04/13/2016
Back in 2008, I was wandering some streets not yet traveled in San Francisco, in my third year of living there (on the run from L.A. at the time) when I saw a banner on a Unitarian Church proclaiming "World Tarot Day." Not having a clue, but having decades of Tarot reading under my belt, I ventured inside. And there, to my amazement, was an actual Tarot event going on -- featuring Tarot Luminaries such as Dr. James Wanless, creator of the Voyager Deck and Mary Greer, who wrote the first Tarot book I ever owned in the early 70s. In a small room with a handful of lucky people, speaking about and playing with Tarot cards.
There was a fee for the event, which the organizer Anastasia Haysler, generously waived as she handed me a boxed lunch from Whole Foods and said it was "Lunchtime."
This fortuitous moment marked the beginning of my serious foray into Tarot reading for gatherings (Anastasia is a kind of "agent" for readers and a brilliant businesswoman), and my own small Cafe Tarot offerings in my own SF neighborhood.
Reading for lots of people in a few hours--especially when they are in costumes during Halloween or at Renaissance Faires--helped me to gain trust in the cards as well as my intuition.
If I were to pick one word to describe the process, I'd say "Surprise."
Because I try not to pre-judge and just stay open to the story the cards are telling, I'm always surprised at what they say and what the seeker confirms about their own needs and life.
The one thing about card reading for lots of people (including kids' parties) is that we are all the same when it comes to our hopes, dreams, fears, angers. Every time I sat with someone to look at their "story," I saw my own.
This is perhaps the greatest reward for me as a Tarot reader.
