There's more to fortunetellers than meets the inner eye
Will I meet someone tall, dark and handsome? Will I die a crazy plant lady, after all? Who would know the answers? A fortune teller, of course!
Joking aside, I approached a conversation with Kali Meister—spiritual healer, empath, claircognizant and clairaudient, with degrees in theater, psychology, and creative writing—with some fear.
First: I’m a skeptic! I don’t believe people can know the future. Will she find me out?
Second: Despite my so-called rationality, my lizard brain is whispering, “Run! Before she turns you into a newt!”
In fact, I have zero reason to be afraid, because, as I discover, Meister’s work resembles traditions at the intersection of art and healing, such as Reiki, art therapy or creative writing. In fact, when she tells me about the meanings behind the cards, I feel like I’ve fallen into a comfortable, old-fashioned discussion about Biblical exegesis.
Meister reads their cards metaphorically, not literally, she says, and the process of interpretation is a work of self-understanding and healing for each client.“I consider myself an intuitive counselor,” she says. “I use Tarot to get to the root of your issues and address them with you. For example, if you ask me, ‘When will I die?’, I’ll tell you about your health vulnerabilities that you need to address.”
Though she compares herself to an Appalachian granny, drawing on that knowing to advise others, Meister also traces her roots to other traditions.
“I’m a reformed pagan Catholic Baptist Pentecostal New-Age god-fearing Buddhist,” she says, explaining she identifies most with Buddhism and its emphasis on compassion. “The more we focus on [compassion], the more we heal collectively.”
Fortune-telling, Meister says, is part of larger work of “creating a gray area” in Chattanooga—“gray areas” being her term for spiritual and creative spaces free of extremism. Her emphasis on balance and moderation also strikes me as particularly Buddhist—and it’s also reflected in numerous Tarot cards which balance dualities in static or kinetic tension.Meister describes herself as a psychic, one picking up spiritual information from a cacophony of sources, as compared to a medium, who routinely channels specific, named sources.
“I’m a good person for an initial reading,” she says. “When you come for a reading, obviously there is something vulnerable you want to talk about.”
She takes her responsibility seriously to help clients help themselves. She encourages them to write down their readings and go online to research further. Instead of drawing more and more energy to herself (such as “upselling” a reading with a love charm) she seeks to empower.
“There’s an ethics in reading,” Meister says. “Everybody on the planet is psychic. Everybody has a knowing at their core. We all can do what I do.”
Do I want to have my fortune told? Maybe. But now I know what I’ll be looking for: someone like “the kind psychic” Meister, who uses her knowing to uplift and empower. Will I leave a reading relying more on a spirit guide…or more on myself? That’s an important question, and now I know the answer.
Find a Psychic
April Blowout Oracle, Saturday, April 7, 1-4 p.m., 1322 Dodds Avenue.
In addition to Tarot readings, the event will also feature a clothing exchange, henna, mandala paintings, and items for sale.