Present Path Tarot
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Remove the Monster From Tarot
Hello! Greetings! Salutations!
As a writer and English teacher, I love words and etymology. Once, I pondered the word “Demonstrate” and realized that it may have the word “Monster” in it. English is a mess of so many languages that my guesses are often wrong though. So I looked it up, and . . . huzzaahh . . .
From de- “entirely” (see de-) + monstrare “to point out, show,” from monstrum “divine omen, wonder” (see monster)
Source
To show the monster . . . to teach . . . just that these words are related is delightful. To have ‘divine omen and wonder’ included only uplevels my glee.
To de-monster-ate is the act of entirely taking the monster out of.
So much about Tarot is misunderstood. It is up to those of us who love it to demonstrate the truths of it.
If you know someone who has the wrong idea around what Tarot is about, please share my most recent YouTube on What to Expect from a Tarot Reading with them.
If you want to look closer at the fears in your life to bring divine omen and wonder into any situation, contact me for a tarot reading or intuition coaching session.
I hope to see you soon!
Face Your Fears,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
PresentPathTarot.com
Get Creative with Your Halloween Costume
Those of you who have been with me for years know that I love writing an annual post about costume ideas.
While tarot is my passion and I am so grateful to get to work in this field, I also do a lot of work for my costume troupe, Risk of Change.
I love getting into a character and putting together a unique concept.
I don’t get paid for this hobby and so I don’t spend a lot of money on this art. Here are some ways to uplevel your own outfit without dinging your wallet.
Intermingle Your Previous Costumes
Consider a Portmanteau idea by mingling two concepts together. You can use a previous outfit to switch it up.
I went to a party recently where we had a Gymothy (a racoon with workout clothes), a Shy Guy Fieri (Shy Guy homemade paper mask with Guy Fieri flame shirt), a Wicked Witch of the Wild West (Green Witch with cowboy additions), a Marilyn Mon-Rodeo Clown and a Sheryl Scarecrow.
Add to Your Current Costume
If you already have your outfit, you can still take it into the strange when you add a prop or extra detail to make it funnier.
Notice the little cloud above the whoopie cushions in the photo above, you can see that they made a handmade sign to give a steam to their fart joke.
Maybe that robot costume can go another level by being covered in strange AI art print outs?
Bring some Character…
For a Dearly Beloved party that I am reading cards at, I have chosen to dress as the fabulous Catherine O’Hara who passed this year.
The outfit is Moira from Schitt’s Creek, and I am watching YouTubes on how to do her odd accent. I will have a few one liners prepared for guests as they arrive and depart from their reading to make it extra fun and honor the comedian queen.
Think of a few one-liners that you can use throughout the night to make your friends laugh and take your costume into a mini performance.
Not Ready Yet? Get Thrifty!
You don’t need to start with an idea. Let it come to you with inspiration.
Hit the local thrift store and go to the regular racks rather than the Halloween aisle to find odd tops and bottoms that capture some strange persona.
You might end up being the lost Golden Girl, who didn’t get invited to the house in Florida.
Perhaps you’ll be a staunch businessman who is offering a sales pitch for his home data center program with his sales pitch print out.
Team up with friends to get Interactive
There is a magic of having multiple people in the same style. Even simple clothes can become a group costume.
A group of guys in NYC all wore basic clothes and carried DSLR cameras to become the Paparazzi. They then were excited to collectively call out the names of other costumes and give them a celebrity siting photo shoot.
My friend Melody found the perfect Justin Bieber track suit and all her friends who didn’t have outfit ideas became his gaggle of groupies.
One of my favorite Halloweens in the early 2000’s, my friends and I all got thrift store business suits and went around the streets as the obnoxious detectives from the Beastie Boys Sabotage video.
Think of a show that has multiple characters and consider if you can pull together a scene.
I hope these ideas help make your Halloween extra fun.
After a fun night out, bring in a friend for a Tarot Together session.
No tricks, only treats when you sign up for a personal tarot reading.
There are only two spots available to hire a tarot or palm reader from Portlandia Fortune Tellers to entertain at your Halloween party. Uplevel your event with real magic.
