The Lovers

Linda is the fortune teller who comes through this area every year. She sets up on street corners or at fairs with a card table, a table cloth and her deck of cards. When she is at a fair, she charges a set price for every reading, and spends how ever long it takes to complete the job. When she works on the street, she uses the style of a street performer, never charging, but always accepting donations. Some days she reads 20 different fortunes. Other days she can sit alone all day long just playing solitaire games.

One summery Tuesday in late August, Linda sat in Friendship Square in Moscow, Idaho. A young woman approached her alone and sat down. She was a bit awkward, as many people are when they come to a fortune teller by themselves in a public place. No one wants to admit that they might believe that there is something to this tarot business. And even if they do, they don't want to admit that they feel a need to ask for a peek into their future.

“Um... so, um, how does this work?” The young woman asked as her eyes flitted between the deck of cards and Linda's eyes.

“I will give you the deck of cards. You shuffle them like this,” Linda demonstrated pulling a card from the top and then the bottom of the deck, making a new deck in your other hand, “or like this,” she put the cards on the table and pushed them around. “Just don't shuffle them like this,” she mimed the way that most people shuffle playing cards which bends the cards backwards and breaks them down faster. “While you shuffle, think of your question or of a wish. Whenever you feel like the cards are ready, put the deck down like this,” she put the cards face down on the table, “and cut the deck into three piles toward me like this,” she cut the deck toward the young lady, leaving the first pile where she had placed the deck to begin with and then dropping a second part of the deck a few inches closer to the lady, and the last part of the deck a few inches closer still.

Linda looked the young lady in the eyes and asked, “Do you understand?”

The young lady nodded and Linda picked up the part of the deck closest to herself. She placed it on top of the middle section of the deck, which she picked up as well, placing all of that on top of the final section of the deck in front of the young querent.

Linda waited silently and watched while the woman shuffled the cards. After a few passes through, she put the deck down on the table and cut it into three piles just as Linda had demonstrated.

Linda picked up the first pile and showed the lady the card on the bottom. “The Magician,” she said aloud as she showed her the card. She put the first pile on top of the middle pile and picked the combined cards up, “Six of Cups, Happiness,” Linda said as she showed the young lady the card at the bottom. She put the cards on top of the third pile and picked all the cards up together, showing the last card at the bottom, “The Heirophant.”

“What does all that mean?” The customer asked.

“I don't know yet. I need a bit more context, but it suggests good things and something to do with tradition or religion. Let's see what the layout says and then we'll know.”

Linda put the first card down in the middle of the table, “This is the card that represents you in this situation.” It was the Empress. She lay the second card down over top of the first, lying sideways across it. “This is what crosses over you.” It was the four of wands.

“What does that mean?” The lady queried.

“Wait. It'll all become clear soon.” Linda was used to this. Describing the layout was part of the way she liked to do a reading. For people who were familiar with Tarot it would let them get a head start on reading their own fortunes before she finished. For those with no knowledge at all it built up the mystery and excitement.

Linda placed the third card below the first two and announced, “This is what's at the base of the situation. So, it's about love? Hmmm...” The card was The Lovers. She placed the next card to the left of the first two cards. It was the six of coins, “In the recent past you have had a time of success in work and finances.” She placed the fifth card, The Emperor, above the first two cards, but said nothing. Then she put the sixth card to the right of the first two cards and explained, “This six of wands is in the near future. This card represents victory, and can also be a celebration.”

The next card that Linda put down was the nine of cups. It was at the bottom of a new line of cards to the right of the cross created by the first six cards. “This is what you bring to the situation. This is a very good card. Some people call it the wish card. If you get it in a reading, it is traditional to touch it and make a wish.” She looked up at the customer and waited.

The young woman looked from Linda to the cards and back. She began to move her right hand, but then stopped. It seemed like a strange thing to do. Linda nodded her head, and the young woman felt more at ease. She reached her hand up and touched the card. She took a deep breath and made her silent wish as she exhaled.

