Ask The Tarot: I’ve Had To Keep My Distance From My Dad to Protect My Family. Can I Start Repairing Our Relationship?
This is a recording of our Spotify Live show from June 16, 2022. Tune in on Spotify every Thursday at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET to catch Michelle Tea’s tarot readings. Or listen on the Spotify Live app where you can join the chat — you’ll even have a chance to ask the tarot what’s on your mind.
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Michelle Tea: Hey, everyone. So thank you so much for tuning in. I am wondering, did you know that you can now join ask the Tarot every Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern live on Spotify. That's right, lines. But we all know the best part of tarot isn't just listening. It's getting your own cards read. Have a question about your future or your past, maybe about your love life or your career. I want to hear from you. All you have to do is download the Spotify Live app in your app store or click the link in our episode descriptions to sign up for free. Then follow ask the Tarot and the Spotify Live app to get notified every time I go live and hear what the tarot has in store. Why miss out on that?
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Michelle Tea: Hey, everybody. Welcome to your Thursday night virtual cult. It's time for another Ask The Tarot, live. Everybody who's like, you know, already blowing up the chat, which I love so much. I'm Michelle Tea your host. I'm the author of Modern Tarot and the host of the Your Magic podcast on Spotify. Thank you for being here. This is a room where I read tarot cards live for you, for folks who have sent me messages on Instagram with some issues they want, you know, sorted out with the help of the tarot. So if you're joining us for the first time, I want to welcome you. This is the best community. It really, really is. When I say I want to let you know oh, I want to say a really special shout out to two girls, one ghost listeners who are here tonight. I know there's a whole bunch of you. And I'm just like, I just love that, that these communities are connected. It's so sweet. So thanks for being here. We do this every Thursday night at 6:00 on the West Coast, 9:00 on the East Coast. If you want to listen or even, dare I say binge some of the back episodes, you can do that by going on Spotify, searching for the your magic feed. And you'll find all the back episodes of Ask the Tarot there as well. And what else do I want to tell you? I want to say a shout out to all the folks at Spotify Live and your magic that help make this night happen. So thank you for your help and your support in your work. And I want to let you now. Oh, yes, if you'd like for me to read your tarot cards, this is how it works. You can either raise your hands here in the room. I'll get to as many of you as I can. Or if you feel shy, find me on Instagram. I'm @michelleteaz T-E-A-Z, and you can write me your question there and I'll get to it, you know, as soon as I can. And here's just a little note. All of the tarot readers on Instagram are getting scammed. So just know I have a blue check if you're ever wondering. Like, you know, it looks like we're like chatting or something and you're like, Is this really Michelle? Just look, if there's a check, it's me. If there isn't, it's not me. And I will never contact you and ask you for a tarot reading. Like if you want to solicit one from you. And no, no reputable tarot reader will do that. Yeah. Raise your hand. Starting now. Why not? We have a I want to let you know that your magic has a really great community on discord. So if you guys want to, like, know each other more, be in touch outside of this room, you know, find each other there. And if you're listening on Spotify and you want to participate, just come on. Come on over to Spotify live. Okay? And that's how you can do it. You just raise your hand to speak in the room and I'll call on folks so you can ask me questions about any topics at all. But I have curated a little bit from the questions that came in from Instagram, you know, in honor of Father's Day coming up this weekend, some father problems, some problematic fathers. I mean, I personally had two problematic fathers in my life. So, you know, I feel all of you who are having dads dramas. So here is this very brief one.
'I have a godson who I have helped raise since birth with his single mother. His father is now coming into the picture and I'm very on edge as this man is unpredictable and has never wanted to be in the picture until now. Can you help me?' Sure, he can help you. Or rather, the tarot can help you. I shuffled, asking, 'What's the energy around this man coming into this family right now?' I was I'm working with the next world tarot, although pictures of the decks I work with on my Instagram after the show. So the first part that came up is the seven of cups which in this stack, the read on it is it's really about imagination. It's a really beautiful card in about like daring to dream. So that was really interesting, right? It's like, okay, I totally understand everybody being on edge. And if you are on edge, you know, godparent, I imagine single mom is really on edge and I'm feeling for everybody. But it sounds like this card is urging everybody to have positive imagination about the goodness that could come of this. Okay. Oh, my God. We see daddy issues for days. You know, there's a lot of fun to be had with daddy issues. You just got to figure out how to turn it around. Right. Okay. The second card that came up and I really love this is the Empress. Okay. The Empress is like great big, powerful mom vibes, mom power. It's Venus, it's Earth, it's Taurus. And so the significance of this coming up, especially after this really positive Imagination card, is I feel like hopefully this father understands it, like mom's in charge, right? Like Mom is the empress. She's the goddess. It's. All about her. And hopefully she's going to be, you know, humble when he's coming in and defer to her and her experience and her dedication and the fact that she's been there all along. All of it. I like her coming up. And then the very last card is really interesting, too. It's the chariot. The cherry is the chariot of war. You know, I always feel like I need to point that out because I even get really kind of hung up on, you know, how positive the chariot is because it is a great card. It's a yes. It's about, you know, making things happen, things moving along. But it's also saying that the road is a little bumpy. So, you know, is this going to be a totally smooth, you know, family reunion? Probably not. I mean, you know, of course not. But the chariot is, again, ultimately positive. It is cancer, which is family. So, you know, don't expect no bumps. There will be bumps. But I am going to go out on a limb here and say that the tarot is saying that this man's intentions are actually good. Like this guy, you know, he's never wanted to be in the picture until now. Well, better late than never that some dude wakes up to the fact that he has a fucking child in the world and tries to get it together to be a good, positive part of that kid's life, you know, and done well done with good intentions in humility. You know, he'll be great not only for the kid, but also for you and for the single mom just to have another responsible parent in the mix. So I really hope that this this does turn out as beautiful as it looks. Okay. I really, really do. All right. But Nat, step aside for now. Taking a sip of coffee because, you know, it's 6:00 and I'm going to like a puncture after this, and I need energy, so. Ah, okay. Let's see who's in the room. Let's see who is in the room. Okay, Christina, you are up and you're muted right now. So unmute yourself and please let me know how the tarot can help you.