Enjoy the creative process of making your costume extra fun this year!
Mwahahahahahaaaaa,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
Action overcomes Apathy
This week my low-back was super tight.
I went to work it out with a strength trainer (Shannon at Fireborne Fitness). She was cautious since movement is a risk when you’re injured.
I assured her that it was the right choice for me and promised to go gentle. She gave me some unique moves to engage the muscles that support the QL.
I then slept with a pillow under my knees. Huzzah! My back felt much better the next day.
There is a great satisfaction of taking a step toward pain in order to cure it. Especially when it gets results.
This feels like a metaphor for the upcoming election. I’m not talking politics on here, but I am hoping to motivate us all to take action for our collective benefit.
There is pain in hope of change. But stasis will not relieve the suffering.
We each can make an effort to learn about the issues and fill in the bubbles that serve our better future.
I remember when my dad walked me over to our neighborhood voting station when I was 18 years old.
Some parents get really excited for graduations. It delighted my dad far more to take me through this sacred threshold of democracy.
People have fought and died for this right. Suffragettes starved themselves on hunger strike. It’s that relevant.
In 1920, the Tennessee House of Representatives was split in the middle to ratify women’s right to vote. They were aligned to become the 36th state to pass this right, making a 3/4 majority that would set forth a full Constitutional amendment.
Febb Ensminger Burn was a suffragette whose son, Harry T. Burn, was a representative in Tennessee. He was going to abstain from the vote. She wrote him a letter asking him to “be a good boy” and help “Mrs. Catt (Carrie Chapman Catt) put the rat in ratification.”
His ‘aye’ vote swung the state and thus the nation.
One vote. It can make a difference.
The last election only had a turn out of 65%. A powerful message happens when that number increases. It’s a statement that I hope more people will make this election.
My dad and I vote differently now. Despite that, I know that he’s still proud that I cast my vote in every election. Even when I was abroad.
I don’t have any way to know whether you would vote in a way that I would, but I still want you to vote. (Granted, I think most people into witchy stuff are on the same side of the fence.)
I hope you will check to see that you are registered and go read the boring details of the issues and politicians in your area. Then block out the time to cast your vote.
To celebrate, I am offering a 10% discount for an online personal tarot reading in November to anyone who shares some obscure detail about their own voting process. Because we can also have a laugh at the frustrations of our civic duties.
Bring in a friend who you pondered about your voting choices with in a Tarot Together session.
Support our witchy freedom of speech when you hire a tarot or palm reader from Portlandia Fortune Tellers to entertain. The last few weekends of October are filling up fast, but there’s still a few spots left!
Have a great weekend of learning about the issues and maybe watching a debate.
Flex Your Freedom Muscles,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
BCE: Before Cell Era
Tonight I brought back a lost personal tradition of playing music during a bath.
The last few years, I have chosen to watch a movie or show from my laptop beside the tub.
From audio cassettes to CD’s and then my beloved iPod, my classic tub-side company had always been Nina Simone, Tom Waits, Van Morrison, Nick Cave, Belle and Sebastian, and other soothing crooners.
Granted, the music I listened to today was on my phone and the selections were in part likely chosen by an AI algorithm. But, truth be told, it did a great job DJing.
Best of all, it wasn’t screen time, and that was a nice break. I work on screens a lot and then relax on screens a lot. It’s a constant stream of stimuli.
I held out on getting a smart phone until 2011, when most of my friends had already switched from a flip phone. I know that my brain has morphed and adapted since then, and I want to train it back to some better habits.
I heard on a YouTube short today that time condenses as we engage with novel concepts. This explains how scrolling passes time so quickly.
The stoics engaged in a practice now called, “The Stoic Pause” to temper the speed of time. They would deliberately take a moment between a stimulus and their response. That would be a lot of pauses in the modern day, but worth attempting.
The stoics also would force their presence to remain focused on a single task at a time. I heard Nick Offerman say on the Daily Show that young people are choosing classic more classic hobbies like knitting and wood working. This delighted the heck out of me.
