Umbrae
Monica looked up at me. “Am I shuffling these right? Is there a right way to do this?”
“You are doing fine, but I would like you to stop for a second…what day and month were you born in?”
I had a flash mental image of an open door…that someone had just left from…still open and closing slowly…nothing, just a stupid incongruous image.
She stammered for a second, “Uh, the fourth of March.”
The reading had started at this point. I knew what year of her life cycle she was in.
If you ask a person the date of their birth, or when were you born, often we get the answer, “I’m a Leo” (we are psychic in their eyes, so they give us the astrological answer). But notice, I asked for the day and month (in the U.S. we give the Month/Day so this is backwards and requires thought – in Europe where folks give Day/Month, you would want to ask for the Month and day that you were born in), I reversed the standard question…they now have to think about it; and I get the answer I want (I know nothing about astrology).
March is the 3rd month. The fourth is the 4th day. 3+4=7. Add the last two digits of the year of the last birthday (not the current year), so (02+7=9). Some folks will tell you to use the entire year (2002 = 4), from my experience using this as an active portion of readings – I use only the last two digits. Take a look at your numerological notes as to what nine means. I use wands as a mnemonic. Think about the nine of wands. Monica had just came out of the comfort of an 8 year and was facing a 9 year and was moving into a 10/1 year. Follow? Work this out for your life year – find out your life cycle…I will remember this for future readings with Monica.
I knew Monica had a problem, she told me that (by simply being here), when she said she needed answers, I had a mental image of an open door which served as egress…
I reached down to my bicycle messenger’s bag and pulled out a legal pad, folded over two pages of notes and slid it across the table; a pencil followed. I held it up and examined the broken tip, reached back into the bag and removed a sharpener and began to sharpen the pencil.
At this point I got an image of a bag of peanuts – not a baseball bag of peanuts – a circus bag of peanuts…and it meant nothing…
“You have moved from a very stable, satisfying past into a period of turmoil…you are tired, defensive, and you are thinking of turning away from your life’s goals. If you surrender, you have already lost. If you refuse to give up though, no matter the odds against you, at least you have succeeded in trying.” I handed the pencil to her and said; “Write down today’s date, so you can remember when we had this conversation”.
Monica wrote down the date.
I like to have the sitter take their own notes; I provide the paper and the pencil (never ink). This makes them an active participant in their own reading (ink runs, pencil does not – in addition, writing with pencil has a…feel). Too often in life we choose to be an audience; some will state that readings are ultimately an entertainment vehicle – well I choose to assure that the observer is a contributor. This is not “Friends” or “ER”, this is real life; their life. They have problems…they ought to be an active participant in the resolution.
Notice, I did not refer to our exchange as a reading, we are having a conversation…
“Do you want me to tell the truth, or only the good things?” I asked.
Monica looked at me in amazement, “I want you to tell me the truth! Do you mind if I smoke?” She reached for her purse.
“I was about to ask you the same thing!” We laughed as she lit up a cigarette and I began to roll one.
“You roll your own?”
“…Have for years; and it is alright if you want to have a drink.”
“Monica” I said, pushing the deck back towards her, “I want you to shuffle these some more. While you are shuffling I want you to think lightly upon your questions” (plural) “I do not want you to think so hard that you get a brain hemorrhage, just think lightly upon your questions…I want you to shuffle the deck until it ‘feels’ right.”
Notice I use the plural. Folks come to us with a problem, but we all have more than one…Humor, warm depreciating humor helps bond the sitter to you.
Monica began to shuffle the deck.
I looked into her hazel eyes, “Tell me about the bag of circus peanuts”.
“What are you talking about?”
Monica was so locked into her current situation, she had no idea what I was talking about (but then, neither did I), I had nothing to go on, just a blank image in a seedy bar…
“Circus…you went to the circus, and there was something about a bag of peanuts…?”
“Oh my god! I was a child, we went to the circus, and when the guy came around selling peanuts I wanted some…” She paused and took a deep drag from her cigarette; “we were too poor, my mother told the peanut man we didn’t want any…I was crushed.”
Monica looked up at me through the smoke, “How did you know about that?”
The truth? I didn’t. It was just some flash I got. I have learned that those flashes you get…are valid. I learned long ago to give them voice (that means speak them ‘out loud’). If you keep them inside, you are always…
But give them voice…(We’ll chat about this subject in a later installment).
