Frank Phillet has been doing Tarot readings for over 40 years. It’s a hobby that he is expanding into a part-time business. A regular reader of Boyle McCauley News (Phillet always picks up a copy when he stops by Zocalo), he wanted to offer his services to the paper.

When we sit down (in Zocalo, of course), he explains that while many people think Tarot only deals with telling the future, it also involves the past and the present. Also, the end result of the reading has much to do with the question – if there is one – being asked. Ask a general question, and get a general answer. Be more specific, and so will the reading.

I opted to go with a general reading about the direction of the paper and how things are going, financially and otherwise. Phillet asked me to shuffle the cards, then cut them three ways and reassemble them back into one (well-worn) deck. He then made a 10-card arrangement on the table called a Celtic Cross (which, he explained, has nothing to do with the Christian cross in this context).

Here’s the summary of his reading, which lasted about 45 minutes.

After spending a few minutes silently pondering the cards, Phillet said that the current state of the paper has much to do with its past. That a small group of people came together to form the paper, some who already knew each other, and others who didn’t. It was to fill a need in the community. Some of those founders are still involved with the paper today, while others drifted away when their own vision for the paper was not realized. However, most of the people involved with the paper have realized that you can’t please everyone, and have stayed the course.

The direction of the paper was more solidified this past fall by those who run it, Phillet interpreted, and that by late August, we will be able to see that the paper is doing well on this path. He also predicted financial stability between now and the summer (late August), thanks to the competent management of the paper. (Editor’s note: our next raffle will help with that financial stability. We will let you all know as soon as we have our license!)

While it is true that some of the information presented by Phillet in his reading is readily available online (such as the history of the paper), or simply by reading it on a regular basis, much of what he said was clearly by intuition. As to whether or not he was right, I guess we will find out in August.

Frank Phillet is available to do readings by appointment, and can be reached at mfrankphillet@hotmail.com.