Hermeticism teaches "As above, so below; as inside, so outside." Hermeticism empowers the self. It says that the world is a reflection of what is inside of us.
Whatever your stance on the outcome of the Trayvon Martin case, one thing is clear: world peace is impossible if we can't even get along with ourselves in our own country. National peace is impossible if we can't get along within our own families. And family peace is impossible if we dislike ourselves, finding lack, fear, hatred, and whatever other ugliness we believe is there (and we are probably wrong about that, by the way).
All we have is ourselves to work with, friends. As long as we blame outside ourselves, whether you blame a race, or a jury, or whatever, it's never going to work. Take responsibility for your little corner of the world. I have said this before and I'll say it again: When Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world," he did not mean, "Be a model citizen." He meant that if we see war out there in the world, fix the war within. Collectively, we all might actually be able to do something that way.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Publishing Update
The release for Fixed Stars Govern a Life: Decoding Sylvia Plath [Stephen F. Austin State University Press] is now Spring 2014. I am quite excited about this because the book will have more time to be promoted, it will be a star for my publisher at the annual publisher's conference in New York, and it gives me time to get everything as close to perfect as possible. Hang tight and I will share book cover art, websites, and more as it is designed and goes live.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Fixed Stars Govern a Life: Decoding Sylvia Plath
Hi again, Friends:
As the release of my book, Fixed Stars Govern a Life: Decoding Sylvia Plath draws near (yes, the subtitle has been changed from "Sylvia Plath's Qabalah Code," but the content remains the same), I am looking into doing a little bit of early marketing...and I could use your help!
I do not have the release date or the artwork yet to set up pre-orders on Amazon.com and all the rest, but I assure you that will come ASAP. In the meantime, please know the following:
1.) I would love to have your name and email address, if you are interested in an opt-in mailing to receive updates and news about me, book tours, major events, etc. I give you my word that you will not be spammed, receive too many notices, or have your information sold to any other parties. You may email your information to me privately at jgordonbramer[at]gmail.com.
2.) If you're an English professor or administrator interested in having me visit your school in person, or to speak to classes via Skype or conference call, please email me! If you're a member of a spiritual center (I'm especially interested in groups focusing on Alchemy, Tarot, Qabalah, Creativity Work, Mythology, the work of Carl Jung, etc.), if you run a bookstore, or if you are affiliated with literary workshops and presentations, I also want to hear from you! I will be doing some small tours over the next year and may be able to plan your location into the mix.
3.) If you believe that I would be a good fit as speaker/presenter at your conference/symposium/seminar/workshop/retreat, I'd love to hear more about it. Maybe we can make it happen.
About the book:
Fixed Stars Govern a Life: Decoding Sylvia Plath volume one, will be out in 2013 (release date TBA) by Stephen F. Austin State University Press. The book is ALREADY generating controversy, and if you're in the media, please give me a call or email and I would love to tell you about it. This book will change the way we look at Sylvia Plath's poems, and demolishes her fifty-year-long reputation of being merely a depressive poet/author and tragic suicide. Readers will see that Sylvia Plath was a genius like no other, and on top of that, Plath gives the gift of showing a blueprint for Qabalah--a divine order to the universe.
If you're a Plath fan, or new to Plath and just wanting to understand what the hubbub is about, this book will change your life. Don't care for poetry? You'll still be astounded by the historical, mythological, astrological, astronomical, alchemical, and artistic correlations.
You will never view the world in the same way again.
Cover art will be designed by the incomparable Amy Bautz.
Some early blurbs: [more coming soon]
"With clarity and erudition, Ms. Gordon-Bramer illuminates how Plath's masterpiece Ariel reflects a clear and intentional alignment with the Tarot and the Qabalah's Tree of Life. With each poem, and the collection as a whole, Gordon-Bramer weaves the esoteric mysteries with historical interpretation in a fascinating scholarly analysis that is original, provocative, magical. Fixed Stars Govern a Life is an incantation of great resonance and power, and its publication will be a sensation."
-- Susan L. Woods, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Women's Studies, Eastern Illinois University
"Lucid and intriguing... Fixed Stars Govern a Life is a great source study with commentary on what Plath read, and what was happening at the time of the poem." -- Carl Rollyson, author of American Isis: The Life and Art of Sylvia Plath [St. Martin's Press]
Have an idea for me and/or my book? Reach out to me at jgordonbramer[at]gmail.com, or call: 314.517.0158.
