DIVEX - KitchWitch

[TheKitchWitch]

Hello everyone,

I feel like I could use some guidance. At the end of this month I'm moving to Arizona and opening a new age/ pagan/ boutique type of store with my Mom and Grandma. I would love if someone could give me their thoughts on this and a reading on things to look out for in the future. To make things a little more complicated, the love of my life is leaving everything behind to go with me so advice/a reading on the relationship department would be helpful as well.

[Agonistes]

Hello everyone,

I feel like I could use some guidance. At the end of this month I'm moving to Arizona and opening a new age/ pagan/ boutique type of store with my Mom and Grandma. I would love if someone could give me their thoughts on this and a reading on things to look out for in the future. To make things a little more complicated, the love of my life is leaving everything behind to go with me so advice/a reading on the relationship department would be helpful as well.

I am assuming you're opening as a small, sole proprietorship, are you planning on doing any small-scale accounting? If so, I would recommend the smaller version of QuickBooks to keep track of assets, liabilities, expenses, and revenues it also produces income statements and balance sheets for you with ease. I would also recommend some sort of PoS system that can keep track of inventory using a perpetual system, most of the digital cash registers do this, it's much easier than counting up receipts. The one I use calculates tax and sales for me.

Other than I would love to open my own metaphysical store, I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors!

[Dashifen]

At the end of this month I'm moving to Arizona and opening a new age/ pagan/ boutique type of store with my Mom and Grandma. I would love if someone could give me their thoughts on this and a reading on things to look out for in the future. To make things a little more complicated, the love of my life is leaving everything behind to go with me so advice/a reading on the relationship department would be helpful as well.

Are you looking for two separate readings or a single one on both topics?

[TheKitchWitch]

Are you looking for two separate readings or a single one on both topics?

Either or, I'm not super picky about it.

[TheKitchWitch]

I am assuming you're opening as a small, sole proprietorship, are you planning on doing any small-scale accounting? If so, I would recommend the smaller version of QuickBooks to keep track of assets, liabilities, expenses, and revenues it also produces income statements and balance sheets for you with ease. I would also recommend some sort of PoS system that can keep track of inventory using a perpetual system, most of the digital cash registers do this, it's much easier than counting up receipts. The one I use calculates tax and sales for me.

Other than I would love to open my own metaphysical store, I wish you the best of luck in all your endeavors!

I'm definitely getting quickbooks and I've got my computer and electronic cash register to set up so I'm set there. =) As for the small scale accounting, I've actually hired an accountant to keep track of most things. Thanks for the advice!

[Agonistes]

I'm definitely getting quickbooks and I've got my computer and electronic cash register to set up so I'm set there. =) As for the small scale accounting, I've actually hired an accountant to keep track of most things. Thanks for the advice!

Amazing! I hope everything goes awesomely as it seems you're quite the businesswoman!

[Dashifen]

Either or, I'm not super picky about it.

I'll be using the Shadowscapes Tarot for this reading. It's a newer deck for me, but I've found that it works well. For the spread, I'd like to use one which Barbara Moore describes in a books as "Acorn to Oak." It seems appropriate for something that you're trying to grow: your business. It's a nine card spread as follows:



(Digression: Handy that the kindle app on my tablet shows you location and book title. I do recommend this book for those who might be interested.)

It works like this: two cards are chosen and placed at the first and seventh positions. Then, the deck is re-shuffled and the remainder of the cards are selected in order as you would expect. Then, they're interpreted:

1. Where you are now.
2. What resources you need to get started.
3. What you need to know to help it grow.
4. What you need to do to nurture it along.
5. What unexpected delay you can watch for and maybe circumvent.
6. What will help you be strong.
7. Your goal.
8. Benefits of your "oak."
9. Unexpected gifts of your "oak."

In this case, I think we'll start here. The bottom of the tree (2 and 3) might be a little superfluous since you're already well on your way, but it never hurts to see what comes up. For the relationship questions, I think we'll focus on cards 8 and 9 since the relationship is connected to but not directly a part of the business-related questions. If, after we run through this reading, you're still feeling like you want more information with respect to your relationship questions, we can either enhance this spread or simply do another reading.

Sound like a plan?

Would you prefer that I send a private message to you with the reading or simply post it here? I'm fine either way; a PM is clearly private but posting it here means we might be able to start an obscure tarot debate.

[TheKitchWitch]

I'll be using the Shadowscapes Tarot for this reading. It's a newer deck for me, but I've found that it works well. For the spread, I'd like to use one which Barbara Moore describes in a books as "Acorn to Oak." It seems appropriate for something that you're trying to grow: your business. It's a nine card spread as follows:



(Digression: Handy that the kindle app on my tablet shows you location and book title. I do recommend this book for those who might be interested.)

It works like this: two cards are chosen and placed at the first and seventh positions. Then, the deck is re-shuffled and the remainder of the cards are selected in order as you would expect. Then, they're interpreted:

1. Where you are now.
2. What resources you need to get started.
3. What you need to know to help it grow.
4. What you need to do to nurture it along.
5. What unexpected delay you can watch for and maybe circumvent.
6. What will help you be strong.
7. Your goal.
8. Benefits of your "oak."
9. Unexpected gifts of your "oak."

