YouandTheTarot

  It's not new the warning about the danger - financial, social and even physical - of being a stay-at-home mother. For years feminists, for example, have hammered that mom won't be making contributions to Social Security or a 401k.  But, as the bestelling memoir "Strangers" by Belle Burden discloses, even a woman from old money with a Harvard Law education could default into the role. No Spoiler Alert: Burden, whose grandmother was the late Babe Paley, was dumped by her husband and that cheater wanted nothing to do with the three children they produced together. We don't know if, as it is said of myriad SAH wives, Burden became less interesting without a career. We do know she didn't pack on the weight as it usually probable surrounded by cookies for the kids, amid the tedious routines. Of course, those of us women who made it our business to protect our financial future, build careers and worship fitness hope "Strangers" will reinforce the traditio...

 It's not your imagination: Times are really hard. Most days we actually are in overwhelm. That is changing much in the dynamics of relationships.  The Atlantic nails it: "Complaining too much sometimes gets framed as not just irritating but ' toxic ,' and sharing problems is sometimes described as ' trauma dumping .' Those on the receiving end of complaints bemoan their status as the 'therapist friend.' The message is: Vent with caution." Even in those contexts labeled "support groups" you might have noticed some glaze-over when a member vents instead of describing a situation and sketching out a solution. To use that old concept dating back to the late 1960s counterculture: People just can't handle that. But venting is a path to getting to the point of solution. Even if that solution is acceptance. That's the function we tarot readers serve.  We listen. We affirm what is being shared. We direct the conversation to some kind of ...

  The New York Times  documents that there are still some Catholics who participate in the sacrament of Confession, at least once year. Not many, though: only 23%.  But, they are among a large number of those who believe in the mystical ritual of earnestly sharing one's wrongdoings with another human being. So many of my tarot clients come to me for the same reason. That is, relief from the bondage of wrongdoing. No one has confessed murder or a serious crime so there are no ethical implications. The next after the telling is providing "permission" for them to forgive themselves. That's a big problem in America: self-forgiveness. After all, our roots are Puritan.  The fifth step in the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 step program  also facilitates that kind of liberating sharing. The fourth step guides how to prepare. Although there are no mandates in AA there is the strong suggestion that if the confession isn't done the probability is high of relapsing back into probl...

 In the tarot, a major card is The Chariot. It's major because it symbolizes detachment. The character depicted is not micromanaging. Instead, there's a deep confidence that things, including the direction of the transportation vehicle, will go the right way. If not, there's also deep confidence in being able to establish a fresh direction. Notice the animals helping to lead the way are calm. You may have observed that this emotional cluster dominates many of those who not only achieve their goals but can hold onto that success. Yes, they take things seriously. But not too seriously. They approach the whatevers without ego, fear of loss or obsession. When it's time to course correct on a journey they do that without the drama of great agitation. That reassures constituencies. Some professionals who operate with detachment are just put together that way. The classic example has been Abraham Lincoln. At a very difficult time in American history his non-attachment to perso...

  Let's cut to the chase. Those of you who invested could be feeling financially secure. Maybe not financially comfortable, as in being able to afford a month in London or the option to trade up to a bigger house.  Financially secure has become the new Promised Land. And you might have arrived as the run of the bull continues. Stock futures at 9:00 PM ET are up over 90 points. If you read the personal posts on LinkedIn and the anonymous ones on Reddit, Fishbowl, Glassdoor and Blind you realize that more and more are financially in NoWhereVille. No job. And losing hope about finding one, no matter how much it might pay lower than the job gone poof months or even years ago.  In the tarot the Nine of Wands symbolizes becoming lost. How can we help them?  Well, we don't have to fix things. That's not what compassion is about. And the times call for compassion. During the brutal Industrial Revolution, novelist Charles Dickens called that "the milk of human kindness."...