For those of us over 40, we can harken back to a bygone self. I have been thinking of who I was BCE: Before the Cell Era. I am craving bringing back some of these hobbies and practices, and wanted to offer the idea out to you to consider what is something you miss from your pre-smart phone self.
What are some ways you passed the time pleasurably before 2007?
What do you miss about life before smart phones?
How did your attention feel different?
I have some luddite friends, people who avoid technology. Each skirt the modern world in their own unique ways. They inspire me to see that we don’t have to cut ourselves off completely to give ourselves some breathing room.
I can choose to get out my ukelele and use the app on my phone that helps me learn new songs. It still feels nourishing in a non-screen way.
You can also go full old school. I did some wool felting the other day. It was super satisfying.
The 1952 noir book I’m reading by Raymond Chandler is fun. I am absorbed in both the mystery of the scarred socialite man who’s on the lamb and how everyone just shows up at each other’s apartments unannounced all the time.
Writing in my journal free hand feels different in my brain from typing or swyping.
What do you do that feels anachronistic or timeless?
Where in your day could you add a practice that your grandparents likely also did?
How can you take back something you may have lost since instant gratification became so normal?
Take part in a past time that is over 500 years old when you come in for a personal tarot reading with me. (We can use Zoom with the same benefits.)
Engage in rich human connection when you bring in a companion for a Tarot Together session.
Celebrate the upcoming Halloween season with a classic witchy art when you hire one of the fabulous tarot or palm reader from Portlandia Fortune Tellers to entertain.
Relish in the traditional delights this weekend.
Reconnect with the Old You,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
Free Tarot Reading for October with Twin Peaks Deck
I love every season for different reasons, but the beginning of each has it’s own sense of magic.
The way the leaves change in the Pacific Northwest surprises me annually. One day you are surrounded by green and then, seemingly overnight, a tree on your commute bursts into a vibrant new shade. The others follow suit like music notes that create a song for the entry into cooler days.
The show Twin Peaks was filmed in the Pacific NW and thrives in the Autumnal vibes. It’s also enough of a horror theme to enter us into the spooky themes of October.
Enjoy the reading with my beloved Twin Peaks tarot deck that my dear friend and fellow reader Lynda generously gifted to me.
Come in for a cup of tea and ponder on how you are ready to step into this season of life over a tarot reading, a tarot lesson, or a tarot together session with me.
We are already getting lots of bookings for the Halloween season. Book your own tarot or palm reader from Portlandia Fortune Tellers for your party while you still can.
Portlandia Fortune Tellers will have a booth at both the Bitchcraft Fair and the Market of the Strange in Salem this month. Come say hello and get a short-form reading from me!
Scroll on for our free reading for October.
“We Live Inside a Dream”,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
We begin with the 4 of Coins, represented by the two local business establishments. This card speaks to clinging to our earth, sometimes a bit too tightly.
Notice how you’re gathering your resources. It is a good time for budgeting of money and time. Know that you can soften while harvesting without hoarding.
Pulling energy inwards is exemplified again by the Hermit card, represented by the botanist Harold. He was an isolated man who resourced Laura’s journals for the investigation.
Tis’ the season to welcome bringing energy inwards for some Hermit time. Nestle into your home and enjoy some quality alone time. Tune into your higher spirit and find a good book for guidance with quieter introversion time.
This inward resourcing appears to be in preparation for some heart-centered cups time this October.
The Six of Cups is represented by Agent Cooper and the young woman Audrey who developed a crush on him. This is about young energy, and in the show she is a figure of youthful folly and dangerous temptation.
Bring some playful energy to your Hermit time. Perhaps it’s in preparing a Halloween costume that let’s you express your youthful spirit, maybe with a little shadow like Audrey exudes. Then reflect in your journals on nostalgic memories. Bring in a child-like curiosity to how you approach your sacred alone time.
We finally land on the 10 of Cups with Lucy the receptionist. No matter what darkness abounds in Twin Peaks, Lucy brings a sensitive heart.
Welcome the full spectrum of emotions this month, and see how joy weaves it’s way in more as you attend to your heart’s fulfillment. Play creatively and be present with how you are feeling.
