Do Not Take It Out On Mercury Retrograde

Bad Week

This week had not been particularly super for me.  I seemed to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed.  My Ipad on which I used to do most of my work for Sun Goddess Tarot started to act up on me.  I could not get into my social media platforms from my Ipad.  So I decided to use my trusty Iphone to do my daily posts, and my writings instead.  However, even my trusty Iphone could not be trusted to deliver to my expectations of what an Apple product had promised to deliver.  I remembered barking at my husband, “It’s an Ipad Air you know? The very latest, isn't it?  Why can’t I do anything with it?”  He muttered something about my needing to download IOS 8, but I had to wait for the second version of IOS 8 because apparently the first one was useless.  As you can tell by now, I do not understand "tech-speak".  

At work, I was apparently taken to task for having a “volatile” personality.  I think what they meant was that my charmingly loud, brash, and straight-forward demeanor, was mistaken for being too loud, too brash and too straight-forward.  I was politely asked to be “softer and patient” with others.  My Mum rubbed it all in for me when I lamented to her about  the issue, “You see!  I told you! I raised you to be a girl! But you behave like boy!”  That ticked off the box on my list this month for that ultimate “One Fight A Month With Mum”.

Even my car acted up on me, with the sensor going off every 5 minutes indicating that I needed to change my brake pads.  Strange.  I changed my brake pads 6 months ago!  Unless the hubby had been using the car to practice for the Singapore F1 Grand Prix which had just ended last week,  I thought the brake pads should not need changing so soon.

At home, the situation did not get any better.  You would think home would have offered me some semblance of solace.  However, our son went into his occasional rabid mood swings,   the home became his hotel room, his antics at school got his wrists rapped by the school authorities, hence causing us excessive worry, and his girlfriend took precedence in priority to me, his beloved mother. 

Mercury Retrograde

I wished I could turn the clock back, go back to bed, and wake up on the right side of bed again, but the reality hit me that what seemed to be going backwards ( and that is not a reality by the way, it just seems to be so) is the planet Mercury.  About 3  times a year, Mercury apparently goes retrograde.  To find out what this means, please read all about it here. 

Mercury goes retrograde from 4^th October to 24^th October.  When Mercury goes retrograde, all hell breaks loose….particularly for some of us who are even more sensitive.  The planet Mercury governs communication,  thoughts, logic and intellect.  For a control-freak like me, I hate it when shit hits the fan, no matter the reason.  I was not going to allow a planet on one of its wonky moods to pull the rug from under me just because it has decided to slow down its orbit and appears to move backwards instead. 

Take Charge Of Your Choices

In our day-to-day lives, every time a hurdle gets thrown our way, it is an opportunity to re-assess how we think about it.  If we cannot change a situation, then we need to have the courage to change the way we think about a situation  When Mercury goes retrograde, it is not the planet’s fault that screws your life.  The choices that you make in response to the things happening around you are what could potentially screw your life.  

You see, the mercury retrograde presents a useful reminder for you to step back and re-evaluate your goals,  re-assess the direction you are taking to your goals,  re-calibrate your thoughts and  re-think your actions.  With or without the Mercury going into retrograde, isn’t that something one is advised to do from time to time anyway?

When these issues happened to me this week, I had decided to slow down….along with the planet Mercury, I guess.  I slowed down to re-think if I was over-working and juggling too many projects when my Ipad and Iphone decided to act up on me.  I started to re-think if it was necessary to write and post yet another blogpost.  So what if I took a wee break and not write another blogpost?  So I gamely handed my equipment over to my husband for him to perform that IOS  upgrade thingy on them while I took a break. He also took that time to transfer all my photos from the iPad and iPhone to the computer.  Apparently, like me, the equipment lacked memory space and I was reminded to clear space as regularly as I could.  Is that not what husbands are for?  They are good for clearing space in my iPad and iPhone, as well as the refrigerator. 

 My car  too was sent to the workshop just yesterday.  Apart from  my being a couple hundred of dollars poorer,  my family would possibly be safer now as the brakepads have been changed and the sensor has since been repaired. 

