Thank you for this little bit of serendipity

Right after the Newtown tragedy, my best friend from high school posted a request on Face Book for help for two of her 5th grade students.  Their parents were out of work and the kids (growing insanely fast, as kids are wont to do) really were hurting for new clothing, shoes, etc.  Months ago, when I was employed, spending a couple hundred bucks on something like this would have meant eating at home a lot more during the month, but it would not have kept me from paying a bill.  Now that we are a one-income household, every dollar must be carefully considered (a work in progress for me--something that is sure to bite me in the rear end at some future date.)

I really wanted to help these kids though.  I could do nothing for those 20 lost children in CT, but I could certainly do some small thing to help these two kids.  I looked at all of the accounts--all of the Giftmas money had been spent, money in the checking account was already accounted for...then on a hunch I checked my Pay Pal account, where all of my money from my readings go.  I'd had used this account to supplement Christmas spending as well and was pretty certain there was a 0 balance.  Strangely enough, I still had a balance of $65--just $10 shy of what I need to buy both boys "cool" shoes. 

As an extremely poor kid growing up, I can't tell you the importance in kid/teen world of having "cool" shoes.  Other kids are ruthless and generic brand shoes from the big box store don't cut it.  A day after they arrived, I got this message from my friend:

"The shoes were a hit! I wish you could have seen their faces! They said to tell you thank you! The rest of the kiddos kept complimenting their shoes and the boys smiled all day long!!!"

So thank you, all of you, who have made my first year on Etsy wonderful.  I've always known I had great clients, but this tiny bit of serendipity you brought into my world was a great way to end 2012.   Have a blessed and safe New Year!

Be the Good

Last year around this time I wrote this very stuffy article about New Year's Resolutions and how best to maintain them throughout the year.  This year a lot has changed in my life and public tragedies such as the shootings in Newtown, CT have left me with a very acute sense of my own mortality.  I spent the weekend after that horrible shooting in a depressive haze.  All around my little town, flags a half staff waved in constant reminder of the evil that had occurred. 

I live my life like most human beings, with death pushed into this tiny compartment of my brain where it gets ignored.  But events like the shooting bring death out of its corner, as I'm suddenly reminded of how quickly everything I take for granted can be destroyed in mere minutes.  Right after the shooting, a picture of Mr. Rogers was circulating Face Book.  Attached was the following quote, "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of “disaster,” I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.”

So this year I'm approaching the whole New Year's Resolution thing differently.  I cannot save the world, nor single-handily stop tragedies like that from happening, but I can be a force for good. I can be a helper.
 
There are still practical elements of my resolution list...for example, I'm creating a list of goals that don't have absurd requirements attached (getting up at four a.m. to go running when I never get up at four a.m., no thank you).  On the not so practical side, I'm trying to work out my goals to be an even mixture of giving and self help.  The problems of the world seem to great to tackle on one's own, but there are little things that one can do everyday to be the good in this world.

And so I encourage you, on that list next to the "go to the gym," "find a new job," "lose ten pounds," to include a small service project or two, commit to helping out a local shelter or soup kitchen, vow to save a tiny sum each week to donate at the end of the year.  As a friend posted a few days ago, "Somehow, not only for Christmas, but all the long year through, the joy that you give to others, is the joy that comes back to you. And the more you spend in blessings, the poor and lonely and sad, the more of your heart’s possessing, returns to you glad.— John Greenleaf Whittier

Many blessing to you and yours in the New Year!

So You Want to Learn to Read the Tarot.......(Part One) Your First Deck

I was always a little afraid of the Tarot.  It seems silly now in retrospect to be intimidated by a deck of cards, but I was.  So when I finally got brave enough to begin this journey, I started off slow, collecting decks without much thought or knowledge behind why I chose each individual deck.  I bought what I liked, mostly based on my reaction to the aesthetics of the cards.  Five years later, I now possess dozens of decks.....many of which are beautiful to look at but not really good to read with.  I hate to say this, but I was completely closed-minded when it came to traditional decks.  I wanted nothing to do with the traditional decks like the Rider Waite Tarot, which seemed incredibly boring and blah to me.  When the time came to actually start reading, I went with a small deck from a cheap kit for the simple fact that I found it easier to manipulate the smaller cards in my hands.  Unfortunately the cards did nothing to help me learn the tarot.

You see, while it may be obvious to some, it wasn't obvious to me at the time that the pictures contained on each card actually meant something, and that by using a more traditional deck, I'd be able to pick up the meaning of each card better than if I just picked a deck because it was beautiful or "cute."  Even if you aren't drawn to traditional decks, I highly encourage those wanting to begin reading to start off with a good standard deck.  Traditional decks can be found in all sizes (if you have small hands like me).

