Tarot News blog has news and information of interest to the tarot community.
The Gifts We Share
We all have innate gifts and talents which we must develop, and share with others.
This time of year, we buy gifts, make gifts, and exchange gifts. Perhaps the most important gifts of all, however, are the gifts we have within us, which we share with others all year long.
We use the term ‘gifted’ to describe those who have a specific talent, whether creative, intellectual, or mystical. Yet, these natural gifts must be honed with training and practice to reach their potential. And, whether we recognize it, we all have special gifts which are innate within us, which we develop over time, and which we share with others.
Some of us share our gifts as part of our profession. For others, it is a hobby, or an act of service.
It is fun to surprise those we care about with a thoughtful present. Yet, the real gifts we share are the gifts that allow us to be present in one another’s lives as we share our talents with them.
Weaving the Tarot Reading Story Hybrid Class
On Wednesday December 29, 7 pm to 9 pm ET make plans to join us in person or on Zoom for an exciting tarot class.
How do the tarot cards work together to form a cohesive story?
In this tarot class you will learn exercises and techniques to strengthen your tarot reading skills.
Join Christiana Gaudet for an exciting exploration of how the tarot cards express the stories of our lives.
Whether you are a tarot beginner or an experienced reader, the material in this class will help you get to a new level of tarot reading proficiency.
For more information and tickets, visit the event listing on my website.
The StaarCorner
Our latest episode of StaarCast features a conversation with Kim Danbert.
Kim will be teaching a workshop about the Court card at StaarCon.
In the StaarCast episode we learn about Kim’s life bridging between many worlds as a medium, a tarot reader, and a Christian
You can watch the video on YouTube or listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts.
Remember, StaarCon is just around the corner. Get your ticket to join us either in person or online!
Finding Your Gifts with Tarot
Some people have a special and obvious gift or talent. Others need to look within to find a hidden talent, gift, or purpose. Tarot is a great tool to help us do that. Simply ask the cards, “What is a gift or talent that I should be developing and sharing?” Pull a card, or a few cards, and see what happens. Then, you can ask the cards a second question. “How can I develop this gift?”
A conversation with the cards can help you find and develop your gifts, and ultimately share them with the world.
The Week in Review
On Friday at 3 pm ET I will be a guest on Jenna Matlin’s YouTube channel. Jenna will be a presenter at StaarCon 2022. We will be discussing tarot conferences, and why they matter so much. Join us for a fun discussion!
If you are a member of my YouTube channel and missed last night’s livestream, you can watch the replay and learn some fun and informative ways to use tarot in your holiday celebrations.
From Around the Web
Jessica Ripley on Patheos has some ways to use the Eight of Pentacles this month.
StaarCon presenter John Hijatt has created a delightful Christmas Oracle. You can get a copy for yourself, or give it as a gift, on his Etsy shop.
Daily Tarot Girl has a ‘Christmasy Tarot Spread’.
Cards for Your Consideration
A tarot deck can be a perfect gift! Here, for your consideration, are some great deck choices as a gift for yourself, or someone you love.
Light Seer’s Tarot is fast becoming a very popular deck. The art style is different than traditional tarot, but very easy to read and understand. This deck is modern and fresh, while still deeply spiritual and evocative. Light Seer’s Tarot is published by Hay House and available on their website.
Aunt Lily’s Tarot is a new personal favorite of mine. It is available in two sizes. This deck was designed for the creator’s teenage niece. Yet, it is usable and loveable for anyone. This deck is both traditional and inclusive. Traditional card meanings are retained while images and card titles are gently changed to make the deck completely appropriate for younger people, or anyone who might be squeamish about harsh images or nudity. You can get this deck directly from Claire Lily’s website. Claire Lily will be presenting at StaarCon 2022!
U.S. Games Systems, Inc. always has amazing decks. You can’t go wrong with a traditional Waite-Smith deck, of course. You might also enjoy a more modern choice, such as the Herbcrafter’s Tarot or the Eight Coins’ Tattoo Tarot.
StaarCon 2022 presenters Lisa Hunt and Ciro Marchetti have each created numerous tarot decks available through U.S. Games, Llewellyn Worldwide, and their own websites. You can also find tarot art and accessories on the artists’ websites for the tarot lovers in your life.
Upcoming Events and Tours
Card and Craft Academy
Classes presented by Christiana are available right now at Card and Craft Academy!
