Readers Studio 2010

So I am finally getting a chance here to finish up, or actually start the blog of the official opening and weekend of the Readers Studio 2010. Of course, had my Foundation reading partner not given me her cold and I am now bed bound this prolly would have taken me another week before I could sit down and write. Thanks Christy for sharing - NOT! lol

As always, the Readers Studio was an adventure, both personally, professionally, and spiritally. What I love about Tarot and the Readers Studio is there is just nowhere to hide from those realities the Universe wishes to discuss, and thus was, once again, my experience here. The King of Swords reigned through my weekend and readings and has been my contemplation throughout the weekend and this week. I imagine as the week wraps up here, he and I will be good friends.

He first started speaking during the pre-studio workshop, as we had to ask a question to work with the color, costume workshop Thursday night. I really had onlhy prepared one or two questions for the Studio this weekend, as it has been my experience that really, thats all one needs. Because the questions are never the issue, and tarot talks about issues, not answers to questions. So I knew that i just needed one or two questions and the universe would provide further questions from there, and I was not disappointed by either the Studio or the Universe.

So my first question Thursday night was asking what I needed to know about sending Blysse to spend the summer wtih her father, and the cards were the Ace of Swords, the King of Swords, and the Ace of Cups. Mind you, the aces came in up-side down, but we worked with them righth side up.

Friday morning the studio opened and we started out with our foundation readings. My partner was new to tarot, her deck was brand new. She was only comfortable pulling 1 card, and seeing one other card stand out, I pulled that one. The one card my partner pulled.. the King of Swords. Thats 2 days in a row the King made his presense known, and I was forced to deal with him. Of course at first, I thought the king was Blysse's dad.. but by the time the second person shared a similar point of view, I was forced to look at the fact that the King was probably me.

And so the studio opened and the fun began..

Dr. Elinor Greenberg, who I had the pleasure of reading with the night before, did the first workshop. She is always amazing, I really love her stuff. She did another workshop at the first Studio I attended and taught us a relationship spread that I still use, and i LOVE her issue cards where each major arcana has an issue question it asks, something else i use all the time. This time we did a workshop I believe she called Turning Straw into Gold, which was about finding positivity in negative cards. I got to work with Jordan Hoggard on this, and it was quite an adventure for both of us, as we kind of approach the topic from different ends of the spectrum yet have the same attitude. Jordan had a tough time because he did not find any card to be negative. I didnt have any trouble, on the other hand, finding cards wtih a negative connotation to me. That being said, both of us easily find the blessings of all meanings and experiences outlined by the cards. It was a great match up, because I was able to point out how others might interpret things negatively, and his gift was just his positivity in the matter. Its impossible to be too intense with Jordan because he just has a great way of making all things positive and energetic - a quality i love and admire in others.

We then went on to do another exercise using Gestalt therapy where we would describe the card, and then become the card.. very interesting. My partner drew the Moon and became the tower and the dog and had a great conversation betweent the two of them. Very fun. I didnt get a chance to really try this out because i had to leave a bit early to catch a play we had gotten tickets to, God of Carnage.

So we did head out to the city to check out the play, which was fabulous! Its about two sets of parents who get together to discuss the issue of their sons getting into a fight where one knocked out the others teeth. It was a funny play, like its meant to be a comedy, but the comedy arises from the reality of what usually happens in these situations. Where people start out polite and civil and within an hour or two start hurling around their anger and their real feelings about the situation and people involved. It reminded me a lot of our own situation between our family and the Bretans.. though I dont find the situation nearly as humorous as I did the play!

After, we headed back to the hotel and grabbed something quick to eat while catching up with Corrine Kenner and her husband, Jordan, Dan Pelletier and Jeannette from the Tarot Garden and a number of others in the lounge area there. Lots of fun and laughs, but we did finally head up to our room to get some much needed sleep for the full day that lie ahead.

Pre-workshop nite

Just had the most amazing nite so far. We have just spent the last 2-3 hours catching up and chatting with Bob Place of the Vampire Tarot, though most of you probably know him better as the artist of the Alchemical Tarot. What a huge source of information and history and just an all around neat person! Blysse is gonna die when she hears we did this, as the whole motivation behind her wanting to come here was to attending his workshop and get to chat with him. Amazing!!

