Category: Tarot Cards

Tarot readings and card discussions

My Tarot Valentine 2021: Do Your Way

It’s the church lady (think Dana Carvey on Saturday Night Live) version of the infinite monkey theory.

My mom is exceedingly fond of stuff with sayings on them. Mugs, shower curtains, calendars, address books – you name it. It was like growing up in a very church-y Hallmark store. Like the infinite monkeys typing that finally came up with a copy of Hamlet, the mass of platitudes came up with one that actually made sense, in a mind-body connection sort of way.

“Don’t think yourself into a new way of doing, do yourself into a new way of thinking.” – some unknown sappy platitude writer

The Knight of Wands is about adventure, travel, experimentation, newness. It feels like the card is directed to people on the hunt for a soulmate. It isn’t a traditional meaning for the Knight of Wands, but intuitively the Knight is whacking us over the head with the apparent theme for this year’s “Tarot Valentine” series: Self confidence is sexy.

Knight cards are active. They are about doing. Wands cards are about inner fire, our inner, spiritual, philosophical world. Today’s card reminds me very much of “do yourself into a new way of thinking.” It’s a little like “fake it until you make it” but without the fake part. Sincerely do things differently and your thinking will change. You’ll KNOW how good or bad the change is for you. Once the experience of DOing a thing shows you the actuality, then you can embrace or reject the thing not from thinking but from the knowing that only experience can give. “Experience teaches all things” is attributed to Julius Caesar, not the shower curtain.

So what does that have to do with Valentines Day and such?

Here is my thought: Self-confidence is sexy. The pandemic may make this impossible for a while, but when things get back to normal, DO things that take your mind off of being lonely. NO, not going to bars on a heat seeking find-my-soulmate mission. DO something that you enjoy, nay, something you LOVE doing that is not romance or relationship related. DO what you love doing. Put your heart and mind into that, which is in essence a big investment in yourself and your self-actualization, and your autonomy and your maturity and your personal development and – did I mention that self-confidence is attractive?

I mean, look at it this way…who would you rather spend your time with? Would you rather be with someone whose mind an heart is wrapped up in how lonely they are or someone who is already happy and living their best life? If a person is already giving love and attention to what they are doing, that demonstrates they are capable of giving love and attention to you. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of already-existing joi de vie. If someone is all wrapped up in finding a soulmate in order to make them happy, all that shows is that they want YOU to make THEM happy. Not many people are going to sign up for that.

Finding a new love, a soulmate, that certain special someone is a sort of inner alchemy. Living happy draws love to you. Giving your love and attention to the life you already have (or to making it a good life without a soulmate) might be just the thing to DO your way to an attractive, self-confident way of thinking.

My Tarot Valentine: Don’t Romance Hangry

It’s a reflex.

It’s so easy that it is almost impossible to stop yourself from snapping at loved ones when you are stressed, cranky, tired, hangry or pushed to the limit by whatever. It’s proximity, just like the nerve reflexes your doctor checks with the little rubber hammer thingy. Particular nerve reflexes are wired so that they basically short out across the spinal cord and bypass the brain entirely. Your leg moves with the hammer boink without you thinking about it or willing it to do it…or not do it. It’s the same brain-bypass that lets you snap your hand back from a hot pan so you don’t get burned.

Reflexes bypass language editing centers. I don’t know about you, but when one of those injury avoiding ‘ouch’ reflexes happen, it is usually accompanied by at least “OW” and usually a swear or two. Reflexes happen faster than cognitive processing, they don’t go all the way to the brain and have a shorter distance for the nerve impulse to travel, for a simplified way to look at it.

The same is true when we are under stress. It is quick and easy to take it out on loved ones because, with any kind of luck, they are relatively close at hand. The stress has a short distance to travel. If you are the stressed one, it is hard to stop yourself from doing that. If you are the one in the splash zone of your loved one’s stress, it is hard to stop yourself from getting reflexively defensive and splashing a little bit too.

