“What, exactly, is an empath,” Drew asked hesitantly.
Clarisse took a seat in a brown velvet chair with no runners, the only one in the room, opposite of Drew and me. I felt that Drew was asking Clarisse the question specifically, so I held my tongue and waited for her to answer him. She leaned over the table, and the deep walnut waves of her shoulder-length hair swung forward with her.
“What’s your name, young man?”
“Drew.” His indifferent attitude came off as rude.
“Well, Drew, an empath is someone who can feel another’s emotions and energies in such a way that they can intuitively experience what the other person feels. I can feel and recognize physical sensitivities as well, especially if they are emotionally tethered. At the most basic level, I can sense the motivations and intentions of other people.”
Drew didn’t say anything. Instead, he cast his glance down and examined the tablecloth. I knew him well enough to know he was trying to avoid being outwardly rude by keeping quiet.
“Hmm, clearly you feel that what I am saying is bull-shit, pardon the language, I can feel your sarcastic rejection of the idea without you saying a word. The fact that your feeling of disbelief is so strong makes it as clear to me as if you had voiced it. You are not a believer, which is fine because it is not you that I need to have faith in the process.” Clarisse dismissed Drew and turned her attention back to me.
Drew looked like he’d swallowed something particularly disgusting, and I tried not to laugh. He was not accustomed to being dismissed in such a blunt way. I could only imagine what that kind of blatant disregard did to his pride.
“You can’t tell me how I feel…,” Drew stuttered, but Clarisse cut him off.
“Haven’t you been listening, young man? I can, and just did unless you are going to lie and say what I just accused you of feeling isn’t true.” Clarisse hiked a brow in obvious challenge.
Drew moved his mouth, but nothing came of it, which made him look like a fish gulping for air. I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped my lips, and as a result, he looked at me in horror. Like he might imagine I was taking sides with her.
“What! I’m sorry—I am a believer, so I find this whole conversation funny. What do you want from me, huh? I'm not taking sides, Drew. I just have my own set of beliefs.”
He hunkered down and crossed his arms over his chest with a perfectly adorable pout gracing his lips. I watched as Clarisse gathered up the cards and sat back into her chair to shuffle them. I got dizzy watching because the cards moved in a fast blur of action.
“We are going to do a couple of spreads on you, Eden, to discern different things. This reading session is free because you are a vessel of opportunity for me. We will both walk away from this experience with some knowledge we didn’t have before. I’ve never read someone like you before and likely never will again, seeing how your ‘condition’ is not common in the least.” She fanned the cards across the table in one smooth motion. “Past, Present, and Future will be the first reading. Please pick three cards.”
I did as she asked, and she cleared the rest of the cards from the surface and laid my three cards out face down. She indicated the card on my right as she flipped it and said, “This card will tell us a little bit about your past.”
I could feel Echo barely below the surface of my own emotions, she was silent and still, almost like she was holding her metaphorical breath. The face of the glossy card showed two people falling from a single spire that was being struck by an angry bolt of lightning. There was nothing below the falling people, but boulder-filled water. My heart sank because there was no way this card could mean anything good, but then this did represent my past and not things to come.
“The Tower,” Clarisse said seriously.
The tone of her voice when she’d said it put me on edge. It sounded like she was grimly surprised and not happy about it. I looked at the card closer with its ominous black clouds in a sunset sky and had to admit it didn’t exactly scream that good times were coming. That—and it was upside down.
“Why is it upside down? Does that mean anything,” I asked.
“The card’s positioning does change the meaning. Right side up means one thing and reversed means another. This particular card belongs to the Major Arcana. They represent the journey of the soul and its three stages. The secret to understanding the building of your character is represented in the first seven of the major cards. The second seven cards represent your subconscious and the arc of your maturing path, while the final seven represent your journey to the full understanding of self,” Clarisse explained, keeping a watchful eye on me as she did.
“So which set of seven does this one fall into,” I asked her warily.
“The tower is in the final set of seven and like all Major Arcana cards has a message attached to it that remains the same no matter what position the card is drawn in. The tower’s message is simple. More often than not, bad will precede good, and hindrance will precede progress, but in spite of that, Awen is present in you. You are blessed with it.” Clarisse offered me a warm smile.
