Tea & Tarot

I thought it would be nice to share tarot stories, insights and answer questions. When my mother was still alive, she would visit me and we would sit down and have tea and look at the tarot for guidance on whatever situations we were facing at that time. My mom had no formal tarot training, aside from me telling her what the cards meant as I read for her, but she could read them better than many others I’ve met. She was incredibly smart, intuitive and an English professor, so symbolism was like a second language to her. I’m calling this Tea & Tarot in honor of that memory and because she also inspired my first post.

Last week as Easter approached, my social media feed was filled with photos of my family making Nana’s Easter Bread, a Italian tradition handed down from my great grandmother, Italia Lucia. I decided to make my own batch on Easter morning and use what I’ve learned from Nancy Hendrickson’s (@nancysageshadow) book Ancestral Tarot to chat with Nana. Thankfully my mother reconfigured Nana’s original recipe that made 64 loaves down to a more manageable two loaves.

As I sat and shuffled the cards, I thought about all the times and places I had eaten this special bread. My grandmother, Gumma, got the recipe from her mother in-law, Nana, and passed it on to her children. Gumma is now 90 years old and has 24 grandchildren and 39 great grandchildren, many of whom have made or will make Easter bread from Nana’s recipe at some point, just as I did this year.

Before I started, I looked up Nana’s birthdate and did up a quick natal chart to get a feel for who she was. She was a Sagittarius sun with an Aries moon. Perfect for someone who came to the US as a teenager with her older brothers, to feed and take care of them, while her parents and other siblings remained in Italy. She was an adventurer. I asked for a card to represent her and I turned over the Queen of Wands, of course!

I spent an hour asking questions and laying down cards, gaining insight into an a amazing woman I only knew from stories. I could see how she influenced my grandfather and my mother, both of whom were life long learners. They always encouraged me to look up and research whatever I had questions about (this is before Google) and instilled in me a thirst for knowledge.

I am very grateful to Nancy Hendrickson’s book for introducing me to the world of Ancestral Tarot. This was a very meaningful morning for me connecting to not only Nana, but my memories of my grandparents and my mother.