My Love Affair With the Tarot (2017)

In this heartfelt episode, I share the beginnings of my deep connection with the tarot—how it became more than just cards, but a trusted companion for self-discovery and healing. I talk about using tarot like a “therapist in a box,” uncovering insights that go beyond the surface and into the soul. Whether you're new to tarot or a longtime reader, this is a love letter to the transformative power of reading for yourself and others.

✨ Ready to fall in love with the tarot too?

Click play below to hear the story of how it became my favorite tool for healing and self-discovery.
If it resonates, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a comment, or share your own tarot story below or on the YouTube video itself—I’d love to hear it! 🌧️🃏

So, you'd like to know the truth about the tarot?  Well, there are a couple things you need to realize first before we dig into that:

1. People always use the worth "truth" to mean a universal truth.  When in reality, most truths are personal truths, which only apply to the person having the experience with said "truth". Meaning MY truth and YOUR truth can be two, totally different things.
2. The tarot is older than anyone living at this time.  Something that's been around that long has probably had many uses and many "truths".  So today's truth?  Is not yesterday's truth, and tomorrow's truth may look nothing like today's.  So keep that in mind when you're dealing with something that nobody can agree on, like the tarot.  

Is it good?  Is it bad?

It's freaking glossy cardboard.  How can you classify a paper product as good or bad?  The only way you can is to say "depends on how you use it".  

If you take a tarot card, and shape it into a knife and stab someone with it, sure, it's super bad.  But if you're just opening the package, laying them out on the table, and playing around with them?  Who on earth is that hurting?

If you're a con-artist and you say to someone "I can see everything with these cards!  Just give me $200 and I will tell you it all!"  Then YOU are bad, not the cards.  That's where the misconception lies.  When we lay the blame on the tool instead of the user of the tool, that's where the problems are caused. 

If I give you a hammer, and you build a homeless person a house, that hammer is amazingly awesome.  But if I give you a hammer and you kill a homeless person with it, then yeah, that hammer kind of sucks.

BUT is it the hammer's fault?  It's just metal and wood.  Metal and wood cannot jump up and do bad things. 

But, but, there's the devil and death and other bad stuff on in them!

So what?  Those aren't bad cards.  Those cards (among the 20 others which are called "the major arcana") are archetypes, which are symbols for universal life.  Endings are a part of life (which is what the death card means).  Every single card in the deck is a reflection of universal life.  Every single card can be applied to every single person, and it will make sense.  You can't fear pictures, that's just silly.  And if the pictures are REALLY scary, throw them away and replace them from some other deck with neat pictures you like to look at.

Simple.


But, don't you have to be psychic to use them?

Pardon my words here for a second, but only ignorant people think this.  The cards are tools, yes, but for anyone, not for "special" chosen people.  And the cards are no more magical than that hammer you used to build that house above.  Do psychics exist?  I have no freaking clue.  Maybe, and maybe not.  But, what does that matter in relation to you using them?

But as an atheist, I don't believe in psychics (because I don't believe in anything).  Am I okay with people thinking they are psychic?  Eh....not sure.   But I will say that there are many shysters out there looking for a sucker, and I don't approve of that at all.  Yet, which is almost worse, some don't even realize they're not psychic, and that's sad.  I know, because:

I used to be one of them.

Let me tell you a story....

I've been a tarot reader for over 30 years.  I used to believe hardcore in psychic abilities, ghosts, magic, and other junk.  Then one day, I got slapped in the face.

Granted, it was a metaphorical slap, but still, it kind of hurt.  I grew up my entire life with 2 certainties: I was psychic.  And my house was haunted (hell, I even wrote a book about it).  But then I started to learn about cold readings, and got really discouraged.  And then I wondered if anything I believed was true, so I stopped thinking about ghosts and guess what?  The hauntings stopped.  If I was actually being haunted, then me not thinking about it shouldn't stop it right?  But it did.  And that's when I reallly realized, it just wasn't true.

This turned my life upside down.  When I learned about cold readings, I realized that was exactly what I was doing in my readings that I was getting paid for.   I was the shyster!  But it wasn't on purpose...but the guilt was eating me alive, so I just put my cards away and didn't touch them again for almost a year.  How could I have been tricking people out of their money and not know it?  

