In this episode we learn divination techniques and spiritual traditions from several cultures, including Nadi Astrology and Spiritism. Tarot readers discuss their favorite places to perform tarot readings. Mercedes Vasquez shares her journey to become a trance medium.
Episode Two is full of great information, great people, and great questions. Will Beverly ever give musical readings? What's a mullet house? What's the difference between selenite and satin spar? Why do many intuitive arts people have a performing arts background?
In this episode Gita Rash shares information about the fascinating practice of Nadi Astrology and teaches us her foolproof pendulum technique. Christiana sits down for a conversation with StaarCon 2023 presenter Mercedes Vasquez.
Christiana: Episode two of the StaarCast Variety Show is brought to you by the Three of Cups. Join me Christiana Gaudet and my co-host, Frank Kwiatkowski in a celebration of Tarot, Community and the messages Spirit brings us.
Christiana: Hey
Christiana: Frank, it is time for the second episode of the StaarCast Variety Show. How are you doing?
Frank: I'm great, Christiana. I am so excited. Episode number two We survived episode number one and it lives to see another day. Episode two I'm excited. How do you how do you feel about the episode this week?
Christiana: I am so excited for it. We have so many great things. We've got some new features. We've got some returning features and a fabulous interview with Mercedes Vasquez. She is going to be presenting at StaarCon 2023. She is going to be in person in West Palm Beach and you are gonna love her. She is brilliant. She is a trance medium.
Christiana: She has this fabulous background and I cannot wait to share her with you.
Frank: Very cool. Can't wait to meet her. I can't wait to meet a lot of the people that are going to be there. Last year was a hybrid conference. I was really excited to be there. And with the people that I met, obviously the very first year it had to be completely online. But I can't wait to meet more people in the tarot community this year.
Frank: Who else is going to? Obviously, you don't want to give away everybody but who else is going to be joining us this year as of now, Christiana?
Christiana: Oh, my gosh. The list is is too big to even. I would take up hours and hours telling you we have an amazing lineup. More people than ever. We're running four tracks this year instead of three and it's going to be an even better experience for the in-person people and the people coming in online because we have improved our technology game Most of the presenters, I would say three quarters of the presenters will be presenting in person for the people coming in and attending at home.
Christiana: I don't know that that makes a huge difference in terms of what their experience is because we know the Accelevents platform is a very immersive platform for the people who will be there in person. I think having most of the presenters in person is a plus, right?
Frank: Absolutely. Yeah. There's something to be said for that in-person connection that you make with people. Absolutely.
Christiana: Yes, totally. So for today's episode, one of the fun things about today's episode speaking of people gonna be there, we have besides you and me.
Christiana: On
Christiana: this episode, there are count them 8, 8 members of our community that I am so excited to share with everyone who is watching and listening. And part of that is a new thing that you're doing. Tell us about that.
Frank: This week's episode will introduce the idea of a Tarot Topics Discussion panel. So I brought together a few of our valued members, a few professionals with a lot to offer. We got together and we had a little discussion around a tarot topic, so I can't wait to introduce those people to you and to share this conversation that we had.
Frank: I think everybody is really going to enjoy that.
Christiana: Perfect. Now, of course, we have put out the call and we're putting out the call again for your submissions, submissions of your short videos to share with this community in future episodes. And when we put out the call, the first person to answer was Gita Rash. Now, Gita has presented she she's, she's, she's a fixture with us.
Christiana: She presented in 21, 22 and she's also presenting in 23. She's multi-talented. So different topics each time. And she has, she has given us for this episode in fact, coming up next, a short presentation on divination systems that I think you're really going to enjoy.
Frank: Can't wait to see it. Like I said earlier, I'm a fan of the show, so I can't wait to watch her presentation and I can't wait to see yours as well. Christiana it's my understanding that you've done a little tarot technique to share with us, isn't that right?
Christiana: Yes, I have. You know, everyone loves doing three card readings and I have shared a technique for how if you need to, you can quickly and easily and effectively turn your three card reading into a six card reading or a nine card reading. So that's coming up later in this show as well. And we'll end the show with one of my favorite features the guess the tarot card game.
Christiana: Now, tell me from our last episode, episode one, were you able to guess the tarot card?
Frank: I was able. I'm happy to announce that. Yes, I was. I would give it away. But in case anybody is watching this episode first and hasn't seen the first episode, I won't give away what it was, but I'm happy to say that I was able to get it get it right. How about you.
Christiana: That's not fair because I designed the game.
Frank: Oh, excuse me. Yeah, I forgot about that.
Christiana: But, you know, if you ask, would I would I would I have been able to guess the card if I didn't already know what it was? I'm going to say yes. I think it was really fun to see how three people gave their key words. They were not the same key words, but it was really enough to, you know, to to give us that full sense of the card.
Christiana: And I think this is a fun game because it is a fun game, but also because if you're a new tarotist, it really shows you two things. It shows you how key words work for cards and how each of us has our own take on the cards.
Frank: Absolutely. As most of our viewers, I'm sure would agree, it's about personalizing the meanings of the cards. We're all pretty similar with how we interpret them. That's how we know we're in the right ballpark. But it's going to be personal and therefore they're all going to be just a little bit different from each other.
Christiana: Absolutely. So let's get it going. Welcome, everyone. Whether you're watching us online, on YouTube or listening to us wherever you get your favorite podcast. Welcome to episode two of the StaarCast Variety Show. Let's get it going.
Frank: Welcome. Let's do this thing.
Christiana: Christiana First up, Palm Leaf reading with Gita Rash.
