Tarot is trendy...again?
The New York Times had a wonderful article this past Sunday. My favorite quote from the first paragraph of the article: "there is no evidence that tarot cards actually … tell your future." Really? Why don't you ask my happy customers! I have gotten quite a few comments about how good my readings are and how....prophetic.
But my evidence is my own and is anecdotal - hardly scientific.
How did I get involved in reading Tarot Cards? Let's go back in time. Cut to spring break 1991. Yes, thirty years ago. I was in New Orleans with a college roommate. As one does in New Orleans, we found a "fortuneteller." In this case it was two guys in a mystical shop. I remember their names well - Ronn and Donn. I remember them because the names rhymed but also because they used two n's. My Hoffmann is spelled with two n's. It was fate!
I don't remember the reading at all. I remember that Ronn (or was it Donn) used the Rider-Waite deck. I remember he said to me afterward, "You need to buy a deck. People will seek you out for readings." I figured he was full of crap and was just trying to sell me a deck.
Of course I bought a deck.
Or rather, my roommate did. Donn (or was it Ronn) said that it was bad luck to buy your own Tarot Cards. Someone had to buy them and gift them to you. So my roommate bought the deck for me. I paid her back once we left the shop which defeats the purpose, I guess. As a note, I have heard this sentiment several times over the years - don't buy your own deck. I have purchased many, many decks. I am still here and still reading. Myth debunked.
My first deck was the Rider Waite Tarot. I think it's everyone' first deck. At first, I pored over the little "instruction book" that came with the deck. I'm one of those until I'm not. I can't remember where I was doing a reading for someone, clumsily referring to my instruction manual when someone said, "You need to put that book away and just read. The answers will come to you."
Best advice I ever got related to Tarot. I've not referred to a book since. I now rely on whatever comes to me. Of course, the initial study of the manual gave me the basics, wands refer to work/creativity, pentacles to health/wealth, etc. The rest is whatever pops into my head from Goddess only knows where.
Here's where this happy, hopeful story takes a morbid turn...
About 15 or so years ago I found Ronn and Donn's business card in a book on my shelf. No idea what book. No idea what I was looking for. I wondered what happened to them. I did what everyone does in this situation - Googled them.
Turns out they were partners in more than business. One of them had a stroke and was hospitalized (this was in the late 1990's - pre- 9/11). His family didn't approve of his lifestyle. They forbid his partner from visiting and didn't update him on his condition. What they evidently didn't realize is that the two of them had a pact. If one of them was ill and not likely to recover, the other would take matters into his own hands (kill the ill one) and then kill himself.
That's what happened. The one forbidden to visit made his way into the hospital room and killed his partner before killing himself. I noted above that this was pre-9/11 when security wasn't what it is now. It would be unlikely for someone to get away with this now. It's also a sad commentary on family acceptance of LGBTQIQ people. What the family didn't share was that the poor gentleman who had the stroke was improving. There was no need for a murder/suicide pact.
I haven't read with the Rider Waite deck since I saw that news story. To be fair, it wasn't my go-to deck. I collect decks and choose the deck that "speaks" to me on that particular day. It isn't this, my first deck.
True to what Ronn (or was it Donn) told me....people do seek me out for readings. If you would like a reading, please contact me through this website or via social media. I'll know your're coming (a little Tarot humor).