Answering the "10 Questions"

A little while back, James Bulls of Left-Hand Tarot posted his “10 Questions Every Tarot Reader Must Answer”.

If you're a Tarot reader, I encourage you to ask yourself these questions… precisely because these questions are designed to be threatening to shallow egos and to force specific answers on frequently vague subjects.

Lots of readers have taken up the challenge. I will, too. 😀

1. Were you mentored, or were you self-taught?

I’m self-taught, in as much as I read loads of books. The various authors were my mentors. There certainly was no one physically available to mentor me. I began working with Tarot almost 40 years ago. That’s about 14 years before the internet went public (god, I’m old). Now I still read books, but I’m also involved in various online Tarot communities as a means of developing my skill and sharing the love.

2. Are you a psychic or a Tarot reader?

I’m a Tarot reader. We’re all of us at least a bit psychic, and I have my moments, by I’m not “A Psychic”. I do believe I get nudges from, how shall I put it? - forces outside myself. Be they spirits, guides, my ancestors, Source,… I can’t say with any certainty. But I’m grateful for their assistance.

3. Are your predictions accurate, and is accuracy important to you?

Are my predictions accurate? No, not always. I’m of the opinion that the cards are always right. I just don’t necessarily read them right. But not all of my readings would be considered predictive. The bulk of them are introspective or instructive.

Is accuracy important to me? Yes. I don’t want to mislead or be misled. But divination is a subtle art. I believe the universe gives us the messages we’re meant to receive or convey, irrespective of the ultimate “correctness” of the details.

4. Is there anything you can't predict in a reading?

I don’t know. There are lots of things I’ve never tried to predict.

5. Do you use only Tarot, or are you multi-disciplinary?

“Multi-disciplinary” sounds so pretentious. Like saying "I practice various healing modalities”. Ugh. I use other types of cards besides Tarot. I also use runes and I Ching.

6. Is the message in the cards, or in your head?

Hmm… Both. The cards, with the help of Source, present the answer in picture form, and my head, with the help of Source, interprets the picture.

7. Are you a priest or a fortune-teller?

I’m a fortune-teller.

8. Are you a fixer or a looker?

I’m a looker. I’ll give you the information I’m given. I’ll pass on advice if it’s there in the cards. But it’s up to you to fix if fixing is required.

9. Do you read for free, or for fee?

For now, I read for free.

10. Is there anything you won't predict in a reading?

If you’re asking “Are there certain questions you won’t attempt to answer?”, then yes - anything that should be diagnosed by a doctor, handled by a solicitor, etc.

If you’re asking “Is there anything you won’t disclose should you see it in a reading?”, then no - it wouldn’t be there unless I was meant to see it*. But if it is potentially disturbing/distressing, I would be very circumspect as to how I passed the message on.
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Your turn.


*Update: Since I've been studying Sibilla in earnest I've come across the notion that sometimes cards will appear that reveal very negative aspects of the person you're reading for. They're not meant for sharing - "Ah, I see you're a psychopath" - but are intended as a warning to the reader to be careful with this person.

Instagram - Intuitive Interview Project for October @hobosafecamp

A photo posted by Judy K (@weirdeye) on Sep 27, 2016 at 10:08am PDT

#regram
#hobosafecamp "It's not so much a #tarotchallenge as it is an attempt to focus our combined energies to raise the global #frequency to a more loving tone. Use #tarot cards, #runes, #freewriting, #photography, or any form of artistic #divination. Get creative!"

I think I could get into this. I'm not entirely sure if this is intended to be a divinatory exercise or a tarot-based art project, but I'm going with divinatory - using random card to universally "answer" the interview questions. This "universal" aspect is more clearly stated in Papa Hobo's explanatory video.

Find me on Instagram.

I didn't fall, I jumped

I was going to say I fell off the 28 Days of Thoth wagon, but that's not true. I clung on desperately, but I wasn't enjoying the ride.













Nothing to do with the Thoth. I like it. Admittedly, it's a challenge to work with for one so used to RWS imagery, but it's refreshing.


No, the problem was the restriction. A lot of the time I just didn't want to work with Thoth, I didn't want to struggle through a 15-Card Spread, or try to comprehend the subtleties of elemental dignities.

