, knight, queen and king. And of course, there are many variations on those themes as well (from princesses to mermaids…) Court Cards can also be referred to as sister, brother, mother, father – which can explain a lot!

The Journey Continues…

I’m so thrilled we’ve gone through the Major Arcana!.

Now, we face the 56 other cards, the Minor Arcana (sometimes referred to as pips) 40 cards in four different suits of ten — traditionally wands, cups, swords and coins, and 16 court cards of four per suite – traditionally the page, knight, queen, and king.

And here I pause, uncertain which way to go. There are different ways to read the minor arcana – some focus more on the suites, others on the numbers (did you get all wands, did you get all fours…) and which way should I start describing it? Do I start with Kings and work my way down, or start with Aces and work my way up? I’ve been focusing so much on the court cards in my own personal reading on Tarot right now. Do I go there with you (though it’s probably a lot more than you want to know!) or do I go in a more ordered fashion?

Well, despite being intuitive and loving the creativity of the cards, when I learn something, I really need order and systems. So I’ll keep reading away, but I’ll structure this blog in a more orderly fashion. After a brief introduction of the suites, I’ll start going through them, from Ace to King, and afterwards (in a year or so) we can focus on cross currents, and look at the numbers and other aspects of the Tarot. So pleased to be thinking of still writing this in a few years time!

What is Tarot, and what can it do for you -

Before I go deeper in the Major Arcana, it occurred to me that I hadn’t even laid out the basics of what tarot is – so let’s have a quick explanation here:

What is Tarot?

Tarot is a method of divination that uses cards as its basis. The Tarot consists of 78 cards split in 2 groups:

The Minor Arcana, holds 56 cards (sometimes referred to as pips): 40 cards in four different suits of ten — traditionally wands, cups, swords and coins, and 16 court cards of four per suit – traditionally the page, knight, queen, and king.

The more exotic Major Arcana, holds 22 cards, starting with the Fool at Zero, and ending with the World at 21.

It is my belief that although many tarot cards look mysterious or exotic today, when they were first developed in the Middle Ages, most of the images and symbols would have been easily understood by everyone. That’s why I like the Inner Child cards I use, which base the Major Arcana on fairy tales – using complex images that most people have a relationship with today.

The person having the reading is often referred to as the querent (the person asking the questions.)

and what can it do for you?

The Tarot is a way of looking at where you are at - psychologically, emotionally and spiritually - by the cards that come out after you personally shuffle them. By infusing your energy into the cards, they start to describe where the energy in your life lies right now.

The Tarot can describe what is going on right now for you. It can predict patterns and show you how current actions are going to shape the future. What it can do is illuminate and help make sense of things. What it can’t do is tell you things you don’t know at all (ie which lottery numbers should I chose. Though the question – is my partner having an affair is almost always answered accurately, because inevitably the person asking the question knows the answer.)

Not to sound ominous, I would still like to give one warning here – if you ever go to a Tarot reader (or any psychic) who starts to talk about curses and how you have to buy candles or charms to lift these curses, please leave quickly. At best these people are stealing your money and at a worst they are putting negative energy into your life.

Next blog – we continue to explore the major arcana.