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At her Grand Junction home Wendy Videlock prepares to read tarot cards for a client.
GRAND JUNCTIION, Colo. — Writing poetry, creating art or reading tarot cards — it all springs from the same source, said Wendy Videlock.
Videlock said she’s starting to see more people seeking guidance — in the form of tarot readings, which she conducts in the privacy of her comfortable, red-brick home in a mature, middle-class neighborhood near St. Mary’s Hospital.
Tarot is an ancient text designed to explain the forces of nature, said Videlock, who’s also a widely-published poet, former schoolteacher, wife and mother of two teenage children.
“The tarot has always been with us but always kind of underneath,” Videlock said. “At these times people are more open to it. I’m finding people in the valley less afraid to investigate.”
Tarot incorporates Pythagorean geometry, Egyptian mythology, alchemy, poetry, and universal mythology and religion, Videlock said. Tarot also includes aspects of the zodiac and the tree of life, she added.
A tarot deck is comprised of 78 cards, 22 of which are artistic renderings of major arcana — which Videlock defines as ancient mysteries — in human nature. The other cards are divided into four suits that represent the earth’s elements and qualities such as spirituality, creativity, desire, mental acumen, health or material goods.
While tarot is often used for divination, Videlock said her approach to using the cards is different.
She prefers to focus on the concepts of “free will and illumination,” which she said is the heart of tarot.
“There’s always the possibility of intervention and that which is beyond our control — called in tarot the wheel of fortune, and in the conventional world chance,” Videlock said.
Her clients shuffle the cards, and then Videlock lays a spread of cards — anywhere from three to 21, depending on a client’s question or reason for coming.
“My approach is I ask the cards to lay out a story,” Videlock said.
“It’s kind of like an alphabet,” Videlock said. “The individual cards, the way they arrive in context, tell the story.
“Reading tarot is like any of the arts. There’s some degree of study, devotion and a large degree of intuition.”
Videlock said her clients come from all walks of life — they’re male and female, young and old.
And they come for many reasons, Videlock said. A person may have a moral dilemma or be standing at the crossroads and need to make a decision regarding career, relationship or spiritual undertakings, she said.
People come because they seek clarity, Videlock said.
“Sometimes a person is in a rut and needs a little nudge. The cards are good at nudging.”
The use of tarot cards for playing games and for divination dates back centuries. Some say to the 1400s in Italy, while others believe there is evidence that ancient Egyptians used tarot cards.
Ancient symbols have survived over the years because “we respond powerfully to them,” Videlock said. “Once you realize how symbols are affecting you,” it’s easier to listen to your own intuition.
“The further we get from the natural world, the more difficult it is to listen to our own intuition.”
New clients, Videlock said, sometimes come with a sense of suspicion, or apprehension, and curiosity.
“That usually dissipates after the cards are spread,” Videlock said. “The critical mind isn’t as noisy. Our receptive nature really comes to the fore.”
And most times people return for another reading, she said.
“It’s an ongoing process of cultivating the client’s own intuition,” Videlock said.
Videlock also gives lessons in the art of reading the tarot.
Tarot has received “bad press” said Videlock.
“First of all people don’t understand it. Sometimes that which we don't understand frightens,” Videlock said. Also, Tarot is associated with the occult, which in itself is a misunderstanding in definition, she added.
"Occult simply means ‘hidden meaning’ or 'mysterious inspiration', which is of course true of all the arts,” Videlock said.
Tarot is also misunderstood by those who “trivialize” it, Videlock said.
Videlock never asks her clients for their last names, and she prefers to give readings in her home to preserve people’s privacy. She also gives readings at the Heart of the Dragon on Saturdays.
“The cards can be ambiguous, they can be blunt. But they never tell us what we’re not prepared to hear,” Videlock said.
“Tarot is like poetry. You can read it, study it and practice it your whole life and it will continue to teach and surprise you.”