She slid the cards towards me. “Go ahead and cut the deck”, I told her.
God I love this deck…and I begin to turn the cards over…
I always deal the cards towards (facing) the sitter. The spread going from my right to left.
I know that women tend to like to sit at right angle to men, and men like to sit across from men - and since I’m a man…but Monica was sitting across from me.
I am used to dealing and reading cards from either right to left or left to right. However, as I lay the first card to my extreme right, I tell Monica, “This is what you are moving away from. Some call it your past, I call it what you are moving away from.
This is the second position, which represents your present – where you are now – what you are now…
The third position…is the unseen…the unexpected…that, that you will never see - never know – occurring behind your back, for weal or woe.
The fourth position is the near future, and the fifth is the far future.”
I laid out a 5-card horseshoe, from my right to left, the arc occurring towards her.
I looked back into her eyes – at this point I had only looked at the cards, I had not thought about what they were or what they meant.
“Who was the person who walked out the door without closing it…”
Monica stared in amazement…
As a child, we were told that those “images” were our imagination. I have learned, and others have learned…that if you give them voice…speak them…over time they become more and more accurate.
The cards were not nice, and Monica’s life was in a bad way. Her cards were not immediately hopeful. However, I knew that she would be moving into a more hopeful year (after her next birthday – based on her numerological cycle).
As requested, I told her the truth – and not just the good. Monica’s life would be filled with turmoil for a while…and then would take on a new direction…filled with hope, beauty, and new directions.
Monica opened up to me, and the reading had a profound impact on her. I believe that by utilizing her different senses, it helped lower resistances, and moved us away from just “reading cards”.
As Monica left Aunt Harriet’s Room, I took the pencil, placed it against the underside of the table, and broke off the tip.
Now Kerri…she was a completely different type of sitter…
If you endeavor to embrace the way through learning, the way will not be understood. If you observe the way with simplicity of heart, great indeed is this way.
Although Aunt Harriet’s Room exists, Monica and the fictionalized event is a composite of many – and is not intended to represent an actual person.
Nothing is stated as a recommendation or a suggestion, but merely observation accrued over time. Opinions and results may vary.
Part 1.0 : http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9501
“You are doing fine, but I would like you to stop for a second…what day and month were you born in?”
I had a flash mental image of an open door…that someone had just left from…still open and closing slowly…nothing, just a stupid incongruous image.
She stammered for a second, “Uh, the fourth of March.”
The reading had started at this point. I knew what year of her life cycle she was in.
If you ask a person the date of their birth, or when were you born, often we get the answer, “I’m a Leo” (we are psychic in their eyes, so they give us the astrological answer). But notice, I asked for the day and month (in the U.S. we give the Month/Day so this is backwards and requires thought – in Europe where folks give Day/Month, you would want to ask for the Month and day that you were born in), I reversed the standard question…they now have to think about it; and I get the answer I want (I know nothing about astrology).
March is the 3rd month. The fourth is the 4th day. 3+4=7. Add the last two digits of the year of the last birthday (not the current year), so (02+7=9). Some folks will tell you to use the entire year (2002 = 4), from my experience using this as an active portion of readings – I use only the last two digits. Take a look at your numerological notes as to what nine means. I use wands as a mnemonic. Think about the nine of wands. Monica had just came out of the comfort of an 8 year and was facing a 9 year and was moving into a 10/1 year. Follow? Work this out for your life year – find out your life cycle…I will remember this for future readings with Monica.
I knew Monica had a problem, she told me that (by simply being here), when she said she needed answers, I had a mental image of an open door which served as egress…
I reached down to my bicycle messenger’s bag and pulled out a legal pad, folded over two pages of notes and slid it across the table; a pencil followed. I held it up and examined the broken tip, reached back into the bag and removed a sharpener and began to sharpen the pencil.
At this point I got an image of a bag of peanuts – not a baseball bag of peanuts – a circus bag of peanuts…and it meant nothing…
“You have moved from a very stable, satisfying past into a period of turmoil…you are tired, defensive, and you are thinking of turning away from your life’s goals. If you surrender, you have already lost. If you refuse to give up though, no matter the odds against you, at least you have succeeded in trying.” I handed the pencil to her and said; “Write down today’s date, so you can remember when we had this conversation”.
Monica wrote down the date.
