Tag: tarot

Zombie Cat

First published 27 April 2015

“People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint – it’s more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly… time-y wimey… stuff.”

– Doctor Who in the “Blink” episode written by Steven Moffat.

There are two words that make me cringe a little when I read (or hear) them in a Tarot question: “Will” and “When”.

Predictions and time are knotty subjects in this work.

Predictions are actually a scientific thing. A scientific prediction is, in essence, expert opinion about what should happen based on existing data and past results. For example, we can predict where in the sky Mars will be a year from now based on laws of gravity, planetary motion, existing observations and so on.  As I understand it, that is the kind of “prediction” that a law of physics or scientific principle has to be able to make in order for the principle to be considered valid within the scientific method.

Science spends so much time and energy bashing and demeaning “psychic predictions” when they are, in essence, the same as the scientific kind of predictions.  The psychic reader is an objective observer, knows human nature, and can see trends that the person getting the reading may not see. A Tarot reader can predict where things are going in a relationship just like a scientist can predict where Mars is headed over the next year. The only real difference is psychic predictions are based on non-linear logic and de facto  psychology instead of linear logic and hard data.

And that is looking at it from a very superficial, everyday experience point of view. This is Isaac Newton kind of stuff. It’s like predicting that when an apple detaches from the tree, it will fall down. What if we go a just a little bit quantum about it?

Think Schrodinger’s Cat.

In theory, once the experiment is set up and started, the cat could come out of it alive or not. But why not both if you are into zombies? Or neither one if the cat suddenly ceased to exist? Disappearing / Zombie Cat could happen…it’s just extreme magnitudes of unlikely as I understand the BBC Horizon Series’ program “Parallel Universes” (hosted by Dr. Michio Kaku, based on his book “Parallel Worlds”)

When the moment of discovery is still in the future, the possibility and attendant probability exists for all outcomes. In the mysterious and undetermined future, all four conditions exist, even our unlikely disappearing / undead pet. Can you predict which way THAT is headed using nothing but your brain and handful of Tarot cards? If you “predict” the more likely dead vs alive construct, is that psychic or science? If you predict Zombie Cat, is that quackery or was the intuitive vision simply dialed into a different part of a far flung multiverse?

Zombie Cat may well exist out there. We don’t know because multiverses, as the video says, is unproven. No-cat and Zombie Cat might be out there, but they just don’t make the jump from possible to probable to IS, at least not in this world. All potentials exists until “the wave collapses” and the moment becomes NOW instead of future, and then slips instantly into the past. Now and Past are fully collapsed probability waves. They exist – ska-doosh! – done deal, nothing to predict. The future on the other hand, that’s a different animal still.

Now, just to make things really interesting, let’s introduce Zombie Cat to Alice the Vampire.

In the movie Twilight, the psychic vampire Alice could see the future insofar as people have decided what they want to do. If someone changes their mind or changes their action, then her vision changes. She can predict but with uncertainty. Her predictions are predicated on the course people are on, not any one fixed outcome. Alice the vampire’s visions and Zombie Cat’s existence are a matter of probability, not “accurate prediction.” And so it is with Tarot and psychic readings.

Let’s say our cat has human-like intelligence and has a choice rather than being a victim of circumstance as in the classic thought experiment. Using the Einstein gunpowder version of things, what if there was some choice the cat could make or some action it could take that would keep the gunpowder from exploding? What if it could disconnect the fuse? Now how do you make predictions under that set of conditions?

Imagine your psychic vision was of a dead cat? (a 50% probable outcome in the original experiment.)  What if the cat heard you make that “psychic prediction” and blew out the fuse when it otherwise wouldn’t have? Was the prediction wrong? 

