Tuesday 24 September 2013

Re-telling The Story Of Beauty And The Beast

To celebrate the Autumn Equinox, many of my Tarot blogging friends wrote some beautiful blog posts which regaled us with stories about the myths surrounding Autumn. They also created Tarot spreads inspired by these myths, and shared some of their life’s lessons and transformational experiences that were an eye-opener for me. 

One of the Tarot bloggers Chloe McCracken from Inner Whispers took that opportunity to create a myth-inspired Tarot spread based on the story of Beauty and the Beast.  Do read her blog post here,http://innerwhisperscouk.blogspot.sg/2013/09/mabon-blog-hop-mythical-things.html.

Beauty And The Beast Tarot Spread

I loved the story of Belle and the Beast.  I watched the movie a gazillion times and could even play the song on my piano just by listening to the soundtrack for the very first time.  However, doing a Tarot reading with a Beauty and the Beast spread was another thing all together.  I used it on a reading for myself and was utterly bowled over.  I wished more Tarotists could create simple Tarot spreads like what Chloe had done.  
This was how the Beauty and the Beast Tarot spread went:

1) What is my heart’s desire at this time?
In the case of Beauty and the Beast, Belle wanted a single red rose which symbolically represented her desire for true love.

2) What price will I have to pay for it?
Belle had to leave her family to stay with the Beast in his castle.  That must have been a frightening experience for her.

3) What lesson will I learn in the process?
Belle learnt that true love was  about far more than appearance.
So, I applied the spread to my question which was "What insights could Tarot provide  about the direction for Sun Goddess Tarot?"  I used Barbara Moore's Book of Shadows Volume 2 - So Below Tarot deck for the purpose.  It was not a myth-inspired deck but it was calling out to me to be used for this spread.
What Is My Heart’s Desire At This Time: 8 Of Wands

The 8 of Wands reflected my desire to take action on some of my ideas that had been stewing in my mind for Sun Goddess Tarot.  The journey I had taken in the past few years was remarkable.  I saw my Tarot reading skills growing as I started learning from more teachers, mentors, and fellow Tarotists.  Being part of the various international Tarot communities had widen my perspectives on Tarot and when I was interviewed by established Tarotists, invited to contribute articles for established Tarot organizations, encouraged to share my knowledge and skills at various forums and asked to mentor other budding Tarotists, I started to gain even more confidence and assurance that the path I had taken, though difficult, was a very rewarding one.   


These experiences fuelled my intentions to take Sun Goddess Tarot even further. I was now ready to weld my 17 years of marketing experience with Tarot to guide other Tarotists to market their Tarot businesses with traditional and non-traditional marketing strategies that I had learnt and deployed over the last 17 years. The action-plan was to create a curriculum around marketing strategies for budding Tarot businesses.

I was also hungry to learn even more, expand my skills to other different metaphysical disciplines beyond the courses I had already done in Numerology and Astrology.  And even within these disciplines, I was not done studying yet.  My little mind and my time was limited.  I needed to expand my reach beyond Singapore but I felt I could not do enough on my own.  So I had planned to create a partnership with a couple of fellow Tarotists each specializing in their respective metaphysical disciplines, who were as hungry as I was and even more determined than I was to touch as many people as they could beyond our shores, to bring these people light.  The action-plan was to launch this partnership within the next year.

What Price Will I Have To Pay For It: 9 Of Wands Reversed

One of my greatest fears was the heavy responsibilities I was already piling upon myself.  I did not have much resources, let alone deeper and wider metaphysical skill sets unlike my counterparts who generally had 20-30 years of experience under their belt.  So I worked with whatever I had.  I did not want to take on too many projects and courses as I was afraid that I would be juggling too much and with the given responsibilities at my current job as a marketing professional at a multinational corporation and my commitments to my family, I was not prepared to give too much of myself and my time.  However, the Autumn season was possibly the best time for me to think about how one could harvest what they sowed.  If I had not made the effort to sow the seeds of growth and expansion with a clear vision of where I wanted to be in the future with Sun Goddess Tarot, I would of course not have much of a harvest. 


I believed I saw the light when I picked this card.   I had to be prepared to sacrifice my time and resources to build the type of business that Sun Goddess Tarot deserved to be. I needed to be prepared to take calculated risks.   It would take a lot of hard work, courage and plenty of personal time especially weekends to nurture this business through research, studies, business development and marketing.  I had to be prepared to reach out further by working on speaking engagements, workshops and webinars.  I also had to write more. I had been so erratic with my writings, that I only wrote when there was a Tarot blog hop or when I got truly inspired by something, like Chloe’s very simple Beauty and the Beast Tarot spread, or when I got struck down on the road by lightning and saw a vision…just kidding.  This erratic way of sharing my skills had to be replaced by discipline. 
That would be the only way to ensure that I could turn my ideas into viable action plans so that I could manifest my goals for Sun Goddess Tarot.

What Will I Learn In The Process:  The High Priestess

I need not have to write on.  This card was that “lightning” that struck me on my head.  I woke up with a jolt at that point because as professional Tarot readers, that was what we aspired to be – The High Priestess.  Throughout these few years of running Sun Goddess Tarot, the demands of my everyday life, my day job, my clients and my family, were the chatter in my head and the cacophony of routinal activities that caused me to be “stuck” where I was in terms of growing even more depth in my metaphysical knowledge and spirituality.  This card indicated that as I worked to grow and expand Sun Goddess Tarot, I would be learning to listen to my inner voice more, trusting my intuition more, and hence deepening my intuitive skills in the process. I believed that with effort and time, I would be establishing a new and more profound relationship not only with my Tarot cards but also with my clients.

I knew that in time, my growth as a Tarotist, would not just be driven by the educational experiences and classroom lessons that I had been going through all these years.  It would be driven by my trust of and surrender to the Universe.

A Transformational Lesson Indeed

I have Chloe to thank for, for opening my eyes to the fact that a simple Tarot spread could draw a profoundly impactful reading for me.  I would definitely be trying this spread on my clients in the future.


About The Writer:

The writer of this blog post is a marketeer by trade, and a tarot card reader by accident. She was awarded a Certified Professional Tarot Reader qualification from the Tarot Certification Board of America (TCBA) and is also a certified numerologist.  She is currently running a Tarot consultancy based in Singapore called Sun Goddess Tarot,  which provides confidential intuitive readings combining the metaphysical disciplines of Tarot, Numerology and Astrology via face to face and emails as well as readings at corporate and private events and workshops.  A member of the American Tarot Association (ATA) and the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI), she is also a reader for the Free Tarot Network and mentors Tarot protégés on behalf of the American Tarot Association


Website:www.sungoddesstarot.com
Email: Joanna@sungoddesstarot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SunGoddessTarot
Twitter:www.twitter.com/SunGoddessTarot




Taken from Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast


3 comments:

  1. What exciting plans, Joanna, and what a perfect 'lightening strike' :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chloe this spread had greater impact on me than any other spreads combined. I got a protege to try it on himself, and he's just as star-struck...lightning-struck.:D

      Delete
    2. Well, I'm very glad to hear it, Joanna. Sometimes a person and a spread just come together at the right time :)

      Delete