Take the advice of Agent Dale Cooper this month in your endeavors to mingle this message of introversion with youthful spirit and heart-opening:
“Harry, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don’t plan it. Don’t wait for it. Just let it happen.”
Gain connection with your own creative spiritual seeker this month when you sign up for an online or in-person tarot reading or an intuition coaching session.
Happy Equinox: Shed Your Leaves
From the Tao Oracle I-Ching Deck, these two cards of Decrease and Dispersion depict images of the season we are stepping into of Autumn.
They are photographed on a new-to-me coffee table that now holds my games, puzzles, and some crafts.
This new furniture represents the organizing I have done this past month that has led to a lot of stuff being given on Buy Nothing, Craigslist, and to thrift stores.
This made me think of the energy gained by trees when they drop their leaves. The word Abscission is the scientific word for the process.
First, the tree grows a band of cells at the base of each leaf stem called petiole. This blocks water and nutrients from feeding the leaf. The cells dissolve, and the leaf releases without harming the tree.
The same word is used for mushrooms dropping spores.
And for the intentional shedding of a claw or husk.
I am relieved that I have personally let go of the leafs of magazine pages that I once thought I would collage. I have so many craft supplies, and I accept that I am unlikely to prioritize trimming out images for decoupage anytime soon.
This process of release entailed clearing out spaces, deciding what needs to go, and then resetting areas in a more organized fashion. It’s been a lot.
But, much like a tree preparing for winter, containing my resources into efficient spaces feels like a good preparation for equinox.
This effort was heavy but has left me feeling lighter. I believe I might even use the remaining crafting tools more often now that they are pared down.
Consider for yourself in alignment with the Decrease card:
What am I ready to let go of that reflects my old self?
Where in my life does Less is More resonate the most right now?
How can I budget an aspect of my life to feel more rich and free overall?
Consider how you can enjoy the lightness of the Dispersion card:
Where in my life can I laugh at the challenges to bring fresh energy to a tired situation?
How can I bring in more harmony by accepting the divisions and conflicts that will not likely change?
Where can I take some distance from stuck entanglements to breathe fresh perspectives into my experience?
I hoe you might come do some spiritual house cleaning in a personal tarot reading with me.
Laugh at the darkening season with a friend in a Tarot Together session.
Celebrate the upcoming Halloween season with someone who sees the shadows with a light touch when you hire one of the fabulous tarot or palm reader from Portlandia Fortune Tellers to entertain.
I hope this weekend you get to take in the beauty of some bright trees changing colors and add your own attention into an area that needs refreshed.
Let that Stuff Go,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
Pause for a Fresh Perspective
I felt stumped about what to write about today. I pulled cards a couple times, and the Hanged Man kept coming up.
This is one of my favorite archetypes, with immense depth and layered messages.
The Hanged Man is a card of wise inaction and surrender.
It’s about taking a step back to gain perspective on a situation. Maybe meditate or take a nap.
Breathe through the anxiety to get to a place where you can consider other angles.
Some historical interpretations align this card with Odin (Thor and Loki’s poppa) who hung himself from the Yggdrasil Tree at the center of he Universe, wounded by his own spear, to sacrifice himself unto himself.
Odin hung for 9 days and 9 nights. As he screamed into the void, the runes emerged, giving both written language and divination symbols to the world. This was a great epiphany of knowledge for Odin himself.
This idea of sacrifice to the higher self felt relevant when we collectively agreed to shelter-in-place for COVID.
We surrendered our own desires to remain inside for the greater good. Many of us became introspective while isolated for such an extended period. Major Hanged Man vibes.
(Sidenote: I highly recommend Bo Burnham’s Inside on Netflix if you want to recapture that time in near history through a wonderful work of art and comedy.)
Others historically relate the Hanged Man’s posture to how debtors had their likeness painted in this pose in public spaces to decry their failure to follow through on promises.
The spiritual meaning would then be paying a karmic debt. You know you have to own doing something that you don’t really want to do.
I believe this card is relevant in our current era of uncertainty.
Climate change, AI, political circus, war . . . It’s overwhelming to lean into.