Will you get that job? I dunno. Did you apply for it? Update your resume? Schedule an interview? Check the classifieds for other options? (What has the cat done to keep the powder from exploding) Has the person doing the hiring made any decisions or taken any actions? (collapsed the probability wave)

A reading can’t predict a specific outcome, but it can give you advice and it can help you make decisions that nudge the probabilities of getting the job in your favor such as be flexible (4 of swords), emphasize your skills and experience (The Emperor) or show you’d be a hard working team player (3 of coins). A good advice reading is like the psychic yelling at the cat in the thought experiment bunker to blow out the fuse to improve the chances that it won’t blow up.

When will you get married? I dunno. The future is just as wibbly-wobbly as the Doctor told us. But Tarot can give you ideas about how to bring love and happiness of all sorts of things into your life. Intuition can help you make the best possible choices along the way, not predict what lies at the end of the road.

If you do nothing, take no advice, make no choices, then it is all just a coin toss. You might get anything from an explosion right up to a Zombie Cat. But who knows? Meeting a friendly Tarot reading Zombie Cat might be a lot of fun.

Next time: The Ghost of Zombie Cat

Videos by Minute Physics, via youtube.com creative commons permissions Please watch! I highly recommend them!

Inspired by “Test Tubes and Tarot Decks” episode of Menage A Tarot Podcast April 2015

100% Accurate Predictions and a Big Cube of Jello

First Published 8 October 2015

Readings help you to own your choices so that fate and the future won’t own you.

ALL predictions are 100% accurate. ZERO predictions are 100% accurate. Both. At the same time. If you are a Doctor Who fan, you might say making predictions is wibbly wobbley timey wimey kind of stuff.

Time is dimension all its own. Just like space is one big thing, time is all one big thing. All of time exists all at once…right now, the part you will experience in the future, the parts you have already experienced in the past, and parts you will never experience at all. A “prediction” is an intuitive impression…a thought…a non-psychical glimpse of that non-physical thing we call time.

If the “psychic” impression connects to a point in time/space that you get to experience, the prediction proves accurate. If it comes from a point in time/space that you don’t experience first hand then the “prediction” seems all wrong – even though it is perfectly accurate for somewhere and some-when completely different from us. The multi-verse is a big place, bigger than time itself. Anything is possible out there somewhere. Just maybe not here, not in our little region of Time/Space

To borrow an image from “Star Trek”…. any given prediction might be 100% wrong for you – but 100% accurate for your goatee wearing evil twin from an alternate universe. There is no way to tell the impressions apart or to direct intuition to specifically YOUR timeline…because any little itsy witsy teeny tiny choice you make can change the course of your timeline drastically enough to point you away from itty bitty speck of tim/space that was predicted. Time/space is too deeply connected to pull out that kind of granular detail. One bit of jello is much like another.

Imagine time as a giant cube of gelatin. Imagine your life is a thread wiggling its way through the middle of the cube, moving and shifting an tiny bit with the choices that you and all who affect you make. Imagine you are a little spark of glitter moving along that thread. Time is always passing for you. Intuition and predictions can come from any part of the whole cube. The prediction comes from X location within the cube, but suddenly the thread wiggles over to Y location. The prediction wasn’t necessarily wrong at the time it was made. Just wrong for the direction you are moving a little bit after the prediction was made. Things changed just enough to put the “prediction” outside of your range of experience.

You control your thread’s wiggle…not the jello. That is what Tarot, “psychics” and spiritual advice is really all about. It isn’t about telling you exactly what is ahead on your ‘thread’ it is about helping you nudge and wiggle the thread in the direction you want it to go. 

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Q&A: Are Tarot Cards Demonic?

First Published 5-27-15 Updated 3-24-19

devil

Q: Are Tarot cards demonic?

A: No.

Hell and demons are religious ideas, so religious people might give you a different answer. As I see it, religion and spirituality are totally different things (see Ghost of Zombie Cat post) . I believe that Tarot is a combination of science and spirituality with religion having no part in the process. No religion, no demons.