A bit of warning though, traditional decks do tend to be loaded heavily with Christian symbolism and imagery.  If this isn't your thing, I'd still argue that starting with this type of deck is still going to be your best bet--not only will it aide you in the learning process, you'll find that a lot of your clients will identify with this imagery, and can get them past the "fear" of seeking out your advice.

Finally, if you want a deck, go buy one.  It's not bad luck to buy your own deck.....if you wait to be gifted one, you may be waiting forever.  There's no time like the present to start learning to read the cards!

Celebrating Giftmas with the Advent Calendar

Cheesy Advent Calendar

I hate Christmas.  Growing up, it was a time guaranteed to bring out the worst in my parents who often would fight it out on Christmas Eve over how much money mom could spend on presents for us.  (We won't even get into the fiasco that was the years my father bought presents).

But now that I have rug rats of my own, I am constantly trying to find ways to celebrate the season in a way that both honors the birth of a man who preached peace and doesn't leave the kids feeling like they missed out on the Giftmas side of things.  This year my six year old is spending Xmas with his father, so it was even more of a challenge, especially since my spoiled little man really doesn't need two Christmases worth of toys.  That's were Cheesy Advent Calendar, purchased from big box craft store came in.   

I've spent the last few weeks scouring the Interwebs looking for Advent ideas as a way of celebrating without focusing entirely on the getting side of things.  Ideas out in the World Wide Web were sparse (it seems that a lot of people punted after coming up with a dozen or so ideas), so I'm going to post my list here.  The cool thing about the advent is that it can tailored to any family's specific ideas and beliefs fairly easily, as well as the age of the children involved.  I'm hoping to add a lot of service projects on to my calendar as my son grows.  This year is very craft heavy, and we may end up as epic craft fails, but hopefully all little man will remember is that we tried.

Our Advent Calendar (edited to add the results of each activity)

*1  Read the story of Baby Jesus and make a Nativity (was strangely excited at the idea that Jesus had a birthday....very insistant that Mary be significantly taller than Joseph....)
2  Decorate tree and drink hot chocolate with marshmallows (Little man refused the hot chocolate, of course)
3  Watch a Charlie Brown Christmas (He wasn't impressed at first, but it won him over by the end)
4  Buy a toy for a needy child  (He was confused by this, so maybe next year....)
5  Build a Plane Workshop (He loves these and they're free!)
6  Make Snowman pictures (This was an epic craft fail)
7  Read the Polar Express (Loved it)
8  Take Christmas tree pictures  (Put up with holding his sister in his lap for about 15 minutes)
9  Sing Christmas songs (never got around to organized singing, though he burst out in song many times)
10 St Nicholas Day (traditionally celebrated 6 December) (this confused him)
11 Go see a movie (Went to see Rise of the Guardians--we all loved it)
12 Salt Dough Ornaments (we ended up going with shrinky dinks because it looked cooler)
13 Make Christmas cards (this was a mixed bag....the child happily made cards...in pink, blue and purple)
14 Look at the Lights (The biggest hit of all of the ideas, he loved this, especially since we went to an organized display)
15 Visit Santa (He was very excited and actually smiled for the camera!)
16 Make Paper snowflakes (never got around to this) 
17 Read The Best Christmas Pagent Ever (never got around to this)  
18 Make Gingerbread crayons (ran out of time)
19 Make peppermint bark  (epic cooking fail)
20 Make gingerbread cookies (cheated and made chocolate chip instead)
21 Watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas (I found the man-child watching the DVD in his room before we could all get together to watch it....he loved it anyways and watched it four times)
22 Make wrapping paper (didn't happen :(  )
23 Reighndeer ornament (Also didn't happen)
24 wrap presents (this became mommy wrap....oh well....)

*I had to adjust our calendar to match up with little man's Christmas vacation, so we are actually starting our calendar on the 27th of November.
       