Christiana’s Eleven-Card Celtic Cross
Finding Meaning in the Minor Arcana
The Major Arcana, Magical and Mundane
Personal Tarot: Reading for Yourself
Sharing Wisdom: Reading for Others
The Meaning and Magic of Tarot Reversals
Journey Through the Major Arcana
Your Journey Through the Minor Arcana: Numbers, Elements and Truth
Your Journey Through the Tarot Court
Tarot Stories, Trends, and Blends
Tarot Readings for Personalities and Relationships
Fearless Wisdom Tarot Workshop
Tarot Keywords and Interpretations Workshop
Tarot Spreads Tools and Techniques Workshop
Catch up on your missed Zoom webinars and more!
About Christiana Gaudet
Card and Craft, Inc.
Christiana Gaudet
3559 SW Corporate Parkway
Palm City, Florida 34990-8152
On the web www.christianagaudet.com
Online classeswww.cardandcraftacademy.com
StaarCon information www.staarcon.com
Private telephone, Skype, FaceTime and in person readings and instruction are available by appointment.
Tarot parties at your home or office are available throughout Florida.
Call or text toll free 866-99TAROT (866-998-2768)
Palm City 772-301-0232
or call or text 561-655-1160
for more information or to schedule your event.
Agent inquiries are welcome.
Tarot Topics Newsletter
Volume 4 Issue 50
December 15, 2021
Animal Wisdom
How animals share their wisdom with us.
Many people find spiritual insight and wisdom by connecting with the natural world and its inhabitants. For this reason, animals play an important part in many spiritual paths and practices.
Connection with animals can happen when we observe them in nature, or when we spend time with our pets. Animals can appear in our dreams, or in symbols. Animals are often pictured in tarot and oracle decks. Animals are the icons in many systems of astrology. There are numerous decks of divination with animal themes. Many English names for yoga postures are named for animals.
We visualize ourselves as specific animals in order to nurture their characteristics within ourselves. We try to have the heart of a lion. We try to be like a duck and oil our feathers, or shed our skin like a snake.
When I was growing up, I was amazed that my cat could wake me up from across the room, simply by staring at me. It was clear that this animal had some psychic ability, (back then we called it ESP) or at least that the cat and I shared a psychic connection.
I feel the sighting of a wild animal is a portentous omen. I interpret the omen based on what the animal is, what it is doing, how I feel about it and how I feel it applies to what is going on in my life. There are also books and websites to help us understand traditional animal symbolism.
I take the presence of an animal in a dream as seriously as I do when I encounter one in real life. For me, the symbolism is what matters.
There are so many ways for us to find wisdom in our connection to animals. The more energy we devote to paying attention to the messages of the animals around us, the more profound insight we will receive.
Make Your Plans to See Me During My Northeastern Tour!
I will be in Connecticut March 27 through April 8. I am available for parties, groups and house calls in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York City.
I am also offering private readings by appointment at True Bikram Yoga in Madison.
To make your appointment, please call or text 561-655-1160.
I will be teaching two workshops while I am there.
In Madison, on Sunday, March 31 at 7 pm I am teaching ‘The Journey of Life: The Major Arcana of Tarot.
In New Haven, on Sunday, April 7 at 7 pm I am teaching ‘Oils, Intuition and Manifestation’. Learn more about these workshops, and register in advance!
What the Animals in Tarot Have to Say
While there are many animal-themed decks, there are also many animals pictured in most tarot decks.
For this exercise, use a Waite deck, or other fully-illustrated deck that isn’t specifically animal-themed. Look through the cards and find the following.
Which cards picture animals that are intrinsic to the card’s meaning? Here, look for animals like Strength’s lion and the Fool’s dog.
Which cards picture animals to depict the cards’ element? Here, I am look for the birds in the Swords cards, for example, and the lizards in the Wands cards.
Now look for imaginary animals. Are there griffins or dragons? What do those animals say to you about the cards on which they appear?
Now look for the rest of the animals. That is, animals that are not iconic for the cards’ meaning, and are not there specifically to symbolize an element.
How many animals how you found? What information do they give you about the card on which they appear?
Go back to the first animal cards you found, like Strength and the Fool. What do their animals tell you about each card?
How does considering the animals enhance your understanding of your cards?
The Week in Review
If you missed our February Global Tarot, you can watch the archive on YouTube. Our next Global Tarot Circle on Facebook Live will be March 18, so make plans to join us.
This week I posted on my personal blog some thoughts about tarot interpretations and keywords. How do you handle it when your take on a card is different from your friends’? Read When Tarot Keywords Diverge.
From Around the Web
Here’s an interesting article from The Daily Dot about our online tarot communities, and the role they may be playing in our society.
From Best Self Magazine, here is a piece about using tarot to increase mindfulness and self-awareness.
Check out this new animal deck-in-progress. The Major Barkana is a dog-themed tarot designed to raise money to provide service dogs to disabled folk.
