TAROT IS AN INTUITIVE PRACTICE

The best Tarot readers that I have seen and have had a personal reading from, have all been what I consider "people" persons.  They are able to perceive and pick up intuitively on other people's unrest, patience, frustrations, etc.  This does not mean they are friendly wonderful, people persons, but they have the ability to "pick up on" the perceptions of others intuitively.

These type of people make for effective Tarot card readers, as they can perhaps see the bigger picture that is presented by the cards, before them.  Tarot reading requires an astute listener, and someone with a certain degree of empathy.  Having empathy helps when presenting both good and bad in a reading forecast.

I have been fascinated by Tarot for years, and have had readings done a number of times.  I have even begun painting my own Tarot deck, but have yet to complete it. I believe Tarot is what you put into it, like most things in life.

If you are skeptical and do not believe any of the prophetic nature of the readings, then you will of course not listen and close yourself off to what is really, more often than not, common sense and forces the person who is being read to take a closer look at their current, past and maybe future activities.

Tarot doesn't tell you the name of the person coming into your life, it doesn't tell you where you may have gone wrong, only you know these things, and it is the job of the Tarot reader to help review your past and current choices and maybe try to find who the person of interest may be, or what mistake in your past your may have made.

Is Tarot magic? The answer to that question is no, not really.  It is merely a tool used by someone effectively who speaks with people frequently and has a genuine nature to want to listen and help out where and when they can.

I think the most effective thing about Tarot, isn't the mystic cards or the "what do they cards say about me" aspect, but that they help induce conversation with the person being read.  Anything that can get people talking to one another about themselves, their actions, behaviors with others can only be a positive and if it takes a deck of cards to make this happen, then so be it.

Anthony Anderson

Tarot As A Guide To Your Inner Self

Tarot was originally created as images that speak to the subconcious and reveal what your inner psyche is trying to tell you, Much like dreams and the images that arise during deep meditation. Yet most of the time when certain cards come up such as the tower or the death card they can be scary and intimidating if one is not prepared to understand the deeper meaning behind a situation. That is why it the responsibility of a reader to  counsel the client fully and have them walk away with better knowledge on how to approach their issue than when they came. One way to do this is to look at the surrounding cards and see where and why the situation is occuring.Timing is also a factor. I have done readings where I saw what was going to happen the very next day to readings that came true a year later. The cards traditionally can predict a time frame but mixed together in a pattern it's a combination of intuition and remaining open to letting events unfold. There is also the practice of asking further questions and seeing what solutions the cards reveal. A journal or a notebook is always best to keep a record of the readings. Then you can go back and see what the pattern was trying to tell you. Keep in mind that the pattern comes from your inner self. The cards work as a tool to help you because the mind responds to imagery and symbols as a way to help us understand ourselves.

One exercise I recommend for those who would like to start reading for them selves is to pick a deck where the images are most the pleasing or you feel the most connection with. I always recommend the Rider Waite Smith deck to start with. But if you have an affinity for another deck you run across then by all means buy that one. When I started reading for others I was working a lot with herbs and making herbal remedies. I came across the herbal tarot and the deck not only helped with personal situations but the herbs in the deck were great reminders of what that person needed for their well being at the time. Take for example one person was having nightmares and feeling vulnerable. The card with St. Johns Wort keep coming up. As a flower remedy it is used for protection. As an herbal remedy it is used for mild depression. The latin name for it called Hypericum means over a spirit. It was exactly the sort of help this person needed to get started on her healing process and the cards were a great tool to help her see this. (They did not replace a more serious visit to a doctor or therapist.Always be mindful of that.) After a while you will start to form a connection with your deck where you feel more familiar and it becomes easier and more like working with a long time friend.

One way of learning to read for yourself is to take the cards, and throw out all the traditional and astrological meanings for the time being, and think of a question. Put your hands over the deck and hold it while concentrating on your question. Shuffle and when you feel an intuitive shift inside to stop then placethe cards in one large spread and pick the card that stands out for you. Look at the image and see what  is the first thing that comes to your mind. Go with it.Even if it doesn't appear to make sense. Write it down and come back to it later. You will be surprised at what comes through. For example when my cat Phoebe died I was grieving and not ready for another cat. Candlemas a pagan holiday celebrated in February was coming and I asked Brigit the Goddess who traditionally is associated with this day if she had a message for me. The Sun card came up which sometimes announces a young male child. (among other meanings.) I was confused but went with it and before long I was given a golden tabby kitten where the stripe on his side was shaped round like a sun. I named him Apollo. I had dreamed of him the year before when my cats were still alive. Now he had finally entered my life when I least expected it and right on February 1st. (I swear it's true.I have a couple of people who can attest to this.) This experience was talked about in Pamela Eakins book on tarot. I also recommend her deck Tarot Of The Spirit. The images are beautiful and very powerful.