The scientific part has to do with resonance and vibration. Think of guitar strings. Pluck one string and it vibrates at a certain frequency and makes a certain note. Twang a different size string and you get a different note. If two separate strings are tuned to the same note, then you can play one string and the other vibrates too, making a similar sound along with the first one (resonance). Tarot cards are the guitar pick, not the note. The guitar string you choose and play sets the tone for Tarot experience you have and any resonant energies that come along with it. If you vibrate on the demon note, you have a bigger chance of resonating a “demonic” experience. If you vibrate at the “guidance” note then that’s what you’ll get.  The old adage of “you get out of it what you put into it” has a sort of literal truth here. Expect hellfire, and you might get it. Expect happy, and you might get that too.

To put it into spiritual terms, all you have to do for a demon-free reading is fill yourself with love and light, or ask for protection from some higher energy / protective power. I love J.K. Rowling’s image of a “patronus” in this context. Think about it…the shape of your inner light protects you. What shape would you want your inner light to take? A trembling mouse or a roaring tiger? Who would you want between you an the minions of evil? A clergyman or Ironman?

Here is a powerful image from Joy Star’s newsletter (used with permission.) Think of a house on a dark night. Imagine the house filled with cheery lights and a cozy fire in the fireplace. If you open the front  door what happens? Does the outer dark come rushing in and extinguish the light, or does the light pour out of the open door and illuminate the dark? This isn’t saying that the dark doesn’t exist. It doesn’t mean that houses can’t lose power or that disasters don’t happen to people who “think positive” all the time. This is the real world. Of course bad stuff happens. But good stuff happen too. If you fill yourself with light before opening the door then you can see what is hidden without the darkness coming in. Fear and superstition turns your lights out. When you are afraid or angry, then dark meets dark at the door.

The spirit world isn’t all sunshine and roses. Natural forces that are out of our league and there are negative energies from ill-intentioned people. You can protect yourself on spiritual level the same as you protect yourself on a physical level by putting on a raincoat during a storm or staying out of dangerous places alone at night. The most important protection is simple intention. Intent  is a very potent thing. Before you do any magick or spiritual or energy work, very clearly set your intent to only act in safety for and with the highest and best good. Plus don’t forget you are not the only person on Earth who resonates with energy and divination. Read, arm yourself with knowledge. Get advice, learn from other people’s experience in order to explore in safety. An excellent start is reading Psychic Protection by Ted Andrews.

You have probably heard of the ‘spiritual law’ that “Like attracts like.” If you are hopeful, you may attract something inspirational. If you are afraid, you may attract something frightening.

By the same token, if you are genuinely afraid of the cards, then don’t deny or minimize that. It is what it is. If your religious beliefs are in conflict with Tarot readings, then simply find your guidance another way. From my side of things, it is incredibly difficult to do a good reading for someone who is so conflicted about Tarot that they can barely hear what the session has to say anyway. Tarot is a great tool for learning, but it isn’t for everyone. If you are seriously worried that Tarot cards are demonic, “occult”  or that you’ll burn in hell for having a reading…then you need to find the right kind of guidance for you. Why put that kind of stress on yourself? For Tarot to be helpful, you have to let go of something. Either let go of the religious notions of demons and damnation, or let go of Tarot as a way for guidance. Either is fine. They just don’t mix, like oil and water.

Tarot cards aren’t demonic. It’s WAY worse than that. Tarot cards are reflective. Tarot cards aren’t evil, they are a mirror showing you life’s harsh realities. Choose fear, see fear. Choose love, see love. Choose courage and compassion and see something beautiful.

My reading style is calm, reasonable, no-drama and never occult or scary. I’ve done more first-time readings than I can count. If you would like a safe, no judgement, religion-free way to try a Tarot reading, a five-card email reading is a good choice. Very private, very convenient, very affordable. Order HERE

National Letter Writing Month

I suck at writing letters.

So OF COURSE I’m celebrating National Letter Writing Month.

If I’m negligent about writing personal letters, it’s because it hard to think of something interesting to say besides SSDD written in big crayon. So let’s give ourselves something to talk about – TAROT!

