Fire Meditation to Transform Anger to Motivation
A simple meditation to transform your inner fire.
Read MoreTarot Grandmaster
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A simple meditation to transform your inner fire.
Read MoreThese days it's easy to get a free mini-reading on-line during a free reading livestream. Here are some tips to help you get the most from the experience.
Read MoreWe tarot readers see things about people. In reading for a lot of people, we see a lot about the world.
Read MoreI like to write about trends here on my Dark Forest Blog. I think, too, that when we write about trends we are actually promoting them, maybe even making them trendier.
What happens when a trend is actually a shift? Is it possible for a trend to make a permanent shift in the consciousness of the planet? Of course it is!
Recently a tarot colleague, Theresa Reed, started “The Kindness Hustle.” Inspired by that, another tarot colleague, Donnaleigh de LaRose, made a video, “Random Acts of Tarot Kindness.” I used that video as the basis for the “Kindness” of my webcast, “Christiana’s Psychic Café.”
So what happens now?
Now I am going to make a personal commitment to kindness in my own life, by committing to do one thing. Maybe others would like to jump on the kindness bandwagon and do the same thing.
What one thing will you do or change to be more kind?
Here’s mine.
I am going to be more kind by being more patient.
I will be patient when dealing with customer service people who aren’t serving me well. I will learn to firmly and politely ask for what I need without being impatient.
I will cut people some slack. If they didn’t get my order right it’s not the end of the world. I’ll ask them to correct it, but I will do it nicely, and with good humor.
Especially when I am busy, stressed and tired, I will strive to be patient and polite.
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a perimenopausal redheaded Scorpio. Patience is not my strong suit.
This is only one commitment for kindness, but it’s a tough one for me.
What’s your one commitment for kindness?
I am saddened by the news of the death of one of my favorite Pagan authors, Donald Michael Kraig.
I met Don a couple of times in the late 1990s, when we both were presenters at American Tarot Associations conventions in Albany. At the time, he was already a well-known author.
Over the years we had a few phone conversations and exchanged a few emails. I had always assumed our paths would cross again one day.
That Don passed on March 17th strikes me. Many modern Pagans celebrate March 17th as “All Snakes Day,” in recognition of the stories of St. Patrick’s atrocities toward Irish Pagans.
Although there are reasons to doubt the historical accuracy of those stories, All Snakes Day has become something of a modern Pagan holiday. I don’t know if Don celebrated it or not. I do bet that, over the next years and decades, many Pagans will take a moment to honor the life of Donald Michael Kraig each and every March 17th as part of their All Snakes Day celebration.
I often quote Don in my classes. Although we didn’t spend any significant time together, I learned a lot from him. Here are three things I learned from Donald Michael Kraig.
It’s human nature to act against the advice of divination, and that’s ok.
Readers so often bemoan the fact that clients don’t take our advice. Don assumed and accepted that we have the prerogative to do what we want, regardless of the information we receive from divination. To me that has always been very freeing and affirming. It allows us to use divination in a more proactive way.
Divination and magick are linked.
Don’s books really helped me understand the way magick and divination work together, and the way tarot fits into all of that. Without his work I would not have been able to do mine.
Teach with your whole self.
Don was a truly great teacher. I was fascinated by his stories. When Don taught a class, all of his body, mind and spirit was focused on the task. He would jump up and down and wave his arms around, gesturing wildly. He managed to be funny, grounded and wise. I try to do the same.
I’m grateful that I had a chance to meet Donald Michael Kraig. I know that through his books, and through the people he taught, his wisdom will continue on forever.
During Don’s struggle with pancreatic cancer a fund was established to help with expenses. Please considering making a donation in his memory.
For almost as long as I have been a professional tarot reader there has been an ongoing (sometimes heated) conversation in the tarot community about tarot certification.
Professional tarot readers like me appreciate the opportunity to work toward comprehensive educational and professional goals. We appreciate the credibility that certification can give us.
The problem is finding certifying organizations that are themselves credible.
Some of the problems I have seen over the years include organizations that grant certification for political reasons rather than merit, and well-intentioned examiners granting certification to candidates who clearly don't deserve it because the examiners feel badly about declining the request.
Another area of concern is the fee structure for many certifying organizations where the candidate pays to be examined and certified at each level. This creates an incentive for the organization to grant the certification whether or not the certification is merited.
One of the things that makes tarot so special is exactly the thing that makes certification so difficult. Each reader has his or her take on the cards. Each reader has his or her own style. There is a question about what is really being certified. Is it knowledge of the cards? Is it psychic ability? Is it the candidate's ability to give a passable reading?
Beyond providing credibility for deserving readers and vetting quality readers for the public does certification have another purpose? Could certification help us preserve our traditions and our roots even as we are exploring new ways to use, design and understand tarot?
There are so many tarot traditions, and tarot is quickly evolving. Most certified readers cannot demonstrate competence in every tarot tradition. Therefore, should certification be more specific than just tarot? Should we certify in Waite tradition and Crowley tradition separately, for instance?
Many designers of unique decks offer special certification programs in working with their specific deck. These certifications are granted after participation in an intensive workshop.
In general, certifications for the successful completion of specific classes seem to make more sense than an overall fee-based certification program. The rubric for completion is verifiable and quantifiable, and the fee is paid to take the class, not to certify the candidate.
As I continue to expand my continuing education program for students I will begin offering examinations and certifications for specific premium classes. If other educational programs offered similar programs for their classes these education-specific endorsements might be helpful in qualifying candidates for more generalized tarot certification programs.
If there are to be valid certification programs the certifying agents must be above reproach. Certification must be granted on demonstrated merit alone. The certifying organization must be responsible for perfect recording-keeping, displaying the certification on a website and verifying certification by phone and email.
It is very likely that tarot organizations will choose to create certification and endorsement programs because many tarot readers desire it, and with good reason. My certification has been extremely helpful in helping me present myself as a legitimate business person at Chamber of Commerce meetings, meetings with town officials and when obtaining business licenses.
Tarot is evolving, technology is evolving and our community must evolve with it. We do have a responsibility to preserve our traditions, educate students and provide the public with access to quality services.
The question we must answer is whether or not tarot certification is a viable way to accomplish these worthy goals.