Author Archives: Cindy

About Cindy

Married, Female, Empty Nester Love to garden, cook, read.

A tarot reading

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I wrote about my friend, Graham Gudgin, in a post about a month ago. He gave a very thoughtful interview about what it is like living in the United States as a British expatriate.

In one question, we discussed his tarot card readings. Shortly after that interview, I had him do a tarot reading for me and in today’s blog, I’m going to share it with you.

According to his tarot website, http://foucault.tarot.googlepages.com/, Graham follows the Marseilles tradition of reading tarot. In the Marseilles tradition, the meanings of the cards are not as pre-defined as in some other methods of tarot reading. Specific cards can have different meanings, depending on their circumstances, such as where cards fall when they are dealt, or the questions asked of the tarot reader. Additionally, the Marseilles tradition is very visual. The meanings (within the context of the reading) are based on the pictures upon the cards.

Graham does not claim to be psychic and says his readings deal with where people are right now and how that might have a bearing on their future.

Graham does not charge a set fee to do a reading. You email your question to foucault.tarot@gmail.com, he does the reading, sends you a reply, and you pay him what you think is appropriate within your means.  It’s really simple!

Graham believes tarot works best when he is asked specific questions, so I formulated my question and sent him an email.

Here is my original question:

“I would like to start a side business using an acre or two of my land. I’ve been thinking about possibly propagating all kinds of plants to sell OR growing berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries). I can’t seem to develop either idea and am wondering if you may be able to tell me which one might be best to pursue? Or, if I should look at a side career using my other talents in speaking/writing field?”

Graham helped me rephrase my question to this, “What would be the best path for Cindy to pursue in order to earn a secondary income?”

Here is his reading:

Graham drew the following cards: LEMPEREUR, LE FOU, LA MAISON DIEU

the-emperorHe said, “In LEMPEREUR (The Emperor) we see a man looking rather pleased with himself. He has placed his shield on the ground, so he obviously feels safe and secure, and he’s busy looking at his reflection in the scepter he’s carrying. He looks like the Lord of his domain! He’s so busy looking at himself, that he’s unable to see…

 

 

 

 

the-foolLE FOU (The Fool), in which we see a man eagerly and confidently striding ahead. He looks like he doesn’t have a care in the world, but look closer! He seems to be in a rather exposed state, and a creature with sharp looking claws looks about to take advantage! Still The Fool strides on, towards impending danger.

the-house-of-godThe impending danger is depicted in LA MAISON DIEU (The House of God). We see a tower that is in the process of being destroyed. Two people have fallen from the tower amid an explosion of colored disks that look a lot like money to these eyes!”

Graham then goes on to say this about me. “You’re a confident person, comfortable in your own skin. At the moment, you’re feeling pretty safe and secure (The Emperor). I think the danger is in supposing that a secondary income can almost be earning itself, as you sit and watch it.

I sense that making a large investment in anything, especially financially, could be very risky in your situation right now (The Fool). It may seem easy and safe, but I think that would be a very dangerous assumption to make. I could see you exposing yourself to unnecessary risk.

While you feel financially secure, making a financial investment risks a very strong chance of losing that investment, causing possible hardship (The House of God). This is clearly saying to me that the best path to take would be one where you invest more of yourself, rather than your money.”

 And now, my interpretation of Graham’s interpretation.

What Graham could not have known is that there was a time in my past where my decisions were based on getting more money. Those of you that have known me for a while may well remember that when Brian and I devoted ourselves to the collection of more money, we began to destroy each other.

The impending danger, as Graham called it, of LA MAISON DIEU, showed Brian and I falling from our tower amidst all the money. That was surely us!

I am LEMPEREUR right now, confident and secure once again. But, how easily I could become LE FOU, by thinking more about money than of the more important things in my life, such as family, friends, health, integrity.   

LA MAISON DIEU would be my future again if I pursue this path!

Right now, my plate is so very full. At times, I cannot do all I set out to do. So,okay,  maybe now is not the time to pursue a secondary income.

Maybe, what I should do is over the course of the next several years, add a few more berry bushes to my yard and see how they do.  Keep my investment small, manageable. These things are my hobbies, not necessarily a source of income. The pursuit of the money, should never come into play for me. I get it!

Yes! This reading couldn’t have been more spot on for me. What do you think?

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Sam, a dog

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I’ve had several requests to give an update on our dog, Sam.

For those of you not aware of what happened, Sam came to us about a month ago. He was badly beaten up and starving.