The whole day was pretty kewl though tiring. We got up and headed out for the day. Breakfast here is way too expensive, so we headed for the bus and the train down to Greenwich Village where we sat at this cute cafe and had breakfast and coffee and just enjoyed a great morning. Spent the balance of the day strolling the streets, heading back to the hotel by 3 pm to attend the pre-studio workshop, Color, Costume and Choreography.

Ruth Ann and Wald did a fantastic workshop, i loved it. I am an ambassador where we help those who are new and also we are going to be switching partners and tables. Im really excited about this, as two years ago, it really got strange and counter productive just reading with the same people in the same places. It felt kinda cliquey - so this year when Ruth Ann mentioned the idea of switching it up, I was right there with that!

So the table behind me needed an extra person, and I volunteered to go right away. I really love the idea of meeting and reading with new and different people. Eric said he was okay with this, though I did have to hear later that some people thought this strange of me. I just do not think Eric and i would do each other justice reading with one another. We did talk about it ahead of time.. so anyway, i switched it up right away, which is so different for me and i loved it.

Love the new layers added to reading juust using color and costume and postion of the people in the cards. Very interesting. It works, but not at the exclusion of the story.. they kinda work hand in hand. I got to partner first with Elinor Greenberg - amazing fun!

I also to got to chat more with Jordan Hoggard of the Mysterium Tarot. He will be doing a Feng Shui workshop on Saturday night Im dying to catch!! Im very excited about learning more Feng Shui stuff.

And before I go any further, can I tell you that the Tarot Garden has brought all kinds of goodies - i think they are my favorite addiction this weekend. Im sure I will be back to that table more than once! I got the Twilight Realm A Tarot of Faery deck, The Minute Deck which came in this kewl metal case, and I also picked up this Japanese Manga specialty deck for Blysse for her birthday.. its amazing.

Ciro Marchetti has outdone himself on the poster and also is selling prints on cloth and tarot bags. the Tarot School had the kewlest tarot bags, big ones where you can fit notebooks and stuff. Thalassa and I duked it out over one of the bags, she won. I cant mess with the BAT woman..lol..

After, I spent some time talking to Marcia McCormick, i believe, and her husband. Lovely people, very interesting. We had a lot in common, and i loved chatting.

After, Bob Place sat down, and we were all riveted for the rest of teh night. We had ordered some italian, and we ate and chatted until just now.

Yet another amazing nite of Tarot, and the studio does not even start til tomorrow!

Crazy day! We start the day off heading into the city to meet up with our friends and then go to see Billy Elliott. First, we get directions into the city. I have officially become a country rube! It took us 20 minutes and 3 times explaining to us how to take a bus and then get the train to the city. Not good. But - we did get to the city without a hitch! Loved the people watching - its just amazing to sit on the train and see all the different people and just think about their stories. Im sitting on there thinking, as I watch the guy sleep standing up on the train, "how does he know when to get up to get to his stop? Is he really sleeping.. what happens if someone wants to pick pocket him.. " Or the other people who get into the train seeing and knowing there is not even standing room, yet make room anyway. The best is people who intentionally stay by the door, a dangerous proposition on a good day, choose this and never move as the conductor gets on the PA system stating in a very New York way, "do not lean or touch the doors, move away from the doors.." and no one moves! Its as though they have all ridden this train so often, that they are so immune to the voice, they dont even hear it.. And the lady knows it, but probably would tell you in a conversation during happy hour that no one stands by that door on her watch!

So we get into the city and Gary and Leeza meet us with their daughter Olivia, who is just as cute as a button! We at at the Roxy Deli - pass on this place. The worst, stalest bagel I have ever eaten, and they would not take teh bones out of the white fish that they charge $27! Afterward, we headed to see Billy Elliott.