Querent: Hi. How are you?
Michelle Tea: I'm good. How are you?
Querent: Good, thank you.
Michelle Tea: What can the tarot do for you this evening?
Querent: I guess like, just kind of curious of my career and relationship.
Michelle Tea: Okay, well what's going on with your career? What would you like to know about?
Querent: And so I have to take a drug test tomorrow to work in a hospital. And I don't know if it's like the right thing for me because I kind of feel like it's just going to take me away from what I really want to do.
Michelle Tea: Okay, so you're about to work in a hospital, but you think that maybe you should not take this job. Let's see what it looks like if you do take the job. That's what I'm asking, since you kind of are already moving a little in that direction. Okay, now I'm going to pull three cards about what this what this job looks like for you. Oh, it looks terrible, Cristina. It does not. I mean, right, like, almost like a moody about it. It looks like you're like. I don't know, but, like, the reality is, yeah, it's blocking your energy and it's making you neglect something that's important to you. And the cards that are telling me that are the queen of cups, that's your moodiness, the five of wands, which is your blocked energy, and the eight of cups, which is about neglecting something. What would you rather be doing?
Querent: Oh, my God, that's so crazy. Because I kind of like, felt that and I'm like, why am I getting so, like, anxious about, oh, god, yes, look, like it's necessarily the best for what? So I like always wanted to become an actress and like just model and kind of be in that field. And I just recently moved and I feel like all these signs are just kind of coming to my head.
Michelle Tea: So cutting out a little bit, I did here modeling. Is there something else?
Querent: Yeah, just modeling and acting.
Michelle Tea: Oh, okay. About acting in modeling. Okay. So what does it look like if you forego this hospital job and keep putting your energy out into acting and modeling? I'm like, let me see what that is like for you. And I'm looking at your, you know, your photo and like, you could easily be a hair model. Your hair is, like, incredible.
Querent: Oh, thank you. That's like, my goal. I would love to do that.
Michelle Tea: Oh, my God. That's great. Okay, listen, this looks good and also complicated. Okay? So your center card for this is victory for acting and modeling, and that's beautiful. I mean, that's what we want to see. It's a six of wands. You know, these cards have astrological aspects also. So I just want to say that for the hospital, you have a Leo a Leo aspect of card, it's Saturn and Leo. So Leo rules hair, first of all. But it also is very much like if there's a sign that rules acting and modeling, it's Leo. So in the hospital you have Saturn in Leo So we all wants to shine and basically like acts and model and Saturn is like, No, that's not allowed here, too bad. But in if you do pursue acting in and you have Leo with Jupiter, which is like Leo gets to be as Leo as it wants to be a. It gets to shine and Jupiter gives it rewards for being itself. So it's really beautiful. I do want to talk about the two other cards on either side of it. One is the knight of disks, so there's two reads on the knight of disks. He's the only knight whose horse is not moving. That's not a bad thing. But sometimes it does suggest that something could be a little slow moving. So if it's a little slow moving for you, just like keep at it as much of your energy as you can put into it. You know, the better. Like, if you have a lot of energy for it, go for it. But the Knight of Disk sometimes does say that things are moving slowly. Now, listen, if you want to move a little slowly, if you are like, Oh, I actually want to do this very carefully, then the negative disks does, you know, look kindly on that. It's like, yes, that's it's like a natural growth kind of a card, like letting things grow organically. Your final card, though, is I just want to say it's the devil, so watch out. I mean, I probably have watched way too many like circa 1986, like specials about like the modeling industry. And I'm just like, be careful. Don't let them put you on, like, speeding cocaine. Watch out for sleazy photographers. Like, protect yourself. The devil is temptation. Right. And you know, the devil sometimes forces us to give up things, to get something. A.K.A. selling your soul to the devil. Right. You just need to know really clearly what your boundaries are, what you will say yes to, what you'll say no to. And you just want to make sure that you're always calling the shots for yourself. Okay. Jasmine's like the devil card thing. I mean, the devil card can be really fun for sure. And, you know, but there's often a price for that fun. So you just need to be really clear about it. And it just looks like that might be something you have to reckon with occasionally on this path. But this path looks so much better for you than the hospital path, even with the devil there. Does that make sense?
Querent: Yes, that does. Thank you so much.
Michelle Tea: You're so welcome. I'm so excited for you.
Querent: Thank you.
Michelle Tea: Welcome. Take care.
Querent: Thank you. You as well.
Michelle Tea: Okay, bye bye. All right. That's so great. And then when we see, you know, her all over like billboards and like starring on our favorite Netflix show will be like we know her from from Ask The Tarot. Oh, Angie and Reginald. I agree. Some temptations are really good. Sometimes the devil is really excellent. So, you know, I hope that they're positive temptations. I really do. Let's see who else we've got here in the realm that would like to get, you know, picked here. Blanca, you are up now. And how can we help you?
Querent: Hi.
Michelle Tea: Hello. What is your question for the tarot?
Querent: Uh love.
Michelle Tea: A love question. Okay. What is the situation?
Querent: Going through a rough patch in the marriage.
