The Word of Tarot

I'm a big fan of Tarot cards. I picked up my first and only pack when I was 13 years old at a Renaissance festival somewhere in northern Illinois. Since then I've bought a few books, made a few honest attempts to learn the cards well, and occasionally given readings. Any reading by me is a bit tedious, to say the last. I sit there with my favorite Tarot reference book open in my lap, flipping through the pages to read the results for each card, and then in the end try to tie it all together, usually with a great deal of help and prodding from the person I'm reading for. It's actually pretty hard, but it's also a lot of fun. Each card in the Tarot has its own little story, its own positive (and if you like, negative) spin, and can be interpreted by itself and in conjunction with other cards that "influence" it. To learn the story for each of the 78 cards and how they intertwine with each other, and then seeing "the big picture" can be rather daunting. Not to mention I have the memory of a field mouse, so that doesn't particularly help.

Shortly before I left New Zealand, Beau and I stopped at this Gypsy Fair that was set up in one of the larger cities we often traveled to on weekends when "escaping" our own little village. We didnt' know the fair was there, so that was a treat. A slew of caravans, small trailers that were decorated jauntily in "gypsy" style, sat upon a grassy, high school sports field. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed by the whole thing. I thought it would be authentic, but if you ask me to define what authentic means, I couldn't really tell you. It was just a bit disappointing. I knew it would be commercial, I'm sure this was how they made their living, but it was the same kind of stuff you see at every and any kind of fair -- silver jewelry (lots of Celtic knots and fantasy rings), soda and snacks, magnets, posters, t-shirts, and clothes and kitsch from India, Nepal, and Tibet (oooh SOOO mystical! Sheesh). I did get some cotton candy, which though I don't believe was much in terms of gypsy food, I rather enjoyed, as I always do.

But, oh rapture(!), we did finally see one caravan advertising tarot card readings. The woman had a small blackboard outsider her trailer which boasted her credentials of 20 years of training and readings, her personal philosophy, and lots of other very eager and earnest words to her legitimacy. NOW we're talking! Since I've already had the opportunity for a couple readings in my life, both in the Philippines and in Thailand, I thought Beau should go ahead and pop his divination cherry.

We waited outside the woman's tent for a very. long. time. as she was giving another reading. This was both good and bad. It means at least she really gives you a nice, thorough reading, but we were sitting there for so long, I started to doubt she was ever coming out, or maybe just actually shooting the shit with a buddy and not noticing our presence. Finally, she did emerge and ushered us inside. Wearing what i took to be a gypsy costume, she came out to greet us, sporting wild blonde hair, no make-up, small blue eyes and a rather weathered-looking face that had me putting her in her late 40's. I found her interesting immediately. I think I was just as eager to see the inside of her caravan as I was for Beau's reading. I was astonished at just how tiny and simple it was. It was still set up in gypsy style, but it looked like her worldly possessions must have been very few, as the whole thing consisted of a sink and tiny counter, a padded wooden bench that ran the width of it, a modest table and chair in front of the bench, and a small loft-bed behind and above the bench itself. There were a couple of small decorations here and there, but that was about it. I sat on a rickety stool which I eyed uneasily as I pressed my weight upon it, and leaned forward as much as I could to take in Beau's reading.

So Beau sat down and went through the motions of shuffling/cutting the deck and thinking of his question (but not announcing it to her). We pretty much wanted to know about our future, since we had JUST decided to move back to the United States and fate was a bit murky at the moment. Then the woman stunned me by laying out the largest spread I had ever seen, basically using the whole deck, *flip flip flip flip* she plunked them all down. From what I could decipher, she did one whole reading for each month of the coming year, rather impressive at the mammoth amount of information she would have to process for us. In the end though, her message was pretty simple and short, and I was surprised that for all intents and purpose, the reading ended pretty quickly, and she proceeded to prod Beau to ask her questions so she could expand.

One thing we found interesting was that the woman basically told him he would be going through a lot of crap, financial and career-wise for awhile, and that it would all come together in a good way, probably in August/September. A job would come about and his life, and all the bullshit she was reading for the eight months preceding that, would magically clear up. Seeing as how Beau expected to simply be substitute teaching in Montana and hopefully getting a full-time position at the start of the next school year in August/September, this was a welcome revelation from the cards.

The reader also kept stressing that Beau needed to slow down, slow down, slow down. Over and over the cards said he needed to just let life flow, not to rush or push any important decisions for awhile, not to make any big travel, monetary, or career plans for a bit. Since we had basically just made a major decision that affected all three (the return to the U.S.), that sort of made us uneasy. Her analogy was that if he didn't listen to this advice, which appeared to be screaming at her from the cards (I, sadly, heard nothing), the cosmos would realistically or symbolically "break his leg" to force him to slow down. Oh, excellent, and us without health insurance. Nonetheless, there wasn't much of a choice for us in that matter. We had to leave now, the contract was ending and so were our visas. Besides, as much as I love a Tarot reading, I'll be damned if I let it be any more than a fun and interesting experience, not a life-altering guide.

Oh, and there was a really shitty month coming up, I think it was March. Damn, see, I told you my memory isn't worth a crud! I bet Beau remembers many more details. But anyway, March is supposed to suck. Just great!

But in the end, like a lovely bedtime story, we're supposed to ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after, we just have to stick it out until Fall 2007.

I guess we can do that. Do we have a choice?