As the release of my book, Fixed Stars Govern a Life: Decoding Sylvia Plath draws near (yes, the subtitle has been changed from "Sylvia Plath's Qabalah Code," but the content remains the same), I am looking into doing a little bit of early marketing...and I could use your help!
I do not have the release date or the artwork yet to set up pre-orders on Amazon.com and all the rest, but I assure you that will come ASAP. In the meantime, please know the following:
1.) I would love to have your name and email address, if you are interested in an opt-in mailing to receive updates and news about me, book tours, major events, etc. I give you my word that you will not be spammed, receive too many notices, or have your information sold to any other parties. You may email your information to me privately at jgordonbramer[at]gmail.com.
2.) If you're an English professor or administrator interested in having me visit your school in person, or to speak to classes via Skype or conference call, please email me! If you're a member of a spiritual center (I'm especially interested in groups focusing on Alchemy, Tarot, Qabalah, Creativity Work, Mythology, the work of Carl Jung, etc.), if you run a bookstore, or if you are affiliated with literary workshops and presentations, I also want to hear from you! I will be doing some small tours over the next year and may be able to plan your location into the mix.
3.) If you believe that I would be a good fit as speaker/presenter at your conference/symposium/seminar/workshop/retreat, I'd love to hear more about it. Maybe we can make it happen.
About the book:
Fixed Stars Govern a Life: Decoding Sylvia Plath volume one, will be out in 2013 (release date TBA) by Stephen F. Austin State University Press. The book is ALREADY generating controversy, and if you're in the media, please give me a call or email and I would love to tell you about it. This book will change the way we look at Sylvia Plath's poems, and demolishes her fifty-year-long reputation of being merely a depressive poet/author and tragic suicide. Readers will see that Sylvia Plath was a genius like no other, and on top of that, Plath gives the gift of showing a blueprint for Qabalah--a divine order to the universe.
If you're a Plath fan, or new to Plath and just wanting to understand what the hubbub is about, this book will change your life. Don't care for poetry? You'll still be astounded by the historical, mythological, astrological, astronomical, alchemical, and artistic correlations.
You will never view the world in the same way again.
Cover art will be designed by the incomparable Amy Bautz.
Some early blurbs: [more coming soon]
"With clarity and erudition, Ms. Gordon-Bramer illuminates how Plath's masterpiece Ariel reflects a clear and intentional alignment with the Tarot and the Qabalah's Tree of Life. With each poem, and the collection as a whole, Gordon-Bramer weaves the esoteric mysteries with historical interpretation in a fascinating scholarly analysis that is original, provocative, magical. Fixed Stars Govern a Life is an incantation of great resonance and power, and its publication will be a sensation."
-- Susan L. Woods, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Women's Studies, Eastern Illinois University
"Lucid and intriguing... Fixed Stars Govern a Life is a great source study with commentary on what Plath read, and what was happening at the time of the poem." -- Carl Rollyson, author of American Isis: The Life and Art of Sylvia Plath [St. Martin's Press]
Have an idea for me and/or my book? Reach out to me at jgordonbramer[at]gmail.com, or call: 314.517.0158.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Spells, Curses, Black & Chaos Arts, and Free Will
Doing the Renaissance Faire has brought me face-to-face with some interesting characters. This whole Fantasy crowd are usually quite intelligent, they do a lot of reading, and pride themselves on their wild imaginations and even wilder outfits. They grew up on Dungeons & Dragons and H.P. Lovecraft, and I usually don't have to explain any references to Greek mythology or Qabalah to these guys (and girls). I am getting used to people telling me off-handedly that they are Wiccan, or are "doing some energy work with Isis," that they're struggling with a blocked chakra, or have been practicing their mediumship abilities. It's all cool. Whatever you're into. Some of them I take quite seriously (and sometimes their cards will echo psychic abilities), and others I smile and shrug off as residue from playing with too many Magic: The Gathering cards. However, I have yet to get used to someone sitting down in front of me and requesting a spell or a curse. I get requests for people on the phone for these too. All the time.
Gypsy legend has it (and hey, I just discovered that my Bohemian roots probably do qualify me for having a trace of real Gypsy blood way back down the line) that whatever you put out there toward somebody, for good or for evil, will come back to you three times. This is actually very much in line with Qabalists, Taoists, and pagan beliefs too. It amounts to this: What goes around comes around. Good brings good and bad brings bad. It's quite simple.
The Qabalists say: "As above so below; as inside, so outside." What happens in the God-mind happens in the body. What happens in the body happens outside the body. Everything is a mirror.
