Taking A New Direction

Ladies and Gentlemen, please prepare yourself for a paradigm shift.

Something has been brewing. It is pervasive. It has been creeping into every aspect of my life. It’s a restlessness, a dissatisfaction…with my business, my home life, everything. It has also been elusive. I cannot put it into words. My business has been doing well. It is what I am good at and my clients love me. I have a loving, faithful, sexy husband. I have two great dogs, vegetables growing in my yard, a healthy and loyal family…so what’s up? This has been going on for weeks. Something just hasn’t felt quite right.

One night, as I was sitting out in the yard by the fire, with a friend and fellow intuitive, I mentioned how I was feeling. I also mentioned that I thought it had something to do with reading tarot, perhaps professionally. I also mentioned that felt a connection between trusting my intuition, reading tarot and my Celtic roots. Upon hearing this, she asked if I had my cards with me (of course I did), and if I would like to learn the Celtic Cross layout. I immediately said yes. This is the standard Celtic Cross layout:

Here are the meanings of the cards as I was taught and as I prefer, but please understand, there are dozens of ways to read this particular spread. My suggestion is to do a little research and go with the one that feels best to you.

1. The seeker, situation, or the heart of the matter
2. What crosses/covers card 1
3. Above the seeker (potential outcome)
4. Below the seeker (recent influences)
5. The distant past
6. The distant future
7. How the seeker sees themselves
8. How others see the seeker
9. Seeker’s hopes and ideals
10. Best possible outcome

In teaching me, my friend actually did my reading and it was AMAZING. The card in position 1 was The Devil. I laughed right out loud. Since my intention/question was directly regarding me doing tarot, this card was EXACTLY where I was. The pull between how I was raised as a Fundamentalist Christian vs. how I believe now (a mix of Buddhism and the universal energy of the Star Wars ideal of The Force. No I’m not kidding), putting me directly in the role of devil’s advocate if you think about it. Hysterical.

Every card turned spelled out the details of where I had been, where I was going and the choice between my two possible futures, cards 3 and 10. By the end of the reading I was dizzy with awareness and giddy in the knowledge that reading tarot truly is my future. It is the tool I want to use to channel my intuition into coaching, guiding and helping people to get from where they are, feeling stuck…into a future they love, full of choice and freedom. I could barely go to bed that night, I was so jittery with anticipation, despite our reading going well into 2 AM.

As it would happen, the next day was Memorial day, and I was meeting my aunt for breakfast on the same side of town where my favorite metaphysical store is located. My friend and I had been there a week or so earlier discussing tarot with the owner, a proclaimed witch. Her definition of the word being “wise old woman”.

She had offered my friend the opportunity to read tarot at an upcoming street fair, and my friend had decided against it. My intuition told me I should go and ask about reading at the fair. I figured if it was meant to be, and as a confirmation of my reading the night before, her shop would be open and she would have time for a chat. As it happened, that is exactly how things went. When I asked about reading at the fair, she asked me to do a reading for her so I could show off my skills.

I spent over an hour there, reading, discussing, learning, and experiencing the humanity and brilliance of a woman I had only seen from a single perspective before. The more I read, the more she let me in, and the more I felt an energetic connection between me, her and the cards. It was, in short, amazing. She told me I was very intuitive and that my reading was accurate and good, and then agreed to have me read at the fair in June. It was the second in a long line of confirmations about my recent choice.

A week or so later, I met with my health coach (another amazing and intuitive woman in my life), for dinner before our Law of Attraction Meet Up. It was an awesome meet-up, but that’s another story for another post.

Afterward, knowing of my recent quest for tarot enlightenment and encouragement, she asked if we could go for coffee and we could read each other’s cards. We spent hours reading and sharing and I was shocked to discover that I had just given her her very first tarot reading. She is an oracle and angel card reader, but has no experience with tarot. She declared it accurate and intuitive, and asked poignant questions and gave useful tips along the way. She then read my oracle cards. Stunningly accurate. Another confirmation of my choice of path.

Today I filled in at a business networking meeting for my career coach and success partner. I had done this before, without a problem. I stand and do a 30 second ad for his business, and then I get to do a 30 second ad for mine. Up until now, I had my pitch down. I knew what I did and I knew what I could offer other business owners. Today was different. After the meeting, as I networked with the other members, they all conveyed to me how unclear they were on exactly what it is that I do. How funny. That’s exactly the vibe I was putting out, and there they were, innocently mirroring it right back to me.

I did take the time to explain it to one fellow, and I got quite a different response than I expected. He didn’t balk at it. Didn’t even pause. Instead he said, “My sister does that. I should put you two in touch”.

The funny thing is, while I was waiting for the meeting to start, I used my tarot app (Tarot Sampler) on my phone to give me some guidance on how to do my ad. I drew a single card. It was the two of disks or two of pentacles, reversed. In a nutshell, it said, “Split decision. Losing the bet. Bad timing. Perplexity. Awaiting more information.” The longer explanation is pictured below, and what really struck a chord with me:

In the meeting, I chose to represent myself from the old paradigm, and amazingly (sarcasm) got no clients, no referrals, and even had people perplexed at who I am and what I do. Maybe next time I will offer myself as a tarot reader. It is, after all, who I really am.