The Hanged Man is about pausing to lean back and gain more perspective over the situations that concern you. With that fresh mentality, you will be able to act from a place of wisdom, rather than reactivity.
Relevant personal clarity can come from stepping back momentarily.
My own Hanged Man meditation helped me to decide not to watch most post apocalyptic movies and shows anymore. I love Sci Fy, but I want my own mind to be focused on a positive future instead of fear.
The Hanged Man release is a yin experience to enhance our potential, rather than exert our energy mindlessly.
To me, this is the wise Kung Fu movie shi fu, who knows how to look very chill and unbothered until the exact moment he needs to strike with a competence that deep observation has given him.
Talk to your own spiritual guide guru’s when you sign up for a personal tarot reading with me.
Bring in someone who you love to lean back with for a Tarot Together session.
Bring subtle yet poignant wisdom to your next event when you hire one of the fabulous tarot or palm reader from Portlandia Fortune Tellers to entertain.
I hope you can observe life from a fresh perspective this weekend.
Flip the Script,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
Deciding on the Go with Tarot
Today I was driving home when someone messaged urgently for a last minute reading.
Moments like these happen to each of us countless times a day. Split second decisions are more common in the digital era. The myriad of little choices can wear us down with decision fatigue.
I want to offer a perspective of how to approach these quick choices through the lens of all the cards related to the two’s of tarot, which each lend their own perspective on decisions.
I am using examples from how I thought about my best choice about doing the reading after I pulled over the car before passing my office.
Minor Arcana are all about the elements, and that means tapping into different aspects of yourself.
Two of Swords is the mind, and thus uses basic logic.
“I’m near my office. I can call her to find out how soon she is available to see if it’s reasonable.”
Two of Cups is the heart, and taps into our emotional center.
“She sounds like she really needs support today. I feel for her and want to help.”
Two of Wands is energy and desire, which works well with spur of the moment choices.
“Even though I didn’t sleep well last night, I have a strong motivation to give a reading right now.”
Two of Pentacles is a slower and more practical balance of resources.
“I would like to make money today. I likely will be too tired later when the lack of sleep catches up with me. And I am already near the location.”
The Major Arcana has multiple cards that represent Two’s, and each speaks to a deeper level of self.
The High Priestess is intuition and inner guidance.
“Something in my spirit wants to do this. It feels like a yes in my gut.”
The 11 of the Justice card adds up to 2 in numerology, and speaks to balance and acting for the greater good.
“The choice to read doesn’t feel like it’s throwing me off balance, and I am not imposing on any other prior agreements. It also feels like the right thing to do to support someone right now.”
The Judgement card is number 20, and offers up a sense of calling or an epiphany.
“I know from experience that this timing of her reaching out as I am passing by my office aligns as a message to move forward.”
With these aspects all lined up, I confirmed that she was available to come over right away and felt clear in my choice.
Often, one of the aspects is a no, and it’s up to you if that is relevant enough to negate the whole plan. You can consider which of these elements is the most relevant to the situation and use that aspect to weigh the options.
If people ask for immediacy, it’s not required that we fulfill their requests if that throws off our plans.
If it’s an unexpected serious emergency, then obviously their needs may outweigh our preferences at times. Sometimes people put forward an energy of emergency due to a lack of basic planning, and in that case you need to make the choice best for yourself.
If you sense a choice aligning for a personal tarot reading with me, please book ahead for us to make an easy scheduling choice together.
Readings are wonderful with two’s! Bring in a loved one for a Tarot Together session.
When planning a party, it’s a great decision to hire a tarot or palm reader from Portlandia Fortune Tellers to entertain. Our readers can help your guests connect with each other with this added magic in your gathering.
May your weekend be filled with easy and joyous choices.
Trust Your Picker,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
Writing is Dancing for Your Hand
My Dad has always been the man with a book balanced on his chest. He has shelves and stacks of textbooks on history and science and he’s actually read them all.
My very social mom has done her best to keep her beloved introvert in good company. He regularly regales dinner parties with stories and fascinating factoids.
Now I’m excited to share that we can have his own book in our collections!
He just turned 80 in June and this month he has published his first full novel! He’s been working on this for decades, editing and updating along the way.