Cards for Your Consideration
My favorite animal tarot deck is Lisa Hunt’s Animals Divine Tarot, now sadly out of print. Lisa Hunt’s art style is detailed, realistic and haunting. Over the years her contribution to the tarot has been intense and unique. Animals Divine Tarot, like many of Lisa Hunt’s decks, falls into the category that I call ‘archetypal assignment’. Hunt works with the archetype of each card and find a matching character within the body of her theme.
In Animals Divine Tarot, each suit is illustrated with animals associated with their element. The Swords suit is graced with winged creatures. The Cups suit features aquatic life. The Pentacles are land mammals, and the Wands are depicted by insects and reptiles.
The Court cards, and the Major Arcana, are deities associated with animals.
If you are lucky enough to own a copy of this out of print deck, enjoy it! If you happen to find an affordable used copy, consider adding it to your collection.
Psychic Gallery at ZeroPointe in Fort Lauderdale
Join me for an exciting event in Fort Lauderdale on the first day of Spring!
On Wednesday, March 20, 7 pm to 9 pm, I will present a psychic gallery at ZeroPointe Healing Foundation, formerly Center for Inner Wisdom, located at 4849 N Dixie Hwy, Suite 2, Oakland Park, FL 33334.
I love doing psychic galleries, because the energy of sacred space, and the energy of a group united for a single purpose, can create the perfect environment in which to receive powerful messages from Spirit.
In a psychic gallery with me, each person receives pertinent information and insight. Group members hold space and support each other, and benefit from hearing and witnessing every message.
The energy of the vernal equinox will add a powerful dimension to the readings on this special evening, bringing the opportunity for each of us to find balance and initiate new beginnings.
Tickets are $30, and seating is limited. Register now!
Special Class at Dream Angels - Your Journey Through the Minor Arcana
Join me at Dream Angels in Tequesta this week on Thursday, February 28, from 7 to 9pm for a class on the Minor Arcana of tarot.
In this class tarot enthusiasts of all levels of experience will learn simple-yet-profound techniques to remember, understand and interpret the Minor Arcana cards of the tarot.
This class is geared for all tarot enthusiasts. Even if you are brand new, this topic will be a great place to start!
This class is part of a monthly tarot group that meets the 4th Thursday of each month, hosted by Mary Ellen Collins and me.
Class fee is $25 at the door, $20 prepaid up until the day before. To prepay, please visit the Dream Angels website.
New Video Class Available: Christiana’s Eleven-Card Celtic Cross Spread
I am very excited to share a new tarot class with you, appropriate for tarotists of all levels of experience. In this class you will learn my eleven-card Celtic Cross tarot spread.
As many of you know, this is by far my favorite tarot spread. If I have every read for you, you’ve seen this powerful spread in action.
This class is designed to teach you to perform this spread, but also to teach you a great deal about working with tarot spreads in general. As you take the class you will perform this spread for yourself. Along the way you will add a number of important tools to your tarot toolbox.
The first one hundred students will receive a $10 discount on the $35 class fee, so sign up now!
Tarot Topics Newsletter Volume 2 Issue 9 - February 27, 2019
Seeing with New Eyes
Approach your life with a new perspective, and let tarot help! Attend a new tarot telesummit, and enjoy Part 4 of Michael Bridge-Dickson's series.
The writer Marcel Proust said that “the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes”.
The idea of seeing with new, or different, eyes is relevant in so many ways. Not only will those metaphoric new eyes guide us in discovery, as Proust said, but also in compassion, in self-understanding, in creating unity, in psychic development and in divination.
Each time we do a tarot reading, we must come to the cards with new eyes. The cards never speak the same way twice, do they?
There are even tarot cards that speak of a new perspective, maybe most prominently, the Hanged Man.
Sometimes our new eyes change our perspective of another person, when we see what someone else sees.
Sometimes we need a new perspective regarding our own lives, our skills, our abilities and our sense of self-worth.
But how can we learn to see with new eyes?
We must be willing to release the past, and the patterns that we have developed.
When dealing with others, especially those we inherently don’t trust or don’t agree with, we must first enter into a state of open-minded compassion that remembers that each person is the sum of their experience – much of which was beyond their control. Then, we can see life through that person’s eyes, or see that person from a new perspective that might lead to greater understanding and communication. We may not like the person any better, but a new understanding of them is helpful.
We may wonder why they, themselves, can’t rise out of their programming or move beyond their past. It ‘s important to remember that people heal at the rate they can. Be grateful for your own new eyes, and don’t be frustrated with those who can’t yet see.
Often, having new eyes is the same as changing the story you tell yourself. For example, if you feel you’ll never meet an interesting person in your small town, you may need to change how you see your town.
