Cat Jones

Background

I've spent my life unable to understand why I "feel too much." The spiritual community calls me an empath; the Western medicine community calls me "bipolar." When I was younger, I turned to tarot and several other means to understand any feelings I couldn't figure out.

I'm an agnostic pagan. I don't know if I believe in goddesses, magick, angels, or any kind of religion. I don't see it as my job to believe in whatever my "clients" (not a big fan of that word - I call everybody my "friend" because it's just how I refer to everyone I meet) believe in. I do find it soothing to my soul to perform some pagan rituals and contemplate the history and mystery of pagan deities. My spiritual inspiration is Brigid. As with most pagan figures, our understanding of her as a pagan goddess is impossible to disentangle from the Christian influences placed upon her, but I like the deeper meaning that gives her. She is my patron goddess and patron saint - I'm not Catholic, but my best friend is and she gave me Brigid's prayer card, which I carry with me everywhere.

I have a degree in English Literature - Creative Writing emphasis, which is one of the many reasons I feel so attached to Brigid, the patroness of poetry. My poetry professor told me that I'm one of the maybe half-dozen "true" poets he's ever recognized in his classes. I know that doesn't mean much to anyone who doesn't know him or me, but he doesn't tell flattering lies and I don't have the self-esteem to make that up.

Right now, I work at the Equality House in Topeka, KS. It's across the street from Westboro Baptist Church - the "God Hates F*gs" protesters. You may have heard of both them and us. This job, for an empath, is ~difficult~ but addicting. I'm pansexual-passing-as-straight, because I married my husband in late 2017. I fight to bring recognition and love to the LGBT community through both my struggle and my privilege.

I used to work in a very high position at a national health insurance company. I can't even go into that other than to say that it's the reason I now am working with an anxiety service dog. So I can relate to crushing corporate responsibilities, crushing psychological burdens, and certain disabilities requiring service animals.

As you can certainly tell by now, I wasn't lying about that English degree. I write and talk far too much, but I think that's a positive for those who are seeking answers.

Experience

I turned to pagan methodologies to figure out my emotions when I was younger, mostly because medicine and organized religion had failed me. I know you're not "supposed" to read for yourself, but I don't subscribe to that. Around five years ago, one of my friends asked me to draw a card for her; it helped her so much that I decided to leave the offer on the table for any of my friends and family. My friends have me bring my cards to get-togethers if they have friends who want to see if they'll benefit. My husband's friend got the most negative reading I've ever had, and I felt so horrible about it until he came back to me a month later and told me I'd gotten him out of a destructive relationship. He's now married to a wonderful woman, and he never needed to consult the cards about whether or not she was the right one.

I've never charged for a reading. Not once, even with strangers. Maybe I will someday, because so many people have told me I should. I do take on a lot of each person's emotions, and it can be very draining; I suppose most people would rationalize that as something that should be compensated. So far, I just wouldn't feel right charging people who turn to me for advice and direction.

Methods

Tarot is my main tool. I also read oracle cards, but I'm still getting the hang of them. Currently, I'm using them in combination with tarot cards to help me understand the oracle through the tarot. My favorite deck, and the one I'll probably use unless you ask otherwise, has the standard tarot cards but with constellations added. I love the additional meaning and depth this brings.

As I said before, I don't believe that it's important for a "consultant" and "client" to share the same beliefs. For that reason, I will come out and state that I don't believe I have any special gifts. I think that being an empath is being able to reach something inside that all humans naturally have but most have stamped into submission. I don't believe I can tell the future. I believe you already have all the answers to your questions but you just need an objective, outside interpretation to spark that lightbulb. I can't tell you whether/when/to whom you'll ever get married - if you've already got a significant other, I can draw cards that will help you answer your own questions about whether they're the one. I can't tell you what job you'll have (or should have) someday, but I can help you determine if you're on the right path or if you're ready to start down a different path. I CANNOT and WILL NOT ATTEMPT TO tell you if you'll have children. I also CANNOT and WILL NOT ATTEMPT TO tell you about your current children's futures. I have a friend whose mother regularly sees a psychic, and I have the devastation it's wreaked on my friend's life. She's become depressed and tired of life because she was "supposed" to already have been married and had two children by now. Her mother doesn't tell her this, but it's pretty obvious that she thinks it's her daughter's fault, not the psychic's. I'm not going to do that to your kids. Please do not do that to your children.

This may sound contradictory to my belief that I don't have any spiritual gifts, but I'm fairly adept at dream interpretation. I also really enjoy bibliomancy, although I don't do it as often. I prefer the more open-ended interpretation that tarot facilitates.

Please only leave a comment if you've had a consultancy from Cat Jones