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In this episode, I am joined by my guest, Astrologer, Tarot Reader and Author, Brady Waller. Brady and I talk about astrology and tarot as a language and how that is woven through all of the sessions they do and the work they teach. We also do a really beautiful deep dive on the suit of cups and how Brady has been working with the energy of the Four of Cups. We talk about the struggle that’s inherent in expressing emotion and sitting with discomfort And how, often the path of the cups is the hardest for us to walk.

We discuss being raised in a conservative environment and how you can start to grow your own roots outside of that.
We discuss how intuition is really just a conversation with yourself and how astrology and tarot give language to that conversation.
We discuss their upcoming program USastrology and how it can help us all process our feelings and frustrations around the upcoming election in the US.
We have a really fun conversation about the astrology of characters on the Netflix show “Anne with an E”.

Connect with Sheila:

Book a Tarot or Reiki session at starsagepspirit.com or find her on Instagram instagram.com/starsagespirit.

Work with Brady:

http://Themythiclandscape.com and on Instagram.com/themythiclandscape for their USastology workshops

Check out this episode!

Transcript:

Sheila M 0:05

Welcome to Living Tarot. I’m your host Sheila Masterson. I’m a tarot reader and teacher, an energy healer and medium, and creator of Practical Tarot for Everyday Intuitives. Each week on this podcast, I’ll share my own experience of embracing and growing intuition, and interview guests about how they heard the call of intuition, embraced the adventure, and embodied the taro along the way. Join us and learn how you can stop second guessing, empower yourself through intuition and live intentionally with the tarot.

Welcome back to Living Tarot. Today on the podcast I have Brady Waller. Brady is a non binary tarot reader, astrologer and author in the Philadelphia area. Helping others find their passion and purpose through soul oriented reflection. They seek to involve ritual and magic in all areas of life. Their practice is rooted in intuitive work and deep connection to mysticism via nature. They seek to continually evolve their practice in an attempt to be more inclusive and unsettled. Through the language of astrology, and the symbols of the Tarot, Brady facilitates introspection and connection to the inner self. I had the most wonderful conversation with Brady in particular about the suit of cups. And both of our reflections of moving through the cups, especially the middle of the cups, where Brady in particular finds a certain sense of embodiment around the four of cups. I had such a good time with this episode. I’m a huge fan of Brady and their work And I’ve taken multiple courses with them really enjoyed it. So I was so delighted to have them on this week. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Let’s dive in.

Okay, so welcome. And today I have Brady on the podcast with me, Brady, tell us who you are and what you do in this world.

Brady Waller 2:21

Yeah, um, my name is Brady, I, I guess run a tarot and astrology, semi business thing. That is called the Mythic Landscape where I spend a lot of time kind of diving into those archetypal systems as like holders of myth and story and ways for us to kind of interact with and engage with the world. And I offer readings and I write things and teach classes and all kinds of stuff like that.

Sheila M 2:52

Yeah, I’m so I’m so excited to have you here. I have taken quite a few classes with Brady and And it’s really been enlightening to me. I really think one of your gifts is being able to bring some of these really complex ideas down to reality. And also to to really give them back to the person as a tool for for introspection and for observance rather than, like definition, especially with like astrology and that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to have you on the podcast because I think your your perspective is so interesting and so unique. So tell me about how you kind of got into this whole astrology Tarot business. Were you always into that? Was that something that kind of came up later in life? What has that been like for you?

