If there’s one question I have to brace myself for whenever I’m heading to a party, it’s this: “What do you do for work?” It’s not that I dislike talking about being an angel card reader, who delivers messages from clients’ guardian angels through my cards – actually I love discussing how my clients have gone on to make changes in their lives by following the guidance I’ve channelled.
It’s just that raising this topic inevitably means dealing with a lot of misconceptions. I’m sometimes tempted to lie and claim ‘I sell photocopiers’ to avoid any further questions (not that there’s anything wrong with selling photocopiers, of course).
The angel cards I use in my work are similar to tarot cards, but without the spooky connotations, such as that infamous death card which has been popularised on so many TV shows. Instead, the messages are encouraging and helpful.
Crucially, angel cards don’t predict the future – which is another misconception I encounter frequently (along with cliched jokes about picking the winning lottery numbers… yawn). And actually, that’s the reason I work with angel cards.
They accurately – and sometimes freakily – reflect what’s going on in a client’s life, especially the things they haven’t fully accepted themselves yet, but still give people licence to make their own decisions. Nothing is set in stone, and the future is something you create yourself, which is very empowering.
Personally, I don’t want to know what my future looks like – I’d rather make it happen myself (following cues from my angels, of course), and the people who are typically drawn to my services feel the same way.
When someone comes to me for an angel card reading, which I provide via Skype or email in half-hour or one-hour slots, they’re often at a crossroads in their life or trying to move forward in some area.
The most common area asked about is relationships – especially ‘How can I find my soulmate?’ or ‘Should I stay or should I go?’ – closely followed by career guidance and general questions about finding purpose in life. To get the answers, I tune into clients’ guardian angels (yes, everyone has them) then shuffle the cards; the ones that jump out, or that are on top when the angels tell me to stop shuffling, are the right messages for that client. Don’t ask me how this works – it just does.
People are often curious about exactly how I tune into the angelic realm, and this is where things can get a little too new age-y for some (and before you ask: no, I can’t talk to dead people). Anyone can talk to their angels; it isn’t some mystical power bestowed on a few special individuals, but it’s true certain people have a stronger ability to communicate with the divine than others.
And if you’re wondering whether I’m reading your mind, that’s not how this works; I can’t tune into your angels without your permission, and they only tell me the key messages for you, not the details of the sex dream you had last night or the packet of Tim Tams you secretly ate in your car earlier.
When I ask for angel guidance, it comes to me via intuitive feelings (often loosely called gut instinct), voices or visuals, which typically consist of symbols. For example, in a recent session I was shown a client being swept down a cliff in a landslide. This was not a literal prediction of some natural disaster that will hit her neighbourhood, but a symbol of her getting swept up in the tide of what other people are doing instead of taking the unique path that is right for her.
It’s taken practice for me to understand what these messages mean, and to learn to trust them.
Is it accurate? Of course, but that doesn’t mean I don’t sometimes misread the information presented to me – I am human, after all, but with practice I’ve better honed my craft. Sometimes a client isn’t quite giving me the full story (eg not revealing that the ‘partner’ they’ve asked about is married to someone else) and that limits my ability to give them helpful guidance.
The major misconceptions I deal with are fuelled by scepticism, and that’s okay – I never try to force my work onto anyone. Experience has taught me angel card readings won’t resonate with certain people, especially those who aren’t willing to make changes in their lives (case in point: those who are convinced their life will only improve when they get into a relationship, not understanding they need to improve their life before they’re able to attract a partner).
Angel card readings aren’t for everyone – but for those with open minds and a willingness to grow, they can be a hugely beneficial tool for personal development.
What we thought when we tried angel cards
Kate, our senior designer, got an angel card reading to test them out. Here is what she thought of it.
“When I was asked if I was interested in doing an angel card reading, at first I was very sceptical. I had been to a psychic once and didn’t have a very good experience after hearing some things I’d rather not have known. But after reading through Trudie’s website, seeing that she’s not actually a psychic and that your guardian angels can only give you positive guidance on your life, I decided to give it a go.
I chose to get the reading done over email and I got to ask my angels three questions. After a few days I got my reading back, which was a detailed five-page document. It was broken down into three areas. The present, the near future (roughly three months’ time) and the future beyond (six months ). Five cards are drawn for each timeframe.
In the second paragraph of the reading, Trudie mentioned she saw an image of me pulling weeds, which took me by surprise. My husband and I recently bought a section and I was currently busy learning all about the weeds growing on it and was literally spending weekends pulling out hundreds of them! So from the get-go, this reading was spot on.
As I continued to read about all the different cards that came up, it was clear to me this is a pretty special gift Trudie has. Some of the cards that were drawn were targeting areas of my life I was having trouble with that no one else would have known about. The cards gave me gentle reminders on how I should either stop worrying, be patient, cut ties, forgive, heal or move on.
The angels affirmed that I was on the right track in my life, and they were excited about my plans. Even though I didn’t ask about my relationship, they confirmed that I had found my soulmate and we were destined to be together.
Although Trudie told me that some of the cards could mean a couple of different things, I understood completely what they were trying to say. I found the reading reassuring and very positive; it was the exact advice I needed to hear at the time.
Some issues came up several times; Trudie says the angels like to repeat things if they really want to emphasise something. Now that it’s been a couple of months, I still think back to the reading and am trying to implement some of the changes the cards talked about, specifically around forgiveness and patience. The cards were spot on and I wouldn’t hesitate to do another reading.
For more, see Trudie’s website, onegroundedangel.com.
