Over the years, I have worked at several occult shops and have known many, many tarot readers. I know that some readers will tell you exactly what you want to hear. I will only tell you the truth about what I see. Other readers may try to predict your future. I don't believe in fortune-telling, as the future is not set.
Using the Celtic Cross spread, I will initiate discussion of what is happening concerning certain issues in your life and the outcomes that are possible if you continue on the path you're presently walking. Of course, you have the power to make new choices. As a spiritual advisor, I interpret the symbolism of the card oracle to help guide you into the most appropriate decisions that will be best for your continued spiritual growth. These images are the language of the soul.
NEW!!!!! Intuitive Tarot for Beginners class with Haviland. Please email for details or visit our calendar page.
It was very interesting the way it happened. Though I�ve worked at several occult shops over the years, I never wanted to own one. It was never a goal. I had been teaching classes and seeing clients in my home since 1999. When a reasonably priced retail space opened up in Woodstock, I felt strongly impressed to rent it, though at the time I had already committed to do something else (study hypnotherapy). It felt as though someone or something else was guiding the shop into existence-- every single aspect of it fell into place without my consciously making decisions on my own. I was just along for the ride! To this day, everything has fallen smoothly into place in a way that never ceases to amaze me. It feels like the shop has a life and mind of its own. Synchronicity plays a huge part in my life and I know without a doubt that this is what I�m supposed to be doing at this point on my Path. For how long, I don�t know. I will continue to listen for guidance. Every day I say to myself, �I own a shop? What the eff?� But I see how greatly needed and appreciated the shop and its services are, so I continue with it. I�m not really attached to it, though. I�ll do it until I feel drawn to do something else. I will simply listen for further instruction.
2. What do you feel your business is bringing to people? (Do you feel like you're educating people, or making books and other materials available that might not be otherwise?)
I published a book of poetic, philosophical and esoteric thought that�s not widely available. I make magickal products, do counseling with the tarot, perform energy therapy and teach unique classes. However, and most importantly, I feel that I am bringing positive energy to people, and I provide a space where people can come and feel that. I�m blessed by comments all the time about the light vibe in my shop. Anyone who is sensitive can feel what kind of space they are in, and many metaphysical shops have a darker or chaotic vibe. Sure, there are many people who do what I�m doing, sell the same kinds of things, but WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? I know of some esoteric shop owners who are involved in black magick and practices as unscrupulous as animal sacrifice. When people come into my shop, I don�t have to tell them who I am. They can feel who I am. I�m vegan, a member of the Rosicrucian Order, and my goal is to encourage people to evolve into higher levels of humanity, compassion, and beyond. To seek a loftier path. To cultivate love and compassion to all that has life. And I think that makes all the difference. Sometimes people say that I helped them by just creating a space for them to visit. That�s far more satisfying than making a sale.
3. How do you characterize your intuitive abilities? I'm interested specifically in what the experience is like. For example, on your website you say "I continue to have occasional clairvoyant, clairaudient, and clairsentient experiences." What do these experiences look/sound/feel like?
My experiences are quite random. Occasionally, a name will pop into my head. I will hear it. Or just a split second before the phone rings, I will know it�s going to ring and I will know who is calling me. My house was haunted for a few years and I heard the woman�s name before I moved in; I saw her every day. I might walk into a room that looks nice, but feels extremely disturbing, and upon inquiry someone will tell me the previous occupant was psychotic. Sometimes I just know things, but like I said, they are random. To me, these experiences all feel very natural. I don�t believe that they are supernatural at all. Everyone has these abilities. It�s just a matter of being open and receptive. And paying attention, being quiet and listening. Everyone is in such a hurry these days. They don�t take the time to feel and to listen. And we use such a tiny portion of our brains. Who�s to say that psychic experience doesn�t come from the dormant majority of the brain?
Not all of my experiences have been positive. Back in 2001, just after my mother�s death and the horrors of 9/11, my father came for a visit. He is a Bible-belt Christian and an enormous bigot. His energy at the time was incredibly dark and negative, and I was trapped in my small house with that energy for ten days. It would be difficult for anyone not to absorb that energy in a small space for that long. I remember sitting on my couch working with my laptop on my knees, my zip drive next to me, and the stereo was on. I had just heard that someone was murdered in a hate crime in the Southwest states. The victim was Hindu or Islamic, I don�t remember which. Remember, this was two weeks after 9/11. So, I happened to remark to my father my great sadness at what had just happened. He then made a very nasty comment, saying �those people get what they deserve�. Unfortunately, I lost it. I�m not an angry person, I�m not a screamer, but after ten days something had to give and all the negative energy I�d been absorbing came gushing out. I exploded, �What the hell kind of Christian do you claim to be? You don�t know the first thing about what Jesus taught! He was all about love and peace and brotherhood!� At the exact moment that I released that anger, my laptop, the zip drive and the stereo all shut down. As it turns out, I completely zapped the battery in the laptop, which I was able to recharge later, but the zip drive and stereo receiver were completely blown and had to be replaced. This is more of an energy transfer story than a psychic one, but I still wanted to share it as a negative example of the kinds of things that sensitive, �psychic� people can experience.