Handwriting has been niggling at me lately, hand in hand with learning about Sigils. I’ve known and used the power of the written word for myself for, well, decades. Journaling, affirmation writing, setting energy, a written word form of sigil work. It’s all been a very positive experience. I can’t promise it will work as well for everyone, but I’m still going to put some of that positive mojo into my Tarot work as a whole.

“InkMagick Sigil Tarot” is that Tarot-meets-writing combination. Each reading is hand written (as legibly as I can muster, calligrapher I’m not) and includes your uniquely drawn card, the interpretation, a “sigil” or symbol or doodle or something non-verbal given by spirit or intuition, then wraps up with a positive affirmation statement based on the reading.

I can write it in my “Rocketbook” which converts the handwritten page into a PDF document, so I can email it to you.

OR I can send it on honest to goodness old fashioned ink on paper. I charge a little more for those to cover the cost of paper, postage, and the side trip to the post office.

Getting letters is as much fun as sending them. More, actually. So I’m more than happy to e-mail from clients and readers. Here is a contact form to make it easy for you. Say something! Please!

Have a good weekend – R.

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Parallax

Originally published 5-27-2010

“Camera 1, Camera 2, Camera 1, Camera 2” ~ Wayne’s World 2

Ever play with that trick of eyesight? Close one eye, and hold up a pencil so it lines up with an object in the distance. Then switch eyes and the pencil seems to jump to one side. Things don’t line up the same way.

In astronomy, this is called parallax. In anatomy, this phenomenon where the brain combines two slightly different views from two slightly different viewpoint gives us depth perception…it allows us to see distance. Two eyes lets us live in three dimensions. It helps us to not walk into objects and learn our environment the literal hard way.

A similar idea is true in Tarot and psychic work. Getting a reading isn’t predicting the future…it is getting a second look, a separate viewpoint to combine with our own that lets us see with greater clarity and understanding. It helps us be a bit more perceptive, and not have to learn every lesson the hard way.

Two third-eyes are better than one, in other words.

Even those of us who do readings professionally will sometimes GET one to improve our understanding and fill in any blind spots. 

I like to think that when psychics read for themselves or consult a fellow psychic, it works like binocular vision. Two readings from two people gives two views that can be fused together into a higher quality, more useful vision.

Another example is the VLA, “very large array” of radio telescopes. It is made of 27 or so radio antennae all linked together to work together like one big dish, one configuration is over 20 miles across. Working together, the telescopes have capabilities magnetudes more than any individual telescope. If we combine our logic, know-how, and life experience to work together with oracle tools (tarot, runes, palm lines, what-have-you) and other intuitives, we can increase our understanding and spiritual growth by magnitudes.

If one eye is closed, then depth perception doesn’t work. If one telescope is down, the array doesn’t work as well. We each bring our part to a reading. The sitter (learner, seeker, client) has a part to play too. When we do a Tarot reading, we work together. I translate spirit, but it is up to you to understand and apply the message. We work together like the telescopes in the VLA or two eyes together to see farther. Working together, we see with more clarity. Together we are clairvoyant.

 

Lessons Learned: Tarot Without A Net

I think Heart of Stars Tarot is excellent deck. The idea of a Tarot deck that intersects with pop culture is just brilliant, and in this case brilliantly executed. I hope to see more of Thom Pham’s artwork or future decks.

As much as I enjoy the deck, working through it card by card reading each at first sight without looking at the accompanying book hit a wall. It is a great Tarot exercise, but after the first handful of cards started to get repetitive. The post series was about the technique and the experience not the card meanings themselves. The method is eezy peezy, and doesn’t need a 78 card explanation. It was a fun experiment but I’m over it. It’s a good deck, and I’ll be using it for “Today’s Tarot” posts but not with this particular spin.

