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

He 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…

LE 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 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?