We can twist our fate with the use of Tarot and Astrology according to our guest, Theresa Reed.

She shares how both have influenced her life in this edition of The Paranormal Podcast.

You can find her book on the subject, Twist Your Fate: Manifest Success with Astrology and Tarot, at Amazon: https://amzn.to/3OSNtwn

Thanks Theresa!

This post contains Amazon affiliate links that benefit Jim Harold Media when you make a qualifying purchase. Thank you for your support!

-TRANSCRIPT-

THERESA REED: How do we work with this energy? How do we work with it to make better decisions? How can I be more aware and conscious of my strengths as well as the problem areas in my life so that I can start, again, taking command of my future rather than having my future “just happen to me”?

JIM HAROLD: Theresa Reed shares how to twist your fate with Tarot and astrology on this edition of the Paranormal Podcast.

[intro music]

This is the Paranormal Podcast with Jim Harold.

JIM HAROLD: Welcome to the Paranormal Podcast. I am Jim Harold. So glad to be with you once again.

Really, I’ve always been fascinated since I was a little kid about manipulating our fate. Is there a way that we could do it? I remember I had a late uncle who passed away – he was actually a great-uncle, my dad’s uncle – and he had a bunch of books that got passed down to me. I must’ve been about nine years old, and some of them were these manifesting books, which back in the day was a little scandalous. Ever since then, I’ve been fascinated and a believer in ways that we can manipulate our fate a little bit and maybe help the odds, put the odds in our favor, so to speak.

Today we’re going to talk about a recent book and the idea of this kind of thing with Theresa Reed. She’s otherwise known as The Tarot Lady. The book is called Twist Your Fate: Manifest Success with Astrology and Tarot, and really just amazing work that Theresa is doing. She’s a Tarot reader, she does astrology, she’s a podcaster, she’s an author with multiple books, including this one. She’s been featured on over 50 blogs, websites, podcasts, and magazines. She’s also – I can’t remember if I mentioned it, but a podcaster as well. We’re so glad to have her. Didn’t even get into yoga. She does a lot. She’s a renaissance woman. Theresa, welcome to the show. Thank you for joining us to talk about Twist Your Fate.

THERESA REED: Thank you so much for having me, Jim. I am delighted to be able to talk with you today. 

JIM HAROLD: So this book Twist Your Fate: Manifest Success with Astrology and Tarot – can you talk to us a little bit about the concept?

THERESA REED: Sure. One of the reasons I wanted to write this book is because there are a lot of misconceptions first of all about fate and free will, and also about Tarot and astrology. One of the examples I love to use is my own example.

I have a “bad” astrology chart. It’s the kind of chart astrologers will look at and they’re like, “Oh my God, this is just terrible.” Astrologically, the odds were stacked against me, and also life was. I grew up, I had a very humble upbringing; my parents were eighth grade educated farmers. We just didn’t have a lot of money for opportunities. So if you just looked at the astrology chart that I have and also where I come from, by all means, it’s pretty much saying “Well, this is your fate. It doesn’t look like it’s going to be pretty good.”

However, I am a firm believer in trying to work to stack the odds in your favor, and I am a person that believes while there are some things that can be fated, like you can’t choose who your birth parents are – or maybe you can, I don’t know – but there are choices that you can make, and there are ways to work with energy to start moving things in a better direction.

I got introduced to astrology and Tarot when I was very young. I was 15 when I got into it, and I started really working on applying Tarot and astrology. Instead of just looking at it like, “Well, this is your future, this is your astrology chart,” it’s like, okay, how do we work with this energy? How do we work with it to make better decisions? How can I be more aware and conscious of my strengths as well as the problem areas in my life so that I can start, again, taking command of my future rather than having my future “just happen to me”?

So my belief system developed at a very early age because, again, I got working with those cards and astrology, and when I started applying it, I did find that a lot of things started to work better for me. When I started looking at the possibilities, the strengths, the weaknesses in my astrology chart, instead of just throwing up my hands, it’s like, let’s make this work. Let’s find the best way.

