Tag Archives: tarot cards

What the Witch Told Me

The name “The Worst Blog” turned out to be pretty accurate because I have been absolutely terrible at posting here. There have been things I wanted to post about–my first solo backpacking trip, my move, seeing Hamilton–and I’ve mentally drafted posts about those things, and never gotten around to opening up WordPress and writing about them. Partly because of doing all those things, I’ve been lacking in mental energy.

Today, now, I’m tired, but also restless. Like so many of us, I’m feeling scared and disappointed and furious about the outcome of the US Election. Like slightly fewer of us, I took my troubled heart to Salem, Massachusetts, aka Witch City. (Listen: I don’t have time to talk about the heartbreaking irony of a town that killed 20 people for alleged witchcraft turning it into a tourist destination.) A few friends and I had been planning this trip since before the election, and we decided it would be a good way to distract ourselves for awhile. We decided we might get our tarot cards read. I’ve had my tarot read once before (it’s one of the only things I’ve actually posted about on this blog) and I enjoyed the experience. (Side note: it is weird to look back at my post about that experience now! So much of it was about big change, and I’ve had that for sure. I also wrote this: Haha I’m totally fine and not at all worried about the 9 of Spades. *builds blanket fort for the rest of 2016, just for fun and totally not out of irrational fear* I guess I basically had the right idea!)

Also, I never posted an update on this blog after my WTF Are You Doing Post, so ICYMI: I successfully moved to the Boston area and got a great job! But at the time of my last tarot card reading I was preparing to move but hadn’t told too many people yet. But the reading was really reflective of that mindset. Obviously, I was in a very different mindset when I got my reading this week.

Anyway, again, I’m not saying I necessarily believe anything mystical is happening with the cards, but it’s a fun, self-reflective exercise. Kind of like a combination of a BuzzFeed quiz and a non-licensed therapist.

Salem has no shortage of tarot card readers and any other manner of psychics, witches, and mystics. Like good millennials, we looked up Psychics and Astrologers on Yelp, but since pretty much every place had at least 4 stars and we didn’t really know how to judge the reviews, I decided we should just visit a few places and judge by ~vibe~. (And also cost: the places with the most famous readers charge upwards of $100 per sesh, and we were not about that life.) The first place we went to, I rejected because the reader who was in was a man, and I don’t want any men telling me my secrets. The second place I rejected because the person at the desk seemed extremely uninterested in us and also it smelled weird. The third place advertised that Katy Perry had done a love spell there, and also they did a fundraiser for the animal shelter and blessed all the animals with magic, so obviously we went there. (It was Crow Haven Corner, although we did not meet with Lorelei, but rather one of her less-experienced budget witches.)

She asked me if there was anything in particular I wanted to know about, and I said I was feeling generally panicked about the state of the world and wanted advice on how to proceed. First, she had me shuffle one deck and pick one card that would represent my ~theme~ for the year.

Tarot Card - Grace

I got Grace, which she told me was about accepting things I can’t control. WITCH, PLEASE

I mean it’s maybe good advice for my personal wellbeing but also, obviously, not quite what I wanted to hear; I wanted the card for setting the world on fire. But I suppose accepting the things I really can’t change with grace gives me more mental energy to devote to the things I can change. #SerenityNow

Anyway, after I picked one card out of that deck, she did a Celtic Cross reading with a different deck.

Tarot Card Spread

 

The first card I got was the Moon, which is apparently about reflection and confusion and mystery. A LITTLE TOO ON THE NOSE, CARDS.

I don’t totally remember the order everything else came in; I do remember the Queen of Wands represents motherhood. She asked if I wanted to become a mother, and I said NOPE, and she said I had better be careful about birth control then because I’m very fertile and there’s a spirit near me that wants to come into the world? (It’s probably Duarte though.) Also, maybe I’ll change my mind about motherhood when I’m in a good relationship. SURE. She also said the Queen of Wands means I make good decisions, which I obviously do, which is how I ended up a tarot card reading on a weekday afternoon.

When the Lovers came up, she asked if I’d met anyone recently, or started a new job. (No and yes.) She told me both that I either had recently or would soon meet someone who would be a good ~love connection~ for me, and also that I would have a good partnership at work. (The second one is definitely true!)

The 8 of Pentacles means a period of hard work; she described myself as planting seeds in the ground that would pay off later. I also got the 8 of Wands which is also about working and planning. I also had a lot of Wands which in general is about creativity and determination. Specifically she told me I should do more graphic design work? Which I never told her what my job is but I had just had multiple conversations with co-workers about doing more flyers and Tumblr graphics at the library…so that was weirdly on target.

What else…she said my last relationship ended because the man wasn’t mature enough for me, which I think is true, but also is probably true of like 90% of man-woman relationships, like you could just stand on the street corner and tell that to random women and you’d only be wrong if they don’t date men.

