Samhain / All Hallows Eve / Halloween is past, and we enter the autumn of 2021.
The sun has swollen to its height, and like the tide is ebbing now, each day becoming shorter and darker and the nights longer and swelling with their own potential and brilliance.
I have settled into my new schedule of readings at the Healing Roots Wellness Center, and it feels very much like what I should be doing.
In the first week the center was open, we participated in the town’s annual “Ladies Night Out” and I did three card readings for anyone who would like one.
I started the evening knowing what each card in each position was for.
The Current Situation
The Querent’s Power
The Outcome
So for example, if the first card was the Four Of Pence then I’d say that they were in a situation where knowing what they had was important, and that they should pay attention to how much they were giving to others, and what they were taking in from others, so that they were in balance and had an awareness of their current ‘balances’ in the physical, the emotional, and the spiritual realms.
And if the second card was the Two Of Pence then their ability to act – the thing that they had control over and were able to do to change their current situation – was to keep moving. Money in; money out. Love in; love out. Spirit in, spirit out. Like breathing and walking they have the ability to control their pace and what and where each foot fell, what and where each coin went. When and from whom their love was shared.
And if the third card – the outcome – was the Nine of Cups then they have an opportunity to splurge coming up, where they don’t need to worry so much about controlling or being mindful of what they have and what they accept from others. It wasn’t time to do that yet, but that time was coming, and would probably be the result of good management of their affairs in the short term.
Overall a very “Deferred Gratification” kind of situation.
But over time I started adding a fourth or a fifth card. Maybe a sixth. Sometimes I would START a Celtic Cross, with something like:
| What the Querent Desires most of all | ||
| What just happened | The Querent Crossed by a second card for The Current Situation | What Will Happen Next |
| What Fortifies The Querent |
Then for awhile I just followed the cards, without any preconceptions of what each card would say. I would just read the card.
The more I let the cards speak, the less difficult it was. The more I felt like I could read all night long.
And I became less and less concerned about my own ability to keep going, or my own ability to hear each person and to find the narrative in their cards.
There were a couple of times when I was aware of the line of people waiting. But no one seemed to be … waiting. It was a little like everyone waiting in line was participating in a single reading. And yet there was enough other noise in the room I don’t think the second person in line could hear what the first person was saying or what I was saying to them, so it felt like each reading was very personal and private – like we were alone in a separate room with a closed door.
Sometimes I did readings for two people at once, with the same 3 card reading for each one, adding a card between those for the interconnection between the two people. So for the ‘current situation’ each had their own, personal, situation. But there was also a situation they shared – something tying them together. And although each had their own personal power, there was a power in their friendship that each shared – something that only they together could do. And each had their own personal outcome, but there was also an outcome for the friendship.
Those were particularly fun and heartwarming.
A few hours later the evening was done, and I honestly felt like I could keep going.
To be brutally honest, I was so stuffed with energy it felt like the end of opening night of a new play. So it was time to ground and balance myself; hard.
The next day my body and mind and spirit were processing everything that has happened, and I spent much of the day meditating and doing tai chi to keep myself moving and balanced.
I was concerned that I would run into really difficult things during the readings – situations that are very hard to talk about during a fun party with a massive crowd around. And I did run into those readings.
I had thought of removing the ‘difficult cards’ from the deck before the evening started, but I remembered what Nell Morningstar has said about doing readings with all the cards: that way you don’t have to worry about those ‘difficult cards’ showing up, because they always will.
And when there was a situation like that, I let the reading grow as it needed to work through that narrative – whatever it was – just enough to give the querent a tool to help them find their own path, or to help them know it was ok to feel however they felt.
I honestly don’t know how many readings I did. But I gave away more than 30 business cards that I had on my table, and very few people took a card. So I think I might have done a lot.
And it felt perfect.
Like it was what my whole life was leading to – the thing that I am here for.
So I’m going to keep doing this, leaning into it as if it was what I was meant to do.
For anyone who would like, I’ve created a playlist of the songs that I listen to in the reading room while doing readings. It will almost certainly continue to change and grow – here it is if you would like to check it out.