The Hit List - The Gift - The Tarot Lady

Last weekend, my daughter and I attended an event with the psychic medium John Edward. If you’ve never had an opportunity to see him work, go. He’s the real deal. This was my second time seeing him, but my daughter’s first. Needless to say, her jaw was in her lap for the entire two hours. She loved it.

At times, people were allowed to ask questions about his work. One young woman was handed the mic and began talking about “her gift.” That gift was…psychic abilities. John turned this into a teachable moment when he said that intuition was not a gift for the special few but something everyone possessed.

While I don’t remember what he said word for word, I do remember the sigh of relief I felt. Over the years, people commented on my “gift.” I’ve never been comfortable with that.

I’ve also encountered plenty of folks anxious to show off their “gift” when they came to my office for a tarot reading. It usually went something like this: suddenly, they “saw” a spirit in the room and wanted to know if I saw it too. I’d always say, “Nope…you must have brought that in with you,” and then proceed with the reading. I never entertained that nonsense.

I never consider my abilities a gift. Instead, they are skills that I developed over time. Like John, I believe everyone has intuition. Ask anyone about a time when they got a bad feeling about something, and even the stiffest nonbeliever will have a story to tell. Animals possess strong instincts too, which help them survive. Just like our four-legged friends, our sixth sense is a survival mechanism.

In fact, the most psychic people I have ever met weren’t tarot readers, astrologers, or any professional readers. Often, these were people who had to live through difficult situations. When you’re forced to do that, you have no choice but to develop your intuition.

My mother was a tiny 4’11” woman with severe epilepsy. She had grand mal seizures that would sometimes keep her out of school for weeks at a time. Her parents were poor farmers with too many mouths to feed, which meant good nutrition was out of the question. Because of this, she suffered from rickets and other diseases of poverty. Alcoholism and abuse were also part of her childhood. At thirteen, her education ended. Back then, many farm kids left school early because they had to go to work.

In this horrific climate, her intuition blossomed. My mother wasn’t book smart and never managed to balance her checkbook, but she was the most intuitive person I’ve ever known. She saw the dead, could pick up on people’s motives, and had regular premonitions that turned out to be true. In our household, there was nothing special about her abilities. There was no ego, no talk about a “gift,” no showing off. It just was.

My parents never made a fuss over my interests in tarot and astrology. They ignored it, which meant I could study without interference. This is one of the reasons why I was able to develop my skills. I had time, and no one objected to or treated me like I was some “gifted” psychic genius. I read for ten years before I finally went pro. By that time, I had serious chops under my belt.

Over the years, I’ve observed many people in a rush to become professional psychics, tarot readers, astrologers, and the like. Some of these folks were well-meaning, while others believed this work was “easy money” (it’s NOT). More than a few were convinced they had a “gift.” None of them took the time to fully develop their skills. Needless to say, most of them are no longer doing this work. Unfortunately, some did real damage on their way out the door, which meant other readers had to clean up their messes. I’ve been on the clean-up crew more times than I can count.

This is a long-winded way to say that intuition is a muscle, not a gift for the privileged few. There is nothing special about it…or you. Some people are talented, but that’s because they do the heavy lifting for a long time before they turn pro. Like any muscle, intuition needs exercise, or it becomes flabby. To develop your abilities, you must commit to a lifetime of learning and hard work, much like a bodybuilder does before they even begin entertaining the notion of competing.

Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t become who he was without training. He did the work for a long time before oiling up and donning those teeny trunks on the main stage. The right to brag only comes after the hard part.

“The better you get, the less you run around showing off as a muscle guy. You know, you wear regular shirts-not always trying to show off what you have. You talk less about it.” ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger

Theresa

By the way, John Edward has developed an amazing social media platform called Evolve Plus. It’s the perfect space for anybody who loves mediumship, astrology, tarot, and other spiritual topics. Podcasts, classes, daily posts, and readings from John Edward with a supportive and kind community – you will love Evolve Plus! Download the app for intuitive wisdom right on your phone!

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Classes and Events

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Pens and Cards. October 18-19th, 2024. Picton, Canada. Learn how to use tarot to inspire your writing with yours truly and Sarah Selecky. Details coming soon.