My use of divination and Tarot began in early teen years I was always very interested in all things esoteric and otherworldly. I was born into an Irish Catholic family and that faith, or at least my experience of it, was steeped in tradition, superstition and heavily mixed with Paganism. My Grandmother and her sisters would do tea leaf, palm and playing card readings as part of everyday life so it was very much normal to me.
My divination practices were rudimentary and I had a small group of young women around me that would practice different things we had heard or seen. I specifically remember lighting candles in a tiny little sink room with a mirror and with 'yes' and 'no' written on torn up pieces of lined paper from our school work books. Placing these in the empty sink, we asked questions of varying relevance and importance with complete and utter belief in the answers. The first time I used cards as a divination tool I used a normal pack of playing cards which I later learned was called cartomancy. I remembered my elders using this to give people guidance and I wanted to try it for myself.
1. Tarot is a commitment
By the time I was dabbling for myself rather than watching others, I was living in England and we left some of the mythical behind in Ireland. Mainland England didn’t have the same regular contact with the spiritual that i was use to. There was no Granny to come in at night and throw holy water at me to keep me safe while I slept, or screeching in fear over a frog in the house because it meant a death in the family. No kindly old woman (that may or may not have been my real aunt) to read my tea leaves and tell me I was going to marry someone whose second name began with N. It is perhaps no surprise that I went in search of it myself, reaching out to find my place in the divine.
2. We are all a part of the divine. Tarot can serve to strengthen this connection through accepting its simplicity and honesty.
Being born in to an Irish catholic family and seeing the spiritual and the religious co-exist without much trouble, I reached out in my new home and ended up involved in a very different type of church where the spiritual was integrated into the workings of the church. A charismatic, evangelical church taught me how to reach out and seek the divine on a very personal level but also taught me that all the things my family did were of the devil, were evil and could not be a part of my life as a born again person. I slowly and painfully shut off more and more parts of myself to fit into what seemed to be an increasingly small box in order to be able to fully commune with the divine. I never felt like I fitted in and I was always on the outskirts, trying hard to squash myself in to this acceptable box, constantly being told that, the more I sacrificed, the more I could be in touch with the divine and that divinity would take care me. All the while I was still being attracted to people and practices that were considered by the people around me as occult and forbidden. The two couldn’t co-exist and the day I married following encouragement by the church and its beliefs, was the last day I ever went to that church.
3. Tarot is focused on the self and builds up the individual. It treats you as a source of power and strength in your life, focusing truly on who you are and who you can be, rather than who you should be. Nobody can make you do anything - you are in charge of your fate.
Since then I started the journey back to what I feel were my original beliefs and I have picked up a lot of new ones on the way. I spent 7 years studying religion with an emphasis on western Christianity. I avidly read books on the women in the bible and the history of the bible and church. This naturally led me back to my early interest in all things deemed mythological and for me to delve more in to my Celtic pagan heritage. My intuition has always been on point, even in my spiritual struggles, so reading other people and their situations was an everyday occurrence. It made perfect sense to me that I would start up divination again once I had shaken the religious dogma that lead me to a false narrative about it.
4. Tarot leads us to genuine truth about ourselves. It may not be what we want to hear, but it is the kind of truth that only we can know in ourselves. It helps to fade out the other voices that are telling us to be different or to be less. It helps us to better understand what we believe about ourselves and the world around us.
Tarot reading was a natural fit for me. I adore the rich history that surrounds it but I also really resonate with the idea if it being a tool for changing your life. I strongly believe that tarot can and does help people change their lives. I know that is a pretty bold statement but the type of readings I do are very centred on the individual seeking the reading out. Responses to questions are a given but the sessions give you so much more than what you ask for a good session can bring up so many emotions.
Good sessions question the individual. They ask you to look at your motives and they require you to put in some work. Intuitive reading requires the person asking the question to be on board and full engaged, putting in time to better themselves, to cast off bad habits or lifestyle choices. The cards don’t pander to the people asking the questions and neither do I when I am reading them for you.
5. Tarot draws out your inner strength and puts you in direct contact with the higher self. This enables you to reach out and pull yourself up. It can change your life in the most personal way because no one can be more invested in yourself than you.
Get the most out of your reading by asking things that are going to make your life better, that are going to help you change and grow. Your guides want this for you and they are there waiting to pour the most important information in to your ears.
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