Gita Rash: Hi, this is Gita Rash and I would like to share with you a very fascinating form of information which is also very, very, very, very ancient. It is called Palm Leaf Reading or Nadi Astrology.
Gita Rash: For those of you.
Gita Rash: Who have not heard about this, this is not to be confused with regular palmistry, which is basic hand reading. This is actually reported information on palm leaves that were done eons and eons, eons ago, way before anyone was born. So your destiny, your fate was already written before you took part. How fascinating is that? So how does this work?
Gita Rash: The Nadi astrologer who is the reader takes your thumbprint, and then he looks.
Amber Highland: He goes and hunts among a slew.
Gita Rash: Of bundles and bundles of palm leaves to find the exact bundle that matches your thumbprint. Once he thinks he's got a good kind of a feel for the kind of match he has, he starts the reading and the reading entails. It's a pretty and long reading and entails all kinds of information. And these details are not just past, present and future, but they also contain information with precise names of your parents, your grandparents, your spouse and siblings.
Gita Rash: You have your children, what you do for a living, where you live, so on and so forth. And it is uncannily precise. Can you imagine who would have known all this information so long ago and have it recorded? This is almost like reading Akashic Records in real time live. It is wild. It really is. It is amazing. I mean, it is so ancient.
Gita Rash: It's fascinating.
Gita Rash: It's amazing. I'm assuming that because the leaves are located in India that you could get these readings only there. But of course, because it's wildly popular, I believe there's a long waiting list That is also why the prices have also gone up quite a bit over the
Gita Rash: last few years.
Gita Rash: But buyer beware, as with everything there are also fakes.
Gita Rash: That being said,
Gita Rash: I would like to share with you and show you my no fail pendulum technique. So come on and let's head over to my pendulum setup. So here we go. Here is my setup, my handy dandy little pendulum mat and my accoutrements, which I love, my crystals and stones and so on. And the way I use the pendulum when I'm reading for clients is to tie in with the other readings that I do for them, which are tarot, oracle, runes, palmistry, astrology, and so on.
Gita Rash: If I want to validate something or find a more exact or precise answer, this is how I would kind of get another additional information to add on to the question for the client. For myself personally, I use this to find missing objects because I'm notorious for doing that, especially things like rings, which I love. Any kind of jewelry, keys, even little Post-it notes that I make notes for my classes that I stick in here and there and I need to find out.
Gita Rash: And this is a huge space for a floor, so I need to go through a lot of other areas to find out where the missing lost object is. And I find the layout of this map is so helpful because some you don't presently you don't even have to establish a yes or no. It's already set up for you, so you don't have to start from scratch.
Gita Rash: And then it's also got two other options, which is a maybe an a rephrase, which is again, very helpful in finding lost objects, because when I'm going through the spaces I'm sure you've noticed many times that you do not always get a very solid no or a solid yes. The pendulum kind of has a mind of its own.
Gita Rash: It circles and then settles down sometimes this way, sometimes that way and so on. So I find this very, very useful when it's a maybe that would mean that it's not a definite no. So I can move on to the next room and then eliminate spaces as I go along until it's a yes or maybe. And I come to just one yes.
Gita Rash: And it works sometimes when you get a rephrase that would mean that the question is not very clear. You need to rephrase your question in a more precise fashion. Make it more concise, make it more suitable to getting to increasing your chances of receiving a more precise answer, like a yes no or whatever it may be. And of course, I love this because, you know, it takes a bit of time because when you're looking for objects, you do have to go through a lot of many spaces.
Gita Rash: But I have been very successful in finding almost everything I've lost. I know I once lost a ring in my own car, which is in the garage underneath the umbrella in the back seat, and I found it. So I happen to love, love, love this mat, and the pendulum and the system. And I hope you enjoyed it as well.
Christiana: And now a panel discussion. Where in your home do you like to read Tarot.
Frank: Hi, it's Frank here, and it's time for a Tarot Topics discussion panel here on the StaarCast Variety Show where we invite a diverse panel of tarot experts and professionals to share their perspectives on a specific tarot related question that we think all of you would be interested in gaining their perspectives. I want to say welcome to our panel as our very first Tarot Topics discussion panel.
Frank: Hello, everybody. And let's start by. Let's start by introducing each of our panelists, and I'll go to the reading glasses. Here are our.
Frank: First panelists is.
Frank: Our first panelist, in addition.
Frank: To her role.
Frank: As publisher of The Cartomancer Magazine. Our first panelist is a holistic empowerment coach, dreamwork specialist, educator and writer. Feel free to visit her website Amber Highland dot com and follow her on Twitter at Highland Underscore Amber and on Instagram at Ancient Underscore Voices. Let's please welcome Amber Highland. Hi Amber.
Amber Highland: Hi everyone.
Frank: All right. And our next panelist offers classes and presentations that dive deep into divination related topics and that enhance a readers perspectives. She also dedicates time to individual consultations demonstrating how to combine a variety of tools to expand on readings and visit her Facebook page, tarot connections, and on Instagram at Beverly Underscore Tarot Underscore Connections. Please help me welcome Beverly Frable. Hi Beverly.
Beverly Frable: Hello. Hello. All right.
Frank: And our third panelist is the owner of two SoulTopia Metaphysical Stores in Dallas, Texas. And she's also a co-host of the SoulStar podcast and the Michelle SoulTopia YouTube show. She's also the author of two books, two books including most recently, Spirits Unveiled A Fresh Perspective on Angels, Guides, Ghosts, and more from LLewellyn Books. She offers intuitive healing sessions, teaches classes on intuitive methods.
Frank: Oh, and she also happens to be an attorney, so feel free to visit her website. Michelle, welcome and SoulTopia Dot Guru. Please help me. Welcome, Michelle. Well, hi, Michelle.
