1. Your new book, Tarot Inspired Life, focuses on how to incorporate the tarot into your daily spiritual life. What inspired you to write the book?

I wrote Tarot Inspired Life for two reasons. One, I wanted to share my experiences with others, so they could see how to create a life around tarot. I also wanted to put the tarot experiments I worked on for the past twenty years down on paper.

Back then, reading cards for myself and others was fun. I knew tarot could do so much more. So, I vowed to incorporate tarot into my life as much as I could. My love for collecting decks encouraged me to learn fabric arts. Tarot became an important tool in my fiction writing and creativity toolbox. They became companions as I celebrated important holidays and events each year. I also used them to help bring my desires into my life. From these learnings, I built many classes to teach others what I knew. In 2011, I put all those learnings down to page during that year's NaNoWriMo (a global first draft writing phenomenon that takes place every November). The result formed the basis of Tarot Inspired Life.

2. How can the tarot be such a powerful spiritual tool?

Spirituality is a framework consisting of tools, techniques, and experiences that help us to make meaning within our lives. In some aspects, there is a desire to connect to something greater than oneself. Tarot, in turn, becomes a tool and a technique to help make meaning from life and help us connect to that greater source of all.

The cards can be used to receive messages from deity. You can ask the cards tough questions about the state of the world and find peace in what's normal. Tarot can help reflect upon where we have been, and how to process and transform painful moments. You can use the cards as a method of mediumship to connect to loved ones or spirit guides. Tarot can even form the basis to craft unique, personal rituals to mark important moments of your life. I use the cards to help me define paths to achieve my goals, and to clear the mental clutter that prevents me from living the life I desire.

3. What daily activities can the tarot be used to enhance?

You can incorporate tarot into almost every activity you do in the day. I've drawn a card in the morning to set the tone of my workday. When I hit the gym, I use tarot numerology to select a locker (sometimes I reduce the calories burned on the machines to a tarot card). I've carried cards in my wallet, or pocket, to harness specific energies to help boost my confidence for meetings. I've done readings to help me figure out the next steps of a project, or how to deal with tough clients. I've used the cards to set intentions for myself. I stand cards at my desk to help keep me focused while I'm writing. At night, I draw a card before going to bed to summarize the lesson learned.

4. Can anyone use the practices of Tarot Inspired Life, or is advanced knowledge of the tarot necessary?

Tarot Inspired Life was written for anyone curious about the cards and who wants an overview of ways to incorporate their decks into their life. I believe anyone can use my book and find inspiration in it. Part one discusses ways to intuitively learn the cards and spreads. Part two takes readers through several ways to incorporate tarot into various aspects of their daily and spiritual life. Part three helps readers expand their tarot life with reading for others and connecting to the greater tarot community. I invite experienced readers to explore the later chapters to see how they can use tarot to influence their daily life and their spiritual practices.

5. What do you hope your readers will take away from Tarot Inspired Life?

I wrote this book to be used. It is a workbook, where you are free to try out all these experiments and exercises. Test your knowledge, and enjoy the process of seeing how many ways tarot can enhance your life. It's my hope you take what I've done with the cards and transform these techniques to fit into your own spiritual practices.