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When I was 20 I was living in Bologna, Italy doing an internship as part of my degree in languages.

On a Saturday evening, Via Dell’Independenza; a wide street which leads away from the main piazza, comes alive with street performers of all kinds, from dancing men painted blue to jugglers and puppeteers.

It was on this street that I spied a woman sitting with some cards at a little table covered in silk cloth. I’d never had a tarot reading before. I was intrigued albeit sceptical, but I couldn’t resist.

Like most 20 year old girls my main questions revolved around a boy, in this case an Italian / German who according to the cards thought I was “good hearted but a little crazy.” He confirmed a few days later that this was an accurate reading.

When the reading shifted from my tempestuous love life to career, the woman surprised me by saying that I’d make a great air hostess. This was something I’d been actively considering at the time since I spoke a few languages and loved to travel. “How could she possibly know that?” I thought. On that day, the Tarot cast its spell on me.

It wasn’t until a few years later when I was living in London that I came across a book at a second hand market called “Fortune Telling by Tarot cards” by Sasha Fenton. It felt like a sign and I could once again feel this art form calling to me.

In the beginning, having always been an A star student, I approached my study of the Tarot as a very serious academic endeavour.

Every morning and evening whilst travelling on the London underground to and from work, I would read this book religiously and try to commit to memory, word for the word, the meanings ascribed to each of the cards.

Since there are 78 cards in a standard tarot deck, this was no mean feat!

However, as time went on and I moved from reading for myself, to reading for others, I soon discovered that the best readings required a key ingredient: Intuition.

In order to accurately channel messages through the cards, it was vitally important for me to tune into feelings, sensation and emotion which took me beyond what I could glean from any book.

I also learnt that a reading began before I’d even shuffled the deck. If I took a moment to tune into my intuition and the energy of the querent beforehand I found I could often sense what the reading would be about. Sometimes I’d even be able to predict the specific cards that would come out!

Tarot reading is essentially storytelling, whether you see it as the cards telling the story of the subconscious mind, your angels and guides telling you what you need to know or a map to the future.

As with any work of art or literature, the reader or viewer’s interpretation is always subjective because it is shaped by their own personality, likes and life experiences.

For example, someone who’s never suffered the physical loss of a partner will experience a book like “One Day” very differently to someone who has. It’s the same with Tarot. Someone in love will no doubt have a different reaction to “The Lovers” card as opposed to someone who’s in the midst of a difficult break up.

Likewise an older person may connect differently with the “Death” card (which isn’t normally about literal death but ego death and transformation) than a younger person.

I’ve always loved stories. From a young age I wrote and illustrated my own little books and was an avid reader.

The Tarot is essentially an epic story that follows the hero’s journey model.

All of us are the hero in our own stories but we’re only living one part of that story at a time and no matter where we are in life, the cards can give us a loving nudge in the right direction (or a tough love kick up the arse when we’re living in denial).

And I also learnt that Spirit was developing its own language with me through the cards.

For example, if I was connecting with someone’s loved one in Spirit, the Judgment card would nearly always show up. Or if I was looking at a soulmate / twin flame connection, the two of wands would feature.

As I expanded my deck collection I also developed a unique relationship with different representations of the cards which sometimes included symbols or artwork that differed dramatically from the traditional Rider-Waite deck, for example. This also influenced the outcome of a reading.

What I love most about Tarot is that it helps us to get another perspective, helping us to take a zoomed out view at what we can’t normally see because we’re too close to it, our faces squished in anguish against the glass of our hopes, dreams and fears.

Tarot has helped me to take a step back, breathe and find a way forward, no matter how dark or unwieldy the path ahead has seemed.

Now I want to share this gift with you too.

If you’re curious to learn more about Tarot and would like to learn how to read the cards, whether for yourself or others, I’m hosting a beginner’s workshop this Monday online.

You’ll find all the details including how to register on the Facebook event HERE.