I look forward to discussing this very special oracle with our guest Tommy Netzband who is a professional reader and hearing what our listeners have to say.

Photo above is of Pamela Coleman Smith who helped create the Rider Waite Smith deck in 1910.

The Moth As A Symbol Of Death

There is a lot of folklore on both sides of my family.  Since my mother lived longer and was an immigrant when she married my father,  she brought with her the tales and superstitions of her childhood in Mexico. One of them was that every time she saw a moth within the vicinity,  she would be say: Oh no a moth. I hope no one is going to die. She was a religious woman though more so later in life and she disliked anything to do with superstition or the occult. Yet she never questioned the folklore she grew up with. As young girls growing up in suburban America the stories always seemed out of place in our culture and surroundings,  yet the funny part was that right after our mother would announce her suspicions after seeing the dreaded omen, we would hear of bad news that a relative was sick or worse.  Perhaps it was all coincidence or one could say that she brought it on by focusing on the subject.  But the truth was that she hated anything to with death and she did her best to shrug it off.  But nevertheless it was spooky to witness bad news shortly later.

So what does this have to with people witnessing sightings such as mothman and other unexplainable entitities?  Because the moth has been seen as a symbol of death in other cultures. Black witch moths are native to certain regions of Mexico and they are known to fly at night and are known to be seen in sick rooms.  This sighting of mothman took place when it was dark and the entity reminded the viewers of a large black moth.  No one knows why or where this entity came from.  In studying the spirit world many shaman traditions speak of entities known as elemental spirits.  These spirits are known to take place in the natural world and known as non human but with distinctive qualities that are related to the animal plant or insect species. As my host Anthony said in his blog, they may exist in alternate realities or other dimensions and that could be the reason why we can't find them after a rare sighting.  This may also count for other symbols of death such Angels, and grim reaper type spirits.  They are seen rarely and at certain times in life but their origins are a mystery.  Yet those who have claimed to have seen these visitors never wavered in their accounts. This also goes for the timely sightings of different animals and insects who are known to be messengers of sad news. They are just innocent beings living their daily lives. Yet the connection they have with humans brings them into our lives during times of stress or deep sadness.  (Happy times too but that is a subject for another blog.  ).

By studying these symbols and why they affect us so much is to study our own inner nature and times of transition and transformation. Change can be scary but often it can freeing and for the better. Myths and stories of other beings stay with us for centuries and the more we preserve them,  the more we understand the cycles of life.

I would love to hear your experiences and thoughts on the air or by commenting below.

Black Witch Moth illustratration by sister Jude for Deviant Art.

VISITATIONS FROM DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS

One has to wonder with creatures like the Loch Ness Monster, Abominable Snowman, Bigfoot, Chupacabra and even Mothman, if these are species that are just rare or simply appearing in our own atmosphere from another dimension.

Another dimension would explain why we don't always see them, or is so rarely.  This might also explain why we do not find bodies or skeletons of such creatures, they simply do not live here.  The somehow come into our atmosphere and look around, hunt, etc and then disappear as quickly as they arrived.

I personally have very little knowledge in this arena, as I am a ghost hunter. Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience all its own and has its own believers and non-believers, but still hold many fascinating possibilities of what might exist around us.

What I found curious about the Mothman in comparison to say, Bigfoot, is that whenever there has been sightings of Mothman, it has for the most part been after recent UFO sightings.  Maybe the UFO's are dropping them into our atmosphere to see what would happen? To Mothman and to those that encounter them.  Another oddity with Mothman is the appearance of Men In Black around the aftermath of the UFO appearances and sightings. Men dressed in black suits, that look a little off, as if outdated and they ask odd questions of those that claimed they saw the UFO's.  I read of claims that their speech patterns are almost mechanical (very similar sounding to those I have heard in recorded EVP's).  The words are correct, but the speech patterns are oddly phrased or spoken.  They have an odd understanding of sorts of humans and their behavioral actions.