What a fabulous show! I dont think the kid who played Billy was the best hip hop or jazz dancer, he just did not have the precision on the moves. But this boy could dance ballet!! There were a few dance scenes in this play that moved me almost to tears. He was so light and graceful.. and some dances were true works of art and beauty, and for a kid this age to be able to do that on top of carrying a play of this size, unbelievable!! The music was good, not Spring Awakening good, like I dont need the soundtrack, didnt leave singing the songs, but Elton John did an amazing job. If you did not know ahead of time, you would not be able to tell these were Elton John songs, which is saying something good because they didnt sound Elton Johnny, but were fantastic.

That being said, the theature itself was a mob scene, I felt like I was in a cattle call, i hated it. The line to go to the bathroom before the show even began was longer than the one to get your seat.. and I didnt even dare try to go to the bathroom during intermission or afterward.

So it was about that time between that, the shoving match to get out of teh theater and then the rain outside that were my undoing. Energetically, Manhattan just sucks it out of you! In order to cope and get through the masses, one must become homicidal, or at least that is the aggressive and insensitive energy you must adopt in order to get anywhere. I was seriously considering going back to the hotel instead of heading to Greeenwich, as i was ready to just duke it outu with the next person who shoved me.

But we headed to the subway to meet our group in the Village for dinner. And I am so glad we went! Tonight was the first Readers Studio event where they rented a bus that took everyone to Greenwich Village and we dined together at this restaurant called Dojo, which is a vegetarian kind of place though there were meat choices. It was really good. and the company was fantastic too.

Ran into Beth Owl's Daughter and Johanna Colbert,. Mary Greer, Wald and Ruth Ann and a number of others, some familiar faces and some new ones. It was nice to catch up. Food was fresh, service was good..

After dinner, we all kind of split up into groups and headed out to explore Greenwich. We headed to a new age shop, I cant remember the name, but that doesnt matter because after a prolonged rip off cab ride, we found the shop was closed for good. Of coarse, their phone # still has their hours of business, but there is no storefront. We lost half our group, and so Eric, Beth Owl and I proceeded to walk to the East West bookstore, not wanting to be ripped off by another cabbie. The store was kinda kewl, but their tarot section nil.. which is good, because i would have a hard time buying any tarot deck in a store at this point before the studio opens. After hanging out, we then took a cab to the meeting place, after which we grabbed a table at this little coffee shop and had some cappucino and amaretta (hence my ability to blog at 1 am). Beth Owl had some amazing gelatto. I could literally eat my way through New York, between teh pizza and coffee and bagels and lox and italian food and ..

While there we ran into our other comarades, and we then waited on our bus who was late.. and then headed back to the hotel.

Once at the hotel, we then ran into some more people who have arrived into town in the lounge and spent some time catching up. Oh My!! First, Ciro Marchetti is working on this IPhone application that when done will be awesome!! You can literally do readings on your iphone for people.. works a lot like the software from Legacy of the Divine Tarot.. where you can draw cards and place them where you like turn them over. It has a feature where you can notebook it and save it. Its great. Im a huge fan of his work!

Jordan Hoggard was showing me this way kewl tarot cloth for his cards.. has this blessing done in runes around the edges with grapes and stuff. Really kewl.. and then Gavin, the guy who makes these, shows up and shows us the rest of the cloths. I had to have one! I usually buy these when I have a deck to use.. this time i bought one first and will find a deck to fit.

This other gentleman, whose name i did not get, was showing us these leather tarot cases. They are gorgeous. some are pretty expensive. Garnet found this gorgeous blue one with this kewl clasp and some brass markings.. $500, which i thought was expensive. That is not to say they arent worth it, they are, they were that nice, but I could not reconcile spending that amount of money for that.. not when there are silks and so many more affordable options. But it does make me excited for tomorrow to see what more is going to be shared..

And the studio does not open for another 2 days!!

Readers Studio 2010

So we are here! New York City!! The studio does not officially start until Friday, but we are here checking out and enjoying New York for a few days before.. and also hoping to get some extra time to catch up with some friends too! Its just Eric and I. Blysse was originally to join us as well, having begged and pleaded over the years, and me finally relenting as a gift to her for her 17th birthday, but this was not to be. She just could not get the time off school. Will not elaborate on the details of that here for sure, but she did do the responsible thing by staying at school to work on the grades and all that great stuff.