If you feel you are too old to be hired for a new job, you may need to change your perception about how your skills might be valued.
Being willing to change how your see things is the first step to seeing things with new eyes.
Tarot Technique for New Vision
How can tarot help us find our new eyes, have new vision and new perspective?
My favorite way is with a fluid question-and-answer dialogue, rather than a specific spread.
Although, one could have a lot of fun designing a “New Eyes” spread. (If you are so inspired, make sure you send me a copy!)
Here’s my technique for new perspective.
Consider the problem that is on your mind – generally an issue that has given you some anxiety.
Set your intention for your work with tarot toward releasing old ways of seeing things, and embracing a new vision.
Then, for your first card, ask a question like this:
What is true about this situation that I’m not seeing?
Pull a card, or a few cards, in answer.
From that answer, you will derive another question, and, after shuffling all the cards back together, you will pull another card, or a few cards in answer.
Let this process continue as long as it needs to, until your situation is reframed and your perspective changed.
Other questions you might ask of the cards include:
What do I have to release in order to gain new eyes?
What will my new eyes show me that I have not seen before?
What is something that I can discover with new eyes?
From My Desk to Yours
This week, on my 78 Magickal Tools blog on PaganSquare, I shared a new post about tarot magick and divination, “Two Cards, One Goal”.
I worked on the Services portion of my website. Take a look to see the many services I offer!
I also made available downloads of recordings from some past Global Tarot Circle meetings.
From Around the Web
From the Huffington Post, and article about the same Proust quote that inspired this newsletter topic about new eyes.
From The Wild Hunt, a recent news article about a tarot reader fighting for her rights in West Virginia.
From Gaiam Life, here are Three steps to Creating Your Own Yoga Retreat.
Song of the Week
Here’s a fun video of David Bowie performing “Changes”.
Orbifold Tarot
with Michael Bridge-Dickson
Breaking Down Tarot’s Elements Part 4 — Air
From the abstractly subtle Element of Space, we continue on to the least dense of the Four tangible Elements: Air. The most diffuse of these tangible Elements, it fills Space whenever the denser Elements are absent, and disperses the denser Elements to redistribute them into some of he most obscure Spaces. This affinity with Space lends many similar qualities, especially those relating to subtlety. But despite Air’s subtlety, it can be incredibly powerful: a strong gale can unroot a mighty oak, and a single thought can change the world.
In Part 2 of this series, we established that our experience of Air itself is light, cooling, quick, changing, free, and uplifting. It can also be harsh, deflating, cutting, diffuse, and erosive.
These natural qualities of Air, as we saw, begin to translate into daily life with regards to speech, travel, dreaming, thinking, and feelings of lightness — it inspires us and carries us along our journeys, affecting whether we fly, drift, float, or soar.
This power and direction changes at a whim, though, as Air is the least consistent and most difficult to sustain steadily. But this is also part of Air’s strength: in this changeability, in its potential to quickly adapt to circumstance, Air finds creative and unique solutions when dealing with the unexpected.
The mental aspect of Air is the one we most associate with when reading tarot, because the mind is also very subtle: ideas, intellect, thought, dreaming, and imagination all exist in the subtle realm of the mind, at least until they are expressed. We don’t really know what the mind is, and yet there’s no denying its reality because, for the most part, we believe that everything originates from thought — every action, every deed, every creation, every physical object. The things we have and do in our world usually originates in our minds or the minds of others.
Further, nothing is real to us unless and until it is filtered through our mind and nervous system — whether at the level of cognitive thought or sensations processed by the brain. By the same token, the mind is capable of creating things within that seem just as real, if not more so, than the world around us. The mind’s potency is this shift between the subtle and the real, where imagination can make the impossible happen, and where doubt tenaciously chokes even the most obvious paths. But, just like Air, the mind can switch in an instant and what seemed real one moment dissolves the next; what was once only a dream materializes.
This adaptability is also key to experiencing the denser Elements. As thought becomes reality, we move from Air through to Earth, facing the logistical challenges from inspiration to fruition. It is in this cycle of Air that we plan out details, find creative solutions, and in the process branch off new ideas.
Ideas breed other ideas, and this process is bolstered by the expression of the mind with others, through many forms of communication. We utilize Air when we use language, whether it is through speech, writing, or other forms of symbolic expression and communication. The power of Air is harnessed when we communicate clearly and powerfully, when ideas are transmitted from one mind to another. This communication takes us away and carries us along throughout our journeys — both through sheer imagination when reading and sharing stories, or planning and examining our lives.
