The Shuffling of Cards PV Nell Zoldak Closed

Nell walked to the door of the room, a bit nervous. She hadn't done anything like this before, nor had she had much of an interest. But, she decided to see how went today. Maybe she would like things like this, but, she wouldn't know until she really did try, right?

When she finally got the guts to go in, she did. Today, Nell was wearing a knitted grey sweater than came to her waist and a black skirt with faint white grid lines. Her shoes of choice today were white sneakers. She took a glance around the room and suddenly felt warm? It was probably because it was, well, warm in the room and it was fall. Fall always made her feel warm.

Alina greeted her and asked her sign a paper. Nell knew never to sign things if you didn't read them first, so, that's what she did. The paragraph was relatively short, but was informational. When Nell finished, she neatly signed at the bottom and added in the date.



Nell handed the signed and dated paper back to Alina with a friendly smiled. She then proceeded to offer Nell pastries and candy. She really wanted to decline Alina's generous offer, but Nell was quite hungry. "Thank you," Nell said softly. The second year then went over to the table and looked over all the things. She quickly decided on a tea and made her way back to Alina. Nell then sat down and smiled."Ready!" she said with an tinge of excitement.

Alina smiled back to the girl and shuffled the deck, then handed them over to her. "You shuffle a little," she said. "Let the cards get to know you." Yes, she knew how weird that sounded but this was all about feeling relaxed and just letting one see where the cards took them. What better way to get a feel for them and them to get a feel for you?

"Now, Tarot can help untangle crazy situations, foresee issues to come, or reassure you about anything on your mind. Tarot is also great for general guidance," she said as she took the cards back from the Ravenclaw. She shuffled them some more, split the deck into three, piled them back up and shuffled again. Okay, it felt right. Time to give it a go!

Alina then spread out the cards before her in a lineal fashion so that all cards could be seen. "Please pick a total of seven and only seven," she said and as the girl picked a card, she placed them out in a pyramid placement, one card on top, two in the middle, and four on the bottom.



"Okay, let's see what the cards have to say," she said, pointing to the first card. "Day 1: This is the Queen of Coins. This card indicates that you will be spending time, money, and energy on your life - in an attempt to get it to be more comfortable. It's a good thing, as long as you don't take on too much." Alina wondered if maybe it had something to do with the upcoming Masquerade dance and whatnot. She herself spent FAR too much on her dress, although it was beautiful. "Day 1 might also lend others coming to you, looking for your insight or advice. You will be able to help them. This is a good day to get a lot accomplished."

She then pointed to the second card, the Five of Wands. "Day 2, with the upright Five of Wands, you have a need to believe in and trust yourself right now. Trust your instincts. But it is important to know that whatever may happen in the next coming weeks, be hesitant to escalate conflict or take irrevocable steps. Keep a level head."

Alina paused to look at the cards and grab a sip of lemonade before continuing.

"Day 3, The Tower," she said, pointing to the other middle card. "Change is the nature of life and trying to prevent it is just not possible. You'll get through this time just fine, especially if you remember that you have all the resources you need, already inside you, to deal with life and to do what you need to do."

Ah the next card, the first of the bottom part of the pyramid. "Day 4 brings you the Page of Cups. In general, this card in reverse shows a need to play, to dream, to have a little fun."

"Day 5 shows the Knight of Wands. Knights are often message bearers and in the Wands suit, the messages are likely to be positive and related to school work. Your projects are likely to be more successful than you would have predicted or expected. You have a lot of reason to feel pride. Savor it."

And that had to be pretty big from a Ravenclaw herself. Alina shouldn't generalize all of them, but yet she was always jealous of their stereotypical drive for success, their ease of learning, their drive for knowledge. She tried very hard in school but her grades didn't always reflect that.

"Day 6 brings you The Fool," she glanced to the girl to try and read her. Was she thinking this was nonsense? Was she interested? Still, she continued. "The appearance of the Fool can depict an important fresh start in almost any aspect of your life. The Fool means another new journey is about to begin."

They were now at the last card in the spread. "Day 7 brings you The Emperor. Try to loo beyond his exterior and consider what it is he may have to offer you that can be of use. The Emperor card can signify authority, establishment, structure, dependability, the logical, the practical. Don't get too irritated if it seems you're trying to be told what you should do. Take parts of advice that are useful and ignore the rest."

She stopped. That was the last card. "...Hopefully some of that was helpful. We can go into more details on any of the cards if you wish," she said and glanced them over one more time. "I know it can be a lot to take in," especially for those who took it seriously.

And then Alina began the Tarot Card Reading. Nell was a bit nervous about the whole, thing, but, she trusted the process. Alina then handed the cards to Nell so she could shuffle. She only shuffled for a little bit, since she was an absolutely horrible shuffler. Nell then handed the cards back to Alina as she told Nell a little bit about Tarot.

Soon enough, Nell was asked to pick out 7 cards. Nell picked randomly since she really had no idea what was good nor bad. As Nell picked out the 7 cards, Alina placed them in a pyramid formation. There was 1 card in the first row, 2 in the second, and 4 in the third. Nell read the names of the cards quickly, but it didn't really matter seeing that Nell knew nothing about Tarot.

Then Alina began to explain all the cards. Nell quietly sipped her tea and smiled as she spoke. All these cards' meaning sounded amazing. They all - to Nell- sounded like they had a positive impact, and that was what Nell wanted. But were all Tarot Cards positive? Nell snapped out of it and continued listening.

This whole experience was so relaxing. When Alina finished, Nell was full of joy. "I think they were explained perfectly," Nell replied when she mentioned details. "Thank you so much!" Nell told Alina. She looked at her empty mug."Where should I put this?" she asked awkwardly.

"Just there on that wooden crate there by the exit before you leave," she said and pointed to one near the doorway. "I told the kitchen elves I'd be by later in the evenings to wash the dishes. It's nice to get to know some of them," and she enjoyed talking with them, just as she enjoyed talking to the portraits that hung on the walls within the corridors.

"Have a good evening and oh! I heard it might rain this evening so if you're heading out onto the grounds, might want to take an umbrella with you or at least use the Umbrella Charm." They had learned that one in Charms class, at least she was pretty sure the Ravenclaws learned the same. Who knew. Those Ravenclaws all seemed to live up to their name of wit and wisdom on Alina's end with the exception of two rather mean ones that put her in the Hospital Wing the year before. Still, she knew not to let that affect the way she personally felt about the entire House of Rowen Ravenclaw.

Alina got her cards and put them together, letting them 'rest' for a moment before she would cleanse them for the next client of the evening.