With Gratitude, A Special Thanksgiving Edition
This week, the United States celebrates Thanksgiving. Part of what I’m thankful for this year is our worldwide tarot community. In celebration of that community and this holiday, I’ve asked my friend Steven Bright of Tiferet Tarot, based in the UK, to share his talent with us.
Steven has developed a special Thanksgiving Tarot Spread. You can perform this spread this week as part of your personal Thanksgiving reflection. Then, follow the link to Steven’s blog to see what happened when Steven performed this spread for himself!
Also in this special edition of my weekly newsletter, you’ll find my schedule of events for December, including information about my Holiday Open House.
A regular edition of my newsletter will be published next Thursday, with all your favorite features.
During this week of Thanksgiving, I hope you’ll join me in holding gratitude for the many blessings that are ours, and in seeking the hidden blessings that lurk within our greatest challenges.
After more than twenty-three years as a full-time tarot professional, I am very grateful for you, my friends, clients and students, who have helped me build my dream career and explore my passions. Please remember that I am available to you throughout the holiday season, and that I offer gift certificates for the special folks on your shopping list!
Happy Thanksgiving!
A Thanksgiving Tarot Spread
by Steven Bright
Over here in the UK, most of us have grown up aware of Thanksgiving. With the birth of the internet, our connection to Thanksgiving has tightened, since we now have friends who share their celebrations through Facebook and Instagram.
For many of us in the UK, the nearest we have to compare to Thanksgiving is Christmas, since it is also a time we spend with family, can relax, and will eat well. I don't mind saying that I am not a great lover of Christmas.
Yes, this is a sad admission, but every year it seems to start earlier through television advertising and in the shops. By the time it does arrive, I've had enough. For many, it is about receiving gifts, as oppose to being thankful for those gifts we already possess. In this sense, the idea of Thanksgiving is something which makes more sense to me.
Some years ago, my parents and I spent Christmas together but did not share gifts. We didn't decorate our home either, but we did have a Christmas meal. It is one Christmas I will always remember because it was built on those things which I consider important - the appreciation of being together and sharing our time with one another. While many people do this as well as sharing seasonal presents, it reminded me that the latter was not entirely necessary.
When I was asked to create a Thanksgiving spread by Christiana Gaudet, it was this appreciation of the people in our lives which I wanted to focus on.
I have become fond of breaking up my tarot decks for use and mixing packs together for readings. In my Thanksgiving Spread, I have broken my standard tarot deck into four parts - the Court Cards, the Minor Arcana (2-10), the Majors, and the Aces. Each stack is shuffled and one card is pulled from each and placed into its position.
This spread focuses on a person we are thankful for. While it might be a friend, lover, or parent, this person needn't have been directly active in our life during the past year. The person identified by the court card may have been an influential teacher from your childhood or someone who departed much wisdom before they passed. The spread allows great scope and can be performed more than once. It asks 'Who are you truly thankful for and why have these people been important on your life journey?'.
Card 1: Who?
For this position, draw one card from your sixteen court cards.
This card reminds you of a person you can be thankful for.
Card 2, 3, 4: How?
For this position, draw three card from your fifty-two minor cards.
Card 2 will explain how this person has had an effect on you. It sits like an umbrella over cards 3 & 4.
Cards 3 & 4 will support and add context.
Card 5, 6, 7: Why?
For this position, draw three card from your twenty-two major cards.
Card 5 will help you to understand why you should be thankful for their influence. It sits like an umbrella over cards 6 & 7.
Cards 6 & 7 will support and add context.
Card 4: What?
For this position, draw one of your four aces.
This card alerts you to what you can give back to the universe. What gift you can share - might it be your passion (Fire), your sensitivity (Water), your physical effort and time (Earth) or your ideas and communication (Air)?
This card presents a way in which you can express your gratitude by sharing the gift of the Ace with someone else.
Don't be surprised if you receive difficult cards in your reading. Not every person who turns up in the cards will have done good by you and not every situation highlighted will have been easy. Sometimes, we need to look at these challenges and find the blessings within them. In being thankful for the year gone by, there will be some aspects and characters which we will need to acknowledge, make our peace with, and let go.
Have fun with the spread and have a wonderful Thanksgiving, wherever you are!
-Steve
Thanks to Steve for an insightful way to reflect on the people for whom we are most grateful.
Once you've had a chance to try the spread yourself, or if you need more inspiration, visit Steven's blog and see what happened when he did the spread for himself!
Upcoming Events
Month of December
Sunday, December 6th, 3:30 pm
Tampa Bay Area Tarot Meetup
Madam Lenormand’s Tarot Soup Recipe
Panera Bread
23388 State Road 54, Lutz, 33549
Professional reader Michael Newton-Brown will share his technique of using tarot and Lenormand to create a comprehensive professional-quality reading.
Join us at Panera for food, fellowship and a great learning opportunity. Visit the event listing on my website, or RSVP on the Meetup site.
Tuesday, December 8th, 11 am
The Fool’s Journey
Port Tampa City Library 4902 Commerce St, Tampa, Fl. 33616
Join us at the library for a presentation of the Major Arcana of the Tarot. Visit the event listing on my website for more information.
Wednesday, December 16, 7 pm
Global Tarot Circle
Free WebEx Webinar Available Exclusively Online!
Spend an hour with tarot friends around the world! Log in on your computer, tablet or smartphone, or join the call on your telephone! Expect readings, new ideas, enlivening conversations and great tarot knowledge!
For log-in information, visit the event listing on my website.
Sunday, December 20, 1-5 pm
The Tampa Bay Area Tarot Meetup
Holiday Open House
Beef O’Brady’s Private Room
21539 Villages Lakes Shopping Center Drive, Land O’ Lakes, FL 34639
Stop by with some canned goods for Feeding America Tampa Bay, and let us pamper you for the holidays! Enjoy free readings and healing sessions in exchange for your donation. Readers and healers are welcome to volunteer, call 561-655-1160 for more information.
Visit the event listing on my website to find links to websites of our growing roster of readers.
About Christiana
Christiana Gaudet
Origins Spa and Wellness Center
1537 N Dale Mabry Highway #102
Lutz, FL 33548
Private telephone, Skype and in person readings and instruction are available by appointment.
Tarot parties at your home or office are available throughout Florida.
Call 813-948-4488, toll free 866-99TAROT,
or text or call 561-655-1160
for more information or to schedule your event.
Agent inquiries are welcome.