But the truth was, I wasn't really tricking them.  The only thing I was tricking them about was how I was getting my information.  What I was doing true and real, because the way I read the tarot was never psychic at all.  In the 26 years I read the tarot, I only had a handful of people ever tell me what I said to them didn't apply, and yet not one of them asked for their money back.  So, why did my readings work?

Because of the way I read them.  

When I read them, I was not like Miss Cleo and told my clients a bunch of BS crap what "may or may not" have been real (most likely, may not).  I  counseled my clients with them, which is what I am best at.  I had clients all over the world (like Mexico, Australia, Europe, etc.) who contacted me on a regular basis to counsel them.  I made sure to tell them I wasn't a licensed counselor, I called myself a spiritual counselor...which I was.  But at my core?  I really did think I had some kind of psychic gift.  And that's why I felt so damn guilty when I finally realized I didn't.  And I felt like my entire life was a complete and total lie.

 But had I known?  Had I known I wasn't psychic and informed my clients that I wasn't?  I could have went on with my tarot practice without guilt.  But I was ignorant.  I didn't realize the truth.  


What is my truth?  


My truth now?  Is that the tarot is tool for everyone.  And it takes absolutely no psychic ability to read them.  And knowing how to read them is a gift.  Not from god or the universe, but from you.  You give yourself the gift of ability to do something when you work hard and hone your skills.  And the other gift you give yourself and your clients is: honesty.  You don't pretend to be something you're not.  You don't pretend to know things you don't.  The human mind is pretty suggestive, and if you go around suggesting something like, oh I don't know, that someone's husband is cheating on them (as I once did in my early 20's)?  You might ruin a marriage.  Or worse.  

(note: He WAS cheating on her, but it wasn't for me to be the one to tell her with my tarot...the signs were obvious, but she had to be the one who saw them....as a tarot reader, I could had explored the idea of why she thought he was cheating with her, and let her see it for herself and not tell her myself what was obvious.  It needed to be obvious to her.  He, in turn, used the fact that she heard it from a tarot reader that it "obviously wasn't true" to get her to believe him.  Which she did.  Ethics, my friend, don't use them properly and it could blow up in your face.)   


Am I telling you to use the tarot for others and run out to become a reader at the local fair tomorrow?  Sure, if you want to.  But, honestly, I think you should wait a second first.  I'd rather you use the tarot for you first.  Learn how to use these gorgeous and amazing tools for your own personal growth before you go read them for others.  But don't learn how to read them from the booklet, that never works.  And other places online will teach you how to read the meanings of the cards in a "psychic" way, which is kind of foolish if you ask me.  And yet other places will tell you silly things such as "wrap your cards in silk to keep out negative energies!"  Where is the scientific basis for that?  What studies have been done?  None, that's how many.  Instead, just follow my instructions below on how to read them for yourself. 

 

I made you a mix tape!  Okay, so it's a playlist on YouTube, same difference (my son always thinks I'm so weird when I say that phrase LOL).  These songs are based on music that I like myself, but you can make Major Arcana playlists on all sorts of different subjects.  Like self-care, 90's music, or even a single artist.  The sky is the limit!  But here is mine that I made for you to enjoy, your Songs of the Major Arcana Playlist/Mixtape: 

0-The Fool: Into the Great Wide Open by Tom Petty

1-The Magician:  Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel

3: The Empress: Bitch by Merideth Brooks

4: The Emperor: Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd

5: The Hierophant:  Take Me to Church by Hozier

6: The Lovers: All Through the Night by Cyndi Lauper

7: The Chariot:

 

8: Strength: My Body is a Cage by Arcade Fire

9: The Hermit: Sound of Silence (Disturbed version)

10: The Wheel of Fortune: The Dog Days Are Over by Florence + The Machine

11: Justice:  What's Up by 4 Non Blondes

12: The Hanged Man: Breathe Me by Sia

13: Death: Closing Time by Semisonic

14: Temperence: Holocene by Bon Iver

15: The Devil: SOB by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Nightsweats

16: The Tower:  Lightening Crashes by Live

17: The Star: Feeling Good by Nina Simone

18: The Moon: Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri

19: The Sun: Tel Aviv'n by Matisyahu

20: Judgement:  Awake My Soul by Mumford & Sons

21: The World:  My Way by Frank Sinatra

Have fun and happy taroting (while listening to my mixtape!!) 

