Leap Frogging with Willows East.

OK and so this is the Willows East Blog Hop concocted by Gretchen Pearl.  This is the First time I’ve done one of these and so, if you’d like to see the original post on her blog it’s here: http://willowseast.blogspot.com/2016/07/tarot-blog-hop.html

 

1. What brought you to Tarot?

I wanted a deeper understanding.

2. Which deck is your favorite?

My Lucky Lynx Fortune Cards. I use them for everything. They are a modern interpretation of the Lenormand Deck based on archetypes from stories, television shows and old movies: things that affected me deeply growing up. I developed them to show that these archetypes are everywhere even though people may not realize it.  And whether they believe in Fortunetelling or not their minds are constantly being shaped by it.

My favorite actual Tarot deck though is The Whimsical Tarot by Dorothy Morrison. It was the deck that jumped out at me when a “tarot teacher” at a Ren Faire was busy telling me about all the decks I as a man should be drawn to because men weren’t as intuitive as women. While she was talking I just kept staring over her shoulder at the thing.  It had a picture of Puss in Boots on the box and I knew it was for me.

I thanked her for her advice and went and bought the deck at a metaphysical shop where they didn’t make assumptions about a person’s ability based on his gender.

 

3. Link to your Tarot business page, shop, or explain the purpose of your blog.

The purpose of my blog is to help people become professionals and to help them to do things they never thought about doing with divination. When I started out there were very few who had practical straight forward advice for people who wanted to make a living as a psychic.  This is the stuff I wish someone would have told me.

• My Webpage: http://conjurehope.wix.com/magician
• My Etsy (where you can get my Lucky Lynx Fortune Dice or book a readinig): https://www.etsy.com/shop/LuckyLynxFortune?ref=hdr_shop_menu
• My YouTube channel; subscribe and share the love: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6ueWkobElQJrGsiPb6QosA

4. What makes your journey or business unique?

I do my best to help people in the most simple, straight-forward, no nonsense language I can. I do my best to make everything process-based and I aim at taking the vague mystical language out of the art form and talk about it in terms of the human mind, which is really how I believe it should be framed.

I have also developed several oracles based on a deep understanding of Tibetan Mo, or divination. I have taken years of studying with Tibetan Bon master and synthesized them into oracles that not only are designed to help the user develop his intuition, but to also give the user an out of the box ability to divine using tools that would normally take them years of study with a Tibetan master.

5. Ask your deck, higher self, or guide, what it would like to share with visitors. Draw one card and/or share your response.

Roll of my Lucky Lynx Kaiju Oracle: Mothra.

In the old Godzilla movies, Mothra only appeared when humanity was in danger of extinction or the planet was in danger of destruction.  She made a vow to protect humanity and our home planet, violently if needed.

The fact that Mothra came up in this context tells me that everyone who finds themselves reading this has some connection to the protection of humanity at this very fragile time in human history which the Tibetans predicted as “the time of tears”.  You have been called to defend humanity against those who would destroy it and we are at the eleventh hour. Humanity is about to go through a shedding that will not be pleasant, but one that you can weather if you join others who are like you and learn the skills needed to build a new, healthier  humanity. What can emerge is like nothing you have ever seen and you are here at one of the most interesting and exciting times on our planet’s timeline.  You have inside of you the power to create a profound gift for future generations.

She is also telling you that you have absolutely no idea what your mind is capable of. You have abilities inside of you that have been squashed by destructive religious systems, uncaring and cold school systems, a prison-like societal structure and draconian “leadership”. There are methods of healing that have been hidden from you, technologies that you don’t even know exist and basic knowledge that has been stolen from people. You have been denied your birthright all in the name of being someone else’s slave. You have been taught to be a victim. You have been divided from your brother and sister and you have been manipulated like pawns on a chess board.

There is always hope. But you must no longer accept what has been decided for you. It is time for you to come out of your chrysalis and become something new. 