Some people ask about sacred objects: talismans, voodoo dolls, lucky t-shirts, and such. I do believe that there is power to these things if we believe it and give the object power. The ancient Chinese have been doing the same sort of energy work with positioning objects through Feng Shui. Use symbols to clear energy and keep a healthy, good flow.
But let's talk about negative energy for a minute:
We have all been in the situation where we have been so angry with someone that we want revenge. Sometimes we feel so justified in it that we're willing to suffer ourselves. But I ask you: are you willing to suffer three times greater? That's an awful lot of energy you are giving to your enemy, and to your own demise, when you could be building yourself up. Think of the attention you give a person you're angry with, and then think of how that translates into wasted time.
Somewhere along the line, we have all felt unrequited love too. After angry curses, love spells are what I get the most requests for. And to those people I ask: would you really want to make someone love you? That's not true love, and the energy is bad. Get someone to notice you, sure. I can even teach you to put your own energy toward doing just that. But force is never a good thing, even in matters of the heart.
My husband has a motto: the use of force against another is never acceptable, under any circumstances except in self-defense. This principle applies to every area of his life, and I tend to agree with it.
At the Renaissance Faire, I have had people casually state to me that they are Black magicians. I think that they believe, since I am a tarot card reader, that I am either one myself, or that I tacitly approve. Black magicians practice Black Magic, or some call it "Chaos magic." Black and Chaos magic are essentially screwing with the systems of life. They do not respect ideas such as individuality and free will, and some go as far as not to respect life and death. I do not support Black Magic, curses, or negativity in any form. I have had some experience with it in the past and I am not interested in ever going there again. Black magicians, unsurprisingly, usually deal with a lot of depression, emotional, financial, physical, and professional problems. You will almost never meet a Black magician who you would say is successful in life. They are getting their Gypsy three-times-back, and then some.
I may have written this aphorism before, but it bears repeating: "The Devil is all in your head, and that is the worst place he could be" (Marianne Williamson).
So, you know where I stand as far as practicing Black Magic. Do I believe that I could be a victim of Black Magic and Chaos Magic? To a point, yes. I believe that if I think I'm a victim of it, if I believe that I'm weak and a sucker to it, then I just might be. But I also know that I am a part of this great system of life energy, which I call God. That makes me entirely powerful to live and behave as I want. I choose to live in the light, and since I first made this conscious choice, absolutely everything has opened up to me.
I had a conversation with someone close to me about protective spells recently. I believe protective spells are neutral--neither good or bad energy. Like Aikido or Tai Chi, they are the deflection of forceful attack against you, and while you are prepared, you are never first to strike. They are the reaction to the offensive reaction. There is a lot we can do to protect ourselves, simply by looking inward and seeing what we are attracting with our own belief systems. There are outward symbols of protection you can do too. If you're interested in a tarot card reading to explore this, or any issue, please email me at tarot[at]nighttimes.com, or call 314.517.0158.
Gypsy legend has it (and hey, I just discovered that my Bohemian roots probably do qualify me for having a trace of real Gypsy blood way back down the line) that whatever you put out there toward somebody, for good or for evil, will come back to you three times. This is actually very much in line with Qabalists, Taoists, and pagan beliefs too. It amounts to this: What goes around comes around. Good brings good and bad brings bad. It's quite simple.
The Qabalists say: "As above so below; as inside, so outside." What happens in the God-mind happens in the body. What happens in the body happens outside the body. Everything is a mirror.
Some people ask about sacred objects: talismans, voodoo dolls, lucky t-shirts, and such. I do believe that there is power to these things if we believe it and give the object power. The ancient Chinese have been doing the same sort of energy work with positioning objects through Feng Shui. Use symbols to clear energy and keep a healthy, good flow.
But let's talk about negative energy for a minute:
We have all been in the situation where we have been so angry with someone that we want revenge. Sometimes we feel so justified in it that we're willing to suffer ourselves. But I ask you: are you willing to suffer three times greater? That's an awful lot of energy you are giving to your enemy, and to your own demise, when you could be building yourself up. Think of the attention you give a person you're angry with, and then think of how that translates into wasted time.
Somewhere along the line, we have all felt unrequited love too. After angry curses, love spells are what I get the most requests for. And to those people I ask: would you really want to make someone love you? That's not true love, and the energy is bad. Get someone to notice you, sure. I can even teach you to put your own energy toward doing just that. But force is never a good thing, even in matters of the heart.
My husband has a motto: the use of force against another is never acceptable, under any circumstances except in self-defense. This principle applies to every area of his life, and I tend to agree with it.