Frank: All right. We have a very we have a very dignified panel here with us today. I look forward to getting all of your perspectives. So why don't we get started? I have a question. Christiana and I have put together a list of tarot topics, discussions.
Frank: Discussion questions.
Frank: And I'm just pulling one randomly out and we'll see how this goes. Let's let's get everybody's thoughts on this particular question. All right. So please tell us where in your home do you like to read tarot or whatever your other cartomancer cartomancy methods might be? You have a designated spot in your home or does it not really matter?
Frank: Can you just go from room to room and just read wherever it is? And if you do have a specific spot in your home, what do you like to keep there? Tell us about your your little tarot reading spot. Let's see now, before we got on air, somebody had volunteered Beverly to go first. So, Beverly, if you don't mind.
Frank: Please
Frank: tell us about the spot in your house where you like to read Tarot, if you would.
Beverly Frable: OK, well, my spot in the house is actually outside the house. I have a lanai that looks over a pasture where we have three rescue horses and a swimming pool and lots of trees. And I love to do it there. I'm in Florida, so I get a lot of sunshine there. And when I don't, it's usually really heavy rain.
Beverly Frable: Anyone who looks at my Facebook probably has seen and heard it there. So I get a lot of nature. That's invited in. And actually, while I'm doing it and I'm surrounded by that nature, I feel the energy, especially because I have this connection with trees and wood. It matters to me what I have there while I'm reading is, strangely enough, a ukulele.
Frank: Oh, really?
Beverly Frable: Because I'm learning relearning and learning whatever. And, you know, it's a happy instrument. You can't be sad and listen to a ukulele. So it kind of always lifts me up when I feel I need a break And I also have a variety of decks.
Beverly Frable: I take the
Beverly Frable: decks, I feel all I need or desire out with me. I have standard ones there, and that's pretty much all I need I take a break when I need to. I don't do in-person there, of course, at least not anymore, except for friends and I do online things out of there when I need to. So that's really my place.
Beverly Frable: So that's what I do.
Amber Highland: I want to hear the musical rendition readings that Beverly's going to be given with the ukulele in the future. I can see it.
Beverly Frable: I'm working on Christmas tunes right now, so it might not be relevant.
Frank: You might have an opportunity to carve out a niche here. As mixing tarot with ukulele playing. I mean, why do I have a feeling this conversation is going to be totally about the ukulele at this point?
Beverly Frable: You know, I feel that that's a good point. I feel that. That's good.
Frank: All right. So so we're going to talk more about the ukulele, but I'd like to bring in one of our other panelists and hear a little bit more about your designated spot for reading Tarot at home.
Frank: Why don't we bring up how about Michelle? We'll bring you in here. Tell us a little bit. First of all, looking at your background, if you have these gorgeous amethyst geodes and things, is this what you have in your tarot reading spot at home?
Michelle Welch: I do. We have this all over our house. We have so many crystals. So my my answer to your question is, I read anywhere. I have pretty much in every area of our home. Our home backs up to a golf course. I call it a mullet house because it's like a garage on the front and the parties in the back because now the front of the house is really ugly.
Michelle Welch: And so I definitely have a mullet house. And so but the home inside, we really made it just very comfortable for us. And each each area of the home I can read in any area. So I don't have one specific altar for. And I think there's something important for people to know because I do have some guests that come in my home that aren't familiar because I'm an attorney also that aren't familiar with the work they know now but in the past, they didn't know, you know, exactly what I did.
Michelle Welch: And so it wasn't like out of the closet totally until about maybe ten years ago. So I learned to just read anywhere and everywhere. And so one of the things I say that I love is that and we do have a lot of open windows, so I can see that nature that Beverly's talking about. I haven't learned to play the ukulele ukulele yet, but I did give one as a graduation gift one time.
Michelle Welch: Beverly, I know. And he was going to Pepperdine, and he loved that thing. So he actually used it. So I would say one of the things that's been really good for me also is the fact that they're coming out with a lot of that. The publisher's out with a lot of the pocket decks and so that's easy also for me to just stick in my bag so that I can read.
Michelle Welch: And I'm talking about for myself when I'm reading or if somebody just calls me and wants a quick reading pretty much anywhere in my environment, I can do that as long as, you know, we've got three kids living with us, two that aren't ours, but where they're adopted, ours, you know, living with us for the summer. So as long as I can get a quiet space.
Frank: Oh, very good. So with Beverly, we have a designated spot. It's on her lanai. The ukulele is present. And with Michelle, she just takes it wherever. She has so many beautiful spots in her home. She's used to she she's used to being able to do it wherever she gets.
Michelle Welch: I didn't mean it that way. I don't mean all my spots. My home are beautiful. There are some that are complete wrecks that I would not let anybody enter. But, you know, to get the cards on a little area, I can do that. And I feel that I can set that intention. Yeah.
Frank: Very nice. All right, so you're not out.
Frank: All right, so, Amber, I guess you're being put in the in the spot of kind of breaking the tie here a little bit. Not that, you know, you have a designated spot. Do you move around your home? Tell us a little bit about your your space.
Amber Highland: I like being the anchor runner. This is good. I'm kind of I kind of lean more towards like Michelle does, you know, the way that I've created my home space everything just feels very special and very focused. No matter where I am, I tend to not read cards a lot in living rooms is usually always something going on in there.
Amber Highland: So. So distraction or sports playing or something. So but I do have a specific altar room. So if I'm really doing something, I have focus on a lot. I'll tend to go into that room because the energy is so primed for for that intention setting and for receiving a lot more clarity intuitively as I'm doing readings. But I do have a deck office off of my bedroom so I call it little deck and of middle out an office that so kind of Beverly, I have that space outside and it looks over green space.