Those of you who have divination at your disposal, ask it what has happened to humanity. Ask it what human potential really is. Ask it what stands in humanities way. Ask what is really behind mass shootings and government policies and racial and societal tensions. Ask what our current medicine system does to people and ask what the school systems have done to the human mind.

The real gift of the diviner is that he or she can see what is really happening in society and no one can hide the truth from them.

How to Do the Three Little Pigs Spread

The three little pigs: Pos1, Wolf; Pos2, Straw house; Pos 3, stick house; Pos3, Brick House.

How to Read a Crystal Ball

This is a little video I shot on how to read a crystal ball.  Try it with our clients. You will be amazed at what you learn about yourself, your own mind and your clients.

Four Ways You're Not Using an Oracle Right Now That Will Make Your Clients Love you Like Pizza

Lucky Lynx Fortune Cards.    This technique can work with whatever oracle or method you prefer.

Every fortuneteller has his own style, own methods, own preferred tools. Some like the tarot, while others prefer palms.  Some use bones or coffee grounds or tea leaves. Others are an absolute whiz with their family’s method of divining with playing cards. Still others show astonishing skill in the art of reading faces.

It’s true there are at least a thousand different ways to get to the same information. And all methods can be just effective as any other when practiced by a competent fortuneteller.

Different fortunetellers also like to specialize in different areas. Some are compassionate love readers for example. Others like to focus on health. Some like to specialize in prosperity and career readings and have a dozen cartomancy spreads that get to the center of those issues.  While still others feel more comfortable zeroing in on family relationships, children and relatives who have passed on. Then there are those who are sort of 'general practitioners' who give their clients a little taste of each.

Whatever your methods and preferences there’s one thing for sure, we can all benefit form trying new things. It keeps us fresh as fortunetellers, sharpens our minds and gives us new insights into our craft.  It also helps us give our clients real value and helps them consider things about themselves that they might not have before meeting us.

Here are four things you can do with an oracle or method of reading to give your client more value than he or she bargained for and make them love you like…yes, pizza.

Each of these can be the starting point for a reading in their own right. Be open to what your intuition is telling you here. Be creative and have fun.  Readings should be fun. If you’re not having fun and your clients aren’t having fun then they won’t love you like pizza. They will hate you like liver. (We've all had those serious readings by those people who thought they were god's mouthpiece and can't even crack a joke. They are such a drag and leave you feeling ripped off.)

1. Use the oracle to reveal a hidden heroic talent the client has that they do not know about.  This is a real powerful one.  So powerful that I developed a dice oracle entirely devoted to this subject master using very unlikely archetypes from modern animation and novels.  There is so little time and attention devoted to true heroism these days.  We seem to be inundated with people’s victimhood and all the things they are offended by. So, between telling people a little bit about their problems, their fears and their woes, throw in that hidden heroic talent that they aren't even aware they have and show them how they can be super heroes in their own lives.  Enjoy the look on their face when they realize that quality is really theirs and they've been neglecting it for years.
    
2. Use the oracle to show them their greatest fear and obstacle and how that fear has been limiting their lives.  Once you do that: cast a 'what if' reading that will show what will happen in their lives if they release that fear.  If you don’t know how to do a 'what if' reading, Ill show you how in another blog post.  If you remember that in pretty much every case the person's greatest obstacle and fear is their own selves, it should be pretty simple to get to that aspect or aspects that is/are holding them back.
    
3. Show them where their heart is.  The ancient Tibetans speak extensively in their teachings about humans 'being in their hearts'. By that I don't mean that they should become feelers and drop logic. It would be counterproductive to make those who are thinkers feel alienated from their own natures.  When I say show them where there heart is, I am referring to whether or not their energy is centered or if it is scattered or focused on something that is contrary to their wishes and goals.  Is their heart broken from seeking something outside of itself? Is it centered in a place of spiritual calmness? Is it captivated by something that is enslaving it? Is it fickle and fluttering? Is its steady and determined? Feeble? Dark and disengaged?  Where a client's heart is will show you so much about where they are coming from and where they are heading.  Try it and you will see your readings soar in accuracy and impact.
    