At the Renaissance Faire, I have had people casually state to me that they are Black magicians. I think that they believe, since I am a tarot card reader, that I am either one myself, or that I tacitly approve. Black magicians practice Black Magic, or some call it "Chaos magic." Black and Chaos magic are essentially screwing with the systems of life. They do not respect ideas such as individuality and free will, and some go as far as not to respect life and death. I do not support Black Magic, curses, or negativity in any form. I have had some experience with it in the past and I am not interested in ever going there again. Black magicians, unsurprisingly, usually deal with a lot of depression, emotional, financial, physical, and professional problems. You will almost never meet a Black magician who you would say is successful in life. They are getting their Gypsy three-times-back, and then some.
I may have written this aphorism before, but it bears repeating: "The Devil is all in your head, and that is the worst place he could be" (Marianne Williamson).
So, you know where I stand as far as practicing Black Magic. Do I believe that I could be a victim of Black Magic and Chaos Magic? To a point, yes. I believe that if I think I'm a victim of it, if I believe that I'm weak and a sucker to it, then I just might be. But I also know that I am a part of this great system of life energy, which I call God. That makes me entirely powerful to live and behave as I want. I choose to live in the light, and since I first made this conscious choice, absolutely everything has opened up to me.
I had a conversation with someone close to me about protective spells recently. I believe protective spells are neutral--neither good or bad energy. Like Aikido or Tai Chi, they are the deflection of forceful attack against you, and while you are prepared, you are never first to strike. They are the reaction to the offensive reaction. There is a lot we can do to protect ourselves, simply by looking inward and seeing what we are attracting with our own belief systems. There are outward symbols of protection you can do too. If you're interested in a tarot card reading to explore this, or any issue, please email me at tarot[at]nighttimes.com, or call 314.517.0158.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Renaissance Faire, weekends now through June 9th
Hello! Just a reminder that I am the tarot reader for the St. Louis Renaissance Faire this year, each weekend (plus Memorial Day), in Wentzville's Rotary Park, 2577 Meyer Road, Wentzville, MO 63448. The Faire is running from Saturday, May 18 through Sunday, June 9th. The Faire is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
This is one of the rare occasions that I do dress up (it's required), so you can see me in all my gypsy splendor at booth #417, near the back exit, next door to the wood working shop (which looks more like a gallows, if truth be told). Readings are just $10 each, and if there is no one waiting in line behind you, we can take a little extra time. I would love to meet you in person.
This is one of the rare occasions that I do dress up (it's required), so you can see me in all my gypsy splendor at booth #417, near the back exit, next door to the wood working shop (which looks more like a gallows, if truth be told). Readings are just $10 each, and if there is no one waiting in line behind you, we can take a little extra time. I would love to meet you in person.
New publication in Plath Profiles
Hello friends,
Just a quick note that you can find my most recent Plath publication, an excerpt from my book, Fixed Stars Govern a Life, volume one, which should be due out this fall. Details to be officially announced soon.
This is my article, "The Smoke and Mirrors of 'The Couriers'," which was a wonderfully fun tour through the famous magicians and gypsies of the twentieth century as they relate to the Magician tarot card and Plath's famous second poem of Ariel. You can find the article here.
Thanks for reading!
Just a quick note that you can find my most recent Plath publication, an excerpt from my book, Fixed Stars Govern a Life, volume one, which should be due out this fall. Details to be officially announced soon.
This is my article, "The Smoke and Mirrors of 'The Couriers'," which was a wonderfully fun tour through the famous magicians and gypsies of the twentieth century as they relate to the Magician tarot card and Plath's famous second poem of Ariel. You can find the article here.
Thanks for reading!
Friday, March 8, 2013
Spiritual Responsibility
As some of you know, even while I have been reading tarot cards for over thirty-three years, I have not been a professional tarot reader in all that time. I started professionally while I was in graduate school, initially at the urging of a professor who had witnessed my readings in class and at parties, and had brought me in as a guest to some of his classes. The career blossomed from there. I had never set out to be a professional tarot card reader; the universe created the job for me, and it has been a blessing while I pursue my first love of writing.
Being a professional has all sorts of weird baggage attached to it. While there are guides and associations and what-have-you for jobs in medicine, law, sales, management, etc., there is no rule book for the psychic realm. With each new client I get, I get my own lessons, and I realize that I am growing along with my clients. Sometimes, like anyone, I'm resistant and I just wish that I could keep things status quo. Sometimes growth hurts.
