Picture a rooftop at ten in the evening. The bar is well stocked, the playlist has been vetted, and in a corner under a string of lights sits a small table with a deck of cards and two chairs. A line has formed. Men who negotiate term sheets before breakfast are waiting their turn to learn what the Three of Swords has to say about them.
Tarot has moved from the back room to the guest list. Hosts who once settled for a good band or a whisky tasting now ask whether a reader can be fitted in between the starters and the speeches. The appeal is easy to see. A party exists to get people talking, and nothing opens a conversation faster than a stranger offering to tell you about yourself. The cards do the work of an icebreaker without the forced mingling that makes icebreakers painful.
A reading also gives a guest something that a canapé cannot. It supplies a story to carry home. The guest leaves with a card, a talking point and the faint suspicion that the reader noticed something no one else had.
This is where the practitioner matters. Lavina Tilwani, founder of Beyond Tarot, has spent nearly two decades working with the cards, and her approach is called Intuitive Tarot. It looks past conventional card interpretations to the patterns, context and individual stories that emerge through a reading. Her approach is called Intuitive Tarot. It looks past conventional card interpretations to the patterns, context and individual stories that emerge through a reading.
Tilwani is also a numerologist and holistic healer, and Beyond Tarot is where those disciplines meet. Over the years her practice has grown to include numerology, Reiki, Pranic Healing, crystal therapy, face reading, candle therapy and switchwords, all offered in the service of a more personalised approach to self-reflection, clarity and personal growth.
Give the reader a corner with privacy; a reading within earshot of the bar helps no one. Keep each session to a length that lets the line move without rushing anyone. Choose a practitioner with years behind the cards and the patience to read the person in the chair. Finally, let guests opt in, which spares the sceptic an ambush and the believer a heckler.