A lot of little girls go through a "witchy phase". I'm certainly no different. My spiritual practice has ebbed and flowed over the years, from tying knots in a ribbon to summon the wind on the playground to sitting through a special lecture series on magic and religion as an undergrad, but my fascination with the occult has never faded.
Growing up in what I can now see was an extremely conservative household in an extremely conservative suburb in an extremely conservative state, you can imagine I didn't feel I had too many outlets for my interest. My childhood best friend introduced me to tarot when I was 14, during my second phase of occult and psychic practice. We were convinced the abandoned house at the end of our street was a nexus of dark power; that one of our classmates was a psionic necromancer, and that we each had an untapped reserve of power we could use for both protection and offense.
None of this, I think, is provably false.
But then she moved, and I lost the only other member of my two-person coven. Other interests waxed, and the next time I returned to tarot, I was on my own. The bulk of my experience has been reading for friends and family, and much of that guided by what I knew of their lies beyond my tarot table (or carpet, or bookshelf, or whatever surface was handy).
I'm 95% self-taught, in other words. This forced me (or allowed me) to rely on the cards themselves, to trust in their art and my own intuition to provide the most valuable information in that moment. Because at some point, it stopped being something I did with only close friends. Friends of friends started asking, people I didn't know well. I branched out beyond my starter deck and bought The Dragon Tarot from a now-defunct bookstore chain. I carried it everywhere I went in anticipation of being asked for a reading--which didn't always happen, but it's better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it, right?
And I kept learning. I learn and improve with every reading I give. That remaining 5% of my learning? That's all you. Yes, you.. And I'm grateful for every chance I get.
There are limitations to what tarot can do. It's no substitute for medical care, nor should I be considered a replacement for a mental health professional.
SERIOUSLY. If you feel you are in the midst of a medical or mental crisis, please call 911.
But what I try to do for my clients is what I like to call a "psychic snapshot". It's reading their state of mind in the moment, and laying out possibilities for their future. It can be seen as a springboard, or a lifeline, or just a friendly chat. The one thing I will say for certain I can't do, is predict the future.
Here's the thing: information empowers us to make choices. The more information you glean from my cards and me, the more choices are available to you. And with every choice you make, your future changes that much more.
So no, I don't have all the answers. What I do have is a deck of cards, and a talent for paying attention. Feel free to stop by.
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