Umbrae
“Hey…Come on in. Mind the cats, they get underfoot…take your coat? Come on into the kitchen, I’ve just made coffee.
“Oh my…that’s a good question…to memorize accepted meanings, or attempt to read intuitively, like a psychic 'whatever’.
“…You know, I have said before, both are acceptable, although usually I stress the latter school of thought…but I must remind you…I stress that, only because that was my path.
“I have also stressed that other paths are valid.
“Yeah, I love that picture, we hung it in the kitchen because it’s special to us. You buy them in the Old City...I had to hunt for a while to find a copy that wasn’t dog-eared. It was taken from Mount Olive.
“You’re right handed, correct? Then your right hand is what you were born with, and your left is what you make of yourself – opposite if you happened to be left handed. I’m going to drop a few flakes of rolling tobacco into your left hand.
“You are a sensitive, intelligent person. You have the ability to cope with many situations. Although you are far from a wimpish type, you are not the overly aggressive or manipulative type either. You appear to be a very stable person – reliable.
“You are the type that tends to take up challenges. You win more than you lose, you are a survivor.
“You have a strong need for other people to like you, and for their admiration. Many times you will “go along” just to avoid a confrontation. After a disagreement you will often be the first to apologize, often for no reason.
“You have a tendency to by overly critical of yourself, often you are your own worst enemy – seeking out your imperfections. Sometimes this spills over into your evaluation of others. People disappoint you because they cannot live up to your standards.
“You have a tendency to become impatient with people who are users, lazy, or procrastinate. On the other hand, you would benefit by putting more thought and effort into establishing meaningful relationships. I sense some problems there now…
“And there are people around you that are weaker willed than you. You have a tendency to be a loner, and you would probably benefit from other friendships in you life, both male and female; and people from different walks of life.
“You have the flexibility to adjust to whatever situation comes forth in your life. You have a strongly developed capability to bring stability and balance to situations around you. You have the ability to bring harmony out of chaos. Many of those around you recognize this, and often look to you to take control.
“You are in control of your life, and are able to deal effectively with whatever happens. I sense an inner strength, this is often not seen by those around you, they do not always see the real you. You tend to be your own person, with little need to be dependent on others.
“You have a great deal of unused capacity which you have not utilized, although you detest procrastinators, you find yourself guilty of it sometimes. Many times though, you are simply turning a problem over in your head, examining it from different aspects.
“You have an empathy for nature, you like to grow things, you like the feel of the soil; but you don’t take the time you would like.
“Conversely, you have less likening for confined spaces. Sometimes late at night, you get the feeling that things are closing around you too tightly.
“Your sexual growth has presented some problems for you. As a child you probably felt you were ready for your first…dalliance…a tad ahead of your contemporaries. You have come to grips with your inner feelings and are now in better control of your emotions. Much more comfortable with your sexuality now.
“There is a whole other camp out there. I call it the camp of the enemy. They are the sidewalk charlatan’s. They are the ones that often give the rest of us a bad name. On the other hand I have known some ‘fakes’ that provided a better service than high-paid ‘genuine psychics’.
“A memorized spiel, like the one I just gave, can be ’accurate’ for many people. Put the paragraphs in reverse order and you have two ‘readings’. Learn to mix the paragraphs and you can make a living in any civilized country in the world.
“Just dump that tobacco back in my pouch, I’d like to roll a cigarette.
“Immoral? There’s a thought…
“Let’s go outside…mind the cats, don’t let them out.
“This is Black Gold; a rose bush I planted in memory of my best friend Bobby. We were best friends for 27 years. I was his best man on the best day of his life, and I was there for him at the end. The family requested that I was there to help make the final decision. We unplugged him, and helped him pass over. I plant roses for friends and relatives when they pass on…I also plant roses because they are beautiful…what…? I have about thirty rose bushes…
“I miss Bobby…
“Look at this, Green Ice…you need to come in the summer, the flowers are tiny and green…green rose blossoms…you get this from years of grafting and seeding or whatever…I don’t create new strains so I don’t know…but this is a green rose…is it unnatural?
“Let’s look back at a ‘fake’ reading. It’s a memorized script. Many folks read tarot by repeating memorized paragraphs, a different memorized script for each card…and they look down their noses at psychics, and in the same breath call themselves ‘intuitive’? What’s the difference?
“Tarot, Runes, Bones, Medicine Bag…they are about an attempt to communicate with the divine…divination, to communicate with the divine. Ultimately it is all about having or creating, a clear and open channel with your own deity, be it hairy thunderer or cosmic toaster.
“Do you think that your God made green roses? It’s made by taking God’s design and messing with it, not genetically, but naturally…
“Be it Tarot, or Runes or Bones, you need to figure out within your own head, who you are. Since you will never read like me, you must find the path to read like yourself…and who are you? Are you the golden psychic? The sidewalk charlatan? Or something in between? It does not matter…
“You can give a reading consisting of memorized paragraphs for each Tarot card…you can give a memorized reading while looking at a person’s palm and then reverse it for the next person; you can give a reading by looking at clouds or toothpicks or scry the bubbles on a glass of ale…
“Here’s what matters…look back on why they come to you…with all the tools available…they come to you with your Tarot cards…Why?
“…and what do you give them?