It’s this unpredictable subtlety that makes Air/Swords a typically challenging suit, in a similar way that understanding our own minds and the minds of others. A heavy, obstructive mind is often shown in the higher numbers, but this abundance of Air or thought, can also exhibit a process that is sailing along, full of detail and well planned with the substantive force to be fully realized. Similarly, while the Ace can denote the clarity of single-mindedness, the ability to focus Air’s dispersive quality, low Air cards can show anything from the ease of a gentle breeze to a feeling of lack and the deflation of defeat.To really understand Air in readings, think of how the Element changes as its intensity increases or decreases: try not to see any degree of Air as being positive or negative. Instead, look at these varying degrees as aids or hindrances to the topic at hand. Look at not only the value of individual Air cards, but also how much Air is present overall, and if it’s a situation in which greater or less Air is helpful to the situation, and whether drastic changes of value among Air cards is showing necessary adaptability, or flights of fancy that distract the querent.
A useful exercise in learning any Element is to separate that Element from the deck. In this case, looking at Air, separate all the Air cards from your deck. If you are working with a deck that has Elemental associations for the Majors as well, use those if you wish, but if it is too confusing start with just the numbered cards Ace to Ten. Once you’re familiar with the exercise, add the Air Courts, then the Majors also associated with Air. Using only the Air cards, lay out two or three in a line and observe their interaction.
What is the story?
•If the mind were a bird floating on the wind generated by these three cards, what would the flight be like?
• If the three cards were a snapshot of your mind currently, would it be focused, distracted, creative, adaptable, fickle, indecisive, sharp, flexible, stuck?
• Do they show a mind lost in fantasy or dreaming constructively, planning ahead or ruminating over the past, inspired or absent of ideas, chatty or silent?
• Perhaps most importantly to look at as a reader is, if those same three cards, in the same order, were the snapshot of a different day or a different person, would they denote the same thing, or something else?
In the examples below, from The Orbifold Tarot, see where your interpretations agree and differ, and try to find an alternative interpretation:
Six of Air, Four of Air, Ace of Air
Inspiration opens up into several related ideas that appear to support each other. After this initial burst, some ideas are consolidated and settled upon before finally focusing on expressing these ideas as a single message.
Five of Air, Eight of Air, Seven of Air
Confusion over an imbalanced interaction leads to stubborn rigidity. Letting go of a firmly held belief may result in some clarity and individual empowerment.
Next entry, we’ll look at what happens when Air condenses and combusts into Fire!
I'm grateful to have Michael Bridge-Dickson as a guest contributor to Tarot Topics. Check out the Orbifold Tarot and Michael's work!
Announcing the The Spiritual Path of Tarot Telesummit 3 - Tarot Wisdom
I am excited to share with you a new FREE event I'm going to be a part of: The Spiritual Path of Tarot Telesummit 3 - Tarot Wisdom.
20 Tarot teachers are coming together July 25 through August 5, for two one-hour calls every weekday, to show you how to access your wisdom & higher guidance through deepening (or re-energizing!) your understanding of the Tarot.
Host Kim Wilborn has asked every teacher to speak about the tarot topics they find most meaningful, with each presentation focused on helping you engage with the wisdom of the Tarot in a deeper way.
I’ll be speaking about tarot as a tool of healing.
I chose this topic because, over the years, I have seen so much healing come out of tarot readings, tarot study, and other tarot techniques. I am so excited to share the ways tarot heals us with you.
Each call will be like a mini-class, complete with guided meditations! You’ll be able to listen to live calls online, by phone, or via skype, and free 48-hour replays will allow you to listen at your convenience. (Low-priced recordings are also available to make it even easier!)
I hope you’ll be my guest at this one-of-a-kind event and experience for yourself a deeper connection to the wisdom of the Tarot.
I’m excited about the good company I am in for this summit! Look at this list of presenter~
~Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone – Birth Cards: A Powerful Tool for Self-Knowledge
~Lisa de St. Croix – Tarot Visual Journaling
~Scott Martin – Tarot Goes to Acting School
~Robert Place – History of Divination with Cards
~Sheilaa Hite – The Fool, The Hermit & the 4 Knights - Energetic & Spiritual Soulmates on the Quest to Discover their Own Personal Legends
~Brigit Esselmont – Reading with Reversals Without the Doom & Gloom
~Kooch Daniels – The Magic of Birth Date Tarot Spreads
~Suzanne Corbie – Ancient Wisdom for a Modern Age
~Ferol Humphrey – Loosening Up - For Starters & Sophisticates
~ Pamela Eakins – Claim the Power of your Birthright: Tarot of the Spirit. The Tree of Life. The Ancient and Future Mystery School
~Lisa Allen – Timing with Tarot Cards
~Katrina Wynne – Dreamwork in Tarot
~Gina Thies – The Keys to Multi-Awareness Tarot Readings
~Christiana Gaudet – The Healing Tarot: Tarot as a Tool for Cultivating Well-Being
~Ellen Goldberg – Influence your Personal Evolution by Activating the Major Arcana Archetypes
~Kim Wilborn – Access the Guardian Energies of the Tarot to Express Your Life Purpose
If you would like to deepen (or refresh!) your alignment with a spiritual tool that can bring you clarity and insight while it lights your way to joyfully fulfilling your personal Soul Purpose, register today for our telesummit!