So, as I am shifting, the blog will shift. No more of this, “this is what the web site says this card means”. From now on, I will go by intuition, and I will blog what I am learning and experiencing as I go. Much less technicality and much more intuition. I hope you enjoy. If you are learning, have comments or questions, please feel free. I am here.

April 3, 2015 – Daily Tarot Draw

Clearly I am not very good at doing the daily reading thing. To be honest, I just have days where I am not certain I want to know what the cards have to say. Other days it just doesn’t occur to me to do a reading, and then there are some days where I simply feel that I MUST do one. It really varies. I am diligently focusing on trusting my gut and my intuition on this. So, as part of that, you may not see real consistency at this stage in my tarot adventure. Perhaps it will change as I progress. Who can say?

Today I pulled the following cards:

  

Judgement
Four of Cups (reversed)
The Moon (reversed)

Biddy Tarot interpretations:
Judgement, Four of Cups, The Moon

April 1, 2015 – Daily Tarot Draw

Today’s draw included:

  

Five of Wands
Ace of Swords
Prince (Knight) of Pentacles (reversed)

I have decided that from this post on, when I have the time, I am going to actually post a link to the Biddy Tarot meaning, and then present what my intuition tells me and how I feel it applies to my life at the present time. Part of the reason for this is to help me better learn the cards, and to be able to identify them and their basic meanings on sight.

Interpretations by Biddy Tarot

Five of Wands, Ace of Swords, Prince (Knight) of Pentacles

For the next few posts, I will not be adding my insight or intuition, since I am adding these to the blog from a written journal and on those busy days, I only wrote down the cards I drew in order to look for patterns. I am interested in seeing how often specifica cards come up for me.

March 28, 2015 – Daily Tarot Draw

Every day I choose a deck, shuffle, ask the cards to tell me what I need to know today, and then I choose three cards.

Today’s three were:

Nine of Wands (reversed)
Four of Wands
Nine of Swords (reversed)

The main message I received from this particular draw was:
Remember to seek balance in all things. Let go of that which does not serve you. You are loved. You are accepted. Be encouraged! Regardless of the situation, stay calm, relax, remain positive, and be at peace.

Let go of what you cannot control. Most things are outside of your control.

In other posts, I will spell out the details of the meanings of the individual cards. These posts are intended to track my draws and the patterns in which the cards show up for me.

My Adventures in Tarot

Not too long ago I participated in an Angel Card Reading class that was taught by a client and good friend of mine. I had owned a tarot deck for years, but had only purchased it for the stunning artwork on it. I had no idea how to use it, and frankly, raised in the religious home I was raised in, even mentioning tarot or anything like that was strictly forbidden.

At 41, I feel like this was less an act of rebellion and more an act of self-discovery. I am certain my parents would disagree.

Each tarot, oracle or angel card deck is different, but the basic meanings of the cards and suits are generally the same. There are some exceptions. For instance, I have a deck based on stories that revolve around the seven chakras. It doesn’t follow the standard suits at all.

The original tarot deck, the Rider-Waite deck is generally looked at as the “Bible” of the tarot, since it was the first. Most other decks are based off its images and values.

Angel cards and oracle cards are more loosely based on tarot, if at all. They often come from a more spiritual viewpoint as well. To me, you choose the deck or decks that feel right, or resonate with you.

In my friend’s class I learned how to clear the energy from a deck and how to imprint it with my own energy. We were asked to choose a deck, to clear it, to choose a question or an intention, and then to draw a card. We were to look up the meaning of the card in the accompanying booklet and to apply it to our intention or question. Amazingly, each deck I did this with, the cards seemed to be right on.

In the course of the class, I was informed that the most important part of reading tarot is how in tune you are with your intuition. You can accurately read your own, or someone else’s tarot purely from intuition and the impression you get when you look at the images on a card. This fascinated me. I thought I had to have some magical power or some mystical gift…but the strong levels of intuition that I have, and my ability to read another human being both work amazingly well with the tarot.

After successfully reading a few people, and getting some very interesting (and accurate) readings from others, I just felt like tarot was something I needed to get into more. I ordered my new deck from Amazon before I left the parking lot. The Chakra Oracle deck is not only beautiful, but puts a really creative spin on things. I find that I am drawn to use that particular deck when I am struggling with my creativity or my emotions.

My Cosmic Tarot deck is my standard “go to” deck, but I also have a third deck that I sometimes use. Just like you would use your intuition to choose the cards you draw, I also use my intuition to choose my deck for the reading.

As any beginner might, I chose to look up the meanings of the cards I drew each day online. Partly to confirm what my intuition was telling me as to the meaning of the card, and partly to get to know the standard card meanings better. I found that the best site for me, the one that seemed the most informative, consistent and accurate was Biddy Tarot. As though it was meant to be, not long after I started using this site, I saw their ad for a free 31 day tarot reading program. I signed up immediately!

I started getting emails daily, walking me through learning each card. I was encouraged to keep a journal, and I began with a written one, but decided that blogging would be the best way for me. I am a faster typist, and this way, it is all here online for my quick and easy future reference.

So, if you are joining me on my adventure, welcome. Drop in any time to see what I am learning from the universe about myself, the tarot, and my life journey.

Thanks for coming along!