As soon as I started really becoming more conscious of what I had to work with, I was able to make it work for me. And over the many years where I’ve worked with clients too, I’ve always been of the belief that it doesn’t matter how terrible things are. There are ways to work with this, even if that just means asking for help. I think that it’s very important not to be asleep at the wheel, but to be aware and willing to do the work.

JIM HAROLD: I’ve always believed – for example, the Law of Attraction. I’ve always been a believer in it with a caveat. I believe that if you work hard and you generally have positive thoughts and have intentions and all of those things, things will tend to work a little more in your favor. I don’t personally believe that I can sit here and hope that a Mercedes or a Tesla shows up in the driveway and it’s just going to automatically manifest itself.

It’s a chemical reaction. You put the effort in, you put the work in, you put those things in, you have the intention and those kinds of things, and then things are attracted to you, as opposed to going around going, “Oh, woe is me, everything is horrible.” You can work as hard as you want, but if you have a bad attitude, I’ve always felt like you’re going to somehow sabotage yourself, or the universe is not going to be as helpful as it can be. Do you subscribe to that? What are your thoughts in regard to our role in not only relying on things like astrology or Tarot, but also in our own actions and using them in concert with these different modalities?

THERESA REED: It’s everything. It is everything. Again, if I went with the whole notion that I have a “bad” astrology chart, and really believed in that, I would be creating a self-fulfilling prophecy, and I’m not into that. I’m like, no, we’re going to find the positive in this. We’re going to find a way to make that work. That doesn’t mean I subscribe to toxic positivity. I don’t want to bypass anything that is hard or difficult. I’m not about that. But if you can look at even the most challenging circumstances and find a way to go into it with a good attitude, you are more likely to start turning that beat around.

One thing you’ve got to think about, too – a very simple analogy. If you’re at a party and there’s someone sitting in the corner talking nonstop negativity, no one wants to hang around with that. And if there’s somebody who’s really being a force of inspiration, they’re having a good time, we all want to be around that person. That really sums up my whole attitude about life. It’s like, I don’t want to be looking at life through those negative glasses. I want to look at how I can, again, make the best with what I have and make it even better than that, and better than that. A lot of it is really attitude and taking action.

JIM HAROLD: Over the last 17 years of doing the various shows that I do, I’ve seen a lot of chapter titles, and there’s been some good ones and some not as good ones. This one has to be one of the best. Part 1 of your book: “Cover Your Asstrology.” [laughs] Tell us about covering all of that.

THERESA REED: Here’s the thing too. Again, I’m not one of those people that looks at anything like, “Oh my God, an eclipse.” It’s always like, “Okay, there’s an eclipse. Let’s work with this.” One of my catchphrases is “be prepared, not scared.” When you’re aware of the energy that’s operating around you, now you know how to show up. It’s kind of like when you look at the weather. If you know it’s going to be rainy, you know you’re going to bring an umbrella. If you know there’s an eclipse, it’s like, okay, this day is going to be unpredictable, so let me ground myself. Let me pay attention. Let’s make sure that I’m not walking into a situation that might be harmful for me.

I like to look at the planets, and I’m very big on working with astrology. I use it for every aspect of my life, and I pay attention to, every day, what is the moon doing? What are the planets doing? It’s like my weather forecast. I can tell if the planets are not friendly, I’m going to stay out of the line of fire. If there are people looking to pick a fight, I’m going to choose not to. Instead, I’m going to look for where I can show up, where I can grow up, where I can glow up, all of those things. And the planets can tell you so much about that. I’m a very lunar person, and the moon controls the tides of the ocean. Why would it not affect the energy and maybe our moods down here?

