____________________________________________________

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD
Thursday, October 31, 2002
"In The Cards" by Katie Gallagher"
(See Article Below)

PORTLAND MONTHLY MAGAZINE
December Issue, Page 53
(See Article Below)

____________________________________________________

Bowdoin College Jung Seminar
Presenter, February 2004

South Portland Project Graduation
Presenter, Graduation celebration June 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005

Guest Contributing Writer for Tarot Passages website
Fall 2004

Tarot Reading for Portland Sea Dogs' "SLUGGER"
Featured in Year-End issue of the Portland Magazine, Nov 25, 2002
See article below

Intuition Development Workshop: Maine Chapter of the Romance Writers of America
Facilitator, Oct 19, 2002, Brunswick ME
________________________________________________

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD
Thursday, October 31, 2002
"In The Cards" by Katie Gallagher"

Jeanne Fiorini says tarot cards aren’t magic. But she believes they work, based on her own experiences as a tarot reader. “Sometimes I’m shocked at the reactions I get from people,” said Fiorini. A tradition dating to the early 1900’s, tarot involves a series of cards containing pictures, which some say can predict the future.

Fiorini says the cards are a mirror or a tool to help people learn about themselves and their reaction to life’s struggles. She says tarot is a way to increase self- awareness and possibly to obtain a new point of view on life.

People are often intrigued about gaining insight into the future. For 12 years, Fiorini has used this to her advantage by making tarot her career. The South Portland resident is a card reader and also teaches other the art of tarot. She works with individuals and also reads for groups and parties.

Her interests in art history and psychology attracted her to the
profession, as well as the reactions she saw people having to the cards. “When I saw a friend reading to someone right out of the handbook and she got a real reaction out of them, I started thinking...I could do this. It seemed to be something that told the truth pretty directly and went right to the heart of things,” she said.

She began receiving those reactions from her own clients, and at times would be so amazed by their realizations, connections, and experiences that she would write them down. Hearing first hand stories of how people’s lives were connected to the cards prompted Fiorini to write her first book, “Invitation to Wonder: True Stories from the Tarot” which is now available.

In the book, Fiorini describes experiences people have had during and after readings. “Some of the things I hear are truly amazing,” she said. Fiorini conducts full readings – usually an hour and 15 minutes long- and half-hour readings. Full readings cost $75 and consist of aligning 10 cards in a Celtic Cross spread. Al the cards are turned over at once and each card is described. Fiorini also discusses how the cards are connected to each other and how they fit together in the pattern. This process usually takes 45 minutes, is fairly general, and involves a lot of listening, Fiorini said. The cards are them placed back into the pile and put face down on the table. The client then becomes an active participant by asking Fiorini specific questions that give her a chance to be very direct.

“What I try to do is help them feel that they’ve got enough information to make good choices.” Shorter readings are geared for specific questions or a general overview and cost $35. Fiorini says the best readings are those in which people are clear with their questions.

She admits at she does not have all the answers but says she is able to pick up on energy that people carry with them. “Everything is energy and everything is connected,” she said. “If everything is connected energetically, there is no reason why I can’t pick up something psychically.”

There are many different decks of tarot cards. Fiorini primarily uses two. The Rider-Waite is the traditional tarot deck that has been around for almost 100 years, Fiorini said. She likes them because they were drawn by someone very interested in personal and spiritual development. “Every color, shape, and image on the cards has a significance,” she said. There is nothing there just to be pretty.”

The second deck she likes to use is the Mythic Tarot, which was created in the mid-1980’s. She says these are a little gentler than the others and the suits correspond with tales of Greek mythology. “I think it’s good to have a variety. Different clients like different images,” she said.

Fiorini began teaching others how to read tarot in 1994 when she started doing work for groups and organizations. She often does readings for retreats or groups. She says it is important to work with the group to discover what each person’s skills are.

“It’s a new way for people to see each other in a different light. It gives them new symbols,” Fiorini said about the readings. Fiorini said anyone can become a tarot reader, and compares it to playing the piano. Her classes run for six weeks and are 2 ½ hours long. During the class, Fiorini teaches basic card meanings as well as the structure of the deck and how everything fits together.