But I'd told myself, and you dear Reader, that I wasn't going to use another tarot for the duration. I'd made a commitment. So I distracted myself with other things and simply avoided the deck. Because I intended to use the 28 questions from moonlit.tarot's June Instagram challenge as my "finishing line", I told myself it would just mean that I'd be working with the deck until I got through all the questions, however long it took.

So, I barely read with Thoth, I wasn't "allowed" to work with other tarots, and even my use of oracles was somehow tainted by the feeling that I "ought" to be using the Thoth instead.

I pretty much ended up not reading at all.

I wanted to quit, and I agonised over this. I really did. I actually journaled about my lack of motivation. Should I give in to it? Shouldn't I? What potential gains would I be throwing away? Was I being self-indulgent? Was I just plain lazy and undisciplined?











But then I thought about how I'd worked with the Tarot Balbi, not for the two weeks I'd originally, and with some trepidation, committed to, but in the end for well over a month. Not just to the exclusion of other tarots, but all my other cards. And I thoroughly enjoyed it and really bonded with the deck.

Maybe now was just not the time for me to bond with Thoth. If it was keeping me from reading, I wasn't benefitting from the attempt.

So, I jumped.

I felt immediate relief. I pulled out a few favourite decks and mucked about with them just because I could.   I've started posting daily draws on Instagram to put my "release" to good use. And I'm excitedly using a new and unusual deck I bought recently (I'll probably post about it soon).

I am still working my way through the questions, but the pressure is off. Will I ever master the 15-Card Spread and elemental dignities? I don't know. But for now, I can just enjoy reading again.

MT June Challenge (Instagram) - Week 4

Hey guys, here's week four! I'm going to use them as journal prompts. Feel free to snatch this image up and use it to get on with your decks in June and hashtag with: #mtjunechallenge 💕🌺💜⭐️🦄 link to video: https://youtu.be/5Fqht39_TwM

A photo posted by Sherry C (@moonlit.tarot) on Jun 22, 2016 at 5:27am PDT

This has been a very useful exercise and I'm looking forward to working with these final questions during the last week of the challenge. I'm going to keep a list of all these questions, so that in future I can apply them to some more of the underappreciated decks in my collection.

Well, I wasn't expecting that.

I bought the Connected and Free - The Alchemist's Oracle* because the artwork appealed to me. It reminded me of the Wild Unknown Tarot, which I admired but wasn't going to buy because the images were so divergent from my understanding of the individual cards that I would have had to read it as an oracle. Better to just buy an oracle in the first place. :)

But I have to confess I had misgivings about this deck when I first flipped through it. I quickly realised that the keywords and the images didn't seem to relate to each other, at least in any way that I understood. Uh oh. How was I going to apply intuition to cards that seem to pull in two different directions? What was I going to do with a DIS-Connected and Free oracle?

My initial thought was to read them much like some people read Gypsy Witch cards. Sometimes the symbol on the card is at odds with the meaning of the playing card inset. For example, No.9 The Birds: "The birds signify dire misfortune and fierce enemies..." This is coupled with the Ace of Diamonds which traditionally and at its most basic represents a letter or a ring. How do you reconcile those two? Well, you could go with the one that "jumps out" at you first when you look at the cards. The Birds meaning may tie in better with the surrounding cards. Maybe the letter meaning will strike a chord with the question. Flexibility.

So with that in mind I figured I'd give the Connected and Free a chance. But first, I'd subject them to Moonlit Tarot's June Deck Challenge questions, and I'm so glad I did. By pulling one card in response to each day's question I quickly realised that the images and keywords, although not obviously related, did in fact play off each other in a unique and compelling fashion. This was one instance where reading the accompanying book made all the difference. If ever a deck could convincingly claim to have been "intuited with the guidance of the Universe" this would be one of them. The connections do seem to emanate from a different plane of existence.

This deck spoke to me in a way I'd never experienced before. It was uncomfortable. It presented me with my fears, those things I avoid or resist. I couldn't *not* see it. And yet with each revelation the interaction felt positive and safe. This deck wasn't out to wound me but to show me the disparate pieces of myself and help me to wholeness.