When my brashness was judged as “volatile”,  I stepped back after a day of spewing blood-curdling expletives at that “bias judgement”, and re-assessed how I had presented my arguments to the people around me from time to time.  Their perception of me, is often their reality isn’t it?  I was often domineering, and opinionated, sometimes not tolerant of others’ point of view.  I guess I had to manage perceptions by being more thoughtful about the way I put my points across to people.  I had to be more tactful when I expressed myself to the sensitive flowers out there.  

With my son, well, while he is my monkey, it really is not my circus.  He is at an age where he needs to be accountable for his actions and resolve his own issues.  We can be there to offer him advice and support but at the end of the day, he has to make the right choices to shape his own life.   So we spoke to him about shaping up his attitude, or shipping out of the house.  Yes, I do believe in tough love.  

Ultimately, you have choices you can make to take control of your life.  When shit hits the fan, no matter how unpleasant it is, you have the choice to roll up your sleeves and clean it all up or walk away.  It’s the same principle when I do a Tarot reading for my clients.  When a bunch of cards show up to offer advice about their situations, it would be their prerogative to make the right choices with the advice given.  Do not blame your woes on planetary movements.  Mercury retrograde, can only serve as a reminder that you are in control of your own choices.

Remember, you can let circumstances rule you, Mercury Retrograde or not, or you can take charge and rule your own life.


About The Writer:


The writer of this blog post is a marketeer by trade, and an intuitive reader by accident who deploys the combined modalities of a Tarot, Numerology and Astrology overlaid with her Clairvoyant and Clairsentient skills to deliver her readings with authenticity. 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 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 also 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

Trusting My Intuition

Sniffing Out People Quite Easily

When you were introduced to a new colleague, or an acquaintance, how many times have you shaken his or her hands and whispered under your breath, “This person is more than meets the eye.”   Since I was little, I often tapped into my intuition to assess a person or a situation to help me make better decisions.  Even at work, as I juggled multiple projects, responded to tight deadlines, some of which were moving deadlines, and managed a team, it was often a good measure of experience and technical skills mixed with a large dose of intuition that helped me make important decisions.  Some of these decisions were career-defining ones. 

Even when I had performed a Myers Briggs assessment which was a psychometric test to understand my personality type, the results came up indicating that I was one who took an objective approach to problem-solving and used facts and figures to make decisions.  I was only interested in what was real and factual.  I was glad that this part of me, this objectivity, had honed me as a good manager at work, but I was even more glad that  over the years, as I walked my spiritual path, I trusted my intuition enough to make me an even better manager.

The High Priestess

The High Priestess card in Tarot was always a fantastic muse to encourage me to tap into my intuition whenever I picked the card to respond to a pressing issue. A spiritually enlightened being, she leveraged divine wisdom and her knowledge of the universe, to open my heart and mind to the subconscious.  As she sat behind the thin veil that separated her from the conscious and the subconscious mind, she transpired her soft whispers of guidance into my innermost thoughts.  The High Priestess would speak in her softest voice such that when I heard an inner voice that said, “Watch out, there could be a treacherous bend up ahead.’, I knew I had to be prepared for it.  I often used this phrase, “I saw the writing on the wall” when I made tough work or project decisions, significant career changes, or re-organized the team structure and  scope.  Sometimes, these decisions might raise some eyebrows but I trusted the High Priestess’ energy in me to assure myself that everything would turn out all right in the end.

“It is through science that we prove, but through intuition that we discover.’ – Henri Poincare

Below this blog post is a picture of the High Priestess from my very own deck which is still work in progress at the time of publication of this post.


The Moon

The Moon card in Tarot was another wonderful card that encouraged me to tap into my intuition to formulate a response whenever I felt that a situation was not right. It was a card that waved a red flag at me to wake me up to the fact that I had to confront my fears and anxieties when I sensed that there were undercurrents suggesting that these issues were caused by the hidden agendas of other people around me.  The Moon card almost always showed up in the face of office politics and career crossroads.  However, my experience has taught me that fear and anxiety would cripple us into inaction and was highly unproductive.  Leveraging my intuition to deal with these issues proactively instead, meant that I would be backed by a solid plan to help me maintain my resilience as I sailed into the murky waters of uncertainty.