Linda put the next card down above the nine of cups. “This is what the world is bringing to the situation.” Alchemy. “And this card represents your hopes and fears,” she said as she placed the two of cups above Alchemy. At last, she placed the final card of the reading at the top of the line of cards on the right. Ten of cups.

“Now, this,” she said as she pointed to the Emperor at the top of the cross, “is your possible future, and this,” she pointed to the ten of cups at the top of the staff, “is your probable future. When they are different we can look at what's in the cards and decide what choices you can make to move things one way or the other. When they are the same, you are moving very strongly in a single direction. In this case, I believe that these two cards are complimentary. They are telling us two things about the same part of your future.

“This Emperor is a man who will come into your life. The ten of cups is happiness, good emotions, but it's a lot more than that. It usually represents a happy home and domesticity.

“You are hoping for love,” Linda said as she pointed to the third card in the staff, “but you are also afraid of it. We often fear the things we want most. That can effect the way that you act when love comes into your life and can change your path. Rest assured that you have a happy home life in your future. The question of the Emperor, however, is dependent on the choices that you make.”

Linda looked over the cards for a moment to take the images and the pattern in fully. Then she spoke again.

“See this here?” She pointed at the card to the right of the cross, “This is the fair. I'm not sure if it's the Palouse Empire fair next week or the Latah County fair in two weeks. Both are soon enough to be in the 'near future'. Were you planning on going to one of them?”

“Yes. I've got a four day ticket to the Palouse Fair.”

“OK. That's great! You are going to meet your Emperor there.”

The young woman laughed, “You're just making that up!”

“No! I'm serious. You are going to meet the man who could be the love of your life next week. And look,” Linda pointed at the two cards at the bottom of the staff, “You are bringing your wish with you, and the world is bringing Alchemy. Fire and Water. Yin and Yang. Balance. Chemistry. All the elements of creation and the action to create. This is very good stuff!”

The woman smiled. She had wished that she could meet a man that she could love and that would love her, and the fortune teller was telling her that was exactly what was going to happen. And it would happen in just one week. She squirmed a bit in her seat, excited and a little afraid to hope that the reading might really be true and not just a game she was playing.

Linda was smiling as well. She loved it when she could give someone good news. She still felt the need to pass on a warning, though.

“Remember the two of cups in the 'hopes and fears' spot. Make sure that you don't push your good fortune away because of your fear. Be open to the positive, and it will fill your life.”

The customer nodded. She didn't have anything else she could say.

“Do you have any questions?”

“No. No, thank you. That was great!” She pulled her purse up onto her lap and pulled out her wallet. “How much do I owe you?”

“I don't charge a set fee when I'm just on the street. It doesn't cost me anything to sit here, so you can give me whatever you think the reading was worth.” Linda explained.

“But I don't know what's normal to pay for something like this.” The woman protested.

“Neither do I.” Linda smiled and shrugged. It was true. She priced her readings at festivals based on how much it cost her to have a stall there, but she never bothered to check around to see what other fortune tellers were charging for their services. On the street she would read for free for people who clearly couldn't or shouldn't pay. There were times when she would refuse to take the money of a struggling single parent or an older person who had come to her in search of hope in the midst of their difficulties. Other times, on a street corner in a hip neighborhood where the technocrats had their fun, she would get paid 50 or even 60 dollars for a single reading.

The woman pulled a 20 dollar bill out of her wallet and stuck it into the ceramic jar on the table.

The reading had been very positive, not just for the young woman who learned that she would soon meet a wonderful man, but also for Linda. A good reading at the beginning of the day was always a good omen for her. Her day turned out to be very busy with querents of all ages and description wondering what life would bring them.

In fact, it was a very good week for Linda, and she was able to take a couple of days off on Tuesday and Wednesday the next week without worrying about making ends meet. On Thursday she was back at work, sitting at her card table in downtown Pullman, Washington.