Michelle Tea: Okay. I'm sorry that that could be so stressful. So. All right. I'm going to just. Is there do you do you feel like you'd like to do a like, stay versus go counseling versus no counseling? Like, are you torn between any sort of solutions or moves right now? Or would you rather me just pick cards to illuminate? Like, what is the matter with like what is it? Yes. What about energy of this rough patch? So I hear I have a lot of empathy for them having gone through these patches and hopefully to get some insight from the guards here. Okay. So if I'm I shuffle and let's see what's going on. It's funny because. So this is interesting. Okay. Because you're coming to me because you're going through a rough patch, which obviously you are, you know that you are right on the cards. You got your good cards, which to me says that this rough patch is something that can be overcome. Okay. The centerpiece card, you have this called art, and it's actually one of the marriage cards in the tarot. It is a riff on the temperance card I'm reading with the top decks of some of the cards of different. Classically, the temperance card is about the middle path and avoiding extremes so that the and it's like a helpful take away of like extreme language, extreme accusations, extreme, you know, ultimatums, avoiding things that feel very extreme and trying to come into the middle and meeting in the middle. Of course, you need two people to do that, so hopefully your part will also do that. But the art card is about two people who have really kind of merged together. It's seen as a strength. You know, so on the one hand, I'm seeing that like, you guys are very close. You you have really built something. There's something you have a very strong foundation. The shadow side of the art card could be that there's a little codependence. So if that rings true, you know, think about it. If it doesn't discard it, the other cards that are here, there is the. Two of swords, which is its moon in Libra. Libra is very relationship oriented. This this card is called peace. So it's sort of like, can you allow there to be peace between you guys? Obviously, if you're going through a rough patch, there's things that needed to get sorted out. This is a card that's a little bit about picking your battles. You know what is really important and what is like, okay, this is just the vibes of having to cohabitate with somebody. It can be really stressful to share your life with someone. What kind of imperfections of your partner can you let go? And also of yourself? Like what kind of you know, when can you let yourself off the hook as well, just to give yourself a way to promote peace of mind a little bit? And then the final card here is the nine of discs, which is called Game. And it's it's kind of making me ask like, have you guys had changes that are actually positive changes but they still sort of unbalanced things? Okay. Mm hmm. That's what it looks like now. It's like those. Yeah, those things that are hard or annoying or repulsive or upsetting, they kind of end up obscuring the good things that are also still there. So, you know, it is asking you a little bit, you know, is that happening? Like maybe a good thing would be to, you know, and if your partner will do this as well, you know, make a gratitude list about like, what do you love about your partner? What is it? What are the aspects of their person that you know are cute and quirky or bring you joy or inspiring? That could that could help balance it out a little bit. Does that does that make sense?
Querent: Okay. Yeah. Okay. Okay.
Michelle Tea: I mean to know that you guys have a strong foundation and do have, like, good stuff coming to you. Like, hopefully you guys can get in a better place and and be a team and know how to enjoy it. Enjoy it, you know, and not have it be an upset.
Querent: Okay. Thank you so much. That was helpful.
Michelle Tea: I'm really glad. Good luck.
Querent: Thanks a lot.
Michelle Tea: Right. All right. Let's see what we have here next. We have another dad centric question here. Okay. It's a baby daddy question. It's a little bit on the long side, but I feel like you now, the writer has a certain, you know, essence, like the writer, you know, she has a certain vibe about her that, you know, you stay with her through her long problems. So here we go.
Querent: 'Girl. I need help. For context, I'm a Pisces. Sun, Virgo, moon, Pisces rising. My fiancee and I are in the process of moving from Wisconsin to Tennessee. I am burnt out for being a psychotherapist the past 11 years.' Damn, thank you for your service. 'And really want to veer off into new territory. I plan to focus more on practicing Reiki, creating more art and helping with the family business my partner is taking over when we get to our destination.' I can just say those are all very lovely, like very Pisces kind of things, right to do. All right. 'For some more context, I first met Joyce 22 years ago when I was 15. She was hands down, my first love.' Oh, my God. This lesbian first love is killing me. That is so cute. Okay. 'After finally escaping a very abusive 16, 16 year relationship with the father of my children.' Congrats getting out of that den. 'Her and I reunited in June 2020. Yesterday, my ex told me that he has changed his mind that he is going to fight me over placement, which ultimately will halt my move.' Oh God, what a dick. Okay. 'This also leaves me jobless and homeless. He will always be miserable and do anything in his power to control and keep me nearby.' Oh, I don't like this. I don't like the story I don't like this guy. 'I'm working on now, getting an attorney.' And I want to say I did get PS a little a little later from this saying she does have an attorney. So that is really great. I see Jasmine saying this guy's a control freak and I believe he's a control freak either. 'So what I would like to know is how does this move pan out? Will holding hope and proceeding as planned work or do I need to find more aggressive actions also in regards to my career? And I'd better off saying this next month in my job where I'm burnt out, or do I cut my losses and dove headfirst into my own entrepreneurial endeavors?'.