           
               

What to do when your Tarot reading predicts something horrible

The other day I ran across a question someone asked on a Tarot forum that's fairly common.  The person had sat for a reading and their reader told them that the cards predicted they'd be physically assaulted sometime in the next few weeks. To me, this type of reading smacks of scam for so many reasons It's an unfortunate but sad reality that there are a lot of people in this business out there to scam people.  Some signs your reader is attempting to scam you:

• He/she predicts something terrible for you in a very specific time period
• Why is this a scam?  Tarot cards are like forecasts--they speak of what is likely to happen if you continue on the path you are on.  Just like other forecasts, they are not 100% accurate--everyone has free will and can change their path as they wish.  Additionally, Tarot tend to be vague when asking for specific dates.  I've had my best luck with giving out general time periods--like the season--when something will happen.
• He/she tells you that something bad is going to happen one or two cards into the reading.
• While this isn't always the case, the vast majority of Tarot spreads start off by examining the current situation or the past.  Its very rare that a spread will discuss the future a card or two into the reading.
• He/she offers spells/charms to ward off whatever bad thing is approaching
• In and of itself there is nothing wrong with someone selling spells or charms.  However, it should set off alarm bells if the reader "just happens to have" the spell or charm available to ward off whatever they claim is approaching.  Especially if the fee is a substantial one.
• He/she tells you that you are cursed and offers to fix it, for a fee
• This one always gets me because oftentimes the person didn't come to the reader knowing or thinking he or she was cursed--so how are they going to fix a problem that didn't exist to begin with?

It's entirely natural to feel weird or uneasy when going for your first reading.  But trust your gut.  If you feel like the reader is trying to sell you more than you want or need, politely decline.  You are under no obligation to return to them for additional reading, spells or charms.  Don't become the poor soul who returns week after week out of fear.  They are not the only one who can help, and oftentimes the help you may need will be available for free or can be done on your own.   In the end, there is nothing wrong with readers getting paid fairly for their time and expertise, but no one should ever part with their hard earned money out of fear.

Getting back to reality.....

So my maternity leave from this blog was a bit longer than I intended........life seems to creep up, interfering with all the big ideas I had for my time at home.  I finished off my maternity leave from work, ran around like a madwoman trying to out process the Army and now I'm here.  What's next?  I have no idea. (Hopefully that doesn't disconcert you....a Tarot card reader who doesn't know what's next.)  Everyone comes to that point in their life from time to time--huge change is extremely overwhelming.  If you find yourself in the same boat, give yourself leave to not be superwo/man. 

It's okay to not know what you want to be when you grow up.

The world is full of possibilities.......but don't let those possibilities crowd out real life.  Take time to enjoy those around you.  For right now, I'm going to try and take my own advice and enjoy the demanding new creature around my house.

The Baby formally known as the bowling ball in my belly

Tarot.....Getting What You Pay For

A Little Shameless Self Promotion

I have a little Etsy shop (cough **link is on the top right** cough) where I sell readings for what I consider pretty cheap rates.  I've been reading Tarot for friends and family for five years, but still feel I'm a work in progress, thus I've priced my readings to match where I feel my level of experience lies at this moment in time.  It's been my experience that people will always pay the least amount for something that they can (which I can completely relate to) but in the case of Tarot, this isn't always the best strategy.

Tarot card readings are a very different sort of thing, and while it's completely true that there are scam artists out there trying to lure you in with a cheap reading, then con you into extra readings, spells to prevent horrors from occurring, pouches and oils to ward off evil, etc, for the most part, an honest reader is going to give you what you pay for and make no promises that he/she can solve your problems.

Card readers price their readings in all various sorts of ways.  I price mine by the card.  A general good rule of thumb is that the more complex the issue, the more elaborate the spread and thus the number of cards (and the price) increases.  Coming to a Tarot reader with a question about where your long term relationship is going or what career path you should choose and hoping a three card reading will cover it is akin to putting a Band Aid on a bullet wound.....it's not going to do the job.  The complexity of the question and the answers you need require a reader to see the whole picture.....this is simply not possible with a small reading.

A good rule of thumb is to think of the complexity of the spread as a measure of how life altering the issue you are asking about is and base your decision off of that:

• One Card Reading:  Yes or No Answer questions (Will the cute guy that asked for my number call me?); Fun questions (Is my baby a boy or girl?), Energy questions (What should I be aware of as I go into my job interview today?)
• Three Card Readings (past, present, future reading):  Short term relationship reading (Tell me about my relationship with X, who I've been dating for two weeks), New job reading (I'm starting a new job tomorrow, where is position taking me?), Change in direction reading (I've been thinking about changing my college major.....what do I need to know?)
• Five Card Reading:  Relationship Problems (What are the issues surround the bad blood between me and my in laws), Issues where "baggage" may be involved (What is keeping me from committing?)
• Six Cards +: Varies depending on type of reading.  Generally this is where we get into the complex career/relationship issues.  

It is very important that if you are seeing a reader in person, that you have an idea before any card is spread, of exactly what questions your reader will be answering and how much the reader will charge you.  Oftentimes, in person readers charge not by complexity of the spread per se, but by the time your reading takes.  Complex readings can easily take an hour, as your reader should help you formulate your questions, lay out an appropriate spread and interpret it to the greatest detail possible.

Blessings!