I’ve learned this from my spouse who is a freaking saint to put up with me my crankies, but taking care of yourself is an act of love for the ones you are closest to. Get a nap, have a snack, whatever it is that works to manage your stress…DO it. You’ll be doing a favor for your own mental health as well as giving a token of affection to those who you love…and who love you.

My Tarot Valentine 2021: Look to See

There us a feeling of newness and if expanding horizons. I think I see why the feeling to reach for the Heart of Stars deck (by Thom Pham, all rights reserved, used with pefmission). Superman ties today’s card to yesterday.

Remember how the Devil card hinted that it is far better to put your energy into being happy alone than to tie yourself in knots just for the sake of being in a relationship? It is better to be alone than to make your partner bear the weight of the relationship by hoping they’ll change or be different this time. It’s ok to be counterculture especially if that gives you the wherewithal to be loving and compassionate yo yourself and to others. Plus, perhaps more importantly, self confidence is sexy. Dare to be comfortable in your own skin and happy in this present moment.

The “superperson” in this case is someone who has conqured that. Imagine it us someone who has eeked out just a little more of that self assured, right-here-happy energy. This might be a hint of new love to come or a deepening of live already here.

The three of wands has a watching quality. Everyone wants to be seen and heard. Attention nourishes all types of love. Attention is a potent aphrodesiac if that is the kind of mutual relationship you are in.

Give your full attention to all those you love the most.

My Tarot Valentine 2021: It’s been a devil of a year

That’s fitting.

If there is a time in history for the Devil card to be the first Tarot Valentine’s card of the season, I suppose this would be it. The separation imposed by the Pandemic has been a devil of thing for a lot of people, especially those with very social or extroverted personalities. This year you can go out with your love interest and risk their death. At least it seems so here in the U.S. where so many people have done so many things so wrong.

If there is advice in this card in this context, it would be the same as every other year and Valentine’s season…don’t let loneliness drive you into making bad decisions. Never go into a relationship that you know isn’t right or safe just for the sake of being in a relationship with someone. Lonely hurts, but alone isn’t lethal.

In a sense the advice is also to be a Devil. Not to other people, but to preconceived ideas. Be a pink hearts and lacey romance rebel. It is OK to be alone. It is OK to not be in the mood for kissy kissy romance after the past year. It is OK to be an dark expresso latte in a candy heart world. Harm none, and do what thou will. Find love in what is, not what is wished for.

YouChoose Interactive Tarot: In, Out & All Around

Personalize your Tarot reading:

  1. Take a deep breath, clear your mind and relax as best as you can in this one moment.
  2. Watch the first part of the video and pick a card from the three taken face down from the deck
  3. Choose left, center or right purely on impulse, or if you want more time pause the video then restart to see the reveal.
  4. Read below for your card’s energy

Taken together, the three cards talk about perspective and problem solving. This week is about finding the answer that is already inside, finding an answer outside of the box, and being on the lookout all around for a problem that sneaks up behind and needs solving.

The overall energy is sluggish and slow. It isn’t brick-wall kind of blocked, but feels thick, and just this side of stagnant. Be patient. It might be an annoying slog, but we’ll get through it.

Left: Three of Swords. This card is part of the reason the Swords cards have a little bit of a foreboding reputation. You can’t solve a problem or avoid a trap unless you know it exists. The danger isn’t dire, but warrants your attention. This card always seems to carry an energy of manipulation and petty power plays. Watch your back. If something gives you the creeps, or someone makes you feel uncomfortable, pay attention to that. Follow your gut in that respect.

Center: Eight of Swords. Also dire-looking, this card is already trapped, bound, feeling overwhelmed and helpless. It is less so in this deck, but in the Pamela Smith artwork for the card, the swords are less evenly spaced, leaving an out that must be gingerly sensed, so the woman does not cut her feet if she is to find and use the gap, the way forward to escape. “Careful, shrewd VERY out of the box thinking” comes to mind and may be what is asked of you in the near future.

