I picked a lot of sword cards for next year. These represent worries, struggles and pain, so I'd say we've all been through the ringer a bit. I picked a second card for each sign, to represent what your goal should be, moving into January, to enhance or counteract  your sign's theme  card.  (Images: Anna K. Tarot)

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Psychiatrist:  These are medical doctors, trained to diagnose issues in body chemistry as well as, or contributing to mental disease. As a method of treatment, they usually prescribe medication, and in some less common cases, choose to use psychology. In essence they strive to mask, control or heal a "condition" (i.e. schizophrenia). In extreme cases like this, psychiatry can be very beneficial, so that you may function in daily life.

Psychotherapist:  Is a healer of the "psyche"; the "mind". They discuss emotions and thoughts related to the problem, violation, cause, of the issue or trauma to reach a mental and logical understanding of it and what transpired thereafter. They diagnose conditions of behavior. In essence, they help you mentally understand what happened, and why you reacted to it as you did. There are only a small number of states, that allow them to dispense medication.

Psychic:  A psychic will give a "reading" to determine why the soul felt the need to experience the trauma, what was the purpose of it, and give tools to help heal and resolve it on a physical, mental, emotional and energetic/spiritual/soul level, through or suggesting: shamanic healing, spirit removal, depossession, past-life therapy, mediumship, crystals, meditation, auric cleansing, herbs, higher level of forgiveness etc. depending. These individuals may or may not have had formal training. The quality of the recommendations depends on the level of accuracy of the psychic. Some may be skilled in the other modalities recommended, and can thereby also offer treatment.  In essence, they provide the reasons why something is happening to you, that may not be readily apparent, or outside the realm of college training, and in some cases they themselves can provide treatment for you, depending on their skill level. Their goal is to go beyond understanding and treating an issue mentally or physically, and instead release you from it. Psychics can include the fields of healers, mediums and to some degree even astrologers.

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I was driving past a small town Fort Wayne hardware store today, and their sign read, "Shouldn't a psychic hotline know to call you instead?"  
(warning: run-on venting) So, of course I had to address this belief that psychics everywhere are simultaneously thinking about each and every person out there, just waiting for something to change in your life, calling up your number (number given from Spirit/God who does not respect your privacy) to inform you of every event coming up for millions of you, because we have altered the space- time continuum and can spend all of our time doing that, and we never have our own thoughts/lives/privacy, and because we are all-knowing, all-powerful beings who can think of all of you at the same time, and therefore we are God, and would therefore probably have no further use for staying on this planet and would immediately ascend into heaven.  Enough said.  I guess I don't have to write this blog after all.  

Note:   Photo is not of the actual hardware store.

One of the major stumbling blocks for tarot card readers is interpreting the "people cards", or "Court Cards".   These pop up in a reading, and the reader freezes, unable to decipher who or what situation the card represents.  There are no numbers on the cards to help either, and with all of the people in an individual's life, it can be daunting to pinpoint the exact person the card represents.  Reading Court Cards effortlessly requires programming your deck before you use it.  What do I mean by programming your deck?  This means, decide ahead of time what these cards will mean for you, and make it the same every time.  

Here is how I program my deck:
The Kings and Queens always represent actual people.  They never represent a situation.  The Knights represent a person thirty years old or younger, or a situation.  The Pages represent children or a message.  I assign each Queen, King and Knight an astrology sign, based on their suit element of fire, earth, air or water.   I keep this the same.  Therefore, every time the Queen of Swords comes up, it is representing a Libra.  I can then ask the client, "Who's the Libra?", (if I don't get any other psychic hit on this card).  The only time this changes, is when I see something about the Queen of Swords card that makes me think of someone or something that would cause me to say, "This is your mother, your aunt, your friend, Melissa, a Gemini...", or any psychic information that would override the Libra programming that I assigned to this card.  One can even write the word "Libra" on the Queen of Swords to help memory.  I personally know a reader who does this.  The Knights will represent the astrology sign of a person, a younger adult, or the specific situation I programmed the card to represent.  The Pages will be their suit Astrology sign represented as a child with its particular nature, such as the Page of Cups representing an intuitive dreamy child, or the card will represent its programmed meaning of a type of message, such as a phone call.  If a King or Queen come up as an outcome card, I take this to mean that the outcome is determined by this person or a person who is involved in the question or situation.  Or it is this person's choice.  If my card, the Queen of Cups comes up when I ask a question, I take that to mean it is my choice.

If you know anything about astrology, you can get more detailed in your programming of the cards.  For example, all the Queens can be fixed signs, the Kings cardinal signs and the Knights mutable.  If your client doesn't know the person in question's astrology sign, you can assign physical descriptions to the cards, as well as personality.  The client will most likely recognize who you are talking about. 