I also found it odd that while researching materials about Mothman, it indicated that many believers feel that Men In Black could be an arm of the government, whereas maybe they themselves are here to do damage control and monitor sightings and activities and are not from here at all.  If people feel they work for the government; sounds like a perfect cover doesn't it?

The one thing I had a hard time associating was the appearance of Mothman as a sign of impending death and destruction.  It was spotted in West Virginia, just prior to the collapse of the silver bridge, killing over 46 people, some of which had recently seen UFO's in the surrounding area.  I also read it was the opposite, that the appearance of Mothman was a warning to those in the area that disaster would soon strike.

Or maybe the appearance of Mothman simply meant that Groundhog Day would come a little bit later this year than normal.  Either way, you understand my meaning, both seem to be reaching for an explanation and seems completely made of 'assumption' rather than fact based.

There have been sightings of Mothman even this year, in 2016.  The large bird-like man has been seen in Singapore a couple of times, each report has been inside some sort of abandonded house or building.  Is Mothman still making visits to our realm, or maybe he (or she) never stopped visiting, just learned to adapt or keep out of sight since those early outings in 1966.

So next time you hear about Bigfoot or Loch Ness Monster, keep in mind that maybe they are not from around here at all, and that would explain a great deal as far as evidence of their existence.

Anthony Anderson

PARANORMAL TIME TRAVEL

Within the paranormal world, many often refer to sightings of apparitions with no interaction as 'residual energy", a recorded moment in time that is replayed in the same place for some unknown cause or reason.  The sighting of someone from another time, dressed in clothes of the past walking back and forth, performing the same activity inside a house, is merely the imprint of the energy of another person performing that same task over and over again.

What if this was not the case?  What if when a paranormal investigator, or average person catches a quick glimpse of someone walking through a wall and turns and looks straight at them then continues on and vanishes?  Is this residual energy, or perhaps a form of time travel for both parties involved? 

Let's say a person from the 1800's is preparing a meal and walks through their house to answer the front door.  Another person catches sight of (for only a fraction of a second) the image of a woman walking into the hall and up to the front door, then vanishes.  Is the present day observer traveling into the past, or is the woman from the 1800's traveling through time into the future?  Same house, different centuries. 

When recording EVP's, often researchers will capture the sounds of native American drums, gunfire or musket fire.  Maybe the sounds of a crowd of people, or group of children giggling.  A door slamming shut or a window closing, where there is neither a door or a window.  Is this also another form of time travel, but in an audible sense? Rather than visual, this time it is heard, same principals, of recorded as an imprint.  What if a researcher recorded and EVP after asking a question and it is another person asking, "Did you just hear someone?" Mutual audible time travel perhaps?

Perhaps it is not a different time at all but an entirely different place or universe.  Both see or hear each other at an exact moment and wonder "Who or what is that?"  Depending on your culture or civilization, you would excite any number of theories, our species leaning the heaviest to "they must be the spirits of our dead."  What if someone else, just hears another voice or voices and wonders, "Where are those people, where are they coming from?"  It could be they don't see their people hanging around them for any reason, and simply want to find out "who" is being heard in their atmosphere.

Time travel can be a great many things, but to the paranormal world it can also be both the answers and questions to what we all seek as researchers and investigators.

Anthony Anderson

When The Window Of Time Opens

Over ten years ago I had the strangest dream about San Francisco. I was walking around Beach street when I came across a group of people waiting to cross a street corner. I remember them distinctly. Two women in their 30's and a young boy of at least 13 years of age. They all were dressed in the clothing of the early 19th century. As I looked different I caught their attention. They seemed open and friendly so I asked what year it was and they told me 1903. I then told them that I was from the 21st century and I just happened to be visiting. Rather than act skeptical or treat me like I was talking non sense, they listened and told me that they believed me. We talked a little longer but what was said I don't recall. All I remember is that they were interested and good listeners. Something very rare to find in this age of distractions. I woke up that morning remembering the dream very vividly and writing it down. I could have just put it behind me as an unusual dream but something inside me knew it was more than that. I had tapped into an alternate realty and it took me back somehow. Why that year and street corner, I don't know. A year later, I was in the car with a friend and we drove past that neighborhood with the intentions of going to the beach. I saw what felt like a familiar street corner and told him to stop for a minute so I can look. The details of my dream came back to me. I started to talk about it but then decided to keep it to myself. That is till now. If somehow I had wandered into the past in my dream, could I have warned these people that their city was going to change drastically in a few short years due to a natural disaster? I have no answer for this. 

