on the power of intention (or maybe I’m just deluding myself)

Sometimes I wonder if I’m really meant to be a fortune-teller / life coach / geomancer / public relations specialist when I still want to take pictures, learn the art of serving tea & arranging flowers, make oil paintings, make sushi + sandwiches + pasta + dessert at the very least, write self-help books & poetry, visit Chinese/Japanese temples, learn kendo + tai chi + yoga by heart & teach them in turn, save the world: one panda at a time, get a degree in psychiatry, do my own gift-wrapping, learn more than 4 languages, design gowns, become an extreme sports buff, tote guns, & be a really effective financial analyst LOL. Maybe I could just own a crafts & hobbies store at the end of the day, with all my interests thrown in, & I can opt to stay open for 24 hours or so, with all the fun geeky stuff my space has to offer. I guess I’ll never outgrow my being scatterbrained. I wonder why I’m so bent to express all of that. I wonder who & what I was in my past life. From the looks of this post, it seems that I might have lived more than once, but maybe humans can really be multi-faceted & complex. If I win a million dollars tomorrow, I swear to God I won’t waste time pursuing all of my whims!

On an unrelated note, I’m beginning to regret that I had to install IE7.

let's get (meta)physical!

Since the first Mercury retrograde this year is finally over, & we’ve had fun last Lunar New Year, & we’re expecting a new leap year in a few days, I can finally update this blog as I please. I’ve managed to finish 2 e-mailed readings in one go (after much delay, though, yikes!) & handle a phoned-in request quite well so I’m extremely happy of my progress. I’m afraid this will be the last time I’m doing freebies (unless I offered you a free session because you were kind enough to pay me first & then refer me to a good friend of yours or so ♥).

Anyway, I have decided to come up with a few ground “rules” for up-close-&-personal appointments for everybody’s comfort & benefit (especially my own peace of mind) as we all want quality readings, don’t we?

1). I cannot tolerate al fresco settings anymore, especially when I do readings around brunch/lunchtime. Unless we’re meeting up in a really cozy area, we’ll have to make do with airconditioning & lounge tunes, hehe. Especially in this godforsaken heat which we have no choice but to lovingly call perpetual tropical summer weather. If you’re stricken with a chronic smoking problem, you will have to enjoy your cigarette before &/or after our session. I have enough breathing & concentration problems as it is, so please, have mercy.

2). Please enclose your payments in a RED envelope, along with a wish you want granted (not by me, of course, but by the cosmos! :D) scribbled in the envelope along with your signature. I usually carry a spare bag where customers could all slip in their bills after their turn, & I’ll try to tote around my own stash of red envelopes for your convenience, but if you can, kindly comply.

3). Do not shuffle my cards as if you’re going to challenge me for a round of poker or gin rummy… & try to concentrate on your intentions while shuffling my deck as carefully as possible. Also, you can only look at ALL the cards after we’ve concluded our reading. If you want to know what the rest of the cards of a certain deck looks like, at least do your research online, unless I get chummy enough with you (more often than not I probably will be) that you can go through my stuff as much as you want. Oh, & please have CLEAN hands. If you must eat, do so after shuffling. & you have a cold, you might as well try to get well first before seeing me, or let’s just talk online (since there’s always PayPal & other electronic means, hehe). I’m only human, & flu shots can only do so much. I would want to share your pain at some point, but not your cooties ever, sorry. Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m fugly & I have dust bunnies in my huge bag, but that’s not calling it quits.

4). I welcome feedback very much, & I appreciate if you can tell me how much my reading has made an impression on you, at the very least. Don’t forget, I offer birthday specials, by the way, so…

5). Please be patient with me if your request via e-mail takes more than 72 hours. That means I’m trying to gain more perspective on your complex dilemma, or that I’m too ill to proceed. Rest assured I’ll deliver very soon. Usually it only takes up to 48 hours for me to respond.

6). Before I would strongly advise a follow-up session only after 2-3 months for optimum results. Now I welcome visits as soon as after every 2 weeks. I understand how lack of clarity & insight can drive people up the wall for answers & relief, so I’m offering my services when one most needs it. It’s cathartic for me as well, anyway. But, please, for the love of God, if the cards' messages are just repeating themselves, better take heed, FAST. & try to wait for at least 3-4 weeks more before your next appointment.

7). If you’re up for it just because you want me to convince you that tarot can change your life, in the same fashion that you would want to see me walk on water or blow up a neighboring skyscraper by just snapping my fingers or turn water into wine or levitate or make dead people reappear holographically or make a million dollars rain all over the sidewalk, I’m afraid I’m only going to let you down, whether we both like it or not. Go find your own freak show.

That’s it for now. I hope everybody understands. More posts later.
Today has been a very busy day, but thank God for Sleepasil.

gong xi fa cai!

So some of coworkers were kind enough to go with me to this geomancer last weekend on our way home. Thanks, guys. Unfortunately, the geomancer & his assistant weren’t that accommodating, as if they just wanted to shoo us away. They deem their business to be only for real bigwigs, not for struggling yuppies. To think I would’ve wanted to get a pricey reading the next time I drop by, but why would I want to consult someone who isn’t nice enough to even look me in the eye? No thanks. In the end, it’s still all about customer service. No amount of feng shui would be able to cure that. That moment I resolved to study more intently about feng shui by myself. Nothing beats DIY sometimes. Good thing the neighboring shop that sells feng shui cures, tools, books, & ornaments was a more inviting place! In an instant I noticed a wealth jar, a singing bowl, & a heart-shaped rose quartz crystal. My coworker who offered to help me with designing my new calling cards told me I should make a list of items I’d need when I shop there next time, haha. Oh, I will, alright. Especially now that I’ve realized how much decor we had lying around the house that was crucial to feng shui before we moved to our new residence 10 years ago, which was notably turbulent for me & my family. OMG why didn’t I take special notice of such things?! There was my dad’s small colored tiered pagoda on his desk which I loved immensely, & my mom’s quirky money frog & crystal tree & old abacus in our living room, among other trinkets. Maybe it’s high time to redecorate. I need new windchimes & some quartz crystals anyway, or even that Tai Sui coin that may come in very handy this year, even if I still think this is going to be a grand period despite everything. Or maybe even a Ba Gua mirror & a Chinese lantern.

The trick, I believe, to making feng shui work is to follow one’s instincts & work with whatever’s available before acquiring new wares that we think would help us with the practice. At least in my case, I really would have to take care of the clutter in my bedroom before anything else. Oh, & restock on scented candles, since I’ve been working with those for the longest time, & it’s a great way to tap into Fire energy which I’ve been lacking lately.

I’ve always been entranced with ancient Oriental culture (at least in terms of artwork & festivities & costumes & weaponry) ever since I was as young as 3 years old. When my older sisters & I were in my grand-aunt’s house playing, I immediately grabbed a Chinese doll & a brown toy horse & spent the rest of the afternoon in her garden & made use of a tiered pagoda displayed there. Years later, I found myself smiling upon seeing again those items on the shelf when I went back there & even my grand-auntie remembered how I chose those particular playthings. Whether it would be Chinese or Japanese, I always found myself gravitating towards everything Oriental. I have no idea why, & I’m the only one among my siblings to really be fascinated with the concept/theme/mood/design, even if my departed youngest sister liked J-pop so much that she taught herself how to speak & read in Japanese, haha. Le sigh. Must be my lame Chinese heritage via my mother. (That grand-aunt I'm talking about is her mother's cousin, btw.)

Everytime I’d read tarot, I would incorporate whatever I know about feng shui whenever applicable & share them to my clients. For the most part, it makes a whole lot of sense. Maybe I really should be more serious with my research. Haha. Now I think I know what I would truly want to be when I grow up. :P