Surrounded by Symbols

This season, more than the rest of the year, is more laden with evocative symbols than any other time.

How familiar are we with evergreen trees, holly wreaths, mistletoe? What about the New Year's symbols of the baby and the grim reaper? The witch at Halloween? The cornucopia at Thanksgiving?

We speak in this shorthand all the time. We know that a red diagonal line through anything means no. We know that thumbs up means yes. We know that a person who opens their arms is welcoming us and one who crosses their arms is not. We know that a colon and a half parenthesis is a smile. :)

Symbols have been part of our lives since before we had fully formed language. Primal ones that we have found, like the ancient cave paintings, are as emotive as many more finely drawn paintings, and carry a powerful amount of energy in a few spare lines.

There are systems to symbols, and some, like the runes or the I Ching hexagrams have an interesting way of fitting together and interlocking visually.

Others, like the system of tarot, have a way of interlocking conceptually, and although they are visual in themselves, they cannot be as compact as abstract forms like runes, or the hexagrams of the I Ching.

Some symbols are so emotionally charged that their mere appearance sends chills or rushes of joy, depending on the sign, without anyone saying anything or any accompanying literature.

Obviously, some symbols are references to ancient beliefs and feelings and some are purely modern inventions of convenience which may or may not last. With some symbols we have near universal agreement, but with others not.

We bring our own interpretations to symbols as well as recognizing traditional meanings. This is why two people can look at the same picture and have two very different experiences of it.

And this is also why this is such an emotional time of year for so many people. We are surrounded by symbols and they can convey a host of messages to us faster than we can digest them.

Reading Within, Reading Without

Today, I was thinking of a situation and was going to draw some cards to read on the matter, but then I remembered I did not have my cards with me. So I did what came to me automatically, and just focused on the subject and let the answer come.

Of course, I have done this before, and it is always part of my readings that what comes through is not always what exactly is on the cards. Many people understand that the cards are gateways through which messages can come. Some people see them as visual prompts, focal points for the person requesting the reading to focus on and let their mind start to work on their issues even before the reader speaks.

There are times when I tell a person something, they ask me what cards told me that, and sometimes the answer is that it was not coming from any card, but rather from one of my spirit guides who told me to give you this message. Of course, there are also times when the literal interpretations of the cards do convey exactly the right message for this person at this time.

I have noticed recently that more people are asking me questions that do not require the cards, and in fact, for some answers, the cards are not needed at all.

Of course, you know that there are many psychics who do not use cards, runes, pendulums, I Ching, crystal balls or any other kinds of tools to connect with spirit and relay messages to clients. Mediums, channelers and straight psychics are other names for working this way. When messages come through touch, it is called clairsentient, when it comes through hearing, it is called clairaudient, and when it comes through seeing it is called clairvoyant.

Our comfort with using tools is both for the comfort of the client who might like to think that there is a logic and methodology to what we do. And there is to a degree, but there is also a lot coming through that psychic connection, which is not about logic, and is more deeply rooted in an ability to feel or sense.

The more we attune ourselves to be the tools, the more reliable our connections to our sources. For the reader, the tools are often familiar props that serve to set the stage until the senses connect and take over.

We go within in order to go without. I always affirm before a reading that I will bring through something that is useful for this person at this time.

For readers, learning to work within and without is part of the necessary development of really being a reader. It takes practice and it is not always easy to learn, but if you truly want to be able to do good readings, it is essential to learn. Like every other talent or skill, some will be born with more than others, but for the most part, it is the refinement of the skill through practice that brings the readings to life.

You have to read within in order to read without.

Travels with Spirit Guides

When doing readings in big public events and I am very busy, I am more easily able to enter that zone where I am in close contact with my spirit guides, and the readings just flow through me. Time disappears and I might notice that when I pause to eat because my blood sugar is running low.

Whether I am doing one-on-one sessions in my home office or meeting and reading for large numbers of people in a festival or fair, I always affirm that I am bringing through something that will be useful to this person at this time.

