Summoning the Spirits
A reading by Chris is a highly dramatic affair. First, all lights are dowsed,
and candles are lit. "A rose candle and a vanilla candle," he
specifies. "No reason. I just like the way they smell." Harpsichord
music is also conducive to a good reading "particularly," he
adds, "during a thunderstorm." Once the scene is set, he
unveils the cards and asks his subject to shuffle them "until
they feel right." Next, he asks the subject to drop the cards
into three piles, going right to left, using only the right hand. Finally,
the reading begins.
Chris lays the cards in the traditional "Celtic Cross" spread. "This
card represents you, this card covers you, this card represents what
is before you, this card represents what is behind you, this card represents
influences that are yet to come into play…" As he lays the
final column of cards, he dismisses them with "And these cards just
go over here."
Typically, as the reading develops, a theme comes to the fore, which
Chris repeats sonorously as an aphorism or catchphrase. "A stitch
in time saves nine," he pronounces again and again as the cards
point to a coming time of hardship. "Are you in your garden?" is
the refrain of another reading in which the cards suggest the subject
is retreating from the world.
To those who know him, Chris' readings are less about psychic wisdom
and more about presenting the world in "Czajka-vision"; that
is, he uses the cards to tell the subjects how he thinks they should
live their lives. Chris himself readily admits that his readings are
based more in his canny people skills than in the paranormal. "Reading
cards requires a combination of careful observation, perception and a
dash of psychic ability." In his best readings, he relies on his
talent for picking up signals from his subjects, such as body language
or facial expressions. "I can tell if I'm off track or on target.
And with some subjects, I get into a real groove, a rhythm, where I'm
reading the person and reading the cards, and I really am a sort of medium
between the two."
And then there are a few subjects that give him nothing. "You ask
questions, and they look at you blankly. You just know you aren't getting
anything from them."
Still, more often than not, his readings have meaning for his subjects.
And there are some moments that simply defy explanation. "Sometimes,
a part of my brain just flips, and things fly out of my mouth that I
can't account for," he exclaims with a flourish. Chris surprised
himself most recently while telling fortunes at a charity function. During
a reading for a stranger, he found himself saying, "You met your
boyfriend ... on a trip." "Her eyes went wide with horror," he
recalls. "Before I knew what I was saying, I said 'In London. You
met in London.' I have no idea where that came from. But she screamed
and ran away!" When she returned, he learned he was absolutely right.
So is he psychic? "I'd say I'm a very observant person. I'm very
good at reading people," he replies cagily. "And I'm psychic
in fits and starts." A palm reader once confirmed this notion. Pointing
to a crease just under his ring finger, she showed him how the line was
a clear but incomplete half-moon. A complete line means psychic ability.
An incomplete line means ... something else. For Chris, the nearly complete
line explains his sporadic prescience. "I'm about 95-percent psychic.
I only occasionally get a sense of knowledge that comes from some place
I don't understand," he says wistfully. "I'd be much happier
if I could do it all the time."
Want more info on Tarot? Check these sites out:
Free mini-reading
Browse various tarot decks
Tarot-related merchandise
Symbolic meanings of the various tarot cards
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