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San Francisco Tarot Reader Uses X-Men Card Set

Published Thu, 20 May 2010 06:30:40 -0500

The X-Men may have recently arrived in San Francisco. But for one tarot card reader, they've always been there.

Reading the cards most Friday evenings, by appointment, at Swankety Swank in the Lower Haight for a snip at $40, STORM (that's his legal name, all capital letters) has his own unique take. His Tarot pack features X-characters, each with their own meaning and relevance.

STORM explains some of the details;

For example, Cyclops makes sense as all four Kings (each character embodies the same four cards of each suit) because he is the primary leader of the X-Men. However, depending on where he lands in the spread, he also invokes the energy of the Emperor. For her compassionate nature and story of sacrifice, Jean Grey represents the unconditional love of the Empress. Also, as the representative for all of the nines in the deck, she is also a symbol of attainment and renewal, which relates to her connection to the Phoenix Force. The villains of the cards include Mr. Sinister, Apocalypse, Sabretooth, and Magneto. They represent constricted energy and serve as shadow guides. Toad and Arcade are the Jokers of the deck and represent the Fool, but in a misguided fashion.

Here are a couple of testimonies from satisfied customers.

Here's the thing. I have NO IDEA what the 2 of Swords means in traditional tarot. It's based on archaic symbolism with various shades of meaning and (usually) poorly drawn images (sorry, Rider-Waite). But I pretty much instinctively know what Jubilee high kicking someone in the face means. Or Iceman doing his thing and looking awesome. Or Magneto looking super-pissed. And not only does Storm draw from the card itself while explaining the tradition meaning thereof, he also has an encyclopedic knowledge of the various X-Men storylines, and he weaves that into the narrative, as well. And then you can pile on Storm's personal mutant abilities (because I'm SO MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE with the concept of someone having mutant powers rather than psychic ones), and whoops! I've got a standing monthly appointment with the man.

For my birthday that I celebrated in SF, my boo Star got me an X-men tarot card reading by none other than the fabulous Storm! Being an X-men fan I have to say this was by far one of the best presents I have ever received! First of all, it was the most thorough and accurate tarot reading I have experienced, no joke (aside from the non-English speaking lady in Puerto Vallarta ten years ago that freaked me out)! I also pulled a Triple Jean Grey goddess which Storm said was the first time that had ever occurred! DAS RIGHT BAYBEE! If you are in San Francisco, I highly recommending getting your cards read by him!

I just want to know what happens if, mid-reading, you bring out your own X-Men cards and try to swap them, to get the ones that you haven't got? It's worth a try.

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