The Wheel of Fortune (Upright) Ain't Always Good Luck

So often I see people treat the Wheel of Fortune as a "good luck" card, when upright. This is opposed to the reversal, which tends to indicate that things are out of control, or flowing forward in a negative manner.

The thing is that "negative" is subjective. While I do feel that reversed the Wheel suggests the possibility for harmful, or truly challenging, elements to crop up in a particular situation, I tend to see the Wheel of Fortune as a rather neutral card when upright - not necessarily always indicative of great things to come. Not to say that a great upswing is not "in the cards" - it may be. But just maybe you'll be disappointed by the outcome of the upright Wheel, and that doesn't mean that the resulting circumstance is negative.

Halloween Tarot/US Games
Karin Lee, Kipling Scott

The Wheel is about ups and downs, and more than that, it's about the unpredictability of life. Perhaps you don't get what you want after all. But is that a bad thing? Maybe not! Perhaps life takes you off in some other direction you never imagined, and at first it feels foreign and confusing, but in the end it brings you to a fruitful place for your development. Perhaps the fellow you're dating suddenly disappears off the face of the earth. Maybe that's not the direction you were hoping for, but it was "right" for him, and as a result is better for you (who wants to be in a relationship with someone who's not equally invested?). Perhaps the Wheel simply means that things will be hard to pin down, and that you should expect the unexpected.

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Taroscopes for the Week of December 8-14 2013

We're getting closer and closer to the big holidays! Last night we got our tree and this morning we put on the lights and decorations. Our house is looking quite festive now, I have to say! Most of all I'm enjoying the pine aroma wafting through the air! So this week we have all the elements represented, along with two Majors and two Courts. I used the Halloween Tarot by Karin Lee and Kipling West....just because I love it! Let's see how it's panned out!

Capricorn - 3 of Ghosts (Cups): Get out of the house this week and enjoy the company of others, whether it's tea or beer with friends, a holiday party, or even simply a shared lunch at work.  It's a good way to let off steam, and the friendly vibes this week will contribute to a good time!

Aquarius - 3 of Bats (Swords): Again!? You must have a lot going on lately, Aquarius! Don't let any disappointments get the best of you this week. "Mind over matter" will help you deal with things, even if it's not the most enjoyable process.

Pisces - Wheel of Fortune: Expect the unexpected this week! Things will probably flow smoothly for you, and whatever projects or plans you've been throwing together should go off without a hitch.

Aries - Emperor reversed: Structure is good, but sometimes too much of it can take the fun out of things. You may be feeling a bit constricted this week, but don't forget to enjoy yourself and try to keep things in perspective. Imperfections and disarray can provide excellent learning opportunities.

Taurus - Ace of Imps (Wands) reversed: Your best opportunities this week will come from you rather than your environment.  If you're feeling frustrated because your creative flow just isn't flowing, then try a new approach and perhaps a new project that might reignite your spark.

Gemini - 8 of Pumpkins (Pentacles): Your axe will be all over that proverbial grindstone this week. It may be a busy work week that requires a lot of your attention, and you may also be developing your crafty skills making fun, hand-made treats to give as Christmas gifts.

Cancer - King of Pumpkins (Pentacles): Enjoy your environment this week, and allow yourself to bask in the comforts of home and hearth. You'll be the master of your world, and will find a way to resolve any issues that may arise, and still have plenty of time left over to enjoy a soul-satisfying meal by the fireplace.

Leo - 7 of Ghosts (Cups): You have many exciting opportunities this week, where do you even begin?? Well, make a list, prioritize it, and get to work! You definitely want to harness the energy surrounding you - so much potential!

Virgo - 8 of Ghosts (Cups): If you're feeling "meh" this week, spice things up a bit. Get Chinese take-out instead of pizza. Break your routine, whether at home, at work, or hey - in both places! The change may be just what you need to refresh and inspire you.

Libra - 10 of Bats (Swords) reversed: Last week your 4 of Swords encouraged you to find time for more rest, and this week you just may manage to find a way to rest that pretty little head of yours and refresh and renew your mindset. Just take a deep breath and let things flow - transitions are good for the soul!

Scorpio - Knight of Bats (Swords): This will be a fast paced week! Don't forget to be mindful of your ultimate goal, and avoid making any unnecessary sacrifices on your way to gittin' 'er done. Focus your intentions and enjoy the ride! 

