Magic is afoot, part 2

I wondered how long it would be before I told Marie that I've been working with Tarot cards? Turns out that was tonight.

We were talking about news, this and that. I mentioned Son 2's opportunity to go to graduate school in the same city where his girlfriend recently moved, and Marie thought that sounded pretty great. So then I went on to explain (as I told you in the previous installment) that I had texted Wife to ask whether she had done any magic on Son 2's behalf, and that she had said Yes. I went on to explain that the coincidence seemed too outrageous to have "just happened," and that when I had seen magic appear to work before it always looked just like this.

I'm not quite sure what reaction I expected from Marie, but not the one I got. She got very quiet, and very serious. 

Umm, ... sweetheart? Is something wrong?

Well you just reminded me of something I've been wondering lately. It seems like these days I have been getting sick with one thing right after another. The timing has been crazy. And so I've started to wonder, ... is it something I'm doing? Am I bringing it on myself?

As an aside: in context it was obvious that when she said, "Is it something I'm doing?" she did not mean, "Have I been hanging around with too many sick people and letting them cough in my face?" She was talking about some kind of magical or metaphysical cause.

Obviously I'm not a doctor. Nor do I pretend to be a magical healer. I don't even play one on TV. So I probably wasn't the best person to evaluate this. I asked her:

Is there anyone you could discuss this with? I mean, is there someone you know who could do an evaluation or a reading of you, to try to assess what's going on? The times I've visited, you have introduced me to a few of your friends; and honestly, of the ones I've met, I don't think any of them would be sympathetic to this kind of a discussion. But are there others?

No, not really. Maybe one or two at work, but I'm not sure.

OK. So there was no way to pass this off to someone more qualified. And I was the one who broached the topic, so now I had to deal with it.

[Pause.]

Do you have a few minutes? We've been talking for a while, and I don't know when you were planning to go to bed.

Sure, I have a few minutes.

So I got up, lumbered off to the other room, and came back with my Tarot deck. I cleared the junk off my desk to get workspace, while I was telling her that I've been having trouble making big decisions, and when you are stuck it's better to move in any direction than to stand still. So I've been working on it. I asked her what she uses as a Significator, pulled it out, and set it down on the desk. Then I shuffled a few times and dealt out a Celtic Cross layout.

My reading wasn't brilliant, and I saw nothing in the cards that looked related to illness. The general statements that I made about her situation drew agreements from her—and yes, you could argue that I should have already known some of them, but others were about topics that I have been careful not to discuss. The general basis of her situation, for example, showed that she has been spending herself well (Six of Pentacles); so probably she's not outrunning her income. I believe that, because Marie is very disciplined in the ways of self-denial; but after hard experiences with Wife and D, I've never asked her about her financial situation. Her Self card showed that she is a romantic at heart; OK, sure, I knew that; but it could have been any of 78 cards (or 77, I guess, since the Significator was already spoken for) and it happened to be that one. But nothing about illness.

That didn't bother Marie. When I was done, she said:

A lot of the illnesses I've been suffering can be understood as stress reactions. And you've pointed out things in this reading that could be adding stress to my life. That might be the explanation right there. I need to go away and think about it for a while, but it's a start. Thank you.

And so there we are. At least this means I now have one person in my life (besides you lot, in case anyone is reading this) with whom I can discuss the Tarot. As she said, I guess that's a start.