Is A Win For Obama In The Cards?
by Diane Saarinen
Five tarot readers. Forty Barack Obama supporters. One art gallery. Three hours. By the end of the evening on October 17, these components added up to a cool $1000 at a unique fundraiser titled, “It’s In the Cards: Tarot for Obama.”
The scene was Kris Waldherr Art and Words gallery in Brooklyn, New York. I was on hand as one of the five very busy tarot readers who donated services to raise money to help conjure up a win for the Obama-Biden ticket. A $20 per person donation included a wine and cheese reception, and unlimited tarot readings. A silent auction was held as well, featuring items such as baskets full of divining tools and even a Sarah Palin “I’ll get back to you on that” T-shirt.
Amid the backdrop of the current gallery exhibit of paintings by Karen Zuegner, we readers were hopping - if one can actually hop while reading cards - from the 6 o’clock opening to 9 o’clock and beyond. Dressed in what can only be described as my black celestial cocktail dress (perfect for just such an occasion!), I also had my trusty model of a palmistry hand on my reading table, which really was just made for holding my business cards.
Kris Waldherr, gallery owner and organizer of the event, is also the creator of the bestselling Goddess Tarot and Lovers Path Tarot. “I think this is the most important election in my lifetime,” she said. “So I had to do something to help. Other members of the tarot community feel a similar urgency.” Waldherr is also the author of Doomed Queens: Royal Women Who Met Bad Ends, From Cleopatra to Princess Di, a campy and macabre romp through royal history with accompanying illustrations.
The Obama supporters were wonderful to do tarot readings for. While most had specific questions in mind, a few did just want a general reading on current influences in their lives. What was interesting to me as a tarot reader was the occurrence of many Nine of Swords cards being drawn throughout the night! While at first puzzled, I realized that the card - which often depicts a situation of worrying beyond the realistic scope of a situation - was reflecting the current economic fears of the collective New Yorkers, so close to the epicenter of the global financial meltdown taking place.
It was a grueling three hours. And we have proof of that! While we readers looked fresh as daisies at the beginning of the evening, photographs told the true story as we emerged at the end of the night looking as if we had run a marathon in a sauna. Don’t let anyone tell you psychic readings do not consume energy. They do, and plenty of it! However, it was for a worthy cause and certainly was a delightful evening.
A final question you may be asking: Do the diviners know the outcome of this election? Well, maybe yes and maybe no. Maybe we just aren’t taking any chances with fate!
Diane Saarinen is a New York-based writer and tarot reader. For more about Diane, please check out her tarot blog at http://wavelengthtarot.com.
Photos courtesy of Thomas Ross Miller.