Amber Highland: I have a little fire pit out there and it's really lovely our house looks back over a wooded lake. So again, it's bringing a lot of that nature into the reading and those elements also. So I'm not that great of a tie breaker, probably a little bit more.
Amber Highland: For.
Amber Highland: Michelle, where I could do anywhere in the house. I live in Washington State in the Pacific Northwest. So we have to deal with the weather not always being conducive to being outside to do what I want to do.
Frank: So beautiful. The one thing that I've heard two of our people say and Michelle, you may have mentioned this as well, but the the role that nature, some kind of connection to nature makes when we read tarot, I remember when I first started reading, I was doing virtually all of my readings outside I was living in Indiana at the time.
Frank: Unfortunately, after a few months passed, late fall and winter started coming up and I had to start worrying about freezing temperatures but it got me thinking, Beverley, that, you know, you live in Florida and you go out on that lanai and yes, there's lots of rain, but does the heat bother you at all? I mean, especially in summertime, can you still get into that intuitive space despite all of that heat that we get down here?
Beverly Frable: Yeah, you know, I mean, a lot of people work. The heat works for them. Like people do the sweat lodge thing. Well, I wouldn't want that much heat on me, but frankly, it's under a fan. There's a fan above me. So, you know, moves the air and the heat never really bothers me. I'm not in direct sun and I guess I'm used to it.
Beverly Frable: You know, my blood's kind of thin now, you know? And I think that that's the only thin part about me. But, you know, I think it keeps me cool.
Beverly Frable: So that's good.
Frank: Very good. And what about you, Michelle? Did I miss somewhere? You know, did you have a spot, like you said, it looks out on a golf course, right? Do you have like a a spot in front of a big window or a back patio kind of place that you prefer to go to as well?
Michelle Welch: Both. We have a balcony off of our master bedroom that faces the golf course. And then we have about the kitchen walks and goes out onto the golf course also. And then we have this big swing, one of the meditations that we did right at the beginning of COVID that Roger and I did together, that we did together work from that swing now if the Frenchies.
Michelle Welch: We have two Frenchies and one English bulldog. So if they're out there and they're causing a ruckus, then, you know, it might not be. And I'll say one thing about nature I was always an inside person. I played tennis my whole life, so and I'm in Texas and so it's like, I don't know, 110 degrees here right now.
Michelle Welch: I'm just like, no wind. But I I'll say that I do believe that we should connect to nature. But for people who don't love to go outside, just know that you can also it's OK, you can connect, you know, take Beverly's class. She tells you other ways to connect to nature. You know, you can bring nature into you if something is not conducive for you to to go outside.
Beverly Frable: I have a question, Michelle. The balcony reference is that were you do you have the branch from that special tree you mentioned at one time to me that you were connected with this particular tree. Is that where you have that?
Michelle Welch: I do. I still have it. And I connected. Frank, what Beverly is referring to is I connected with I finally connected with nature.
Michelle Welch: I was like, thank God what's wrong with me can ever connect with nature. And nature doesn't speak to me. Nature doesn't like me. Just a tennis racket does like what's wrong with me? You know, tennis racket, indoor person, what's wrong? I should be more outdoors. And this I started talking to this tree and it was talking back to me.
Michelle Welch: And then Roger informed me that it had been dead because it died during the like blizzard, the Texas blizzard, a couple of years ago. So I had been talking to a dead tree the whole time, which kind of fits with my that experience. So he put it on our he put in our balcony the dead tree. The dead branch.
Michelle Welch: And I still talk to the dead. The dead in the day that love it.
Frank: There is there's some real mysticism there that is really cool. Well, I mean, some of our viewers may know Beverly did a fabulous presentation on different kinds of trees and tree divination and what a wonderful way of connecting with nature is by connecting through trees. Now, we're just about out of time, but I wish we we could really get into this much, much more.
Frank: But we are kind of wrapping up here. So just very quick, I want to go around to everybody and just ask real quickly if there was just one thing that you think is most important in your tarot reading space. Total subjective answer, because it could be so many different things. But if you could think of just one thing that you really would like to have in your tarot reading space at any given time, what would that one thing be?
Frank: And maybe I'll go to Amber here to to go first on this just quick point out, what's that one thing you really need, Amber?
Amber Highland: Mary K. Greer's brain.
Beverly Frable: She might not want to give that up.
Amber Highland: Not yet. Not yet. You know.
Frank: Well, assuming that that's not readily available.
Amber Highland: Readily available well, I you know, for me candles, I really like to focus on on a flame if I need to focus. And if I'm even like if I'm in a hotel room room, I'll tend to bring out a battery operated one with me because of this, everything that's going on, that's one thing I can just so.
Frank: All right, candles.
Frank: Very good. All right. And what about you, Michelle? If if there were one if there was just one thing, what would it be?
Michelle Welch: How do I choose one? The cards in the cards and I would add in crystals. I'm a crystal gal, so I love to have my crystals with me.
Frank: Very good.
Frank: All right. What about you, Beverly?
Beverly Frable: You know, I thought about well well, when you were asking, the only thing I can really come up with that's important to me is silence. And when I say that, I mean no artificial noise. I don't like artificial noise when I'm when I'm doing when I'm focused, I can block it out if I have to but I really prefer natural noises, so that's all I can come up with.
Frank: I could understand that, especially that nature when you hear birdsong or something, along those lines or the wind, things of that nature, what a great way to get into that intuitive space. Well, we brought a little bit over time, not that we were on a specific timer, but this has been a wonderful conversation. I want to thank all of you very much.