So we arrived last night. Insane flying, as usual, but uneventful. The hotel is great, beautiful room. Weather is great. I had forgotten how crazy expensive things are here, though. For those of you reading this and getting ready to head out to join us, bring your extra pin money, and then bring some of your extra pin pin money! OMG - the restaurant here is CRAZY. Its $18 for a hamburger, $28 for a piece of chicken! Breakfast buffet this morning will be $17. Lobster bisque $9. So.. out came Eric's IPhone, loaded up the Yelp application and went on search for a local place to eat. Found a place called Sams Pizza - awesome stuff! Rated 4 or 5 stars out of 5 with fantastic reviews. We called to make sure they are still there (one never knows in these tough times) and Sam is the kewlest person I knew yesterday. Told us it would be a $10 taxi ride there, but said he delivers and thought that would be more affordable - and it was! So Sam then delivered to us at the hotel here the most delicous pizza we have had in forever! We have kept his menu for future use. Those of you heading out here who want some good, affordable italian, let us know, we have the menu. =)

We are heading out today to meet up with Eric's friend (and my friend too) Gary and his wife Leeza and their little girl Olivia. We are going to meet them in the city for either Dim Sum (eric is obsessed) or some good ol New York bagels (my preference). We cannot get either in Greensboro, so this will be a treat! We are hoping to catch a show today, hopefully Billy Elliot, there are a few others we are thinking about too if we cannot get to that show. After that we will head to Greenwich Village to dine with those who are here earlier and spend the evening catching up with good friends!

I will try posting every day. Preconference workshop by Ruth Ann and Wald is tomorrow night, and we get to preregister, and we get to hit the Merchant Fair early tomorrow.. im beyond excited to add to my tarot collection. I forgot to pre-order my poster, so Ciro Marchetti will be one of the first people I find to get that done. Im hoping he has some prints or more previews of the Oracle he is working on. From what I have seen on Facebook, it promises to be amazing!

Hopefully I will see you all soon!!

My High Priestess

Happy New Year everyone - or no one.. this blogging thing seems so quiet. Like, you go on Facebook, and its like being in a room full of people reading and typing at the same time, and even though you dont see them, you still feel like you are one in a crowded room. Here in the blogoshere its the opposite, its quiet and introspective, and sometimes the sound of hitting the keys echoes.,..

Its been two weeks since my last blog. Very interesting things as far as the readings have come to pass. It seems while my daughter was gone, her loser ex-boyfriend once again resurfaced and we came to find out he was planning a trip to see her while in Las Vegas. Upon finding this out, I absolutely could see the secret that had all along been in front of me that I was choosing not to see or deal with.. and to say that it turned my inner Queen of Cups upside down would be to put it mildly. Good thing was, i was prepared.. that is to say, i was not surprised to be feeling the way I did, and once again gave the universe a nod for warning me.. i love the synchronicities of the universe and Tarot.

So the week after, last week, the reading was:
1. What you have: The Wheel of Fortune.
2. What you need to know: Page of Wands Reversed.
3. What you get: The High Priestess

So I get that this is a process that is ongoing. The secret to the Wheel is scale.. and I can make this experience between my daughter and this loser big or small.. depending on how I wish to look at it. Its big for me in that I hate this kid and he is a major ongoing problem. But in the scheme of things, in the scheme of life, they are teenagers, and this too shall pass (pleeeeassse), then it would be small.. It has its peaks and valleys..

I think what i need to know regarding the page has many layers - the page could be me. I think the page could offer a great deal of insight into my daughter and how she is or is not choosing to handle this situation, and also the same, agian for myself and how I am choosign to handle or not this situation. It helped to have this reading ahead of time, in that after I got this reading, i of course was bracing myself for the disaster that I felt was to come with the upside down page of wands.. and it did indeed come when I discovered that my daughter lied about not being a part of this jerk's plan to meet her in Las Vegas, she absolutely had a part in it.. and i discovered it.. well i dont want to say here, as should she read my blog my secret will be out.. =)

However, the outcome of the High Priestess.. well, i did share that one of the ways I found out was through my inner intuition. The experience itself played out a lot in my dreams and my subconscious that way for about a good week, working out my own inner child issues with this. Hopefully this will lead to a higher knowing and growth for me.. and im sure since it is a major arcana card more will be to come..