Some big lessons I am learning lately are in responsibility, boundaries, and attachment to how things are supposed to look.
The tarot is a tool for self-discovery, revelation, and understanding what you already know on a higher level; I am bringing your truth to your consciousness. The thing about the tarot is that it reflects your energy of who you are today. Because I do not believe in a fate written in stone, and because I believe that we have power and choice in our lives, the direction of your energy can change from day to day or even minute to minute. What does this mean for my clients? It means that this is about the inner journey, not the outer one. It means that tarot is not a thing to use to set schedules, to sign documents, to seal down the things of the world. Rather, it can show you if you're in a good place to do those things (or not), and why or why not.
It gets tricky. If you ask me during a tarot reading, say, how a court case will go, I will tell you what I see. But that is based upon who you are, what the current circumstances are, and how you're behaving. Don't ask, "How will my court case go?" but rather, "What can I do to be most effective in my court case?" Remember that it is about personal power and choice. That is all we've got in this life.
I have had many, many clients say that things have happened exactly as I said they would. Occasionally, though, something goes awry. No reader is perfect. Some clients seem to attract more positive results and some attract more negative. What is this about?
It can be very hard for me not to take on the responsibility for someone's life, because I tend to care very much about my clients, especially my regular ones. Yet, I know that when I become too much of a counselor or a life-coach, firstly, that's not my training, and second, it is not honoring myself and what I need to be doing. The trick is that when I spend a certain amount of time with a person, I become vested. I want to see success for that person, maybe also (if I want to get really honest) in part for my own ego as I want to be known as effective. It can be hard to have to draw the boundaries, to have respect for myself and my own time. When that desperate, sad call comes at almost midnight, it is sometimes hard to let the phone ring because the time is not appropriate for business. Sometimes I have to say, "I am sorry things are not working out for you, but I'll have to talk to you tomorrow." I have to remember that I am not a psychologist, an AA sponsor, or even a best friend. A tarot card reader can't take all that on, and then multiply it across all clients, and still have a personal life of one's own.
The other big lesson I have learned over these years is that I cannot make anyone take my advice, and I cannot control the outcome. I can only tell what I feel, and what I see in the cards. I can only offer guidance. Sometimes a person is full of anger, or addiction, or hopelessness, or self-sabotage, and maybe he or she just needs to be in that place and suffer through it for awhile, to learn the things that must be learned. There is nothing I can do to wake him up out of it until he finally can't take it anymore and takes the steering wheel on his own life. Lord knows that I have tried to steer other's lives before, and it ends up just making everyone feel worthless and ineffective.
It is not empowering to tell someone, "Here is what you have to do to get your life together," or even, "Here, let me help you." The message behind those words is, "I know you can't manage your own life, so here, let me do it for you." Ridiculous. We can all manage. We either take control of our lives, or we don't. As Yoda famously said, "Do or not do. There is no try." Sometimes people think they want to get their acts together, but they are not consistent in this feeling. Sometimes people want to give up, because that feeling of hopelessness and confusion is a place they can hide and not take responsibility for their actions. It is a place where they can cry in self-defeat, saying, "I don't know!" instead of just buckling down and making a decision, right or wrong, and just getting on with life. Through the cards, I can look at why that is, but I can't make them change. I am not living the life of my client, and I have to always remember this.
Buddha teaches us that we get attached to how we think things are supposed to go. That can be very limiting. We think success must look one way, and it can surprise us and look like something so much better. Sometimes things look like disaster: failed marriages, bankruptcy, whatever... and it can turn into the best thing that ever happened to us. I had become attached to a career plan of getting my MFA, and then making my living as a teacher while I wrote. Life designed it differently, and while I teach occasionally now, the tarot supports me better, financially, in time spent, and in promoting my scholarly work and books. I could never have imagined it as well as it has turned out. Dreams can be very restrictive, and they change as you will change; don't hold yourself fast to them.
If you come to me as a client, I can promise you that I will tell you what I see with full honesty and an open heart. I will listen, and hear you, and respond. I will do my best to give you the tools you need to make your dreams, or what you think are your dreams, come true. But I will also set the rules down that it is not my job to "fix" you. You are whole and complete already, even if you don't always feel it. Even if you haven't owned that yet. Perhaps it will be your job to remind me of this, and together we will make the world a better place, owning our own lives and what we do with them.
Being a professional has all sorts of weird baggage attached to it. While there are guides and associations and what-have-you for jobs in medicine, law, sales, management, etc., there is no rule book for the psychic realm. With each new client I get, I get my own lessons, and I realize that I am growing along with my clients. Sometimes, like anyone, I'm resistant and I just wish that I could keep things status quo. Sometimes growth hurts.
