The Card Reader
It seemed like I was supposed to do this, not a whim.
Every picture tells a story. Megan makes sense of it all from micro to macro. She drew from the Animal Spirit Deck. The story she told was about fire and focus, shedding the residue between the mundane and the spiritual, and learning to recognize the dark teachers, the ones who may at first glance appear to be oppressive, but bring forth a lesson in defining boundaries.
We began with a short meditation, concentrating on the breath. Then, Megan began to shuffle cards and while doing so, a card would seem to pop out as if it accidentally selected itself. I quickly realized that with her, there are no accidents. All is profoundly significant and on point.
She explained the following as she drew the cards:
The Fire Ants represent that instance of transition, that pinnacle moment between one state and another.
Meghan placed particular emphasis on the significance of this card. She returned to it to be certain I understood what she was saying. Later, as I continued to read Perdido Street Station by China Miéville I came across a passage that reinforced what she was trying to tell me:
“I've been nibbling at crisis theory for years. In a nutshell: I'm saying it's in the nature of things to enter crisis, as part of what they are. Things turn themselves inside out by virtue of being things, understand? The force that pushes the unified field on is crisis energy. Stuff like potential energy, that's one aspect of crisis energy, one tiny partial manifestation. Now, if you could tap the reserves of crisis energy in any given situation, you're talking about enormous power.”
She wanted me to recognize and focus on that particular point when things shift. I thought about happens when I immerse myself in a cool body of water, when I plunge my entire body from the warmth of a hot summer day into the enveloping coolness of a river or pond. Now, I close down the chatter and savor that particular moment to sense that turning point.
The Scorpion was a confirmation card in my opinion, since I am a Scorpio with 5 planets in Scorpio, kind of overwhelmingly scorpionic and have a certain sting that I need to manage regarding a tendency to be defensive. The Bear speaks of solitude and the need to be alone as well as the cyclical nature of existence that ranges from active and social to hibernation and contemplation. The Camel represents survival over the long haul and the need to appreciate having a diversity of talents as opposed to being a specialist.
Megan drew three additional cards from a traditional Tarot deck. The flow that they depicted completed her story.
I have never had such a profound and cohesive reading. The thoughts she inspired have continued to echo for days. I am privileged to live in Vermont where I can sit with her in person on any Thursday for readings at Practical Magick in Essex Junction.