“Fear is an illusion that creates a false sense of isolation existing only in your imagination.” – Jeraldine Saunders

Below this blog post is a picture of the Moon from the Book of Shadows Volume 2 – So Below Tarot deck created by Barbara Moore

Queen Of Cups

The Queen of Cups was yet another card that encouraged me to trust my intuition. The Queen embodied one who was compassionate and creative, yet intuitive and emotionally balanced.  She was emotionally balanced and controlled no matter what challenges were hurled her way. I had an ex-boss who was very much like this Queen when I worked for a local bank some years back.  She nurtured her team with a sense of calm and collectedness.  She made decisions after ensuring that everyone’s opinions and concerns were heard and understood.  She was slow to anger, and instead of reacting to actions that were contrary to her expectations, she took time to think through, process the intent behind these actions within her heart and mind, before deciding on what she had to do next.  She was highly intuitive and read people like a book.  Her intuition helped her discern how she should be developing each and every one of her team members.  She had about 50 people  in her team, definitely not an easy job.  It was also her intuition that helped her anticipate the changes that evolved later when an organizational restructure turned the company into an unrecognizable foreign bank.  She had been my mentor for years and I had emulated my management style on the way she used to manage our marketing department.  Almost 12 years after, I am still learning from her.

“The power of intuitive understanding will protect you from the harm till the end of your days.” – Lao Tzu

Below this blog post is a picture of the Queen of Cups from the Rosetta Tarot deck created by M.M. Meleen.

Trusting My Intuition

Trusting my intuition meant that I could effectively juggle a career as a marketing and communications professional at a multinational corporation with my passion as a certified professional Tarot reader and Numerologist.  Over and on top the skills and experience that I possessed, I also had to have a large dose of intuition to make big career and life decisions including those that impacted my family.   

I was once put down by a fellow Tarotist who had 30 years of experience under her belt.  She said, “So what if you had a Certified Professional Tarot Readers qualification?  I have 30 years of Tarot reading experience under my belt.”   Her words did not rock my confidence, It only strengthened my resolve to use my intuitive gifts to better serve my clients.   As my intuition had carried me through the ebbs and flows along the journey of my life and had been my guiding light every time my ship approached the rocky coast of life-changing moments, I have built the confidence to use that same intuition to guide my clients through their own journeys.

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
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The High Priestess from my own deck - a work in progress.

The Moon from Barbara Moore's Book of Shadows Volume 2 - So Below Tarot deck

Queen of Cups from M.M. Meleen's Rosetta Tarot deck

What Does The Empress Card Convey About Being Your Own Brand?

My Skills As A Marketing Professional

I do not have 20 to 30 years of Tarot reading experience and I have not had many years of experience running a Tarot business.  However, I had spanned a career of almost 20 years managing brand development, marketing strategy and communications, with more than half of these spent at multi national corporations honing these skills and contributing to the growth of these organizations.

So what I could speak most comfortably and confidently about at the upcoming American Tarot Association's first Online Tarot Conference this weekend, was about marketing.  I agreed to do a presentation on Strategic Marketing Techniques For Tarot Businesses, because along my amazing journey with Tarot, I had the privilege and the opportunity to help support the growth of some of my fellow Tarotists' businesses alongside my own, with tried and tested tips that I had picked up along the way as a marketing and communications professional.

Using My Skills To Market My Tarot Business

When I mentioned numerous times before that I loved welding my skills as a marketeer with Tarot, I finally understood why and how the Universe had conspired to make me the conduit of learning to help some of my fellow Tarotists who are either starting, or in the midst of growing their Tarot businesses.