Image from Celtic Dragon Tarot by Lisa Hunt
Your One-Card Weekly Reading
Justice
Your one-card reading this week is Major Arcana 11, Justice.
This indicates a need to be fair and balanced. That includes the need treat others fairly, and the need to make sure that you, yourself are treated fairly.
You may be challenged to strike a balance in some situation in your life.
The appearance of Justice can reference legal matters, or the need to attend to legalities.
This week, let fairness and balance be your guides.
Justice reminds us to do the right thing.
Upcoming Events
Sunday, July, 10, 3:30 pm
Tampa Bay Area Tarot Meetup
The Four Elements and the Minor Arcana
Panera Bread
23388 State Rd 54, Lutz, FL 33549
Bring your tarot cards! I'll be presenting this interesting and informative class. You can RSVP on the Meetup!
Monday, June 11, 2016 6:00 pm
An Evening of Tarot Especially for Teens!
Temple Terrace Public Library
202 Bullard Parkway, Temple Terrace, FL, 33617
Young people, and the young at heart, will enjoy this presentation of the art, history and culture of tarot. visit the event listing on the library calendar.
July 25th - August 5th
The Spiritual Path of Tarot Telesummit 3 - Tarot Wisdom
Sign up now to participate in this amazing opportunity!
Coming Soon:
I will be available for private readings and house parties in Connecticut and surrounding areas from August 3 to August 17. Call 561-655-1160 to get on the schedule now!
TarotCon (Florida) 2016 will take place October 8th and 9th, with a special Professional Development Day on the 7th, in Palm Beach Gardens. Make your reservations now!
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.
The Paradox of Faith
How do you find your faith when you need it most? Michael Bridge-Dickson shares some elemental wisdom, and some great opportunities to learn about tarot at the library!
The paradox of faith is this. When you need faith the most, faith is hardest to have.
This is true of faith in oneself, faith in humanity, faith in a higher power – all kinds of faith.
Perhaps this paradox is simply the result of human weakness, or perhaps it is part of a grand design to help us grow and learn.
It’s important to remember, especially during difficult times, that we all believe in things we cannot see, but trust their existence anyway.
How can you find your faith, hear your inner guidance and ground yourself in your strength when things get tough?
One way is to use tools of divination to connect with your Higher Self and your Higher Power. Another is to force yourself to remember all the times that things miraculously went your way.
Sometimes, when something difficulties happens, we need to remember that, of all the possible things that could happen to serve your soul’s growth, and the development of the souls around you, it might be that what happened was the best-case scenario, no matter how horrible the situation is.
Sometimes we can use tragedy and difficulty as a way to find our faith. Yet, when we are burdened by the loss and sorrow that screams within us, it can be hard to hear the quiet voices of our ancestors, angels and guides.
No matter how difficult something is, we must make room in our hearts and minds to hear those comforting assurances that inform our faith and help us to heal.
Faith and Expectation
Often, we lose faith because something doesn’t meet our expectations.
When this happens, it’s generally because our expectations were inappropriate from the start.
We may lose our faith in tarot because of a faulty interpretation.
We may lose our faith in a trustworthy person because of one difficult moment.
We may lose our faith in humanity when we focus only on what’s wrong with the world.
We may lose our faith in a Higher Power when we assign an agenda to that Higher Power that meets our own needs, rather than accepting the wisdom of a greater plan.
We may lose faith in ourselves when we make a mistake, because we expect ourselves to be perfect.
When we detach from expectation, and surrender to the process of growth and healing, it becomes easier to ground ourselves in faith once more.
It is important to set intentions, and to visualize the things we want and need. At the same time, we cannot expect perfection on planet Earth. We must always recognize that, whatever our plans, hopes and dreams may be, the Universe might have a different plan for us. We must have faith in the larger picture, even when we can’t see the purpose or understand the reason.
Faith doesn’t require proof or explanation. Faith is the source of our strength when we feel we can no longer be strong.
Once in a while, a loss of faith in necessary, and important.