So that’s what I do with it. It’s always about “What is happening and how do I work with this?” One of the things I like to say is your natal chart, your astrology chart, your birth chart, they call that, that really gives you an idea. It gives you an idea of your map. It’s like a road map. It shows you exactly what you’ve got to work with. The transits in the sky that are happening every day can show you what the traffic is like. So you’ve got a map, you know what the traffic is like, and then Tarot is like the GPS that helps you to navigate and find all the detours if you don’t like the way things look.

You can combine these brilliantly, and then it’s just a matter of going with the energy and not saying, “It’s an eclipse? Let me go ahead” – we just had an eclipse; that’s why I’m talking about that. “Let me go and shake things up!” It’s like, no, no, no. Let’s not do that. Let’s be calm. 

JIM HAROLD: Is Tarot more tactical and astrology more strategic?

THERESA REED: Yes. I think astrology is very much about strategy, but Tarot is down and dirty. I will always look at the planets. I always do. I use astrology for everything. But when I need a fast answer, when I do not want to mess around, when I want to, again, find the GPS and navigate whatever I’m dealing with, Tarot is the tool that I will always go to.

JIM HAROLD: Interesting. Doing astrology these days – I know before, people had to hand-cast a chart and have all these charts out and things, and now my understanding is that a lot of it is mainly computerized. Is it something anybody can learn to do? Or is there still a bit of art to the science, I would think?

THERESA REED: There is an art to the science. I really believe that. With Tarot and astrology. It’s not like you just pick up a deck and boom, you’re a professional Tarot reader. It takes a long time to really figure out the nuances of Tarot. I think everybody can learn to use it, but if you’re going to learn to use it for yourself, that’s very different than doing it for the public.

When it comes to astrology, I’m old school. I used to have to do everything by hand. Mistakes were made. [laughs] Lots of mistakes. The beautiful thing about the computer software is that it does the math for you, so you’re going to lessen your chances of a mistake being made, unless somebody gives you the wrong time of birth. So it’s really handy that way.

However, I got to tell ya, despite the software – I may use that to cast a chart, but when it comes to transits, I will generally grab my ephemeris, which again is very old school, and look at it and do the math in my head because that’s the way I was taught to do it. And by the way, it looks really daunting when you first look at an ephemeris, but if you study it long enough, you’re like, “Oh, it’s just a bunch of patterns.” You go look at the numbers and do the math and anyone can figure out how to do that, unless you hate math. If you hate math, you’re not going to like astrology at all.

But it takes time. And also, the other thing is, too, with astrology, I like to say it’s theory. We have an idea of how things might be going, but sometimes later on, when we step back and see how things have transpired – and that’s with Tarot for that matter, too – it might be accurate, but it might not pan out exactly the way you thought it was going to be. Us humans, we have that misinterpretation. We want things to be a certain way, we assume, and then later on say, “Oh, that’s what that meant.”

JIM HAROLD: That’s interesting. You also talk about Tarot being your new business cards. What do you mean by that, your new business cards?

THERESA REED: I use Tarot and astrology for my business, and that may sound really weird to people, but actually, all the years when I was reading for the public – I don’t read for the public any longer – I worked a lot with entrepreneurs, I worked a lot with people about career, and I loved readings about career. I loved readings about business, entrepreneurship. Those are things that are right up my alley. So I’ve done many, many readings over the years, and a lot of people want to know certain things about business.

We can look at astrology and we can look at Tarot to really figure out, “Okay, here’s what’s going on at work. Here’s how to navigate that.” And I think for so many of us, we spend so much time at work – isn’t it better when you have an idea of how to move gracefully around the situations that you may encounter? I think so, and I can tell you as a businessperson, when I started really paying attention to this stuff for my own business, I stopped making stupid mistakes and my business only got more successful the more I followed my intuition, the wisdom of the planets, and also the wisdom of the cards when I felt really stuck.

JIM HAROLD: Very interesting discussion we’re having today with Theresa Reed. We’re talking about astrology, we’re talking about Tarot, and we’re talking about her new book, Twist Your Fate: Manifest Success with Astrology and Tarot. And we’ll be back right after this.