I can't call this a review - it's just a very personal reaction to the deck. But if you're prepared to see the world and yourself from a different angle, I can recommend it.
(*except that it doesn't seem to be available at the moment 😢 but they might still have copies here.)

MT June Challenge (Instagram) - Week 3

Hey guys, here's week three! I'm going to use them as journal prompts. Feel free to snatch this image up and use it to get on with your decks in June and hashtag with: #mtjunechallenge 💕🌺💜⭐️🦄 link to video: https://youtu.be/5Fqht39_TwM

A photo posted by Sherry C (@moonlit.tarot) on Jun 13, 2016 at 6:38pm PDT

I'm still enjoying working with the Psychic Tarot for this challenge. I'm a day or so behind, mind you. Life, plus a new gaming addiction, LOL, which I might feature on my other blog, but I will keep going.

What really impressed me, though, was how well my reprise of the week 1 questions went with the Connect and Free Oracle. Frankly, I think it saved the deck for me - details to follow in another post.

Connected and Free - The Alchemist's Oracle / Inner Hue

MT June Challenge (Instagram) - Week 2

Hey guys, here's week two! I'm going to use them as journal prompts. Feel free to snatch this image up and use it to get on with your decks in June and hashtag with: #mtjunechallenge 💕🌺💜⭐️🦄 link to video: https://youtu.be/5Fqht39_TwM

IA photo posted by Sherry C (@moonlit.tarot) on Jun 7, 2016 at 5:39pm PDT

I thoroughly enjoyed working with the Psychic Tarot (John Holland, Hay House Inc.) this past week. It really opened up a connection between us that I hadn't managed to develop before. I'll probably keep using it with the Week 2 prompts.

But I've just received Connected and Free  - The Alchemist's Oracle (Lauren Aletta, art by Tegan Swyny, self-published: Inner Hue) and I think it would benefit from a run through of the Week 1 questions. I guess I can do that, too,

So, I'll be posting a few more pictures on Instagram over the next week. Come and see me. ☺️ And take part - it'll be fun!

I might try this

Hey, remember the video I made? The decks I don't use? Well, this is the questions I'm going to be asking for the first week. I haven't decided if I'm going to be changing them up. I'm going to use them as journal prompts. Feel free to snatch this image up and use it to get on with your decks in June and hashtag with: #mtjunechallenge 💕🌺💜⭐️🦄 link to video: https://youtu.be/5Fqht39_TwM

A photo posted by Sherry C (@moonlit.tarot) on May 26, 2016 at 12:02pm PDTI

Edit 2Jun16 - I did try this, and it's turning out really good. The "deck I don't use" that I'm using for this challenge, LOL, is the Psychic Tarot by John Holland. I've had it for a while and I love the images but for some reason I've never used it. I can see it being used a fair bit in future.

#WithinWithoutAdvice

Patrick of In The 78 Cards and Kelly of The Truth in Story are "hosting" an Instagram Tarot challenge for the month of March.

Dig out one of your meaty, intense, challenging decks and go deep with it, using the Within Without Advice spread created by Marie White for her Mary-El Tarot companion book, hence the hashtag #WithinWithoutAdvice.

My deck of choice will be the Tarot Balbi - because a) I've already committed to using it exclusively for the next 2 weeks, and b) I'm not drawn to "challenging" decks, so the Balbi is as challenging as it gets for me at the moment.

All the details are in Patrick's intro video. I'm weirdeye on Instagram - hope to see you there!

Day 31 of the Challenge - the Grand Finale

Oh! I've only just remembered that I haven't shared my final video for Ethony's 31 Days of Tarot Challenge. Sorry! I know you've all been waiting with bated breath. Here you go - I hope it was worth the wait. ☺

All things considered, I think it went quite well. And I am hugely relieved, LOL!

I really enjoyed this challenge. Yeah, I was nervous, but it was still fun answering the questions. I hope I find another good challenge soon. I really don't know what else I'd want to commit to "film" and inflict on the general public. If there's something you'd like me to tackle go ahead and leave a comment. And please subscribe to my YouTube channel, just in case. I wouldn't want you to miss anything!

Thirty down, one to go

My responses to the final few questions in Ethony's 31 Days of Tarot Video Challenge...

...with the exception of the very last question, which involves reading a few cards for myself. Live. On camera. For (potentially) other people to see. Gulp!!