When the subject of time travel comes up, it's mostly dismissed as the well thought out fantasties of science fiction but putting that aside, our culture has long held a belief that somehow we are able to access the past and plan our future through imagination and visualisation techniques. In centuries past only shamans, druids and trained seer's held the secrets to tapping into other realities and dimensions which included both the past and the future. As a medium, I also have this ability. Sometimes by effort through meditation and trance, sometimes by dreams, and often just spontaneously while day dreaming or thinking. How do I know it's really the past or a future time? The way to answer that is that it feels different. I just know. Anyone who has ever had the same experience will likely say the same thing. Artists and writers are also known as the time travelers and seers of our society. Inspiration often comes in the ability to tell a story that is often part good imagination and part remembering. So is painting or drawing. Music too. We are building and accessing into another realm and translating it into art and music. It's the same with actors and people who participate in reliving history through plays and fairs For a time they go back and when they are out of character, they feel as if they just stepped into another gap of time. And of course most of us have experienced de ja vu at some point in our lives.

Then there the scientific side that is currently researching the physics of time and how it works. The more open minded we are about the possibility of time travel, the more discoveries we will make and it will further open doors that will hopefully help us in areas of medicine, space exploration and other ways I have not thought of here. If we can use it to heal and evolve as a species than all the speculation on time and dimensions is worth it. Many mysteries on unsolved histories will come to light and we will bring what we have learned into the future.

WHAT SCARES US?

As we approach Halloween, and we are doing our live Halloween show on "Ecto Portal" tonight (www.fccfreeradio.com, Live Studio 1A 8-10pm), I wanted to think what truly scares all of us?  Ghost stories, horror movies, crazy and current clown scares?  Maybe the things that truly terrify us are everyday things, things we know can and do happen.

I began to think about 911 calls, and the horrible and frightening situations that people get into, these are the real terrors and scary situations.  An intruder enters your apartment or house and you are alone.  Someone follows you down a dark street and you begin to run, as do they, right behind you.  A missing child in a large, public store or parking lot. A mysterious cell phone call that is not all together ... normal.  These are what makes us truly frightened.

In the spirit of Halloween and our show this evening, I have decided to write about a specific experience of my own that happened about 7 years ago.  I was asleep and my cell phone rang and startled me awake early in the morning.  I picked it up and the readout displayed "999-9999".  I did not answer it.  I tried to go back to sleep, a few minutes later, another call and this one read "000-0000."  I also did not answer that one.  Now I was unnerved and wondered if I was being harassed, or was it wrong numbers, crossed cell phone lines?  A few minutes later a third call, this one I did not even pick up the phone to read the display, instead I let it go directly to voice mail.  Ten minutes had passed and I was too curious not to find out who or what left a message.  I called my voice mail and received a 2 minute long phone call message.  For the first minute and 30 seconds, I heard faint static on the line but no voice, or message.  Then a few second later I heard the faint sound of an ambulance or police siren with heavy static and noise, followed by a voice.  The voice seemed like it was neither male nor female, or I could not tell to be honest.  The voice was panicked and said in a static whisper, "Ohhh, pick up, pick up, somebody please pick up." Right after the message ends.

Here is a video I made about this unusual phenomena.  My own call is featured second in this video.

People have had strange cell phone calls and messages, and mine is not the first and probably not the last.  Who is to say someone who has passed on, who knows very well how to use a cell phone doesn't pick one up and try to make a call to get help?  Would their voice be recorded?  If it was simply the call itself and did not have 2 others that preceded it, would it have made less an impact on me?  Probably is the answer to that question.  Calls from both numbers reading 999-9999 and 000-0000 as the caller?  What are the odds of both happening within a minute or two of each other, then the call with the 2 minute message and a voice speaking at the very end?

If you listen to tonight's show you will hear how this call and stories like it have affected how I mixed the show's music and theme.  Disturbing sounding for sure, but it is a true scare.

We also explore a live Oujia seance tonight in the studio after our 9PM hour, which we will also videotape and have on our facebook page the morning after, for those curious in our findings.  Perhaps you would like to participate as well, if you call in we will ask the board your question!  Listen live for the number and join in on our Halloween fun!

Happy Halloween!
Anthony Anderson