I like to have the sitter take their own notes; I provide the paper and the pencil (never ink). This makes them an active participant in their own reading (ink runs, pencil does not – in addition, writing with pencil has a…feel). Too often in life we choose to be an audience; some will state that readings are ultimately an entertainment vehicle – well I choose to assure that the observer is a contributor. This is not “Friends” or “ER”, this is real life; their life. They have problems…they ought to be an active participant in the resolution.
Notice, I did not refer to our exchange as a reading, we are having a conversation…
“Do you want me to tell the truth, or only the good things?” I asked.
Monica looked at me in amazement, “I want you to tell me the truth! Do you mind if I smoke?” She reached for her purse.
“I was about to ask you the same thing!” We laughed as she lit up a cigarette and I began to roll one.
“You roll your own?”
“…Have for years; and it is alright if you want to have a drink.”
“Monica” I said, pushing the deck back towards her, “I want you to shuffle these some more. While you are shuffling I want you to think lightly upon your questions” (plural) “I do not want you to think so hard that you get a brain hemorrhage, just think lightly upon your questions…I want you to shuffle the deck until it ‘feels’ right.”
Notice I use the plural. Folks come to us with a problem, but we all have more than one…Humor, warm depreciating humor helps bond the sitter to you.
Monica began to shuffle the deck.
I looked into her hazel eyes, “Tell me about the bag of circus peanuts”.
“What are you talking about?”
Monica was so locked into her current situation, she had no idea what I was talking about (but then, neither did I), I had nothing to go on, just a blank image in a seedy bar…
“Circus…you went to the circus, and there was something about a bag of peanuts…?”
“Oh my god! I was a child, we went to the circus, and when the guy came around selling peanuts I wanted some…” She paused and took a deep drag from her cigarette; “we were too poor, my mother told the peanut man we didn’t want any…I was crushed.”
Monica looked up at me through the smoke, “How did you know about that?”
The truth? I didn’t. It was just some flash I got. I have learned that those flashes you get…are valid. I learned long ago to give them voice (that means speak them ‘out loud’). If you keep them inside, you are always…
But give them voice…(We’ll chat about this subject in a later installment).
She slid the cards towards me. “Go ahead and cut the deck”, I told her.
God I love this deck…and I begin to turn the cards over…
I always deal the cards towards (facing) the sitter. The spread going from my right to left.
I know that women tend to like to sit at right angle to men, and men like to sit across from men - and since I’m a man…but Monica was sitting across from me.
I am used to dealing and reading cards from either right to left or left to right. However, as I lay the first card to my extreme right, I tell Monica, “This is what you are moving away from. Some call it your past, I call it what you are moving away from.
This is the second position, which represents your present – where you are now – what you are now…
The third position…is the unseen…the unexpected…that, that you will never see - never know – occurring behind your back, for weal or woe.
The fourth position is the near future, and the fifth is the far future.”
I laid out a 5-card horseshoe, from my right to left, the arc occurring towards her.
I looked back into her eyes – at this point I had only looked at the cards, I had not thought about what they were or what they meant.
“Who was the person who walked out the door without closing it…”
Monica stared in amazement…
As a child, we were told that those “images” were our imagination. I have learned, and others have learned…that if you give them voice…speak them…over time they become more and more accurate.
The cards were not nice, and Monica’s life was in a bad way. Her cards were not immediately hopeful. However, I knew that she would be moving into a more hopeful year (after her next birthday – based on her numerological cycle).
As requested, I told her the truth – and not just the good. Monica’s life would be filled with turmoil for a while…and then would take on a new direction…filled with hope, beauty, and new directions.
Monica opened up to me, and the reading had a profound impact on her. I believe that by utilizing her different senses, it helped lower resistances, and moved us away from just “reading cards”.
As Monica left Aunt Harriet’s Room, I took the pencil, placed it against the underside of the table, and broke off the tip.
Now Kerri…she was a completely different type of sitter…
If you endeavor to embrace the way through learning, the way will not be understood. If you observe the way with simplicity of heart, great indeed is this way.
Although Aunt Harriet’s Room exists, Monica and the fictionalized event is a composite of many – and is not intended to represent an actual person.
Nothing is stated as a recommendation or a suggestion, but merely observation accrued over time. Opinions and results may vary.
Part 1.0 : http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9501
(Actually, I'm quite serious here. Your writing is publishable quality.)
