Present Path Tarot
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Holiday Priorities Recalibrated
In the holiday rush, it’s important to tune inward to what really matters to you.
This week, I mailed out gifts family who I have not seen in years. I found myself sad and a little triggered.
I don’t mind the effort and cost of gifts. I like showing I care this way. But I felt empty about it.
I sat with that feeling, waiting for what was behind it to emerge.
I was careful not to lean into angry stories that wanted to spout their righteousness (thank you therapy).
I realized that I don’t even know these kids who I am gifting. I don’t know if they will like what I sent or be able to put a face to who gave it to them.
I am craving connection time to know them better.
So I called my cousin and let her know that I would like to change our tradition up a bit.
I don’t want gifts, I want time with my family. Currently, I don’t have the bandwidth to fly out and spend vacation with them, but we have the magic of the internet.
I shared my feelings and asked if we can have a holiday video chat during the break.
She was naturally understanding. So many of us know that the gifts take too much spotlight these days during what is supposed to be a season about love.
I hope this story helps you feel centered in checking in on the kind of experiences you want to have with others this holiday season.
Mercury Retrograde ends Sunday, and this weekend is a good time to go inward and consider what support and changes you need to ask others for. Next week, as the planet goes direct, reach out with kind words to make your requests.
If you find that you are desiring more depth of understanding in your relationships, it’s a powerful thing to listen in on each other’s tarot readings in a Tarot Together session.
Aligning with your own wisdom to hear the best answers from your higher spirit is an art in itself, hone your skills in an intuition coaching session.
This season that heads into the longest night is a great time for introspection on a deeper level, which a personal tarot reading offers.
Mercury Retrograde ending on Sunday is also the final day of the discount codes of RETRO24 for you and RETROGIFT for gift certifcates. Treat your family and yourself to experiences over stuff this year.
Having a reader come to your party creates deeper conversations for the guests. Portlandia Fortune Tellers provides skilled divination artists that add magic into any gathering. Bring powerful insights to your New Year’s Eve event this year.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend and feel fulfilled in your holiday season, even with the rush.
Seek Real Connection,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
Free Reading for December
There’s still time to get 10% off with my usual Mercury Retrograde deal with the code RETRO24 for you and RETROGIFT for gift certifcates through December 15th.
If you order by December 15th, I can send a physical gift certificate to any address at no extra charge.
These offers are good for intuition coaching sessions, Tarot Together sessions, and a personal tarot reading for yourself!
Now for our reading for the month!
Time to shift some ways you approach your goals.
The Knight of Pentacles has served you well in getting the ball rolling on some worthwhile projects. You may even have built supportive teams and habits with the 3 of Pentacles approach of long-term thinking from the start.
Some changes need to happen now, and they involve a mix of dismantling fears and anxieties with the 9 of Swords reversed and stepping into a firey competitive mindset with the 5 of Wands.
Let’s all take a moment to alter our thinking around conflict. Many of us see it as a losing game to negotiate our needs in any way that comes across as fierce.
The 5 of Wands can be arguments, but it also can be about standing up for yourself and getting bold in the areas where you have certainty. Let that 9 of Swords reversal release you from stories that hold you back from your own power. Lean in and own what you know to be true.
This will transform you into a Knight of Wands, taking action on that which you see as necessary and worthy of a fight. Get feisty in the pursuits of uplifting your projects with confidence that may excel beyond prior experience.
Warning to Heed: while taking bold actions with confidence, slow your roll on your words and be conscious of where you might be naive!
Stall any impulsive statements that the Page of Swords could speak too quickly with promises and consequences that cannot be realistically fulfilled.
Be aware of what you don’t know and keep your allies close who are wise to these matters.
The answer this month is an odd mix of letting go of fear to dive into empowerment while still keeping your eyes open to your own ignorance.
Keep balanced in those details and you’ll likely rock star your goals into 2025!
Another way to be a rock star is to introduce your friends to the art of tarot with a top professional giving readings either online or in person in the Portland, Oregon area. Bring your community together for a holiday or New Year’s Party and wow your friends with the experience of a Portlandia Fortune Tellers reader.
Have a great last month of 2024!
You’re a Rock Star,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
Black Friday Special
Happy Thanksgiving!
It’s that time of year, and I want to offer you a way to add magic into your family and friend’s lives.
Order your gifts by December 15th to get a physical gift certificate mailed to any address.