Its noisy and busy here today, so I will draw my cards for the week tomorrow while meditating, but i did want to journal out these 2 readings.

I do wish any and all who are reading this a very happy and healthy new year..

End of a Busy Year

We were out this past week in Raleigh spending time with the Raleigh Durham Tarot Meetup group at their monthly meeting when someone asked my husband if I had blogged lately. He mentioned this to me in the car on the way home, and I said I hadnt in such a long time. How crazy is this, it has been about a year since I last blogged! I have literally been that busy - that this is the first time in almost a year that I have had a chance to blog, and I'd bet I havent done a reading for myself in about 6 months too - not good.

The good thing is that I have been that busy, and while I have not been reading much for myself, I have been doing a lot of reading for others, which I have loved. This has been my busiest year professionally, and I am really happy about that, because this is really what I love to do. Of couse, I cannot quit my day job yet, but I am closer to that than I ever have been. I kidded my mother last month saying by the time I really get to where I need to be to do that, I will have a great retirement business..LOL.

In thinking what I have been doing all year that has been keeping me from writing and reading, it really has been busy. Most of my time has been spent with my daughter, putting out many teenage fires last spring. Summertime was spent getting her ready to head off to Israel this fall, it was like a part time job! I thought once she left this September I would be overwhelmed with the amount of free time I had, but I dont think that was the case..not sure how that happened.

We ended up moving at the beginning of October to a bigger house. With Blysse boarding at school last year, Eric and I downsized to a smaller house. After the spring, we decided maybe boarding school is not the greatest idea for a teenager and decided to have her be a day student again this coming year and next. The house we had was entirely too small for all 3 of us, we were on top of each other and the kitchen was really small. With just 2 of us this was not an issue, but with 3 of us it was becoming frustrating. Even then, though, we were planning to just stick it out since Blysse will be leaving after next year and we are soooo tired of moving. As well, we have no idea where Eric will end up teaching when he is done is lisensure so we really were trying to persevere, but I do have to say I was never happy in the smaller place, i just could never find a place for myself, but i was trying! We were out and about and I happened upon a sign for this house and just for curiosity sake decided to check it out, and I just fell in love with this house. So needless to say, I spent the month of September packing and October moving and unpacking. And working 2 jobs, sometimes 3 with tarot reading.

Blysse left for Israel the first week in September, returned November 19. She had an amazing time and came home soooo grown up! Its such an odd thing because as people and individuals, we are very spirtual, but we are not necessarily religious, in fact most of the time we kind of rebel. I hate going to temple, and while I do love my Jewish friends and we have much in common, I do not necessarily adapt well to most religously practicing people. It just does not seem to be me. And Blysse is not much different, she is probably even more extreme that way than I. Yet, raising her to be Jewish has always been important to me. She was Bat Mitzvahed even though she hated it, even though I had hated it as a kid.. i wanted her to be confirmed as well. She goes to a Jewish high school, and while it is pluralistic, it has an intense dual ciriculum that overwhelms her and sometimes, many times, really turns her off. The content does not as much as the structure they have laid out that kind of forces the practice on the kids, and when she shares it, i do empathize with her and I know I would not like it either.

And yet, being involved with the high school, going to Israel, has been the best thing that has happened to Blysse and our family. I think being involved with this high school has saved her life and made changes for her that we had not been able to do. Israel totally changed her. What an amazing place - it is at the top of my list to see (thats right, my kid has gone there and I have not.. lol). Somehow the Israelis are able to do the thing that we, here in the US, have the worst time achieving with our kids - they make the kids feel important, make them feel that they make a difference, and they come away knowing that if they were to not return or leave Judaism it would be devastating, giving them a sense of purpose and importance to a country and people and life. I dont know how they do this, what their secret is, but thank G_d for it. And while it has not made Blysse more religious in practice, it has made her more of a Jew, and while I could not explain that here in a blog, I can definitely relate and say I feel the same way.

