By Frances
I read a client recently. My typical no spread spread lately is 9 cards - 3 rows of 3 cards.
The cards were:
7 of wands * Temperance * 5 of wands
Wheel of Fortune * Hermit * Devil
King of wands * World * 8 of swords
The base was the 6 of cups with the Tower behind it. The deck was the Infinite Visions Tarot created and self-published by Gloria Dean.
The client asked about business. No details were given. You know as much as I did going into the reading. Look at the cards drawn for a moment and see if you can figure out what the reading was about.
This is an excerpt of the original reading. I began by telling him about a conflict that was around him that came upon him suddenly. It was rooted in the way he had chosen to conduct his work life. I felt immediately that he would overcome some of the obstacles known to him but that the initial trouble spawned other uglier messes that would pop up suddenly and require him to be flexible and to roll with the punches. He needed to cultivate balance and calm. This was not going to be an easy thing for him to do. He was going to have to make some tough choices but eventually he would and all would be well.
I felt he had chosen to concentrate on certain aspects of his career and business. He was paying attention to the sexy parts of his business and ignoring the whole. In doing that he left himself open to these problems and the success he was promised eluded him. This was a cycle he was repeating over and over again and he needed to stop making the same mistakes in his life. This was a wake up call. He had been given subtle nudges in the past but had ignored them and this was a much stronger warning. If he chose to ignore this warning I was confident all hell would break loose the next time! I felt almost immediately that his confidence in himself was being tested. This was about how he saw himself. How he valued himself. He needed to trust his instincts and strong intuition. He had to stop running his life and business the way he did and be open to the Universe. He had to close the door on the past and reinvent himself. He needed to take back his identity. He would be able to navigate these waves if he trusted his intuition, the right path would be revealed and a different level of success would open to him.
Where did I get that from? Look at the above cards. Can you see it?
In retrospect, I can't! Sure you can see tiny sparks of this or that but not the message that came through. Yet, I felt it all so strongly that I just let it all come out. It took me years to stifle my brain and logic from overruling my heart and soul. I have often had sitters come in and sit down and study the cards I pull and grill me on which card means this and which card means that. Most of the time it is out of their shear nervousness but they end up attacking with rapid fire questioning. I'm no shrinking violet but this can be annoying.
During my first year of reading pro this type of scrutiny would make me extremely self conscious. Who can read when you are focusing on yourself or the process? Think about driving a car. This is something you do instinctively. Sure when you first learned you may have gone through steps in your mind but can you imagine how tediously excruciating it would be to explain every tiny movement each and every time you drive? After years of experience with these jokers I know the only way I am going to be able to read is by ignoring them. My response to which card says this and which says that is always the same anymore, all of them and none of them. The cards are used as a tool for me to focus and connect. Nothing more and nothing less. That seems to keep them quiet for a bit. Maybe it's my words or more likely the look I shoot them. ;-)
The interesting thing with the reading above was that I pulled 6 more cards and there was the message that I had just delivered in detail:
3 of pentacles * Judgement * 9 of pentacles
Death * Magician
3 of Wands
I laughed aloud! Tarot never ceases to amaze me! My client cocked his head and waited. I explained that the cards just confirmed what I had already advised him. Serendipity? Or something more?
Have you ever done a reading without turning a card over? Try it. Maybe draw a few cards and then listen to your intuition, what message do you hear or feel? Maybe there is a tiny object in one of the cards that has you attention or that you haven't noticed before and it makes you think about something completely unrelated. Make note of that. It's important. These are how messages come to me. They are silent whispers. Some people feel, others see, some hear, I will just know something. How do they come to you?
Card images in both layouts are from the Infinite Visions Tarot created and published by Gloria Jean.