Newsletter of The Tarot School
http://TarotSchool.com
ISSN: 1529-0565 
Vol. 14 #7 July 1, 2022

                                                                  
 In this Issue:
- Welcome
- Tarot Tip: XX Judgement — The Critic

- Wald's Words of Wisdom
- Diviner's Corner: Graphology

- Meet the Reader: James Divine
- Best Practices: Self-Employment and
  Retirement Savings
- Upcoming Events
 
Welcome to a new issue of Tarot Tips!
And a special welcome to our new subscribers.

  This month you came from:
Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Russia,
Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the
United States. We're glad you're here!


July 1st
 
Believe it or not, the part of preparing
Tarot Tips that I find hardest is what to
say in this Welcome section. This month,
I was tempted to skip it altogether. Instead,
I wound up writing what could be used as
an entire article. But if I did that, I'd still
have nothing for this section so here goes....

For someone who is mathematically
challenged, I'm rather obsessed with 
numbers. There are certain numbers that have
a message for me, help me with decisions, or
act as a memory prompt. 

I know I'm not alone in noticing "angel
numbers" such as 11:11, 2:22, etc. Have you
ever done that? I'll notice numbers related
to my birthdate (which is also probably not
all that unusual), and certain numbers
signal greetings from my deceased parents.

There are also important numbers
specifically related to tarot.

4: The number of suits in a tarot deck, 4 is
also the number of Mercy on the Tree of
Life. It signifies an outpouring of positive
energy in whatever context it occurs.

10: The total of numbered cards in the Minor
Arcana, 10 reminds me of the qabalistic
maxim "10 and not 9, 10 and not 11."
Although specifically referring to the
number of sephiroth on the Tree, I find this
saying to be extremely helpful with making
decisions, where 10 is a possible answer.
For example, "Should I buy 8 cups of yogurt
or 10?" It really comes in handy more often
than you might think.

9 and 18 are the numbers of my Birth Cards
so I'll notice where they pop up. Another
use of the numbers of the Major Arcana is
a trick that Mary K. Greer taught me. She
visualizes cards associated with her airline
flight and hotel room numbers as a way to
remember them. Since I sometimes have
trouble remembering number sequences,
I find this very helpful!

And then there's 78. The total number of
cards in the deck, this significant number
doesn't come up very often so it's special
when it does. Our most recent Tarot Salon
was the 78th class since we started teaching
over Zoom! How cool is that?

There are probably lots of ways tarot-
related numbers show up in your own
life. When you notice them, see what kind of
guidance they have to offer you. Knowing the
numbers associated with the Major Arcana
cards is a good place to start.

Today's date is July 1, 2022. The total of
those numbers is 2030, which reduces to
5. This is the number of The Hierophant.
I hope this issue of Tarot Tips will teach
you something useful.  


  
And one more thing...
 
A million thanks go out to all who have
helped Wald's granddaughter, Isabella after
her awful car accident! We are all truly
grateful. She's doing a bit better but is
still unable to work and meet her expenses.
If you would like to help out, we set up a
GoFundMe page for her here:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/44mw5-please-help-my-granddaughter



Wishing you joy along the tarot path,
Ruth Ann, Wald and Gina

 
Tarot Tips is here to help you with the practical side
of your Tarot journey. In order to take the greatest
advantage of this newsletter, please send us your
questions regarding any aspect of your tarot study
or practice and we'll do our best to answer them
in an upcoming issue.

Spread the experience of tarot - share this newsletter
with other Tarot Enthusiasts!
 

 
Tarot Tip
PSYCHOLOGICAL CHALLENGES IN TAROT:
XX JUDGEMENT – THE CRITIC


by Katrina Wynne, MA, CTM, CTI, CLC

As many know, the teacher is the perpetual
student, and in my Professional Tarot
Consulting program, I’m often inspired by
my students and their questions. 

Recently, a student was stuck on the literal
meaning of the word “judgment”, afraid of
feeling judged, and associating that meaning
to the XX Judgement card. To help broaden
her knowledge and experience of this
challenging card, I gave her the homework
assignment of researching multiple Tarot
decks and Tarot books, noting the various
interpretations of this image exemplar.

If I alchemically distill the message of
this card into a simplistic form, its 
essence, I would call it “Beyond Judgment”,
going to that field beyond rightdoing and
wrongdoing, as portrayed by the Sufi
mystic, Rumi. 

Judgment is what keeps us in dualism,
one-sidedness, division, separation, and
lack of connection, which perpetuates a
belief that we are not whole, lovable,
loved, or connected. It is the me vs. you,
us vs. them, as well as the Inner Critic,
or the Shadow. 

These perceptions and experiences of
disconnection are what tend to be at the
root of most mental illnesses, leading to
the development of “coping mechanisms”
to survive, which then congeal into aberrant,
neurotic, or psychotic thoughts, feelings,
and behaviors that may last a lifetime…
or more. 

