Shoesday Tuesday

It was a girls-night-out sort of party, where I was the resident tarot reader. I didn't pay for table space, which was good, but the event planner offered a free three minute reading as part of the ticket. I wound up doing more readings in one night than I've ever done. My previous record was 15 separate readings for 12 people, at a house party. This was somewhere around 35 people over 4 hours, from 7 to 11ish. I had a few between 7 and 8 p.m. even, before the party, but as the crowd warmed up and got rolling was a concentrated hot-seat from 9 till 11. It was all non-stop, no breaks.


First, the good things:

Networking: Even before the party started, I handed my card out to two different event planners, the whole bar staff, discussed even further with the owner of the bar, about a regular psychic night. One of them was sort of a mystical themed event planner. Made some tentative plans for a Halloween party. I feel like it was a "on the fly" job interview, and I feel like I aced it. No one flinched when I named my hourly rate. I exchanged a reading for a massage with the massage therapist, and she took a stack of cards. Many of her clients also see tarot readers. I did likewise. I think we actually became friends, which is a nice side thing. For the actual sitters, I handed out at least a hundred cards. Everyone took at least one, sometimes taking a handful. I made a few appointments for house calls, last night. 

Readings: Lots of first timers! Definitely feel like I reached out to a good cross section of women, in many different life situations. Connected well with more than half, had stellar crystal clear overwhelmingly awesome readings for about 10 (one of them, regarding pregnancy, miscarriage, and future children was almost tearful for both of us), and got a few blank stares, and skeptics, and the easily distracted. A handful of drunks, but not as many as I expected.

Popularity: I half joked with my friend that I'd bring a book to the party, in case no one popped by my table. Some early birds were bugging me at 7 p.m hour before the actual event, before I even settled into my table, and my list was full, till the end of the night. I was the last one to take my table down. I had some friends at the party, and they said the buzz about the tarot reader was overwhelmingly positive. Yay! I think there will be more people lurking around the bar, looking for me. Many asked if I had a regular night, and no, not yet. Many of my sitters told their friends, that weren't at the party (at the downstairs bar, where regular bar patrons/non ticket holders were hanging out) As I was walking out, I was hailed by bar patrons for more readings, although I had to turn them down, because I was ready to collapse. 


Negative aspects, stuff I didn't see coming (but should have) stuff I'll watch for next time.

Readings: Many people sat down with blank expressions, and it took me a few minutes to get warmed up with them, shuffling and engaging them in conversation. I had to, by the end of the night (more on why, in a bit) sort of hustle people along, and say "the more specific you can get with me, the better I can help you in 3 minutes time". Many people caught on right away, and I had very satisfying and concise readings, and I sent these people away satisfied. Others sat down with a shrug. I'd pull some cards, and outline things about their lives, and they'd say "but I already knew all that". Well, great, but I didn't. Towards the end of the night, I felt like they were wasting my time, as well as their own, and just taking the service because it was free. It was difficult to limit it to 3 minutes, and often I went over. With at least 3 girls, we talked for over 10, because things were really rolling. I got appointments out of these.

Free: Which brings me to the free thing. People who make appointments and seek me out want a tarot reading. Drunks at a party stumble into my chair because it's there, and yet still expect miracles in 3 minutes. Everyone at the party signed up, including other vendors, the kitchen staff, etc. I got to everyone, but there were some catty girls, and women annoyed at the aspect of waiting. Seriously, a fight broke out between a pair of women (and their little respective groups) at who was first on the list. I solved it, satisfactorily enough, I suppose. But totally unexpected.

Money: I got some tips, and I sold some extra readings, on top of the freebies. Not quite enough to compensate the 4 hours I was there, but it was alright. I was surprised at how much people wanted for nothing, and how reticent some were at paying $5 for five extra cards, and some extra time, especially since the freebie reading only really just got us started. (meanwhile they're spending $6 a pop for ginger vodkatinis). About a dozen of the earlier readings asked if they could come back for more, after the list dwindled down. I feel like the limited time, huge crowd, cut into my profits, because I was so busy cranking out the freebies, that I couldn't get to some that wanted to pay for more, "later".

