Judgment, Reversed

“I’ll get back to this card in just a few minutes, but I want to focus on this one here in the position of ‘home’." I tapped on the second card. "This is a weird question, I know, but… have you ever lived in a haunted house?”

The young man beside me was quiet, calm, and perfectly normal. He was casually dressed in a white shirt and blue jeans. I had no idea who he was and still don’t. Sometimes tarot readings work better for me that way.

My friend had asked me to read tarot at his party as part of the entertainment for his law firm’s anniversary party. I had broken the ice with tarot readings for some of the waiters who then took excellent care of me the rest of the evening. It had started as a slow evening, but I soon had a steady stream of people wanting their cards read. And now this quiet, pleasant young man sat next to me. And I had to ask him a strange question.

There was Judgment, in the RWS tradition portrayed as the resurrected dead rising up towards the arms of the angel, having let go of earthly cares, both positive and negative, ready for what came next. But it was reversed and in the ‘home’ spot. It was like a bell had rung: People who have died but not completely passed on are there with him at home.

I was afraid he would think I was crazy. But of course I had to remind myself that I was, after all, reading tarot cards and that in itself is usually thought of as a bit of a side trip on the road of life. Especially at a party for attorneys. I hoped, since the readings were all freebies for the party-goers, that he wouldn’t judge me. But I braced myself for the laughter, derision or tongue-in-cheek comments with knowing looks. I blushed and was glad it was dark in my corner of the restaurant.

“Yes,“ he said. I continued with the reading. Oh, but there was more.

Since I value the privacy of my clients, I won’t say what more there was. However, it turns out that I had no reason to think he would judge me for asking the question I had to ask. And it turns out, that I needn’t have judged him either as someone who would take that question badly. Judgment was reversed, all right. For both of us. We hung in there for this reading for greater understanding, stayed just a little longer than necessary for affirmation.

It was a wonderful lesson for me as a professional reader to stay true to what I read and take the risk of being judged. There are plenty of people who don’t want a tarot reading, who don’t want to know, who want to be surprised. I take this as a wonderful compliment. They think I would be right but they don’t want to know. There are also plenty of people who range from skeptical to outraged at the thought of tarot readings. I have to respect them too. I would never want to offend anyone by doing this. And I need to remember that there are also plenty of people out there who have had experiences, maybe not as startling as this young man’s, but experiences of their own. Those people may also be afraid of being judged. Everyone finds his or her path in a unique way, lets go of the past or holds onto it, moves on to another plane or stays.

Most important, we have the chance to change our path, change our minds, and change our futures through our own choices. We have the chance to let go of our own Judgments about ourselves and others and grow to the next step.

I meet the most interesting people. And I think it is for a good reason. This is All Souls’ Day. For me, that means all of us, whether here or passed on, so many interesting people.

Best wishes.