| It's a Kind of Magic by Suzanne Vadnais Monson All the props in the world won't create magic without concentration, focus, and pure, unbridled desire. When combined ,they bring phenomenal results. -- Dorothy Morrison I didn't set out to create another intuitive divination deck when I made enrichuals, 64 collaged cards to jump-start your creative process. My goal was to design a deck of cards that went deeper, a deck that offered clear and powerful advice on how to live an authentic life. And it would do this in a format that was lively and fun, something that helped us take our destiny and ourselves lightly. Ever since I was 13 years old I have been an avid sign watcher and oracle chaser. I vividly recall my first tarot card reading the summer before my family moved to Minneapolis from Moorhead, just before I entered the ninth grade. Virginia, a young college student hired to keep watch on my small tribe of siblings while our parents were teaching, was an expert on astrology and tarot. She did my first astrological chart and my first tarot card reading. "How does this work?" I asked her, sensing I was about to enter a world that was completely foreign to me. "It's very simple and very profound," she said in her soft voice. "All you do is hold the cards in your hands and ask a question, something you would like an answer to. You can shuffle the cards while you ask, focusing your attention on your question. When you feel ready, you set the cards down and we will begin your reading." I was so nervous and excited and curious. To me, this was some kind of gypsy fortune telling thing I had seen in a movie. I thought of so many questions my head felt like driftwood, thick, saturated with water. Finally I settled on one, the most immediate. What was going to happen when we moved to Minneapolis? Virginia turned the cards over into a specific arrangement, explaining this was the Celtic Cross spread, an ancient pattern for interpreting the cards. Each position in the pattern held meaning, with the final card indicating an outcome, or what was likely to take place. I watched her face respond to the cards, noticing some of them seemed to make her nervous. When she finished she looked at me carefully and said, "You are in for some major change." I listened, completely entranced. Virginia knew what the cards meant and they meant big things. Sudden and swift transformation of the world as I knew it was heading my way. I would need to stay focused on who I was to ride out the storm. There would be many challenges, but I had the tools I needed to make it through and emerge newborn. I sat on the floor of my living room wondering how it was possible these cards knew anything about me. It was the Death card that freaked me out, and it was my outcome. Was I going to die? Virginia explained that the Death card actually symbolized rebirth, that for something to be created fresh, something often had to die or fall away. The card could symbolize the culmination of a dream or a change in how a person saw themselves, the death of an identity. I wondered what this could possibly mean. And I knew I could trust Virginia. She had always been more than a babysitter to me. When she took the risk of talking to me about the way my parents treated me, asking me how she could help, I knew she was paying attention to things most people swept under the rug. I carried the weight of this prophesy in my heart as we loaded up the U-haul in August and headed for The Cities. I wondered what this sudden and swift change was going to look like. How, exactly would it appear on the horizon? It looked like a normal neighborhood. But when my new home came into view, I knew I was staring into the face of The Tower, the Major Arcana card for transformation I had seen in my reading. A shiver went through my whole body and I wondered in the house was haunted. My next year was a roller-coaster ride through adolescent rebellion. I ran away from home after being beaten so badly I couldn't walk right for two days. I reported my mother for abusing me. I hung out with kids at St. Joe's Home for Children, lived with two different sets of foster parents, ran away some more, hiding out in the basements of group homes at night, and spent months locked up in two different adolescent therapy programs. Sudden and swift, change swept through me like a house on fire. At the end of the year I rode back to Moorhead in the car with my mother, feeling deeply confused. I came out of Fairview Hospital having been told I had to change everything that was wrong with me or I would be locked up forever. And the list of what was wrong with me was long. I felt defeated, crushed, like the only thing I cared about had been stolen from me. Was this what I was going to lose? Me? I was at my lowest point, standing in my bedroom sobbing as my mother shouted orders at me from the next room, delineating precisely how my faults would be posted on the wall on a list so everyone could check to make sure I wasn't screwing up. I wanted to die. I just wanted it to stop. And that's when it happened. Something inside of me shifted, shook its head, and said quietly: "You are not going to die here. This is the last time you will ever have to be here. I promise." I'm not sure how I came to trust that voice, but landing in a foster home with two people who radically altered my life three months later helped. It's about baby steps and focus and pure unbridled desire. There was nothing I wanted more than to end the assault on my young body, mind, and spirit. I longed for it with all of my being. And somehow my prayer was heard and miracles happened -- and I got my fresh start. Enrichuals are my gift to the universe for hearing my prayers. Creating them happened so effortlessly, so easily. I sat down every morning and did a little meditation and then I wrote one powerful paragraph on the theme that came to me as I meditated. The mini collages I created to illustrate each paragraph were fun and profound, the magic of this art form that blends surprise with intention. One by one they came to me quiet as the morning comes, no smoke, no fireworks, no hark the herald angels sing. Only when I held all 64 of them in my hands did I have a sense of what I'd been a partner in creating. Spread out on the kitchen floor, they were thick and bumpy in all sorts of varied textures and colors. My fingers began to tingle. I felt a vibrating at the base of my spine. I asked a question, closed my eyes, and pulled a card from the deck. I pulled what I affectionately refer to as 'the Steven Tyler' card. Be dazzling. Be you, the collage proclaims, with a photograph of Steven Tyler doing what he does best: Boldly standing on top of his limo in wild paint spattered blue and green skin tight pants and a muscle shirt, both arms held high to the fans gathered below. Be Bold. Mighty forces will come to your aid. That's what I think when I pull this card. And the question I'd asked? It was no big deal. I was just wondering if I should spend the money to get the cards printed. The writing that changed my life came out of those mornings of writing one powerful paragraph at a time. Since I invested in the cards and started selling them, I am stunned by the letters and e-mails and phone calls I receive about how the cards are opening doors for the people who use them. "Every time I ask a question and draw a card, I get a powerful response that is right on target," Nancy told me, illustrating what I know is true. Something, some kind of magic, came through me when I created those cards. A channel opened and I stepped in, ready to get the message. I am so excited, honored really, to be a part of this deck. Sometimes I read one today, two years later, and can't believe I wrote it. It sounds so wise, so clear, so uncluttered with the debris of my very busy mind. If I could give you a taste of how it feels to hold these babies in your hands, I would tell you it is like holding hands with a lightning bug. The energy that came through me and into the cards is like an electric current you can almost smell crackling in the air. You can taste the possibilities. Every day I pull one to focus my day. Every day I learn something new about my journey. It's a kind of magic. Suzanne Vadnais Monson is the owner of Come Out and Play, a business dedicated to promoting creative expression. In the Twin Cities you can find her enchanted gifts at The Bibelot Shops. For information on Creativity Coaching Retreats, contact Suzanne at comeoutandplay@cornernet.com or call her at (715) 294-4522. Copyright (c) 2002 Suzanne Vadnais Monson |
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