How I became a Paradoxical Gypsy....

I’m often asked what exactly it was that sparked my intense interest in Tarot cards. After all, I’m logical, so logical in fact that my colleagues used to call me “Spock” back in my days of teaching as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (and while I think my colleagues thought the nickname would annoy me, just between you and me, I always thought of it as a compliment)….but I digress….apparently, it seems rather suspect for a highly logical person to find appeal in the completely illogical, unproven, realm of the occult….and so I am repeatedly asked….how? why?

The beginning of my love affair with Tarot …..truth is I can’t say that I know for sure, what specifically sparked my interest in the cards. It might have had something to do with the fact that as a child I moved enough times to fill up all the properties on a monopoly board – I mean if that doesn’t make you feel like a gypsy what will? And before you ask, no I wasn’t an army brat. I just had a very free spirited mother who went anywhere and everywhere….and boy did we (about 15 different schools by the end of the fifth grade, in case you thought I was exaggerating)!  When you couple that with a very compelling story my mother told me about her romance with the Gypsy King of Bratislava (I'm trying to convince her to write her memoirs, so stay tuned....)….well, you can see how perhaps a young girl might become intrigued by a bohemian lifestyle and all that it encompasses. 

But, I tend to think that perhaps, my attraction to the world of tarot cards came about because of the simple fact that they were around. My mother had a deck, the Aquarian deck, and the cards were ceremoniously kept wrapped in a silk scarf, next to a pile of books on the dining room table: books about the symbols of the tarot, numerology, the Kabala, the Hebrew alphabet, all just sitting on the table just waiting to be explored. The idea that an answer to any question could be unlocked through a shuffle of the cards and some symbolic deciphering had an irresistible appeal – whether you chose to believe the answer or not, it was still a pretty cool concept. Or maybe, just maybe, I fell in love with Tarot cards because of my love of puzzles and mythology. Deciphering the symbolic codes and artwork of the various decks can feel like trying to decode the hieroglyphics on the Stargate (sorry, but I just can’t escape my geekdom)….whatever the reason, I admit that I find them absolutely fascinating and I’m thoroughly enjoying creating the symbolic language of my own deck.