The first person who approached her that day was a young man in his mid twenties. He had walked past her table twice on his way to other errands, and had looked at her each time. When he arrived at her table to sit down, he had three nylon bags full of groceries. He stood above her table and said, “I have some milk in here, but it should be OK if I just sit for a few minutes before I go home and put it in the fridge, right?”

Linda smiled, “Yes, I'm sure it'll be just fine. Have a seat!” She indicated the chair across from her with a flourish of her hand.

The man sat down, took a deep breath, and asked, “OK, how do you do this?”

Linda showed him how to shuffle the cards and how to cut the deck into three piles towards her. She reminded him again to think of his question or wish as she passed him the cards.

“Should I tell you what my question is?” He asked.

“Only if you want to. Sometimes it's best if I read blind first, that way I won't get any of my own preconceived ideas into the reading. Then, after the first pass you can ask questions and we can dig deeper to see if there is anything I missed.”

“OK,” he said as he took the cards and began to shuffle.

He shuffled for a fairly long time before he put the deck down and cut it into three piles as Linda had shown him. Linda picked up the pile closest to him and showed the card at the bottom. Alchemy. She placed the pile on top of the middle pile and picked the cards up again. She showed him the card at the bottom of the pile. Six of cups, Happiness. She placed the combined pile on top of the set of cards closest to her and showed the bottom of the deck. It was the Heirophant. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. There was something familiar about the cards, but she was only on the cut, so there was no pattern yet.

She pulled a card off the top of the deck and placed it face up in the middle of the table in front of her. “This is the card that represents you in this reading,” She explained. It was the Emperor. She placed the next card over top of the first, lying horizontally across it, “and this is what crosses over you.” It was the six of coins. She tipped her head to one side and then to the other, like a puppy trying to understand something. She placed the next card below the first two and said, “This card is at the base of the situation,” and then she saw exactly why this reading felt so familiar. It was the Lovers. She grinned a knowing grin.

“What?” The young man asked, excited at the reaction he saw on Linda's face.

“You are asking about love. Let's see what the world is bringing you, shall we?” She smiled because she was pretty sure that she knew what the overall message would be, even if she couldn't guess at the exact cards.

She placed the next card to the left of the first two cards. It was the four of wands, and she explained, “This is the recent past. You've been feeling a bit stifled, like you wanted to move onward or get something else done, but you couldn't. It's because you were in exactly the place you needed to be. This is perfection,” she tapped the card and then she placed the fifth card, the Empress, at the top of the cross without comment. She placed the sixth card to the right of the first two cards and described it, “This ace of wands represents a celebration today. Are you going to the Palouse Empire Fair later by any chance?”

“Yeah! How did you know?”

“I'm reading the cards, didn't you notice?” She laughed. It's so much fun when things line up perfectly and she really does know exactly what it all means. Mostly she feels like she's just reading randomness out of the ether. The only way she knows that she tells anyone the truth is that they come back and tell her how the things she said would happen really did.

She placed the next card at the bottom of the staff to the left of the cross. It was the Magician. “This is what you are bringing to the situation,” she told the young man. “You are the Magician who takes the elements and makes something happen.” She placed the next card above the last one, “This is what the world brings to you.” The nine of cups sat looking up at her. “This is an excellent card. It's the wish card. Tradition says that if you get it in a reading, you can touch it and your wish will come true.”

The man reached out without hesitation and touched the card. He made his wish as he breathed in and pulled his hand away from the card as he exhaled. He smiled. He had wished to meet the woman of his dreams, and he felt absolutely certain that he would soon.

“I have a warning for you, before I move on.”

“Yes?” The young man looked up with concern on his face.

“This young woman that you are going to meet, she is wishing for you, but she is not going to make any move toward you. Whether it's because she's shy or because she thinks that being forward will put off anyone who would be interested in her, she just won't make it clear to you that she likes you. You are the Magician here. You need to make the magic. OK?”

“OK. I got it.” He smiled. He could handle that. He's not usually the sort of man who uses pick up lines to try to get the attention of a pretty girl, but he could. Why not?

