My First Card Reading
Moonrise Mystic is the journey of a novelist connecting her love of story with her passion for the mystical into one moving, breathing prayer. It’s for those who love to read fantasy stories and intuitive writings that explore expanding through the initiations of life, death and rebirth, and transmuting shadow to light. Thank you for being here!
When I wrote The Wonder Soul, I was a much different person than I am today. I was very much like the main character, Zoe, in that I was still very focused on the pain of my physical reality and unable to see the magic within my own being.
If you are feeling like you are trapped in a human experience of struggle and pain, you will find valuable healing within this week’s message (and you’ll want to read all the way to the end).
If you are already well along your path on your spiritual journey, you will enjoy this story very much.
I wrote the first draft of The Wonder Soul during 2016-2017. I had just quit my job to pursue starting my own author business and I was divorced from the father of my two daughters trying to “make things happen” and create my best life to prove to everyone that I could be successful on my own.
To say I was stuck would be an understatement. Money was almost out with no income coming in, my twin flame relationship was nearing a phase of separation, and there was no signs of anything changing anytime soon. I had begun meditating, but during this time the practice of meditation was only reaching me at the level of my mind, never getting into my heartspace for real soul remembering and transformation to happen.
Returning to the topic of Zoe in The Wonder Soul, she begins the story with her fiancé leaving her for someone else and she falls into deep pain and anger from what she believes is a betrayal. She quits her job and decides to travel the world simply because it is too painful to stay where she is.
Can you see the connection?
I always write my stories from my own experiences and also to receive answers to painful or confusing moments in my life through writing these stories. Through the characters I explore different levels within myself, including projections and embodiments that I am not proud of.
It’s through writing stories in this way that I began my spiritual journey, healed deep pain, and connected with teachers and practices that would allow me to step into who I really am.
If you read The Wonder Soul, you will find this is also Zoe’s journey.
One of the most exciting moments for me to write in The Wonder Soul was when Zoe is in San Francisco with her sister, June. While they are walking around downtown, they spot a tarot reader and Zoe’s sister encourages her to get a reading done to help her move on from her ex.
This was the first time I ever researched tarot reading. I’d never had readings done, nor did I know much about it, but I’d always been intrigued by the concept. And this scene was so much fun to write! I’m certain it was the beginning of my interest in using card readings in my own life.
Here is a snippet from the scene in Chapter 6, “Reading”:
June pointed to a tiny makeshift tent perched on the curb in front of a string of shops on the main strip of China Town. "A tarot reader. We have to go, c'mon." She dragged Zoe across the street and stopped at the small tent. There was a sign hanging above the entrance. Your future starts here. Learn your deepest desires in less than 20 minutes. Only $20 per person. Zoe laughed. Less than twenty minutes but not less than twenty dollars. Such a scam. "It's bad luck to mock readers, Zoe. You go first, I'll pay." "I'm good on the fortune teller." Zoe backed away from the tent. She didn't understand why June was even entertaining this, but then she remembered the large serving of sake her sister had just consumed and it made more sense. "Save your twenty dollars for something worth-while." "She's a tarot card reader. Much better than a fortune teller." June pushed Zoe toward the entrance. “Aren’t they the same thing?” But without answering, June shoved Zoe forward into the tent. "Welcome, welcome," a deep voice said. "Please, have a seat and tell me what you wish to know." Zoe was face-to-face with a heavyset woman wearing bright red lipstick that contrasted with her darker skin, the smell of incense filled the air. The woman smiled at Zoe, revealing coffee stained teeth, and gestured to the empty chair. With a loud sigh, Zoe sat down. "Payment must be made upfront," the woman said with proclamation. June peeked in through the beads that hung over the entrance and handed the woman some money. Without getting up from her seat, she grabbed it and tucked it in her shirt. "Thank you. Let's get started Zoe. Time is precious." Zoe was sure she hadn't given her a name. "I am Ezila." A stack of cards sat on a small wooden table in front of Ezila. "Before we start, tell me, is there anything you are particularly interested in discovering about yourself, your life, or your future?" Zoe had to give her credit for putting on a good show. "This really isn't my thing, my sister—" Ezila raised a hand to stop Zoe from speaking. "Please pick up the stack and shuffle it, then cut the deck in half." Zoe grumbled under her breath but did as she was asked. Once the cards were shuffled and cut into two stacks on the table, Ezila took them and laid them out in a spread she called The Celtic Cross. Two cards at the center that overlapped, surrounded by four cards to make the cross, then a straight line of four more cards to the side of the cross. Once the ten cards were spread before her, Ezila studied them for a few moments. Zoe cringed with uneasiness. "You have not asked for any specific reading in these cards. But I see much revelation here. Would you like to know?" Zoe nodded, her curiosity getting the best of her. Ezila gestured to the cards as she spoke. "It seems you are in a place of confusion. Your mind and your body are at war. Trust your heart to guide you through. You recently went through something very painful. It changed you and made you question the deeper meaning in life, and all of your relationships." Zoe's stomach tightened. "I'm sensing a romantic relationship that ended. While you are still healing from the hurt this caused you, the only path out is through courage. Listen to your heart, to those who guide you from the Unseen." Zoe pursed her lips. The Unseen pricked at her subconscious. "The cloud that hangs over your head will clear, but not before you are tested. I cannot say what this will be, only that it will guide you toward the path you are destined to follow. Should someone or something unexpected come into your life, have trust." Ezila paused after this thought. Her eyes closed as if she searched for something deep within herself, then they snapped open. She looked pale, afraid. "You must go.” With a wave of her hand, she dismissed Zoe. "Wait, what did you see?" "I saw nothing I will tell you, girl. Now get out!" She stood up and pointed Zoe out the door without another word. Zoe stood from the chair and turned to walk out. June tried to go in next, oblivious to what happened, but Ezila stopped her. "Sorry, no more readings today.” "What? You’ve got to be kidding!" The alcohol still influenced her mannerisms. "You can't just close. I already paid you." She positioned her face right in front of the entrance to the tent. "Yes, you paid me,” the woman's voice came from inside. “For Zoe. Now, I’m done." Ezila propped a huge standing sign outside her tent that said, CLOSED FOR THE DAY.
Almost ten years after writing this scene, I can share with you that oracle card readings are a normal part of my life today, and have been for many years. I never got into tarot very much, but oracle decks have been transformational on my journey of returning to my own magical soul. Here is a photo of my most recent oracle reading with The Healing Waters Oracle Deck, along with some of my crystals. (Don’t mind the dusty shelf🫣)
The reading depicted in this photo shows the cards Cleansing and Beneath the Surface, which helped me get really clear that I am on the right path to write stories 100% of the time and that everything else will be taken care of as I do so. Side note: I actually just walked away from a coaching business and wanted to make sure that I was answering my soul’s call in doing this and not acting out of fear.
This reading showed me that I am listening to my soul’s call. I am here to write stories that uplift, heal, and activate my soul and the souls of others. That is my mission.
Oracle cards have helped me tune into my own inner guidance system and take daily action toward what I want to create. They have also helped me with dark nights of the soul and healing personal relationships.
If you are in a place of pain or going through a dark night remember this:
You have everything you need within you. There is no real need for any tools or rituals, like oracles cards, other than to help you tune into your soul when you are just beginning listening to its calls, because it takes practice to know when it’s your soul speaking versus your thinking mind. Tools like this can help you find your soul’s voice and begin a regular communication with it.
What ways could your soul be guiding you right now that you are not aware of? If you tuned into this guidance on a regular basis, how would your life change?
With appreciation,
Alysia