Aerik Arkadian

Christiana Gaudet is a certified Tarot Grandmaster, a tarot reader, teacher, and superfan of the Grateful Dead! She was named Best Tarot Reader in 2021 and 2022 by The World Divination Association and Best Divination Teacher in 2022. In this interview, Christiana discusses Tarot Magick, StaarCon, her musical origin story, and more! She’s a wonderfully gifted reader with the ability to tell you exactly what you need to hear, even if it’s a painful truth, but in a kind way that leaves you feeling empowered.

I first met Christiana years ago at FPG (Florida Pagan Gathering). The short story is that she put in a good word for me with Selene, who is now my wife. Obviously, I owe her my eternal gratitude. If you’d like to hear the longer version of the story, you’ll have to watch the interview and listen to Christiana tell it!

Her Origin Story

Christiana got her first divination deck at age 8, so it’s hard to compete with the amount of card-reading experience she has! In her early adult years, while chasing after the Grateful Dead, she began doing free Tarot readings for strangers in the concert parking lots.

Eventually friends began seeking her out, bringing small gifts as an energy exchange for readings. She says “if you’re a good reader, people will want to pay you.” And believe me, she’s a good reader.

But she still wasn’t reading professionally. Instead, she was selling flowers on the street! After a little encouragement from a man named John (who would later become her husband), she got her first professional experience at a psychic fair. I’m summarizing here — it’s way better if you hear her tell the story, so you should probably just stop reading and go watch the video.

Today, Christiana has a fantastic office in Palm City, FL, where she sees clients in-person and virtually. The first time I was there, I remember telling Selene, “This is really nice! You could almost live here!” Seriously. It has a fascinating juxtaposition of modern technology and classic spirituality. On one hand, you’ve got shelves filled with books, magickal tools, and old tarot decks. On the other, you’ve got a teleconferencing room filled with equipment for virtual classes. But most importantly, it feels right. The energy is calming and comfortable.

Books

Christiana has written two books about Tarot. I’ve heard rumors she’s working on a third, but she’s keeping it pretty hush for right now!

Personally, I absolutely love taking an elemental approach to things — whether it is ritual, divination, or even life. In Tarot Tour Guide, Christiana explains how to apply that elemental approach to your Tarot spread.

"Tarot allows us to get a feel for our current elemental balance. Whenever you spread the cards, take account of which elements are represented. Are they all there, in balance? Is there one that is missing? Is there one that is strongly prevalent? If you see that the elements are not in balance in a spread, try to figure out why. It may simply relate to things going on in your life. Or, it could be a sign that you are seriously out of balance; nurturing one aspect of life at the expense of another."

-Tarot Tour Guide by Christiana Gaudet

StaarCon

StaarCon is the world’s first and only hybrid tarot and divination conference. It will take place this year from January 19 – January 21. If you’d like to attend locally, it’ll be at The Hilton Palm Beach Airport Hotel in West Palm Beach, Florida. For anyone outside of the area, it’ll also be livestreaming! You can get tickets at the website.

A Reading… if it resonates with you

During the interview, Christiana pulled three cards and gave a general reading for anyone watching. I felt very called out by it, but if you want to see it, you’ll have to watch the video!

Learning to ask questions

Christiana talked a bit about how to ask questions during a Tarot reading. The stereotypical image, of course, is that the client asks questions and the reader provides the answers, but we can’t forget that readers need to ask questions too!

Many of the cards can represent different things, so it’s important to ask appropriate questions to see where the story is headed.

Take the Page of Wands for example. Could it represent an actual young person in the querent’s life? Or a desire to learn? Could it be a message? Perhaps it shows a need to work on communication. Since wands are fire, perhaps it represents communication about a creative project. And that’s just the beginning. There’s also like 10 other things the card could mean, but in order to figure out which one is correct, you’ve got to ask questions!

Knowing which questions to ask is an intuitive process, just like knowing which answers to give is an intuitive process.

Tarot Magick

One of the things I’ve learned from Christiana over the years is how to use Tarot cards in magick. She says that with a deck, you’ve got 78 magickal tools at your disposal.

Here’s some ideas:

• Want to manifest something? Find the card that best tells that story and carry it around with you like a talisman. Look at it often, just as you would with a vision board.
• Want to banish something? Find the card that best matches what you want to get rid of, print out a copy, then burn it – or if you’d like to take a more “Christiana Approach,” stab it 100 times with your athame
• Feeling off balance? Each card represents a particular elemental flavor of energy. Do some divination to determine what will bring you back into sync, then use the card as a focal point to draw that energy into yourself.
• Seeing too many reversed cards? Change where your energy is headed! At the end of a reading, focus your intentions on shifting your path while physically rotating a reversed card until it is upright.

How do you use sound or music in your practice?

You would never suspect this if you met her today, but Christiana felt like she had trouble finding her voice earlier in life. She finally broke the silence one night around a bonfire, joining a group chant. Since then, she’s used chanting and breathwork as part of her regular practice. She writes chants now, too.

Christiana actually chanted at the very end of this interview! Afterwards, she told me it wasn’t planned, but that’s how some of the best things happen. If you want to hear that, you’ll definitely have to watch.

Contact Christiana

Christiana is available for classes or readings both locally and online. You can find out more about Christiana or book an appointment at her website.

She teaches free classes and livestreams readings on her YouTube channel, @YourTarotFairyGodmother.

Facebook – Christiana C. Gaudet

TikTok – ChristianaGaudetTarot

Be sure to grab her books:
Fortune Stellar
Tarot Tour Guide

And get your ticket to StaarCon!

Conclusions

Every time I listen to Christiana, I learn things. I’ve known her for about 6 years, so it was nice to finally hear her story. I’ve already started incorporating some of the Tarot Magick techniques she talked about in my own practice. This article is no substitute for hearing the information straight from her voice, so if I haven’t convinced you by now, just go and watch the video!

If you think you have a great book that deserves a review or an interesting person that deserves an interview, you can contact me.

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