Linda put down the third card of the staff. She could have guessed at it. So much like the reading she had done just over a week ago. This man was hoping and fearing love just as much as his would be match.

“This card represents your hopes and fears. The two of cups represents love. You may think that you want love, but you also fear it, fear its consequences and its impact on your life. You need to make a choice. Fear it or embrace it. Your choice will determine the outcome of your meeting with your intended.”

She turned the next card. Ten of cups. She nodded. This was expected.

“Alright,” she began, “This card,” she pointed to The Empress, “is your possible future and this card,” she pointed at the ten of cups, “is your probable future. What this means is that, as long as you keep going in the direction that you are going right now, you will definitely have a happy home life. You may have that happy home with The Empress that you are going to meet today. That will be determined by what you and she do.”

“If you are reading my future, then it's all set, right? What does what I do have to do with anything?” the man asked.

“No, no. You misunderstand. The Tarot doesn't tell you the future. It tells you how the patterns of the past and the present project out into the future. You can change anything along the way by doing something that doesn't fit into the existing pattern. You see?”

“Yeah. I think so.” He stared at the cards on the table.

“OK, do you have any questions?” Linda asked.

“No. I'm good. Thanks. How much do I owe you?”

“Whatever you think the reading was worth,” Linda smiled. She turned the ceramic jar so that the man could see the writing. It just said, “tips,” nothing else.

He stood up and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. He opened it and pulled out a few bills, folded up so that she couldn't see how much it was. He pushed the bills into the jar and thanked her again.

He picked up the grocery bags and walked home thinking about the reading. He was both excited and nervous that he would do the wrong thing.

Around 6:30 on Thursday night, Evan and his friends arrived at the Palouse Empire Fair. They planned to get dinner at the booths and walk around the various displays for a few hours, maybe catch a ride or two. His friends decided to get some hamburgers at the booth right by the entrance. Evan wanted to look around some more and see what else there was to eat.

Joanie had been at the fair all day. She was a volunteer with 4H and had been helping some of the kids get squared away with the various projects that they were showing at the fair. Some of the kids show animals. Others show their sewing or art. This year there was even a whole shed full of robotics and other technology projects that kids had built to show at the fair. By 6:30 she was utterly exhausted and starving. She decided to head to the food booths to see what she could round up for dinner.

There was a booth selling fry bread and chili right by the home ec display shed. The smell was wonderful. Joanie and Evan arrived at the shed from opposite directions and stepped into line at exactly the same moment, bumping into each other as they did.

“Oops! Sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going.” Joanie apologized.

“No! I'm sorry! I was in such a rush to get some fry bread I wasn't paying attention to anything else. I'm not very chivalrous, am I? Go ahead! You first.” Evan stepped behind Joanie.

Joanie looked back up at Evan. There was something really nice about him. He was quite attractive, but there was something else. She remembered the tarot reading she'd had the week before and wondered if this could be the guy.

Evan looked down at the curly haired girl in front of him. She was pretty and had a sweet voice. There was something about her he couldn't put his finger on, something he really liked. He thought about the fortune teller he'd seen earlier in the day. He wondered if this was the girl, or if he was just imagining things. Perhaps it was just the power of suggestion.

Joanie's turn came and she ordered dinner and moved to the side to wait for it to be ready. Evan ordered his fry bread and stood next to Joanie to wait. He wanted to talk to her, but felt a little silly now that it came to it. They looked at each other awkwardly. Joanie played with her hair. Evan tried not to stare.

The man in the booth called Joanie's order and she went to the pick up counter to get it. She put a straw in her lemonade and then grabbed a couple of paper napkins. She picked up her plate and drink and headed back toward the home ec shed.

As she was walking away, Evan thought to save the moment but couldn't think of anything brilliant to say, “Bye!” was all he managed.

She turned and walked backwards. “Have fun at the fair!” she called to him before turning back around and going into the shed.