Understanding Love

There is nothing more beautiful to perceive in the cards than love. It characterizes the most honorable of pursuits and the realization of long-cherished dreams and desires. It also indicates a real opportunity for redemption and rebirth through commitment, as in the sort of genuine intimacy that leads toward the bond of marriage.

The most important word you can associate with love perceived in its initial stage, traditionally referred to as "courtship," is promise. The potential clearly exists for expectations to be met and satisfaction to be gained from things wished for on a deeply personal and meaningful level where love is concerned.

The individual perceived in your readings as "courting" you is someone who holds you in very high esteem, someone who truly admires and respects you, suffering your disappointments and failures with you -- in general, cares tremendously about you. Many rewards can be gained from a relationship with someone who is perceived from the reading in this way. I have seen an overwhelming number of long-term relationships and marriages result from this sort of courtship, which is always evident in readings quite early on. Love is an extremely powerful force in terms of its potential -- in the present and most certainly, in the future.

Courtship indicates that the relationship will begin on the very best footing possible and that "the sky's the limit" as far as the future is concerned. For those people I have read for who have endured a period of severe loneliness or despair, the essence of this prophesy is like a sunrise over darkness, because it indicates an end to personal suffering and all sorts of wonderful new opportunities for happiness coming in the future.

It is wise to bear in mind, however, that the very nature of courtship is idealistic, rather than realistic. It represents the concept of things as they should be, the highest of aspirations, the chance to dream and attain some of those dreams that have always been closest to the heart. The love perceived in courtship doesn't necessarily view people and situations as they truly are. In fact, courtship perceived in its purest form refuses to accept limitations, which probably accounts for its ability to make the extraordinary happen as often as it does.

Your interpretation of courtship must contain these "visionary" aspects, but this quality should never be confused with illusion or imagination in your readings. The intrinsic message of courtship is not "deception" in any sense whatsoever, but rather, "perfection" as it most nearly relates to human experience: It is happiness, the unity between one's self and one's ideals. It is the exhilaration from spiritually "beginning again" or "being saved" as through bonds of love.

Because of that message, courtship represents honor between partners and a joint commitment to common goals. It also represents the joy in having found a true "soulmate." If you are looking for compatibility, the prophesy of courtship will bring it to you every time. In fact, when it comes to perceiving exceptionally good marriages in the cards, I have always found that they are first and foremost perceivable through courtship.

A case in point is the 1986 engagement of the famous late-night talk show host, Johnny Carson. At a time when he most strenuously insisted to the public that he would not ever marry again, a reading of the cards "by proxy" -- meaning that it was done without his presence or knowledge, a technique that works very successfully with the proper concentration -- revealed that he was moving very swiftly toward marriage in the autumn of 1986 and would soon announce his engagement to the woman he'd been dating. And that's exactly what transpired a few months later.

How was such a prediction possible? From the prophesy of courtship in Johnny Carson's reading, it was indicated that he was well on the road to "beginning again" through the bonds of total commitment and love for this woman.

What can you gain from the message of courtship?

Direction, mainly. Where sexual attraction cannot be relied on for stability and continuity, the prophesy of courtship holds the potential for both to become reality, as well as promising to grow into something better and stronger far into the future. Count on the prophesy of courtship to be an excellent guide to lead you toward those people and situations that offer the most in terms of personal fulfillment.

Courtship, then, is the prophesy of compatibility and promise. It offers new beginnings, the chance to make important dreams come true. If a relationship with a future is one of your goals, courtship -- love -- will help you find it.

Once you've achieved that goal, however, you wouldn't want to impose upon the potential of this relationship too much too soon. Courtship is only the seedling of the relationship that has yet to be. Put too much pressure on it or make too many demands of this fragile beginning, and, chances are, it won't survive. Therefore, when you perceive a relationship such as this developing in your readings, be aware that while it holds strong potential for you, it's still tentative in its early stages and still very much subject to the effects of outside influences. In other words, you don't want to expect too much of that love too soon.

For an existing relationship -- marriage or another long-term relationship -- courtship means a great deal. It indicates the opportunity for emotional growth and a period of tremendous enjoyment and contentment. This kind of satisfaction brings people closer and fosters new intimacy for both partners. By its very nature, courtship thrives on commitment and seeks it, almost to the exclusion of all else. It most certainly promises eternal love in its truest, purest form.

Platonic Love

Platonic love -- love that is spiritual rather than emotional, is the deepest manifestation of friendship -- is perceivable in the cards as one of *the* very best ways to share life with another person. Some of the most beautiful relationships I have ever seen have been characterized by platonic love. It is the indicator of cherished, selfless bonds between people that are characterized by the desire to give rather than to receive, the eagerness to simply enjoy life experiences together without confinement or commitment.

You won't ever find platonic love associated with possessive or oppressive relationships of any kind. Nor, strangely enough, will you find it associated much with marriage -- even those that are perceived as being "good" marriages. The love of freedom that is so inherent to the nature of platonic love is essentially incomprehensible in terms of marriage. Platonic love is about caring and caring very deeply, but it doesn't commit in the traditional sense -- it has no need to.