She wants to go to college there, which I hope she is able to do. I would miss her terribly, i do not relish the idea that my only child would be on the other side of the world from me, but going there has given her a sense of peace there that she is never able to find here, and I want that for her. Maybe it is just she has found the 1 place in the world I would not or could not live in..LOL.. something else I can relate to.. urrrgh.

In the meantime, I have been doing tarot! I have been reading for 3 new clients, which has been a huge learning experience. I also did some reading at High Point University twice in the last 4 months, in September and again in November. My friend Danny is a talent agent and had booked me for these. This last time in November, he also booked Eric, who did an amazing job! Not sure if it was Tarot or the college coeds that inspired him..LOL... but he had a great time and did an amazing job.

I was over the summer working on practicing Kabbalah magic, but had to stop for a bit on moving. Just not the space or the time, and it does require a daily practice and ritual. The weird thing is in my other house, I did not have a specific room for ritual and meditation, but in my new house I do. Unfortunately, there is a person renting an apartment on the other side of my tarot room, which makes me kind of uncomfortable, as sometimes you can hear things between the two rooms. I love my tarot room because 2 of the 4 walls are glass, letting in the light and energy of the day, one of the doors leads out to a courtyard with greenery and birds and its beautiful. The other door I try to keep the blinds closed on because others can see in. But for some reason, I am feeling inhibited in that room when i try to chant and stuff.. Its a detail I need to work out because I have not finished the first level and need to do so, it definitely grounded and centered me better.

So I did what is probably my last or second to last reading for myself for the year:

1. What I have: Ace of Pentacles.
2. What I need to know: 4 of cups
3. Outcome: Queen of Cups reversed.

While money is not totally overflowing, I am definitely financially in a better place right now than i have been in quite a while - working 2 full time jobs does that though..lol. Health is okay, could be better, but I am working on this. But really if I think about it, the Universe gives us what we need, and I can say that I do have that right now, I can see that currently I am working with the entire suit of manifestation both in my career and health and prosperity.. working very hard, working on what I want, what I have, what i need to do to move on. I just signed up for the Readers Studio for 2010- I am beyond excited about this. I missed last year, and I am looking forward to reconnecting, its such a great thing for my spirit when I go there.

Friend-wise it has been a struggle this year, maybe since summertime, where while I have more friends than I have had at any point in the last 5 years, they are more people to do things with but not people I can say genuinely like or love me or appreciate or even are aware of my better qualities. This is a huge source of pain for me, most of which is strictly on me and my problem. But it is not something I am used to. My close friends, and I have a number of them, unfortunately live around the country, but when we lived together I always felt very accepted and loved. I do not necessarily feel that way here and while I am in a space to be myself, it does not seem there are any people here besides Eric to share it with, and that is different and strange and sometimes kind of sad. And I do not always understand it except to think that it is about my choices, which need to be adjusted. Adjusted to what, I am not sure.

This leads me to the second card of what I need to know - 4 of cups. Maybe there is something that I am not seeing that is right in front of me or maybe there will be something that will be in front of me that I need to pay attention to.. Maybe I need to spend some time in contemplation thinking about what is in front of me and recognizing it.. What is standing out to me in this picture is the hand holding the chalice..

The outcome does not appear to be someone I want to be - needy, un-nurtured - not sure that I am not already grappling with reversed queen of cups right now.. hopefully this doesnt mean it will be worse by end of week..lol

Well, its been 30 minutes and I need to get going - have a full day of movie, then cookie x-mas reception, then maybe another party if the weather holds, we will see. But I have less than an hour to shower and get my tail outta here.

Its been great visiting though. I am going to make some time for this more often, ive missed this. One of my goals for this year is to make this writing and working on my kabbalah project and finishing my first level. I will be teaching beginning Tarot end of January, and I am definitely putting it out there that I want to get out into the community doing tarot more often as well.

Thank you to whoever reminded me that it was time to start being more present again -

The Hermit

I cannot believe it has been since October since I last wrote - crazy! I started back to school this Fall, and I have been so busy that unfortunately I have had to put the Tarot aside for more earthly studies..lol. So in a way, I, myself have been the hermit for the last 2 months.