Michelle Tea: Okay. Let me see. Let me see what's happening here. Okay, so I. I grabbed a deck that is called the American Renaissance Tarot. It's very interesting about the 18 what was going on in the 1800s culturally in the US. And I first picked on, you know, what does this move look like? Okay. And the first card that came up for this move is the four of swords. Now, you know, I've always had this joke about the four of swords that like, you know, this the sort of soldier in the traditional rider-waite deck, you know, he's he's resting, right? It's a it's a card of rest, but he looks dead. And it makes me always think of, you know, that thing that people say to children like, oh, you know, that that deer in the road is just sleeping. It's not dead. It's like, Oh, the soldier's just sleeping. But in the four of swords here in the American Renaissance Tarot, the person is actually dead. So it is not the peaceful card, the peaceful four of swords that we see in other decks. So that is already not a great omen. Okay, that there's something about this plan that is going to die. Vitae I see that the 1800s are your favorite. You should check out this deck, the American Renaissance Tarot. You might really like it. All right, the next card that comes up here is the king of wands. Now, I just think it is the. This is the dude, right? It's I mean, the king of wands. He's neutral. It can be good. It can be bad. But I just feel like he is an ill, dignified king of wands, you know, all on fire are all, like, drunk on their own, like, patriarchal idea of their own power. All this bullshit. So he's just coming in and, like, messing things up. And then the final card here is actually the death card. So, unfortunately, you know, I'm seeing that this probably means that unfortunately, you can't move, at least not right now. Remember, tarot is always about the moments. I mean, the death card is pretty significant. You know, there are there cards that could mean more like your move is delayed. It is possible that this move knife might not be able to happen at all, but it definitely looks like it's not happening right now. I don't like that. And I'm really sorry to tell you that. So what does it look like for you to stay in your job that you're done with? Okay. The very first one card that you got for staying in your job is the two of swords. Two swords is popping up today. The two swords, you know, it is ultimately I mean, it's a very complicated card. You know, there's a lot of different reads on it. In the top deck that I usually use, it's the piece card, but in a lot of decks it's about indecision and ambivalence. Right. And I'm really seeing that in this one. It's an illustration of a ghost, you know, leaving a mausoleum. Somebody is seeing the ghost. They clearly wish they didn't see the ghost. So it's sort of like, oh, you know, you're being haunted by this job a little bit. The next card that you have is the devil. Okay? So it's like, here's the devil again. The devil pops up when we're not 100% in control of our own destiny. Right? The devil pops up when something else is pulling the strings. So first we have, you know, your ex, your abusive ex is clearly a devil. He's popping up. And unfortunately, because you guys are children, he has the ability to have some control over your movement, which is awful. And it's also that, you know, your job like it's you know, it feels like the devil to you. You also have the six of swords, which is a really great card about moving from difficulty into a better situation. So I don't know, you know, for staying at your job, you don't want to like you really don't want to. And so, you know, I feel like I want to give you that, right. Lots of devil energy tonight, at least he says and I. I see that. That's true. I want to look at now, what does it look like if you just cut your losses, as you say, and dove headfirst into your own entrepreneurial endeavors, which I recall are Reiki, spiritual work, art and helping your partner, your lesbian, true love with some work. So the very first card you get is the fool, which I love, right? I mean, cutting your losses and diving headfirst. That's what the fool does. So that's beautiful. Yeah. And it's always very positive. It's like we don't know how this is going to turn out well, but we know that it's going to. That's really great. And then your next card, another major arcana, the lovers, or I think is just called lover in this deck. And I love that because you're with your true love, you are with your first love. And part of the work you'll be doing if you follow the full path is supporting them in their business. So that is really great. And then the first, the next card you have your ace of swords. So the ace is a good one, right? You got a couple of negative challenging swords cards in the other polls, but the ace means a new beginning. Right? And a new a. A new outlook on life. Now, I understand it might be harder for you to make this career shift if your job. I'm sorry if your move has been called off because of your shitty ex. But you know, even if you are kind of stuck in Wisconsin, I don't believe that that means you're trapped in the end work that you don't want to do. I believe there is a path forward with work for you and your partner in Wisconsin if you're forced to be there. And I think the tarot is saying take it. So there you go. And we wish you so much luck. We're all on your side, right? Oh, okay. So let me see. I see that there's some stuff happening in the chat that I just want to pop into here.
Do I see Dylan asking if I get different answers from different decks, or are the answers generally the same? Well, you know, I only ask a deck one one question. Right. I'll have a question. And I just bring that question to just one certain deck. So I don't necessarily know what another deck would say. And in general, I don't like to keep asking the same question. I feel like it disrespects, you know, the energy. You know, you already got your answer. If you're if you keep asking the same question over and over, I feel like there's a there's a you have a problem right in the tarot will kind of tell you that the material kind of breaks down on you. But, you know, there are the occasions when there is a problem or an issue that spans a lot of time and you do return to it here and there. And yes, I do see that, you know, similar cards will pop up for you for sure, even through different decks. So that is that's very interesting. And, you know, as far as reading your tarot. Yes. Just raise your hand. I'll try to get to as many of you as I can. In fact, I'm going to just jump up here right now, see who's around. Molly, you are up now. Molly? Molly. Hello.
Querent: Hi. How are you? I'm going to have to go in the other room because I'm sitting next to my partner and it's on her phone, too.
Michelle Tea: Okay, I hear that echo.
Querent: Okay, so I sent you a message on Instagram. So I'm so sorry to be repeating myself, but has like a really time sensitive question, which is I recently got into grad school for marriage and family therapy and yeah, thank you. So I was accepted at a few and then waitlisted at my number one, which was the University of Oregon. And so I had already made the decision to go to University of San Diego. And, you know, my fiance and I are ready to move back to the West Coast and we're Californians, so we're really excited. But then last week I got in off the waitlist, so yeah. So I was trying to figure out. Sorry, what did you say?
Michelle Tea: No no no. Go on.
Querent: Well, so I'm just trying to figure out which option kind of will look the best long term. And in terms of my education and my career, eventually.
Michelle Tea: Yes. Okay. So right now I'm suffering. I'm suffering. It's like a cross between shuffling and suffering. I'm shuffling for you about San Diego. What does it look like for you guys to just stay with the plan that you've been kind of building returned to California, which sounds like something you both want. What does it look like for you to pursue grad school in San Diego? And I'm thinking three cards on that. And now the game changer, what does it look like if you guys, in fact. Ditch that plan and go, too. Is it Portland, Oregon? It's Eugene. I wish it were Portland. It has its charm, though. Okay, so what does it look like if you get to go to your first choice school? It might not be your first choice town to live in. But you know, what does it look like for you to pack it up with your partner and move to Eugene, Oregon, for a spell so that you can go in this to this program, which you do value? It sounds like more than the other program in California. Okay, so let's see. So San Diego. Oh, okay. Hold on, hold on. Stop everything. Stop everything. Is there a third choice?
Querent: Oh, shit. Not particularly. Not at this point, though.