Get 10% off with the code RETRO24 for you and RETROGIFT for gift certifcates through December 15th.
Have a friend who could use a confidence boost with their own inner voice?
Treat them to an intuition coaching session.
Not sure what to get that person who seems to have everything but could use some magical guidance?
Sign them up for a personal tarot reading for just that.
Perhaps even join them for your own directional support in a Tarot Together session.
Surprise all your friends with an extra special treat when you offer magical drop in’s with a skilled event reader from Portlandia Fortune Tellers at your next event.
I hope you enjoy a fabulous holiday weekend and enjoy finding the gifts that have a meaningful impact on your loved ones.
With Gratitude,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
Forgiveness is a Journey
“There is no revenge so sweet at forgiveness.” – Josh Billings
This is one of the hardest subjects to approach, since I myself struggle with it regularly.
Many of us are very hard on ourselves, and that makes us harder on those around us.
Memories of past hurts can reignite our negative feelings. This in turn physically raises our stress levels in the present moment.
Today, I want to soften my resentments for thesake of health andI welcome you along in my own personal research.
To be clear, if you faced a deep trauma, it would be best for you to work through that pain with a therapist. These suggestions are meant for more simple or general hurts, rather than deep wounds.
Here are some messages from wise people who each went through their own great tests of forgiveness. I added a corresponding tarot card that aligns with the quote’s meaning:
Pema Chödrön: “There is a simple practice we can do to cultivate forgiveness. First we acknowledge what we feel – Shame, revenge, embarrassment, remorse. Then we forgive ourselves for being human.”
10 of Cups – Feel your Feelings: I believe what she is illuminating is that we often struggle to forgive ourselves even for the feelings that the resentment creates. So the first step is to feel those and accept yourself fully.
Nelson Mandela: “You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution.”
Hanged Man Card – Surrender the Pain: in order to serve your best future, let go. To be effective in your goals, find peace with both the present and the past as best you can.
Martin Luther King Jr.: “Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.”
Devil Card Reversed – Beat Dark Temptations: Overcome the urge to slip into the darkness the offenders want to pull you into.
Mahatma Gandhi: “Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
Strength Card – Be Proud: If you are able to let go of the past, even a little, credit yourself for that. Recognize the wisdom it took to be the bigger person.
Oscar Wilde: “Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”
6 of Wands – Be Good just to Look Good: This quote aligns with the humor I need to better move through forgiveness. When you let go, people see that and respect you for it, which ticks off those who want others to think ill of you. .
If you want to tune into the quiet parts of you that speak from your higher wisdom, join me for an intuition coaching session.
Being witnessed by spirit guides can be powerful medicine to release the past, sign up for a personal tarot reading for just that.
Laugh at your frustrations with a friend in a Tarot Together session.
Have a fun party that only your beloved supporters can attend. Portlandia Fortune Tellers provides top notch divination artists to add magic into any gathering. The Holidays are coming and we can make your party extra special.
I hope the message today was helpful to even nudge you closer to letting go of the hurt. Do it for you own best interests.
Set Yourself Free,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
Reframe Future Thoughts
Tarot is a tool for shifting your state of being around the future.
Sometimes it quells the inner doubt with a dose of certainty.
Sometimes it twists your view into a fresh angle, like the Hanged Man offers.
Today I want to offer some playful ways to explore realigning with new possibilities.
This is a system I have designed that has helped me shift in challenging moments where I am presuming an unpleasant future outcome.
While these start in an order, you can focus on the one that is most relevant at the time.
1. Awareness Pause: When you catch yourself in a future funk that scares you, a bad-case scenario, PAUSE. Do not judge yourself. Observe that your mind is attempting to protect you. Thank your brain for it’s problem solving intent.
2. Mirror Smash: Imagine that the last image or thought of the future funk is cast on a giant movie screen mirror. Take a big imaginary hammer and shatter it. Remind yourself that this is an illusion brought by fear.
2. Present Moment Reset: Sense your emotional state. Notice your posture and breathing. Adjust to sit up and take a deep breath. Relax the muscles on your face and let that wash down through your body.
3. Pendulum Swing: From however heavy or scary that future was, imagine the exact opposite. It might start with a feeling. What level of lightness and joy would you need to counter match that level of anxiety? Try to imagine a future equally fabulously opposite to the level of awful you found yourself in.
4. Past Positives: Reflect on a time when you had bad expectations that turned out less dramatic than you feared. Remember that the worst cast scenario is often not the outcome.
