My Journey with Tarot Readings, Oracle Cards, and Crystals
Hi! My name is Chelle. I have a background in science (MSc in pharmaceutical chemistry, MSc in bio-organic chemistry and virology). I have a passion for space, the ocean, and history.
My journey with Tarot started quite a while ago when I picked up my first tarot deck - a version of the popular Rider Waite Smith (RWS) deck - in my young teens at a store in the mall. I had no idea what Tarot was, I had never heard of it, and I didn’t know its history or what it was used for. I was simply drawn to these cards that had such thought-provoking imagery and seemed mysterious. I went home and flipped through the cards. The little white book it came with had very little information, and I didn’t really know what I was supposed to do or why I felt the need to buy this deck. I kept coming back to certain cards and at the time I didn’t know why. The Moon and the Queen of Cups were my favourites to look at; Death and The Devil terrified me. The internet wasn’t as big and full of information back then as it is today, and I didn’t do any actual readings for quite some time. A couple years after that I was in Las Vegas with my parents and saw a booth set up in a hotel there with a neon sign saying “Tarot Readings.” I begged my dad to let me get one done. It was over-the-top expensive and the “reader” did not connect with me at all. The meanings he was saying as he flipped the cards made very little sense to me. For example, he talked about me being unhappy in my job, but at the time I was (very happily) a student and not working. I left feeling very underwhelmed and when I got home from that trip I packed away my tarot deck. |
Years later I revisited Tarot. I was still so interested, and this time I had more access to information that I did not have before. I read anything I could get my hands on - both from books at the library and online. I learned more about the history of Tarot, how and why people used it, and why the one reading I had gotten seemed so "off" to me (they were really only in it for the money, not to get to know people and their complexities, and take the time to give personalized advice; they seemed to read "by the book" and not intuitively).
This lead to me first attempting to memorize tarot card meanings. Nope. That wasn't cutting it for me, and I didn't like how rigid everything was. "This card means this specific thing," wasn't my style. What if cards around it could change the meaning slightly? What if the situation the reader was going through added a layer of complexity for a different interpretation? This is when I really started to enjoy Tarot, as there were so many avenues and so many possibilities.
I turned to Tarot later on in my life when my father was ill and then passed away. It helped me so immensely during this horrific period of my life. It helped me process my grief, sort through other feelings, and I kept turning to Tarot the way you'd turn to a friend for comfort. This is when I really decided I wanted to help others. I was getting SO much benefit from Tarot, I wanted to help others get the same benefit. I wanted to help others work through their thoughts and feelings too, and help them think about situations from other perspectives. This is how The Quartz Crab (named in honour of my Cancer-zodiac dad) was born.
In addition to Tarot, I became really interested in crystals. I LOVED the beauty of them, and I found it so fascinating how our Earth could make such amazing things. How slightly changing the chemical composition could give you an entirely different stone. This was probably the chemist in me, honestly. I learned about crystal gridding, and made a few grids for myself and for friends. I decided I could help others with that too, so I am happily offering those services to you as well.
This lead to me first attempting to memorize tarot card meanings. Nope. That wasn't cutting it for me, and I didn't like how rigid everything was. "This card means this specific thing," wasn't my style. What if cards around it could change the meaning slightly? What if the situation the reader was going through added a layer of complexity for a different interpretation? This is when I really started to enjoy Tarot, as there were so many avenues and so many possibilities.
I turned to Tarot later on in my life when my father was ill and then passed away. It helped me so immensely during this horrific period of my life. It helped me process my grief, sort through other feelings, and I kept turning to Tarot the way you'd turn to a friend for comfort. This is when I really decided I wanted to help others. I was getting SO much benefit from Tarot, I wanted to help others get the same benefit. I wanted to help others work through their thoughts and feelings too, and help them think about situations from other perspectives. This is how The Quartz Crab (named in honour of my Cancer-zodiac dad) was born.
In addition to Tarot, I became really interested in crystals. I LOVED the beauty of them, and I found it so fascinating how our Earth could make such amazing things. How slightly changing the chemical composition could give you an entirely different stone. This was probably the chemist in me, honestly. I learned about crystal gridding, and made a few grids for myself and for friends. I decided I could help others with that too, so I am happily offering those services to you as well.