All in the preparation...

Setting the scene...

As Baradine show day approaches, I'm already enjoying the process of visualising and preparing for my stand.
Plenty of crafty business happening with hand bound books, retro frocks and other tactile trinkets available. 
A great opportunity to play dress-ups!  My dress is made to theme and the props will be equally as colourful, as I'm sure will be, Gabrielle, my dazzling dress-up buddy, so feel free to wander over for a browse, a chat or a 20 cent paper fortune cookie!

​If you are on a #DSIgoosechase quest, come and find some inspiration and book binding tips, I'll have a little surprise ready for a lucky team member...and why not have your cards read too! 
​I will be offering mini readings for most of the day; a 3 card spread, lasting 20-30 minutes for $10.  

Just this week I had questions about reversed cards. It's not so surprising to learn that everyone has their own approach to reading tarot and this includes reversed cards. 
Some like to shuffle them any which way, I tend to shuffle and present them in such a way that a reversed card is kind of rare, as this is how I was taught and what feels right for me. 
In saying that, there are no hard and fast rules.  Cards are chosen and we read them in the way they reveal themselves to us, looking beyond the literal for meaning within and beyond the obvious.
​Often the first thought is the right one, sometimes the obvious one is too!

​The imagery of the swords can feel dramatic and daunting.  This suit represents thought processes, intellect, reason, difficult or challenging situations or states of mind, stress, over analysing...and yet, all of this leads to growth and development of the conscious mind.  Things are rarely what they seem and if we tend to look on the dark side of things, there is always an equal and opposite light side in the balance.

Upright, the ten of swords is in turmoil, the pressure is on whether literally or figuratively, the energy is forceful.
​Reversed, the energy feels more grounded. The weighty hilts are poised as if in stand still or balanced negotiation, determining the clever way forward.  The tension is still there though there is room for thought and beneficial progression, which is promising with 10 representing the end of a cycle, completion and ending.