Tarot is a mirror

I grew up in a house filled with spirits and symbols. Long before I shuffled my first deck of Tarot cards, I watched my grandmother invoke the Holy Spirit with her shiny prayer cards. A woman of few words, she was fluent in the language of symbols. The cross, the stars on Virgin Mary's crown, the Immaculate Heart; these magical images touched me deeply in a place I would later call my soul. And I told myself: where words stop, magic starts.

As an art student, I learned to express myself with symbols. As a designer, I took an everyday object - a bra - and turned it into a symbol of a new kind of female empowerment: feminine feminism. Born into a working-class family, expected to become a housewife, I reshuffled the cards I was dealt and shaped my own future. Without a mentor or formula to follow, I created my path by walking it. But I did have some magical guides: the glorious archetypes of the Tarot deck. Like my grandmother invoking the Holy Spirit with her prayer cards, I channeled the colorful characters that symbolize our necessary transformations. For each phase, the Tarot offered me a new Muse.

"Dare to dream!", the Magician urged me, setting my soul on fire with his magic wand. And so, I dreamed and created, using all the tools on the Magician's table: my ambition, emotional intelligence, means and wits. I kickstarted a feminist revolution and became one of the first female founders in lingerie. I used the magic of new beginnings to propel me forward, but soon realized that balance was equally important. And so, I welcomed my next muse.

"Dare to grow", the High Priestess said as she invited me into her Temple of Wisdom. Symbolizing the balance between our masculine and feminine energies, our intellect and intuition, she insisted: "Reflect, recharge, and reexamine the patterns of your life. But don't forget the joy of learning!". And so, I kept learning from my mistakes, but also taking on fun new challenges such as conducting an orchestra or coaching female entrepreneurs. But even a student for life needs to revel in her success sometimes...

'Dare to be' was the message of my next muse: the sensual Empress. When I started my business, the archetype of success was a workaholic, cigar-smoking businessman in a flashy sportscar. To me, the Empress symbolized the feminine face of success. Pregnant with life, ideas and desires, she taught me that health is wealth, and that money means nothing without honey, aka sweet (self)love. She personified the fulfillment of my potential, and of all the women empowered by my lingerie. "Look in the mirror," the Empress cheers us on, “You have become your own muses!"

The Empress is right: it's good to see how far we've come. It's important to celebrate. But I'll never stop daring myself to dream, grow and be; I'll never stop inviting you along. Yes, some things get easier, but a lot of things don't. And that's okay; I embrace them all as part of life's magic. Besides, I still have a lot of (Tarot) cards up my sleeve.