Building Brand Authenticity No Matter The Brand Or The Business

One thing I had always been guided by in every decision I had made as a marketing and communications professional, was the goal of building brand authenticity.  When I was working at an insurance company Aviva,  I was adamant about constantly communicating proof points that affirmed Aviva's brand positioning then, of Nobody Recognizes You Like Aviva.   We did so when we managed the Aviva Ironman 90.3 sponsorship to imprint in consumers' minds that the company was always in every life-stage of each and every one of its customers, perseveringly holding the hands of its customers to meet their evolving needs.  We also did so when we sold targeted health products aimed at young families because we knew that a birth in the family meant joy, elation as well as anxiety amongst parents about how best to protect their children and themselves. We recognised the needs within that segment and wasted no time developing products and communicating their benefits to this segment of new families.

Just like that experience of managing Aviva's brand, the same principle applies to one's Tarot business.  When I established Sun Goddess Tarot off the back of a period of negativity in my life, I was determined to stay true to my expansive zodiac sign of a Leo which was ruled by the Sun.  I wanted to bring positivity, light and optimism to my clients with my Tarot and Numerology skills.  My brand, my reading style, my advice-centric Tarot techniques and even the way I engaged my clients ( what I call here, my brand voice) all had to be driven by my brand intent.  I wanted to stay true to myself.  What I lacked in-depth experience as a Tarot reader, I made up for it with every intent to genuinely bring sunshine to my clients when they needed it most as I slowly and steadily grew my skills and experience.

The Empress Card's Message About Brand Authenticity

I am going to use the Empress card as my muse when I talk about brand authenticity at my presentation.  I see the Empress as the Earth Mother, deeply nurturing and very much in-tune with herself.  She creates abundance in everything she touches.  She is highly intuitive and very connected to the spiritual realm yet maintains grounded-ness in the material plane.  She is highly creative because she is so in touch with her feminine side, lending beauty to everything that she creates.

I urge fellow Tarotists particularly those who are in the beginning stages of building their Tarot businesses, to leverage the energies of the Empress. Nurture and grow your brand by keeping it authentic. Your brand reflects you.  While there are many great Tarotists we can learn and emulate from, they have their own unique ways of communicating their brand intent to their customers, and so do you.  Learn from them, but not copy them because you would want your clients to know and trust your brand only because you are the one behind that steering wheel.  Unleash your creativity and know that creativity knows no boundaries. Try and try again different marketing techniques and never be afraid to learn along the way and finally deploy the best technique that fits your business best. Follow your intuition.  You know what is best for your clients and how best to build that affinity between your brand and your clients.

When My Job As A Marketeer And A Tarot Reader Became One

I can clearly define how long I have been a marketing professional.  My involvement with tarot is less clearly defined.  From the time I was a young girl causing trouble at the neighbourhood playground, till the time I was involved in helping large multinational companies build and manage their brands,  I knew I was good at reading people intuitively.  For years i wrote this off as being "good at my job'.  Once I had the confidence to start Sun Goddess Tarot as a business, I took a leap of faith and allowed my two selves - financial marketeer and tarot reader - to become one.

ENROL FOR THE ATA ONLINE TAROT CONFERENCE HERE

What I have touched on within this blog post is just a highlight of what I will be covering at my presentation on Strategic Marketing Techniques For Tarot Businesses at the American Tarot Association Online Tarot Conference 2013 held on 26 October 12pm EST or 27 October 12am Singapore time.  Do enrol by clicking onto this link http://www.wiziq.com/course/32291-ata-online-tarot-conference-2013

Acknowledgement:  I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the fantastic creative work of a friend, Nadim Van der Ros, who supported me through this nerve-wrecking experience of getting me ready for this upcoming presentation.

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

Add caption

The Empress Card  - the beginnings of my very own Tarot deck.

A work in progress and a labour of love developed 

from the visions of a friend and I

I Chose To Walk Two Paths

Blessed With 2 Passions

I believe I am indeed very blessed.  I am not sure how many people can boast of having 2 wonderful “jobs” that they are very passionate about.  I certainly do.  They are not even considered jobs.  I feel fortunate that I get to wake up every day to a life that allows me the opportunities to make use of my skills within these 2 passions.  Together with the support of my family, they create my 10 of Cups moment when I live in joy and gratitude for these gifts as a marketer and a Tarot reader.

