The Diviner

Shining Tribe Tarot, Pollack 2001

I've been thinking a lot lately about where I want to go with my tarot reading service. I have found that writing daily about tarot for this blog, working on my own with the cards in my personal practice, and doing email readings for clients on this site to be quite satisfactory for me. In fact I was featured for my low-key business model in this article. But now I'm ready to move more deeply into this business of helping people. I want to reach out more to others. I want to share the wisdom and insight of tarot to a wider audience. In short, I am ready to expand this enterprise. I have been journaling about it, visualising it, and setting intentions for it. Today I've drawn a card from Shining Tribe Tarot that features - no surprise - a diviner.

The diviner in 6 of Stones received insight from 5 sources of inspiration - a crystal ball, dice, cowry shells, ogham stick, and a rock whose natural markings create a rune. The sixth oracle is the diviner herself, for as Rachel Pollack says, we become part of whatever reading we perform, and the very act of divination changes us in profound ways.

I guess there aren't many people who think as a child, 'When I grow up I want to be a tarot reader.' I know I wasn't one of them, though I have always worked in the helping professions, counselling and liberal arts.  When I bought my first tarot deck, I had absolutely no idea that I would ever use the cards for anyone other than myself. I looked upon them as a meditation tool. I had no idea how endlessly complex and applicable they were to every possible permutation of the human experience. I certainly had no idea that I would one day read the cards for others, and that they would be helped enough by the readings to keep coming back for more.

I wonder if anyone other than a reader knows how much soul searching goes on in reading for another person. I myself consider it a tremendous responsibility and an honour to be involved in this way in the inner world of my customers. I take this responsibility very, very seriously. I work quite hard on the readings I provide by email. In my opinion, an email reading is in many ways superior to a live reading. I say this because I know how much energy I expend in trying to make, for lack of better word, a psychic connection to the customer, and how much consideration I put into how I word the reading. Even though I know the basic gist of a reading as soon as I turn over the cards (and what you see on this blog are my initial ramblings to myself about my own daily draws), I  spend a lot of time thinking about how I'm going to put the reading into words for my customer. The written format allows me to follow up on things that pop into my head during a reading. I get flashes of insight from many sources during a reading--song lyrics, Bible verses, quotations from books, films, and TV, characters, myths, art, etc -- and in writing, I have the chance to go and get those items - to include an exact quotation, provide a link to a You Tube clip, add images, or anything else that flashes through my mind as a way to communicate the message to the customer to get my message across. I also find written readings superior because the customer has a permanent record of the full reading and does not have to rely on memory. He or she can keep the readings and look at them again and again. The customer can journal about their reading, use it to create lists, use it as the basis for creating a dream board, etc.  In fact most of my readings include suggestions for further thinking, journaling or actions. To me, a reading is just a starting point. Next comes action.  Often in a live reading, neither the reader nor the customer can recall exactly what was said, and that's a shame, in my opinion. I do live and Skype readings, and they have an appealing immediacy and energy and can be very moving and meaningful. The written reading can be equally as powerful, and also provides its own record.

A tarot reading can also be light-hearted, humorous and fun. It can bring both deep insight and a sense of playfulness. In fact, it is when we allow ourselves to be playful that we make our most profound connections.

Today, then,  I continue to think about growing my reading service.  I know the power tarot has to clarify thinking, to galvanize, to empower and to guide. I love being the conduit through which this wisdom comes. I want to do more and more.

If you have ever been touched by anything I have ever said on this blog, if it has entertained you, if you have ever had a reading from me that helped you, if you have never been here before but feel compelled to speak -- say something to me. Email me or comment. I welcome your words.