Platonic love represents spiritual love. It isn't involved with the emotional plane at all. This kind of love possesses an intellectual quality that isn't interested in serving pledges or defining limitations, which probably accounts for a good part of the reason that so many friendships become troubled and eventually disintegrate, and so few are able to remain free enough to survive.

Genuine platonic love thrives on that sense of freedom in terms of equality and individuality. There is no control exerted over the relationship by either partner. Both are free to act as independently as they wish, without any threat to the security of the relationship as a whole. It is a strong, consistently mutual give-and-take association that is so meaningful and satisfying for both partners that it transcends all restrictions, including those imposed by time and distance, making it possible for people to maintain close relationships over great distances and for a long period of time, indefinitely, even with separations and loss of contact.

Some people refer to these harmonious friendships as possessing a rare "chemistry" that works for both partners. Whatever word or phrase you choose, the prophesy in your reading of platonic love reflects that important spiritual quality of selflessness and freedom.

Platonic love doesn't appear in readings anywhere near as often as you might expect. Just as genuinely loving and loyal friends are difficult to find, the perception of platonic love in a reading, except under the most extraordinary circumstances (when a person is so blessed as to have an abundance of good friends, for example), is equally as rare. Most relationships will be translated in the cards as being acquaintances (which, realistically speaking, most basically are), and only those that have the potential for achieving those bonds of selfless platonic love or have the potential for doing so, will be interpreted as such.

This is a fact you can rely on one hundred percent of the time. Personal Prophesy will always point the way toward genuine friendship and, ultimately, let you know who your friends really are. If you have been deceived or disappointed by those you confided in and depended on as good friends in the past, that trust need not ever be misplaced again, as long as you listen to the message of the cards and choose your friends accordingly.

I have seen many, many clients who unconsciously manage their beautiful, platonic relationships as if they were miniature marriages by seeking unity through conformity and confinement through conditional terms ("As long as you perform or behave in the manner that suits me, we will continue to have an intimate exchange of friendship," and other unspoken demands), all the while fearing change, when change and the freedom to be individual are actually quintessential to the future success of these relationships!

I had the experience some time ago to give intuitive readings for two women who had been extremely close friends, virtually for life. They were in their mid-twenties and had enjoyed a deep relationship from the very day they happened to cross paths in kindergarten. Patty and Mary kept no secrets from one another and shared practically everything. From their very first readings, it was evident that together they shared those selfless bonds of platonic love, a state some might refer to as having found that "one true friend in a lifetime." The degree of compassion and understanding perceived as existing between Patty and Mary was almost overwhelming. In my estimation, they couldn't have been closer, short of sharing the same body.

Over the months, however, a situation began to develop within the cards that indicated a very real threat to this beautiful relationship and its future. A romantic relationship had recently ended for Mary with a man she'd cared for quite some time. She was having difficulty accepting that the cards held no potential for the marriage she had been hoping for -- in fact, there was no potential for a reconciliation whatsoever. What the cards did hold, however, was the plain truth about this man's hidden motives for ending his relationship with Mary in the first place. He was actually in love with Patty, and he would in fact go to great lengths in order to try and marry her!

The jealousy perceived as developing in the weeks ahead on Mary's part and the secrecy Patty would find herself living with to spare Mary's feelings had the power to totally undermine the strength of this friendship, because in effect, Patty and Mary were already married -- to being loyal to each other. Patty was not really free to act independently of Mary because she'd always been committed to sparing Mary's feelings over and above making herself happy. And from Mary's point of view, as long as Patty lived up to her expectations, because she herself happened to be so good at resisting change, the relationship would always remain intact.

But from the perspective of the cards, what they had actually managed to do very successfully over time was enjoy the security of a relationship that had never once been tested by conflict. And yet, here they were -- quickly approaching a point of critical change, where Mary's ex-boyfriend had the clear potential of becoming Patty's husband if she chose for him to be -- but at what cost? At the expense of the friendship between them that had been built over two decades? Or the illusion of permanence they'd both found so much security in for so long?

By perceiving this situation in advance and accepting the prophesy of the cards as they did, Patty and Mary were able to effectively prepare in the present for events perceived as becoming reality in the future. When Mary's ex-boyfriend actually did begin to pursue Patty a short time later, their awareness of the situation made it possible for them to save a relationship that had previously been perceived as being lost, by altering that future consciously through choice. After a long and painful process, Mary and Patty were able to deal with the changes in their relationship and to actually work toward a stronger one in the end, regardless of what might ultimately occur between Patty and Mary's ex-boyfriend.

That is the power of platonic love.

If only all relationships could work out this way. Too many never do. Again, this is the one condition attached to Personal Prophesy: You have to listen to the message the cards offer you in order to make the prophesy in them work for you. When you do, you have the ability to change the future for yourself and reap considerable personal happiness from it -- a choice that is yours to freely make.