I am a marketing professional in my day job, helping to develop end to end demand-led marketing and communication strategies to support my company’s profitable growth.  My other job is a Tarot reader, helping my clients uncover options within their respective situations, so that they could make the right choices to influence the outcomes that they want.

While often, I experience this 2 of Pentacles situation of having to juggle multiple appointments, priorities, projects and commitments, on the whole, I love both with all my heart. 

And here’s where I found similarities in both passions the day I went professional as a Tarot reader, whilst continuing my career as a marketer.

Combining Skills As A Marketing Professional With My Passion As A Tarot Reader

Insights
A marketing communication plan always starts with consumer research.  I am a strong believer of insights-driven marketing plans.  The most important bunch of people involved in the marketing communications process are not the media planners or the creative agencies, but the customers, their needs, their purchase behaviors,  their pain points and any information that could help influence their purchase.

In Tarot, I am involved in research in a few ways.  One is my continuous study of Tarot, examining different aspects of exoteric teachings.  The other, is my “research” about my client.  I often connected with them through an initial numerological assessment that will ascertain some information about their personalities, decisions that they had taken, lessons that they had learnt, the energies surrounding their situation and the response to these energies.  This usually created a more meaningful conversation between my client and I, and the interpretations of their Tarot spread become even more meaningful.

The Brief
Before we got started on the marketing communications planning, we would always create a marketing campaign brief.  This is important as it puts together all information that is necessary for the planning process.  Other than the insights about the campaign target audience, the brief would include the marketing objectives, the media objectives, the business objectives, key messages we want to communicate, as well as the campaign evaluation metrics.

In Tarot, that “brief” is created with that conversation between my client and I.  He or she would provide me with a background of the situation, information about key parties involved in the situation, the past decisions that he or she had made, the outcome or goals that he or she desired.  With this background information, I would overlay her numerological and astrological information before I designed a Tarot spread for the client.

The Plan
The marketing plan always involved the inputs of multiple parties from my internal and external customers when I put ideas through consumer focus groups,  the creative agency, the media agency, the social media agency and the public relations agency.  The plan would  consist of  the full marketing strategy which included, the communications roll out plan, the field marketing plan, the channel marketing plan,  the creative idea and the rationale, the social media campaign ideas and the through-the-line media plan.  This plan allowed the management to make an informed decision about how we sold our products, which target audience to focus on at which stage, how we talked to them in the process and the right time to talk to them.

As a Tarot reader, my plan involved my Tarot spread designed to get insights about the client’s past decisions, current situation, developments around the situation in the next few months, outcome, external and internal influences, fears and hopes and advice.   The interpretation to the spread would provide my client the ability to make informed choices to influence his or her outcome.

Not Too Different

You see, there are very little differences between the two paths that I had chosen to tread.  When my friends asked me if I had to eventually choose a single path, or if both passions conflicted with each other, I always told them that they complemented each other.  With these two paths, there was only 1 single goal -  the goal of doing what is right to cater to the needs of the clients by holding the hands of these clients through each milestone of their lives.

An example of such a milestone is marriage.  As a marketing professional, I sometimes created a marketing plan to sell a product aimed at newly-weds.  As a Tarot reader, I sometimes provided advice with my Tarot cards to a newly married couple hoping to find a positive direction to manage their marital relationship moving forward.

As both a marketing professional and a Tarot reader, I am very humbled that I have the ability to use the skills that the Universe had blessed me with to do something good for my community.  Both these passions provided me with a sense of fulfillment that no money could ever buy.

Note:  The Tarot card image used within this blog post is from the Radiant Rider Waite Tarot deck by Virginijus Poshkus, published by US Games 2003

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 currently runs her own Tarot consultancy called Sun Goddess Tarot which is based in Singapore.   A member of the American Tarot Association (ATA) and the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI), she is also endorsed as a reader for the Free Tarot Network and is a mentor for the ATA.   She can be contacted at www.facebook.com/SunGoddessTarot or www.sungoddesstarot.com