You can also get this worksheet and many more in my tarot journal here: 

 

I am so excited!  I finally finished the Rainy Day Tarot Journal for you to download and enjoy!!  Here is a sample of what's in it: 

It's 50 pages of tarot journaling prompts, blank journal pages, a printable mini tarot deck, some tarot spreads, various fun worksheets, major and minor arcana keywords, and a list of major arcana archetypes (something I cannot find anywhere, so I had to create one myself!).  And so much more!!  You can get yours here (just click on the cover below!)

Don't forget to pin this to your Pinterest below!!! 

 

So I put together this tarot deck (<--click here) for you and I think you'll like it :) 

To be fair, I didn't "make" it, I got it off of Canva, so you can literally go make this yourself.  But if that sounds like work to you, then I already scaled them to the right size, and made it so you can print four on a page, which turned it into six pages, instead of 22.  I printed mine on cardstock and then glued on fancy scrapbook paper (that I normally would never use) to the back and then cut them out.  And the fun part is that they're colorable!  So, if you're looking for a fun craft to do while stuck indoors this winter, then grab these cards and tag me on instagram with #rainydaytarot so I can see what you do with them!  

This is a majors only deck.  But you can do so much with them!  Like: 

1. Use them with my  printable tarot planner!
2. Use them as journaling prompts!
3. Use them with my FREE printable Activities with the Majors!
4. Use them as scrapbooking inserts, etc.  
5. Use them with the Journeymaker's Planner, which I review here!
   
6. Anything you want!

They won't really work in a Soul Archaeology reading, as they don't really have too much on them, but don't let that stop you from using them in other types of readings.  You can take traditional meanings of the tarot and use them as prompts to stir up an SA reading.  I'll show you how in my video in my next post!

 

 

 

 

Hey guys!  I hope your 2020 has been ending on a better note than it started!  So, because this year has been crazy and totally unexpected, I decided to create a quick little daily tarot planner for you to use for the coming year.  It's my gift to you as a way of saying thank you for visiting my site and good job on making it through 2020.

It's not a planner in the sense of a calendar, but rather a daily three-card reading, a weekly roundup, and a monthly five-card reading so you can plan your week and month accordingly.  And with the true Soul Archaeology way, we don't do predictions, but rather more of a "what should I concentrate on" type of reading each time.  

You can purchase the planner here! (<--click!!) and if you like it, tag us on social media as #rainydaytarotplanner. It's undated so you can use it for years on end! 

Doing a daily reading is a way to ground yourself and stay in the present moment, which is sorrily needed at this time.  Getting caught up and swept up in the news and what's going on in the world around us isn't mentally healthy for anyone.  So, keep safe, wear your mask, wash your hands, social distance, and stay home and do some tarot readings! 💓🎴🔮🤗😁

It's time to get excited!

Maybe you don't have a tarot deck of your own?  Or maybe you just want something quick and fun and less messy than dealing out a deck of cards?  Then you need my tarot pendulum sheets!

They are absolutely *FREE*!  

If you haven't used a pendulum before, then let me tell what they are and how to use them!

What is a Pendulum?

It's a small piece of something heavy, usually pointed, suspended from a string, ribbon, or a chain.  It can be a stone, a small glass ornament, a crystal, metal, or anything that has a good weight to it. Plastic usually won't work as it's too light.  When you pick it up, it should feel weighty compared to the chain.

You can buy them online or in metaphysical shoppes, but you can also easily make your own!  The easiest way to make your own is to use a ring or a washer or a key attached to a string or thin ribbon.  Just tie the string to bottom and you're ready to go!

How to Use a Pendulum?

Now, many sites will tell you to "charge" or "calibrate" your pendulum.  I am here to tell you there is no such thing (just as there's no such thing as "charging" or "clearing" your tarot cards).  If you charge something, it won't work any different than doing nothing.

Now, with that being said, if you are the type of person who needs ritual to feel connected to what you're doing, then by all means, ritualize your spiritual activities.  Just know that you are only changing *YOU*.  It's all about how you feel, not some mystical magical energy that's imbued on your tools.