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JIM HAROLD: We’re back on the Paranormal Podcast. Our guest is Theresa Reed. The book is Twist Your Fate: Manifest Success with Astrology and Tarot. Now, I think some people are afraid – I don’t sense this with astrology as much, but I sense that some people are afraid of Tarot because they’re afraid of what it might show, and that it might show some awful fate that they’re destined to receive. By looking over some of your material, I came across the pretty strong sense that you don’t believe anything is necessarily 100% fated – that we have a lot of control. Could we talk about that?

THERESA REED: Absolutely. There are some things that are fated. Again, we don’t choose who our families are. Believe me, if I could choose my family, I might’ve made some different choices if I had say over that. [laughs] There are certain things that are fated in our life, but a lot of things come down to our decisions and our attitude, and mainly choices. No matter where you come from or what your situations are, or even the decisions you make, you can always make a new decision. You can always choose differently.

Some people might say, “What if you can’t choose?” No, no, no, you can still choose something there. And choice or decisions will determine our destiny. You are in the driver’s seat. Your vehicle doesn’t have to be perfect, but you can figure out a way to navigate out of whatever situation you’re in, and if you don’t like the vehicle you’re in, you can also figure out ways to get a better vehicle. So I am a firm believer in the freedom of choice.

If I subscribed to the other way of thinking, my life would’ve turned out very differently, extremely differently. I’m like, nope, that’s not the way it’s going to be. Of course, I am a very stubborn person and I don’t like to be told no, so we can also put that in my equation, but I really, really firmly believe that you have a choice in the matter. You have a say in your life. So let’s start making some good decisions that are healthy and that are going to move you towards the life you want and success on your terms. Success looks different for everybody, and these are tools that can help you to figure it out.

JIM HAROLD: I always wonder about this – and I know you said you don’t currently do readings for people, but you have in the past. When you see something either in an astrological chart or Tarot that bodes for the possibility of something extremely negative, does that happen? And how would you handle it as a reader?

THERESA REED: Oh yeah, that’s a great question because yes, those things do come up. Let’s use an astrology and then we’ll use a Tarot example. Let’s say you get an astrology reading and it shows that there’s potential for addiction. That doesn’t mean you’re an addict or you’re going to be or that’s your future, and a responsible reader would never, ever say, “Well, it looks like you’re going to be an addict.” Instead, what they would say is, “You have a sensitivity towards substances, so this is probably not a wise path for you.”

That’s how you always want to make sure you’re looking at it, from that perspective – not that “This is definitely going to be.” It’s more like “This is the possibility and this is what you want to avoid.”

Same with Tarot. Let’s say you get the Tower. Nobody likes the Tower card. They see the Tower card and they grown. They’re like, “Oh my God, it looks like everything’s crumbling.” As a reader, then, we look at it and say, “It looks like something’s coming apart. What in your life needs to be dismantled? And what are you going to build once you’re done with this?” Again, it’s really about looking at it from a perspective. If something negative comes up in a reading, we want to look at, what is the most helpful thing in this situation?

Think of it this way. If you fell and broke your leg, is it going to be helpful to sit there and talk about the broken leg and all the horrible things hat could happen? No. Instead, we’re going to say, “Okay, Jim, your leg is broken. We’re going to get you to the doctor. We’re going to get this bandaged up. We’re going to see what kind of physical therapy you need and how long that might take, and we’re going to get the house ready so it’s going to serve you.”

That’s the same way with Tarot and astrology. If you see something negative, a responsible reader isn’t going to look at that and say, “Well, you’re screwed.” It’s more like, “Let’s see if we can avoid this. Let’s see how we can work with this.” That’s an empowering reading. And I’ve been to readers – I’ve got to tell you, I’ve been to some that have given me these terrible prognoses, or prognoses that maybe I looked at and thought, “Nah, that’s not – no.” Again, I’ll go back to me being stubborn, but I’m not one to ever subscribe to that. If you start putting that kind of energy into somebody’s head when they’re sitting at your Tarot table, you are certainly not helping them. You’re creating a disservice, and Tarot ultimately is all about service and helping people to find the best way.

