A bit about me, tarot and that koi pond!
Lets start at the beginning
If you've met me before, then you will already have a pretty good idea about who I am (maybe), but for those who haven't met me, then I will try to explain.
I am a curious soul, destined to wander this earth with wide eyed curiosity. Ever the optimist I will always see (or try to) see the light in a situation, the silver lining, or the thing that's lurking in the shadows. I'm a storyteller, a photographer, an artist, a writer, a serial overthinker, a healer and a staunch lover of olives. Pretty much a child who never grew up, I will jump over puddles and use the supermarket aisles as a cat walk, if I think no one's watching. I laugh a lot. A lot of things I laugh about are of my own doing, and rarely does a day go by before I have a story of something random that happened that day… this could only happen to you! People say, and I laugh.
Tarot gives me a fresh puzzle to solve every time and for one with a curious mind, this is literally the air that I breathe.
...the patchouli beckoned
My fascination with Tarot began in the early 90's, in some old 'new age' shop in Hastings. The magic, the mystery, the lure of the unknown. The curls of wispy smoke from the patchouli infused incense sticks and the strange, dark pull towards a world that seemed almost beguiling with decadent wisdom and profound secrecy.
I always intended to learn how to read, but it seemed too vast of a topic to master and I like to master things, not dabble.
Years later, a conversation at the time of the pandemic, led me to thinking that, if my life was to end tomorrow, what would be my biggest regret (I know, cheery, right?) And for me, that was learning Tarot. I enrolled with an Australian Tarot school and spent the next year learning the art of Tarot reading (the right way). My curiosity led me to see past the magic and the mystery to see tarot for what it is, which is basic psychology – why we do things, why we don't do things and the thoughts, feelings and miscommunication along the way.
Introducing my Emporium of Delights
Studies aside, I've read in a professional capacity for five years. Tarot is not something you learn once, its a life's work, different decks are constantly teaching me, guiding me and opening my awareness to the vast amounts of intuition I have access to. Tarot is spiritual work, you have to fully trust what you feel and see in your mind, in order to guide another person out of the maze.
Else it's just the blind leading the blind!
I came to a crossroads this summer in my Tarot journey, I knew that I wanted to teach and I knew that I wanted to do something that was a 100% mine. A deep conversation with Aaron at Island Gym (if you know Aaron, then you'll know the type of conversation this will have been) led him to say… You can always rent a room here? The rest as they say is history.
I knew I wanted the room to reflect my mind in some way, a bit, never judge a book by its cover, kind of vibe.
I wanted people to walk in and watch their eyes immediately widen as they look around the room not knowing what to look at first. The room is chock full of symbology and metaphor and hidden meanings. The candle isn't just a candle. I light it ,so that during our conversation I can guide you out of the mind mess and back into the light - this is an intention that I set before every reading.
I wanted it to smell GOOD. Like 5 star hotel good, you know when you walk into somewhere expensive and you just feel at peace.
I wanted people to experience that as soon as they entered the room. A calmed nervous system is receptive to change.
To offer a hot drink, in a bone china teacup and saucer - a place that feels homely and a safe space to unpackage the mind for a while.
But the most important thing to me, was seeing people leave, knowing that they'd regained control of their choices.
The illuminated Koi pond is the central feature – I've always felt calmed by a Koi pond and when doing the research for it, I clapped my hands with joy when I read that the spiritual meaning of a koi was literally the challenges that humans face on their earthbound journey. Pure poetry for the venture I was creating.
Yes, this really is in the gym!!
