Reading For A Skeptic

Today I was hanging out with my friend William. We ran some errands together and later he brought over his super-duper Kirby vacuum so I can shampoo my carpets. We were sitting around the kitchen table when he asked me to do a reading for him. He said he was a skeptic and wanted to understand the art form of Tarot reading. I agreed to read for him.

I asked if he had a specific question. He said no and asked if I couldn't just throw some cards and do a reading. I told him I could do a simple Past, Present & Future spread.

I cleared the energies from the deck and threw three cards:

Past - The Moon
Present - Justice
Future - Emperor

Position - PAST
Card - XVIII The Moon
Description of Card - Two dogs bay at the moon from the base a "lunar machine." The moon sits in a globe like clear sphere atop the machines gears, that have a ying yang quality about them. The moon gazes to the east night sky as two podiums flame on either side. A hermit crab snaps his way up from the depths.
Interpretation - I advised my friend that in his past he often flew off the handle. Relying on gut reactions rather than logic. I also told him I saw a betrayal, or what he defined as a betrayal or disappointment and he blames or judges the person or people to harshly because of it.

Position - PRESENT
Card - XI Justice
Description of Card - A woman dressed in white stands blindfolded in front of a golden scale. Her hands, mimicking the scales hold two sun like orbs that focus rays of energy down to a golden sun symbol. A warm summer sky at orange twilight surrounds the image.
Interpretation - I told my friend that right now in his life he is seeking balance. That he is trying to use a little more logic in his life rather than relying solely on his gut, instinct and emotion. I explained that this emergence of logic seems like a natural progression based upon the Moon in the Past position. I also saw that he was looking to balance his life with a female. I saw the energies coming forth from the hands of the woman and focusing into the emblem of the sun formed a V. This made me think of a vessel or a womb or a vagina. I told him that I though he was looking for a mother figure.

Position - FUTURE
Card - IV The Emperor
Description of Card - A bearded man stands regally in three quarter view wrapped in blue and red silk garments embroidered with sun signals. He wears a golden wreath on his hand. He holds a scepter at the top of which the planetary system revolve. The signs of the zodiac circle him. The scepter in his right hand his left points to the ground. This card reminds me a lot of the Magician in the RWS deck.
Interpretation - My friend was going to be successful in his attempts to find balance between logic and emotion and this was going to help him be successful financially.

Since the Emperor was the only card in the reading to talk about money, I wanted clarification on this and drew three more cards.

Clarifier Cards - Knight of Pentacles, Five of Pentacles (Rx) and Knight of Wands
Interpretation - Seeing these cards come up, I explained to my friend that Knights represented messengers, true believers and/or warriors. To me it felt as if he was going to get a job offer that was not in his profession right now and it was going to take him out of state. This job would be different from what he was currently doing. I explained that the Five of Pentacles represented people who were so consumed with worry they could not see the solution was near them. Since this was reversed I saw that his new job was going to helping people with their challenges or least helping them see that a solution was closer than they thought. This is how he was going to make his money.

My friend and I then discussed how I "got" these meanings. I explained it was intuition, instinct. I looked at the cards and based upon what I knew of the definition of the card, the imagery on the card, the energy I felt around us and my knowledge of him is what formed my reading. He challenged that my friendship with him was more of what I was reading rather than intuiting from the cards and "mystical" abilities. He asked for a second reading to validate the first. Glad for the practice I obliged.

I again cleared the deck and three another PPF spread. The cards I got this time were:

Past - Three of Pentacles (Rx)
Present - Nine of Cups (Rx)
Future - XII The Hanging Man

Position - PAST
Card - Three of Pentacles (Rx)
Description of Card - A worker holds a pentacle he just removed from the kiln high. There is a definite look of pride and satisfaction on his face. Two other pentacles hang, possibly bolted, above the kiln. The kiln is still hot with fire showing there is still work to be done and the pentacle being held is still alight with heat from the kiln it was recently removed from.
Interpretation - I told my friend that in his past he felt there was something he felt was not finished. The Three of Pentacles shows pride in work and also that that work was not finished. Reversed shows me that he feels that there was something he could have done better. Some opportunity that he feels was taken from him prematurely.

Position - PRESENT
Card - Nine of Cups (Rx)
Description of Card - A man welcomes you warmly into his establishment. He raises a cup in your honour while eight other golden chalices sit awaiting to be filled with your desires
Interpretation - I explained that the Nine of Pentacles is the ultimate wish card. It represented whatever you wanted was in your grasp. Reversed, not so much. I told my friend that it seems he has given up on his dreams or that he has been denied what he wanted. That something was taken away from him.

Position - FUTURE
Card - XII The Hanging Man (Rx)
Description of Card - A man hangs upside down in chains. He is dressed in an almost circus like garb. While he may look as if he is caught in the chains. They are in fact very loose and the man can escape anytime he chooses and right himself
Interpretation - I advised my friend that Hanging Man was a card of self discovery and exploration. That he purposely hangs upside so he can gain some new enlightenment from viewing things from a different perspective. I told him that if he wanted to reclaim this dream he was going to have to "think outside the box." To put aside all previous pre-cognitions and think different. I married this back to the first reading with the need for balance between logic and emotion, instead of the poles he tended to swing back and forth from. Reversed I explained meant that I saw him not doing this and missing the opportunity.

When the second reading was through. My friend told me he now understood the art form better and there was some validity to both Tarot in general and what I told him specifically. He then told me he wanted to run a help and rescue shelter for dogs and he actually was starting to train seeing eyes dogs in his mid twenties but stopped at 28 when he moved. He told me he was thinking about moving to Georgia, getting some land and starting to train dogs again.

As we were talking, I casually cut the deck and pulled the Four of Pentacles. I smiled as I explained to my friend that Four of Pentacles represents a man who has achieved success in business but must be careful of holding to tightly to that success lest it comes to define him and he misses out on other parts of life. At this point my friend started bugging out and yelling, "That's just like my dream! That's just like my dream!"

William explained to me that a few nights ago he had a dream that he was successful in business but lost his family because of his single minded focus.

I guess he's not a skeptic anymore ;)