What I learned as a Tarot Reader

  • I don’t know movies nearly as well as I thought I did.
  • I enjoy this deck and will use it here in the blog for other posts, just not with this particular spin.
  • Experiencing a new deck is different as an experienced reader than it was as a beginner. It was hard to look at any one card with fresh eyes. Other meanings, other readings, and past experience came along for the ride….as it should. The whole point of experimenting and learning is to bring that body of knowledge to bear on new readings in order to do our best work for ourselves and our clients.
  • There are a variety of ways to engage a new deck, and they are all equally good, and all very hands-on.

There are probably as many ways to get to know a deck as there are decks and readers. My best advice is choose from any one or combinations of methods, depending on how the deck instinctively feels in your hands. The experience of exploring a new deck is far more driven by in-the-moment intuition than it is by something regimented and methodical. Or it is for me. If regimented works for you, follow THAT intuition, follow that guidance. Here are some ideas that I’ve used.

  • Pull a random card daily, then think about the meaning given by the author (or your favorite reference if the deck doesn’t have the infamous “little white book.” Think about the card and the given meaning as a “daily meditation” type exercise. This is a great way to learn Tarot reading in the first place, even before you invest in your first deck. I explain how you can do that in “PeaceTarot” ($2 e-book, here) If you get a repeat, just put it back or just try another draw for another card. OR stay with the repeating card to see if you are picking up on some other facet of the card that you missed the first day.
  • Try this same thing, only going methodically card by card. When you pull randomly often there are repeats depending on the energy of the day. This introduces every card with no repeats. I found this to be a little tedious, but it works.
  • Browse the cards in one big sit-down. One card a day takes forever it seems, but you get a deep working knowledge of the deck. If you are an avid deck collector, that might not suit you. I like the daily method because I very seldom get new decks, and only use one or two regularly. But I know a lot of readers who are avid collectors. I can’t blame them. There are some truly beautiful, enchanting, fascinating decks out there. This is where the “without a net” technique really shines. Look through a new deck card by card. Gaze at each card a minute or two and see what spontaneous intuition you get from the card. That’s how I knew the Dugan/Evans Witches Tarot was my favorite to date. I fell for the color palette at first sight, and the impressions came instantly, clearly, easily even with pictures online.
  • Do a card interview. Ask a deck about itself, or ask about your work with it. One of the best things I’ve read about new decks is from Kate over on Daily-Tarot-Girl.com. It may seem a little crazy the way we readers anthropomorphize our cards and the way they take on personalities. Arguably, it is just psychological projection, but so what? Right tool for the right job I always say, so right deck for the right job goes too. If B.B. King can name his guitar Lucille, I can have a tete-a-tete with a stack of cards. For example, my Black Cats deck resonates with yes/no readings…probably because of the connection with “Zombie Cat”. Animal Wise Tarot is just for me, and NOT for clients. Withes Tarot loves reversals, and I take them more seriously from that deck than others. Tarot Illuminati is very chaotic and can be overwhelming, so that deck asks to be approached ritually, deliberately, with a clear head. My RWS deck is very social and loves a party. I tend to use that deck for parties more than individual readings for that reason, plus that is the diva celebrity performer deck because it is so recognizable to the public at large from movies etc. I have a sneaking suspicion that Heart of Stars wants to be my blog deck. I’m so grateful for his kindness in letting me photograph and use it.
  • JUST USE IT. Jump in with both feet and do some readings for yourself. When you feel comfortable, then you can roll out the new deck for clients (if you read for others at all). This gives a hands on feel and works within your comfort zone. It is still basically an interview with a deck, but more subtle. The deck shows you what it is all about rather than telling you. Different angle, same result.

What I learned as a blogger and a writer:

  • Always be prepared to sacrifice an idea to the editing gods. Leave it on the editing room floor. It’s better to make an interesting single post than to force a finish to a series that just isn’t working. Let it go.
  • Symmetry and completeness are less important than good communication.
  • Readers first.

For energy and cyber-feng-shui reasons mentioned before, and a zero spam tolerance, I’m not accepting or publishing comments through the blog…BUT I am always happy to hear your thoughts by e-mail. Let me know what you think about getting to know a new deck.