Michelle Tea: Okay, this is very interesting. Okay. Let me see here. Your first this is going to sound confusing and like you're doomed, but I promise you, you're not, because I just don't believe. I don't believe in that. So there's ways to read this, but I just want to get out what the cards are first and then we'll kind of analyze it a little bit. So the cards that you got for going to San Diego, the first card is the five of wands, which is Stripe. It's that Stripe card. It came up earlier. It's Leo and it's Saturn in Leo. And then you've got the tower. Okay. And then after the tower, ace of Disks, which is actually a really good card, especially after a card like the tower, like the tower going to Eugene, Queen of cups, night of disks, and then the seven of swords, which is called futility. So they both look hard in different ways. There's something about San Diego that feels a little bit perhaps a little frustrating to you. I'm wondering if the program, if it's the programs, as you guys know already, California. Yeah. Jasmine suggested maybe it's the academic part. I'm wondering that also it's the academic part, but there is something frustrating about it. The tower card that's so you know, it's a big card. Right. And so I'm trying to I don't want to downplay it or like dumb it down, but I also don't see how, you know, everything's going to totally fall apart if you go to San Diego, especially with the ace of disks on the other side. But I am wondering if there is something if you go to San Diego, if you're going to end up feeling like is the is the program in San Diego, do you have any cause to worry about it being like total trash or anything? Oh, no. So the big difference between that and Oregon is University of San Diego is a religious school. And I have and I have friends who are in grad school there. And they say it's you know, the vibe is very, very much inclusive and they make a lot of effort and especially the school of education that I'd be in to make sure that, you know, it's not just all Catholic, but I do know that, you know, that will be part of the that'll be part of the campus culture, right? Like maybe a little bit more conservative than I certainly am. So that is really, really interesting. Mollie, I wonder if that's what it is, if that is going to really be really hard for you and feel a lot more frustrating once you're there in it. The Ace of Discs to me is saying that like you'll come out the other side of it. The Ace of disks is really beautiful. It's like the it's like a new you're starting a new cycle on earth that you're able to like grow a lot of things. It's, it's very positive. And so it looks like that might be a little bit of a harsh toke. When you first get there. You might be a little bit more like, oh, what am I, you know, what might cosigning by being part of this, you know, like it could just kind of like fuck you up a little bit, but you will come out the other side of it and it will be a positive experience. Now, there's just even though you have that big, you know, tower card, these cards for for going to Oregon, they they look so soggy and uninspiring. It's like I'd rather you go through like like an upheaval and come out the other side and feel strong and like, okay, I'm I'm my life. Then this other one that just feels like I think maybe you'll hate being in Eugene. Is that possible?
Querent: Oh, it's more than possible.
Michelle Tea: I know. It's sort of like this is interesting. So you have the queen of cups in the night of death. Can I ask you what you and your partners signs are? Because this might be you guys. I'm a Capricorn and she is a Virgo. Virgo or Leo Coz what do you say Virgo Leo I suppose we got a water sign here and an earth sign. So you know, it could be, you know, the Earth sign could be you could be you guys, the Queen of cups. She's not a great queen of cups in this deck. Other decks, she's, you know, a lot a lot more active in this. She feels very like there's like a fog over her face. She's, like, emotional and can't really she doesn't have a lot of clarity. And she just sort of like. Bond. And then the night she's very soggy and then the night of discs next to her is not helpful because the night of disks is the only night whose horse is not moving. So he you know, there's there's definitely good reads on him for sure. But in this, he's feeling a little stagnant to me because he's with this other stagnant card and then next to it, the seven of swords. It's called futility. It's Moon in Aquarius. So Aquarius comes end all intellectual and is like, this is what this is going to be like. Aquarius makes up its mind because it's all about the mind. It's not considering the heart, the body, anything else. It's like, This is going to be great for my mind. We can do this, this is awesome. And then the moon comes up and it's like, I need all these other things to be happy. It's not just my mind. And so it's really about overshooting, you know, what? You think you need to be happy and sort of writing a story that then you can't really fit yourself into. So, you know, I was more like I would be more afraid personally of fear of the stagnancy and this feeling of like, Oh, I've trapped myself here. Then going to San Diego. And at least the bad cards in San Diego, they're like, fiery. So there's motion. You're moving through it, you're not trapped in it. You might have to make some changes and burst, you know, burst through some walls. But then your reward at the end is the ace of disks. I see a reward and here in Oregon. I don't really see reward.
Querent: Well, thank you so much. That is so so very helpful.
Michelle Tea: I'm glad I'm glad that reading that gave you the tower on one hand and futility on the other still feels helpful. That's great.
Querent: Thank you so much.
Michelle Tea: You're welcome. Good luck. Okay, let's see who else is in the room? Yes. If you'd like to be considered for a reading, just raise your little hand and I will call on as many of you as I can. I can't call on all of you if there's too many of you. Okay, Brianna, you are. How can we help you? Hi, Brianna.
Querent: Hi, Michelle. I haven't been on Ask The Tarot in a while or after in a while, so. Oh, my gosh. How are you?
Michelle Tea: I'm really great. Thank you for asking. And it's nice to see you again. How can the tarot help you tonight?
Querent: Well, okay. So I'm going to be entering my second year grad school in the fall. And so I just want to know the general vibes, like in the present moment, you know? What do you mean?
Michelle Tea: Yes, I do. Okay, so what are the. You just want, like, a vibe check for life right now. Let's see what's up. Yeah, for you. Sure. I love doing vibe checks. I do them on myself all the time. Just because I want an excuse to play with the tarot. And I don't always have a problem, thankfully. So let's see. What is your vibe? Check. This is my last shuffle and very interesting. Okay, so here's the vibe, Vanna. You've got two aces and a ten. So that's very interesting because aces are the start of a new cycle and ten is the end of an old cycle. So you're really you're in that funny in-between place where you have some cycles and some energies that are just beginning to grow. And then but you're still caught in some things that need to be moved out. So the most important thing I think is this ten of wands in the in the crown is called oppression and it's Saturn in Sagittarius. And this card comes up when we're basically like, Oh shit, at some point I wanted this, but I don't want it anymore. And now I'm trapped in it. Is that does that make sense? Is there anything going on like that?
Querent: I mean, I guess I don't know if that sums up my grad school experience. I definitely wanted it that I'm in it. I'm like, oh, shit. Oh, my God.
