Divination and the F-word

I'm going to start this article with the f-word, just to prove a point. Here goes: fortune-telling. There, I said it. Those of you who do Tarot and/or astrology readings are most likely chuckling silently (or laughing out loud) right now, while the rest of you are wondering if you missed a joke. Well, you did. The joke is that tarot and astrology would be nothing more than slightly more effective psychoanalysis if they had nothing to do with fate and the future, but we as readers do everything we can to hide from that fact.

Let's start with an admission. All of us who do readings, if we are any good, at least at times know what is going to happen. We can argue about whether it's fated by the planets or our intuition is looking at a possible future, and we can hide behind archetypes and psychological complexes, but the basic fact that foreknowledge does occur is still there. And it's not going away.

Now that we've acknowledged the elephant in the living room, I'm going to tell you that it's not really an elephant. Here's what an old-school philosopher (Ptolemy) had to say on the subject:

For, first of all, it is necessary to consider that even for events that will necessarily result, the unexpected is apt to cause delirious confusion and mad joy, while foreknowing habituates and trains the soul to attend to distant events as though they were present, and prepares it to accept each of the arriving events with peace and tranquility.

This is true as far as it goes, but it leads to something we all as readers should consider: our clients worry about the future. That's why they come to us. If we can tell them what's in (or could be in) their future, they can stop worrying about it, and instead think about something more useful and important: what to do about it.

2012: An Alternate Prediction

I'm sure you've heard about the predictions around 2012. Most predict either a violent cataclysm or universal enlightenment. I have a prediction of my own, which is in some ways not so bad, but even more frightening in others.

Here goes: All of the books on psychic development I've read say that everyone has psychic abilities. With Neptune entering Pisces in February 2012, it's quite possible that these psychic abilities will awaken on a large scale, and there's some anecdotal evidence that the process has already begun. There are books in every Borders and Barnes and Noble that I've been to that have methods of awakening these capacities that are known to work.

Not so bad on the surface, but think about it. There would be people all around you who know what you're thinking, your dirtiest fantasies, and your most shameful deeds. It could usher in a new era of peace based on understanding and compassion if handled correctly, or all hell could break loose. My money's on the latter, followed by the former. In any case, you can help by investigating the matter yourself. It will definitely be better to develop these abilities in a conscious, controlled manner. I recommend You Are Psychic: The Art of Clairvoyant Reading & Healing for you High Priestesses, and You Are Psychic!: The Free Soul Method for the Magicians.

Book Review: The Soulmate Path

I have a theory developed while reading The Soulmate Path: Find the Love you Want and Strengthen the Love You Have by Monte Farber and Amy Zerner. The authors don't explicitly state this theory in their book, but it seems to be implied by what they've written. So here goes: soulmates are not born, they are grown. A soulmate relationship is not necessarily predetermined before birth, but is definitely a result of a process in which two people acquire a deep understanding of each other, and a closeness that results in the two preferring each other's company to anyone else's.

The authors have a method of finding a soulmate that I haven't seen anywhere else:

...if you put your efforts into becoming yourself fully and do your best to realize your potential and find out who you are and what you are capable of, you will become the kind of person your Soulmate will want to meet and stay with.

Well, that sounds like a well-defined, workable plan to me, so I'm trying it. The book also has very helpful advice for how to deal with issues such as children, abuse and commitment, and some delightful stories about how the authors found each other, and a set of affirmations toward the end for those of you who are into that sort of thing. I highly recommend the book for anyone who wants to find a new relationship or improve an existing one.

My Online Readings: an Update

I've been doing free readings online at The Free Tarot Network for a little over a month. The readings have gone well, and I've gotten some positive feedback. It still amazes me (though I know it shouldn't) that I can do a reading for someone thousands of miles away and have a relevant card come up.

I've also noticed that the reading requests tend to cluster around themes that are also active in my life. A couple of books that I've read said that would happen, so maybe that's a self-fulfilling prophecy, but it is what it is. In any case, I'm learning as much from the readings as the people I'm doing the readings for.

The most important thing I've learned so far is that sometimes having the right answer isn't as important as asking the right question.

George Carlin and Christian Athletes

George Carlin used to complain in one of his routines about Christian athletes "who thank Jesus whenever they win, never mention his name when they lose." It's a valid complaint if you're a fundamentalist materialist, but if you know about the Law of Attraction, what these athletes are doing makes perfect sense. Being thankful for good things that happen on the playing field attracts more things to be thankful for. I don't know if these athletes know that, but it works anyway. So, the bottom line is, Jesus may not need our gratitude, but we do.

Book Review: You are Psychic!: The Free Soul Method

I recently reviewed You Are Psychic: The Art of Clairvoyant Reading & Healingby Debra Lynne Katz. You are Psychic! The Free Soul Method by Pete A. Sanders, Jr., also addresses psychic development, but the approach is different. It's more scientific, if that word makes any sense when talking about something most scientists would vehemently deny. However, the author describes some experiments he performed, and his working process. Forming a hypothesis, testing it with experiments, and confirming or revising the theory based on the results is exactly what the scientific method is about. If mainstream science refuses to accept the results because of the subject matter, well, so much the worse for mainstream science.

The book deals primarily with four basic psychic senses: intuition, psychic hearing, psychic vision and psychic feeling. The author says that anyone can develop any or all of these four senses, but that each of us will have one sense that has more strength than the others, depending on a person's temperament and general approach to life. (In my case, the stronger sense is intuition.) Each of the senses is matched to a part of the body where the sense is said to be centered, and instructions are given for activating that sense. The book also describes sensing auras, healing through biofeedback, and some of the implications of psychic development.

There's one implication that I want to talk about today. It is my feeling that as more of us explore our psychic abilities, as a result we will have a better understanding of each other, and will lead more peaceful and happy lives as a result. I'm not saying that it will all be a bed of roses, as quite a bit of dirty laundry will have to be aired in the process, but that laundry needed to be aired anyway.

Book Review: Partnering

You can go to any bookstore and find a set of shelves full of books on relationships. If the divorce rate is any indication, the vast majority of these books just don't work. I found one in the "New Age" section that has a different approach. Partnering: A New Kind of Relationship by Hal and Sidra Stone, has a couple of concepts that I haven't seen in any other relationship book (and I've read a few).

The first key concept is that what is said doesn't matter as much as who says it. The authors mean that we tend to fall into parent/child type roles in the course of the relationship, which is fine if you're raising children, but not so much for romantic partnerships. They're not necessarily bad in themselves, but we get into the scolding parent or approval-seeking child role without realizing it. What the book recommends instead is consciously choosing which role is best to play at the time.

The other key concept is energy exchange, and there's a related concept of the relationship as an independent entity (O.K., that one's not so new). The relationship has its own energy needs, and keeping the exchange going keeps the relationship healthy.

This has been a brief review, but the authors tell the story much better than I can. The book has certainly explained why things have gone wrong for me in the past, and it should prove very helpful in making things go right in the future.