A Traveling Light

I was 16 when I bought my first deck of cards. I don’t even know where to begin talking about how investing time in learning to read cards has enriched my life. And my own philosophies on card-reading are a whole other post in itself (like this one, or this one!). So I’ll just offer a couple of highlights regarding what I’m grateful for in my own personal evolution with respect to reading cards: 

I love that reading cards has helped me see more clearly what sort of contribution I want to make to the lives I touch. When I was very young, I dreamed of developing my intuitive gifts for the sake of being able to share “cool” information with whoever sought my someday-services. That is, I hoped to tune in to truths they already knew, just to “wow” them with the universe’s potential for psychic wonder, or perhaps that I could drop fun facts on them about their past lives. I didn’t think that all very far ahead, wasn’t reflecting on what value such a gift might have, aside from wowing and offering reassurance. (Which ARE gifts and DO have their place.) The main point is, I was missing something back then in that I wasn’t setting my mind, instead, to how I could access intuitive insights to HELP others.

However, as I grew older, working for years with the cards, I started to see how it is even more rewarding, enriching, exciting, and empowering to access and share insights that help others see life’s possibilities and their own hearts’ truth.

Yes. That is what I like doing when I read cards for others. And that is what I hope to do in life in general.

I also love that reading cards, often, helps me come back to my OWN heart’s truth. In moments when I feel like the options ahead are overwhelming (7 of Cups moments, in tarot speak!), and I haven’t been in-touch enough with my inner being to approach decisions clearly — or to understand my own wants, needs, and intuition clearly (High Priestess reversed moments!) — I appreciate that taking time to contemplate the cards can often help me reconnect with these inner treasures by providing themes and symbols for me to reflect on. The soul speaks in symbols. ALL of communication, in a way, is symbolic. Tarot fits quite nicely into this.

On that note, there’s also the fact that I feel a sort of “affinity” with the world of the literary, and tarot has a strong “literary” feel. I love how this complements both my interests and my life experiences. Tarot is rich with archetypes, themes, and symbols, all connected to the universal human condition, and explores how these appear in our individual “stories.” This approach appeals to so many sides of myself. The mythology-buff child. The writer teen and adult. The girl (now woman) who always loved to read, and to mine stories for their “deeper meaning,” their “subtle messages,” their “lessons,” and their connections to still other narratives, in a cosmic web of everything-connects. (Harmoniously, somehow, somewhere…)

Tarot cards seem to echo all of this. Besides, tarot’s very functioning incorporates a lot of synchronicity and the act of reading “signs.” Which prompts a person to appreciate the Universe’s potential for synchronicity even more… and reinforces one’s ability to perceive and interpret “signs” thereby… which means, hence, that the live wires of communication between ourselves and the universe become yet more “alive.” Indeed, reading cards has expanded expanded upon the bank of symbols and metaphors through which life is able to communicate with me. I am thankful for this. 

And I cannot forget the human element: reading cards has helped me bond with some of my favorite people over the past few years. Discovering a friend who read cards, or sharing in another friend’s discovery of tarot, has always been exciting. Some of my favorite memories are of reading cards together with friends on their living room floor, or at a cafe, or on a beautiful campus lawn in my old college town. The people I have known who’ve been drawn to tarot have been thusly drawn for the self-inquiry and self-discovery element. This says a lot about the people in my world: beautifully committed to self-awareness and the cultivation of their own kindest, most peaceful and empowered selves. I appreciate very much that my life has been so full of such wonderful people.

I deeply appreciate, as well, how life has brought me opportunities to read cards for others, including for pay. This allows me to work towards supporting myself WHILE sharing a gift that:

1. allows me to help others
2. quite often energizes me
3. reinforces my intuitive development
4. helps me stay connected to my spirit and
5. teaches me a lot for my own life — If you’ve ever read books by or spoken to readers/healers, you will find that some of them claim the messages they’re prompted to deliver from Spirit at any given point in time often reflect things that they THEMSELVES have needed to understand or learn for their own growth or healing. This happens to me with tarot as well — and for that, I’m deeply grateful. We are all learning here together, after all. 🙂

Some of my favorite or most meaningful memories and encounters connect to moments involving tarot cards. Years ago, when I first noticed something amazing happen as if in “response” to my having begun to read cards professionally, I reasoned that the beautiful, serendipitous encounter to follow was a sign of reassurance from the universe that reading cards was something I was meant to be doing, a reflection of my true self and the way it wants to “be” in this world. What it wants to give. Where it wants to focus its energies. Therefore, I also reasoned, reading cards helped to align me with that true self — a vibration on which anything beautiful could happen. Perhaps that is superstitious of me, but I do believe that we stand to attract more of what we love when we are living what we love. Embracing our souls and their joys.

And for my soul, doing readings seems to be one of those things. I guess I should embrace that. 😉

In grad school, among other points in my life, I often found myself sitting with my deck(s) of cards for hours at a time. It didn’t matter if I had lots homework or research waiting for my attention; for me, it felt more rewarding to examine the cards, study their meanings, study myself, study my soul. A career counselor had once pointed out to me that the things we do gladly, for free, are the things we should probably consider doing as an actual job. I never saw tarot as a potential job, but I’m glad that I changed my ideas about that over the years. Offering readings professionally has been deeply nourishing for my soul. I now see those “wasted” hours of neglected homework as meaningful, worthwhile preparation for an aspect of the career my soul knew I would eventually move towards, within a few years’ time. I’m glad I followed those urges. I’m glad I let my soul move me towards its deeper joys.

I’d like to become more adept and intuitive as a reader; when I read cards, I still feel a lot of my old analytical tendencies from grad school and from my literature-focused college years. I’d like to feel more of my intuition in the process than I currently do. But I am thankful for how reading cards has already helped me navigate my own intuition more comfortably. And I am grateful for the journey I’ve been on with reading cards already. What this journey has taught me. The opportunities it has brought me. Especially the ways in which it has helped me to connect more fully with my spirit — and, in turn, how it has expanded the ways in which I might spread love and light within this world.

Here’s something for your own reflection:

What helps you get in touch with your own intuition? What helps you to point others in the direction of their own heart’s truth?

By the way, if you’d like a tarot reading, you can contact:

• me, via Etsy. I’d love to read for you!
• my cousin Samantha. She can blend astrology and Jungian insights with tarot insights (just WOW!). Email Samantha at samanthadeandrea (iCloud) or reach out on FB.