Sagittarius - 6 of Bats (Swords): If it wasn't working the way you wanted it to, let it go and move on! There are new opportunities in the challenges you face this week, and all it takes to capitalize on them is a perpective shift.

Whew! You might have noticed that these are a bit shorter than before...I enjoy doing them so I want to continue each week, but I also wanted to find a way to make it more practical (less time-consuming)!  Have an amazing and empowering week, everyone!

P.S. If you want to put your name in the hat for a free reading, it's not too late! Drawing will be held next Sunday, December 15th. For more info, click here!

Taroscope Spread with Halloween Tarot

                         

Tarot's Take on Black Friday

I was hanging out with my kids this evening thinking about what the stores must have been like for those people brave enough to go shopping. I definitely understand the desire to save money, but this day has always both intrigued and horrified me. I have gone out on Black Friday afternoons in the past and found a few unexpected gifts that did seem like great deals. It's never been madness. I figure the crazy people have probably already finished their trips long before 2pm hits, and are snoring happily in their beds by the time I've worked up the courage to show my mug in public. So, for fun, I decided to ask the Tarot to tell me about this extension of Thanksgiving, and here is what it said (using the Halloween Tarot by Karin Lee and Kipling West):

Ten Pumpkins (Pentacles):

The piñata scene brings to mind the businesses luring buyers in with the idea of cheap prices (some of which are apparently not great deals, in reality). The pumpkins in the tree seem symbolic of the crowds rushing out to buy, buy, buy - some enjoying themselves, others perhaps a bit unhappy (maybe because they realized that it was a bad idea to leave the house, or because they missed out on that amazing TV deal). The black cat certainly looks a bit nervous. Pentacles (Pumpkins) are related to wealth, and the 10 is really the pinnacle of comfortable, family-oriented money (and in a way, giving gifts)...and well, Black Friday is all about spending that money in preparation (in part) for Christmas!

9 Ghosts (Cups) reversed:

My first thought when I saw this card was: "excess." Over doing it. Sitting on (or wrapping your entire body around)  the new Xbox at Radio Shack so that noone else gets their grubby mitts on it. You think you're happy, that scoring that sweet deal was a dream come true, but for some it may be an empty happiness, and despite the low price you still may have just used part of your rent money to pay for it.

Queen Pumpkins (Pentacles) reversed:

This is the person who's too focused on the good deals, on saving serious money, to be able to properly enjoy the true spirit of the holiday. She/he won't feel complete until they've driven across town to get those Deerfoam slippers that are marked down by 50% - for three hours only!!  This person may be almost too anxious to provide amazing loot under the tree. The intention might be good, but s/he's over-concerned with the idea that s/he's getting a great deal. This is the person who doesn't nurture themself by getting a good night's sleep because they've spent 39 hours in a tent outside the doors to Best Buy, or because they woke up at midnight to start their shopping excursion.

Okay, there you have it, Black Friday in a Tarot nutshell! I hope the shoppers did well, the small businesses made a nice profit, and that I won't see any stories about Wal-Mart trampling deaths when I check the news later ;-)

Spirit Conversations

The other day a Tarot friend from across the globe asked me about some experiences she’s been having connecting with her father-in-law in spirit, who she had never met in the physical.  (You can read about Joanna’s conversation with her father-in-law here).

What is interesting is that for the past couple of weeks I’ve been connecting with my own father-in-law who I’d also never met.  Jose passed very quickly of cancer when my husband was barely 21 years old, and it left a deeply painful mark on him, which in many ways he still struggles with.   I never had the opportunity to know Jose, and I have often felt sad about that, so having a context in which to interact with him (in this case, via mediumship) has been a very important and special experience for me.

My first foray into connecting with spirit was when I connected with the energies of Jorge’s (my husband) brother Manuel, who also died of cancer far too young. My thought at the time was: if I can connect with living energies, why can’t I connect to the energies of those who are no longer in physical form?  I’ve often felt Manuel’s presence in and around us.  In fact he came to Jorge in a dream to inform him of my pregnancy with our daughter Lourdes, the day before I decided to take the pregnancy test.  The two of them had a very strong tie, and his death also took a major toll on Jorge.  So I decided to tap into Manuel’s energy, and found that I could, and I was able to pass on a message to Jorge via a combination of clairsentience and the tool of Tarot.