Some big lessons I am learning lately are in responsibility, boundaries, and attachment to how things are supposed to look.
The tarot is a tool for self-discovery, revelation, and understanding what you already know on a higher level; I am bringing your truth to your consciousness. The thing about the tarot is that it reflects your energy of who you are today. Because I do not believe in a fate written in stone, and because I believe that we have power and choice in our lives, the direction of your energy can change from day to day or even minute to minute. What does this mean for my clients? It means that this is about the inner journey, not the outer one. It means that tarot is not a thing to use to set schedules, to sign documents, to seal down the things of the world. Rather, it can show you if you're in a good place to do those things (or not), and why or why not.
It gets tricky. If you ask me during a tarot reading, say, how a court case will go, I will tell you what I see. But that is based upon who you are, what the current circumstances are, and how you're behaving. Don't ask, "How will my court case go?" but rather, "What can I do to be most effective in my court case?" Remember that it is about personal power and choice. That is all we've got in this life.
I have had many, many clients say that things have happened exactly as I said they would. Occasionally, though, something goes awry. No reader is perfect. Some clients seem to attract more positive results and some attract more negative. What is this about?
It can be very hard for me not to take on the responsibility for someone's life, because I tend to care very much about my clients, especially my regular ones. Yet, I know that when I become too much of a counselor or a life-coach, firstly, that's not my training, and second, it is not honoring myself and what I need to be doing. The trick is that when I spend a certain amount of time with a person, I become vested. I want to see success for that person, maybe also (if I want to get really honest) in part for my own ego as I want to be known as effective. It can be hard to have to draw the boundaries, to have respect for myself and my own time. When that desperate, sad call comes at almost midnight, it is sometimes hard to let the phone ring because the time is not appropriate for business. Sometimes I have to say, "I am sorry things are not working out for you, but I'll have to talk to you tomorrow." I have to remember that I am not a psychologist, an AA sponsor, or even a best friend. A tarot card reader can't take all that on, and then multiply it across all clients, and still have a personal life of one's own.
The other big lesson I have learned over these years is that I cannot make anyone take my advice, and I cannot control the outcome. I can only tell what I feel, and what I see in the cards. I can only offer guidance. Sometimes a person is full of anger, or addiction, or hopelessness, or self-sabotage, and maybe he or she just needs to be in that place and suffer through it for awhile, to learn the things that must be learned. There is nothing I can do to wake him up out of it until he finally can't take it anymore and takes the steering wheel on his own life. Lord knows that I have tried to steer other's lives before, and it ends up just making everyone feel worthless and ineffective.
It is not empowering to tell someone, "Here is what you have to do to get your life together," or even, "Here, let me help you." The message behind those words is, "I know you can't manage your own life, so here, let me do it for you." Ridiculous. We can all manage. We either take control of our lives, or we don't. As Yoda famously said, "Do or not do. There is no try." Sometimes people think they want to get their acts together, but they are not consistent in this feeling. Sometimes people want to give up, because that feeling of hopelessness and confusion is a place they can hide and not take responsibility for their actions. It is a place where they can cry in self-defeat, saying, "I don't know!" instead of just buckling down and making a decision, right or wrong, and just getting on with life. Through the cards, I can look at why that is, but I can't make them change. I am not living the life of my client, and I have to always remember this.
Buddha teaches us that we get attached to how we think things are supposed to go. That can be very limiting. We think success must look one way, and it can surprise us and look like something so much better. Sometimes things look like disaster: failed marriages, bankruptcy, whatever... and it can turn into the best thing that ever happened to us. I had become attached to a career plan of getting my MFA, and then making my living as a teacher while I wrote. Life designed it differently, and while I teach occasionally now, the tarot supports me better, financially, in time spent, and in promoting my scholarly work and books. I could never have imagined it as well as it has turned out. Dreams can be very restrictive, and they change as you will change; don't hold yourself fast to them.
If you come to me as a client, I can promise you that I will tell you what I see with full honesty and an open heart. I will listen, and hear you, and respond. I will do my best to give you the tools you need to make your dreams, or what you think are your dreams, come true. But I will also set the rules down that it is not my job to "fix" you. You are whole and complete already, even if you don't always feel it. Even if you haven't owned that yet. Perhaps it will be your job to remind me of this, and together we will make the world a better place, owning our own lives and what we do with them.
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