“Reading tarot takes only a minute to learn, but a lifetime to master,” Fiorini said. “In every single session people see something in the cards I haven’t noticed before.”

Fiorini enjoys tarot reading because she says it helps people to think differently. She likes that it encourages people to be more open to intuition and to become more open-minded as to how the universe works.

“Tarot helps people to have a broader vision of what’s possible in their life,” she said. “It’s only magic because we haven’t learned to think that way.”

_________________________________________

IN THE CARDS:
Tarot reader Jeanne Fiorini hits the deck
By Mark Griffin

Portland Magazine December 2002

Jeanne Fiorini is normal. As her friends, neighbors, and business associates will readily attest, Fiorini is a well-adjusted, emotionally-centered, blueberry pie-baking American. It just so happens that Fiorini is also South Portland’s foremost tarot practitioner, though, rest assured, she can make even the most mystical exploration seem as rational as doing a load of laundry.

“I started this in 1991, when the climate as much less open,” Fiorini says of TarotWorks, a home-based business offering clients a unique combo platter of personal growth strategies and detailed tarot card readings. “People say that I should come up with a different name for what I do because ‘tarot practitioner’ doesn’t fully describe it,” Fiorini notes. “I’ve had people suggest ‘spiritual advisor’ and that just makes my skin crawl. I don’t see myself giving people advice. I see myself talking to people in an objective way about their lives.”

In her new book, Invitation to Wonder: Real Life Insights Through the Tarot (from Portland’s own Suite One Publishing), Fiorini chronicles several of her most memorable consultations in the form of anonymous case histories: A 38-year-old man in a tumultuous relationship encounters the capricious Queen of Wands during his reading, a 14-year-old girl, determined to become a psychologist, pulls both the 9 and 10 of Swords, cards that symbolize mental anguish and overcoming obstacles. Throughout her text, Fiorini also provides accessible interpretation of the 78 cards found in most traditional tarot decks.

“I like that there’s an intellectual kind of basis around tarot,” Fiorini asserts. “It’s a defined system of symbols. Everything has meaning and things are connected in very specific ways. I like the fact that it has pictures, which relates to my art history background.”

The list of tarot readers who discovered their calling while conducting post-graduate research concerning correlations between Renaissance paintings and Quattro cento alchemy probably begins and ends with Fiorini, who is also a student of Jungian psychology.

"It just seemed natural for me to believe in things that I couldn’t see or understand in my head,” Fiorini recalls of her early intuitive development. “I know I sort of expose myself to ridicule about his, but I believed in Santa until I was about 13 years of. I didn’t know why that couldn’t be real. It became painfully clear to me, becoming a teenager, that not everybody saw the world in the same way that I did…It was hurtful to think that maybe I was being childish about those things, so I went the other way and became very pragmatic and black and white about things. I thought that ‘when you die, you’re dead.’”

Before discovering the tarot, Fiorini was a confirmed agnostic. “I’ve actually had a deepening experience of spirituality since studying the tarot,” Fiorini reports. “Tarot isn’t a religion. It is more a philosophy, which in many ways emulates the perennial philosophy of ‘as above so below’ that many world religions encompass in some form…I’m pleased to say that my practice serves a wide variety of people from various faiths and includes more than one ordained minister.”

Shortly after settling in Portland, a personal tragedy reawakened Fiorini’s interest in metaphysical pursuits. “In 1979 my father died very suddenly in a car accident and I just couldn’t imagine that he wasn’t somewhere. In some ways, I think that was the start of a whole new cycle in my life.” In Invitation to Wonder, Fiorini refers to a “spiritual crisis” and cites this as the transformative event that resulted in the founding of TarotWorks, which almost immediately attracted a roster of regular clients.

“I’ve known Jeanne for over 10 years and she’s read my cards many times,” says Cindy Arn of South Portland. “She doesn’t have a big turban or cast spells. She’s just a very normal person with really good intuitive sense. I think Jeanne believes the way I do, which is that we all really know what we need to do and the symbols of the tarot just sort of help you articulate what you already know.”