Michelle Tea: I mean, is that everyone's grad school experience? What's nice, if that's what it is, what is actually very nice is that on either side of it, on one side you have the face of cuts, which is this like new emotional experience, a new emotional cycle. And then on the other side, it's the ace of wands. And that is like a new energetic, creative cycle. So, you know, the ten of wands is real, that energy is real. You know, there's something Sagittarius wants to be free and wants to play and wants to have more options. And Saturn is coming down and saying, Too bad you've made some you've made some agreements. You've made you know, you have committed yourself, you've made some commitments, and you don't have the freedom that you want right now. But within that, with the A's, these two beautiful aces, like new things, are being created and growing inside of you. So, you know, I see that as like if you can because I'm correct was your last question on ask the tarot about whether or not you should stay in grad school.
Querent: Well, Michelle, how do you remember that?
Michelle Tea: I don't know. I do, though, in the cards. Told you to stay and. Yes. Okay. So, listen, the good thing about the ten is it's the end of a cycle. So if a good thing for you to maybe do is like if. You have, you know, really committed yourself to staying in grad school. And it seems like you have do what you can to shut up that part of your brain that's constantly being like, you know, should I still be doing this? It's like it seems like you've answered the question, but you keep asking it. And that is kind of keeping you a little bit tormented. So if you can just sort of commit with like more of your heart, if you can get closer to wholeheartedly committing to grad school, you're not going to be here forever. You'll have more freedom again. You know, it's a it's just a moment. But if you can just commit to it more and just get out of your head completely, this idea that you're going to not do grad school and just be like, no, I'm 100% bought into grad school. You're going to you're your energy's going to feel really refreshed. Does that make sense?
Querent: That makes total sense. Michelle, thank you so much for helping me clarify.
Michelle Tea: You're welcome. We're rooting for you.
Querent: All right. Thanks. Bye.
Michelle Tea: All right. You guys have got another bad dad situation here that came in. 'I am a Virgo with a Pisces moon.' Oh, wow. That's like you were born on the full moon, so kudos. Okay. 'I am extremely empathic and I often get taken advantage of. I have always been the peacemaker. Even as a young child, my home was very toxic. Growing up, though, I have forgiven my' oh, I'm sorry. It's 'My home was very toxic growing up. Though I have forgiven my parents.' Okay. 'My mother passed away in 2016, and I miss her terribly.' I'm so sorry to hear that. 'My father has undiagnosed mental health issues and has been very terrible to deal with. He has assaulted my husband twice.' Whoa. That is very. That is a very big deal. If I may. As your tarot reading, strangers validate that that is. That is a really big deal. Okay. 'It puts me in such a hard place because my husband was not to blame either time.' I mean, who's to blame for being assaulted? Right. Even if you're being a major dick, you probably still should not be assaulted. Right? Like, if you if you want to believe that violence is not the answer. Okay. 'My relationship with my husband is strong and healthy. I barely see my father now and I feel guilty. But he has said horrible things to me. My question is, what does it look like to keep my distance from my father and what does it look like to try and repair the relationship? Thank you.'.
Oh, this is so heavy. All right, this is really rough. So what does it look like to continue to keep your distance from your father? I am shuffling the cards right now and I'm asking that question. What does it look like? It's very understandable that you would keep your distance from somebody who is physically violence. Right. And, you know, emotionally violence, you know, regardless of who they are in your lives. So what does it look like to continue to keep your distance from your dad? I'm sorry that that makes you feel guilty. If I can encourage you to not feel guilty now, because that just sounds like a very healthy and self-possessed self preserving and boundary thing to do. Okay. Now, why does it look like, you know, the clearance says, what does it look like to try and repair the relationship? I am going to challenge that question a little bit because it is not in your power to repair the relationship. Right. Two people have to repair the relationship. And your dad is sounds like he's pretty severely mentally ill, right? He's violent. He's abusive. You know, he's terrible to deal with. And, you know, that is fucking tragic. Like mental. Mental illness is so tragic. You know, we can believe that underneath this illness, there is, you know, a different aspect of your dad to, you know, maybe he would be horrified by the things that he does. But, you know, he's undiagnosed. So he's not treated. He's really mentally ill. You cannot repair this relationship. The only thing that you can do is try to have some sort of a boundary relationship with him once more. I will recommend Al-Anon because that's what everyone in Al-Anon is doing. In my experience, they are, by and large trying to figure out boundaries, healthy ways to have relationships with really chaotic parents. Right. Okay. So anyway, what does it look like for you to have some type of boundaries relationship with your dad, knowing that you can't repair the relationship because you can't you can't cure his mental illness. Right. So you'll have to be really bound to you'll have to know that, you know, he very well might say something terrible to you. You need to have a support system like you need to let any kind of bad things that he says to land where they should land, which is this is the ranting and raving of a sick person. Right. And to have a really good support system, because that sounds really challenging. Right. But what does it look like? Do you know people who have figured out how to kind of take take what they can get from their parents in a boundary way to be able to stay in touch with them? Okay. So I'm using the Cosmo Tarot deck for this. What does it look like for you to stay away from to continue to stay away from your dad? The first card you have here is the knight of Pentacles. Gosh, the Knight of Pentacles is really coming up a lot, right? The knight of Pentacles, he's the guy whose horse is not moving. So there's you know, you're not moving your