I am often asked what I believe about tarot. Is it a god? That god? Random? Magic? Often the asker seems to be gauging, “Who is this person? What is her deal, how nuts is she, and can I trust her?” — as is their right.
Once I was asked with that blend of flirtation and scorn unique to an ill-fated first date. When I answered, “I don’t know,” wow, did that upset him. We proceeded with the strange evening and I never heard from him again.
More often the folks asking this are clients, or potential clients, often deciding whether or not to have a seat at my table on a Thursday night. And when I answer, “I don’t know,” every so often I feel a wave of doubt. Who am I to offer a service I do not understand?
How can I provide the insight and guidance offered if my tool remains a mystery to me?
The nights have grown long here in the northern hemisphere. The insidious clock change messes with my system and I forget why I feel the way I do, forget how arbitrary the container we’ve named Ti
me is, forget how desperate my system is for the more gradual rhythms of nature.
How often our bodies forget that the sun returns! And how often summer rolls around once again! How often mystery provides comfort rather than fulfill its threat!
I cherish the reminder that our winter solstice, technically the first day of winter, is the same day that lights begins its ascent towards us. We know. But we forget and we re-remember. Our brain can track the calendar but our body cannot comprehend the annual mystery of this transition, but we trust and we continue. Mystery does not stop us for moving forward; I’d argue the very opposite.
So it is for me and tarot. In case you hadn’t gathered, I have no idea how tarot works, just as I have no ideas how my animal body persevers through each winter. But I trust and I continue, I remember and I return to this practice that has offered me and a many others a sense of clarity, belonging,
and even companionship from whatever strange dust nudges a few of these 78 friends into our path.
So here’s the sales pitch.
Be the dust, join the mystery, and give the gift of tarot this winter. Available for a limited time, this is a beautiful way to give the gift of guidance and insight to your loved ones in celebration of the season.