Wildwood Tarot
John Matthews, Mark Ryan, Will Worthington
Sterling Ethos, 2011

Jorge was touched by that, and eventually asked if at some point I could try to connect with his father.  One evening after I put our youngest child to bed I sat with my cards and closed my eyes, and invited Jose to connect with me.  I felt him surprisingly quickly, and his energy was very strong.  I felt him, his face, his neck, his being, very near to my own face, and it almost tickled, and it made me laugh out loud.  I had the sense that he’d been keeping his distance, observing from afar, for quite a long time, and he was happy to have received an open invitation to be present and to interact.  I also felt that he really didn’t feel like “talking” with me via Tarot.  He just wanted to “be.” He passed to me the feelings he experienced at the time just prior to his death, when he was in the hospital.  I knew that Jorge had told me that his father glared at his grandmother during this time.  He could no longer speak, but his eyes conveyed a strong message, and Jorge’s grandmother told him later, “Your father died hating me.” Their relationship had not been simple.  So I wasn’t surprised to feel anger, but the complex combination of feelings was striking.  He felt anger, and sadness, yes.  But there were a host of other feelings that took me by surprise.  Eventually I persuaded him to allow me to use cards to provide a somewhat more tangible message for Jorge, and while reluctant, it worked out okay.  It was interesting, that reluctance, because when working with Manuel and even my own grandmother, there had never been any issue with using the cards.  But for some reason Jose didn’t want to bother, it was like it was an annoying hassle or something.  So he did pass a message to Jorge, recognizing some of the current hurdles that my husband is facing, and also expressing a regret at not having been as communicative as he wished he had been with his son. (An afterthought: according to Jorge, his grandmother had a strong connection to spirit, and also worked with cards.  Thinking back on that, I wonder if his reluctance to "speak" via the cards was a reflection of the difficult relationship he had with her.)

When I was ready to close down communication, I found that Jose was not.  This was also a surprise. He seemed so happy to have made the connection that he wasn’t quite ready to be done with it yet.  So we went together into my daughter’s room and I silently introduced him to her (she was reading and I didn’t bother her).  A short time later I was chatting with Jorge and I just burst out laughing.  I had the strangest sense of viewing Jorge from the angle of his father, and even had the feeling that Jose was looking at Jorge through my eyes.  That has happened a couple of times since, and I’ve come to think of it as borrowing someone’s binoculars; it’s entirely unobtrusive, but the sensation is unique. It was so funny, so odd, so new that I had to laugh.  Jorge looked at me strangely, wondering what was up, and suddenly said, “My dad’s still here, isn’t he!”  And I said that yes, he was.  Jorge said that he could feel his dad’s energy.  He seemed both annoyed and at the same time happy that his father was “there.”  Later I had to tell Jose “Okay listen, I’m ready to go do normal things like eat some food and watch T.V.”  I went about my business and he eventually faded.  I asked my mentor about this and she said that sometimes passed loved ones just want to be a part of the family, and hang around with us.  Okay. Cool.

So last night I connected to Jose’s energy again and we had a nice “chat.”  I will say that we aren’t so much “talking” – it’s more a strong sense of his reactions, emotions, and sometimes an image flash, or a brief phrase that comes more as an imprint than an utterance.

Halloween Tarot
Karin Lee, Kipling West
US Games, 1997

I like Jose’s energy, it feels good.  Since that first, intense connection, things have mellowed, and I’m enjoying learning a little more about him.  I asked him about his relationship with Jorge’s mother (they were never married, but had six children together – later on they split up). I pulled the King of Cups and the 6 of Cups reversed.  I sensed that he had loved Irma, and always had caring feelings toward her.  That they may have been soul mates of a sort, but the romantic aspect to their relationship simply ran its course.  They remained friends, but couldn’t stay formal partners.

I told him about his grandchildren.  Isa, our oldest, is my child from a former relationship, and Jorge legally adopted her.  I told Jose that although Isa is mine from before I met Jorge, she really needs both Jorge and Jose, and I felt Jose’s sense of pleasure and willingness to be present for her.  I told him that his grandson, Gabriel, is very precocious, and we call him a “true” Destrades because his personality is so closely tied to so many of the men from the Destrades clan. I immediately felt a very strong sense of fierce pride and happiness, and I pulled a card and it was the Emperor – the over-arching patriarch of the family.  I smiled.