Frank: Beverley Frable, Michelle Welch, Amber Highland, you've been a wonderful panel and I want to thank our viewers. We will see you next time. Thank you, everybody. Thank you.
Amber Highland: Thank you. Bye. All right.
Christiana: It's time for five questions with Mercedes Vasquez.
Christiana: Mercedes Vasquez, thank you so much for joining me on the StaarCast Variety. Show. How are you?
Mercedes Vasquez: I'm good. Thank you for having me. It's always a joy to work with you.
Christiana: Well, you know, we go back a few years now when we first met in New York City, and I am delighted that we'll be meeting at StaarCon 2023 in West Palm Beach in January.
Mercedes Vasquez: I'm so happy to be there live.
Christiana: Yes. Yes. Really looking forward to it. So today I want to ask you five questions. Is that OK?
Mercedes Vasquez: Yes, please.
Christiana: OK, first of all, your business name, Caliente Soul Expressions.
Mercedes Vasquez: That it.
Christiana: Tell us what you do.
Mercedes Vasquez: OK, so I'm the creatrix of Caliente Soul Expressions. And I am an intuitive medium, a crystal Reiki healer, a breath work facilitator and a fem movement teacher. So what I do is that I take all of those modalities and I help others find their true soul expressions. I do a lot of intuitive work with this so when I do one on one sessions with clients, I scan their aura and I work with chakras and crystals a lot.
Mercedes Vasquez: So I will scan and your body, your guides, your energy will let me know what's coming up for you. And then we address those issues. I also facilitate group classes, a lot of breath work sessions. I just did something recently for Planned Parenthood where I co-facilitated with other amazing healers, and we did this beautiful ceremony things like that.
Christiana: That is so fabulous.
Mercedes Vasquez: Thank you.
Christiana: Your origin story. How did this all come to you? How did you get into it?
Mercedes Vasquez: You know, it's funny because I so my my family, I so I'm Dominican and Cuban and my family grew up in the Yoruba religion and also very Catholic. So I have my strong belief in God in universe and whatever you want to call it. I do believe there's a higher power. But I also have my strong belief in the Orishas and spirit.
Mercedes Vasquez: So I grew up with amazing spiritists. Just my grandmother from my father's side was a spiritist. My grandmother from my maternal side was even though she denounced it. And my mother is an amazing spiritist. And so growing up, I always knew of spirit. I always knew of the amazing Orishas. I always knew that God was around or there a higher power because I do believe that for everyone it's different.
Mercedes Vasquez: But there is a higher power. I feel it. So I know that I go with what I feel and what I feel can't be wrong for me, of course. So growing up I. I used to get visited by spirit. I have a specific spirit guide that used to come to me. Well, I was aware of her at four years old.
Mercedes Vasquez: My mother told me I was aware of her much earlier. And they, you know, as a four year old, you'd get some very surprising appearances. And so I was so afraid that I kind of just blocked it all out, locked it all out. Growing up, I knew of everything, but since they would shun and we couldn't talk about my mother's religion, we hid everything.
Mercedes Vasquez: So I grew up always hiding my beliefs. I grew up always hiding my gifts. And it wasn't until like my late twenties, early thirties that I started to reconnect with it because I'm very empathic. So I would feel what others would call psychic attacks. But really, it was just me being left in the open because I wasn't properly taking care of myself.
Mercedes Vasquez: And I was in development. I was in development stage. So I, I realized that I was a medium, a psychic medium, a trance medium. And yeah, I went to school to study more to further, you know, just extend my education and my knowledge of it. And I just realized that so universal and everyone has a different belief that we all have this intuitive gift.
Christiana: Or that's beautiful. So a side question, tell us a little bit about your schooling. Where did you study? Who did you study with?
Mercedes Vasquez: Yes, thank you for asking. So Mom is one of my teachers and my community. And then I also went to the School of Holistic Institute, Holistic Studies Institute. I also studied with Krista Mitchell. She is my crystal mentor and she has this beautiful school called the Crystalline Crystalline Academy. I study with James von Prague and recently I am studying with James Jason Amoroso in the Revelation Breathwork class.
Mercedes Vasquez: One of the things that I've gotten from the Holistic Studies Institute is that I met 11 other amazing psychics and mediums, and to this day I think I met them three or four years ago, and to this day we all get together when we can a few of us, all of us to kind of study and hone in on our gifts.
Christiana: Community is so important. I cannot wait to share you with these StaarCon community. You know, last year a few of us got to meet you because you were kind enough to do a presentation during the afterglow on Crystals. So I'm curious right now this minute, what crystals are you working with and really enjoying?
Mercedes Vasquez: Well, I really this this one's a lifer. So this is actually everyone thinks it's selenite and it is part of the selenite family, but it's satin spar because it's more porous and it's bigger as selenite that is actually a clear crystal. But the reason why I will always work with this crystal is that it's a cleansing crystal.
Mercedes Vasquez: I have my selenite wand which before and after I work with the client, I cleanse myself with this this wand.
Christiana: So I need to interrupt you. Let's go back to the satin spar.
Mercedes Vasquez: Yes
Christiana: So for the people who can't see it. Tell us what you're holding in your hand. That is really fabulous.
Mercedes Vasquez: Thank you.
Mercedes Vasquez: So what I'm holding in my hand is a merkaba star all made out of satin spar and for those who can't see what I'm holding, just think of a selenite. What everyone calls selenite. That milky white crystal that is the satin spar. And everyone thinks it's a selenite. But the selenite actually, it's very rare, and it's clear from the same family just a clearer version of this.