It’s a two part historical fiction about the Queen of Eqypt. He did extensive research to gather as many facts as possible from 3500 years ago. This book is an act of love for an amazing woman of ancient history.
Find Hatchepsut: Female Falcon over Egypt on Amazon or Barnes and Noble
It is available as a Hardback, Paperback, Kindle, and Ebook. If you have a Kindle subscription, I believe it’s free to download. (This is fresh news, so all editions will be on both sites by next week.)
This update got me thinking about the ways we can start our day by bringing our voice to paper.
I had the thought that writing is like dancing for your hand and wrist.
Whether it’s tap dancing on the keyboard, swyping fingers on the skating rink of your phone, or swirling a pen to page, you are moving words with from your mind to your fingers and out into the world.
This week, I have begun to write morning pages. I decided to keep it analogue to enjoy the most creative form of this type of dance. I love journals and pens, and so I get to use my favorites as an extra delight.
My friend Ivana is joining me as an accountability buddy, which helps me a lot.
I love to write and yet I rarely make time for it. One thing I have learned is that writing a little is the best way to write a lot.
Doing this weekly newsletter has been a wonderful way to build a healthy habit, and I am grateful to each of you who check in.
Morning pages offers me the added bonus to say whatever is on my mind without concern for who is reading.
I can describe my dream from the previous night or what I am looking forward to in the day ahead. I might journal about my worries or epiphanies. It can be boring or creative. I don’t have to put pressure on it being special or inspired, but it could lead somewhere magical.
A quick jaunt to jot only takes me about 5 to 10 minutes, and gives me a way to start my day that is not scrolling on my phone (a habit I am ready to be done with).
I hope you might join me in your own daily practice. Feel free to send me the highlights of your best notes if you desire to share them!
Want to build a good habit? Start with a chat with your spirit guides during a personal tarot reading with me.
Welcome community to hear your messages during a Tarot Together session.
Hear the channeled words of a tarot or palm reader from Portlandia Fortune Tellers when you hire us to entertain at your upcoming holiday and Halloween parties.
I hope you have a lovely weekend of considering which of your thoughts need scribbled.
Write Ritually,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
Free Reading for September and Dolly Wisdom
I rarely weep for celebrity deaths, but Dolly is a representative of love and authenticity in a way so few have captured.
I remember being a child and knowing about her only as the lady with big boobs. We would put balloons under our shirts and giggle about being Dolly.
I watched her in movies like 9 to 5 around the same time, and began to see the messages of empowerment that she was all about.
Then I experienced her music. First through Whitney Houston, whose rendition of “I Will Always Love You” paid such great royalties that Dolly built a strip mall to support commerce in a black neighborhood and called it “the house that Whitney built.”
This era led me to listen to more of her music, and I watched more of her interviews.
I found that the person who I mocked as a child for how she looked laughed about it while she celebrated her choices and used humor and lightheartedness to brush off judgments.
“It costs a lot of money to look this cheap.”
“I am a self-made woman, and I have the doctor bills to prove it.”
Dolly was wise and kind and strong, as evidenced in her philosophy:
“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”
“Storms make trees take deeper roots.”
“If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.”
“Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”
“Find out who you are. And do it on purpose.”
“You can be rich in spirit, kindness, love and all those things that you can’t put a dollar sign on.”
So this week, I hope you’ll consider taking Dolly’s advice and write out a list of the things you love about yourself.
Consider how you may feel judged for your authentic self and call in the flippant joy that Dolly took in being fully herself for a full 80 years.
Consider your own wisdom during a tarot reading, a tarot lesson, or a tarot together session with me.
Bring in good vibes to your next event when you hire a tarot or palm reader from Portlandia Fortune Telle
Scroll on for our free reading that is eerily what Dolly would say and a lovely story about her from Roger Ebert.
“Be a diamond in a rhinestone world”,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
Today’s deck is the Lonely Planet Tarot, which uses places around the world to represent the card messages.
We begin with the Sun, represented by sunny Tanzania. We all can keep an eye out for the opportunities to come in the month ahead. Bring out your best combo of your playful spontaneous child-self and your most adult practical self to make the most of what’s ahead.