“It is my belief, that you give them hope…and allow them to see that not only do green roses exist, but black gold is real…”
“Oh my…that’s a good question…to memorize accepted meanings, or attempt to read intuitively, like a psychic 'whatever’.
“…You know, I have said before, both are acceptable, although usually I stress the latter school of thought…but I must remind you…I stress that, only because that was my path.
“I have also stressed that other paths are valid.
“Yeah, I love that picture, we hung it in the kitchen because it’s special to us. You buy them in the Old City...I had to hunt for a while to find a copy that wasn’t dog-eared. It was taken from Mount Olive.
“You’re right handed, correct? Then your right hand is what you were born with, and your left is what you make of yourself – opposite if you happened to be left handed. I’m going to drop a few flakes of rolling tobacco into your left hand.
“You are a sensitive, intelligent person. You have the ability to cope with many situations. Although you are far from a wimpish type, you are not the overly aggressive or manipulative type either. You appear to be a very stable person – reliable.
“You are the type that tends to take up challenges. You win more than you lose, you are a survivor.
“You have a strong need for other people to like you, and for their admiration. Many times you will “go along” just to avoid a confrontation. After a disagreement you will often be the first to apologize, often for no reason.
“You have a tendency to by overly critical of yourself, often you are your own worst enemy – seeking out your imperfections. Sometimes this spills over into your evaluation of others. People disappoint you because they cannot live up to your standards.
“You have a tendency to become impatient with people who are users, lazy, or procrastinate. On the other hand, you would benefit by putting more thought and effort into establishing meaningful relationships. I sense some problems there now…
“And there are people around you that are weaker willed than you. You have a tendency to be a loner, and you would probably benefit from other friendships in you life, both male and female; and people from different walks of life.
“You have the flexibility to adjust to whatever situation comes forth in your life. You have a strongly developed capability to bring stability and balance to situations around you. You have the ability to bring harmony out of chaos. Many of those around you recognize this, and often look to you to take control.
“You are in control of your life, and are able to deal effectively with whatever happens. I sense an inner strength, this is often not seen by those around you, they do not always see the real you. You tend to be your own person, with little need to be dependent on others.
“You have a great deal of unused capacity which you have not utilized, although you detest procrastinators, you find yourself guilty of it sometimes. Many times though, you are simply turning a problem over in your head, examining it from different aspects.
“You have an empathy for nature, you like to grow things, you like the feel of the soil; but you don’t take the time you would like.
“Conversely, you have less likening for confined spaces. Sometimes late at night, you get the feeling that things are closing around you too tightly.
“Your sexual growth has presented some problems for you. As a child you probably felt you were ready for your first…dalliance…a tad ahead of your contemporaries. You have come to grips with your inner feelings and are now in better control of your emotions. Much more comfortable with your sexuality now.
“There is a whole other camp out there. I call it the camp of the enemy. They are the sidewalk charlatan’s. They are the ones that often give the rest of us a bad name. On the other hand I have known some ‘fakes’ that provided a better service than high-paid ‘genuine psychics’.
“A memorized spiel, like the one I just gave, can be ’accurate’ for many people. Put the paragraphs in reverse order and you have two ‘readings’. Learn to mix the paragraphs and you can make a living in any civilized country in the world.
“Just dump that tobacco back in my pouch, I’d like to roll a cigarette.
“Immoral? There’s a thought…
“Let’s go outside…mind the cats, don’t let them out.
“This is Black Gold; a rose bush I planted in memory of my best friend Bobby. We were best friends for 27 years. I was his best man on the best day of his life, and I was there for him at the end. The family requested that I was there to help make the final decision. We unplugged him, and helped him pass over. I plant roses for friends and relatives when they pass on…I also plant roses because they are beautiful…what…? I have about thirty rose bushes…
“I miss Bobby…
“Look at this, Green Ice…you need to come in the summer, the flowers are tiny and green…green rose blossoms…you get this from years of grafting and seeding or whatever…I don’t create new strains so I don’t know…but this is a green rose…is it unnatural?
“Let’s look back at a ‘fake’ reading. It’s a memorized script. Many folks read tarot by repeating memorized paragraphs, a different memorized script for each card…and they look down their noses at psychics, and in the same breath call themselves ‘intuitive’? What’s the difference?
“Tarot, Runes, Bones, Medicine Bag…they are about an attempt to communicate with the divine…divination, to communicate with the divine. Ultimately it is all about having or creating, a clear and open channel with your own deity, be it hairy thunderer or cosmic toaster.
“Do you think that your God made green roses? It’s made by taking God’s design and messing with it, not genetically, but naturally…
“Be it Tarot, or Runes or Bones, you need to figure out within your own head, who you are. Since you will never read like me, you must find the path to read like yourself…and who are you? Are you the golden psychic? The sidewalk charlatan? Or something in between? It does not matter…
“You can give a reading consisting of memorized paragraphs for each Tarot card…you can give a memorized reading while looking at a person’s palm and then reverse it for the next person; you can give a reading by looking at clouds or toothpicks or scry the bubbles on a glass of ale…
“Here’s what matters…look back on why they come to you…with all the tools available…they come to you with your Tarot cards…Why?
“…and what do you give them?
“It is my belief, that you give them hope…and allow them to see that not only do green roses exist, but black gold is real…”