Question of the Day

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Auuugah! Abort! Abort! Abort!

I love science.

We’ll get into the superficial, seeming contradictions between Tarot, spirituality and science some other day.  For now,  Imma indulge my science loving geek girl side.

In the words of my all time favorite TV show, Mythbusters, “Failure is always an option.”

Only ideas that are confronted can ever change. The best way to challenge an idea is to kick the tires and take them out for a test drive. Also known as an experiment. Tarot, holistic health is based on experimentation and science. Ok, ok I can practically hear your eyes rolling out there. True enough, the 100% accurate predictions, promise to fix your love life, only see me and send money crowd doesn’t pass the smell test, scientific or otherwise. True enough, you can’t objectively measure and double blind control subjective things, but that hasn’t stopped psychology has it? Neither should we intuitive folk be cowed by science snobs. THINK about it. Tarot has been in use for problem solving, personal enrichment, stress management and defacto therapy for hundreds of years.  That is a heckuva data set. Everyone and their uncle weighs in on Tarot etc. Those skilled in it write books and practice it, skeptics harpoon it (with and without reason) and charlatans exploit it, but it is clearly doing SOMETHING or people follow the empty promises so easily and they wouldn’t spend their hard earned money on it so consistently. The difference between the good the bad and the ugly falls to ethics. Science celebrates the ethic of honesty as much as we do.

Honesty meaning admitting you have failed. That’s always an option, remember? Not only is it an option, it is something to be celebrated. My favorite part of watching “Meet the Robinsons” with my daughter is when Lewis’ invention fails. Everyone cheers. Everyone is thrilled for him. “From failure you learn. From success, not so much”

So why am I opining about failure? Because I’m pulling the plug on the “Tarot Without a Net” series. It isn’t a failure as a Tarot exercise, but it is kind of a bust as far as being an interesting blog series for you to read. I encourage you to watch Phil Plait’s TED talk below. The first lesson of failure (even tiny ones like this) is admit them to move the larger body of knowledge forward. Admitting failures is an ethical imperative and an important part of science…and Tarot.

Read More: Lessons Learned from Tarot Without a Net

Tarot Without a Net: The Chariot

I feel a movie mistake coming on, but I can make up for it with a double pop culture reference.

I’m guessing this is Ben Hur, with what I’ve heard is the most epic chariot scene ever filmed. Again, I haven’t seen it, except the chariot clip on award shows and such.

At first glance, it gives all the classic impressions associated with The Chariot: the need to focus, to be in the moment, give your full attention to something.

The gladiator image really catches my attention though. It expands my thinking about the card, actually. I see the gladiator presentation in terms of a warrior. As a martial artist (a little Kung Fu back in the day, now it is very casual, occasional Taijiquan and Qi gong) I’ve always kind of wondered which Tarot card would be the best “warrior” card. I don’t think you can narrow it down to one card, really. The whole concept is complex, and takes several cards to touch on all the philosophical facets of “warrior” especially in the honor/busidho sense of things. This comes very close, however.

Martial artists and warriors often meditate. According to curiosity.com Navy Seals do breathing patterns akin to yogic and meditation practices to enhance calm.

Calm, focused, in the moment, paying full attention to the task at hand…all traits that warriors and chariot drivers share (chariots were, after all, used in battle too)

Now for the artist’s guide…I’m curious to see if it really is Ben Hur.;;;\

LOL nope….Achellies in the movie Troy. Ah well. Haven’t seen that one either. But that is fine by me….I still like the artwork, color, composition of the cards even if I don’t get the exact movie reference

WHICH, by the way, is an excellent insight into how Tarot works overall. Spirit/energy/intuition might not give us the EXACT information of the message, the reading might not predict your true love’s hair color…but the essence of the message always somehow makes it through.

