The Skeptic Returns

He showed up at my door with a Pepsi and a Pepperoni Pizza.

I was sitting on the couch watching the Eagles/Cardinals playoff game when the doorbell rang. I knew William was going to stop by to pick up his vacuum. I didn't know he was going to bring food. Never one to turn down food I invited him in.

The pizza was good. Not great, good. I thought it was a bit skimpy on the pepperoni, had too much cheese and not enough sauce. But it was a passable pie. I'm a pizza snob originally from New York City. After we were done eating, William pointed to my ever present Gilded Tarot sitting on the corner of the kitchen table and asked for another reading. I smiled and agreed.

He wanted to know when he would get another dog. William's last dog, Beau, lost his battle with cancer almost six months ago. Although William has another dog and a cat he has not bonded with then the way he bonded with Beau.

I threw a Three Rays four card spread. The first card, laid on top of the triangle, represents the true nature of the question. The second, laid on the right base of the triangle, is the Positive Energies surrounding the issue. The third, placed on the left base, is the Negative Energies and the fourth, laid in between the second and third, represents the probable outcome based on the merging energies.

The cards I threw were:

True Nature of Question - Eight of Swords (Rx)
Positive Energies - Six of Swords (Rx)
Negative Energies - Page of Pentacles
Most Likely Outcome - Eight of Cups (Rx)

I started by advising my friend that the Eight of Swords represents inaction by your own decisions. The woman in the picture is bound, blindfolded and on her knees, but the bindings are not tight and we do not see who bound her. This is because her own indecision and uncertainty is what restrains her. I told him what he was really asking was when he could move past the death of Beau and open his heart to a new animal. The fact that it was reversed I said represented his desire to not really want to move past the pain. That somehow he was wearing it as a badge of honor for Beau.

The Six of Swords shows us a woman crossing a body of water in the middle of night. Her head is covered by a cowl against the chill and the elements. This card, I told William, shows us a moving away from troubles and sailing to new shores. Getting new ideas, moving away from painful memories and "getting on with our lives." I also let him know it represents finding new information on a subject or researching a subject. This may be a person he meets or more likely a book that will help him make his decisions. Being reversed, I warned him against not being willing to accept or see the help when it was offered.

The card in the Negative Energy position was the Page of Pentacles. It totally represented William as he is a pragmatic (down to earth) person who works with his hands (he's a cable guy). It also shows that there is a money issue involved. I let him know that he is not as mature as he needs to be with his money. He is a child or adolescent (as represented by the Page) and needs to gain more wisdom for financial independence.

The Most Probable Outcome card fell as the Eight of Cups, the Eternal Dreamer. However, this dreamer was standing on his head, that is the card was reversed. The Eight shows a man with his back turned to eight gilded cup that are strewn around the ground as if the pyrimad the were stacked in just fell. The man does not see, or care; as he is searching the horizon for the next thing. I explained that this card represented a restlessness or feeling of "never good enough." Never satisfied. A person who really doesn't know what they want. Being reversed, I advised him that he was not going to move away (a reference to the earlier reading and validated by the reversed six of swords in the negative positive energy position)until he has a new dog and that is not going to happen until he could come to terms and accept Beau's passing.

I then said that most people who ask time frame questions really don't want esoteric gibberish as much as they want a date. I told him that I could not give him an exact date but based on the fact that Cups showed up in the outcome position, and Cups represent water I estimated sometime between mid February to mid March.

William looked at me ashen. "That's freaky, dude."
"Why?" I asked.
"You had no idea about the email I just got. The breeder I'm working with has a litter that just reached age for adoption. They want $1500 for the pups and I don't have that money right now. I have $750 of it. With the overtime I hope to work I should have enough in two to three weeks."
"Which would be mid February."
"Yeah. Freaky."

He is now a believer. :)