It's in the Cards!

2020 was a year that pulled the collective rug out from everyone and many of us went towards some esoteric things as we faced lockdown, fears, and the possibility that we could all die at once because a disease ripping through the world was bringing a real-life apocalypse to our front door. Some of us started baking, others knitting, a large number moved to the country to start homesteading and a few fell down some conspiracy theory rabbit holes, yet to return.

I figured since we were all going to die, it might be useful to take a class on how to talk to dead people, which introduced me to an amazing psychic who had a harsh message for me from a very dead celebrity.

Universal rules were in flux, and the only constant seemed to be that we were energetic beings, so I thought, why not read up on astrology and not only pay more attention to my sun sign, but also where my moon was located—it’s difficult to be accurate in astrology when you don’t know the exact time or date of your birth!

During this period, I also picked up a deck of Tarot cards that were given to me years before, bought a great book and started playing with them. Something about the cards captivates me: maybe it’s the images, the material presence of them—an object to hold and manipulate—or perhaps it’s the reams of stories behind each card. I love that they are so old that it’s difficult to pinpoint their origin. Over the course of the past few years, I bought a few more books and kept “playing” with the cards.

One of the delights I’ve experienced since moving to NYC is the people I’ve met, and one, introduced to me by my coach Candy Motzek, was Dina Berrin, a fellow coach and Tarot reader who’s had over 25 years of practice reading the cards. Her readings were awesome and blew me away, not by her predictions, which were accurate, but how she used the Tarot to deepen and enrich her coaching.

For my birthday this year, I arranged several classes with Dina and soon realized that the scope of what I didn’t know would fill the Hoover Dam. Since tutoring with her, I’ve gained a bit more wisdom and understanding—but more important, I’ve had fun. I’ve also been super spot-on with some of my readings, and it’s given me the confidence to do more. I’ve done a number for friends and family—some who’ve even paid—and it’s allowed me to better use some of the coaching tools I learned through my training with the Co-Active Coaching institute.*

I bring this up because today is World Tarot Day, which is a celebration of the history and uses of the Tarot. It’s also African Liberation Day, National Wine Day, National Tap Dance Day, and drumroll please, on this day in 1977 the first Star Wars movie was released in theatres. Oh, the connections I could make with these!

There are plenty of misconceptions about reading Tarot including:

· That you must be psychic to do it. You don’t, but I’ve had enough eerily accurate intuitions about people and situations in my day to believe I’ve got a spot of the shining.

· That you must memorize multiple meanings for each card to read them. Not so much.

· That Tarot is evil, or bad, or worse, hooey. Maybe it’s because there is a Devil card, or Death or a collapsing Tower, which gives Tarot a bad rap, but while they could be a literal interpretation of what’s happening in your life, more often they’re a metaphor.

Isn’t it amazing the difference in imagery of the two types of cards? The top is the classic Rider-Waite-Smith and the bottom is the Tarot of Mystical Moments.

Tarot is about storytelling and as a life-long storyteller, this is perhaps why it resonates with me. It’s about our journey through life and how we make sense of it, which honestly is what we were forced to do during the pandemic.

Today I threw a spread about my Tarot journey, and it starts out with the 3 of Pentacles, which is about my role as an apprentice of Tarot, and how I’ve worked with others to learn more. The next card is the 6 of wands, which represents where I am today, literally about my coming out as a reader and the victory behind that move. The next card is the 9 of wands which is where I go with the Tarot. It’s about resilience, persistence and creating boundaries around it as I move forward. The final card is the Ace of Swords. This is about the energy underlying the reading and Aces are beginnings. This one is about clarity, breakthroughs and the truth, which in this case, is my truth.

*I’ve been doing spreads for people and writing an in-depth analysis of what the cards are saying and the story behind their question, to help give guidance and bring clarity. If you’re interested, let me know. I’m charging my friends and family $50 for an in-depth reading and charging referrals $100.