chasingthestar

Several weeks ago, my friend M. asked me if I would like to bring my cards and act as a fortuneteller at her birthday party, which falls a few days before Halloween.  I told her I'd be glad to do it, and the party was this past Saturday.

She had it in one of her friend's backyards, and the whole place was decorated with cobwebs and fake spiders and skeletons.  I had my own special little pavillion off to one side of the yard with a table and some cherry scented candles and a convinient place to hang the camping lantern I'd brought for light. I took the three decks out of their boxes (Gilded, Day of the Dead, and Universal Waite), put my protective stones on the left and on the right, and told people I was open for business.

I was dressed like a gypsy, in a long, flowing burgandy skirt with bells on the end of the drawstrings, my long white ren faire chemise, and a blue and burgady bodice.  I had my hair down and kept back from my face by a sarong that I folded up many times and tied around my head.  I even had big silver hoop earings.  It looked pretty good, (J. said I looked like a gypsy from the mist... heh.) and the flickering candles and the curtain of plastic spiders dancing in the air around me at my little station made me feel the part.

I read for a lot of people.  Probably upwards of twenty in a four or five hour period.  It was incredibly intense, but amazing at the same time.  I have learned from the last time I read for a lot of people in quick succession, and I made sure to eat and drink and to take breaks when I needed them.  I had a declicious bowl of chilli, and I must have eaten at least two each of the carrot cake and chocolate cupcakes that were sitting out.

I read for quite a few people who had never had readings before. Some of them were excited, some of them were scared.  A lot of the told me "I don't usually do things like this," and seemed to be waiting for me to tell them about their impending doom.  I feel proud that I was able to read for them and make it a positive experience.  More than once, after I was done, I had people tell me, "I know exactly what that means..." and proceed to confirm what I'd just said in really specific personal detail.  I... was kind of amazed my own self.  I read for myself all the time, so I trust that something special is happening when I lay out the cards, but being able to make that happen for other people is really humbling and lovely at the same time.

I read for a lot of other people who knew exactly what was going on and what to expect, and that was really nice too.  I like already having that common ground when I start to read.

Again, I found that lots of people like the Gilded Tarot.  Usually, I would start out by putting the three decks in front of the person and telling them to choose the one whose art they liked most. I'd say about three fourths of the people I read for chose the Gilded.  Other people went traditional and chose the Waite, and only two people chose the Day of the Dead, but I'm still glad I brought that last one because the people who chose it were really excited that such a deck even existed.

In the end, it was such an amazing night.  I got to hang out with friends, I got to do a reading for the birthday girl, and I got to practice trusting myself and my intuition.  I need that, because as much as I read the cards and try to open myself, I've got an extremely rational left brain working overtime and a very insecure part of me worrying about making mistakes.  Well... I think Satruday gave me a much-needed boost of confidence and got my left brain to tone it down just a little bit.  Intuition happens. Speaking what I see in the cards works.

When I had been reading tarot for less than a year, I went to a tarot gathering at a restaurant near my house. While I was there, someone asked my how many decks I had. I said, "Two." The woman I was talking to laughed a little and said, "That will change." She was right. What follows is my master list of decks, with links to images where available. This list will be updated as I add to my collection.