Sometimes we put our faith into things, people and doctrines that truly disappoint us. These may be people and belief systems that we eventually come to understand as untrue. When this happens, it is important to understand that the bitter sense of disillusionment is followed by a greater comfort in finding faith in something more real.
From My Desk to Yours
This week we had a new contributor to our Community Blog! Heather shared a wonderful poem inspired by the four elements.
On my Dark Forest Blog, I shared a piece about the way imagery and imagination informs our spiritual work.
From Around the Web
Here’s a post of a serious nature, of interest to tarot writers and bloggers. The Tarot Association has posted a detailed account of the correct way to use tarot images in your writings, without violating copyright or ethics.
From Daily Om, here’s a piece called “Shifting from Fear to Love”.
Many of you know my friend, Marcy Currier. Here are some videos of her doing readings on The Wolf in Hudson Valley.
Song of the Week
Here’s “Faith of the Heart” from Russel Watson. It’s an earlier version than the one actually used for the “Enterprise” TV show. Russel introduces it by its earlier name, “Where my Heart will Take Me”.
Orbifold Tarot
with Michael Bridge-Dickson
In Part 1 of this series, we looked at how our day-to-day language is bolstered by references to the Four Elements. This week, we’ll take a more experiential approach to connecting with the Elements.
First, let’s look at the effect of observing linguistic connections to the Elements. Through this exercise, you may have started to categorize words as they relate to each Element:
• When describing things that are lightweight, uplifting, deflating, changeable, subtle, and intangible, we are relating to Air. Words like float, fly, soar, breezy, gusts, wind, sail, swift, puffy, wispy, breath, heady, variable, weightless, vague, and elusive.
• When we describe things that are hot, burning, bright, consuming, transformative, wild, and explosive, Fire is involved. We use words that refer to illumination, clarity, inspiration, will, desire, heat, passion, volatility, destruction, and brilliance.
• When we are describing things that are fluid, cooling, absorptive, flowing, we are in touch with Water. Watery expressions tend to be more sentimental: stormy seas, moody lakes, still waters that run deep, raging rapids, and calm streams.
• When we want our words to carry weight, we use Earthy descriptions of things that are solid, enduring, stable, slow, heavy, and robust. Words like grounded, rooted, weighted, foundation, contained, protected, guarded, and anchored refer to Earth’s density.
You may have also noticed that some Elements have qualities that are intrinsic and unique to each, while other qualities are shared by or merge at least two Elements:
• Lightness, speed, and variability are qualities that Air and Fire share and enhance in each other. They are also the more subtle of the Four Elements, and compensate with a sharper, more incisive nature.
• By contrast, heaviness, softness, receptivity, constancy, and slowness are shared by Water and Earth. Their softness balances their increased substantialness. Their receptivity allows things to grow and develop.
• Air and Water are fluid and adaptable. They mold themselves to circumstance, and together can be extremely powerful. When meeting obstruction, they will retreat and return, wearing down resistance between periods of ease.
• Fire and Earth are less forgiving than the more fluid Elements of Air and Water, and share a more primal, penetrative nature. Where Air and Water will both lap at resistance, Fire and Earth resist against it or push right through.
• Fire and Water have an emotional tone, sharing anger and passion — whether we get steamed or steamy, Fire and Water together produce an intensity that neither alone possesses... and that force can either simmer or boil over!
• Refinement, timelessness, and elegance are shared by Air and Earth. They are both dry and gradual, but constant. Ancient history and things that have stood the test of time are the merging of Air and Earth.
As you can see, the Elements and their interactions are not just evocative linguistic metaphors, they are entwined with our experiences — our life is the life of the Elements themselves.
Let’s move, then, from metaphorical descriptions to direct experience.
We only need to soak in a hot bath to know the nourishing and cleansing properties of water, or feel the heat of summer to stir up our passions and desires. We feel the peaceful qualities of a light breeze, and the oppressive nature of a harsh wind; and we get in touch with ourselves — our very being — when walking barefoot through grass or sand, feeling the Earth under our feet.
The same Water that cleanses and nourishes us also makes us feel moody, withdrawn, cold, and/or overwhelmed during a heavy rain shower; and the same heat that inspires passion and desire transforms our food into delicious, digestible morsels... Which in turn feed and ground us, providing the substance for our bodies to thrive. This same grounding can make us feel heavy and slow, when not balanced with movement and the intangibility of intellectual stimulation — stimulation that is fed by the very Air we breathe.
