Tarot and the Art of Divination

    Few people know I read Tarot cards. This is a semi-secret I have only shared it with those who are not weirded out by superstition, think it’s demonic, or are just plain skeptical. My interest in Tarot began when I was eighteen. A boyfriend at that time took me to have my cards read. Being a strong intuitive, I was impressed by this reader’s prognostication abilities. For my eighteenth birthday he gave me my first Tarot deck. I was off and running.

    Living in an intuitive and psychic world is tough. Our world is mostly fact and formula based with people who easily dismiss us. Intuitives, especially ones who have psychic abilities, are frequently looked upon as odd, strange, different, and tend to be outcasts. From an early age I learned to keep my intuitions and psychic abilities quiet to avoid impeachment and ridicule. Finding an avenue for my intuition and unique sensing skills has been a blessing. Of course, I use my intuition and sensitivities in other ways, but I reading Tarot is my forte.

    Reading Tarot is not easy, at least for me. It is an emotional experience to see someone’s inner and outer life splayed for all to be revealed. Because of this, I do not read professionally and am selective for whom I will read. For example, my boss knows I read and has tried me to do a reading on her for years. I have refused: I know a land mine when I see one. Frequently, sensitive information is divulged sending my querant (the person for whom I am reading) into varying states of affectability. No one is more aware how careful Tarot information needs to be presented than me. As a sensitive, I also absorb my querant’s disposition. It can be as emotional for me as it can be for them.

    Doing a reading is not what most people think or expect. Most people are afraid they will receive dire news about an impending death or tragic circumstance. This is rarely the case. Tarot cards simply tell a story of what has happened recently to shape the person’s life, what are their options, and where this might possibly lead. I read in a unique style involving thirty-five cards arranged in six lines. Each line tells me part of their story. By the time I get to the sixth line, I get a global picture of the person’s life. The reading is usually only applicable for three to six months. It is more of a snapshot than a fixed picture.

    Another caveat of reading Tarot is I have to be in the right frame of mind when I read. Intuition, for me, is not something I can easily turn off and on. Don’t ask me how I know when I can read, I just know.  When I am willing to read, the less I know about the person the better. Though I will read occasionally for friends, it is difficult to sometimes separate my relationship with them to be objective. Editing is always an issue the more one knows the person.

    Last week I read the cards of two coworkers, one was a woman new to my department, the other a colleague with whom I have previously read. These were two very opposite readings but both were very emotional. The first one was for my new coworker, a Chinese woman in her forties. I knew virtually nothing about her, insisting she not tell me anything prior to this reading. Her cards were very easy for me to read. (This is not always the case, sometimes I have to tell people I cannot read or interpret what the cards are telling me.) Her reading was about her complete dissatisfaction with her marriage, her desire to be divorced, and the cultural ramification for her to actually do this. She cried throughout the whole reading. I did not advise what to do or not to do-that is not the purpose of Tarot. What I brought to light was where she was presently at, what her primary concerns were, and what her obstacles were to overcome. She expressed to me how accurate this reading was and her gratitude for my skills.

    The second reading I did was for my colleague of many years. I have read her cards many times in the eight years we have known each other. The last time I read for her was about a year ago. This reading was not one I was welcoming but decided to do it at her bequest. Never in my forty years of reading Tarot have I read such a terrible first line, the line of what events have transpired recently to create the current environment. It was visually and psychically devastating to acknowledge the recent events which nearly took her life this winter. As I read her lines further, it was apparent she would rebound from this but not as quickly as she would like. The rest of the reading was a mixture of events she would be able to handle, though she will be haunted by this life altering winter for the rest of life.  

    Intuition is defined as the “direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process; pure, untaught, noninferential knowledge.” Is intuition fact? No. Intuition can be wrong, especially when confused with feeling. Do I ever withhold my intuitions? You bet I do. There are some things I do not think my querant’s can digest or comprehend. Is it a burden to know things I intuit may come to fruition? Yes, it is but I know no other way of being.