When the offers come through, negotiate for your needs like you’re bargaining at the largest outdoor market in South America in Otavalo, Equador. I had to buy an extra bag to carry all the delights I gathered from this very place, and I hope that signifies the gifts you are soon to receive. Consider also what you want to bring the table to make for a fair exchange.
When we give and receive well, our hearts can be fully open to the emotional and spiritual awakening of the Ten of Cups, presented here as an oasis in the Dominican Republic. Allow yourself to welcome the joy and blessings with a full acceptance of all that a rich emotional life entails.
If we balance all of these cards well, we will land ourselves in the lush grace of the King of Cups, represented by a man standing in Cape Town, South Africa. Welcome your ability to hold your heart with integrity as a healthy receiver, while also being a support for others to be in their full experience of a heart-full life.
I think Dolly would approve of this reading’s messages of welcoming in all the beauty that life has to offer with an open heart that both gives and receives with grace.
Find out how to best grasp your blessings during an online or in-person tarot reading or an intuition coaching session.
The Grace of Holding Accountable
I got called out last week by a friend and I was so grateful.
I am not saying it didn’t ruffle my feathers or fail to send me into a small tailspin of guilt. I am hyper-vigilant specifically to avoid these uncomfortable moments.
But I much prefer to be told that I hurt someone rather than have them stuff it down or build up resentment or fear or anguish. Yuk.
It helped immensely that my friend was fair, kind, strait-forward and forgiving in her presentation of how something I said hurt her feelings.
I felt a bit defensive at first and jumped to explain what I meant to say. Then I caught myself and slowed down and apologized and acknowledged that she was reasonable and that my initial reaction came out wrong on my part.
To me, being called out with kindness is a sign of respect. The person believes that I can hear their feedback rationally. If it’s reasonable, I am honored that they saw me as worthy of a hard conversation.
It’s only fair anyhow, since I am known as someone who can be overtly honest. As a lovely review I received today stated, “She doesn’t sugar coat anything.”
It’s in my blood. My mom is German and fits the culture’s fiercely direct reputation. I like to believe that I have integrated a bit more compassion into our family communication style, but friends still don’t expect me to bite my tongue or be coy.
Society does well to value people who speak up. Recently, two local social circles that produce events have had major breakdowns due to people in leadership protecting bad behaviors and hiding it from public view.
It has led to the removal of the offenders, finally, but has also dismantled trust in the other managers of the organizations. Nothing good has come from the delay in response and brushing serious things under the rug.
That’s why I grimace when I hear kids being rude to their parents in public to no consequence. I know parenting is hard, I tried the stepmom role for a decade and fell on my face regularly. I am still certain that accountability is necessary to make good humans.
Consequence and culpability is a way of saying to someone that you hold them to a higher standard. You believe they are capable of better. It’s a weird compliment.
How you approach the matter is key to the potential of a good outcome. Remember that even if you do everything as conscientiously as possible, they still may not respond well. Own your part as best you can, even if they can’t own theirs.
For support, here is a systematic strategy to help navigate calling someone out graciously when you need to:
Praise in Public, Correct in Private: Don’t add embarrassment to the already challenging experience
Timing is Key: Balance between telling them as soon as possible, but after you soften your initial triggers. It’s hard to bring a neutral voice when you’re disregulated.
Approach with the Situation, Behavior and Impact Model: Stay specific to one time and place this occurred to avoid general statements. Be clear about the exact action that was problematic. Then explain the consequence of that choice in that moment.
Let them Speak: Ask them to explain where they were coming from and their own perspective without being interrupted.
Create a Plan: Discuss how you each can take actions to avoid this happening again.
Get called out lovingly by the spirit guides during a personal tarot reading with me.
Bring in a friend who needs to hear their own BS during a Tarot Together session.
You can request that our reader is direct with their mini-reading call outs when you hire a tarot or palm reader from Portlandia Fortune Tellers to entertain.
I hope you have a lovely weekend of accepting yourself and your community in all our foibles.
Own It to Love it,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
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