I asked Jose to tell me something about his relationship with his own mother, and I pulled the Justice card.  It was a relationship with a profound theme of fairness (and consequently unfairness) that deeply impacted their ability to love each other.

Halloween Tarot
Karin Lee, Kipling West
US Games, 1997

Finally I asked how Jose felt about us finally communicating, and what he felt the benefit was, and I pulled the 3 of Wands – the beginning phase of a journey, a new, energy-based relationship.  The three brought to mind me, Jose and Jorge.  Interestingly, the card that represents my own role as a Tarot reader (and perhaps budding medium as well) is the Page of Wands: the mediator between worlds, the messenger, the gatekeeper, the guide, the facilitator.  So seeing the three wands builds on that, and it represents my role as the go-between.

I hope that my husband will be able to connect directly with his own father some day.  He deeply appreciates the fact that his father is able to be present with us, but his pain is keen, and setting up a direct line would be ideal.  Fortunately Jorge has those sensitivities, and I expect that he’ll be able to accomplish that at some point.  The last time I connected with his father, I had failed to mention it to Jorge.  Suddenly he walked into the room where I was sitting and said “I hate it when that happens! I just saw something or someone in the hallway standing there!”  And I said “Oh!  It was probably your dad!!”  That was surprising, and also really nice.

So this journey is interesting, touching, wonderful, kind of crazy, and very humbling.  I’m grateful to have a way to develop a relationship of sorts with Jose, and to be able to provide a link between him and his son, who desperately needs him. Last night Jorge told me, “If I had gone to some stranger and they’d told me that they were able to sense my dad, and send me a message, I’d say it was cool, but I wouldn’t be as moved. I love the fact that the person receiving messages is you.”  That filled me up to the brim, I’ll just put it that way. <3

The Tarot Told Me So

I do casual readings often, for myself or for my loved ones, on many evenings during my "down time." The other night I decided to do a short reading on whether or not I could look forward to a promotion in my "day job" any time soon.  To give some back story, I have a great teaching position, the work is interesting, I enjoy helping my students improve their language proficiency, and I enjoy being involved in the wider campus community working on events or collaborating with other departments.  My department manager has given me great reviews, and has told me that she'd love to be able to give me a more senior position at some point... the thing is, "some point" is pretty vague.  I know that the economy isn't great, and last year the school placed a temporary hold on new hires for that reason. In addition, the recent government shut-down meant that a lot of students didn't have access to their financial aid, and the number of newly enrolled students for last semester decreased dramatically.  So I haven't been overly optimistic about the possibility of "movin' on up," despite the energy I'm investing, and the projects I'm involved with.  Nevertheless...why not take a look and see what the cards have to say?

I used my Halloween deck (Karin Lee, Kipling West; U.S. Games), and this is what I received:

The summary of the message: "Yeahhhhhhhhhh.....no.  Ain't gonna happen, sorry!"

The 7 of Imps acknowledges that I've been putting in a lot of effort to improve my department, expand and develop projects, get involved cross-departmentally, etc.  I also get the sense from this card of my colleagues all standing in a line, trudging along.  I'm going with them, fumbling our way towards some imprecise goal (the house in the distance).  But I'm trying to go beyond that, to see the big vision for what we're trying to do, and sometimes I kind of feel like I don't "fit in" in various ways. Also, intra-departmental communication has been a challenge over the past year, and I often feel that I'm swimming against the current.

The 8 of Pumpkins reversed.....yeah, so basically I'm putting a lot of dedication and time into something that may not provide the ultimate rewards and benefits that I hope to see.  I do enjoy the work I'm doing, but there may not be the ability for forward movement in the near future.  I've spent a lot of energy creating new levels of our tiered program, developing new courses, improving my own understanding of my field along the way...and all of that is good, but it may not imply that all of that will bear the fruit I'd like to see.  One example is that a colleague and I were accepted to present at an international conference, very high-profile in our field.  It would be a wonderful way to show others what we're doing, and to get some attention for our department's projects, but our school doesn't support its faculty in attending and presenting at any conferences...which does seem counterproductive...and yet there's nothing that I can really do to change that, as it's very institutionalized.

