How Tarot Came Into My Life

In 2001 we moved to California from Michigan for Omar to being a job in Silicon Valley. Until I found part time work I was alone most of the time. Even once I found part time work I spent a lot of my time on my own dealing with chronic pain. Seeking friends and community I began to attend the church of my upbringing located closest to our apartment and joined the young adult group for social interaction. I assumed that I would find people with whom I had things in common due to our shared background. This was not entirely the case. It’s a long story, but the activities of the group weren’t things I was generally interested in. Then some in community began to pressure me about why my husband didn’t join me. He was busy with work and beginning a masters program AND we were not from the same religious background. Finally, on Easter when Omar joined me for Easter Mass the priest cornered us after service and asked Omar if he were Coptic. Omar didn’t know what that even meant. I had to explain it when we got home. I was angry at the ambush. I had previously told the priest that my husband wasn’t a Christian. The next time I saw him (the priest) at the young adult meeting group he admonished me severely for marrying outside of the church. My response was to leave the church and not return for many many years. My eventual return and repeat exit is another story that has little to do with this story.

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Once I left church I was free for the first time in my life to truly explore other avenues of spirituality and practice. I had been to many different houses of worship growing up. My family always had encouraged me to attend services with the families of friends if I spent the night or weekend. And that experience had always been interesting to me. But I had never really been given the opportunity to question my Faith and traditions of origin. Leaving the church as an adult under these particular circumstances opened me to the buffet of differing spiritual tables that exist here in California. In particular I found The East/West Bookstore in Mountain View. 

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At East/West I found books on all kinds of esoteric topics and traditions. I devoured books. I attended lectures and workshops. I was introduced to Reiki. Through these events I was introduced to other venues, practitioners and classes. Through the chain of serendipity I ended up in a meditation and spiritual practice class (in San Mateo) focused on the text, Anatomy of the Spirit by Carolyn Myss. The instructor did work as a spiritual counselor that included tarot reading and chakra balancing and was an author herself. She also used her own texts in class. She instructed about the concept of “Golden Light”. Golden Light is a frequency introduced to this plane and dimension as a result of the Harmonic Convergence. It is a spiritual gift of the cosmos that was until that time not available to our consciousness in the here and now. Some practitioners who had done Akeshic research prior to the Harmonic Convergence (August 1987) theorized 

about Golden Light entering the spiritual spectrum and what it’s effects might be on human consciousness. As of the early 2000’s the theory was widely accepted among New Age and other spiritual communities.

 

I found these ideas and histories fascinating and much of what I was reading about and learning resonated with me and my own personal spiritual experiences. At the beginning of each class the instructor had us pick a card from a tarot deck. She discussed and taught about the history of tarot and the archetypes and traditions surrounding different decks and lineages of traditions. The card we chose at the beginning of each class was used as a point of reflection for each student. We discussed the traditional archetype each card represented and then were asked to reflect on how that archetype was present in our life. It wasn’t a way divining or fortune telling. It was just a different point of reference for self reflection and improvement. Having been raised in an environment where the accepted choices for seeking help were the church or a traditional medical doctor I was excited to be introduced to a method that was so accessible, personal, and private.  Sure, I could choose to discuss my self exploration with someone like the instructor, and external support is often helpful and necessary for well-being. But, I now had a tool with which I could gain personal insight on a daily basis without being charged tons of money, over sharing with a stranger, or involve a hierarchical system that didn’t necessarily have my best interests at heart. It was liberating.

 

One evening I arrived to class early while the venue's shop was still open for sales. The display of tarot cards called out to me with it’s variety of artistic renderings and themes. I picked up the Osho Zen Tarot deck and was enamored with the Artwork, purchased it and tucked it in my bag. When I arrived home after a class that was otherwise unremarkable from the rest of the series I opened the deck and began my now more than 2 decade relationship with the tarot. I began by reading for myself and friends who were also learning to read. In this way I built a rapport with the cards, a personal vocabulary and language. I witnessed patterns and gained new insights, perspectives and ways of viewing life and its myriad situations. It’s not that the cards help me predict the future. They don’t and I don’t claim or care to know such things. The cards give me a different way to look at life. They challenge me to step outside of my comfort zone and consider different points of view. Once I was able to do that for myself I became able to offer such service to others as well. 

 

I don’t tell the future with my tarot readings. I offer perspective on the present. It is important to acknowledge and respect free will. This is the true gift of Western Astrology and spiritual tradition; the acknowledgment of free will. Once you have a new or differing perspective on a matter you are free to make your own choices about how to proceed. My tarot readings are not instruction or direction. They are perspective meant for consultation and entertainment purposes. I am not a therapist and do not expect or seek therapy from the cards. That would be madness. It is a manipulation to be told that anyone can see your future in an inanimate object. While it is true I have had dreams from time to time that turned out to be prophetic, that is something all together different. My dreams are not in my control the way a deck of cards is, and I can’t know with any certainty if and when a dream is prophetic. That is only reveled in the moment the event from the dream happens in reality. A dream is not a promise, and neither are the cards. Nor should they be treated as such. 

 

These days I read three decks. In the future I may pick up others, but I’m not currently on the market to add to my portfolio of decks. In addition to private readings, for more than a decade I have been doing an annual NYE reading for the state of the globe at midnight as a way of starting the year and taking inventory of where we stand as a species. This is now a ticketed event you can attend at 1UV. Click here for event information.