About Psychics, Mediums, Tarot Cards, and Clairvoyants

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The Origin of Tarot Cards

The origin of the tarot card deck is still unknown and debated to this day. Some have presumed it originated in Egypt; believing tarot cards are a derivative of the Book of Enoch or Thoth (Tarot), or due to the Egyptian name; "Tar" meaning royal, and "Ro" meaning road (the royal road to wisdom). Still others believe Gypsies were responsible for the widespread use of the tarot - and in all likelihood, the reason why tarot readers are often portrayed as Gypsies on television or in movies to this day.

What we do know is tarot decks first appeared in early fifteenth century Europe, and one that still exists, originated from Italy. During the Italian Renaissance period, the tarot deck was used for the card game Tarocchi (similar to the game of Bridge), and its use for divination or fortune telling purposes didn't occur until three centuries later.

This is the history of tarot cards in synopsis form, but the truth lies in the mystery of the tarot.

In the late 1700's, Antoine Court de Gébelin believed the tarot deck contained secret meanings veiled within its symbolism and drew a parallel between the Hebrew alphabet, which contains twenty-two letters, to the twenty-two cards comprising the Major Arcanum. During this same era, a man named Etteilla (his actual name Alliette spelled backward) began to divine information from the cards, which eventually led to his publishing a book on these interpretations.

In the nineteenth century, Alphonse Louis Constant (aka Eliphas Levi), was convinced the true origin of the tarot was far earlier than the fifteenth century. Levi took what de Gébelin had surmised; adding his belief that the ancient teachings found in the Hebrew mysticism or esoteric teachings of the Kaballah / Qaballah / Kabala; specifically the ten globes of the Sephiroth and twenty-two Hebrew letters, when combined, form the thirty-two Paths of Wisdom as the Tree of Life. In turn, this correlated to the symbolism contained within the twenty-two major Arcana and the ten minor Arcana.

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What Can Tarot Cards Do?

Hidden in the symbolism of the seventy-eight cards that comprise a tarot card deck are the secrets of the Universe, the evolution of humankind, the mythological and psychological archetypes of every human being, spiritual enlightenment, and so much more. More? Isn't that enough?

Perhaps no one in their right mind wants to know this much information; after all, our lives are complicated enough. However, as an added bonus, tarot cards tell us our future, and who doesn't want to know that? Thus, the irony is two-fold. Associated with our wanting to know the future, the tarot deliciously entices us to feed, and we are satiated, albeit temporarily, all the while veiling our greater need to "know thyself," which is the perfect and eternal nourishment for our mind, body, and soul-spirit.

For many of you, the tarot is those mysterious cards that people use to tell you your past, present, and future. For many others, they are those wondrous cards that guide you to a greater understanding of yourself. In fact, the tarot is both of these. One does not exist without the other, as a greater understanding of yourself is achieved through the experiences of your past, present, and what you create as your future.

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Asking Questions of The Tarot Cards

Questions come in myriad forms. Although a question is usually simple and straightforward, sometimes, like an onion, there are layers. A good example of this is "Will I find true love?" "Will I get this job or that?" "Will I make a lot of money?" However, if we look at the underlying layer of these same questions, we see "Why haven't I found true love?" "What type of work would I love to do?" or "Will making a lot of money really make me happy?"

Many who seek a tarot card reading do so in order to receive answers to the first set of questions. This is all well and good; however, these answers are often a band-aid for a gaping wound. Often, we go from one relationship to another or job-to-job---experiencing the same result every time: We are still not happy and the wound continues to grow in size and intensity of pain or discomfort. At some stage the band-aid will not work anymore, and with any luck, we become aware of a pattern in our lives - one that repeats itself by experiencing the same pain, hurt, disappointment, or anger. The reason for this unhappiness and repetitive life pattern is that we are not getting to the root of the problem - the underlying layer, as demonstrated in the second set of questions.

Pain and suffering has a way of getting our attention. Once we decide to accept responsibility for our decisions and conscious choices in life and turn our focus to "how can I improve or change myself" and less on, "it happened to me again" or "they did this or that to me," we can begin to live a happier life.