Opening the connection with my spirit guides this way, the altered state produces a feeling that leaves me tired, but in a good kind of way. That is why sometimes on festival weekends, I do not have the energy to make blog entries when I get home, and that is part of the natural ebb and flow of energies I work with.

I am happy to have met so many new people and to have been of service through my readings. It is an affirmation of my work, and we all need and love that. Who would not like to get feedback from others that the work that they have done has benefitted them and that they feel better as a result? This kind of feeback is an important part of the process of giving and receiving.

Life is good. I am thrilled to be busy. Hope to see you again soon.

Cards for Sale

I have found a great deal of pleasure and inspiration over the years in working with cards. Creative artists have come up with a great variety of designs over the years. If you are looking for a special set to work with as a self teaching or meditational tool, or whether you also read for others and would like an unusual deck to work with, consider these.

Here is a list of tarot and other cards I have for sale:

Grand Etteilla Egyptian Gypsie Tarot, Grimaud - $100
Norse Tarot by Clive Barrett, book & deck - $100
Arthurian Tarot by Caitlin & John Matthews, book & deck, first edition, Aquarian - $100
Arthurian Tarot by Caitlin & John Matthews, LWB, second edition, Connections - $15
Elemental Tarot, by Caroline Smith, book & deck - $100
Mythic Tarot deck & book set, by Liz Greene & Juliet Sharman-Burke - $25

Tarocco della Musica by Osvaldo Mengazzi, full deck, not just majors, numbered and signed limited edition 450/500 - $125
Le Mani Divinatore by Osvaldo Menegazzi, 22 majors only, limited edition numbered 764/1500 - $125
Tarocchi Romantici, 22 majors only, by Giorgio Trevisan Lo Scarabeo 1991 - $75
Tarocchi Delle Origini (Tarot of the First People) by Sergio Toppi, majors only, Lo Scarabeo 1989 - $75
Anna Riva's Mystic fortune Cards, 50 cards - $10
La Carte dell Amore by Paola & Terry Prada (Italcards) $30

Ancient Egyptian Tarot by Clive Barrett, book & deck - $100
Egipcios Kier Tarot Deck - $100
Egyptian Tarot by Esmeralda - $50
Tarot of Transition by Carta Mundi (Belgium), deck & LWB, no box, bag provided 1983 - $40
Egyptian Oracle, by Maya Heath, book, board & hieroglyphs, 1995 - $30 Egyptian Temple Cards, 54 cards, by Andrew Metcalfe, Osirian Enterprises, 1974 - $100
Le Tarot de Isis by Erna Droesbeke (Belgium) 36 cards - $15
Way of the Cartouche, book & card set by Murry Hope, 1983 -$45

Wonderland Tarot, deck & booklet - $100 Enochian Tarot by Gerald & Betty Schuler & Sallie Ann Glassman, 86 cards - $100
Elements Tarot by Gregory John Bookout, 1984, Conscious Games, 80 card deck & LWB, no box, in bag - $40
Art Nouveau Tarot by Matt Myers - $10
Art Nouveau Tarot by Antonella Castelli - $10

Psy Cards - $10
Russian Gypsy Fortune Telling Cards by Svetlana A. Touchkoff - $30 Daughters of the Moon Tarot, 75 card set in black and white no box or book. will include bag - $35
Barbara Walker Tarot (2 decks) - $10 each
Tarot of the Ages, deck & booklet - $75
Native American Tarot by Gonzalez, no box or book. will include bag - $10 Tarot Azteque, 53 cards - $30

Yeager Tarot of Meditation by Marty Yeager 1975, box, no LWB - $40
Secret Dakini Oracle, book & 64 card deck by Nik Douglas & Penny Slinger 1979 - $95
Secret Dakini Oracle, 64 card deck with instruction cards by Nik Douglas & Penny Slinger 1979 - $75
Tiger & Dragon I Ching Cards by Rowena Patee, 1986 - $65
Dragon Mystique Chinese Fortune Cards (Hong Kong) $18
Gong Hee Fot Choy book to be used with playing cards - $10
I Ching Cards, 1971,with instruction cards,AG Muller dist by US Games - $50
Pocket size I ching deck with only colored images and hexgrams, no words.no book or box. bag included $20