4. Reveal one surprise that is coming their way that they don’t know is coming.  Now, the kind of surprise is up to you.  You can specify what one happy surprise is coming their way or you can just leave it at “surprise”.  In some cases it might be very helpful to know what it is that is coming to blindside them. In that case a less than happy surprise might help prepare them to see the opportunities present in what would otherwise be a devastating experience.  But again, the choice is completely yours as the fortuneteller.  Try it and see what kinds of surprises reveal themselves.

Try these little tweaks to a reading and see what they yield.   Feel free to leave your experiences is the comment section below and share the love and support with others.

May this little blog bring you some new ideas and help you bring greater value to your clients.  As always, I wish you success and good fortune.

Five Things Every Fortuneteller Can Avoid To Save Themselves a Ton of Grief

I've been a professional fortuneteller for at least 15 years now. When I started I, for some reason, cursed myself with a lot of "shoulds" that continually got in my way and inhibited my development.  In those early days I would have been a lot more fortunate in my business (and my personal life)  had I not blocked my own luck with all of those shoulds right from the beginning.  Back then I really didn't have anyone to help me figure these things out. I was on my own with a lot of trial and error... and wow...some of those errors!!!!

Now, I don't regret any of that because it gave me some experience that I can share with others.  Maybe it will help them avoid some of the pitfalls I encountered.  I've started this blog to help novices and professionals alike avoid those shoulds and maybe gain some insight into the human mind.   Because, after all of the thousands of readings I've done over the years, that is what I now believe fortunetelling to be all about: the human mind.  And the fact that you're here now reading this means that you're interested in the human mind too and, hopefully, something I say here will help you at this point in your life.

And so, that in mind, here are five shoulds that will stop you from ever getting everywhere as a professional fortuneteller:

1. I should be like the mediums on TV or on the bestseller list.

Have you ever worked in television?  Or in publishing?  Do you know what the main goal of both of these industries is?  Sales.  By any means.

Which means:

• A) You have no idea whether or not the individual pictured on the back of that supposed bestseller actually wrote that book or not, or if any of what they say in it is even true. (As someone who has ghost written for uncommunicative corporate CEO's I will assure you, they probably didn't write it and, at the very least, it is highly embellished.)  
• B) There is no way of telling how accurate any of these individuals really are in their readings. 

As it is, the media companies are less concerned with demonstrating actual psychic ability than they are in selling books, hamburger helper or tampons.  It has little to do with anyone's spiritual enlightenment and much more to do with engineering the kind of spectacle that will prevent folks from changing the channel during the sponsored spot for adult diapers. So, before you go modeling yourself after the latest famous medium or spiritualist, ask yourself, Do you want to be professional fortuneteller because it will give you the opportunity to do what you love?  Or do you want to be a celebrity who daily customizes his or her message to more effectively sell air fresheners?

What you answer here will determine, right away, whether you are headed down a road that leads you to deeper understanding of the human mind and its true motivations, or one characterized by press-on nails, prescription drug addictions and guest spots on QVC.

As it happens, your readings are probably more accurate than that individual on the television anyway, so don't waste any time torturing yourself for not being where they are.

2. I should be perfect from the minute I start.

Rarely is anyone perfect at anything when they start. For one thing, being a fortune teller isn't just about being able to read cards or palms or tea leaves.  It's also about learning how to talk to people; how to put them at ease and assist them; and, in some cases, help them develop strategies to deal with whatever it is you're seeing in their past, present or futures.

Also, it takes time and practice to develop a style that both encourages people to open up while putting them at ease.  So, give yourself a break and allow yourself to develop your own style and abilities in their own time without the added pressure of perfectionism thrown on top of it.

It's also my experience that people use perfectionism an excuse to avoid taking action: either because they are afraid of success, they secretly want to fail or they aren't being authentic to themselves.