The 6 of Imps reversed is the anti-money card.  In its upright position this is often the "You will get a promotion or raise" card.  So it's extremely fitting that I should see it in this spread, and receive the news that it's not likely to occur any time soon! :)

So it's nice to have the confirmation that what I've felt to be the likely path of things is probably going to indeed head in that direction.  The benefit is that it encourages me to consider my current position, and what my future goals are.  Where do I want to be in a few years' time?  Will this particular job continue to fulfill me over the long-term?  Will the lack of upward movement end up being a detriment, or will I be able to work with it?  All good food for thought :)

Tuning in to Spirit Energy

This past Tuesday was my second-to-last Intuitive Tarot class, and it’s been wonderful.  It’s really been far more than anything I could have expected or hoped for. This particular class presented some unique elements.  I thought several times about posting it here on my blog, but ultimately decided to go for it. Crossing my fingers, now...!

Tuesday night we did a phone reading for Suzanne’s (the instructor) friend in another state.  It went well.  One card that popped up for her was the King of Vessels, and as we were chatting about who that was, she asked me if I could tell her what his occupation was.  She then apologized because she knew it might be too challenging of a question (not based on the cards, but more of a psychic reading). I told her it was okay, and I calmed my mind and I had impressions of business, and of something related to architecture.  It was kind of hard to pick apart so I went with “business.”  Turns out that this guy owned his own business doing roofing!  So at the end of the reading Suzanne asked her friend to go ahead and ask me (and the other student) any questions she might have, and the three of us (teacher and two students) tuned in and explained what we felt.  She asked us to tell us about her son, and without going into specific detail, I will say that I had both mental impressions and physical sensations that came through, and were validated.  She asked a question about her daughter, and about some property, and the same process occurred – I received pretty clear feelings and impressions about what was going on, and my instructor and her friend were able to confirm and validate those things (as well as the other student!).  It was truly interesting, and enlightening.  I had never tried to do this kind of thing before, and really have never considered it – the focus has always been the cards, though I know there are readers who do mainly psychic readings, supported by cards (rather than vice-versa).

Halloween Tarot
Karin Lee, Kipling West
U.S. Games, 1996

So after the call we were chatting, and I asked about how one develops mediumship or channeling (my instructor is a psychic-medium). I told her that several nights before, I had tapped into my husband’s brother who had passed on quite a few years ago, and had done a reading/message for Jorge.  I was surprised by the sadness I felt as I was doing it, the sense of regret that I got while I was reading – his brother was devastated that he didn’t have the chance to say goodbye.  She said, “Well if you successfully tapped into a passed person’s energy and were able to pass on a message, you’re a medium!”  And I sort of sat there, mouth agape.  I had simply figured that since our energies don’t disappear when we die, tapping into anyone’s energy, whether living or not, should be possible – and I found that it was.  I did not consider that to be a medium experience, because my image of a medium is someone openly communicating – “chatting” if you will – with someone who has departed.

So I asked her how to further develop those skills, if it’s even possible.  She said that you can take classes, but those are usually for helping people develop the ability to open the channel.  If you are already open, then it’s all about practice.  She said that if I ask willing people to help tap into their loved ones, I could practice that way.  Then suddenly she said, “Tap into my mother,” and gave me her mother’s name.  It was very on-the-spot, but I tried.  I thought of her mother and her name, and I opened up to her.  I slowly started to get an image of a lady…but I had no idea what to do with the energy, and I just sat there.  So Suzanne said “Tell me about her personality.”  So I started to tell her what I was seeing and feeling, including a strong impression of her mother’s feelings about her own life, and Suzanne said, “YES.”  She asked me to tell her how her mother died, so I focused again and had some impressions, and I passed those on to her, and she confirmed that. It was kind of wild.  Suzanne said, “See? You did it, and you can do it!”  Then she gave me some advice on how to approach working with mediumship, and I just sat there with all of that – the experience and the information – and just….sat.

We ended class by doing readings for each other, and my classmate pondered her 4 of Ghosts from the Halloween Tarot, and said, “You have a lot of people (spirits) waiting to talk to you once you start paying attention!”  Thank you, intuitive reading, for that interesting take on this card.  And yet it felt right.  And yet (again), above it all, I’m still kind of gently blown away by it all, still pondering, curious, and at the same time....kinda ready for this journey…

Use the Deck

I’ve been thinking lately about how it’s impossible to really know how much you will like (or not like) a deck until you hold it in your hands and start reading with it.

