Well, he appears to be taking swords that we presume don't belong to him. With his fancy red boots and hat, that strange smile as he looks over his shoulder- there seems to be something jaunty, reckless about him. Yet it's a curious card, with so much going on int he background which isn't quite clear. I see a story in this card, I have no idea if it is intended, or not. But it has influenced how I read the 7 of swords. I see someone taking five swords (take a look at the 5 of swords & see what defeat looks like), and leaving 2 behind. Behind him to the right there are tents, they remind me of the tents a medieval army would have used when setting up camp before a battle. Behind him to the

I love, and struggle with this cards in equal amounts. To me it represents “bliss” utterly lost in the moment, completely connected with what you are doing. I really get that part of the card- I am easily lost in cooking, writing, tarot, drumming…. It also represents self-disciplined learning of a skill. I struggle a little more with this. I am a flitter, a diver, a knight of wands dashing into life. I am less good at focusing on steadily learning a skill, diligence This side of the 8 of pentacles is often referred to as the apprentice card. It can also represent obsession, being stuck in a rut, procrastination – and specifically obsessive compulsive disorder (or even hoarding). When I firs

What is shadow work? For me, shadow work is seeking to explore, understand, and usually release, things that you don’t know about yourself. The hardest thing about shadow work- is if you are working on something you already know it is not shadow work. It is about delving deep into the unconscious mind, where memories, emotions, contracts and promises you have made to yourself lay unhidden- yet still very powerful. Shadow work is where my experience as a shaman & tarot reader really blend well together- because both involve helping a client to see things they weren’t fully aware of. We will all experience stress and trauma in our lives, and it can be difficult to deal with at the time. Perha

Which is the most feared card? In my experience of teaching Tarot, for most people it is the 5 of pentacles. For me this sad and miserable card means “impoverished”, the card suggests a lack, not enough, being without. Or worrying that there will not be enough. Feeling that you don’t have enough can be as damaging as not having enough, so this card is about deeper issues than just money. It is about self-worth, how much value you place upon yourself. How you deal with lack and difficulties. Let’s start by looking at some of the symbolism in the Rider-Waite card; The church window, seemingly unseen. Whatever you may think about churches, it is important to think about what a church symboliz

I am so excited to have had a sneak peak at this amazing project. I am very old school, and struggle with technology. I have only just started using online music as my c.d. player has broken and my kids demanded "spotify" So I did struggled at first with the concept of Arkartia. But I thought about the flow of tarot design, how the cards have adapted and evolved to reflect current culture. How like an aural tradition they are alive, influenced by the times they are used in. And yet, a big part of their magic is , many many people (myself included) still like to read with replicas of much older decks. Isn't that a wonderful thing about our tarot tradition? it's sheer diversity. Now we have a

Before I started my course - learning the skills to be a shaman healer- had never really considered "entities" or their "extraction" Which is why i found myself sat with the 9 other shaman students feeling a little bewildered when our teacher demonstrated an entity extraction on a student who was already aware they had one. As I explore my thoughts & experiences I need to point out that to respect the confidentiality of the group I feel only able to express my own experiences. So I watched the process, trying to decide how it fitted in my world view. The thoughts (rapid, with some anxiety as I released I would be "having a go" myself soon) went something like this; I believe humans all hav

Tarot reading professionally, is a business. It takes business skills When I started it was teaching a small class monthly. Most of my time was spent researching and writing my course which in time became the basis for my book. I loved this stage- focused on research, writing and teaching. I was only making a little after costs were taken out (advertising & room hire) but I really didn’t mind. I had no long term awareness of how my business would need to grow, I was only focused on teaching, and enjoying exploring and sharing tarot. I’m sure some people are so placed that their business grows organically, with little effort or focus. But I bet most readers & holistic practitioners have to s

Yesterday I had a client booked in for a reading concerning three upcoming legal cases (sharing this with her full permission!) I started off with explaining that I was reading for guidance only, she needed to take full responsibility for how she decided to proceed with the cases "I am fully aware of how tarot works" she said. Legal cases are always a sticky issues, but they were all quite soon, and she was fully aware that I was picking up on likelihoods 7 best path forward, so I felt very comfortable with the reading- and very curious as to how easily I pick up on the information! Each case was completely separate, so I read three separate readings, cleansing my top chakras with Florida