JIM HAROLD: Obviously, you are of the opinion and you’ve seen both of these things work, astrology and Tarot. So the question is: why and how do they work? Now, astrology might be a trickier question; Tarot, though, how does it turn out that you take some pieces of – not cardboard, but whatever they’re made of, paper, and you flip them around and they have these great epiphanies and this great information. What do you think the mechanism is? And also for astrology – we know it’s the planets and we know it’s the stars, but why does it work? Why do you think these two things work? Just a very simple and easy question.

THERESA REED: Sure. [laughs] It’s actually a complex question.

JIM HAROLD: I know. [laughs]

THERESA REED: When it comes to Tarot, yes, Tarot is 78 paper cards. That’s all they are. They have these visual images. But those images are filled with archetypes and symbols that anybody can understand.

I am also, as much as this makes me sound like a Superstitious Aloysius, I grew up in a household with a very psychic mother. Everything was symbols and omens. Everything meant something. If you are someone who has that kind of mindset like I do, I’m always paying very close attention to what’s happening around me and the symbols, and some of those symbols are very subtle. Sometimes those symbols are in your face, but I tend to see everything as a sign, as a symbol.

When I lay out the cards in a reading, I’m looking at those images, and what are they invoking in me? What am I feeling when I look at this? I see them really as a tool to tap into your inner wisdom or your intuition, which always knows what’s best for you. If you pay attention to that, you’re going to be making better decisions, and I think really it’s about connecting with your inner guidance, your inner wisdom. Tarot helps you to do that. So I see that as a very intuitive tool.

Whereas astrology is math, it’s science. I know that some people call it a pseudoscience. Okay, whatever. But it is a science. It’s the science of the stars and the angles that they’re making with each other. So the way astrology works is we are, again, laying out this little map and we’re looking at how everything goes together. It really is a neat little system that gives you a lot of information so that you can be present.

But they both operate in very different ways. Astrology really satisfies the analytical side of myself that wants to look at every single aspect of a situation, while Tarot is like “Okay, you’ve got all that stuff that astrology said, but what is your gut telling you right now?” Together, I think it really creates the best type of awareness.

JIM HAROLD: I’m sure you’ve seen this, but can you talk to us about – and obviously you’re not going to say specifically who it is, but have you seen cases where you’ve worked with people in the past who have used Tarot, astrology, or both, who have made it not the sole point, as we discussed before, but a major pivot point for them in turning around their situation, turning around their life?

THERESA REED: Absolutely. Absolutely, I’ve seen so many situations where people were making terrible choices with their lives, or they felt stuck in a situation that was really unhealthy for them, and you sit down with a good reader and they’re going to show you all the different layers of your situation: the past, the present, where you might be heading, what type of energy is around you, how your attitude is impacting things.

That information can help you to turn things around, and I’ve seen it happen many, many times. I’ve seen people make better career decisions, I’ve seen people get out of really toxic relationships and find the courage to finally set some boundaries. I’ve seen that again and again and again.

And then I’ve also seen some people that get a reading and it shows all the possibilities and they don’t do anything, and they wonder why life hasn’t changed. It’s like, look, I gave you the information; why are you not working with that? If somebody handed me a chocolate-covered donut, I would be eating it. I would not let it sit on my desk and rot. I would be doing something about that chocolate-covered donut. Why wouldn’t you be doing that with the information that you’re getting here? Isn’t that what you came for?

JIM HAROLD: Very interesting indeed. We’re having a great conversation today with Theresa Reed. She is the author of Twist Your Fate: Manifest Success with Astrology and Tarot, and we’ll be back right after this.