As is very common for me, I find myself reading Tarot more often during times of stress than during times of calm. Thankfully I have not had to rely on the tarot too often this semester regarding school. There have been issues come up where I was reading a bit with Blysse, but aside from those adjustments, my deck has sat on my alter waiting for me..

Which is where it was when my brother was unexpectedly called in to court this week. I am truly beginning to wonder if this divorce he undertook this summer will ever end. The tarot this summer said not anytime soon and spoke of the expense. The question of Do I have Faith in the Tarot from 2007 Readers Studio rang in my ears and still does. In that regard, it has been a long summer and even longer fall and I have a new understanding of the type of expense involved in an upside down Ace of Pentacles.

So we have been through mediation and co-parenting counseling and bankruptcy, and yet after all this he is served with contempt charges that he did not sign the mediation papers. Apparently his lawyer felt them too vague and instead of her attorneys fixing this, they filed a contempt of court charge instead. I give Aaron credit, I am not sure I could sit in co-parenting counseling talking about parenting plans and not choke the person who is all the while suing me, costing me thousands of dollars I do not have which should be going toward raising my children. It is most frustrating.

So I ask the tarot Sunday night, what does Aaron need to know about court tomorrow?
1. What you have: The Queen of Wands reversed.
2. What you need to know: 8 of cups reversed.
3. What you get: The Hermit

So I tell Aaron, watch out, the Queen of Wands is on fire and ready to take prisoners tomorrow. She is a jealous and vengeful witch planning to deliberately undermine you and is making trouble. And Aaron asks.. what can she possibly do - HA! That is the beauty and caution of the Queen of Wands - she can do ANYTHING.

The 8 of cups told me that he was not walking away so easily from this situation, he was about to be drawn in and embroiled, regardless of his desire to avoid this - though I did not understand to what extent. The card talked about resisting spending time alone, and dreams of escape stymied, finding it hard to let go and move on, sticking to a process to ensure success.

But the outcome of the Hermit.. that was a bit mysterious. He is a guide, mentor and role model. His secret is that of Home and the promise of eventual rest, peace and protection, and I felt like he was asking Aaron to follow him down that road...

Of course there was no agreement met in court and they now will be at a hearing tomorrow. While I was not surprised necessarily by this outcome, I felt his pain and frustration.. so I was compelled once again to discuss this with the universe: What does Aaron need to know about Wednesday's court date?
1. What he has: Ace of Swords reversed.
2. What he needs to know: Knight of Swords reversed.
3. Outcome: The World.

I see the reversed ace as the judgment and the anxiety and stress that resulted. Words and logic used to deceive, clashes with authority. The whole suit of air is coming down around him.

The reversed knight is about an out of control, fanatical knight who is seen as ridiculous, inept, full of hot air, arguing theories that are irrelevant. Im hoping this is referring to Jeannie and her attorney and not to Aaron's. Based on the outcome, I would say this would be the case..

The World - I feel things will come full circle and in a good way, victory after struggles. Finding individual freement within inescapable time and space constraints. Involved in challenging experiences and handling it well.

Today he was then served more papers regarding discovery demanding his email, phone bills, hotel receipts and anything else you can imagine that might be personal and none of anyone's business, especially hers.

The readings fit, they work, they gel. I think there is an element that my brother and most people dealing with these types of situations hate acknowledging, and that is that these things take time and we cannot just bounce back or around so easily, even when it is tempting to do so. Inner contemplation i feel is a big message being offered here in the first reading and sometimes it is hard for him to quiet down enough and slow down enough to really listen. I am at a loss as to how to get through in this regard..

After receiving those papers today, gosh i even worry they will be checking out my blog here.. i really ought to give them something really good to read, huh..lol

I know better than to question myself, and the question again reverberated in my head.. Do I have faith in the Tarot?

I do - but I think where i lack faith is not in the universe but in those who seem to run it lately. I do not have faith in the legal system, nor in my fellow man most times, definitely not in lawyers or the psycho soon-to-be-ex-sister-in-laws they represent.