Christiana: So, like, those of us who have selenite wands and you have a very beautiful one there that is it has been crafted.
Amber Highland: Yes.
Christiana: It's sort of big and round with a spiral. Mm. That is actually selenite.
Mercedes Vasquez: This is this one it's a little it's still a satin spar.
Christiana: Is still satin spar.
Mercedes Vasquez: Yeah you can see it still has that milky complexion.
Christiana: So is it fair to say that most of us that have what we think is a selenite wand either crafted or natural, it's really satin spar.
Mercedes Vasquez: Yes.
Christiana: You know, we had a conversation about this on my YouTube channel with Zuri, who I love, and I think you'll probably get to meet at StaarCon and we were sort of trying to figure out the difference between satin spar and selenite. So I'm so glad you brought this up because I don't have a clue. I just know I like my wand.
Mercedes Vasquez: No.
Mercedes Vasquez: And I'll be honest with you, for the longest time, I thought so too. I when I first learned about crystals, my teacher was calling this selenite and then I went back to review some, some classes with her and she was calling it satin spar. And I was like, wait a second. And then I did my research and that's the truth.
Mercedes Vasquez: It's actually a satin spar.
Christiana: Wow.
Mercedes Vasquez: That it's a.
Mercedes Vasquez: Form of selenite. So. Yes, a.
Christiana: Form of selenite. I OK, so it is still fair to call it selenite.
Mercedes Vasquez: And yes, people know it in the market. As selenite.
Christiana: I got it. So it's all selenite, but some selenite is satin spar.
Mercedes Vasquez: Yes.
Christiana: Got it. Thank you.
Mercedes Vasquez: Welcome.
Christiana: That's fabulous. Now, do you also do divination with crystals?
Mercedes Vasquez: I do. And I love that. And thank you for having me be able to offer that because that was like, ooh, I, you know, I've never taught it to anyone. So it was nice to share it to the community. Yes. I mean, it's just like the cards, you know, if you know the cards meaning and you know what relation you have with the card, the crystals will also give you the same information like I know, you know, and, and pretty much it this will be different for everyone because of course rose quartz, the pink crystal is significant of love, right?
Mercedes Vasquez: So everybody knows that that's the meaning of love. So if you've said, say you cast the crystal when you get the rose quartz, this has to do with love somehow. And then depending on other crystals you may use with it, where it lands in relation to how you're giving a reading, you can you're able to tell someone what they need to.
Mercedes Vasquez: Know.
Christiana: So good, so good. So you as you say, you identify as a trance medium. You are a medium. You've been hearing the voice of spirit for all of your life. You'll be leading a mediumship circle at StaarCon 2023. We are so excited for that.
Mercedes Vasquez: Yes. Thank you.
Christiana: What does it feel like for you to hear the voice of spirit?
Mercedes Vasquez: You know, I pause because sometimes you think, am I listening to the voice of spirit, you know? And with practice you start to understand and to hear it and know when it's spirit and know when it's not. And of course there it is. Always gentle, is always quiet. And when I get messages from spirits also I'm acting like if I'm reading you and I don't give you what I get, I'll keep getting it until I have to give it to you.
Mercedes Vasquez: I'm clairaudient and clairvoyant clairsentient. And so sometimes I just feel things. And really when I'm super connected, I will feel things like if I am getting a message for you from a loved one who had a heart attack, all of a sudden my heart starts to contract and I start to feel like this heaviness and I will know, like spirit really comes to me in physical form.
Mercedes Vasquez: And sometimes it'll just be like a whisper or thought, and I'm like, OK, I need to relay that information. And what I've learned is that sometimes we hold ourselves back because we think we think, Oh, that's silly, that it makes no sense. Where did I get that? I don't know where that came from, but what I learned is that when you express it, when you say it, it usually has meaning.
Mercedes Vasquez: It resonates. The person receiving the message would be like, Oh, how does she know that? Meanwhile, you're like, I don't know what I just said. To you, but you capiche, you know? So that's how it comes to me. That's how I hear Spirit. It's usually it feels like a whisper.
Christiana: You know, I think you said some very important things that I think many people listening will be able to identify with, you know, the idea that that it is a quiet voice that you have to listen for. The idea that at first you may not know, like, is that spirit? Is that my imagination? Is that just me being crazy?
Christiana: And, and sort of like it's not like it is in the movies, you know.
Christiana: With a sound track.
Christiana: Figure it out and let it be. And, you know, I think it's so poignant when you say.
Christiana: Sometimes.
Christiana: You don't want to say what you get because it doesn't seem to make sense. I cannot tell you the number of times in my own practice that has been the case. And how often I share exactly that thing with my students. Just don't be afraid to say it.
Mercedes Vasquez: Yeah.
Mercedes Vasquez: Yeah. I've learned that. Yeah. Absolutely. And, you know, one, one of the other things I'm learning is how to communicate what we get. I realize sometimes like I also work a lot with my throat chakra, which has always been under developed. And I find because I'm shy, I'm I'm an introvert, so communicating doesn't come easy to me, but I've worked on it, and they say the way you communicate, as in your daily life, is how you communicate with spirit, because pretty much that's what's happening.
Mercedes Vasquez: We're communicating the spirit, right? They're giving us messages in many different ways, using our six senses. So how we interpret it is how it's going to be relayed. And if you're not a great interpreter, it may not be relayed well, you know, or someone may miss something and you're like, Oh, so I've had experiences with my, my a community of intuitive healers and psychics where we'll give one person a message and we all get the same message, but it's delivered differently.
Mercedes Vasquez: And I always find that so fascinating.