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Follow Jim on Twitter and Instagram @TheJimHarold and join our Virtual Campfire Facebook group at VirtualCampfireGroup.com. Now, back to the Paranormal Podcast.

JIM HAROLD: We are back on the Paranormal Podcast. Our guest is Theresa Reed. The book is Twist Your Fate: Manifest Success with Astrology and Tarot. We’re so glad to have Theresa with us; she’s a font of information when it comes to these two topics, and we’re so glad to have her with us.

In the book, you talk about Part 3, which is “Make Intuition Do Its Job.” Obviously, I’m familiar with what intuition is, but what do you mean, “make it do its job”?

THERESA REED: Well, it all comes down to trusting your gut. Your intuition is your inner GPS. Your intuition is there for you. Everyone has intuition. Over the years I’ve encountered people who say, “I don’t have any intuition.” I’m like, “Well, you probably do all the time, but you’re just not considering it intuition or you’re ignoring it.” Intuition is simply gathering information based on maybe information that isn’t logical. Like you’re getting a feeling about a situation or you sense someone’s got an attitude with you, and instead of ignoring it, you’re really working with that energy.

I’ve got to tell you, my intuition has never failed me. Never, ever. It saved my life on more than one occasion, and I think that the intuition, when we start really listening to it, trusting it, once again, it’s going to help you with your life.

There’s a book by Gavin de Becker I recommend to everybody called The Gift of Fear, and it’s all about how when we listen to our intuition, it keeps us safe. That really is what your intuition is all about; it’s about keeping you safe. It is about helping you to be in situations that are going to be aligned rather than putting yourself in situations that are dangerous. And danger doesn’t always mean something dangerous like you’re going to be bit by that dog. Sometimes danger just means “This particular person probably isn’t the best partner for me” or “Maybe this job, I’m feeling there might be a catch; I should be going some other direction. No, I’m just going to go for it.” We really want to pay attention because your intuition loves you. Your sixth sense is trying to help you. It’s trying to get you into situations that are better for you.

JIM HAROLD: Let me ask you this: how do you discern those messages, though? Because sometimes it can be tough. It’s kind of like the old movies where you would see the devil on one shoulder and the angel on the other, and one voice is telling you one thing and one’s the other. When you’ve got a lot of chatter going, how do you suss out which one’s right?

THERESA REED: For me, it’s always my first instinct. Doesn’t matter if later on I’m going back and forth between the two, I always know that that first thing, that first initial feeling before I have any feedback, before I have any time to get inside my head – that’s the one I’m going to pay attention to. I never, ever ignore the first instinct. And like I said before, it’s saved my life. Before you can rationalize things or talk yourself out of it, it’s that first instinct.

That first instinct is one you really want to pay attention to. “What am I feeling in this situation?” Let’s say you walk into a room. Initially you feel right away, “Wow, this feels like a great party,” and then as the night goes on, maybe you’re getting drunk and you think maybe it’s not a great party. No, it’s a perfectly fine party. You got drunk. [laughs] So we really want to pay attention. What is that first feeling, that initial thing? Why are you getting that feeling? Let’s not stop and overanalyze it, but pay attention.

I never ignore the first instinct. No matter how off-the-wall it seems, I never, ever ignore it because that’s always where the magic is.

JIM HAROLD: I think when it comes to Tarot and astrology both, people think, “I’m going to use this to guide my career or my love life,” or the things that people typically think of. But I’m sure there’s some instances where you could use either or both where people don’t realize that it’s applicable to. Are there cases like that? And if so, what are they?

THERESA REED: You mean where people can use Tarot or astrology for helping with certain situations?

JIM HAROLD: Yeah. In other words, we all know the tried-and-true ways, the stereotypical ways you’d use it – help you in your love life, help you in your career, those kinds of things. But are there maybe some clever uses of it that people don’t think of, but it’s still just as real and just as valid?

