By Jeanne Fiorini
This is what happens when you take your own advice and seek out a new perspective. This is what happens when the Saturn, Uranus, Pluto, and Sun aspects in your astrological chart battle it out T-square-style. This is what happens after months of soul-searching and second guessing; it looks like you turned on a dime but what really happened is that you finally said “uncle.”
People tend to call a phase like this “the dark night of the soul.” I believe it to be, as a wise person once said, more a case of the “dark night of the personality.”
I never really felt as though my soul was suffering, but my personality sure was. There were times I begged for my soul to speak louder so that I would know what to do.
It all just got too hard. All the ways I’d thought of myself in the role as Tarotist and Teacher and a resource for others, and then the clanging truth that these things were not supporting me. With a lot of loose ends yet to account for, one thing became very clear: while my commitment to work with and study and honor the Tarot had not changed, I had to quit being a martyr to it.
There was great pride in being one of very few people who support themselves solely by the Tarot, pride in being one of a hundred Tarot Queens, pride in not only having taken the road less traveled but in being on a road that many people never even heard of.
But pride doesn’t pay the bills … and pride was turning me into a real bitch. I got so sick of the same old whining tantrum in my own head I could barely stand myself. And so the week before Thanksgiving I did something I rarely do: accepted a kind friend’s offer to read cards for me. Reader, Heal Thyself!
On that Sunday the whole thing shifted. I was a teary mess in the morning and by evening a gusty wind was in the sails and ideas were flowing like the proverbial wine in the Promised Land. An idea had come forth with energy behind it, and it had been a looooooooong time since that had happened.
A personal organization business sprung out of that morning’s session with the Tarot: She’s NEAT. Practical Aesthetics for Home and Office. Offering de-cluttering services, space clearing, furniture placement/re-arrangement, closet organization, functionalization of work environments, and during the month of December, “holiday deconstruction services.”
Wouldn’t it have been nice to come home one day and find your holiday decorations all packed up?
But you all aren’t on the ATA site to hear a sales pitch about She’s NEAT. What I would like to convey here is that, while it might not seem so on the surface, the new business has quite a lot in common with the Tarot work.
Think about the concept of de-cluttering for a moment. We all know how it feels to be so scattered and confused that we feel paralyzed. We know how hard it is to make good decisions when our heart and head is spinning with puzzling emotions and sometimes conflicting agendas. I think we’d all agree that an effective Tarot reading de-clutters the mind, clears the air of misconceptions and helps sort through thoughts, feelings, and intentions.
By the same token and with similar dynamics in our physical reality, we can’t get out of the house in the morning if we can’t find our car keys, or date book, or grocery list, or whatever else it is we need in order to function effectively “out there.” Starting the day in a tizzy tends to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Turns out: neatness counts, in both inner and outer realms.
How about the “functionalization of work environments?” A Tarot reading helps us in our work life by clarifying the personal priority list, helping us better understand who we are and what our distinctive gifts and talents may be, and by providing useful tips about how be successful on our own unique path of expression.
Even with this information under our belt, it’s real tough to put our best foot forward in the “who we are” if we literally can’t find the correct tools or put our hands on an important piece of paper or locate a particular file on the computer.
An essential principle of feng shui is that a neat house is a lucky house. To my mind, this axiom runs in the same vein as “The Lord helps those who help themselves.” I don’t know about the “Lord” part, but “luck” doesn’t have anything to do with it: neatness sets an intention for order and abundance.
Ah, intention. Another common thread!
Things are just easier when we have a clear space in which to move and can find what we need in order to “git ‘er done.” Isn’t life simpler, too, when our “inner house” is in order, when we feel rested and peaceful and centered? I guess all this makes Tarot the” feng shui” of the inner planes….or makes feng shui the “Tarot” of the outer.
With She’s NEAT, I’ll be doing for the first and second chakras what I’ve done all these years for the third through the seventh: Providing order and clarity so that clients may move more effectively and confidently through life.
From this point forward I won’t be offering a column here on a regular monthly basis, but will pop in every once in a while when a topic burns to be addressed or if something amazing happens at the Tarot Table. Thanks to Sheri Harshberger for that, and for having me here for the past 4 ½ years.
In the meantime you can always check out my blog http://jeannefiorini.wordpress.com where posts are made regularly, or the TarotWorks Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/TarotWorks/200853963303222?ref=hl where you can find out what’s going on Tarot-wise in this corner of the world.
Thanks so much for your attentive ear, keen mind, and kind heart over these many years. Happy Taroting to us all!