The setting in general: Early on, the environment was great, moving around, lots of chatty bubbly energy. Around halfway through, DJ Pete turned the lights down, popped on the special effect lights, and my corner became jet black and extremely loud. Candles were found, so I could continue wading though my ever growing list. By the end of the night, as the party was winding up and up (kudos to the DJ, by the way, the man could really get a crowd pumping) I was reading in a very loud club environment. The poor last few, I had to shout to. My voice still hasn't really recovered.



It was overall a satisfying evening, and I feel like I met, networked, and connected with a lot of people. There were some definite drawbacks, some things that you guys warned me of, and some things I never would have realized till I experienced them myself.

Shuffles

Writing what I wrote, last night really helped me settle my energy.  Sometimes, writing, and that was a lot of what Luiz and I were exploring, is the best thing.  Best for documenting, meditating, grounding, composing, therapy, catharsis.  I feel like, without it, I would have been sick and sad for the rest of the night.

Moving on.

I can't find my three favorite stones. They were in a bag, with my travel tarot stuff.  Can't find the bag.  I refuse to accept that they're done with me, however, I just have to look harder.

Ever have a shopping list running in your head...running and running, till you to to the place where you need to buy the stuff, then...foof, all gone.  Yeah, I'm going through it right now.  I've been putting off an order to Mountainrose for a few months, planning to refresh my herbs in one fell swoop.  Damned if I can't remember what-all I needed, besides more sage.

Played with the Tarot of Sweet Twilight a little this morning, doing some readings for the girls at work.  Sometimes the whimsical decks really surprise me.  Lighthearted, and telling.

That didn't end well...

Well, Irv's quite cheery, now.  I'm not, but somehow he feels great.   I'm not even sure which blog to put this in.  I'll throw it in here, as a caveat, one of my many hurdles.

Luiz and I were having a significant reading, and some deep spiritual talk, the likes of which we haven't seen in months.  Long time flipping cards, and soul searching, some on my part, mostly on his.   This is how we work through his very real clinical depression.  This helps me get my own moral compass and bearings in check.  It's a necessary part of our existence.  It's been forever since we could sit down like this.  Irv was working next door, doing all sorts of stuff with the house, then he came in, and blasted out a load of laundry, then disrupted the table where we were reading, slamming open the dishwasher, and slamming the dishes in the cabinet.  Crash, back down to earth, with unasked for tears in my eyes.  What? What the hell is his problem?  His problem was that WE didn't do those two things.  I didn't know they *needed* doing right that very moment.  As soon as I cleared my cards, and we scattered from the table, as soon as Luiz, in a flurry of apologies, cleaned some menial something, he was fine. Cheery.  Hah.  Jovial.  His mood went from storming fucking angry, to maniacally happy.

I'm still shaking, and trying to hold back the tears.  I'm really shaken.  I feel like we were really accomplishing something.  Luiz was having some great epiphanies, I was really remembering what *it* is all about.  We were deep, deep in the Universe, deep in the cards, and in a very specific mental state, only to be blasted out of it by a wave of manically bad energy, and a delightful disruption/guilt trip.  Like a bowling ball, to pins, only if the bowling ball could get some kind of perverse satisfaction out of smashing the pins.

Why does he do it?  Did he feel discluded?  Is he just feeling mean?  All my empathic receptors were wide open, and all I could feel was that wave of "Oh, fuck them, fuck this, watch this..." sort of glee.

It's any wonder I get anything done.  I have to go smooth out my energy somehow, or else I will be irrational, and fighting back tears for the rest of the night.  I feel like I just took a direct hit of total crap right to my solar plexus.

I feel like I can trust the environment I've created, the "circle" we build when we go through all the steps for a night of readings like this. The cards, the herbs, the mental preparation.  Then something like this comes and smashes it wide open.  We let our guards down, we got distracted and started moving around.  Left the circle, without closing it, so to speak.  No, I didn't actually cast one, and I didn't think I had to.  Now I see that sometimes, I can't just leave it out like that.  Stupid me.  Ego? Maybe.  My kitchen, my table, my space...not so much.  Lesson learned.