Reading the Tarot
A local mystic
practices an ancient art
I took my troubles down to Madame Rue
You know the gypsy with the gold tattoo.
She looked at my palm and made a magic sign
She said "what you need is love potion number nine."
Love Potion Number Nine
Mitzi Linn doesn’t fit the gypsy fortune-teller
stereotype She doesn't wear a gold earring, or a
peasant blouse, or a colorful scarf — and she says she
doesn’t tell fortunes
Linn reads tarot cards Although she says reading
tarot cards isn't fortune-telling, she agrees that
interpreting the cards can give a tarot reader an
indication of the ’’psychic stuff” and trends occurring
in the life of her client
“The people that come to me are interested in
personal growth — where their life is going They are
seeking alternative resolutions,” Linn says
Linn always sees significance in the cards
"The more I study and learn in my life, the more I
put that understanding in the cards "
A good reader, she says, is "conscious of his or
her own life experience ” The reader's life experience,
used as the backdrop to the interpretation of the
cards, enhances the reader’s ability to understand
what specific patterns in the cards mean, Linn says
The early history of the tarot is shrouded in
mystery Some authorities claim the tarot was devised
in China or India and brought into Europe by Gypsies
Others believe the tarot is a compendium of the arcane
wisdom of ancient Egypt
Tarot cards and common playing-cards share a
similar ancestry, but no one authority can prove
conclusively which came first
At present there are many variations on the basic
Marseille deck, which is the oldest of European tarot
decks
Peralandra, 790 E 11th, stocks a wide range of
tarot decks The newest is a round deck, developed by
a feminist circle, Motherpeace There are other
feminist-oriented decks, such as the Womens' Tarot
Possibly the most well known and best-selling is
the Waite-Rider deck The Waite-Rider Tarot resulted
Story by Cort Fernald
Photo by Erich Boekelheide
from the collaboration of two members of the Order of
the Golden Dawn in the 1920s Many of the pictorial
designs of this deck have become cliches of Tarot.
Linn uses the Thoth Tarot deck developed by
Aleister Crowley. Crowley was a member of the Order
of the Golden Dawn (along with William Butler Yeats
It's all In the cards. Tarot reader Mltzl Linn surveys the personality secrets she learns from a special deck.
and Lady Gregory). Crowley, quite notorious at the
time, was alleged to be “666" incarnate, a practioner
of human sacrifice among other curious magical rites
He frequently signed himself — "The Beast. 'The
Thoth Tarot deck Crowley devised is said to carry a
curse
Linn says she doesn't believe the deck is cursed.
She considers that a superstition, which, if believed,
will adversely affect a person. But to Linn it's more a
question of each person manifesting the reality they
conceive
Crowley’s tarot deck is abstract, but it doesn't go
too far beyond the traditional meaning of the cards,
Linn says
Linn, who has a B A in liberal arts from Hanover
College, has been reading Tarot for nine years, the last
seven years professionally. "I met the tarot in
Woodstock," Linn says with a smile At the time she
didn't have much interest in it. It wasn’t until she lived
in southern Oregon with a circle of feminists that she
started serious study of the tarot.
The reading techniques Linn uses is designed to
relax the person having the reading — the querant.
She instructs the querants to close their eyes, place
their feet flat on the ground, take a number of deep
breaths and imagine they have a tail growing into the
earth
Linn says that this technique, called “rooting,”
gets querants in touch with the spirituual forces of the
earth. She cannot start a reading without this
technique.
Following this, she lights a pair of purple candles
on a bookshelf and brings out the cards After
shuffling the over-sized cards, she divides them into
three piles Linn uses a tantalum pendulum to
determine which of the three piles to read. A clockwise
spin indicates the cards to be read
Linn uses the 10-card Celtic Cross, the most
common card lay-out for tarot readers. The
interpretation of card placements can vary from reader
to reader. Linn uses a formation with placements for
the person, sub-conscious, past, choices, environment
and outcome.
Linn reads the cards in a congenial manner,
encouraging the querant to interrupt and make
relevant connections themselves. She doesn’t like to
be rushed, believing the conversation between the
reader and querant helps the reading.
Although traditional, Linn says tarot card
symbolism is “plastic” and easily associated with
what is contemporary. The tarot is thought to embody
a complete symbolic system which is a key to the
mysteries that hold the secret of the true nature of
man, the universe and God, she says.
"How can you improve upon the truth?"
Apart from reading tarot cards, Linn practices
psychic healing, and laying-on-hands She can be
contacted by calling 345-0233.
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IN CONCERT
' DAN
J SIEGEL
With Special Guest Lon Guitarskv
ONE Wednesday. ONE
January 27th
NIGHT 9:00 P.M. SHOW
I Nationally-recognized jazz artist Dan Siegel, with special I
guest Lon Guitarsky. will perform at O’Callahan’s next
Wednesday, beginning at 9 p.m. Don’t miss one of the
country’s top jazz artists. DAN SIEGEL in concert.