5. Deepen Your Self-Trust: Consider what skills you used to pull you through past events. Remind yourself that you are even more adept now, having been through that before. Develop this self-certainty further with an intuition coaching session.
6. Access the Resources around you: Do you have a friend who helps you think of things from a more positive and grounded place? Reach out to them to get their point of view. You can also sign up for a personal tarot reading with me to see how the cards can support your best future.
7. More the Merrier: Bring in a friend for a Tarot Together session to welcome safe loved ones into your life story. Throw a party to shake off the stress. If you live in Portland, have a talented professional reader perform for your friends. Portlandia Fortune Tellers provides top notch divination artists to add magic into any gathering.
8. Find wisdom in fabulous strangers of history and today: We enjoy an incredible resource of guides from the past and present who we can access online today. Some of them have been through very tough times and have insights from it. Listen to talks by Pema Chödrön, James Baldwin, Ram Dass, Maya Angelou, or others. Scroll down for a lovely message from Brené Brown.
And please let me know your favorite guides to listen to are with an email message. I would love to learn who you seek wisdom from.
You Contain Multitudes,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
Photo courtesy of artist https://unsplash.com/@dbeamer_jpg
Stay Present with a Tarot Lens
For many of us in America and even abroad, this was an emotionally intense week.
The collective effort of community to support one another made it easier for those of us who were disappointed.
One friend signed off our chat with a simple message to, “Stay in the present”. This struck a chord of wisdom that we can all benefit from.
Future speculation rarely serves us.
For today, let’s tap into a few simple ways to get re-centered in what we can control through the lens of tarot suits.
Swords / Air . . . Breathe
Pause right now and sit up a little taller. Inhale through your nose for a count of 4 and then hold for 4 and exhale for a count of 8. Hold briefly. Repeat at least 3 times, but keep going with the long slow breaths as you continue to read this newsletter.
Pentacles / Earth . . . Ground
Place your feet on the floor. Imagine growing roots into the earth and pull up earth energy into your feet. Harbor yourself in this moment in this body. Let yourself be heavy. Feel the weight of you with gratitude for this physical form.
Wands / Fire . . . Movement
Dance is a form of magical energetic movement. Go into your music library and find a song that uplifts your spirits and moves your body. Take a one-song break from it all.
Cups / Water . . . Feel
With the heart, the only way out is through. Tune into the heart center and feel your emotional state with acceptance and curiosity as to how it will ebb and flow like water into another state of feeling . . . and then another. Allow all to arise and be felt and shift.
Major Arcana / Spiritual Journey . . . Remember
Reflect into the past to heal the present. You have faced many challenges and successes in life. Along the way, you gained skills and wisdom that serve you with resilience in this very moment. You have the tools to thrive, and are developing more each day.
Sit for a moment with one way you know you are strong and powerful. Let the Intuition of the High Priestess remind you of your own self trust. Dip into more of this with an intuition coaching session.
Perhaps take this strength within you and consider where you would like to volunteer to feel a part of the positive efforts you want to see in the world. Inspire an action that feels productive, however small.
If your own life journey feels full of twists and turns lately, please sign up for a personal tarot reading with me to untangle the pathways.
You don’t need to do all your spiritual growth alone. Bring in a friend for a Tarot Together session to bring community into your journey.
Welcome even more friends together for a Tarot Party. If you live in Portland, have a talented professional reader perform for your community. Portlandia Fortune Tellers provides top notch divination artists to add magic into any gathering.
With Grace and Hope,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
Blessed Samhain: Free Tarot Reading
Samhain is about the honoring of the ancestors, so I am using Reese Marren’s beautifully curated deck of classical paintings by dead artists, The Pensive Path Tarot.
Samhain’s dark side relates to this reading deeply as the message is about letting go of that which keeps life from flourishing.
3 of Pentacles Rx: Something you have been working toward was begun with a less than ideal plan, and it’s momentum is now struggling. It’s time to pause and reflect on how to shift your strategy.
The Fool Rx: Compounding this message is the hesitant Fool, who would rather stay the course than take a risk in a new direction. Find the playful mindset or the adventurer within to boldly test out new ways to manage this challenge.
The Tower Rx: This frustration is not going to get better by plodding forward, and your solution might need to go deeper into the root of the issue than just a band-aid.
Despite the hardships of this uncomfortable change, this is a great opportunity to do things very differently and break old patterns that you’re ready to free yourself of.
