February 17, 2020
Unlike most Canadians I know, I enjoy talking to strangers on the subway or the bus. Why stare at your mobile apps when you can spend an otherwise boring commute hearing an interesting story or even making a new friend?
This reading came about because one day in June, when I was on the subway, I noticed a woman two seats away who happened to be reading a book by Orhan Pamuk. Orhan Pamuk is a Nobel Prize for Literature recipient, but for me, he’s about as easy to understand as James Joyce in, we won’t say Finnegan’s Wake, but at least Ulysses. I had to say something. This woman was either nuts or highly intelligent.
I probably said, “excuse me”, and then something like, “Wow, I see you’re reading Pamuk!” I’m sure it was more like, “I can’t believe anyone can read and understand this author.” But yes, she could, and even though she probably had already read him in Turkish (her first language), she was now reading him in English, a language she was still trying to master.
As we chatted I found out she was here on a brief visa and would only be allowed to remain in Canada and bring her husband and children over if she could get a job in engineering (her profession) by September, so within the next three months. Not just any job, a job in engineering because that was her field. Those were the stipulations for the visa she needed.
By the time she had to get off the train, we decided to connect on Facebook, and then go for coffee somewhere where I would do a Tarot reading about her job situation.
When we met for the reading, I took out my Tarot cards to see if she would get an engineering job before September of that year. I decided to use my Hanson-Roberts deck for this reading.
I always like to look at the cut of the cards to see the general atmosphere around the question. In this case the cards were the Wheel of Fortune and the Nine of Cups. The Wheel of Fortune can often refer to recurring situations, but also karma manifesting itself. As for the Nine of Cups can point to big (favourable) changes in one’s happiness. So what I got from this was that big changes were coming for my new friend, and that she would probably get her wish.
I then laid out three cards for the reading itself and got the Three of Pentacles, the Magician and Strength. Like the Wheel of Fortune, both the Magician and Strength are Major Arcana cards, the 22 “main” trumps in a Tarot deck. That’s three major cards in the five that were pulled for the spread! This was significant because when I read with a Rider type deck, I use the whole deck, and when Major Arcana cards come up I see them as very strong forces at play in one’s life.
What I saw in these cards is that, believe it or not, my friend would get her wish. Even if she would at first be offered a small position (Three of Pentacles), she had the skills, the faith and the determination (Magician + Strength) to overcome any obstacle.
But would she manage to do this in time? We stayed in touch, and every now and then I would ask her how things were. She said she was applying at different places, and I suggested she might want to try temp agencies as well. I was afraid that she would run out of time before she could get the right job.
Soon after that she said she had been called in for a job interview at an engineering firm. I asked how it went, but she said that although they liked her, they said she was over-qualified. And right away I thought, oh no, maybe she should have gone for something small (3 of Pentacles card) and not shown all her qualifications on her resume (Magician card). How was she ever going to make it now? Especially after such a setback… She said she would try to convince them. (I thought, oh no, don’t do that. They may not like that…)
I forgot she was determined (Strength card).
A couple of weeks later the firm she had applied at called her back and offered her the job.
I was so glad for her (and relieved). She’s an amazing person and she deserves the best!
(This reading was edited on February 18, 2020 to include some of the details at the end.)