The author at her Tarot reading stand, Burning Man, 2012
In 2012, I went to Burning Man and gifted at least 60 Tarot readings in 8 days on the playa. Every trip to Burning Man begins long before the physical journey. People prepare to varying degrees—some create giant sculptures to display on the playa surface, some are involved year-round with the administrative aspect of the entire event, some are in charge of villages or theme camps, and some, like me, are individual participants who want to gift in a bigger way than handing out trinkets.
The Man with the Temple in background, photo by author
I conceived of my Tarot reading stand in honor of Charles Schultz’s Lucy, who has a therapy stand, a cute nod to the child’s lemonade stand but with sophisticated, biting wit dispensed for a nickel. My husband Russell engineered and constructed my stand from laminate, elastic string, and PVC pipe so that it could be deconstructed and hauled flat in my car, then I would reassemble it at Burning Man. I painted “Tarot Readings 5¢” with the nickel in quote marks since no money would be exchanged according to Burning Man’s 10 Principles. Instead of receiving money from people, to make my contribution even more of a free gift, I gifted each person a wooden nickel that I had hand lettered. I wrote on the front of the stand “The Reader is” with a sign that could be flipped between “In” and “Out” to make it clear when I was available to read the cards. Obviously, if I was sitting at the stand, I was probably available. I sat at the stand for many hours over the 8 days, and while there were a few lulls, I generally had a customer seated across from me and sometimes another one waiting their turn.
The first full day of the event, the day after our arrival and set up, I probably gave 8-10 readings. I remember around sunset sitting in the back of my Ford Explorer (my sleeping place) with my friends and feeling completely emptied out. Just exhausted psychically, my soul drained. One of our camp neighbors came over and asked me for a reading, even though “The Reader was Out,” and I absolutely had to tell her no. The boundary between my psyche and the others I had read for that day felt like a thin veil, and I was reeling. I seriously wondered if I would have to dismantle and pack up my stand for the rest of the week. I didn’t want to feel depleted for the whole experience. It felt good and right to tell her that I would read for her a different day, and I think that boundary setting was the first step towards my quick psychic healing that happened overnight.
Art on the playa
I woke up the next morning completely refreshed without a trace of fatigue in my body, mind, or psyche. Somehow, during the night, my psyche had realigned itself into a configuration that was open and yet protected. I never felt the exhaustion again. Every reading after the realignment felt free, easy, open, receptive but never tiring. That’s not to say that my body didn’t go through heat exhaustion one day or that I didn’t get dehydrated at Burning Man, etc. But my psyche felt like it was in a lush garden with flowers, rainbows, waterfalls, fairies, and unicorns. I did not “accomplish” this state. Neither my ego nor my intention played any part. I believe that my experience of a psychic microshift points to the autonomous power of the unconscious psyche to adapt and protect itself.
Sunrise at Last Day
I have certainly felt enmeshed with others’ energies in the past and since Burning Man. Sometimes another person’s depression or sadness is a bit contagious, and when I feel empathy to that degree, I just try to acknowledge it and let it belong to the other person. Sometimes I can’t release it right away, but I try not to hold tightly to the feelings and energies that aren’t mine. When I act in the world as a lightworker, whether it’s facilitating a SoulCollage® workshop, reading Tarot for someone, or sharing with and listening to another person in recovery, I try to begin and end that space with prayer and meditation. Particularly after a larger gathering of souls, I need to wind down with a short cleansing meditation to get a quick realignment. That I do consciously, but I don’t control the shift in my psyche. I just try to give my psyche the care and attention that it needs.
Author playing at Burning Man, 2012