My tarot journey began many years ago, and I did not realize at the time how influential they would prove to be in my life, so the beginning details are a bit fuzzy. I believe I purchased my first tarot deck in 1993, at the age of 16, from a small shop in Baltimore, Maryland. If I am not mistaken, it was called Grandpa’s Candle shop, which was right around the corner from Grandma’s Candle shop. This first deck was a Universal Waite. I still have my original deck, in its original box. The deck is in fine shape due to the loving care it has received, but the box has seen better days.

If you are not familiar with the Universal Waite deck, it is a recoloring of the popular Rider-Waite deck. The pictures seen in the Rider-Waite pack were originally drawn by Pamela Colman Smith, a struggling artist who never achieved any real success or acclaim in her lifetime, under the guidance of Arthur Edward Waite. The deck was first published in 1909 by William Rider and Son, London. The current publisher, U.S. Games Systems, commissioned Mary Hanson-Roberts, known for the Hanson-Roberts tarot deck, to recolor the original drawings in softer tones to enhance the flow of imagery and make the cards more pleasing to the eye.

Sadly, I do not recall the first reading I did with my new tarot deck. My family was against anything “occult,” so I kept it tucked away out of sight and only used it when I felt it was safe to do so. I knew nothing of tarot cards, I figured divination was for tricksters and charlatans. Yet I remember feeling inexplicably drawn to the cards, and I didn’t know why. I’d hold the box, not even removing the cards, and feel a surge of power like I had never experienced. It was a little frightening. I brushed all this off as a trick of the mind, and figured any tummy tingles I was feeling were probably due to the fact that I was hiding these cards from my parents.

However, things changed dramatically the following year. I moved out of my parents’ house at the tender age of 17, and got an apartment with my best friend. Having an apartment creates the need for money. I already had a part time job, but I took on an additional job in order to make ends meet. This is where my memories of my tarot beginnings become clear, as they took me by storm and began a journey I never could have imagined.

I began doing readings for friends, which was fun even if it was a bit disconcerting how accurate the readings were. Then I began reading for my coworkers, people I knew little about. It quickly became apparent that these readings were accurate as well, scarily accurate. Sometimes it seemed to me that the information I was getting from the cards was ridiculous, and completely off track. Then the questioner’s face would pale slightly, or their mouth would drop, usually followed by a confession of some sort that confirmed the reading. Being raised as I was, I didn’t know what this meant. I didn’t know if I was doing something wrong. So for the next couple of years I would come and go with my acceptance of the cards. Sometimes I would read fairly frequently, sometimes months would go by. And every time I pulled them out of hiding to share their knowledge, the answers I received were unmistakable. As can often be the case in matters such as these, I wouldn’t even realize how accurate the reading had been until I looked back and saw how the predicted events unfolded. 

I want to divert from the topic for a moment to make a couple of points that these experiences taught me, or that I came to learn through study and evaluation.

1.  The predictions made in a tarot reading are not set in stone. A reading gives you information you need, a kind of ”heads up.” It is often, although not always, possible to prevent a predicted event from occurring. This may seem to contradict the story of my tarot journey as I have explained it, as I did in fact witness all the predictions coming to pass, but it is not in fact a contradiction. I was young, ignorant of the ways of tarot, and trying to prevent myself from really believing. When the cards showed me a negative situation, it didn’t occur to me that there may be a way to prevent it or lessen it, as doing so would be acceptance of the cards’ power and admission of my part in it all. Being older, more accepting, and hopefully wiser, I have had incidences where I was able to recognize a situation and change course to avert it. Although I admit that I need to do so far more often than I do. Tarot shows you a probable future based on the path you are on, the people in your life, and the decisions you are making. It need not be set in stone.
2. Having a reading done is not a passive undertaking. If you have a reading done for you, please realize that you are not there to have someone magically solve all your problems, give you all the answers, and make decisions for you. You are there to get the message the universe is trying to send you, and see how that fits into your own knowledge of your life and circumstances. A tarot reader is just a messenger, not a magician. It is your job to take the information you receive and put it to good use. For example, a reading can tell you a person, place, thing, or mindset will lead to your undoing. Use that information to figure out which thing in your life it refers to, and work on removing, changing or lessening the influence of the item in question. This is especially true if a person card comes up in your reading. Your reader will likely describe the person’s attributes, but often they can not tell you who the person is. It is up to you to determine who the card is referring to based on the clues your reader gives you  so that the reading as a whole makes sense and is useful to you.
3. Many people find it harder, sometimes even impossible, to read for themselves than for others. I mention this for two reasons. One, and most importantly, you may experience this yourself. Don’t feel that you have failed if the readings you try to do for yourself come up wonky. With enough work, time and concentration, you may overcome this hurtle. Two, if you have a professional reading done, you may find that your reader’s life isn’t perfect. This confuses some people, as they figure that if someone is gifted their life should be coming up roses 24/7. Even the best readers may experience blocks when it comes to reading for themselves. Even if they can pull the needed information  from the cards, they may not be able to recognize the situations unfolding until it is too late. As with many things in life, things look clearer from the outside, so being too close to a situation can prevent one from seeing the whole picture.

As the years went on, my acceptance of the cards, and my obvious connection with them, grew. Eventually I became employed by a service offering tarot readings over the phone. These went swimmingly, and were quite enjoyable, but I had not matured in the tarot enough to handle them. Although the readings were still accurate as always, I would feel emotionally drained and exhausted when I was done. I didn’t know how to prevent this tarot fatigue, so eventually I stopped doing phone readings all together. I have since learned to “tune in” to my psychic centers without having to drain all my energy.