Myriorama Landschaften, 24 cards (Leipzig) $20
Wurzelkinder Quartet, German Fairy Tale cards - $20
Marchenquartett, Quartet of Grimm’s Fairy Tales by Eva Maria Ott-Heidmann (German) - $20
Aquarian Rune Pack book & deck by Anthony Clark (Aquarian 1987) - $45
LeNormand (US Games edition) 36 cards - $30
Petit LeNormand (Grimaud) 1976. 37 cards - $40
Concise Fortune Teller or Concise LeNormand, (Grimaud) - $30
Oracle Belline, 52 cards (2 sets) - $50 each
Christian Tarot (France) 36 cards - $15
Arkaes Divination Deck (France) 72 cards - $50
Astrellia Tarot (France) 61 cards - $25
The Oracle of Mercury (France) 42 card set with booklet - $35
Oracle Alma Bose, 67 cards - $30
Constellation Cards, 32 cards, by Uma Mukuna, (Heron, France) - $20

Solomon's 72 Spirits, book & deck by Priscilla Schwei, 1988 - $100 Enochian Tarot by Gerald & Betty Schuler & Sallie Ann Glassman, 86 cards - $100
Elements Tarot by Gregory John Bookout, 1984, Conscious Games, 80 card deck & LWB, no box, in bag - $40
Loracle, by Patrick Herrington (English), 70 cards - $50
Philosopher's Stone, 40 cards in clamshell box by De Es- $75
Power Deck by Lynn Andrews & Rob Schouten first edition, 1991 (2 sets) book & card set - $45 each
Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling Deck, 52 cards - $10
Heart Cards - $10
Phoenix Cards by Susan Sheppard, book & deck (non-tarot set) - $35
Mini Course for Healing Relationships by Jampolsky - $10
Shadow Cards by Steven Ihli - $30
108 Paroles de Sathya Sai Baba (108 Names of Sai Baba) $35 never opened. Magical Circle Book & cards by Ramslove, Trout Garden, 1982 $20

Mo Tibetan Divination System, cards & book, no box by Mipham - $15 Oracle of the Bones by Claire O'Neill, 1994, book, cloth and plastic bones set, $15
The Zulu Bone Oracle book by Ulufudu 1989 - $5

Unusual Playing Cards Sherlock Holmes (British) - $20
York & Yorkshire (British) -$20
Hiroshige Playing Cards (Japan) - $20
Greek deck, images of Greece on every card - $20
Schwartzer Peter (German) 2 different designs - $20 each
OH Cards, 2 sets - $50 each
Stargate, the Decision Maker book & card set plus Diary of Discovery by Richard H. Geer, 1984 - $50

Carrying the Raft?

A person asked me an interesting question the other day, then left before we got a chance to really discuss it, so here it is, for your consideration.

He was questioning why people need to continue using divination tools. He quoted what he said was an old Buddhist saying. Not sure if it is true, but I'll accept the question at face value.

It went like this, when you get to a river and use a raft to cross, you don't carry the raft with you when you get to the other side. So why keep using these tools. Why not just use them a few times to answer questions and then leave them behind.

As I mull this over, a few different things come to me. One is that tools such as tarot, runes or I Ching, can be useful every day. Some people use little meditation books to get a thought for the day to meditate on. Some people use joke a day tear off calendar pages to give them a laugh for the day (which can also be thought provoking.) Many people use these other tools to provide them a thought for the day. Unlike a calendar, a deck of cards, set of runes or I Ching book can be used for many years. So they represent an excellent value for the money.

The raft analogy may or may not be applicable for a simple reason. How many times do you need to cross the river? How many times in your life do you need to make a decision about love, money, business, family relationships, friendships, health issues and so on, where you could really use another opinion?

We use a dictionary when we want to know the meanings of words, so why not use a guide (tarot, runes, I Ching) that can offer guidance through a symbol that represents a pinciple? Many people consult other books they find value in, and you can consider tarot and runes to be types of picture books.

Maybe these tools are not so much rafts as they are bridges that you can cross over time and time again.