Christiana: You know, we we say something like that in the tarot world as well. Wald Amberstone, who along with his wife, Ruth Ann Amberstone own The Tarot School and in past years have run The Reader's Studio. He said to me many, many years ago, like in the nineties, he said, We trust spirit to bring the right questioner to the right reader with the right question, with the right cards at the right time.
Christiana: You know, so that idea that, you know, we're all going to hear things differently, we're all going to interpret things differently, but we have to trust that spirit is bringing all those right things together. You believe that?
Mercedes Vasquez: Yeah, I do. I totally believe that. I totally. And that is for me, as as someone who relays messages is so comforting.
Christiana: Yes. Yeah.
Mercedes Vasquez: Because that everyone's going to resonate with the way I interpret the message. But yes, the right person will.
Christiana: Absolutely. That's fabulous. All right. So obviously people can see you at StaarCon 2023. Tickets are available now. But if someone wants to work with you, if someone wants a session with you, someone wants to learn from you, how can they get in touch with you?
Mercedes Vasquez: Well you can go on to my website, which is www dot calientecreatrix and that is creatix with an X dot com or easier. You can find me on Instagram on Facebook, on TikTok, on YouTube at calientesoulexpressions with an S at the end.
Christiana: Perfect. And I have to tell you I love you on TikTok.
Mercedes Vasquez: Thank you.
Christiana: And and I suppose, OK, you already did your five questions. You've done your bit, so thank you. But can I, can I ask a bonus question?
Mercedes Vasquez: Sure.
Christiana: OK, so it's easy to tell from your TikToks you have a background in theater.
Mercedes Vasquez: Yes.
Mercedes Vasquez: I ham I'm a bit of a ham.
Christiana: Can you give us just a quick background on what you've done and what you've what you do in theater?
Mercedes Vasquez: And so yes, I actually I went to school for acting. I got a B.A. in a Bachelor of Arts in theater. And for the longest time, I think up until last year, I was performing, I was doing I got my start in theater, but I was doing a lot of TV and film commercials, TV film commercial auditions and have done you know, I'm still going to stay in the arts.
Mercedes Vasquez: It's my first love. It's my passion. Hence why TikTok has been such a great platform for me because it's another creative outlet. Yeah. And I'm also into dance, so I love doing that as well.
Christiana: That is fabulous. And I will just say, you know, and I just love to hear your comment on this. It feels like a lot of us in the Intuitive Arts I was a theater major in college. I'd never got the degree, but that's what I started. Of course. Amy Emberharte is a fabulous singer and actor. Mitchell Osborne is an actor.
Christiana: A lot of us. And you'll you'll meet all of these people at StaarCon, have this this background in dance, in theater, of course, Amy Forman, you'll meet her. A lot of us have this background theater dance music, and we end up in the intuitive arts.
Mercedes Vasquez: That I don't think it's a coincidence. I really do think that to be it's it's part of our senses. Right. I know. Have you ever had a song and he just transported you somewhere. I just feel that we channel when we're creating art. If you ever see someone painting and they're in the zone, I feel it. Whenever I was on stage, I felt like I was transported.
Mercedes Vasquez: One of the reasons why I love to be on stage was because being an empath, I could feel the audience and they would feed me even more. So I think that the arts goes hand in hand with, you know, the intuitive arts. There is no coincidence for me. I when I see someone who is doing this work and they tell me they had a performing arts background, I'm like, Yes, no wonder it's me.
Mercedes Vasquez: I do really think there is a connection.
Christiana: You know, and as you saying that it makes so much sense and I'm thinking of even other people in our community Gita Rash who is a deck creator, a reader and also an actress, you know, there are just so many of us who love that dual identity that I guess really isn't dual. I guess it's all one.
Mercedes Vasquez: Yeah, it's all connected.
Christiana: It sure is. Mercedes, thank you so much. Cannot wait to see you in January.
Mercedes Vasquez: Thank you, Christiana. It's been a pleasure. I can't wait.
Christiana: Now. I have a card divination technique.
Mercedes Vasquez: To share with you.
Christiana: Hi, I'm Christiana Gaudet, and I want to teach you a really great method of using three card readings. And if you need turning them into a six card reading or a nine card reading. Now, everyone loves a three card reading, don't we? There are so many different three card spreads past present, future, morning, afternoon, evening, body, mind, spirit, me, the relationship and you.
Christiana: So many more. At StaarCon 2022. Jenna Matlin did a wonderful workshop on crafting three card spreads. Why are three card spreads so popular? Probably because three is a natural number for a story beginning, middle and end and three is a sacred number. Think about it. The Holy Trinity, Mother, Father, God. And we their human children. There are so many ways to look at the number three as a sacred number.
Christiana: Now, a lot of experienced readers, I think, rely overmuch on the three card reading. I think three card readings are great if you only have a short period of time. If it's a very simple question, or if you're a tarot beginner just getting your feel for doing spreads, I strongly recommend that you don't get stuck just with three card readings because you know what?
Christiana: The more cards, the more information. And so here is a great way to do a three card reading. And then if you decide you want more information to get it easily, so you're going to shuffle your deck and set your intention for your question and the spread you're doing. It may be a non position spread. Let me just see three cards on this issue.
Christiana: It may be body, mind, spirit, it may be a relationship spread, it may be past, present, future, it may be three cards of three card spread that you have just created for your current purpose. Now, instead of fanning out the deck and picking three cards or just taking three cards off the top, those are good methods too. But for this method, what you're going to do is shuffle and cut the deck, put it back together, then cut the deck three well, actually two times into three piles.