When we ask a question of the tarot, we may receive an answer that we most need to hear, and not necessarily the one we want to hear. The specific purpose of tarot cards is to get us to the root of our being and bring the enlightenment of greater self-awareness. Once self-discovery is achieved, attaining the goals as laid out in the first set of questions will become more apparent, and we hope, less painful while in process and with a more joyous outcome.

The beauty of the Tarot is that it can and does answer both types of questions. Being open to receive its wisdom is the key.

It is entirely possible that one can re-direct their behavior, thereby avoiding an unpleasant event. However, there are also occasions in which we ostensibly have no control or an event is "fated" to happen.

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Timing With Tarot Cards

We are a society run by time, and it makes sense that nearly everyone who receives a tarot reading wants to know "when."

As we know, time is a relative term, and similarly, it is so in the Tarot. Stating emphatically something will happen in June or July does two things: It creates hope and expectation, or conversely, fears and dread. The Tarot doesn't care about time; it cares about the value of time. Therefore, the time it refers to can be June or July this year, June or July two years from now, or the event may happen tomorrow. It could also never happen - we simply do not know. There are too many factors involved in the grand scheme of our life's enfoldment, as well as those with which we come into contact. Try to remain open and use timing as a guidepost, not a rule.

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Psychics

Divination in one form or another has been around almost as long as human beings have walked the Earth. Some examples are: tarot cards, playing cards, clairvoyant (clear seeing-vision), clairaudient (clear hearing-listening), clairsentient (clear feeling-touching), Clairalience (clear smelling), Claircognizance (clear knowing), Clairgustance (clear tasting), people who read tea leaves, coffee grounds, or thrown stones, hold jewelry or other objects (psychometry), read auras, or in numerous other forms; psychically intuit information.

The result is that each of these modes of divination is a way in which to focus our attention. No matter how it is received or processed, the information comes from the same source: The Energy Source, The Source, God Self, Higher Self, Spiritual Self, Spirit Guides, collective unconscious, or any other nomenclature of similar name / nature. This psychic energy or intuitive information is then filtered through our consciousness as conscious thoughts, feelings, smells, visions, tastes, etc.

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Clairvoyants

One day, I was speaking to an old friend on the phone that I had not seen or spoken to in years. I found out that she had moved to San Francisco, CA and I was still living in Los Angeles at the time. While we were talking, I suddenly felt as though I was in the room with her, as I could see her sitting on a chair in her kitchen, with her legs rested up. While still on the phone with her, I began to describe her entire kitchen, followed by describing the path to her big window in the living room; that if she looked out, she would see particular houses across the street, which I named in order, from left to right, by their colors, porches (if any), etc.

Was this an occurrence of clairvoyance or being clairvoyant (clear seeing), or was it a form of remote viewing ? I am not sure, but I am also unsure if it matters. Again, no matter how energy is received or processed, the information comes from the same source.

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Mediums

I once had a client who I had just finished doing a tarot reading for, and afterward, she asked me about her sister. Immediately, I had a vision of a woman standing in a fairly large but empty room. I described that she always seemed to be dressed in white clothing, wore her hair in a ponytail, and the jewelry she wore on her hands. I said she wasn't married, but she was engaged, then I suddenly blurted out, who is Edward?

I found out after describing this vision, that her sister had been murdered; she was a karate instructor (the large empty room was her karate studio, and the white clothing, her judogi), and she was engaged to marry a man named Eddie, as my client called him. My client asked me if Eddie had killed her sister, and since I heard his name, I wondered about the same possibility, but I could not be certain.

Famous mediums like James Von Praagh or John Edward , and even Patricia Arquette, who plays a medium on television and has medium-like dreams, seem to have the ability to communicate with people who have passed on and know they have passed. My medium / psychic ability manifests differently. I cannot tell if they are alive or have passed on, and they do not speak to me in actual words, instead, I get images, sense their feelings, etc.

I never know what I will perceive, as I have no control over what does or doesn't come through. I tell my clients exactly what psychic impressions I receive, and more often than not, these impressions will contribute to peace of mind and healing of their spirit-soul, but on occasion, the information I receive may also require additional investigation by my clients.

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