So, once you build your pendulum and you print out some pendulum sheets (or make some), then hang your pendulum between your fingers (either your thumb and first or middle finger) over the area where you're supposed to be hanging it (the sheets will tell you where).  Let the pendulum start swinging and see where it lands!

You can then use a tarot book to look up the meanings (but remember, traditional meanings only work a certain way with the Soul Archaeology method) or use memorized meanings. 

OR

Check out my Tarot Guidebook here! (coming soon)

This is a fun way to get guidance for the day in the same way you use oracle cards: for inspirational advice.  



So print out your sheets and have some fun!

While the tarot is a very introspective tool and should be used most of the time for deep soul-searching answers to your questions, there are plenty of ways we can use our cards that are more light-hearted and fun.  One way to connect with our cards in a mundane (yet powerful) way by letting them help you pick your next activity when you're bored and have nothing to do.

Below, I've developed a list of possible activities for the Major Arcana that you can print out and use the next time you don't know what to do with yourself.  Just pull a card and check the list!




      0. The Fool: Do something new today.  Pick a subject you're interested in, yet know nothing    about, and research as much as you can about it.  Or go pick an activity you've never done and go do it (like horseback riding, or painting or dancing, etc.).

1. The Magician:  What are you good at?  Hone it today.  Work on getting better and eventually  you'll master it.    
2. The High Priestess: Do something mysterious (once I created this entire mystery for my son's birthday, complete with letters coming in the mail from a "mysterious" uncle from the future).  Ask for a answer from your dreams before bed and see what your dreams come up with.  Read some mystery books.  Put on your Sherlock Holmes hat and find a groovy mystery to solve in real life.    
3. The Empress: Do something nurturing for another living thing today.  Give your pet a bath, trim their nails, feed the something nutritious, etc.  Or spend time with a child (or your own).  Take care of someone or something.  
4. The Emperor: Don't be afraid to delegate.  Whether at work or at home, dole out the responsibilities to others.  Make choices.  Take control.  Don't take too much control away from another person, but enough to take the extra off them.  
5. The Hierophant: Attend a lecture or a class in real life or online.  Go to church (or do something spiritual).  Perform a ritual (spiritual or not).  Do something traditional, like plan an old-fashioned dinner party or something similar.  Consider creating a class to teach others about something you're knowledgeable about (or start a blog).
6. The Lovers: Call up your SO and go on a romantic date.  If you're single, head out to a social place to find someone to flirt with.  Or, plan a romantic date-nite with yourself!  Pamper yourself.  Watch some romantic movies.  Or listen to love songs. Or, if you'd rather, work on some self-care today instead.
7. The Chariot: Take a short road trip.  Head out somewhere to take some nature or candid pics.  Or plan a bigger vacation or to visit someone at a later date.  Make a choice that you've been putting off making.  
8. Strength: Workout.  Lift weights.  Work on forgiving someone.  Do something that scares you (that's safe to do).  Be strong and push yourself a little further today, you may be surprised by what you're able to do.
9. The Hermit: Take a vow of silence for the day.  Turn your ringer on vibrate.  Don't answer your door.  Spend the day meditating or researching something that will make you wiser.  Take a silent walk where you take in everything around you rather than thinking about what you'll be doing next.  Get mindful.  
10. The Wheel of Fortune: Do a good deed that could help someone have a better day.  Smile at every person you see.  Make a list of all the things you're grateful for.  Concentrate on all the good that's happened to you in life, and know that the bad parts were necessary to get the good parts.
11. Justice: Reevaluate the people and activities (things you do, your job, etc.) in your life.  Weigh the pros and cons of keeping these things or people in your life.  Create a life mission statement and choose to live by it.  Click here to learn how to use the tarot to make one. 
12. The Hanged Man: Live the entire day in someone else's shoes.  Do their chores.  Run their errands.  Try to see a situation from another's perspective.  Argue with yourself about something.  Take your limited views and see if they could be changed by seeing them from the opposite side.  Take time to understand opposing views to your own.  Open your mind.  
13. Death: Close a door today.  Give up something that no longer serves you.  Walking away isn't always a bad thing, as it can open the door to better things in life.  
14. Temperance: Find a way to blend the opposites in your life.  Make some cocktails (or mocktails).  Invent a new recipe for dinner tonight, things you normally wouldn't think would go together (like pears on pizza).  
15. The Devil: What are your vices in life?  Smoking?  Drinking?  Food addiction?  Sex addiction?  Toxic people in your life?  Maybe think about giving them up or transforming them into something more healthy.  Journal about something that's hard to talk about.  Explore what it would be like to feel more emotionally and physically healthy.  
16. The Tower: Break down some walls.  Not literally, well, unless you want to reno your home!  Then by all means, break down some REAL walls (just make sure they aren't load bearing).  If not walls in your home then tear down something outside.  Get rid of the garbage.  Clean your whole house (try some Marie Kondo).  Clear away any excess that you no longer need.  Then either donate or sell your stuff.  Tear down some walls between you and another person.  If you can't make up, then at least honor them from a distance.  Make room for new and lovely things in your life by clearing away any trash that's cluttering things up.
17. The Star: Make a wish today.  Live your day as though you already have everything you need to be happy (even if you don't have these things, just pretend).  Fulfill a wish for someone else without them knowing it was you.  Make today amazing for yourself and/or others.
18. The Moon: Take a stroll under the moonlight in a safe place with a trusted friend.  Or dance in your yard or garden in the moonlight and give out a good howl!  Connect to your inner wolf today.  Learn about WolfNoot. Read wolf stories (Jodi Picoult has a great one called "Lone Wolf" with tons of info on wolves).  Get primal.  Do some drumming.  Don't have a drum?  Make one.  Do a vision quest or a shamanic journey.  Get in touch with your higher self.
19. The Sun: Get outside!  Go soak up some sunlight, even if it's winter.  Start taking vitamin D if you're low (contact your doc for how much).  Watch movies about summer fun.  Paint something or wear something yellow.  Take pictures or paint pictures of a sunset.  Or print out some sunset/sunrise or beach pictures to hang up and warm up your home.
20. Judgement: Answer that important call and take care of it.  Watch or read some court procedurals or some true crime stories.  Or Judge Judy, if those aren't your thing.  Are you being fair in your own life right now with yourself or someone else?  Do some journaling to find out.  
21. The World: Connect to Mother Earth today.  Clean up some outdoor space, your own or a public place.  Go for a nature walk.  Plant some plants or plan out a garden.  Finish your unfinished projects, even if just one.

