How can a tarot reading be anything more than a parlor game?

The tarot deck is a collection of images that reflect the primal inclinations that all human beings experience. The great historian, anthropologist and mythologist, the late Joseph Campbell, often talked about how incredible it was that all of Earth’s different cultures had a collection of primal images. There were either used as a sacred collection of art, part of religious ceremony, or as a means of recording the laws of the Creator.

Tarot Classes

Joseph Campbell collected tarot decks throughout his long life. At the end of his life, it was concluded that he had owned the largest and rarest of all tarot deck collections. His ancient decks illustrate how various parts of the world created similar collections of images before discovery of each other or any means of intercontinental communication existed.

The late Orson Wells, writer, director and magician, cited the reason for his amazing skill with playing card tricks was that he simply memorized the location of each card and was able to track all of the cards during each subsequent shuffle and cut. Orson Wells had the I.Q. of a genius and was able to perform on a conscious level what was noted and recorded by his subconscious mind.

It is the function of our subconscious mind to record all activity that we perceive with our senses. It serves this function to insure our survival amongst predators. Orson Wells beautifully demonstrated the value of tarot cards. Our subconscious mind knows the location of each card and keeps track of each card’s location as the deck is shuffled and cut.

This being the case, it is imperative that you examine the deck of cards, card-by-card, before shuffling and cutting. In this way, your subconscious mind can register which cards it will use to show you the contents of your psyche as the cards are laid out in the spread.

The best results are achieved when you know how the cards will be laid out before you begin to shuffle. In this way, your subconscious mind can communicate to the conscious mind regarding the manner in which the cards should be shuffled and cut.

Many tarot readers believe that this is not necessary as their subconscious minds are already aware of the position of each card based upon the last reading that they did. They simply clear their own minds’ agendas, and perform the shuffle, cut and layout as a surrogate for the client’s subconscious mind. This seems to be a suitable alternative for readings performed over the phone or by email.

Dr. Carl G. Jung, coined the term archetypes as a name for these primal energies depicted on the tarot cards. The archetypes are the aspects of God or Universal Consciousness that comprise our soul … our psyche. Having a means to communicate with these various aspects that generate our feelings, inclinations and instincts gives us a way to know what our spirit really needs us to do so that we can be happy and healthy. Tarot, astrology and guided imagery are wonderful tools that you can use to speak to your archetypes.

Let us assume that in coming into this life, Spirit picked a story that would best help us develop certain aspects of awareness through our experiences. What if we could become conscious of that assignment? We would be able to recognize the forks in the road and where each road leads? We could fall into step with our highest path. We would know what we need in order to grow and what we need to release. We could identify our true teachers, friends, and occupation. We could also discern who is likely to test us by tempting us off our true path.

Of course your soul already knows all these answers. Most people can tell you that when they took that wrong turn in life they felt some part of themselves screaming inside. Our soul seems to communicate to us through our feelings and bodies.

Consider the bride who stands at the altar with her stomach all in knots. She contemplates saying no. It is an exciting thought. She could be free. Then she thinks about all the people in the church. She convinces herself that it will be all right and if it is not, she will just get a divorce. She does not see that the altar is her fork in the road. She does not really check in with her feelings as to where each road will take her. Two babies later, it is obvious she has to leave to save her sanity. The experience has given her a lot of wisdom, but at a price of a lot of pain.

Would she have chosen to marry this particular man had she known the story that she was playing out? Probably not. Her myth is Aphrodite Betrayed. Had she known that the purpose of the relationship was to recognize true love, she probably would have opted for awareness and taken the alternate path of self-knowing that would lead into a greater realization of wholeness.

She chose to get to wholeness by sacrificing her power to husband. She made him the keeper of might and wisdom. He accepted the responsibility of determining her worthiness because he felt worshiped by her and he enjoyed the additional power, but in the process he lost his respect for her. The power she gave him to make her his queen is now turned against her as she falls from grace.

Had she chosen to stay single until she knew herself better, she would have discovered her own inner power to declare herself a queen. Both roads lead to wholeness, but one is full of hardship and the other is full of joy. If we view her choices as two movies, the first is Michelle Pfeiffer in Married to the Mob and the second is Cher in Moonstruck.

Sheri and Stephanie offer tarot readings by telephone and email.  Typically, a question requires around 15 minutes to answer.  It helps if you phrase your question in a way that it can be answered with an image.

For instance, instead of asking, “When will I meet my life partner?” it is easier to ask, “Will I meet my life partner this year?”

Here is another example.  Let’s say you want to know where you should live.  Rather than ask, “Where is the best place for me to live?”, it is more effective to give the tarot reader a number of probable destinations and then she can pull a card for the outcome of moving to each of those cities.

Sheri’s rate is $180 per hour.