Right: The Hermit. Just because it isn’t fun doesn’t mean you don’t have things well in hand. If you picked this card, you already have an answer that you need. You may well have what you need already. The trick is to drag it out into the open. Find a way to shut out the distraction and the noise. Not to go all Dune on you, but look within. You already have what you need, it is just a matter of sorting through the noise and clutter to find it. Set boundaries, say no, find some me time to do just that.

At Least Equal

The ancestors connected at distance using the arcane device known as a “telephone.” Conversation is a minimal connection with our fellow human beings, especially during times like these when in-person companionship isn’t available. Connecting through communication is such a deep and primal need that we have put new technology to that use ever since new technology consisted of banging on a drum or lighting a fire.

Communication is not separate from intuition. If we can speak our insights and feelings across a table , we can bang them, flash them, write them, phone them, video them or email them. We have used intuition at a distance from the beginning. Think “sacred scrolls.” Scrolls are ancient communication at a distance. Intuition and spirit made them sacred.

I’m not saying an email Tarot reading is a sacred scroll, but it goes to show that Tarot at a distance is at least equal to an in-person reading. Arguably, in our time, distance readings have the advantage.

Before the pandemic we were busy, and distance tarot is convenient Tarot. You buy the thing whenever you want, and read the answer whenever you want. No appointment is needed. Distance readings flow seamlessly into your schedule, no matter what your schedule may be.

Because of the pandemic, distance Tarot is the safest Tarot. COVID can’t travel to you through the internet. (Wear your mask! Watch your distance! Wash your hands!)

Distance Tarot is authentic Tarot. You know that it is pure intuition, and not stage mentalism or a ‘cold reading’ based on body language or your answers to leading questions. Your questions are welcome before you order, in your order, and after the reading. Every email reading includes a follow up for any questions that come up during the reading.

Distance Tarot is affordable Tarot. I don’t maintain an office or rent space in a store so I can pass those savings on to you. All of my prices are flat rate, not per minute so you know your full cost up front. Compare my $40 seven card readings to other hour-long sessions.

Tarot, as a whole, has never been mainstream or like other so-called ‘normal’ businesses. That unconventional nature has always been and advantage, but never more so than now, during these unexpectedly stressful times. Distance Tarot readings are arguably better than in-person sessions. They are certainly, at the very least, equal.

Order distance Tarot 24/7, no appointment needed HERE

Today’s Tarot: A Little Ruckus

Into every life a little ruckus must fall

This card doesn’t feel cautionary at all. If anything, it is encouraging us to jump in. The idea here isn’t combativeness or a conflict based on an external threat, but rather teamwork and mutual problem solving. The energy is basically “healthy competition.” I’ve don’t have any personal experience with team sports but I’d describe the feel here more like a scrimmage or an intramural tournament sort of thing rather than out and out competition with other teams.

Practice makes perfect as the adage goes. There is also a bit of a fire drill feeling here. No actual threat at the moment, but practice and prepare the tough stuff as well as the easy. A paramedic instructor once told me “prepare for the emergency and the emergency goes away.” Preparation and knowing what to do turns an emergency into just something you have to do, just really fast.

Ruckus is going to happen. A little practice, training, and healthy competition takes some of the scary out of it when it does.

Reminder: no appointment needed for distance Tarot. Order any time, 24/7.

Email tarot includes a photo of your unique cards (I shuffle, draw the cards and take a picture just as if we were in the same place together). You can then read the card interpretation. With video distance by email, the link to the video comes by email (the file is too big to attach to email directly) you see the card draw and listen to the interpretation. Both include the “psychic summary” with crystal and aromatherapy suggestions. Both email and video distance readings are available on the home page using secure PayPal buttons to purchase. For fastest service, please send your name, and topic/question/open reading request by email or by using the “contact merchant” button at checkout.

YouChoose Interactive Tarot: In Your Head

Make a general internet Tarot reading more your own.

  1. Take a deep breath and clear your mind as best you can
  2. Pick a card: left, center or right
  3. Choose on impulse or if you need a minute simply pause the video and restart when you are ready to see the reveal.
  4. Listen to the rest of the video and read below to get the full message for your week

It’s all in your head

When we put it that way, it has a dismissive, judgmental quality, as if we are blaming someone for making up an illness rather than acknowledging the fear, anxiety or mental illness that might be underneath it. Actually, something being ‘all in your head’ might be a good thing. Some pretty nifty stuff can happen in there.