Over the next week, bring attention to each of the Four Elements and how you interact with them daily: feel the sweeping nature of the wind, how the Air dries and cools your skin, or how your breath and mental state are codependent; feel the sun’s warmth, how your own interior heat rises or falls with each activity, and observe how pressure lights a Fire and affects your focus; feel how Water washes over you as you shower, and how fluid you are from one situation to the next, take a refreshing drink and reflect by a pool; and finally, feel the solidity and structure of your home, the ground, and things you find security in.
While it’s useful to study each Element in isolation, truly understanding the Elements lies in becoming involved with their interplay and interaction: how does the depressive effect of a gloomy and rainy overcast day contribute to the irritation and frustration sparked by the next day’s humid heat? And the reverse, how does a torrential downpour soothe and calm overheated anger? How is that overheated anger aggravated by gossip, intellectualizing, and the dryness of dust and allergies?
What about the inner warmth sought and generated by earthy, home-cooked foods during winter hibernation? How does the heavy, damp cold of winter alter what we do with our time, how we move, how we speak with and treat each other?
Or, how does too much talk and travel contribute to feeling unstable, of not having solidity (or a craving to simply rest and remain still to recover that lost steadiness)? How does a seaside retreat or cabin on the lake facilitate calm reflection, where analytical processes give way to deeper explorations and intuitive connections?
Observe how each Element affects your thought processes and mindset, how they each affect your activities, how they make you feel both physically and emotionally, and how each one affects your sense of self, your physical existence. Notice how each of these layers of your being interact with each other within, and how they affect and are affected by the interaction of all For Elements within your environment.
Next week, we’ll start looking at each Element individually to understand them in more isolated depth.
I'm grateful to have Michael Bridge-Dickson as a guest contributor to Tarot Topics. Check out the Orbifold Tarot and Michael's work!
Eight Tarot Cards that Discuss Faith
We can find images of faith in every tarot card. Here are some cards that, to me, really speak of the essence of faith. When they appear in a reading, it might be to encourage you to have more faith, or to deal with your issues around faith. When you need faith, you can meditate with a few cards of these cards to help find the faith you need.
Faith in yourself:
The Nine of Pentacles suggests your ability to be safe, comfortable and happy, even when you are alone.
The Two of Pentacles offers faith in your ability to make ends meet and get stuff done, even when time and money are in short supply.
Faith in your Journey:
The Fool reminds you to take a leap of faith with confidence.
Justice reminds you that everything will balance out it the end.
Faith in Humanity:
The Six of Cups describes charity, and people helping each other.
Strength describes the triumph of love over anger.
Sometimes when issues of faith are reflected in readings, it’s because a problem exists.
A Crisis of Faith:
The Moon can reflect a crisis of faith, or a questioning of ones’ belief system.
Faith without Question:
The Hierophant can reflect dogma, and faith in doctrine beyond reason.
Image from Celtic Dragon Tarot by Lisa Hunt.
Your One-Card Weekly Reading
Four of Pentacles
This week, your one-card reading is the Four of Pentacles.
Often, the Four of Pentacles speaks of selfishness. Are you feeling unwilling to share, or do you feel the need to protect yourself? Is there someone around you who is behaving selfishly?
Sometimes, this card indicates a need for self-care and self-protection.
This week, think about the ways in which you care for yourself and protect yourself. To what extent do you need to do a better job with this?
If you do find evidence of selfishness in your own behavior, or in the behavior of others, consider where this impulse is inspired, and make a decision about how you want to handle it.
Is it time to become more trusting, and more giving? Or, is it time to remove a self-centered person from your life? Or perhaps it may be time to become more self-full in your life!
Upcoming Events
Saturday, June 11, 2:30 pm
Summer Psychic Gallery with Christiana Gaudet
Pearl Rauberts' Room, Unity in the Pines, West Palm Beach
There are only a couple of spaces left! If you would like to participate in this event, or get on the waiting list, visit the meetup site.
I will also be giving private readings by appointment in the same space the following day. These readings are sold out, and there is a waiting list. Pearl is taking no more reservations at this time.
Monday, June 13, 5:30
An Evening with the Tarot
Thnontosassa Branch Library
10715 Main Street, Thonotosassa, FL, 33592
Please join us for this free presentation about tarot at the library! Visit the event listing on my website for more details!
Tuesday, June 14, 5:30 PM
An Evening with the Tarot
Seffner-Mango Branch Library
410 N Kingsway Rd, Seffner, FL 33584
I’ll be at the library for another tarot presentation. Join us, it’s fun, free and informative! Visit the event listing on my site for more details.
Coming Soon:
I will be in Connecticut August 3 - August 17. Book your house parties and private readings now!
October 7, Professional Development Day at TarotCon (Follow the link below).
October 8 & 9, TarotCon (Florida) 2016 in Palm Beach Gardens.
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.