THERESA REED: Oh my God, there’s so many uses for both of these tools. This is going to sound really bananas, but I use astrology, for example, for writing. How do I use it for writing? Because there are certain days that are really, really good for writing. When the moon is in Gemini – which, by the way, it’s in Gemini right now – it’s really good for conversations like the one we’re having today, but it is also super good for writing. This is the day where I’m going to sit down and I know my output is going to be greater than it was when the moon was in Taurus.

So I follow astrology also for my writing practice. I do not send in a book proposal until I’ve checked the planets, and I make sure everything is working really well with Jupiter because Jupiter is all about proposals. So that’s another way that you can use it. I’ve seen people use Tarot for creative inspiration. I’ve seen people use Tarot in therapy. I know astrologers who use astrology in therapy.

There are so many different ways that you can work with these tools. They’re not limited to divination or just reflection. You can certainly get really creative with them or find other ways to use them to your advantage. For me, timing is everything. I like to say divine timing. So I am always trying to – again, let’s go back to that initial thing – stack the damn odds in my favor.

JIM HAROLD: Yeah, I think that’s a great idea. Getting back to that very thing, twisting your fate, with the benefit of what we’ve heard from you so far, explain that and dial into that a little more. What does that mean, “twisting your fate”?

THERESA REED: Twisting your fate means if you don’t like your fate, then we’ve got to look at ways to turn that around so you do like it. Again, I’m going to use myself as an example. I’ve had plenty of readers tell me, “You’ve got this terrible astrology chart.” My life is great. My life is fabulous – because I was like, “You know, maybe that’s your attitude about these planets. I’m going to figure out how to turn these flaws into a strength.” And it’s worked for me.

If I go back to some of the readings I had by some very irresponsible Tarot readers or astrologers, I should have a very different life than the one that I have. I have a great marriage; I’ve been with my husband 30 years. I have a successful business. I just finished writing Book #9. My kids are awesome. We’re super close. I mean, everything is pretty darn good. But according to that astrology chart, from the way some astrologers have interpreted it to me, this is not the way it should be.

JIM HAROLD: That is interesting. Go ahead.

THERESA REED: I mean really, seriously, and I’ve seen that with – I’ve got to tell you, I’ve had people come to me where I’ve had to undo the damage. They’re like, “I got this really terrible card reading,” or “I got this awful, awful astrology reading and I’m never going to find love” or this or that. It’s like, no, that’s not true. You might just have to do some certain things, take certain actions to move the things in your direction.

By the way, I’ve got a chart that’s supposed to be terrible for romance. Just awful. It’s one of these charts that it’s like, it should be terrible, there’s no love, blah, blah, blah. I’ve never had trouble finding love. And like I said, I’ve been with my partner 30 years. But here’s the thing. The chart is “bad” for romance; however, if you look at the 7th house cusp, it’s like, okay, you’ve got Aries there. You have to not be afraid to make the first move. So working with that energy, I’ve never been without a partner, and I’ve been with my current partner 30 years.

JIM HAROLD: There you go. Again, it is not a fait accompli; you were ultimately in control. Now, this might seem like a weird question, but do either the stars, in terms of astrology, or Tarot decks ever have a sense of humor in a reading?

THERESA REED: Yes, absolutely. Oh my God. One of my favorite stories – I had a reading for a young woman, and we pulled – I think it was the King of Wands and the Ace of Wands. I don’t know, my cards were feeling really cheeky, and I said, “It looks like you’re going to be meeting somebody and he’s got a very big package.” She’s like, “Ooh, that sounds really sexy.” So we’re having a big laugh about it, all these wands.

She did meet somebody, and she brought him home for the holidays – her mother was there at the reading – they had to tell me this story. She brought him home for the holidays; he walked in the door carrying this giant Christmas present. The mother says, “Oh my God, that Tarot lady was right. He has a big package.” And they had the biggest laugh over that. I mean, it’s so silly, it’s so stupid. [laughs] But sometimes Tarot and astrology does have quite the sense of humor. Yeah, that was one of my favorite stories. I still laugh when I think about that one.