I know this is a huge topic and we live in a
dualistic 3D world, yet, many psychological
modalities, as well as spiritual philosophies
and practices show us ways to work through
the limitations in our Doors of Perception,
clearing age-old judgments that locked us
into viewing ourselves and life through a
distorted lens. 

Here are a few suggestions that I have found
to be helpful in moving beyond Judgments:


1. Practice self-awareness to observe how
habitually you may divide the world, people,
and experiences into “Good” or “Bad.” Please
keep in mind, these are relative terms and only
express your perspective or attachments.
(See Tarot Tips May 2022).

2. Take your own studies of XX Judgement
into Tarot decks and books you have not
explored to expand your understanding of
this card’s application in readings. 

3. In his simple, yet profound book,
Nonviolent Communication, Marshall Rosenberg
extends the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi into
our everyday language and shows us a method
to heal this lack of connection in a loving way. 

4. Most important, notice your inner
dialogue, inner voices, ancestral messages
that send you negating, defeating, or
strongly critical messages. Find ways to
turn your inner critic into your inner
advisor, someone with a loving tone of voice
who only wishes the best for you. 

There is a reason the Judgement card is
placed near the end of the major arcana of
the Tarot sequence, for it prepares us; it
helps us step through the doorway of
dualism, to return to our non-dual 
realization of The World, the World Wide
Web of connectivity, back to our natural
home…which is the same goal of counseling
and psychotherapy…to love and embrace our
wholeness.



About Katrina: 



Katrina Wynne


Katrina Wynne, MA, CTM, CTI, CLC
is an internationally renowned Transformative
Tarot Counselor™ and trained psychotherapist
with close to 50 years’ experience living the
wisdom of Tarot.

Contact Katrina at:
TarotCounseling.org  - website
MySacredJourney.org - weblog
OracleSoup.org - podcast
Facebook.com/katrina.wynne/



 


 Wald's Words of Wisdom
 
 
            With the perceptions of the heart, the Suit of Cups all by itself gives us the ability to understand and respond to the world with all the subtleties and nuances of our feelings.

           
            
 
 
 

Diviner's Corner
GRAPHOLOGY 


old graphology book cover


Graphology is a technique used to reveal
characteristics, traits and personality from a
person’s handwriting. interpreting handwriting
has been of interest since handwriting symbols
have been used as a means of communication.
Although graphology has been regarded as a
pseudoscience, much like other types of
divination. 

Determining the characteristics of a person
based on their handwriting has been
mentioned as early as the eleventh century
in China. Much later, it was considered a
science in France by Father Jean Hippolyte
Michon who published his findings on
handwriting interpretation in The Mysteries
of Handwriting
in 1869, followed by The
Practical Method
. Michon founded Société
Graphologique in 1871, which furthered the
study of graphology. 

A complementary study to psychoanalysis,
graphology helped to diagnose various mental
and physical conditions. It shares some
similarities with chiromancy, in that it
reveals a portrait of person’s disposition.
But unlike other tools used in parapsychology,
graphology is a technical procedure rather
than one employing communication with
the supernatural. Companies have utilized
handwriting analysis to determine a prospective
employee’s potential.  

The study of handwriting requires
examination of the loops, slant, strokes,
connectedness and size of the script,
letters and pressure of written samples.
Graphologists employ the tools of white
paper, preferably a ball point pen, a ruler,
a protractor and a magnifying glass. 

The nuances of written script have been
developed for divinatory purposes, as its
own skill set. As such, it has been useful
in avoiding difficult or painful situations,
and helps with understanding the
possibilities of human behaviors. 


Resources:

Graphology
https://occult-world.com/graphology/ 

Association of Independent Readers &
Rootworkers: Graphology

https://readersandrootworkers.org/wiki/Category:Graphology



We’d love your suggestion or submissions
for this column! If you have an idea or would
like to contribute, please contact us at
tarot@tarotschool.com.


 

Meet The Reader
JAMES DIVINE

By Sharonah Rapseik, Ph.D., CMAP


James Divine
             

James Divine performed his first palm
reading at age 11 after finding a pamphlet
on it in his grandparents’ attic. At age 16,
he started reading professionally and has
studied the art of Palmistry ever since.

James never used to think that there was a
connection between Tarot and Palmistry until
a fateful day while pursuing a vendor table
at a witchy conference in New Orleans, when
he met Madame Pamita.

She offered him her book, Madame Pamita’s
Magical Tarot
 and replied that there are
hands in the images of the Tarot cards,
perhaps he could read them, and offer
insights into the card meanings.

James was so intrigued, that he gave it a
try and what followed was the beginning, not
only of a lifelong friendship with Madame
Pamita, but also one of a field of study of
the amazing connection between the Tarot
and the hands.