Here's how:

1. Pick a layout (see below).  You can just deal your cards and come up with a story idea, or pick a detailed layout to give you a very detailed idea. 
2. Grab a tarot deck (or use a free app on your phone or tablet if you don't own a deck yourself OR use my *FREE* tarot deck HERE that I designed that's on my freebies page..if you don't see a link, it's not quite available yet!). 
3. Shuffle the deck any way you wish. 
4. Lay out your cards (either in a layout, or just deal as many cards as you like).
5. Read the cards either based upon the positions in the layout, or just read the cards and get a story idea from the reading.  You can use a book to read the cards, with the traditional meanings or you can just "read the card", which means to look at the card and let it tell you a story.  I like doing both. 
6. Record your reading (on paper, audio, or video).
7. That's it!

Layouts: 

Technique:

Creating your own sanctuary should be on the bucket list of every human being on earth, as everyone needs a special place to recharge their batteries.  It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, all the needed supplies are easily within your reach (more on that below).  And when you're practicing the Soul Archaeology way of reading the tarot, you'll find that having a special place to dig into your feelings is not only desired, but needed.

Do you really want to pull a card and have your phone ringing, the TV on, the dogs barking, the kids yelling, or someone knocking on your door (all within hearing distance?).  Granted, you'll still have noises in your sanctuary, but hopefully they will be ones of peace and relaxation.  That's what your sanctuary is for: finding a space for introspection without distractions.

Now, not every single time you read your cards will you have absolutely no distractions.  They are a part of life (especially if you don't live alone, have pets, or kids).  But, you can create the time to create and visit your sanctuary at certain times of the week (or month) which can be a part of your self-care rituals.  If you don't have any self-care rituals, then it's time to start some 😉!

The Essentials of Creating a Tarot Sanctuary

When you think of the word "sanctuary", what comes to mind?