Also at the end of it, she asked me to please write a good review on TripAdvisor because she could tell I was a good writer, which made me laugh so much. But also: I will. I will do that.

Anyway, it was a fun, reflective experience that left me feeling somewhat invigorated about the days to come! The overall combined takeaway, for me, is a combination of accepting the things I can’t change with grace, and working hard to change the things I can. The second part is where I need to put in my work, of course–the tarot card reader didn’t really tell me anything specific on how I can un-fuck up the world, but, you know, that’s on me. Right now I’m reading widely, and listening, and signing up for local community justice lists to make sure I hear about protests and other opportunities to effect change. I’m setting up recurring donations to causes that are important to me. I’m making sure that I’m working to make my library a safe place for all of our community members.

Also I bought this spell candle because it’s worth a try, right?

spell candle

I hope you are all doing as okay as possible, and doing whatever kind of magical or Muggle self-care you need to do to carry on and keep doing the work!

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What the Tarot Card Reader Told Me

Last weekend, my book club had a tarot card reader come to our meeting and have sessions with each of us. I’d been excitedly talking about it, and a lot of people were curious about it. So I thought I’d post about it. (Plus: this way I can keep track of the predictions.)

So, first of all: am I a ~believer~ in psychics and tarot cards and the like? I think I can best characterize my feelings thus:

I Want to Believe

I have a mild interest in ghosts, psychics, and the like. I’ve been on at least three ghost tours in my life. I know most of this stuff is definitely fake, but it’s fun. And who am I to say that all of it is fake? I think everyone, myself included, knows at least one seemingly well-adjusted person who is 100% sure they have experienced a real ghost. Who am I to say they’re definitely lying?

Also, this tarot card reader is someone we know from her storytelling at our local The Moth storyslams, and she explains that the tarot and other readings are about identifying patterns and putting your own narrative to them. That makes sense to me! And I already knew she was a good storyteller, so I figured I’d be in for an entertaining session even if it was completely inaccurate. I’m not necessarily going to make any big lifestyle changes based on my tarot card reading, but it was a nice chance to reflect on my current life situation.

My Tarot Card Reading

Here’s my tarot card spread! It was done with regular playing cards, which I knew was a thing because Gambit from the X-Men does it sometimes. Here’s a random website about it if you’re curious. I don’t remember all the details of what each card means but here are some general things:

  • The diamonds are about money. If you’ll notice, my first four cards were all diamonds and she told me some pretty specific things that were true… three of diamonds means a raise or promotion, and I had just received a small (but appreciated) raise at work. The Ace of Diamonds is specifically about contracts and legal documents and that I should be careful with my taxes this year… I had just been thinking about how Worst Bestsellers made a small (but appreciated!) amount of money this year and I’m not sure how to deal with that, tax-wise.
  • Spades are about “digging deep”. (I see some other websites categorize spades as “warning”, eek.) She told me that I’m at the end of a 9-year cycle and that this year of my life should be about evaluating things and discarding things that aren’t working for me. (Very Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. That’s actually a process I started last year but stalled out on, and have definitely been meaning to finish KonMari-ing my apartment. Guess this year is the year to do it!)
  • The four of hearts means a journey, and according to my tarot card reader, the Ace of Spades means Cancer, which is one of my birth signs. (I’m a Gemini-Cancer cusp.) She told me that those 2 cards in combination suggested that I push myself out of my comfort zone by traveling, since Cancer is traditionally a homebody sign. This is very true for me, particularly with the backpacking trip my friend Anna and I are planning for this spring. (Also, some of these other tarot card/playing card websites I’m looking at now say King of Hearts is Cancer, but hey, I’m not an expert, and whatever it is, the meaning she derived rang true to me.)
  • Jack of Spades means change, which goes along with the theme of discarding things that aren’t working for me.
  • I don’t really remember the top three cards. Doing some googling now, I see that the 9 of Spades is widely considered a super unlucky card, which was definitely not mentioned to me. WHAT IS SHE HIDING FROM ME. I mean, I’d say it’s probably because our tarot card reader was very chill and into spinning the reading as an opportunity for reflection and evaluation and there’s not much point in telling someone about their possible upcoming bad luck. Anyway, there’s no way to control luck, so it’ll come or it won’t, I guess!
  • Haha I’m totally fine and not at all worried about the 9 of Spades. *builds blanket fort for the rest of 2016, just for fun and totally not out of irrational fear*

Also afterward she addressed us as a group and said that we had a way higher than normal number of zodiac cusparians in our group and that could explain why we’re all drawn together! Our friendship is written in the stars.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun and genuinely got some good food for thought from my first tarot card reading. If any of you reading this are local-ish to Louisville, KY, let me know and I will happily give you her name because I definitely recommend her services.

 

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