What are your tips for reading Court Cards?

How do you know if a psychic is ethical or a fraud?  Unfortunately, you probably have to schedule an appointment with the psychic before you can determine this, but here are some handy tips to identify the "dips" (as my 83 year old mother would say).

1) Using ornamental trappings or titles: First of all, unless its a Halloween or a themed party, anyone who might be wearing a gypsy turban (unless they actually are a true gypsy, or for religious purposes), might use the term "fortune teller" and/or calls himself "master of anything" or "madam"...need I say more?  You probably should run. 

2) "They seem to read my mind" scam:  A lot of the number 1's fall into this category - Anyone who starts off reading you like a book to convince you, and/or then says they need to remove a curse someone put on you.  Its not that I don't believe in curses, its that... they have to light 400 candles to remove it (or some such nonsense) and the candles will cost you $400.  I hope nobody's falling for this, but in all seriousness, where do these people all learn the same schtick?  Is there some underground "Psychic Scam School" I don't know about? Also, anyone who gives you an unsolicited reading.

3) They read your mind:  Along with number 2, anyone who reads you like a book, and tells you everything that is in your mind...wow... could they be reading your mind?  But of course.  Basically, instead of reading (interpreting) what Spirit is telling them, and passing the message to you, they are reading you.  (This can happen with mediums too.  They are reading your feelings and thoughts about the person you miss, instead of actually talking to your loved one.)  Some psychics aren't aware they are doing this.  Beware of a reading that is too detailed.

4) They leave you with only one option:  This goes along with number 3; because they are reading you, they see where your thoughts are taking you, and they say, "x, y and z is going to happen to you".  You leave, and lo and behold, x, y and z happen to you.  They never gave you other options, or looked to see if you had a different path you could have taken to change certain scenarios.  We are in a multiple choice script, people, so not everything is just one way and that's it.  

5) They give you really heavy bad news:  Just lays it on you, and kind of does a similar scenario to #4.  They don't give you any other options, and this could possibly send you into a downward spiral of depression, instead of uplifting you. They have taken away your power to make another choice to change the circumstances, prepare for them or at the very least understand why this event would have to happen.  If they had given you other options, or looked at other aspects of the scenario, the reading would have helped you.  Instead they dropped a bombshell, giving you bad news without advice on how to handle it, in essence, giving you a death sentence, Once again, I would question this psychic's sources for their information.

Ever had any of the above experiences?  Please share!

I felt drawn to write this article, after reading of a famous psychic's involvement in the Amanda Berry ordeal.  Psychic readings remain a mystery to a large part of the public, and even to some doing psychic work.  When a psychic relays information, it is our habit to analyze from a literal logical perspective about what is going on in a reading, and how it is actually done.  For most people, psychic work either leads to a curiosity of proving psychic ability, or a complete disregard and disrespect for this delicate and misunderstood skill. With its transient nature, it becomes difficult to nail down proof, when the left brain is trying to make sense of right brain-like functions.  This leads to more confusion, and the temptation to reject it all as hocus pocus.  So, lets begin with some of the common misconceptions of psychics and psychic readings:

1.  Are we all psychic?  For the most part, yes.  We all have psychic ability, some in one particular area, some in several areas.  In some it is highly developed, and in others needs to be developed.  Some abilities are gut feelings, seeing visions, messages that come in dreams, etc etc.  If you don't believe you are psychic, chances are you have ability somewhere and just have to want to develop it.  Its similar to the question, "Can anyone play piano?"  Yes, for the most part, as long as you have hands or feet or something to hit the keys.  In some it is a natural ability, in others they need piano lessons.  But eventually one can learn to play the piano by their level of dedication/love for it and developing their skill.

2.  Why aren't all psychics winning the lottery?  The answer to this question lies in the very nature of how a psychic receives information. Someone working as a psychic doesn't get to choose the information they are given. It is channeled through them. They can ask for certain information, but that doesn't mean they will get it all of the time, or may only get part of it. Spirit decides (or whomever the psychic is receiving from) what will be given. It is for the client's best interests. (This is assuming the psychic has ethics and is channeling for the higher good of the client). So, whoever is going to win the lottery, is going to win the lottery, and if this future winner happens to come in to see a psychic, then maybe the winning numbers would come through the reading. Who knows? The script is already written, and so are all of the multiple choice options. A psychic cannot change your script and give you the lottery numbers, nor can they change their own. And, the psychic is not some all-knowing special being who is given access to all information and can merely call it up to serve their own purposes. They are the channel through which specific information flows for the benefit of the person getting the reading. Again, they do not get to choose the information given, but can try asking for specifics. What comes through, is what comes through. This includes for themselves, as well.