The World: Huzzah! If you take real steps toward dismantling and restructuring this issue at it’s core, you will find real achievement and fulfilling success. Trust yourself to manage this well and find a sense of completion with your goal.
If you resonate with this and need some more specific support to your changes, sign up for a personal tarot reading with me.
Feel like this connects with someone you know who needs to hear it? Bring them in for a Tarot Together session.
Want to use this time of the thin veil to tap into your own psychic knowing? Enjoy tuning inward with an intuition coaching session.
Finally, if you live in Portland, have a talented professional reader entertain at your party. Portlandia Fortune Tellers provides top notch divination artists to add magic into any festivity. Welcome one of our readers to your upcoming holiday event to ring in the new year with clarity.
Blessed Samhain,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
Scariest Tarot Cards . . . DEBUNKED!
Recently, some of my reader colleagues at Portlandia Fortune Tellers and I made a reactions video of the recent horror movie Tarot (follow my new Instagram to be the first to see it!)
We knew it would present the Hanged Man with a noose and the Death card as pure mortality, which is tiresome. It also tried to creep out other archetypes like the Fool, High Priestess, and Magician, which at least felt creative.
Today I want to take a closer look at the scariest cards to get in Tarot.
Obviously, cards specific to your situation are actually the scariest. If you’re asking about whether the person you’re falling in love with will be the one, and the 2 of Cups reversed comes up, that’s a real bummer. If you’re about to head out on a road trip and the Chariot reversed comes up . . . ack!
In both of these cases, it’s an opportunity to consider honestly whether you are just high on oxytocin hormones, or maybe it’s wise to have a mechanic peak in before you drive into the open freeway.
Most of us fear the general eerie cards though.
You hopefully all know that the Death Card doesn’t mean death, it means puberty, which is actually intimidating because change is hard.
People in the scene know that the Tower Card is the WORST. Why? Because it’s the part of our lives built on false foundations. It’s our patterns that we keep cycling unhappily through. it’s the brutal familiar habits we struggle to quit. Rough stuff there.
The Devil Card can relate to some of these vices. it can be that side of us that is selfish and greedy. It’s the hedonist who identifies with the ego most.
The Hanged Man is the opposite, but gets a bad rap anyhow. This is knowing you have to make a sacrifice to lean into your higher spiritual self.
Of the Minors, the Ten of Swords looks like he was already a human sacrifice with a man lying prone face down with a back full of stabby wounds.
Here’s the way to approach these cards from a more empowered angle:
Death Card: remember that awkward, gangly, zit stricken pre-teen? Hold that image in your heart. Imagine who they wanted to be. Then envision the shiny late-teen they emerged as. You are going through this again, but you get to decide how you want to be shiny on the other side of the uncomfortable phase you’ll likely face.
Tower Card: It’s a time to reflect on the patterns that you want to overcome and how you want to steer a new direction. If it’s reversed, you can likely see them more clearly and begin to shift small habits into big changes. The good news is that you can get ahead of this before it bites you in the butt yet again.
Devil Card: Maybe you need to accept your less than pure self? Or perhaps you need to keep any eye out for someone with ill intent? Either way, recognize that you can choose to be less concerned about what other people think of you, and more curious about who you want to become.
Hanged Man: Time to get a fresh perspective on life through some meditation or volunteering. Get quiet inside and see things from new angles. Embrace your goodness of heart to serve something greater in your self-growth.
Ten of Swords: Time to chuck those limiting beliefs out the door! The coping mechanisms that once served to protect you are now weighing you down and you get to pluck them from your back! Better times are ahead when you do the mental mind-shift needed.
Ready to face your own cards with a compassionate professional reader? Sign up for a personal tarot reading with me.
Prefer to have a friend there to hold your hand through the jump scares? Bring them in for a Tarot Together session.
Want to know your own High Priestess within? Try out an intuition coaching session.
Need some real magical entertainment for your autumnal house party? If you live in Portland, have a talented professional reader perform for your friends. Portlandia Fortune Tellers provides top notch divination artists to add magic into any festivity.
Know that the cards read by the right reader are inherently compassionate, and want to only draw you nearer to your best life.
Happy Halloween,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
Tarot as Shadow Work
People are often scared of tarot.
Oooo, the Devil card! The Death card! The Tower Card!
I respect their fear. It’s natural to be intimidated by images of suffering, and it’s also reasonable to be uncomfortable with tarot.
