Quick Cues on Not Being Taken for a Sucker!

So…you have decided to consult with a psychic, a spiritual advisor, someone who is willing to advise you and help you achieve your goals…for a price. So far, so good. But as my longtime readers know, I get stories on a weekly basis from people who have been SORELY taken advantage of. Here are some quick tips on how to make sure that you are working with someone who is ethical, legitimate, and honest:

1.) Check their testimonials+website--how long has the site been around? How many testimonials do they have? If you ask them to speak to one of the people who left a testimonial will they hook you up or leave you hanging?

2.) Do they belong to any professional clubs or organizations that guarantee an ethical approach? I am a founding member of the Association of Readers and Rootworkers because our field needed an ethical watchdog--AIRR is it.

3.) Is it clear to you what you are signing up for and what you are getting in return? Is there a contract you can sign? How much contact can you expect from the individual and will they agree to a set number of contacts in writing? If not, its a big sign that something might be amiss.

4.) Are they guaranteeing their results? This is mystery and magic not math--every situation/perspective/person is different and there are a million extenuating circumstances-someone who is guaranteeing results to you is someone to look at very carefully.

5.) Can you verify that they actually are delivering on their promises? Are you getting reports and analysis, photographs, contact--or are you getting vague promises and excuses?

6.) USE common sense! For most of the tragic stories I hear, the teller begins with "I should have known better when…" and then they tell me something that definitely should have (and in many cases did) set of warning bells. Hey! Pay attention to those bells. There are lots of spiritual advisors out there. You don't have to settle for the first one that you try. (This is not an encouragement to go and knock on every spiritual worker's door either though--be honest with your current worker about past experiences.) If you do not feel comfortable working with someone after giving them a fair shot then move on! Not every person will be satisfied by any one worker.

May you be smart, savvy, and satisfied!

audio recordings now available!

I am very pleased to announce that I am now able to record readings and make the recordings available as MP3 files for my clients.  If we have a reading and you would like it recorded please let me know (I will be asking for the time being as well!)  A recording is an invaluable tool, especially if you have a longer session and you want to be able to refer back to it again and again.  Recordings cost $5 and are available a couple of hours after our session has taken place.

Pay What You Can Day!

Have you read the latest edition of the Milagro Roots Newsletter--its hot off the presses and you can get it here.  Of course there is always exciting information in the newsletters--why would I write them if there wasn't?!  But this edition was thrilling because it announced Pay What You Can Day--one day, every month, when I make 4 half hour readings available to folks at whatever price they can afford to pay. Each month all proceeds will go to a different charity of my choice--the charity for August is the Humane Society of the United States.  So, here are the rules (soon to be made into a web page)!

• This is a service for low income folks--if you have oodles of cash but just want a good deal please consider your fellow brothers and sisters who may not be as financially fortunate.  I am not doing background checks on your finances but we are working on the honor system here.  Cool?  Cool.
• You cannot book Pay What You Can readings two months in a row--let's give everyone a chance to participate
• If you want to book a Pay What You Can session with me just email me with the Subject line: Pay What You Can Reading
• Readings can only be booked within the month they are offered.  In other words, you cannot book a Pay What You Can reading for September in August, you must wait until September.
• I will announce the Pay What You Can Day at the beginning of each month.

Pay What You Can Day for August is Wednesday, August 24th.  Currently there are 2 1 0 slots left--let's do some good and make some money for the HSUS!

Update: Pay What You Can Day for August is officially full--see you in September!

When good cards go bad...