JIM HAROLD: There’s a lot of things I could say, and I won’t say any of them, but very funny indeed. Even doing this as long as you’ve done this, do either ever surprise you?

THERESA REED: Oh, of course. You don’t know everything. Nobody knows everything. Nobody knows everything, and sometimes Tarot and astrology don’t want to reveal all the details, and sometimes you’ve got to figure it out. I’ve certainly had some surprising things in my life. Oftentimes I’ll look back and say, “You know, you kind of had a hint in that reading. What the heck?” But yeah, they certainly do surprise you sometimes. I do like a good surprise, so I don’t mind that at all. 

JIM HAROLD: What do you hope people get out of this book? They pick up this book, Twist Your Fate: Manifest Success with Astrology and Tarot; what do you hope the outcome is? What do you hope they get from it?

THERESA REED: I want people to know how powerful they are. I want them to know how powerful their choices are. I want them to know that they can turn their life around no matter what. I think that’s so important for people to hear, because you know, Jim, sometimes people go through some very hard things, and they feel like giving up or maybe they feel like they haven’t been dealt a fair hand. I want people to know that there is a way. These are tools that can help you. There’s other things that can help you as well, but you are not flawed, you are not bad, and you can turn this around. And I’ve got you. That’s what I really want people to hear.

I mean, of course I also want people to know that you can learn Tarot and astrology too. It’s not that this is above your head; it’s just that you haven’t had the right teacher. But I really, really hope people know that I believe in them, and I want them to believe that they can have a good life too.

JIM HAROLD: Very cool. One thing we haven’t talked much about – I did mention it at the beginning – you’re also a podcaster. Tell us about what you do with podcasting.

THERESA REED: I’ve been doing podcasts for quite some time. I have two podcasts. Actually, they’re both coming to a close. I have a podcast called Tarot Bytes with bite-sized Tarot lessons and interviews with Tarot luminaries and interesting folks. Also, I have a bite-sized astrology podcast, Astrology Bytes. That also is all about sharing bite-sized information because people sometimes don’t have time, and they want to learn the information, and sometimes it’s better to learn it in dripped format rather than coming at you all at once.

So that was the concept behind both of them, but they’re coming to a close because I have many more books to write, so that is where my brain is now moving. 

JIM HAROLD: As they say, there’s a season for everything, and a lot of times you can do everything, but you can’t necessarily do it all at the same time. [laughs]

THERESA REED: Yes, and writing takes a lot of bandwidth. For folks who are thinking about writing a book, it takes effort. You’ve got to have the time to do that, and that is what this is all about.

JIM HAROLD: Well, it’s been a great discussion. Our guest has been Theresa Reed. She has this new book out, Twist Your Fate: Manifest Success with Astrology and Tarot. Theresa, I know you have a lot of other things going on; where can people find the book and find everything else you do?

THERESA REED: Thank you. People can find the book, of course, online and offline wherever books are sold. All the online retailers like Barnes and Noble, Amazon, IndieBound. You can also request your library and your local bookshops and your local metaphysical shops to carry the book as well, and I do encourage people to do that because we always want to help our local economy as much as possible. So that’s where you can find that.

And you can find me at thetarotlady.com. That is my main hub, and that leads to all the other places where I’m at on social media and elsewhere.

JIM HAROLD: It’s been just a great discussion. Theresa Reed, thank you so much for joining us today and talking about this new book, Twist Your Fate.

THERESA REED: Thank you.

JIM HAROLD: What a fascinating guest. I really enjoyed our time with Theresa, and I hope you did as well. And I hope that you are having a happy and a healthy holiday season. We thank you for your support of the shows and appreciate it very, very much.

We’ll talk to you next time. Have a great week, everybody! Stay safe and stay spooky. Bye-bye.

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