Tarot is a shadow work, bringing into the light that which is key to your personality . . . but perhaps you prefer not to look at.
So, what is Shadow Work?
“Shadow work is the path of the heart warrior.” – Carl Jung
Renowned psychologist and tarot lover, Carl Jung, defined the shadow as a key part of our personality (see image above and below).
He defined it as a living part of ourselves that is often hidden in the subconcious mind. It wants to express itself, and will emerge in ways we did not plan. We naturally want to repress these parts of us, because they are uncomfortable to sit with. When we are unaware of our shadows though, they actually have more power to drive our behaviors.
“What is not brought to consciousness, comes to us as fate.”
Tarot is a chance to bravely face these scary cards and learn to love our entire being so we can break the Tower Card patterns in our life that continually cycle around us.
Naturally, a reading alone cannot unravel these deep occurrences in our psyche. That is better managed with professional therapy.
But some therapists, like Jung, see the value in using the cards to draw to the surface that which is in the dark.
As a reader, I find it fascinating that we all are embarrassed about very similar shadows. I believe that a reading can help you find compassion and acceptance for yourself and others in our shadows.
“There is no light without shadow and no psychic wholeness without imperfection.”
Jung also noted that this a source of where our creativity comes from. So consider making some art this month that welcomes your inner darkness to display in a healthy outlet.
Better yet, enjoy the creative experience of an artful tarot reading and ask the cards about your own shadow. Sign up for a personal tarot reading with me.
Prefer to have a friend there when you get called out? Bring them in for a Tarot Together session.
Want to meet your own inner psyche, and welcome in all parts of yourself? Enjoy an intuition coaching session.
Need some real magical entertainment with a dark side for your autumn house party? If you live in Portland, have a talented professional reader perform for your friends. Portlandia Fortune Tellers provides top notch divination artists to add magic into any festivity. We are already booking out for the weekends before Halloween, so send in your request today!
Snuggle Your Shadow,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
Make Halloween Meaningful
It’s time to figure out what you’re going to be for Halloween (if you haven’t already).
Some of us enjoy a clever wordplay joke as a simple costume. Others may learn some dance moves to be their best Olympian Aussie breakdancer.
I prefer to focus on how you can relish this opportunity to express some darkness within.
Halloween can be healing. It’s an opportunity to look at the parts of you that reflect the Moon card’s disturbing hidden secrets.
I love to get into character, or act out a part of me that I feel shame or embarrassment or anger around.
You can take a small part of your persona and blow it out of proportion for all to witness and laugh with you about.
Satisfy your satirical side by making fun of someone in society who gets your riled up. Mock their behaviors to release your own wrath.
As examples of how this can be fun … I have played as a news anchor covered in corporate logos, an awkward teenager, a creepy uncle, a gregarious eccentric old woman, an annoying festival attendee, and a zombie burdened by Amazon boxes.
When I was suffering from brutal eczema on my hands and face, I decided to get gross and cover my healthier skin in a thin layer Elmer’s glue that I could pick off and scratch at to everyone’s disgust. I brought the bottle with me to the party to keep reapplying through the night. I felt internal relief of an external pain that diffused some of my feelings around it.
Want to release the demons of your ADHD? What components would you like to display as a neuro-spicy superhero?
Tired of how busy life has become? Cover yourself in symbols of your to-do list and act out tending to all these little needs.
Scared of the impending doom of AI? Become a robot who has all the wrong answers, and let people push a button to ask you anything.
If you are not sure what to be this year, consider the following questions:
What fear or embarrassment do you want to face within yourself?
What aspect of yourself do you want to hide from others, but you feel ready to make light of?
What awful collective issue do you want to make fun of publicly?
What display of a strong feeling would it relieve you to let out in a playful way?
Want to talk out your ghouls with a ghostbuster? Sign up for a personal tarot reading with me.
Craving a peek into the mystic unknown with a friend by your side? Bring them in for a Tarot Together session.
Want to meet your own inner psychic? Enjoy tuning in with an intuition coaching session.
Need some real magical entertainment for your spooky themed party? If you live in Portland, have a talented professional reader perform for your friends. Portlandia Fortune Tellers provides top notch divination artists to add magic into any festivity. We are already booking out for the weekends before Halloween, so send in your request today!
Welcome Your Darkness,
Jenna Lynne Roberts
Image provided by https://unsplash.com/@deleece
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