Typically I wake up to an inbox full of emails with questions, work orders, and a hefty number of "oh my God, I can't believe how spot on your predictions were--you said X would happen and now it is!!!"  I don't feel the need to make exorbitant claims about my abilities or services because my testimonials say it all and then some, but these excited affirmations do give me a warm and fuzzy feeling--unless I predicted something negative and that is what's happening--that just ticks me off!  But every now and then there comes a time in a professional card reader's life when the question must be asked, "Miss Bri, what the @#&* happened?  The cards we got are not describing the situation accurately AT ALL!"  Can the cards be wrong?  Can a reader be off?Being the perfectionist, micromanaging, anal retentive gal that I am--believe me, it bothers me more than you.  And its a darn good question because we all know that even the best readers sometimes give readings that are a little less than spot on.  In my 18+years of doing this professionally, here are the top reasons why a reading may not end up describing future events:

1. Readings describe events that occur in space and time.  Space and time are fluid concepts--they are dynamic and changing.  If you believe in a locked down fate or destiny with no chance of free will then I really don't understand why you are getting a reading.  Ergo, as time changes and space changes the future can also change.  A reader is taking a snapshot of what is happening now and using that information--as well as her intuition, spiritual gifts and guides, divination system, etc, etc to tell the client what will be happening.  But if the snapshot changes dramatically then the reading may be less than accurate.  A good example of this that's true to life is the following: girl calls me to get a reading for a reconciliation case.  She is brokenhearted that her guy has left her--will they get back together?  I read the cards, the cards say--yes, they have a good shot of getting back together.  A few weeks go by without work and then the girl calls again--she has found someone new, someone she is truly in love with and they reciprocate!  Yay! Guess who she's not getting back together with, despite a positive reading?

2.) Misinformation, lack of information, or miscommunication on the part of the client.  While you should be leery of any reader who demands that you "feed" them information, you should also be leery of any reader who just starts reading you, "cold" as it were.  A reader, especially one such as myself that does a lot of diagnostic reading, is going to need some basic background information.  If you forget to tell me that the love of your life is married with children when we talk then that might really change the outcome of the cards.  If you consciously misinform me then the only thing you are wasting is your money and my time.  Typically this is not a huge problem because there are tell-tale cards that can and do show up during a reading to let me know I am dealing with one of the situations described above, but it is known to happen occasionally.  In some cases it is perfectly legitimate too--you may not know that the object of your desire has a wife in a different country--but if they do and we don't know about it, it can effect the accuracy of the reading.

3.) The cards themselves.  Each card is layered with symbols, meaning, and possible explanations.  Interpreting cards is kind of like navigating through an enchanted forest--its beautiful and compelling but there are many paths of interpretation to choose from.  The best readings in my experience are the ones where the client and reader are working together to hone an ever clearer picture of what is happening and what will happen.  Sometimes the cards are interpreted one way and it can seem very "off" when events do transpire, but if you re-examine the cards that were pulled you can often make sense of how one interpretation may seem off, but another is spot on.  In short, my answer to questions like, "were the cards just wrong?" is almost always "no."  Its not because I'm a relativist--I'm not.  I believe in right and wrong and absolutes--however in the world of cartomancy its rarely as simple as the cards being wrong.

 

Apprentice week and updates

Well, the Lucky Mojo Apprenticeship has come and gone.  Momma Hen and I are both now graduates and apprentices and we will be able to pass on the knowledge we have learned at the hands of miss cat and the LMC staff to our own clients!  It was a touch and go thing for me this year, I was not sure I would be able to make the apprenticeship with the new baby, but we managed and he did great! It has also been a crazy, crazy past few weeks--we have moved, Milagro Roots has its own office space, and I have several new, exciting, and BIG projects that I am working on--more will be revealed in time.  I plan on talking a bit in a later post about the awesome Hoodoo Workshops sponsored by MISC, but right now I just want to tell everyone hi and let the graduates from miss cat's HRCC course know that the apprenticeship is so totally, completely, amazingly worth it!  Most of the time when folks talk about the apprenticeship we discuss the fact that is one of those incredibly rare opportunities where you get to learn from a living master the hands on approach to old fashioned conjuration.  However, it is really so much more than that.  Apprenticing with miss cat grounds you firmly in the history of our tradition.  As Hoodoo and all things conjure related become more and more popular we also see more and more people trying to claim what Conjure is or is not.  The nice thing about our tradition is that there are many primary source materials that can help separate the wheat from the chaff and the apprentices get quite familiar with these materials.  I believe that the entire process makes one a better magical worker but I also believe that it makes one more knowledgeable and therefore of greater service to clients.  I will leave you all with a few pics from the week:

Momma Hen and Lil' Jessi preparing bath crystals

 

Miss cat's awesome collection of antique sachet powders

Baby Jasper taking it all in

Deck 'Em

As always there are candle and ritual reports to write up and send out, but I wanted to take a moment to reflect on some ideas that have been stirring about in my brain.  It started several weeks ago when I started realizing that my role as a reader and ritualist for people has led me down some pretty awesome roads and that many of my long term clients have also become friends over time.  This in turn led me to reflect on the role of the professional reader and rootwork ritualist.  I was listening to last week's Hoodoo Rootwork Hour Radio Show hosted by miss cat and Dr. K and miss cat mentioned something in passing that really resonated with me.  She was talking about how the internet has changed the face of Hoodoo and of professional magic--and its true--I get to encounter and read for a number of people and I am different than workers of the past because more of my clients live outside of my town and state than those that do live around these parts--that's because of the world wide web.  However, cat also mentioned that with this broadened exposure we lose one of the primary functions of the old fashioned worker--these were people who were spiritual advisors and when they had a client who had no one else to turn to--no family, friends or churches, they knew they could go to their worker.  This is the nurturing part of our job--nowadays we may call it "client relations" but however you slice it, it has to do with how we nurture and nourish our clients.  I have a very personal relationship with each of my clients.  When I cut cards for someone I become invested in how they are going to receive the information I have to give them and what actions they will take after the reading is over.  I want each and everyone of my clients to lead the happy, fulfilled, beautiful life that he or she is meant to lead.  This goes beyond rootwork know-how--that is important--but an intimate connection between a client and her worker is as if not more important.  The intimate connection I have with each of my clients and the way that my long term clients become companions on this thrilling journey that is life is so meaningful and important to me.  I feel blessed to have such wonderful clients and I pray that each and everyone of you is blessed in turn!  

One of the cards from the Melissa Lenormand

These meandering thoughts then led me to consider the differences between my clients--just as you would consider the differences between your friends and this leads to a query that I get a lot--is there a specific type of reading or card deck that I recommend for specific clients?  My answer to this question has changed over time--at first I felt that I could read for anyone with the standard RWS and I can and have.

The Industry gold standard Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot
 

BUT, I have also come to feel that certain decks really do resonate with different people's energies.  I don't know if they necessarily make for a more accurate reading but the right deck can definitely make a different in how an individual hears the information that I have to impart to them.  The images, language, and associations surrounding each deck are unique and specific so it makes sense that different clients are going to have preferences.  I also find that I will have preferences for a client and want to read from a specific deck for their case.  If you have a connection to a reader or if you enjoy reading for yourself but you find that the readings are not as accurate or on point as you would wish them to be, then you may want to experience with different decks and see if you get more clarity.  Ask your reader what decks they use and if they have a deck that they might recommend especially for your case.

 

The Bohemian Gothic Tarot from Baba Studio

Back in the saddle!

Alright!  Almost two weeks into motherhood and so far so good--Jasper is doing awesome and I am finding my balance between work and child rearing. All outstanding candle reports have been sent out, all outstanding ritual work reports and pictures have been sent and new vigil candle and custom candle orders have been filled.  As of right now I am scheduling readings for next week--I will not do as many readings a day as I did before giving birth which means that I am booked farther into advance earlier so if you have been wanting a phone reading go ahead and book it now to insure that you get the earliest time available.  I am not going to offer my ten minute readings via phone for the foreseeable future though they will still be available via email.  It turns out that grabbing ten minutes over the phone is tougher than grabbing half an hour or an hour! New ritual work cases will also be started up next week, so if we have discussed that in the past and you were waiting for the green light now you have it!  Since I am doing more readings via email right now I will write a post in the next couple of days about email readings and how they work.