Recording the readings

I always permit people to record the reading. I’m so old, that I used to record readings on those awful cassettes, that looped out or tore, or we forgot to turn over, or the player didn’t work… I’m so grateful for smart phones!  I also tell people that my fantasy is that no one ever listens to the recordings, but it can help people settle and focus during the reading.  However the other day I did a reading and got this very sweet note afterwards – 

As I was leaving the cafe, I decided to listen to the recording and I realized that my questions were in fact answered but I just didn't get the answers that I wanted to hear.  Replaying the recording brings an unexpected sense of comfort… I really do appreciate you for being completely honest with me and not giving me false hope. 

And when I asked her if I could quote her she replied I think everyone who has the reading with you should bring a recorder.  Having it made my session so much more valuable- as I was able to replay some of the most profound points you made and ponder accordingly. I'll always have it to use as a guide and a confidence booster of sorts when I need the comfort and guidance.

I love that the readings can give comfort and clarity long after they have been given… so please, bring your phone or recording device…

Pretty pictures by Lauren Alexander

Ritual of Burning

I hate to sound too new age, but sometimes we are just energetically entangled with someone or something and they are not giving us any energy back.  I’ve seen people who are energetically entwined with someone who is dead (e.g. - the person who is still furious and reacting against a parent who has passed).

I often read for people who are energetically entangled with a relationship that did not work.  The other person has moved on, may even be living with someone else, but the person in front of me just can’t seem to let them go.

So I suggest the Ritual of Burning.

Go and buy some expensive, beautiful paper – plain lined paper is not good enough.  Buy lots of it, 50 sheets at least, so you don’t have to have any anxiety that you might run out.  Then one day, when the apartment is quiet, turn off your phone, shut down the computer, take a sheet of that beautiful paper and start to write.  Write everything, good or bad that you have thought about that person – how much loved them, how much you hate them, your sorrow, your bad wishes, everything, without restraint.  Write until you’ve feel you’ve said it all, until your hand starts to cramp.  It’s okay to cry while you write. 

After you feel you’ve written enough - and this is really important,  you don’t want to keep that paper alive in your house -  you then put that paper in a fire proof dish and you set fire to it,  and watch it burn,  watch the words curl up and turn to ash,  watch the energy go up into the air.

You can do this as many times as you like – every night for weeks if need be (no one ever does that, but you have permission, if you want.) There is something about having that torrent of feeling/energy leaving you, going on to the containment of the page, and then being burnt, turning to smoke and ash, that just lets some of that energy go.

There will come a time when you just don’t feel like doing it anymore, where the need is not so intense… and that means you are not so energetically entwined with that person anymore.  Now you have space for someone new to enter your life…

The Universe Hates Me

A while ago I did a reading for a young man who was clearly angry.  As he spoke about his frustrations at work, and how the corporate structure felt like it was strangling him, he burst out and said ‘I think God hates me.’  I looked at him surprised. ‘Okay, not God, but I think the universe hates me.’ 

‘Why do you think that?’  I asked.

‘Because every day at work, it feels like I am pushing against this enormous wind. Every day is so hard.’

And I said straight away, without even thinking, ‘I think you are wrong.  I think God loves you;  I think you are walking in the wrong direction.’

It was so clear to me that he was temperamentally unsuited to his corporate job, and would have been far happier to take some risks, be entrepreneurial and work for himself.  When we talked about it further he said he felt so relieved and happy, and that he would go and look for other options.

Sometimes we chose a path, because it’s safe, or highly coveted, or everyone is doing it... But if the universe it pushing against us so strongly, it’s worth asking if we are going in the right direction,  and perhaps there is another path that would suit us better.

Celtic Cross 2

Because once wasn’t enough J

When you are interpreting the Celtic Cross, it's not just where the cards lie - it’s how they balance each other, it’s how many of one suite appear, how many of another don’t (ie do you have all wands and no pentacles? Too much fire/energy, not enough grounding…)

The Basis is balanced by the Self – how you make your decisions,  what you remember about your life,  what holds power for you,  is balanced by how you feel about yourself,  how you see yourself. 

Your hopes and fears play against your possible outcome.  I’ve done readings where the recent future card moves to the recent past as I read for the same person 6 months later..

Lots to play with when you look at how the cards fall…

Celtic Cross Layout

I’ve gone through the cards, individually and by numbers.  Now how do I lay them out? There are many, many ways to lay the cards out in tarot but I only use one.  I’ve used it for so many years now that its subtleties and intricacies just leap out at me…

I use the Celtic Cross,  which is 10 cards laid out in a set pattern

1 & 2 are what’s at your core,  2 is the sideways card which is  your cross at this moment

3  is your basis, the energy/attitude you use to make decisions

4  is recent past

5  is possible outcome, hovering, not quite on the cards – do we pull it in or push it away?

6  is near future (within the next 3 months)

7  is self,  how you feel about yourself

8  is external environment – which I read as work or college, or where you spend most of your day…

9  is hopes and fears - always a rich spot

10  is outcome,  the culmination of all the previous cards…

There have been books written about the Celtic Cross spread, this is only the briefest of outlines, but if you have one of my readings,  it gives you an idea of how the cards will be played… 

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

Let me see what the cards tell me...

I read this review of mine recently where the person wrote of the great lengths she went to, to keep anonymous, giving me a false name,  creating a new email,  all so that I wouldn’t be able to google her, and I wouldn’t know anything about her before we met.  She was thinking that I might research her to trick her…  

Sometimes other people email me and their automatic signature has links to their blogs or websites.  I never look at them.  If people write to tell me about their situations, I try not to read it.  I prefer to know nothing about people before they come and see me. The more I know, the less magic you feel.  It’s when I know nothing, and the cards reveal real and true information, that the reading is exciting.  When I do the cold reading,  I can tell the truth the cards tell me, without having to color my information, and if I know too much,  then it interferes with that.

Of course, once I have read for you a few times, a new way of reading the cards develops. I begin to see patterns of similar cards appearing,  or moving from future to past and new cards emerging.  But again,  when people come to see me again,  I always start by saying,  don’t tell me anything,  let me see what the cards tell me…   

Powerful images by Dina Sierra