In the Tarot course I’m taking (mentioned originally in this post) we’re focusing on “going into” the cards (i.e. letting our intuitions loose, and trusting what we feel regardless of what the card is "supposed" to mean). Last week the instructor didn’t want us using decks we were comfortable with so she brought some decks with her and had us read with them.  I used her Gilded Tarot by Ciro Marchetti, which is a deck I’d been pondering, and has been on my wish list for a while.  I was teetering toward not purchasing it because the artwork really isn’t my style, and doesn’t vibe with me.  But there I was using it to read for a partner, and I have to say, it was a great experience.  No, I don’t love the machine on the Moon card, and all those little “jewels” on the edges seem silly.  But you know what?  The reading flowed, the colors came alive, there was a lot of forward movement, and it was a very easy, intuitive read.  So despite not adoring the art, I felt it read well for me.

Now the Wildwood is “my” deck – the one that resonates with me most deeply on a fundamental level.  But I was hesitant to buy it for quite a while.  I’d heard about how challenging the animal Court Cards were, and how different many of the cards were from traditional meanings.  The artwork I saw on the internet intrigued me, but it took me a while to jump in.  And then, when it arrived at my doorstep, I wondered what had taken me so long.  The accompanying book just made sense to me, and I felt an immediate connection to the cards.  Why did I ever worry about the Court Cards?  The first deck I ever worked with was the Medicine Card oracle, which is all animals.  I have always felt an innate connection to wild creatures.  So the animal Court Cards in the Wildwood deck were not a struggle for me.  In fact I feel it’s sometimes easier to understand them than the typical human Courts.  And in readings I feel so tuned in, the imagery speaks to me very deeply, and it works well for me intuitively.

Wildwood Tarot
Mark Ryan, John Matthews, Will Worthington
Sterling Ethos, 2011

I recently acquired the Llewellyn Tarot because decks centered on the early Earth-based spiritual systems of the world (and of Europe) resonate with me.  I also loved the incorporation of so many women in the deck.  The artwork is very pretty.  But the cardstock is so thin that I have to be very delicate with using the deck for readings because one false move and I’ll have a pile of bent cards.  It’s really sad and unfortunate!  In addition, while I love how the Major Arcana explore Welsh myths, the Minors are almost identical to the Rider Waite, which makes me ask: why?  Couldn’t there have been some more creativity put forth for the cards that compose the majority of the deck?  While I do like the Rider-Waite, I found this slightly disappointing - I expected the mythology to be wound through the deck, not only the Majors.  Now it does read well for me, and in fact the first reading I did with it flowed really beautifully and was very clear, but despite that, I probably won’t read with it as much as I might have liked.

Yesterday the Halloween Tarot arrived at my door, and I won’t lie, I was both intrigued and slightly wary about it.  I love Halloween, both the fun and scary side as well as the deep and mystical side, so I liked the idea of having a deck with this theme.  But it’s slightly cartoony and doesn’t feel as “serious” and contemplative as I like my decks to be.  But I gave it a go, and I’m so glad I did.  I’m honestly kind of surprised at how much I love it!  I cleansed and charged it and did an initial reading to “break it in.”  And it was great!  The illustrations have a lot going on, so my intuition naturally picked through the cards, zoning in on various elements that felt important.  It was a serious reading, and the process felt profound and sincere, which I was not at all expecting.  To top it all off, because of its theme and the loads of symbolism in each card, I thought it would be fun to use with my kids.  My 6 year old wanted me to show her the cards, and we did a little mini-reading about her experience at school so far this year.  I let her tell me what the cards meant, and she did a fantastic job.  She saw the 9 of Ghosts (Cups) and told me:  “Those ghosts are all my classmates, and the person in front is me.  I’m sitting on a chest full of crafts that I made to share with them, and they’re waiting for me to pass them out.  That one there with the hand out is my friend. I’m deciding whether I want to pass them out now or wait until later.”  So it will be a great deck to use with the kids because it’s fun, Halloweeny but not scary, and there is a ton of material in each card to help them tell the story.

Halloween Tarot
Karin Lee, Kipling West
U.S. Games, 2003

So what’s my point.

My point is that decks can be surprising.  The ones you might think will be amazing may not turn out to be quite as amazing as you’d thought, and the decks you’re suspicious of may just surprise you with how much they pull you in and engage your intuition.

So now I’m in the danger zone – no holds barred!  My wish list is about to get a lot longer!