Videlock can be reached at 241-2057 or through Heart of the Dragon, 600 White Ave., in Whitehall Village.
Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.
Videlock said she’s starting to see more people seeking guidance — in the form of tarot readings, which she conducts in the privacy of her comfortable, red-brick home in a mature, middle-class neighborhood near St. Mary’s Hospital.
Tarot is an ancient text designed to explain the forces of nature, said Videlock, who’s also a widely-published poet, former schoolteacher, wife and mother of two teenage children.
“The tarot has always been with us but always kind of underneath,” Videlock said. “At these times people are more open to it. I’m finding people in the valley less afraid to investigate.”
Tarot incorporates Pythagorean geometry, Egyptian mythology, alchemy, poetry, and universal mythology and religion, Videlock said. Tarot also includes aspects of the zodiac and the tree of life, she added.
A tarot deck is comprised of 78 cards, 22 of which are artistic renderings of major arcana — which Videlock defines as ancient mysteries — in human nature. The other cards are divided into four suits that represent the earth’s elements and qualities such as spirituality, creativity, desire, mental acumen, health or material goods.
While tarot is often used for divination, Videlock said her approach to using the cards is different.
She prefers to focus on the concepts of “free will and illumination,” which she said is the heart of tarot.
“There’s always the possibility of intervention and that which is beyond our control — called in tarot the wheel of fortune, and in the conventional world chance,” Videlock said.
Her clients shuffle the cards, and then Videlock lays a spread of cards — anywhere from three to 21, depending on a client’s question or reason for coming.
“My approach is I ask the cards to lay out a story,” Videlock said.
“It’s kind of like an alphabet,” Videlock said. “The individual cards, the way they arrive in context, tell the story.
“Reading tarot is like any of the arts. There’s some degree of study, devotion and a large degree of intuition.”
Videlock said her clients come from all walks of life — they’re male and female, young and old.
And they come for many reasons, Videlock said. A person may have a moral dilemma or be standing at the crossroads and need to make a decision regarding career, relationship or spiritual undertakings, she said.
People come because they seek clarity, Videlock said.
“Sometimes a person is in a rut and needs a little nudge. The cards are good at nudging.”
The use of tarot cards for playing games and for divination dates back centuries. Some say to the 1400s in Italy, while others believe there is evidence that ancient Egyptians used tarot cards.
Ancient symbols have survived over the years because “we respond powerfully to them,” Videlock said. “Once you realize how symbols are affecting you,” it’s easier to listen to your own intuition.
“The further we get from the natural world, the more difficult it is to listen to our own intuition.”
New clients, Videlock said, sometimes come with a sense of suspicion, or apprehension, and curiosity.
“That usually dissipates after the cards are spread,” Videlock said. “The critical mind isn’t as noisy. Our receptive nature really comes to the fore.”
And most times people return for another reading, she said.
“It’s an ongoing process of cultivating the client’s own intuition,” Videlock said.
Videlock also gives lessons in the art of reading the tarot.
Tarot has received “bad press” said Videlock.
“First of all people don’t understand it. Sometimes that which we don't understand frightens,” Videlock said. Also, Tarot is associated with the occult, which in itself is a misunderstanding in definition, she added.
"Occult simply means ‘hidden meaning’ or 'mysterious inspiration', which is of course true of all the arts,” Videlock said.
Tarot is also misunderstood by those who “trivialize” it, Videlock said.
Videlock never asks her clients for their last names, and she prefers to give readings in her home to preserve people’s privacy. She also gives readings at the Heart of the Dragon on Saturdays.
“The cards can be ambiguous, they can be blunt. But they never tell us what we’re not prepared to hear,” Videlock said.
“Tarot is like poetry. You can read it, study it and practice it your whole life and it will continue to teach and surprise you.”
Videlock can be reached at 241-2057 or through Heart of the Dragon, 600 White Ave., in Whitehall Village.
Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.
