by Siobhan Rene
For months, I’ve been wanting to do a Face Up Tarot interview series. I want to look at how the most successful tarot readers use the practice of consciously choosing cards. I want to highlight that, while I’ve yet to encounter a reader that uses this practice quite like I do, there are plenty of readers that pull cards face-up and have been for years.
It takes a certain kind of person to pull a card face-up, to face the depths head on. It takes a certain kind of person, again, to direct a client or student to do the same. Most of the tarot readers and educators I’ve encountered that pull face-up also happen to be amazing. I’d love to learn more about this subset of tarot readers. And so it is.
Sometimes I get to meet tarot masters, people who bring an exceptional level of depth to tarot, employing various healing and educational modalities or decades of wisdom. Or both. Sheilaa Hite is one such tarot master. If it wasn’t for my meeting her last year, I may not have started blogging in earnest. Sure, the potential was there. But I’m one of those people that don’t always see myself as clearly as others might. I don’t always assume outright that what I say has value or ought to be shared. For someone like me, reminders help. Perhaps you can relate to this?
Sheilaa was the person meant to greet me as a first-timer at the Reader’s Studio, a tarot conference that I attend. One off-hand comment of hers served as a reminder to me of who I am. And once I remembered, I launched my business. I started writing consistently. I started giving reminders of my own. This is the power of creating safe spaces. Spaces where people without consistent access to safety, affirmation, and community can feel welcome and worthy.
For someone like me, who lives at the intersection of multiple points of possible discrimination, the educator or service provider who places empowerment at the center of their practice is invaluable. This is what I value about Sheilaa. This past year I got to know her better – as an Intuitive, Joy Advocate, and Advisor to the stars – attending her workshop, reading her books, and getting a reading with her. (So good!) Below I hope to introduce this amazing force-for-good and keeper-of-safe-spaces.
Siobhan is a NYC-born writer, spiritual ally, and #radicaltarot reader living in central Texas. Her facilitative reading style is the blended result of over a decade of study of tarot, communication styles, shamanic ritual, sacred sexuality, and conscious relationship. She geeks all those things in her Radical Tarot newsletter. Subscribers also receive monthly ‘Scopes – freakishly relevant tarotscopes featuring a kaleidoscope of readers. Diversity ftw!
At long last, here’s Day 1, Part 2 of a Scottish Odyssey 2015 Through My Eyes. It felt good to get back to that time and experience it again. I’d gotten sidetracked by teaching a class on Kim Wilborn’s fantastic 
The intent of our magical, sacred Odyssey is to align with and immerse ourselves in the energy and magic of the area’s most powerful vortexes, thus activating the natural forces that will impel our deepest dreams to come true.
By now, in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres, it’s obvious that we have entered into a very pronounced climatic, emotional and biological phase. For you lucky Southern hemisphere dwellers, that phase is called late Spring, which portends a verdant, luscious, warm Summer season. For us in the Northern hemisphere, there’s no denying it– this phase is called late Fall, which is wasting no time in ushering in all of the characteristics of a barren, cold, often bleak Winter.
Here is Your Mercury Retrograde Survival Kit…
The planet of communication, logic, roadways and best-laid plans, Mercury, will be going retrograde on Monday, May 18th at 8:49pm EDT. It’ll be retrograde until Thursday, June 11@ 5:33pm EDT. I’m being so exact with the date and time because I want all of the lead time I can get and I’m sure you want the same.
I’m for responsible use of my resources, too, but whenever I hear that, I wonder how and why they’ve come to believe that investing in the joy of their heart and Spirit, and the growth of their soul is an act of irresponsibility? Life has taught me that if the Universe has given a person the ability to recognize something the soul wants, it will also give that person the means to obtain it, as well as the means to re-fill their coffers when they do.