Oops…oh well. Puts me in the mood for that other pop culture reference. I liked the cartoon “Jimmy Neutron” as much or more than my daughter did. In one episode, Jimmy and Hugh go camping leaving Mrs. Neutron alone for the weekend. Her response? Gather up the dog and break out the cookie dough and gladiator movies. That sounds pretty in the moment…as in ENJOYING the moment….to me.

Wishing you a wonderful moment right here, right now.

Tarot Without a Net: The Lovers

PicsArt_03-08-11.01.16.jpg

*Spoiler Alert*

The boat sinks.

I’ve never seen “Titanic” and precisely zero interest in ever watching it. I don’t care for romance movies, and from everything I’ve heard the movie has a disturbing lack of comedy and/or spaceships.

I have no idea why the artist picked this image to represent heart’s desire, or even lusty romance. I’m not feeling a lot of connection with the deck through this card, probably from my impression of the movie it represents way more than the card or the artwork itself.

The Lover’s is an interesting and often misunderstood card, thanks to the movie mythos that the lovers card means a hot romance is on the way with the marriage of a lifetime soon to follow. In my experience, the card is far more abstract than that. It is more akin to “I love ice cream” than the handfasting, marriage, committed, soulmate, love of a lifetime energy that we see in the Two of Cups. The Lovers symbolizes the hot flame that burns short rather than the enduring ember that burns long. Don’t get me wrong, there is some connection, because many if not all long lasting relationships start with SOME sort of spark. Maybe that is why the artist chose this love story from a movie. Maybe the movie portrays a hot romance that gets cut short by a quick dunk in the north Atlantic. Still, it niggles at me that it is wrapped up in a romantic relationship. The Lovers card can be more than that….which is saying something considering how enormous romance is within the human heart. And that’s with leaving the hormones out of it. Like everything there is a two sided yin and yang of it. (See “Arcana in Balance: The Lovers from the Tarotbytes archives).

It isn’t to say that lust, sex, love, desire and full throttle joy of living is bad. Quite the opposite. On one hand, all of those things are part of normal human existence and is as worthy of acceptance as any other emotion. That physicality and abject hedonism is certainly one part of it, but it also transcends the physical. On the other hand, the desire Lover’s card can extend far beyond the realm of romantic relationship. It touches our careers….do we earn our living doing something we are passionate about? In that way The Lovers card asks us to consider our purpose in life, our raison d’etre, our calling if you will. Emotionally it touches on satisfaction, contentment, and emotional needs being met. Intellectually, it touches curiosity, enthusiasm, and voracious learning. Arguably, passion resides in the mind as much as the heart or the hormones. You can be a passionate bowler, or stamp collector as well as being capable of passionate romance. You can be passionate about anything. Love is a big concept that encompasses all sorts of things.

So lets pick up the book and see what the artist has to say:

Whew! Even though we differ in movie taste, the basic interpretation is similar. He also talks about emotions, the joy of living and loving what you do. The connection to the card is similar (it is a fun to get that kind of validation every now and again, even if you have been  reading Tarot a long time) even if my connection to the movie represented is obviously quite different. That is the danger of using pop culture references in Tarot. Not everyone has seen every reference or interprets the reference material the same way, even if the intuitive engagement with the Tarot card itself is identical.

When a pop culture reference comes up in a reading (regardless of the deck I’m using) but the client either doesn’t know the reference or responds to it differently than the message and card intend…the thing to do is drop the reference like a hot potato. When that happens you either have to find a different cultural reference that does communicate the intended message OR leave references aside and use your good old fashioned vocabulary. Adjectives are our friends. References like these can be wonderful communication tools, but they aren’t worth holding onto so tight that the reading suffers.

 

New Stuff on the Way!

TaoCraft Tarot is still evolving to serve you better.  You can order email readings right from the home page with SECURE PayPal buttons. Mala and Reiki orders coming soon. Come back often to check out all the updates, tweets and changes that will make TaoCraft your one stop shop for Tarot, distance Reiki, tutorials, and more.