3.  Are all psychics quacks and charlatans?  Absolutely not.  Just like any other field, you have quacks and you have highly skilled people.  For more information on how to separate the fakes from the legitimates, see my article "How to Choose a Psychic."

4.  Is the information from a psychic always 100% accurate?  The answer to this question would be a no, although a psychic's ability to download and translate the information they are receiving will greatly influence a higher accuracy percentage.  Psychics can have more difficulty if the client is especially negative or skeptical during their reading. This is called interference.  This can also happen in outside entities around the psychic, or the client.  And remember, things change.  You have multiple choice options/paths most of the time in decisions.  Life doesn't deal in absolutes, and this applies to psychic information as well.  There are no definite answers in life.  This is why Science deals in theories.  This is why, when you think you have the answer, because 99% of the people you are testing exhibit a certain type of behavior, that 1% will show up to screw up the "facts", or something will change what you thought you knew.   A psychic's job is not to rattle off a bunch of accurate details to you, past or future.  They are here to help guide you to better decisions.  Give you clues and information as to what is coming in the future, and what you can or can't do about it.  They are here to deliver the messages God (or Spirit or your guides or whomever you want to insert here) has for you, in order to bring you to a greater state of joy, fulfillment and betterment.
~This is why I don't agree with a particular famous psychic who always answers in absolutes.  Especially when it involves extremely sensitive issues such as missing children, cheating spouses etc.  A psychic can be really accurate, but they are not infallible, and therefore should never answer in definitive concrete statements.  For example, a mother asks, "Is my missing daughter still alive?"  If the psychic is getting "no", that should not be the answer given, in this particular situation, as the "no" could mean such things as maybe the daughter has given up on living, or is in such a hellish situation that she already feels dead.  The subtleties that go on in psychic information can sometimes be misinterpreted.  A good answer would be, "I am not sure.  I feel like "no", but that could be the feelings of your daughter I'm picking up, and not necessarily what's real."  And leave it at that.   Some of you may disagree with me, but its my personal belief that such sensitive situations should not be handled in a yes/no fashion with psychics.  A better treatment session would have been helping the mother learn to cope and giving her direction to funnel her worries/fears, i.e. maybe Spirit is wanting you to encourage the woman to reach out and connect with or help other families in the same situation, etc.   Bringing her comfort or direction, regardless of the question she came in to ask.  And finally, let the proper authorities handle their area of expertise.

5.  Why do psychics charge for their services?  Psychic readings take an incredible amount of focus and energy.  The psychic has to move completely into right mind, while keeping a foot in the left brain.  They receive and interpret information in right brain, then jump back over to left brain to explain it to you in a logical way.  This jumping back and forth can be exhausting.  Add to that they have to keep complete concentration to keep out unwanted channels or interference.  And, like everyone else, a psychic's got to eat.  The time they are spending with you could be spent somewhere else making money, so if you expect them to constantly hone their skills, meditate, keep themselves in a true space to avoid psychic attack and other unpleasantries psychics deal with and read for you, then you will have to pay for the service, like anything else. 

6. Are psychics reading my mind?   Hopefully not, as this is unethical, and not how a true psychic reading should take place, although again, there are the unscrupulous that do this.  A true psychic professional will not be walking around all day reading other people's minds.   For one thing, they have their own thoughts going on, and as most tend to be like sponges around others (especially empaths), they are most likely trying to keep your energy/emotions from seeping through.  Anyone who can walk around and "read on their feet" as they walk up to you and deliver a message, are either invading your privacy and space, hooking into your energy probably trying to get something out of you (such as becoming their client) and/or getting in your head and reading your thoughts, which is absolutely where they don't belong.  A psychic should NEVER give you psychic information without your asking for it.  To do otherwise is as unethical as reading your mind.   Reading your thoughts may seem impressive when they say, "I'm picking up that you got fired today," but not only is this none of their business, it also can mean they may not be channeling from a pure source (i.e. channeling Angels from God, Spirit Guides or God, as opposed to channeling the dark side or demonic entities - sorry to have to mention them here!).  Which again can mean they may not channel information which in your best interest for the future.  They may tell you what you want to hear by reading your thoughts again, and then you return for more readings.  Being in a vulnerable state, you as the victim may think this person understands you and can help you.  Why else would they just walk up to you and state that they see into your personal business and are concerned?  And beware of the psychic who says you NEED them, or you NEED their classes etc.  Its certainly ok to continue to see a psychic for guidance or attend  their classes, but this person is not your guru, nor do you need them to be.  This is called dis-empowering you as a client, and/or stealing your personal power.   If the psychic can help you through other services, this should be left up to the client.

QUESTION:  Did you have any questions to add that weren't addressed here?  Please comment.