3. I should be omniscient.

This is just wrong. Who needs this kind of pressure in their lives?  You might as well just tell yourself you need to be able to lift skyscrapers while you're at it.  But unfortunately it's a common should.  Thanks to movies and television there is huge misconception that psychic means all-knowing, all the time, in every situation and under every circumstance.  Before you decide you want to adopt this psychotic little should, ask yourself, How fun would life be if you could never be surprised, if you could read everyone's thoughts and emotions constantly without being able to shut it off?  No one wants to go to a tortured psychic. And those who do are not clients you really want to have: they are more trouble than the fifty cents they are willing to give you to tell them in excruciating detail every aspect about the dysfunction that they are already quite cozy with.

'Psychic' is a nominalization. In hypnosis and neuro linguistic programming that term refers to to a word that carries different meanings for different people; but it's the individual hearing the word who actually supplies that meaning for themselves.  Unfortunately, many define the word psychic in an extreme way.

Omniscience is a quality traditionally applied only to Buddhas.  (For more on that google the term, 'eye of the Buddha'.) But Buddhas tend to avoid things like fortunetelling because they see a much bigger picture of the world and our place in it, and they can look directly into the heart of a person and see exactly what he or she needs.  It was, however, traditional in places like Tibet for a student of a Buddha to do divination for people as a means of helping to bring resources into a Lhakhang.

So, when people ask you why you explore fortunetelling with people and if you are "all seeing", you can simply smile at them and say: "I am merely a student of the human mind who uses what tools I have  to help people unravel the puzzles of their life the best I can.  Here, pull a card and let's see if I can't assist you in some way..."

4. People will always be honest with me when I read them so when a reading doesn't line up I should blame myself for not being really "psychic".

This just isn't true.  People will lie to you all the time. For all kinds of reasons.  They will lie about their lives and experiences to test you and see if you're "really" psychic.  They'll lie to you about what happened in a situation because they're embarrassed by what happened.  They'll lie because they don't want you to know whatever it is that they are hiding in their lives. (They are all hiding something.) They will lie to you because they are lying to themselves and really don't know they are lying. They'll even lie when you've done a reading for them and hit the nail on the head just because they don't want to believe that anyone can see into their lives so easily.

But it has been my experience that nine times out of ten in a situation like this someone--a friend or lover or someone who heard you do the reading will come to you and say: "You were absolutely spot on!"

And even if that doesn't happen, don't sweat it. There comes a point when you know whether or not you can really do this--that is, if you're honest with yourself. And when that time comes you'll know the people who are lying to you.  I promise.  Until then, keep practicing your craft and don't torture yourself about it.


 
5. I should be God's mouthpiece. 

OK this one is not only arrogant and self-centered, but it's also a bit creepy and leads to delusions and mental disability. No joke.  This is how all of the self-aggrandizing televangelists and politicians who end up in huge public scandals started.  People who walk up to strangers on the street and tell them that their dead grandpa is choking them don't make people feel warm and fuzzy. They creep folks out.  Remember two things in this case:

• People will never remember what you said, only how you make them feel.
• It's no one's holy appointed job to walk around telling everyone everything about their business because...God.   That's how the inquisition started.  And to quote Samantha from Sex and the City:  "Oh, honey, you can't listen to every fucking little voice that runs through your head. It'll drive you nuts."

If this fortunetelling or divining thing is something you're interested then here is the best advice I can give you from experience: just do it.  If you fret about it or worry about it you'll just lose interest in it.  If you spend your time collecting oracles hoping to find the one that gives you 'all-knowing power' or spend your time telling people how it's your calling from god you'll never live up to your own expectations. If you put obstacles in your way by comparing yourself to how someone else reads you'll miss the power and subtlety that comes from developing your own style and experience.

Get yourself an inexpensive deck of cards or a set of runes or whatever it is that expresses your personality and then just practice.  Read with it for anyone who will let you. Ask the oracle questions and see how it responds. Do daily throws at the end of the day so you can see what symbols correspond to the events that you experienced through your day.

And most of all, have fun and make people laugh. Help them feel special, because they are.  Listen to them and what they have to say because they need to be heard.  Enjoy what you do, cultivate passion and share what you have with others and you will never be without clients.

I wish you success and good fortune.