4. As for Tarot card reading, do you use your intuition along with the cards? Or is it just a matter of learning to "read" the cards?
I go on intuition. Many people who want to learn the cards spend tremendous amounts of time studying some book and going by someone else�s interpretation of the symbology. Certainly, each card has a basic meaning, but intuition plays the larger role, as it does in any oracle, whether it�s runes, palmistry, scrying, or whatever. And I always ask the client to draw the cards. That way, he or she is using their own intuition to pick the cards. Often the client will interpret cards for me. After all, they choose them, not me. Subconsciously, they know what they are doing. I know many readers who don�t let their clients touch the cards. This feels wrong to me. If the reader draws the cards, what does that say about the reading?
5. Is there a particular demographic group that comes to you for tarot card readings?
Many tourists see it as a novelty. But most people just want some direction. I use the tarot to help people come to their own conclusions. If someone wants me to predict their future, I immediately set them straight. I believe �fortune telling� to be unethical. If you tell someone their marriage is going to break up, what happens if they believe you? Guess what... their marriage will break up. The power of suggestion is very powerful, indeed. If I see cards that are negative, it doesn�t mean something bad is going to happen. It�s a heads up that perhaps you need to make some wiser choices immediately, so you can steer your ship in a more desirable direction.
6. Why do people come to you for readings? Are they curious? Worried about something?
Although some people come for some relaxed guidance and assurance, many more people act helpless and want someone to tell them what to do. I don�t like this at all. Who am I that I can make decisions for someone? I may seem wiser, but this is only because I�ve learned to listen. People need to learn to listen for themselves-- their higher self, conscience, the voice of god within them, whatever you want to call it-- and take responsibility for their choices. I worked at a shop once where there were many card readers, but one of them was somewhat well-known. As I scheduled appointments for her, I noticed that the same people came to her over and over and over. They were often frantic. Some were definitely addicted. These people are scary. Many people go to a reader with a problem or question, and they�ve already decided what they�re going to do. So, they�ll just go from reader to reader until they find someone who confirms their preconceived notions. What�s the point of that?
7. How does having a tarot card reading help someone? If I went to you for a reading, what benefit would it have to me?
It depends on what kind of reader you�re dealing with. I know from much experience that many readers are downright manipulative and ego-based. Clients may feel they are being helped, but in the long run, they�re being hindered from connecting with their own inner voice. When I read, I use counseling. I ask questions. I discuss the cards with them. Steer people into wiser, more loving choices. A good reader teaches people how to listen to themselves. I also use humor. Sometimes people just need to lighten up and stop taking themselves so seriously.
8. If you don't believe that the future is fixed, is the notion that an intuitive experience is "seeing the future" completely inaccurate? (By "intuitive experience I mean a clairvoyant, clairaudient, clairsentient experience.)
I wont bullshit you and say I have an answer for everything, because I don�t. I�m human just like you, and my knowledge is limited. But some scientists say that there really is no time, that past present and future occur simultaneously. So, if you think about it, picking up on �future� events really isn�t all that phenomenal, if you look at it in this light.
We create our own realities, so I always tell people to go on their own intuition about their own futures. I see into my own future constantly, without even realizing it until later. I personally keep a synchronicity journal. When two events occur close together pertaining to the same object of inquiry, I know that it�s something important that I need to pay attention to. �Seeing someone else's future� doesn�t help that person to develop their own sense of intuition and psychic experiences.
Here�s an important point: What some tarot readers call psychic experience is really just mind-reading, which is a skill in its own right. Everything in the universe is created by mind and thought, so tapping into someone else�s information mentally isn�t all that phenomenal. Yes, it might seem cool, but how is it useful? So, you have a guy in your life named Kevin and some �psychic� doing a reading picks up on someone named Kevin. So what? Does the �psychic� have the authority to predict what Kevin is going to do? Please! She got a name. Big whoop. Did she predict 911?
9. What is the best part of owning a shop and giving tarot card readings? The worst part?
The best part of owning a shop is the people. The worst part is also the people. Occasionally, I�ll meet someone truly incredible and beautiful who is on the same spiritual frequency as me. That�s truly like a gift from heaven! Other times someone will come in wanting me to help her because David Bowie is supposedly doing black magick against her to turn her into a homosexual. Or a fundamentalist Christian will tell me that Jesus sent her to tell me that I�m going to burn in hell. I really work to have compassion for these sick, fearful people, but deep down I just want them to get out as soon as possible. :)