children. You're just, like taking care of yourself. This is a reading where that Knight of Pentacles is actually really, well, dignified. Right. It's like he is just taking a really big pause. Okay. Nothing needs to be forever. But for right now. Yes. Then you get the ace of Pentacles. So this is interesting. It seems like to decide right now that you're that you are going to continue to keep your distance. It's like it seems to me like maybe, you know, up until now, it's just maybe sort of what was happening. Maybe it was kind of temporary. You didn't know how to think about it. But now you're you're actually really making a very conscious decision, an intention. I am going to not have my dad in my life for a while, and that actually looks great. I mean, the ace of Pentacles is really nice and it's going to give you more of a chance to stabilize. I don't know if you are in therapy or you're seeking any kind of help for processing this, but it probably would be awesome for you. And then you get the nine of cups and that is a card of emotional stability, really strong emotional stability. It actually looks great for you to not be in touch with your dad. I like that for you to be in touch with him. Okay. First time that comes up is the emperor. Oh, man, that's interesting, because, you know, the emperor is the dad of of the tarot. Right? And he can be you know, he's he's pretty well dignified. He's a good card in the tarot. So but I see that maybe it's like because I really believe so, so strongly that for you to be in touch with your father means that you actually need to be very boundaries. I'm seeing the emperor as like, you know, the emperor is like the king of the castle. He's like, he's calling the shots, what he says goes. And so, you know, the emperor might be referring to your dad a little bit, but I really think it's like you need to be the emperor. You it needs to be on your chart. Basically, what you say, say, goes because you need to be able to protect yourself. The next card that you have here is the Queen of swords. She is also kind of like a cold bitch in a great way in the way that we need her to be. You know, she looks at the big picture and she's up there on her, like, cloud throne looking down and saying, that needs to go. That needs to go. That's not working for me. I don't like that. No, no, no, no, no. And she's great. She edits things out of her life that doesn't that don't work. So you need to be ready and in relationship with your dad to say no, to draw a boundary, to get off the phone, to say, you know something, I won't be talked to like that, so I'm going to go now. You know, that needs to be something that you can do without guilt and and get a lot of like strength and self-confidence from doing the final card. Here is the lovers. So that makes me wonder about, like, you know, your husband's support. It's really interesting that he's assaulted your husband twice. You haven't mentioned him assaulting you. So it seems like he your dad feels like he has more license to be physical with your with your husband. So I'm wondering, like, you know, there might be here's the thing. The lover's card is really a choice. So, you know, the lover in question, you know, can be your husband. It could also be your dad. Not to be grody, but it's really about a choice, you know, in a relationship does not have to be a love like a romantic relationship. But when the lover's part comes up, we stay or we go, we say, okay, I'm going to stick around with this friendship. I'm going to make this business partnership work or I'm getting divorced, I'm leaving. So I think that to me, not having your dad in your life for a little longer or a lot longer looks much better. It looks like if you do let him in, you're going to have to be so boundary. And I think you are still going to have to it's still going to bring you to this point where you're like, is this right for me? You know, because I think it might be a little hard. I hope that's helpful. I'm really sorry that you're dealing with this intense situation. And I really get your empathic nature of being the full moon baby that you are. And, you know, you got to protect that. So there's there's no there's no shame, no guilt in protecting yourself. So please do. Okay. All right. We got, like, ten more minutes, you guys. Let me see who I can pull up here now. Emily, you are up. How's it going?
Querent: Oh, my gosh. Hi. You actually picked me. I wasn't ready.
Michelle Tea: Gotta always be ready. You never know when it's going to happen. How can that help you tonight?
Querent: Yeah. So I actually have a question. So I'm kind of trying to start out a business of selling my artwork with stickers and like, you know, original artwork and my photography. And just kind of curious, is that something that I should really be diving into head first or should I kind of stay a little bit more reserved with it?
Michelle Tea: Okay. So the first thing I'll ask, since it was the first thing you said is what does it look like for you to just dove in headfirst, go, go whole hog on it, just like be like this is what I'm all about it. I'm all about marketing my artwork in these different forms. So let's see what that looks like for you. And just so I can get more, I'm thinking, do cards just get more understanding? What would be, in your opinion, the you know, the possible good things about being more reserved. What does it mean to you to be more reserved about it?
Querent: Well, it is kind of a financial harder thing to do because I am doing stickers and they're they're very expensive to order without knowing if anybody's going to want to buy them. Huh. And that's that's kind of like the biggest thing is I don't want to be spending too much money on, you know, all this inventory that may or may not sell.
Michelle Tea: Right. That makes sense. Okay. So what if you're a little bit more conservative? Like, either way, you're going to do this, which is cool, but it's like, do you just go for broke or do you kind of approach it a bit more with a bit more conservatism? Let's see. Gosh, Emily, you go for it. The tarot is telling you to go for it. So the very first card you have here is the queen of disks. And I got to say, she is a great card for business. I see Shelley is saying, give us a link and I want to jump on that wall while it's right on my mind and I don't want to forget it. It's true. You should put a link to your art in the chat and go to our discord and throw your link up. Because this is a community that really wants to support each other and loves art and stickers. So the queen of just is amazing. She is Capricorn. Can I ask what your sign is?
Querent: I'm a Leo.
