TABI Shout Out: SaucySailoress
As you may already know, the Tarot Association of the British Isles is a non-profit organisation which aims to help tarot readers develop their skills, but also to help the public enhance their lives. In fact, my favourite line in the TABI Aims is: ‘To promote Tarot as a force for good and development in a person’s life’. We are run purely by volunteers, and I would like to say that in my short time with TABI, the volunteers who are involved are amongst the most altruistic people I have ever come across. So we have asked each contributor to pick the card which they believe best describes themselves, and share it here.
I’m Kate, and I’m the blog wrangler ’round here [at TABI]. That means my username appears at the top of most posts, simply because I am the one who uploads the articles for publication. I am not the author of most of them.
Who I think I am
I checked the meaning of the word wrangler, and in British English it means ‘a long and complicated argument.’ Hmm. Well, that really doesn’t apply ’round here, so I assume they mean the American definition, which is ‘to round up or take charge of livestock.’ Yup, that’s more like it! Assuming that the livestock being referred to is actually our membership, then yes, that’s pretty much what I do. As I trawl through our forum, I often come across well-written posts. When that happens, I contact the poster, and ask if they’d like to write a piece for the blog. If the offer is accepted and a piece written, then I will ask the member if they’d like a regular slot. Hence we have a team of a dozen or so members who have kindly committed to submitting regular pieces. And if I say so myself, I am very, very pleased with the results. I cannot express enough thanks to those members who have responded, the quality of writing is awesome.
I fell into the role by chance, or synchronicity, however we like to describe it. I joined TABI in November just gone, and quickly stumbled across a thread offering up the chance to review a book. I grabbed the opportunity, since I LOVE tarot books, and especially free ones. At the same time, the editorial team were crying out for new members to come and help. Now, I LOVE tarot people too, and I have a simple philosophy – the BEST way of learning any business is to offer service. To sweep the floors, and fetch and carry for our elders…this is where we pick up the most valuable pointers, from the inside. So I stuck my hand up and haven’t looked back since!
Who the Cards think I am
I had only started practising tarot six months before that. It all started when I took my husband on a hot date (we take one another something NEW every month to keep that romance alive) to a psychic switch event. One of the psychics who visited our table told me I was just as psychic as she was, and asked why I wasn’t doing her job. So that got me hooked. Next month we went to a fayre, and I picked up my first deck of tarot cards. Started practising on friends almost every day. I’d ask them to shuffle the cards, and when I got home would lay out a Celtic Cross spread, and record my instincts on my phone. Then I’d check my books, jot notes in my journal, then re-record the reading. I’d then Whatsapp the recording and a photo to the ‘victim’ friend, asking for feedback. I’d ask specifically if they could tell me where it applied, and where they were wondering who the hell I was talking about. A month later, before I started, I was asking them if they had any skeletons in the closet they didn’t want me to know about. I was gobsmacked by the hundred percent positive feedback.
Who my friends think I am
Interest piqued, I started looking at other elements of The Craft. I had resisted for over forty years – knowing that my Mum had been Sectioned as a result of believing in this stuff, and my male relatives were very, very dismissive of it all. But it turns out that almost every healing herb known is already growing in the garden which has been in my family for seven decades. Those old glass bottles with weird potions that my Uncle made us dispose of safely…the crystals…the really cool knives…you get where I’m going. Well, it took me long enough to accept it all, but now I have I’m on a roll and loving it!!!
So which card represents me? If I’m going to be honest, the card which most often comes up representing me is The Priestess, when I do readings for myself using my personal deck, The Oceanic Tarot. In one of my lives I live on a boat, and I was a SCUBA instructor trainer at one stage, so I love the feeling these cards give me that I am swimming through the ocean, weightless and timeless. I don’t find the deck actually talks to me very much, so I don’t use it to read for others, but I do find it makes me feel good, so I use it for me. And I guess I do like to think I am quite balanced and serene – it’s widely acknowledged that I am the most patient person most of my friends know!
But, I do voluntary counselling work for a number of people through various support groups, and again and again, the Queen of Pentacles appears when I am reading for other people; and when I ask for other people to read for me about certain situations which arise. This usually happens when I am using The Gilded Tarot, which is my favourite deck for reading for others. Querants are always so taken by the colours especially.
Who I really am!
If I get to CHOOSE a card for myself, it has to be The Fool. I feel as though I am on this amazing journey through life, moving from one life lesson to another. And I came across this one amazing portrayal of The Fool as a very Saucy young lady. So THIS is the card I choose! It appeals to me because it resembles an avatar I used for a long time on a sailing forum where I used to moderate, an avatar which those who knew me decided was absolutely me!! Sort of cheeky and cheerful.
Oh – and Saucy? It doesn’t mean what you think it does….
BRITISH: cheeky or impertinent.
NORTH AMERICAN: having or expressing a bold, lively, or spirited manner.
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