Now, I don’t know much about dog fighting, but his wounds indicated just that. My guess is that Sam was what is called, the bait dog – thrown into the ring to teach the bigger badder dog how to better attack.

Brian and I didn’t want to add a dog to our menagerie, so we struggled with whether we should feed him, thus encouraging him to stay. I thought he might die, so decided to do what I could to make his last days comfortable.

After a visit to the vet, we decided to bath him and bring him into the house. Our three cats, Grace, Tink and Tess were a bit leery of him, but in general, everyone got along pretty well.

I forgot to mention that Sam likes to chew on chair legs, too!

I forgot to mention that Sam likes to chew on chair legs, too!

I read up on Pit Bulls, since the vet said that is partly what he is. Pit Bull Terriers are amazing creatures. They love people, are incredibly loyal, good natured, affectionate, almost always obedient and eager to please their masters. Yes, all true! Pits get their bad reputation because of how they are raised. These dogs must have masters that teach with a firm hand. Cesar Millan, author of the Dog Whisperer, offers great advice for teaching you how to raise and care for your dog. You must provide training, exercise and social skills. You must teach the dog respect for humans by not allowing it to jump up on people and not allowing it to enter doorways first. Humans must make the dog heel beside them or behind them while walking. The objective in training is to achieve “pack leader status.” Since it is a natural instinct for a dog to have an order in the pack, he must be taught that humans are higher up in the order than the dog, yada, yada.

All of these techniques worked very well the first two weeks! But, of course, that was mostly due to the fact that he was very sick, almost lethargic. Since last Saturday, he feels so much better and we are discovering that he likes to chew. The house is as puppy proofed as we can make it, yet he still finds shoes, books, carpets and paper! He now has the energy of a normal puppy and wants to jump, run and play! He has discovered his bark! After a night of quiet sleep, he likes to jump on the bed and lick our faces so we will wake up and play with him at 4 a.m.!

Puppy love

Puppy love

Sam is smart. He knows the basic commands – Stop, Come, Sit, Heel. And, he listens about 70 percent of the time. So, what was pretty easy at first, has now become a bit harder. But, we’re committed to it. He is our dog, Sam!

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The day I killed an anole

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What is an anole, you ask? Well, it is the correct name for the little reptiles we have running around all over the place around here that we typically call chameleons.

Green anoles are found throughout the southeastern U.S. and in parts of Texas. A green anole has the ability to change its colors (usually green but can be brown, yellow, gray or any mixture thereof) to better match its surroundings and mood. The male anole has a large flap of skin under his neck known as a dewlap that protrudes during courtship or while defending his territory. They get to around 6 to 8 inches long and feed on a variety of insects, which is a very good thing.

I didn’t mean to kill it and felt very badly for a time afterward. Here’s the story.

This is an anole. This one ruled my my deck and my brother-in-law name him Clyde.

This is an anole. This one ruled my deck and my brother-in-law, Ken, named him Clyde.

The other day, while driving to work, I was thinking about the work day ahead and cruising at 55 miles per hour on the two lane road that connects me to the interstate. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of something on the passenger side window. I looked over to see a green anole hanging on the window. The wind was making his green skin shake and his little face contort in such a way that he looked as if he was smiling.

I slowed down until I could find a spot on the road to pull over. I talked to the little guy gripping the glass while I looked for a place to stop, “Hang on little fellow, I’ll save you!”

Stopped at the side of the road, I got out of my car and walked around to the passenger side. That little lizard that had been seized with fear only moments before now was faced with a new dilemma. Frightened of me, he took off running across the hood of my car. I tried to reach him, but to no avail. I walked back to the driver’s side of my car and he went across the hood again to the passenger windshield wiper for cover. So, I walked around to the other side of my car again, determined to save him from sure death.

Well, the little bugger skipped across the car again. This time, after I circled the car, though, he made a leap and took off running across the highway. I looked both ways and saw no cars. I watched him cross the double yellow lines and get oh, so, close to making it to the other side, when a pick up truck began its approach from the distance.

I yelled to my little lizard friend, “Hurry up, get going.” I prayed out loud, “Oh, please let him make it.”

And then… And then, splat.

I watched these events unfold and could do nothing to stop the inevitable. I stood at my car for a few minutes, unable to get in. Dumbfounded and shocked. The pickup truck driver never had a clue.

I told myself it was silly to feel bad; after all, it was just a little lizard.  But, all I could think was that I could have saved him and failed.

There’s no moral or message to this story. I told Brian that night what happened and it cracked us up in the telling. I almost peed my pants.

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