Sharonah Rapseik:
James, what makes your tarot practice unique
and how do you express it?

James Divine:
The artwork that is created in any Tarot
deck, be it illustration, collage,
photography, mixed media, or digital
rendering, is created using the hands. Often
the images in the cards include images of
humans and their hands in certain positions,
some decks more than others. The depictions
can tell us a lot about what the artist was
channeling into the symbolism, sometimes
consciously, but usually unconsciously. 

Blending Tarot and Palmistry has been a
source of great joy and revelation, and I
have developed three primary things so far:

• First, I have discovered that analysis of
the hand gestures, shapes, and lines in the
Rider-Waite-Smith deck reveals additional
and secret meanings in the cards (this is a
class I teach with Madame Pamita on my
website).

• Second, I have realized that there are 16
elemental hand types based on shape and size
of the hands, and they match up with the
court cards, giving clients an amazing way
to discover a significator card for themselves,
which I offer to them in readings.

• Finally, I offer Tarot readings using my
"Divine Hand Spread" which places the cards
in the position of the planetary mounts of
the hand, giving clients a unique insight
into their situation from an archetypal
perspective. 

These are just the start. As I am exploring
more with Tarot, and Cartomancy in general,
more ideas are germinating! ...and please
don't get me started on Astrology and
Palmistry!!! 


Sharonah Rapseik:
Thank you James, it’s been a pleasure to meet you!

 

To follow James Divine:

Website
https://www.thedivinehand.com
 
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/divinehandjim/
 
Email:
jim@thedivinehand.com (mailto:jim@thedivinehand.com)
 
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/divinehandjim/ 
 
Classes with James Divine:

https://www.thedivinehand.com/learn-palmistry.html

     
About Sharonah:

Sharonah Rapseik 

Sharonah Rapseik is an Artist / Designer,
Author, Tarot Reader, Radio Host and
Producer for Psychic Talk Radio.

Visit her at:
https://psychictalk.net/sharonah/


 
Best Practices for Professional Readers
SELF-EMPLOYMENT AND
RETIREMENT SAVINGS


By Gina Thies
www.tarotadvisor.com  / www.facebook.com/tarotreaders 
www.tarotcoupling.com / www.oraclesoup.org



Many self-employed people are enjoying the
fruits of creating their own income by
making positive impacts on the community
they serve and working many hours to keep
their business thriving.  

It is essential to any business to plan for
growth. But the not so thrilling part of
business planning is thinking about
post-business retirement. The first area to
consider is if you are profiting enough to
save, whether that is for an emergency or
for when you are no longer able to or choose
to stay in business.  

Financial planning is challenging for
self-employed individuals, especially when
it comes to retirement, because there is no
standard workplace retirement plan typical
of a commercial enterprise. As a sole
proprietor, you need to think about
retirement as part of your business plan
and the sooner, the better. 

Unfortunately, many self-employed people
don't even follow a savings or emergency
fund plan, which is having a reserve income
of about 3 – 6 months of money saved up.
Retirement, of course, requires much more. 

Don’t go at it alone or take your parents
financial advice on planning for your
future. Talk to a local professional tax
advisor or financial planner to get help
with your future financial success.


Check out the following resources on
Social Security and types of retirement
plans for the self-employed: 


https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/
self-employment-tax-social-security-and-medicare-taxes


https://www.aarp.org/retirement/social-security/
questions-answers/self-employed-social-security-medicare-taxes.html


https://www.bankrate.com/retirement/best-retirement-plans-for-the-self-employed/


The content shared in this article is purely
informational and not to be used in place of
advice of a licensed tax or financial
professional. 

 


 

Upcoming Events:
 

The Tarot School's Tarot Salon on Zoom!

 
Tarot Salon on Zoom!
7:00 - 9:00 pm EST


Our popular Monday night classes are
now online so you can attend no matter
where you live.

Classes are recorded and all levels
of experience are welcome!

July:
  4 - NO CLASS (Independence Day)
11 - The High Priestess
18 - The Empress
25 - Birth Cards: Death / Emperor

Get on the notification list to see
what we'll be teaching each week.
Find the form and register here:
 

http://tarot.salon



Readings with Ruth Ann

Readings with Ruth Ann



Running The Tarot School with Wald keeps
me pretty busy, but I still love giving readings!
My specialty is using your Birth Cards and
Elemental Array (techniques Wald and I have
developed) in conjunction with random draws
to give you an extremely personalized and
powerful reading. 

I excel at giving Readings for Readers so
if you're always giving readings to others,
let me help you with some self-care for
a change!

To book a private reading with me
over Zoom, send an email to me at
tarot@tarotschool.com and we'll discuss it.


          
 

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Suggestions for future topics?
Contact tarot@tarotschool.com
 
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Directors: Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone