Interviews
Novice, experienced reader, 900 slave...

Each week I'd like to share the experiences we have within our tarot community.  Unique perspectives that give us a chance to delve a little deeper into ourselves and see that what we all desire is knowledge and what we all share is ignorance.  If you would like to be profiled in an upcoming interview, please write and share a bit about yourself, we'd love to meet you!

gypsichicks@aol.com

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This week's interview is with Wendi, a poet who travels the United States sharing the love of words with schoolchildren.  Please visit her site at: http://www.poetryalive.com to find out more about this great program!

GC} How long have you been studying the cards? 
W} about 10 years now 

GC} How do you feel they have had an impact on your life? 
W} source of focus for meditation, source of frustration, but in general help me to see the overall patterns in my life and help me to focus my energy on what needs doing. 

GC} Do you attach any ritual with your readings? 
W} lay out a silk scarf usually on my bed, light some candles, focus my breathing while imagining a bubble of light around me, then ask for guidance and begin. I like to keep it pretty simple, but this helps to clear my head. 

GC} What is your favorite card and how do you feel it relates to you? 
W} the High Priestess especially the "Lady of the Lake" from the Arthurian Tarot. calm blue toned card of lovely dark haired lady with book for study, and sword for clarity she sits with an empty basket at her feet until she is able to imagine not what she wants, but what she needs. I guess I like reminding myself that if I get real quiet I'll find I have the answers hidden in my questions. 

GC} What other disciplines compliment your readings (runes, astrology, feng shui, palmistry), if any? 
W} I glanced at runes, had my palm read a coupla times, know my chart pretty well, but I found some of the most striking parallels to the cards within the catholic faith (major catchecism/minor catchecim seem similar to major arcana/minor arcana, plus I have a picture from a church in York, England of Jesus sitting in the Tree of Life or Kabbalah) and Joseph Campbell's "the power of myth" (a discussion of the mask of eternity in particular which depicts the oneness of all above the duality of our earthly existence much like the lovers card). the images, ideas, and symbols in the cards are far from new and I've found there is much to be learned from the old myths and traditions that informs the cards. also my favorite deck includes Arthurian mythology so I have looked into the stories and ideas behind the cards. 

GC} What do you hope to learn from tarot? 
W} patience 

GC} What has been your best personal reading? 
W} hmmm, I think that's like asking me which rock do I like best as I travel down a graveled lane. I have no idea, they've all become part of the whole.