I never chose Tarot- finally accepting it suits me well!

October is always a busy month for me, firstly family time is hectic- two birthdays with my kids (18 & 20 this year), and then we head to London for the MCM Comic-Con, all three days this year.

On a personal level I hold my annual rune retreat. This is a small gathering of personal students, and the one event I co-host. Each year this is a "reset" and I find myself reflecting on the year and considering how I want the next year to look.

One of the problems with my business (apart from how many hours it takes to support my family) is the complexity of blending rune-lore, shamanism, and Tarot. I'm never quite sure how to focus my time. I'm immensely proud of my Tarot book- but wanted to write something on the runes as well. So I settled down in October to do this.

My Tarot book is big, wordy, and long. My rune book is the opposite! At aprox 6k words it is a booklet, a doorway to the runes, an access point. (And you can purchase either a PDF or physical copy direct from my website). And this difference says a lot about me.

When I read Tarot I am reading the imagery as if they are words- it's just each time I look at a card I see something slightly different, which allows me to access such detailed nuances. This makes writing about the Tarot so easy- I look at a card, and the words flow with ease, as if I was talking to a client.

When I work with the runes I experience them- as an energy, a voice in my head, imagery that comes to me in snatches of a dreamlike state. And it is very hard to verbalise, or capture this in words.

I can write about the Tarot in a relaxed way, and enjoy the experience- whilst I try to grasp the runic experience and then translate it into words which never quite seem to do it justice.

And so I am proud to have completed a small piece on the runes, and I will still be writing- I teach monthly in person and on Zoom. But I am going to re-focus my content creation on Tarot. I'm sure they'll be some blending, bringing the runes and the shamanism in. Sharing my unique perspective as I go.

The other HUGE difference I have noticed is with the social media groups in these two worlds.

On the whole (there are always expectations!) I have found the Tarot world to be a lovely space. Supportive, questioning, based on individuals trying to gain a deeper perspective of the Tarot.

Where as in the rune-lore world there seems to be a deep feeling of hubris- with many people only focused on stating their "absolute" truth, rather than looking to question and consider different perspectives. This doesn't suit me as I can't really be bothered to discuss with anyone who believes they are totally right.

Its taken me 20 years to get to this point because I never actually chose to learn Tarot! I was living in Orkney, totally committed to my runic path and loving every damn moment of it -when I realised I was pregnant. Suddenly the martial and shamanic side of my runic path didn't feel comfortable.

I was living off grid, in an isolated property, with a lot of hours to fill. I genuinely didn't have many books, and I had no idea how to fill my time. At the back of a cupboard I found an old deck of Tarot, and a copy of 78 Degrees of Wisdom- one of the many books I had always intended to read but never quite got round to.

Suddenly 9 months was no longer hard to fill. My eldest turned 20 this year, and I am still learning about Tarot.

Photo of Sanday, where I lived 20 years ago- happy starting my Tarot journey.