In this case, I think we'll start here. The bottom of the tree (2 and 3) might be a little superfluous since you're already well on your way, but it never hurts to see what comes up. For the relationship questions, I think we'll focus on cards 8 and 9 since the relationship is connected to but not directly a part of the business-related questions. If, after we run through this reading, you're still feeling like you want more information with respect to your relationship questions, we can either enhance this spread or simply do another reading.

Sound like a plan?

Would you prefer that I send a private message to you with the reading or simply post it here? I'm fine either way; a PM is clearly private but posting it here means we might be able to start an obscure tarot debate.

Sounds terrific and you are welcome to post it here =)

[Dashifen]

At the end of this month I'm moving to Arizona and opening a new age/ pagan/ boutique type of store with my Mom and Grandma. I would love if someone could give me their thoughts on this and a reading on things to look out for in the future. To make things a little more complicated, the love of my life is leaving everything behind to go with me so advice/a reading on the relationship department would be helpful as well.

Here's your reading. The images are from the Lizzie's Logic blog where Liz reviews Tarot decks for the publishers and has permissions to put the photos online.

1. Ace of Wands
2. Ten of Swords
3. Page of Wands
4. Knight of Cups
5. The Hierophant
6. Ace of Cups
7. Three of Swords
8. Two of Swords
9. Seven of Cups

So, I lied a little bit above. I want to read this a little differently now that it's all laid out in front of me. I was hoping the cards eight and nine would tell us something about your partner, but only nine really does. The card in the eighth position is a powerful card, but it's also one that's a little more solitary so I don't think it's going to be speaking much about him or her (Edit: actually, I don't agree with what I wrote here now that I've re-read everything again. I didn't want to erase my original thinking, though). That said, the Ace of Cups does and I think the Ten of Swords does a little bit, too. There's more below.

Some general themes: there's not much of a pattern here; you've two wands, three swords, three cups, and one of the Major Arcana. Interestingly, for a reading about job changes, there's no pentacles. That says to me that you've got a lot of the physical, logistical stuff squared away, but there's still some creative, intellectual, and emotional questions left unanswered. That there's only one of the majors tells me this is a fairly flexible situation, too, so your thoughts and feelings might be shifting somewhat chaotically throughout this time. You also hit two of the "worse" cards in the deck: the three of swords and the ten of swords, so there's a sense of danger involved, too. Granted, it could simply be the risk involved in starting a business and moving to a new place leaving your comfort zone behind, but without knowing more about your specific situation, I don't want to over-think things.

One thing I do see is that you have a 10-Page-Knight progressing in cards two through four. I'll touch on that below.

1. So we start at the Ace of Wands -- appropriately the beginning of the reading, and the card that represents you and where you are right now. The Ace of Wands is all about possibilities. This is the moment right after you have an idea where anything seems possible. There's an optimism to this card but also a sense that not everything may be completely thought through because you may not have spent enough time working the idea from all the angles. It's a card of potential energy waiting to be harnessed, but it's also a warning that if not controlled, things could go fairly haywire.
   
2. The Ten of Swords is next and represents what resources you need to get yourself started. As I said above, since you're well on your way to making this a reality -- this card may be less dismal than it sometimes can be. Usually, this card represents an out-of-control spiral. If you click over to the card image you can see that the woman in the picture appears to be falling (jumping?) off of a structure of some kind. Blackbirds seem to be trying to hold her up but the ribbons they use aren't going to help much. Not knowing much more than what's at the top of this post, I can't speak from much authority, but I wonder if this new venture is about leaving behind some negative baggage from the previous parts of your life? If so, I think we can interpret the woman's fall (on the card) less as a tragic thing and perhaps something of a leap of faith and a way to get away from her current predicament. We, after all, can't see what she's landing on; it's always possible that she'll land on her feet. With respect to this spread, I think the card is tell you that this is a fresh start and a time to consider truly moving on from any sort of negativity that you may have experienced in the past. To get started: keep the good stuff (like your partner) but don't be afraid to leave the bad stuff behind you when you move to Arizona.
   
3. And for what we need to know, we move back into the suit of wands. This page represents youthful enthusiasm and the ability to unconsciously and uncaringly create something beautiful. She is the drive to dig deep within yourself to find the spark of inspiration/intuition and use that to create something wonderful. Considering the previous card was a 10 and this is a Page, we've got a clear progression from a more dismal situation into one of intuitive optimism: the page is happy simply creating regardless of where she's come from or where she's going. This card is definitely giving me a sense of that your journey is more important than your destination right now -- what you're creating and the process that you'll be going through to create it is going to be at least as important as what you do with what you create when you finish it. Your business, success or failure, is going to teach you a lot (the court cards are often about a maturation process, after all -- not to call you immature!).
   