In 2002 I opened my new age shop online to help me be more connected to my spirituality, and to allow me to work from home so that I could be there for my daughter. In 2004 I moved to Arizona, just outside of Sedona. The energy of the area drew me, and I instinctively knew that this energy could be a battery for my growth. I continue to do readings, and may even be opening my “professional reading” doors again soon.

So that’s my tarot journey in a nutshell. So what advice do I have for you as you begin your own journey into this beautiful world of mystery and answers?

1. Pick the deck that calls to you. Walk around the room (if you are in a store) or scan the pages (if on a website) over and over until one just seems to say “I’m yours.” It may sound silly, but if you give it some time and are patient, it will happen for you.
2. Use the meanings in the book that accompanies your deck, but don’t get married to them. If you look at a card and it says something to you that is not in the book, don’t discount it. A tarot reading is based on intuition, trust yours.
3. Realize that a tarot reading’s usefulness comes from contemplating and using the information provided.
4. Give yourself time. Learning to read tarot well can take awhile, or you may be a natural. Either way, you will need time to learn and grow. The best readers are the ones still learning until the day they die.
5. Trust your instincts. If something pops in your head, even if it seems impossible, use it. You’ll find that those first thoughts are often correct.
6. Have fun!

If you are in need of a tarot deck, feel free to browse the selection in my store until you feel the one that wants to belong to you. If I can assist you in finding the perfect deck, feel free to contact me. Be sure to bookmark my blog if you haven’t already, as the next tarot articles are forthcoming!

~Anyanka

Related posts:

1. Tarot Reading Accuracy; a Lesson Learned
2. Exploring the Tarot – 0 The Fool
3. Exploring the Tarot – 1 The Magician

One of the first questions people understandably have when one tells them they read tarot cards, is to ask how accurate the readings are. The readings I have done since picking up that very first deck are scary accurate. Seriously, I don’t know if anyone’s readings should ever be this accurate. I guess that seems like an odd statement, let me see if I can clarify.

In the last 16 years I have read for myself, strangers, and countless friends. I even did readings by phone for awhile a few years back. When I do a reading, no matter how little I know about someone, they nod their heads enthusiastically as I tell them their life story. I can’t tell you how many times I have felt compelled to say something that seemed completely out of the blue, or completely incorrect, yet when I said it aloud the querent was astonished and asked how I could possibly have known? This should be a good thing right? Yes and no. First of all, it means I often have to tell people unpleasant things in the past, present or future. That is never any fun. With the rare exception of the enlightened querent who will not let the negative bother them, and instead uses it (as it should be used) as a call to action and a point of growth. Second, even though my answers are correct they may not be complete. I have had several occasions when I was on the right track, I was getting all the right reads, and crystal clear answers, but I just stopped too soon.

For example, my best friend’s first marriage. She was dating this guy that, well let’s just say I was not nuts about him. When she told me she was going to marry him, I could feel the fear and panic building in my chest. Being someone who knew me quite well she knew that I read tarot cards, and she had a lot of faith in my readings. So I suggested we do a reading to find the outcome. I was confident that the cards would reveal that the match was inadvisable, so I promptly whipped them out and away we went! Imagine my devastation when the cards confirmed that yes, she was going to marry this guy. Here is where I made my mistake. I put my tail between my legs and packed up my cards in defeat. She did marry him. Even though we were, and still are, very close I wasn’t invited to the wedding. Maybe because I wasn’t supportive of her choice, maybe because her parents weren’t nuts about me, or maybe just because she recognized she wasn’t marrying him for the right reasons. I was, however, present when she picked up her divorce papers less than 2 years later which made up for it completely.

Was my reading inaccurate? Not at all. She married him just as predicted in the cards. My reading was incomplete. I read far enough to find an answer I did not like, and I stopped. What could have been different had I read deeper into the situation? What if I had asked how the relationship would work out, if they would be together in five years, would they be happy, what would their challenges be? Maybe her marriage, brief as it was, was just meant to be. Or maybe that whole part of her life could have been bypassed in favor of better things if only I had given her more to work with?

So what is the moral of the story? Don’t always assume you have a whole situation figured out just because your reading has been accurate and clear so far and you have reached the last card in your chosen spread. Sometimes the “answer” you just discovered is just the tip of the iceberg. Although it is true that we can not read indefinitely, ferreting out every possible scenario (especially if you are reading professionally and are therefore on a tighter schedule,) we can ask ourselves whether we think this is the entirety of what this person needs to know at this juncture in their life. Life is fluid, our path altered slightly with each decision we make or refrain from making. Tarot, as a reflection of life, is no different. Don’t be afraid to break out of the “norm.” Challenge what is expected, and go with your gut. If cards 3 & 4 look like they should be switched, do it. If the querent has shuffled, and you get the urge to shuffle it one more time yourself, do it. You can not successfully read tarot cards if you do not trust your instincts. The cards do not provide answers exactly. What they do is help you tap into your psychic senses and connection to the universe, this is where the real answers come from. In denying your instincts, you can make the cards virtually useless. So listen to your instincts, and at the end of each reading ask yourself if that really was the end?

~Anyanka

Related posts:

1. My Journey Through the Tarot
2. Exploring the Tarot – 0 The Fool
3. Exploring the Tarot – 1 The Magician