Michelle Tea: Oh, such a great sign for an artist. That's awesome. Well, the queen of this was saying that even though you have access to the exuberant, creative spirit of Leo, you also have access to some Capricorn vibes, which is about business and organization and like doing making smart moves. So it's saying that it's actually a smart move for you to do it like this. You also have the three of cups, which is abundance. So that's just saying, like that's a big juicy yes. Like, you know, there's an abundance of support out there for you. It's mercury in cancer, Mercury's communication. So do like do communicate far and wide. Like, don't hold back with, like, being afraid you're over promoting yourself or something like that. Get the word out. There's going to be a lot of support. And then your final card for going for broke is the fool who goes for broke. Like that's his job. So I love this for you. It looks so, so good and smart. It doesn't look I mean, sure, it's exciting and wild to be an artist at all, right? Especially to, like, you know, step up behind your art and support it in this practical way. So the fool is representing that, but the queen of Gist is also saying this is, you know, you can have a business out of this. This is also smart. It's also wise. So I love that. Now, for not going for broke, for being more conservative, it's so interesting. The first part is the devil. So it's really interesting. We always think about the devil as like tempting us to do the wild thing. Like the devil is tempting us to like have an affair or get wasted or, you know, blow all our money, you know, at a blackjack table. But sometimes the devil is tempting us to be scared and to not have faith in ourselves. Right, or to not trust right. And I feel like that's kind of what it is here. It's the devil is is about like wanting to control. It's when I want to say I mean, there's a lot of there's no avoiding. I feel like the blue card that you get is very honest, like you are taking a big chance. This is a risk, right? Any time we start a business, chase our dreams, we're taking a risk. Right? But it looks like it's a beautiful risk. And the devil card is telling you not to take a risk, but to be controls, to try to control. And I just really feel like that type of control is it's an illusion, right? It's like either way, you're still either way, you're taking a risk, so why not really take the risk and go all the way? The next card for being conservative is the debauch card, which again is another sort of like fearful, stuck in old patterns kind of a situation. You know, if you are a person who has money issues or scarcity issues, especially if they stem from childhood, this card coming up in this placement is saying that it's sort of like trying to soothe your scarcity wounds by not investing in yourself. And that's not actually what you should do. Like that's not going to soothe those scarcity issues. Like you're going to have them. You are taking a big chance. You can expect to be a little scared sometimes regardless. So why not just like, really go for it. Your final card here is power. It's the four of discs and it's another Capricorn card. It's interesting. It's Sun and Capricorn. And so, you know, this is sometimes a great card, but it can also it's a fortress. The illustration is a fortress. And so it can sometimes be a bad target. It's about being too controlled into fear oriented. Like why do people build fortresses? Because they're scared, right? They don't want to be attacked. So it looks to me like the only reason that you wouldn't go for broke is because, as is because of a fear and which makes sense. But it does look like the tarot saying you don't need to have that fear. You don't need to let fear guide you and lead you into this. Projects like you want to let faith and yourself, faith and other people and like joy guide you. Does that make sense? Yes, absolutely. And I honestly, I have a truck show that I'm going to be selling my stickers and artwork at. And this will be my third craft show this year. And I was really hoping that you would be able to speak with me, you know, before that, just so I know. Like, is this something that I should really be doing? Like, this is my first really big event. That's when it's so good. We'll make sure, you know, do do the the riskier thing, whatever that is for you. Take a chance. Don't let fear guide you. Have a great time. Please put your link on the discord so that folks can see it and know about it and and have a great time at the show. It sounds fun.
Querent: Absolutely. Thank you so much, Michelle. Have a great night.
Michelle Tea: Bye Bye. Okay. We got two more minutes. We got two more minutes. Okay. Okay, Tasha, you are up and let's try to make it a little bit of a lightning round, but also get all your information.
Querent: Okay, this will be really quick. I just entered into a new relationship two months ago, and I just want to see if I'm on the right path. Are we on the right path?
Michelle Tea: Okay, let's see. What does the vibe look like between here? Hey, how long have you guys been us?
Querent: So there it's been. We met each other, April. So officially, it's been two months.
Michelle Tea: All right, cool. So, yeah, definitely a good time to check in. Looks like oh man Tasha. These cards are hard. Is there something going on? All these other red flags?
Querent: Oh, I feel like he might be moving a little too fast for me.
Michelle Tea: Hey, that's really fair. You have. Okay, so the first part, like the thing about moving too fast for you, it's sort of like it's very much I just want to say you have two Saturn cards, you have Saturn Emilio, which is Stripe and Saturn and Sagittarius, which is oppression. And they're on either side of the tower. Okay. So this is really interesting, the strike card when that card comes up. So Leo, just like how to really explain this, Leo is a is a sign that when it comes up, it's really about like being able to be yourself and express yourself. And so it's like by feeling pressure to move at a pace that you're not yet comfortable. It's like it's like you're not able to be authentic, right? Like the authentic self you like romantically, you want to move slower. And so there's a feeling of like, I don't know if you have to pretend. It makes you feel like you have to pretend that you are like in a place that you really just aren't yet, but that that looks real. And the thing is, is that you definitely don't want to get sort of pressured into doing that or letting him set the pace. I mean, in relationships, it just needs to be that the slower person sets the pace, right? That's just how I got the impression card comes up when it's like, Wow, I thought I wanted to do this, but now I'm not so sure. So I feel like what could happen is if you're letting him set the pace and you're not being authentic to yourself, you're going to find yourself in a state where you're like, Oh shit, how do I let this happen? Right? It will catch up with you. And then the power happens. And then it's like you get to uproot the whole structure and kind of start or either like end the relationship or almost start over again so that you're able to be more authentic, authentically yourself. So, you know, it's really there's just something about about the pacing problem where it's like, yeah, you need to be authentically yourself. And so if you're moving at someone else's pace, that's what you say.
Querent: Yeah, I agree. Yeah. Thank you so much.
Michelle Tea: More than anything, I don't think it necessarily means like the towers coming for you, but more like, you know, see if you can get is there a way to reset the pace to be moving in a way that is more authentic to you? If not, then I think the tower will show up.
Querent: Okay. Gotcha. Thank you very much. I appreciate you.
Michelle Tea: Alright, you guys it's 7:02, I'm going to a punk show. I'm very excited about it and I'll be here again next Thursday. And I'm also very excited about that. I'm here every Thursday at 6:00 Pacific time, 9:00 Eastern. And this is how we do it. You know, you can raise your hand in the room or you can send me a message to my Instagram @michelleteaz T-E-A-Z. I have a blue check. Accept no imitators. I'll never hit you up for tarot reading. And yeah, go check out the Discord, listen to the episodes on your magic feed. And thank you all so much for being here over. And thanks for dropping. In the Discord Link. That's awesome. Okay. You guys are the best. I'll see you next week.
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Michelle Tea: Hi, friends. Remember to catch Ask The Tarot live right here on Spotify every Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern. You can join me for a journey through the cycles of life, love, aspiration, all in real time. Want me to do a reading for you? Just download the Spotify Live app for free today. It's available in the App Store and you can join me every week I go live. You'll be able to meet really unique people, chat with other listeners, and even ask questions of your own. Remember, you can always listen to ask the Tarot live on Spotify every Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern. Want to be part of the conversation? Download the Spotify Live app for free today and make sure to follow the Ask the Tarot show page to be notified every time we go live.
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