4. And now we have the Knight of Cups -- on the card a knight upon a unicorn seeking the holy grail despite the precarious seas on which he rides. To nurture this process along, you're going to want to follow your dreams regardless of the dangers and risks involved -- and looking ahead to card 7 (the outcome card in this spread), there is some risky danger implied in the reading. If you look at the card, the knight seems to be looking right at the grail; he's not really paying attention to the problems of how to get there or the fey that seem to be either guarding or moving the grail to keep it safe from his grasp. To keep your plans in motion, you're going to want to keep your goals firmly fixed in front of you. Things may not be easy, but if you do this, you'll always know what you're aiming for and that will help you get there. (Does that sound as cheesy to you as it does to me know that I'm re-reading it!)
   
5. The hierophant is a strange card in this position. He's all about a deeper knowledge of secrets and ritual, a guardian of the threshold between the physical and the numinous. He's also the sort of person who can unravel mysteries and possess the ability to remain calm under pressure and when facing situations for which he was not prepared. For some reason, lawyers come to mind for me. The unexpected stumbling block here might be some sort of real-world, bureaucratic mumbo jumbo that you have to sift through before you can get things moving. Usually, the hierophant talks about more spiritual things, but here in America, I think it's safe to say that with just about as many courtroom dramas on TV as there are televangelists, that we hold bureaucratic mumbo jumbo fairly close to our hears! To be honest, the hierphant hasn't, in the past, given me a sense of the legal realms, but since I had that intuition at this moment, I wanted to be sure to share it with you.
   
6. To help you persevere, remember the Ace of Cups. This fits nicely with the Knight we saw at the nurturing spot. The card shows fish rising out of a body of water on which our cup rests and flying above that water in the air. This card tells us about the lifting power of our emotional side. It tells me that to keep moving on past all the ceremonial, bureaucratic stuff that the hierophant is talking about in this case, you're going to need to make sure that your emotional needs are met because they're where you can keep yourself going. This is the first card that I really see your partner getting involved in the reading. He or she can be the cup here that helps to keep you secure and emotionally healthy even if there are other things going totally wonky.
   
7. And now we get to the crummy place -- unfortunately it's also the goal/outcome card. I don't think I've seen a deck where the three of swords doesn't have some sort of image that shows someone or something getting stabbed. There's a sense of loneliness to the card; the swan is pictured alone and quickly clearly run through but she's not all that ruffled almost as if she sacrificed her self rather than put up a fight. How the hell is this your goal, you may be wondering. Here's the best I got for you: things aren't going to be easy and there's going to be some trials to overcome and things are possibly going to get wonky and your partner and your mother and grandmother and you are going to have to band together so that no one has to face these things alone in the same way that the swan does in the picture. The card also doesn't have to represent failure. The sacrifice picture on the card might have been in defense of something that the swan cared deeply about. You might have to be willing to sacrifice less important features of your current situation in order to get to where you want to be.
   
8. So here we come to the benefits card. After all the tribulations that the hierophant and the three of swords tell us about, what sort of growth are you going to be able to claim. The good news is that I think the two of wands represents a card of strength in this case. Some people read it more negatively (i.e. a stalemate) but that doesn't make sense to me this time around. Instead, I see it as a representation of the skills that you're going to gain to defend yourself and the ones you love (the swans in the picture) from anything that comes your way. You're going to be able to develop an understanding of your trials and you're going to have all the necessary ideas and skills to overcome them. Plus, the figure on the card seems to be in a fairly "You Shall Not Pass" sort of pose. I think the card does have a little bit of your personal relationships, unlike what I originally wrote above. It tells me that you're going to gain the capabilities to keep those you love safe.
   
9. Finally, we're here at the seven of cups. This is the unexpected thing that you'll find along this journey and I think there are some positive over tones with respect to your partner and family here. The card shows two people working together trying to find a way to a castle in the clouds. The castle is a goal or an ideal and the partnership picture seems to very much speak of working together with others to reach some sense of completeness. The question is this: do you shoot for the castle on the hill behind the couple or do you reach out for the one in the sky? I think the unexpected could be the deepening of the relationship between you and your partner. The Ace of Cups told is the he or she is going to be important in this process to keep you emotionally steady and the seven tells me that it's possible that despite the tumult of some of the latter cards on the spread, that you and your partner can work it out together.

Phew! There you go. Please don't hesitate to ask me any questions. I'm going to leave those nine cards out and aside so that if you want me to draw more for any reason -- like if you'd like to get the cards' take on an aspect of the above reading or on another question entirely, I'll be able to do so with the cards "locked" in the position they're currently in.

Thanks for letting me take a stab at this. I haven't read the cards in a few months because I moved from Illinois to Pennsylvania and lost touch with the people with whom I used to read. This was fun and I hope it was informative for you, too!

[TheKitchWitch]

Here's your reading. The images are from the Lizzie's Logic blog where Liz reviews Tarot decks for the publishers and has permissions to put the photos online.

Thanks for letting me take a stab at this. I haven't read the cards in a few months because I moved from Illinois to Pennsylvania and lost touch with the people with whom I used to read. This was fun and I hope it was informative for you, too!

Thanks so much for doing this reading. It has brought a lot of light to the situation. Sorry it took so long for me to get back to you, things went a little crazy for a week or so, but everything's now back on track. =)