Most of us will answer with words like "serene" or "peaceful", right?  Pick a few words that you want your space to embody and keep those in mind when choosing your décor and items to go into it.  You could even pick a special word and create a piece of artwork that either embodies that word or just paint the word in a pretty way on a canvas or a piece of wood to hang in your space.

After you've chosen your word(s), then it's time to do some choosing:

• Where will your space be? Outside?  Inside?  In an entire room or a part of a room?  Perhaps in a basement or attic?  Or maybe in your garage?  You could also go get a shed from a home improvement store to convert into a she-shed (or a he-shed) that's dedicated to tarot, yoga, or whatever else spiritual you have going on in your life.  
• How will you decorate it?  Do you want a specific style?  Like bohemian, coastal/beachy, farmhouse, shabby chic or perhaps some sort of ethnicity like Japanese, Indian, or Moroccan?  Or maybe even something simple like minimalist?  Go through decorating styles online and see what speaks to you.  
• What do you want to feel in your space?  Obviously you want to feel relaxed and ready to do some introspection, but in order to feel this way, think of the different ways your environment effects you: touch, smell, sound, and sight.  Think of textures in the furniture you pick, the pillows, your chairs, curtains, or other fabrics and the such.  Pick ones that make you feel calm and cuddly.  Same goes for smell: don't pick candles with overwhelming scents with very perfumey smells.  Instead go for light scents that make you blissful when smelling them.  Then think of the sounds that you love.  Do you love chimes?  Include some (and if you're inside, a fan to blow them around).  Do you like birds?  Or ocean sounds?  Or rain?  Or maybe a crackling fireplace?  Pick CD's or YouTube channels to listen to that calm you in your space.  Then make sure your décor is producing the feeling that you want with matching items.  Go look on Pinterest for ideas.  My stuff is always bought used, so don't think you have to spend a good amount of money on these things.  Resale shoppes are the best to find amazing décor at affordable prices.  

• Threshold.  You need to separate this space from the mundane by letting anyone knows who enters it (even if it's just you) that you're entering sacred space.  
• Art.  Find pieces that reflect what you're wanting to feel in your space.  They can be indoor or outdoor art.  Mandalas are a popular pick for some of the art in a sacred space.  You can print some out or make your own. 
• Lighting.  They can be garden lights or candles or even a desk lamp.  Whatever makes you feel homey.  Think hygge when you think lighting.
• Prayer flags.  These are pieces of cloth created with scared symbols or pictures on them. You could use cloth napkins and imbue them with your sacred words you picked earlier.  Or create sigils on them to represent your intentions.  
• Stones (or other natural elements like shells, etc.).  Bringing the natural world into your environment is a great way to feel connected to the earth. 
• Statues.  I have lots of Buddha statues in my home, but you can pick statues of anything that represents who you are and what you believe or love.
• Fountains.  Either outdoor or indoor, both are soothing (unless you have to pee! haha!) to the soul and help focus.  
• Altar.  If you are person who craves ritual, altars are a great way to feel connected to your space and to see it as sacred.  There are many types of altars out there, just go do some research to figure out what kind you'd like in your space. 
• Cushions (or other seating options).  Think of your comfort here.  What would make you feel most comfortable?  I love hammocks!  Or hammock chairs.  Anything suspended to rock me in the breeze. 
• Radio (or phone or tablet or computer, etc.).  Anything to play the music or sounds that you'd like to hear.  Bring headphones if your space isn't quiet enough for you.
• Table. You need a place to put your tarot cards, right?  Pick something awesome!  Or if you can't find something awesome, cover up something alright with something awesome! (I love using those woodgrain poster boards to cover my table with!) Use whatever you have, but make it yours.   

Whatever or wherever your space ends up being, just make sure to make it especially yours.  When you read tarot the Soul Archaeology way, your job is to be as introspective as possible.  And when you have a space that sustains and nourishes your soul, you're already halfway there.  AND you can use the space even when you're not reading the tarot to unwind and connect!  It's a win-win!

Oh, and also don't forget the yummy snacks that are *JUST FOR YOU* to stash away in your sanctuary!  *hee hee*

Here are some great sites that talk about creating your own sanctuary: