Tarot readings are so 'in' right now at restaurants, boutiques, parties, and hotels, that I began to ask my friends who regularly get them who they recommended seeing. I sifted around the names and information, and spoke to a few of these mystical people in a quest to interview the best, and get to the bottom of all the hype. My favorite has been Janet Horton, a New York City-based reader and psychic who, I can testify, is definitely all she's chalked up to be.
R.C.: Tell me a little bit about yourself and how you were drawn to Tarot. What is your style for Tarot reading?
J.H.: I'm a former magazine editor (senior editor of American Home and Us magazines) and writer (American Home, Us, Cosmo, New Woman, etc.). I'm also a former stockbroker (Kidder Peabody, Smith Barney). I was always psychic -- truthfully I think everyone is -- so as a young girl, I started using cards to find out what God and the spirits wanted me to know. I'd say my "style" is warm, open and empathic. I want my clients to jump out of that chair feeling empowered, with pertinent questions answered, new peace in their souls, ready to go out and fulfill their best selves and destinies.
R.C.: How can people, in your opinion, benefit from a Tarot reading?
J.H.: Any interaction with a second person tells you a lot about yourself, so it's all good. When you have a reading with a psychic Tarot card reader, hopefully that person will have genuine insights into your life that are helpful. Just hearing about yourself in someone else's words can be very enlightening. Even if you aren't all that impressed with the reader, it can be fascinating to hear how she or he characterizes your questions and answers them. And every reader is different. Everyone has different gifts. I believe I have a gift for getting the client's lost loved ones, meaning family and friends who have crossed over, and who want to talk to them. I believe God and the spirits are talking to us through the cards, and loving us, and supporting us. Every reading should be positive and inspiring, even healing. And if it's not -- for Heaven's sake, don't give anyone the power to make you unhappy, or throw you off your course. Trust your own inner truth.
R.C.: When and where do you read?
J.H.: I do 45-minute private appointments in my home in Hoboken, and 45-minute phone readings for people who live at a distance. I do events -- birthday parties, holiday parties - in restaurants and private residences. On Sunday nights, I do 15-minute readings at La Lanterna in the West Village. On Monday nights, I do 15-minute readings at Winnie's Jazz Bar in the Refinery Hotel in the theatre district.
R.C.: What is Tarot, really?
J.H.: Tarot is a form of divination through a deck of cards. The illustrations on the cards contain images and symbols, and tell stories, and have various potential meanings, that help the reader realize what God and the spirits want us to know. It's a tool that helps the reader pick up on spiritual information.
R.C.: Tell us about the book that you're working on...
J.H.: Oooh! How nice of you to ask! Currently I'm finishing up my first novel, "Beyond the Veil." It's a psychic murder mystery set in 1939 film noire Manhattan about a beautiful young psychic who does readings in an elegant restaurant. One night my heroine reads an aristocratic young couple's cards, and predicts that the man will murder the woman. Her prescience puts her own life in danger - but I don't want to give too much away. Let's just say the book is spooky, spiritually enlightening, and a lot of fun!
R.C.: How often should someone be consulting a Tarot reader, in your opinion? Is there ever a time when it's too much?
J.H.: This is such an interesting question. Sometimes a new client is so excited by the experience, and the opportunity to get a bigger-picture take on his or her questions, that they come pretty often... once a week or every couple of weeks, for a while. People who do this tend to be very psychic themselves, so they are also learning about being more sensitive by having conversations with someone else with the same abilities and interests.
Then, after a while, the readings begin to seem a little repetitious. Avid clients begin to chuckle at themselves, and joke that God and the spirits are telling them the same thing over and over. (Truthfully, he really isn't that in to you. Yes, you have the talent, go ahead and be an actor. Yes, you should get a divorce). They start to joke that maybe they should start listening and take the recommended action. When they are ready to move forward, they feel confident that they have truly thought things through, and are off to the races, back in charge of their lives and destinies again.
R.C.: What are the most spiritual places in New York City that you recommend going to?
J.H.: Another fascinating question! I'm one of those people who sees God, and beauty, in the face of every person who passes by on the sidewalk. Most of the time I say, "Hello, how are you?" If I need a moment of spiritual inspiration or peace, I look up -- into the sunlight and the blue sky, or the moon and the stars, or even the clouds.
Then, for me, the most spiritual place to go on Earth is within. My advice: Take a moment to be peaceful, by yourself, and think how blessed you are, and what a pleasure it is to be of service. That usually does it for me -- I can half 'see' the Angels manifesting around me.
By the time I look outward and life begins again, I'm in a state of joy, renewed and fulfilled.
We are all part of God. God is always within.