"I really think this is one of Maine’s best kept secrets,” says Edie Smith of the popularity of Fiorini’s counseling in what is usually considered a conservative state. A resident of Winthrop, Smith has intermittently met with Fiorini for nearly a decade. “What I like about Jeanne is her demeanor and her gentle approach to her readings,” Smith says. “If I’m feeling out of sorts, I’ll realize that I haven’t seen Jeanne for six months and I’ll make an appointment to go down and see her.”

Maine’s new age central is housed in Fiorini’s snug living room. The surroundings are relaxed and welcoming, but noticeably devoid of any flickering candles, burning incense, or rose quartz crystals. An unadorned round table is graced only with Fiorini’s traditional tarot deck and a tape recorder. This no-frills mysticism and a casually-dressed Fiorini is every inch the amiable suburbanite and anything but the cliché of the entranced voodoo priestess with fingers pressed to her temples.

On the morning of my own TarotWorks appointment, I’m accompanied by two friends who have also reserved half-hour consultations with Fiorini. We’re invited to listen in on each others’ readings and encouraged to record our discussions. As we settle in, Fiorini’s playful miniature poodle, Lucy, snuggles beside me on the couch. After articulating some of my concerns regarding my career and relocation possibilities, Fiorini instructs me to select three cards from the Tarot deck. One of the first cards I pull is “The Lovers,” which speaks not to amorous affiliations, but of individual integration and the need to be passionate about new enterprises. This is followed by the “Star” and the “Page of Wands,” images that symbolize abandonment of outmoded identifications and the arrival of newborn opportunities.

Whether patiently explaining the significance of particular symbols or fielding our endless inquiries, Fiorini maintained a composed and reassuring tone throughout the various readings. Such professionalism may serve her well, as Fiorini now hopes to expand TarotWorks by offering instructional presentations to local businesses.

Heidi Michaels, manager of the Hannaford Brothers Wellness Center in Scarborough, invited Fiorini to facilitate a workshop a year ago. According to Michaels, “Quite a few people attended, and based on our experience there we had her come back for our wellness fair and she was completely booked.” Michaels has arranged for Fiorini to return on a regular basis and says, “I feel that it’s been a really important part of my job in managing the wellness center that I offer a variety of programs to people so that they can pursue wellness from many different perspectives.”

Although Fiorini’s business experienced a few lean weeks immediately following the September 11th tragedies, she believes that such catastrophic events ultimately motivated people to become more spiritual. “People are calling for readings now who perhaps wouldn’t have done so in the past,” she says. “They may be recognizing that things are uncertain and that we can’t rely on logic and reasoning to explain everything."

"Both in my practice and in general conversations since September 11th, I’ve seen a marked increase in the willingness of people to make significant life changes.All of a sudden life is short, and if someone has been in a dead-end job or lifeless relationship figuring they’d do something about it ‘someday,’ well, ‘someday’ is here.”
-------------------------------------------------------
"Slugger's Reading"
Edited by the Portland magazine

Now that the Portland Sea Dogs are a Red Sox affiliate, we prevailed upon Jeanne, who is accustomed to consulting tarot cards on weightier subjects, to give Slugger the Sea Dog a reading for us. Jeanne looked through the veils of perception and reality to arrive at the following:

Sea Dogs: "What is the outlook for the Sea Dogs in the coming season?"
Jeanne: "Draw two cards...you get the Ace and Two of Cups. Those are 'beginning' kinds of cards. I think you're going to turn out on the positive side of 50 percent. I think you'll be playing into September... at least the middle of September."

Sea Dogs: "Do we re-sign with the Red Sox at the end of this new two-year deal?"
Jeanne: "(looking over the Seven of Pentacles, the Queen of Swords, the Sun, Page of Pentacles, and the Ace of Wands.) I think something really positive happens after this two-year period, but I don't look at these cards and think "that's the Red Sox"...it doesn't feel bad, I just don't think it's about the Red Sox. There is a new beginning, like a rebirth,... is there something about changing leagues, maybe?"

Sea Dogs: " Maybe we'll go to Triple-A."
Jeanne: "Maybe that's what it's about...It feels like a shift toward an aspiration. Whatever the choice is about, it has that 'even better' feel to it."

Jeanne also feels the outlook is good for the opening day celebration, and looks for a pitcher to play an important role with the team.