Christiana: And that final pile you're going to cut again and put on top. OK, so now you have three piles of cards in front of you. Turn over the top card of each pile and there is your three card reading. Now, if you want more information, you can say Hmm, let's dig a little deeper, take the top card off and put it below the pile so that you can still see the card and you can see which pile the card belongs to.
Christiana: But now you have three more cards to turn over. So how do you interpret these three cards? You might use them as more information. OK, the first card that you saw in each pile this is what's true. The second card is this supports it. This is why this is true. This is something that's a little deeper. This is a little more information.
Christiana: You can also just blend the two cards from each pile together to give you your reading. But what if you want even more information? So now you're going to take these cards that you're looking at, these second cards, these deeper cards, and take them off the pile and put them above the pile. So now what you see is a row of three cards, your three original piles with no cards exposed, and then another row of three cards.
Christiana: Now what you're going to do is you're going to say, let's get to the bottom of this and turn each pile over. So now you have nine cards. You can blend the three cards from each pile to create your reading. You can also give each position and a meaning. So the original position is, OK, this is what's most obviously true.
Christiana: Then the second card, which is now at the top, is and this is a little more information, this is a little deeper. And then these final cards from the bottom of the deck. And this is what's at the bottom. So play with this any way you want. There's no right or wrong. But remember, in my way of reading, the more cards the better.
Christiana: And this is a way to break out from three cards to six cards to nine cards. Very easily. And you'll find the results are profound. Thanks so much. Let me know if you try this and it works well for you or even if it doesn't work well for you.
Christiana: Let me know.
Christiana: Let me know how it goes.
Christiana: It's time to play guess the tarot card.
Linda Loop: Hi I'm Linda Loop, and I've been a tarot reader for about 18 years, both for fun and profit. And I also dabble in runes, palmistry and combine those two into runic palmistry. And my key words are steadfast, diligent, focused and productive. Good luck and have a great day.
Christine Ashworth: Good morning. My name is Christine Ashworth. I'm a writer, a tarot enthusiast, a speaker an author.
Christine Ashworth: I have spoken at the International Divination event and in this last May and I'm speaking again at the Northwest Tarot Symposium in October so very excited. Now my tarot card my tarot card and the key words I'm going to give you are going to look at my notes because I had to make notes, methodical, determined, patient and evolution. Can you guess my card?
Kate Mura: Hi, my name is Kate Mura and I am the proprietrix
Kate Mura: of group tarot dot com. I have been part of the metaphysical world and a practicing witch for over 20 years and my tarot practice has grown up in tandem with that. I'm also a theater artist. My specialty in the world of tarot is group readings and seeing how the individual and the group paths align, as well as the Tarot Show, which is a performance piece that incorporates tarot readings and any questions that the audience has for the cards, as well as stories and history, herstory and Legacy of Pamela Colman Smith.
Kate Mura: And my key words are repetition, repetition, repetition. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.
Christiana: Do you know what the tarot card is?
Christiana: If you guessed the eight of Pentacles, you got the right answer.
Christiana: So that was fun.
Frank: It sure was. Episode two is in the books. I had a great time. The Tarot Topics Discussion Panel. It was a real honor to have those panelists on and share all of their perspectives and insights. I loved your segment. I love the game. Gita Rash this thing was great and that interview is outstanding too. So I think we did OK for episode two.
Christiana: Absolutely. And special thanks to everyone who participated and to everyone watching and listening. So the big news, everyone, pay attention. Tickets for StaarCon 2023 are now available if you're coming in person. Hotel rooms are going fast, so you got to get in and get your hotel room get your tickets. We are limiting the number of attendees so that everyone can have, you know, that intimate thing that we're, you know, that that connection that we're looking for, whether in person or online and of course for in person
Christiana: COVID safety is still a thing. So we are limiting the number of tickets. So you gotta get your tickets. You do that by going to the website. You know, the website is all new and redone. StaarCon dot Com S T A A R C O N dot com.
Frank: Christiana just wanted to mention, I know the website just went live recently for the new year. I noticed it's an improved website. I mean, the website has been nice in previous iterations, but you folks have done a really good job. There's all kinds of new headings. There's all kinds of new information on there, including information about past StaarCon.
Frank: So there's almost like a historical record of the previous presentations. It's really great. So I wouldn't say don't just go on there to buy tickets, although by all means do that, but check it out. It's really well done by by John, your husband, he did an outstanding job.
Christiana: Well, thank you. I'll make sure I'll make sure he hears that. And of course, I think so, too. But yeah, you know, I thank you for mentioning that archival information. What happened in 21, what happened in 22 next year and the year after and 2024. You'll see what happened in 2023. Most conferences don't do that. But we think because we are all about building community building knowledge, I we believe that saving this archival information is really, really important because when you build a community part of what makes community special is that shared history.
Christiana: And so we're keeping that documentation of that shared history.
Frank: A great idea. I love it.
Christiana: I do too. Frank Kwiatkowski, thank you so much for hosting this show with me. We'll be back with Episode three before you know it, we appreciate everyone watching and listening.
Frank: Thank you, Christiana. And thank you, everybody, for watching. We'll see you next time.
Christiana: Thanks for joining us for the StaarCast Variety Show with Frank Kwiatkowski and me Christiana Gaudet. Special thanks to Mercedes Vasquez, Gita
Christiana: Rash, Linda Loop
Christiana: Christine Ashworth, Kate Mura, Beverly Frable, Amber Highland and Michelle Welch. Join us at StaarCon 2023 January 20th through 22nd online on Accelevents or in person in West Palm Beach. Tickets are available now at StaarCon dot com.
Christiana: That's S T A A R C O N dot com.
Christiana: "We'll see you there."