It's one thing for me to throw some cards in private, study them at my leisure and then carefully construct a reading out of them to post here. Quite another to pull three cards out of a hat, so to speak, and interpret them on the fly in front of a virtual audience.

Reading live for someone is different, because that person is invested in the reading, it's for and about them, so they're busy concentrating on what you're telling them (one hopes). Unaffected strangers just watching a reading, especially those with a background in Tarot, tend to be more critical. Yep, nervous.

Downbar info you won't see unless you go to YouTube to watch the video:
Dusty White - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXSwhQIfLHm3vd6Ihj2q1vQ
John Ballantrae - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2fId7s7OdtTrnPeZe1JcBw

This one's for me

If you've watched my latest 31 Days of Tarot Challenge video then you know I've been suffering with a cold for a while now, and that card reading takes a back seat when I'm ill.

But sitting here this evening, I suddenly got the urge to dig out Madame Dora and have a go. I thought perhaps I'd post an "open reading" for you. It's been a while, after all. But as soon as I saw the cards, I knew they were meant for me.

Richard and Simon: You're improving but the reality is you're not quite up to it yet. Ivy: (somewhat less irreverently) They can wait.

So there you have it. Madame Dora has spoken. I'll wait a bit longer before I tackle a reading for you all. That said, if this one says something you feel you need to hear right now, take it with my blessing.

Ethony's 31 Days of Tarot Challenge - Days 20-26

The next instalment of responses to Ethony's 31 Days of Tarot Video Challenge.

I've just found out that question #16, which I said in my last video I thought would probably be better as two questions, IS supposed to be two questions - #16 and #17. They've now been split, but I've been working from a list I printed off a couple of weeks ago, so the numbers I refer to in this and the previous video are out of sync. Sorry about that.

And no, I'm still not over this #@?%&! cold.

31 Days of Tarot Challenge - part 4

Edit: I've just found out that question #16, which I said I thought would probably be better as two questions, IS supposed to be two questions - #16 and #17. They've now been split, but I've been working from a list I printed off a couple of weeks ago, so the numbers I refer to in the video are out of sync. Sorry about that.

If you're still with me, here are my Days 14 to 18 14 to 19 of Ethony's 31 Days of Tarot Video Challenge.

So much for looking a bit less peaky. :/ I'm still feeling rough, and it shows! But if I fall too far behind with these questions I know I'll give up and I really don't want to do that.

If you're taking part in this challenge please leave me a link to your channel in the comments!

Downbar info you won't see unless you go to YouTube to watch the video:
Kelly-Ann Maddox - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO3TVUyNxIdMdR9RljTIzaQ
Etteilla - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etteilla
"Tarot Cards in Early Modern Europe", with reference to Etteilla's influence - http://www.ultimatehistoryproject.com/history-of-tarot-cards.html
Dame Fortune's Wheel Tarot - http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/dame-fortunes-wheel/

The show must go on!

Despite being laid low with a cold for the past 4 days, I went ahead and recorded my next segment of Ethony's 31 Days of Tarot Video Challenge. Because I'm a professional.

Yeah, I know. But the makeup department can only do so much. Hopefully I'll look a bit less peaky for the next one.

Downbar info you won't see unless you go to YouTube to watch the video:
Beth Maiden's "Creativity, Courage, Commitment Spread" - http://littleredtarot.com/creativity-tarot-spread-new-moon/

31 Days of Tarot Challenge - Days 5-8

Here is the next instalment of my responses to Ethony's 31 Days of Tarot Video Challenge. I was maybe a teeny-weeny bit less nervous this time?

If you missed my film debut, you can catch it here.

I came down with a cold yesterday so I'm going to have to put off recording the next segment. Right now 15 minutes of footage would contain about 5 minutes of... excuse me, ACHOO!!... sneezing.

A Star is Born

I did it. I finally recorded my first YouTube video. I was inspired by the responses I'd seen to Ethony's 31 Days of Tarot Video Challenge.

Most vloggers were tackling days 1 to 7, but towards the end I couldn't hold my train of thought (nerves!) so I packed it in at four. But it was kinda fun, so once I stop shaking I'll have a crack at the next few days of questions.