Shuffle | Corrine Kenner's Tarot Blog

Yoga Poseur

I started taking yoga classes last week, and already I've mastered tree pose, downward facing dog, cat and cow, warrior, triangle, and ... liar's pose. Yes, I'm totally lying. I fall a lot, I wobble, and I don't flow from position to position. Instead, I do my own version of yoga, which I like to call "shuffle and plunk." So far the only pose I've actually done right is the corpse pose, flat on my back -- and during this morning's class, I even felt shifty and off-balance doing that one, because I couldn't get my butt to flatten out evenly underneath me. Over the years, I've tried to find an exercise and fitness routine I like. Swimming is okay, but it's limited to just a few locations. (If I had a pool in my living room, I'd swim all the time.) Walking is boring. Running just hurts. I actually like going up and down stairs, but I live in a one-level house -- so I've been marching up and down a hillside flight of steps in the park a lot lately. I realized this summer, though, that I really needed to find some sort of routine I can maintain long-term. I went through a couple of mid-level traumas -- a court case and a family illness -- and I reacted by packing on the pounds. In fact, I gained 20 pounds in just a few weeks. I wish that extra weight was in my backside, so I could say that my problems are all behind me, but it's all front and center, in my stomach. And if you've ever seen me in person, you know that an additional 20 pounds is the last thing I needed to add to my already ample figure. At around the same time, though, a yoga studio opened a mile from my house. I took it as a sign. It's hard to pretend there's nothing I can do about my health and weight when there's a crew of yoga teachers practically breathing down my neck. So I signed up, and I've committed (to myself) to go regularly until Christmas, at least. The classes I've taken so far have all been vinyasa yoga, a streamlined, flowing yoga in which we're supposed to move from one pose to another as we inhale or exhale. It's very physical; the instructor I signed up with is in his early 20s, and he's slim and muscular. It's an open-level class, so he told me I could come, but it's not a beginner's class, so he doesn't slow down much to explain the poses or make adjustments. Really, I just keep up the best I can. Next week I'll get into the groove with an actual beginner's class. I'm hoping to get help with some of the side stretches and twisting bends; not surprisingly, my new stomach gets in the way of the vinyasa moves I've tried in class so far. I also stopped by amazon.com this morning and ordered a book called Megayoga, which illustrates adjustments and modifications for bodies like mine. In the meantime, I think I'll work on perfecting my corpse pose some more. I'm pretty sure that with just a little practice, I'll have it down cold.

The Freedom to Foretell the Future

Is fortunetelling a first-amendment right? Several courts have ruled that it is -- and another case is underway in Maryland. Feel free to leave your insights and observations in the comments. Check out the poll that runs with this story, too: two out of three respondents think fortunetelling should be legal!

Man Challenges Ban On Fortunetelling Self-Described Gypsy Who Wants To Open Shop Says Law Is Biased By Rick Rojas Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, August 17, 2009 Nick Nefedro didn't need to have his palm read or look to Tarot cards to know that his plan to work as a fortuneteller in Bethesda would fail. His fate was already written: Montgomery County says it is illegal to make money from forecasting the future. But Nefedro, who says he is a Gypsy, is determined to change that. He has enlisted the American Civil Liberties Union in his year-long fight to overturn the law that calls his livelihood fraudulent. He argues that fortunetelling is part of his heritage and that prohibiting him from working as a fortuneteller amounts to discrimination. "I really want my business here, and I feel like they don't have the right to discriminate against me," Nefedro, 40, said. He said the law is nothing more than persecution of Gypsies, who have long been stigmatized as nomadic thieves and con artists. "Gypsies do exist, and they are not criminals," he said, adding that fortunetelling is "something we've been doing for thousands of years." The term "Gypsy" dates to the 16th century and has been used to describe a European ethnic group, also called the Romany, thought to have originated in India. They were nomadic and often persecuted as troublemaking vagabonds. Some descendants find the term and the stereotypes associated with it offensive. Like his father, who had been a fortuneteller in the District in the 1980s, Nefedro turned the practice into a business. With family members, he has owned and operated a half-dozen fortunetelling businesses in the Los Angeles area and in Key West, Fla. But he wanted to move closer to home. Born in the District, he spent much of his youth with friends and family in Bethesda. Nefedro found a location to rent about two years ago and applied for a business license. He was denied. In May 2008, he filed a lawsuit, which he lost. Now, with the ACLU on board, he wants to continue the fight. Nefedro's lawsuit is among a spate of cases nationwide challenging laws enacted last century to keep fortunetellers out of business. In Livingston Parish, La., a ban on soothsaying was found to be unconstitutional in 2008 after a Wiccan minister argued that his passing along messages is the same as a Christian minister purporting to proclaim God's word. A similar ban in New Iberia, La., and one in Casper, Wyo., have also been overturned in recent years. Ajmel Quereshi, an attorney with the ACLU of Maryland, said it is a legal trend that bodes well for Nefedro. Laws against fraud are on the books, and if a fortuneteller breaks the law, Quereshi said, the county can prosecute under the existing guidelines. Otherwise, the ban becomes a tool to inhibit Nefedro's First Amendment rights to free expression and to practice his religion, Quereshi said. Montgomery officials see it differently. "I don't think it's strange for us to have laws that protect against fraud," said Clifford Royalty, zoning division chief in the Montgomery County attorney's office, adding that "religion has nothing to do with it. He's not made that allegation in the lawsuit." "The practice is fraudulent," Royalty said, "because no one can forecast the future." Nefedro insists that he can. "It's not like you choose it," Nefedro said. "You're born with it." He said he noticed at a young age that he saw things that no one else could see. "Some people just see a palm, or see the cards," Nefedro said. "I see a sign in it." Now that his attempt to overturn the law and start a fortunetelling business in Bethesda has started a chapter with an uncertain conclusion, knowing his own fortune would be quite valuable. Unfortunately, he says, fortunetelling doesn't work that way: He can't read his fortune. But his attorney said he has a pretty good idea. "I rate it fairly well," Edward Amourgis said of his client's chance in court. "I wouldn't call that a psychic reading. I just kind of know it, and I wasn't fined for saying it."

Sabrina Luna, author and tarot reader

Author Sabrina Luna is also a professional tarot card reader. There's an interview with her on examiner.com. Here's an excerpt:

N.B: I understand that besides being a best selling author you are also a professional psychic reader and tarot reader. Do you believe that tarot reading helps you with writing your characters? If so how?

Sabrina Luna: Definitely! The major cards of the Tarot deck are based on archetypes, which are the building blocks of storytelling. The Tarot helps give me ideas on how to develop the basis of my characters, and then creativity kicks in and helps to flesh out them out.

You can read the whole interview at http://wp.me/s6gD8-luna.