Tarot was my own personal yellow brick road. Let me explain!

“The Star” From The Aquarian Tarot by David Palladini
I started using tarot back in the late 1980’s not long after my first child was born. I was living in a basement suite, and my upstairs neighbor, a wonderful woman who was just old enough to be my mom, took me under her wing a little bit (much needed). She was very kind to me, offering cups of tea and sympathy whenever i seemed frazzled (often – I was a very young new mom of 19), and generally keeping an eye on me.
One afternoon I was there for a cup of something deliciously herbal, and her cards were on the table.
“What are those?” I asked.
“My tarot cards. Here, let me show you.”
By the time I left that afternoon, I was *hooked*. Absolutely hooked. Tarot was my portal into a whole world of self-inquiry and goddess spirituality. I bought my first deck (The Aquarian Tarot), and my first guide (Tarot For Yourself by Mary K. Greer), and I worked with them religiously (please pardon the pun!). I also followed all the delicious bread crumbs throughout the book that led to other books like The Spiral Dance by Starhawk, books about goddess spirituality, books about Jungian archetypes. My true education had begun.
If not for Tarot, I would not teach what I teach today. I would not know what I know today. I would not be who I am today.
***

“Queen Of Earth” Art Inspired by Tarot.
There was a time, after working with the cards as a tool for personal development for about a decade, that I wanted very badly to be a professional reader. I knew I could be good at it, knew I had developed the kind of insight that would make me a good reader, and in 1997, I saw an ad in the paper for readers to work from home. It was a great set up – they installed a dedicated phone line, and you worked your assigned shifts. I did my interview, and got the job.
At the time I got this job, I was financially dependent on my husband, who was not a great provider. He lost more jobs in the time we knew one another than I’d held in my *whole life up till now*. There were months when if I hadn’t won the local karaoke contest (yup, I was a karaoke queen), we would not have made rent. This job took care of me, & my kids, but more than that, it created a sense of possibility in me that I *could* take care of me & my kids, and helped enormously to remove any sense that I *needed* anyone else. It was a portal into self-reliance.
It took awhile for my newfound sense of independence to really take hold, but one of the fundamental steps in that direction was the purchase (on a payment plan) of a computer with internet capability (dial-up, of course. Remember, this was 1997!) so I could start investigating other avenues of giving readings, and the rest, as they say, is history.
I gave up reading professionally in 2001. The company I was working for at the time was falling apart, and I just didn’t have the heart to go into looking for something else. I worked as a telemarketing agent for a charity for a while, and then a marketing assistant for a sports equipment company, and then a customer service agent for a major telecom, and then, in 2009, I quit working for a while to deal with my kids who were completely out of control. And in 2010, I began doing what I do now.

Ace of Wands Art inspired by Tarot.
Tarot is a vein of gold through it all, though. Despite not working with it professionally, it is still my constant companion. I turn to it for clarity, for inspiration, for a nudge in the right direction. It’s my touchstone, my little bit of the mystery in cardstock form, forever in my purse, on my coffee table, in my studio.
I miss giving readings, but not enough to go seeking it out as a profession. I’m content with doing the little bits and bobs of it that I do in the context of my classes. Maybe someday I’ll offer tarot readings as spiritual counseling (because, really, that’s what its for), but for now, I’ll just do my daily draws, gaze into the images as though they are mirrors, and continue discovering what there is to know about the universe known in these parts as “Effy”.
xo
Effy
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How very interesting you worked as a professional reader! That is a dream of mine. :o) I love my tarot cards, and I collect the ones whose art draws me. I do a daily draw too, and I love the insight and words of wisdom I receive through them.
Oh Effy, I wonder if we worked for the same company. I loved reading online too, although we did in chat, which I liked better. When our company collapsed I didn’t have the heart to search for other companies either. I still do tarot readings on my own though but I like coaching better because I can help people instead of trying to predict.
Karaoke huh! Love it too. That is so cool you won a contest too. Maybe you will write a blog with a video or sound track letting us hear you sing??? That would be fun.
Jean
I love your queen of earth *swoon*
Beautiful post.
You are an amazingly talented lady! I just bought my first deck of Tarot cards a couple of months ago and am just starting to dip my toe in the water of figuring out what my daily pulled card ‘means’. I bought the Klimt Tarot Deck with lots of gold shimmery affects on all of them and Gustav Klimt’s amazing art.
Tarot cards have been part of my life since I was 15. Together with the book “The Mists of Avalon” they led me to my Pagan path.
How awesome! I’ve been discovering tarot this year, still learning myself :-) love it though! Your queen of Earth is stunning xx
I’ve been in love with Tarot for the last 25 years, since I was 16. I just got back into it after separating from my husband and it’s been such a source of grounding and light. You’re inspiring me to do a reading this weekend and create some art from it.
That’s so cool that you were a professional reader. It is you that inspired me to pick up my first deck though I’m not sure you knew that.
Now I’m up to over 20 decks. Bad for the bank account, good for the soul.
Ive never heard the term spiritual counselling tool before and I have to say I really like it <3
I have a deck of Tarot cards in my office that nudge me in my life, I am no means a professional but read the cards and how they depict what it is that I need in my life in that moment.
Have you done an oracle deck yet? I can totally see the queen of the earth as a card. I would so love that deck, if ever it happened!
I have never done either tarot or karaoke, and the latter is to the benefit of all mankind, I don’t have a good singing voice.