Individual perspective can be a powerful thing. Shift the paradigm for a minute, and your whole world can change – at least for that minute. “All in your head” isn’t simply an out of hand dismissal of a hypochondriac’s complaints. Neitzsche put it that “There are no facts, only interpretations.” Or as Tim Burton put it “One person’s craziness is another person’s reality” Of course, there is Morticia Addams’ “What’s normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.” and my favorite, J.K. Rowlings’ Deathly Hallows Dumbledore line “Of course it is happening inside your head Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?” Perception so influences our interaction with reality, some have argued that perception is reality.

Put together, these cards remind us of that. Individually, the card suggests which lens of perception is the best filter to fit the energies for you this week.

Left: King of Swords. Swords are connected to the element of air, mental ability, intellect. Try to let your head rule. When you feel a rush of emotion, that is your cue to stop…look…analyze. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot, throw the baby out with the bathwater, or cut off your nose to spite your face or any of those other classic cliches. In Feng Shui, fire destroys metal, so don’t let passion rule intellect this week.

Center: Queen of Cups. If you selected this card, your individual advice is the opposite of the King of Swords. Cups are associated with the element of water, our closest relationships, intuition and emotion. If you chose this card, let your heart lead the way. Logic and science are important, but they don’t rule affairs of the heart. Love is love is love. Let the intellectual guards down, and let your heart out to take a peek around. Take a sip from the cup of life and humanity, then give a little back to the community well. Some small act of caring for another living thing, even watering a houseplant or fixing someone a favorite meal, or forwarding a cat picture on social media just to say hi…any and every little thing … feeds your heart as well as theirs.

Right: Ten of Pentacles. If you have been reading along, but chose this card, your call is to do both. This card has a very balanced, contented feel around it. Ten is the largest number card of the suit. Pentacles (in some decks coins) speaks to the physical and realm, so this max-coin card may bring a little money luck BUT it is also a reminder that money can’t buy love or happiness. Use your head to manage physical realm money and career things, but look to your heart when dealing with private live and loved ones.

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Today’s Tarot: Love Upside Down

Everybody loves the love card.

The Lovers card from the major arcana has a reputation for being the big romance card, the one that means THE one is on the way. Not so much. Sure, the Lovers has a big, passionate, lustful, torrid romance energy around it but it doesn’t necessarily connect to a meaningful or lasting relationship. The lovers represents any strong desire, any lust we may have in life.

If you are hoping for a long lasting, satisfying, really meaningful relationship, then the two of Cups is the card you want to see. As I read the cards, Cups reflect our closest relationships. It might mean marriage, but it could also be children, parents, closest friends or any of your most inner circle.

If you are hellbent and fixated on finding that special someone, then reversed two of cups is the worst possible news. That aspect of life is hitting some bumps in the road. It doesn’t mean you’ll never get married, it means that other important relationships that aren’t marriage related are suffering or that the energy flow to do with marriage is slowed, blocked, or otherwise problematic (probably because of the hellbent and fixated part.)

Any relationship, even the ones in your life that are already loving and committed can hit rough patches. Anyone can get on anyone else’s nerves. It’s only human. If you are in a relationship and you see this, don’t panic. Give the love of your life a little extra TLC. Or a lot.

If you are in a relationship that is in real trouble and you see this card, don’t panic. Look inside. Is this really news, or is it confirmation of what you already know but don’t want to admit? You may be asked to give love to yourself, to healing, instead of to another person for a time.

If you aren’t in a marriage-like relationship but really want to be and you see is card, don’t panic. Just put your energy, love and attention into something else. Don’t chase, attract. Magnetize. Live. Be. Let’s just say it. Content and self confident is sexy.

Attract love to you by turning your cup upside down. Call love to you by giving love to people and things that are already in your life right now. A cup has to turn to pour. Love is the one thing you get more of by giving it to other people.