Brady Waller 3:52

Yeah, it’s funny. I feel like I’ve told this story so many times that it’s all like it just flows now. I grew up in a really conservative Christian bubble. So my mom led worship at the church that we went to and both of my parents taught at a little Christian school that I went to for my whole life. So I had no access to these things at all. Like they just weren’t. I knew what astrology was from, like newspaper horoscopes, and I knew what Tarot was from like charmed or something like that. You know, like that. My that was my exposure to magic. And I read Harry Potter all the time. So like, that was probably actually my exposure, magic. I’m sorry, mom. Anyway, um, was probably like coming out of high school that I really just wanted to rebel and find my own way of viewing the world and the witchy section and Barnes and Noble spoke to me. Um, so I like bought a tarot deck and probably bought my first astrology book, which was trash, but it’s fine. I was like this desire to just learn everything about magic. And so I think I didn’t get into Tarot and astrology with the intention of being a tarot reader or being an astrologer. They were just like part of this new worldview that I was trying to figure out. And eventually, they ended up being the things that stuck around. I think a lot more than most of the other traditional like witchy and pagan things that I was exposed to originally. I think because Tarot and astrology, you know, can bring it back to the conversation that we’re wanting to have. Tarot and astrology speak to my intuition in much deeper ways than more traditional forms of magic, I think. Yeah, they feel like more accessible. Yeah, that’s probably why they’ve become like the center of what I do now.

Sheila M 5:51

Yeah, I love I love that because I feel like we we come from similar backgrounds and I had the this experience as as a child of like, seeing my parents leaving church and feeling so like connected and fulfilled in a way that I clearly just did not, and felt like I was missing that piece of my life. And and it’s so interesting, like hearing, like a similar perspective. And I know it’s true for a lot of, like witchy type of people that that that has been their experience, but I do think it’s really comforting to people that are maybe still in it or still feeling that pressure. To be to know that that kind of agency is available, I think is is really amazing. So did you jump right in with formal training? Are you primarily self taught?

Brady Waller 6:44

Yeah, I’m almost completely self taught. I think most of the classes I’ve taken have been after offering readings to people already just in a desire to kind of further education and because I’ve met new people, and I’ve wanted to take their classes but I don’t The true child of an English teacher and Capricorn mercury that I am, I basically learned everything, either through actual experience or through reading. Just doing lots and lots of reading and reading kind of all kinds of different perspectives probably was where I learned the most, at least initially.

Sheila M 7:22

Yeah, yeah. That’s so interesting too, because it’s such like a, such like the opposite of how I like I learned a lot through practice. And from kind of, like, just repetition of things, but I struggled really hard to learn things through reading. So you think it’s very, I do think it’s very interesting to hear that as well. Because I know so many people connect with that and then like, sometimes I can and sometimes I can’t and with this stuff, it’s very hard. It’s almost like a different channels or something.

Brady Waller 7:54

Do you know where your Mercury is? Okay, yeah. So that’s what it is, is Like a fireside Mercury is going to filter the world through like actual experiences its fire, it wants to go out and do things and engage and get its hands on it. And I feel like especially with the Capricorn or Virgo, Mercury people and their earth sign Mercury’s it’s a lot about just being exposed to the information. Like I learned the best when I’m in my own container and I’m just absorbing it and kind of able to critique it myself and then I have to take it out to other people and get feedback but that’s always the second step.

Sheila M 8:32

Right right right. So when you when you kind of came into this you started reading and you found that you really connected with astrology and Tarot more. How did how did you go from being like a curious person who enjoyed this learning to somebody who was like, yeah, let me go give readings to people.

Brady Waller 8:55

Yeah, I think there’s probably two, two levels. To that answer, and they almost ran simultaneously, which was one of them was just spending tons of time in self study. I, you know, in those first couple years of really being obsessed with Taro would be reading like pulling spreads for myself every day and like spending hours reading books and like studying the cards and it was just, I mean, all I did was go to my normal job at that point and then come home and do Tarot or astrology things. So it was really nice. And then I would just start doing readings for my friends. Like my one friend Liv, and I probably sat in Barnes and Noble Starbucks area coffee shops for like, a month. And we would just like sit there and do readings and talk and it was great. Because it led my initial practices be conversational because I wasn’t reading for people. I didn’t know I wasn’t trying to predict the future. It was like Hey, you just told me what was going on in your life, let’s pull some cards and talk about it. So I think that’s actually more than anything else. That’s what helped me is that all of my initial readings were with people whose lives I knew intimately. And so there was never a moment of like, Oh, I’m trying to put on a show for this person and convince them it was always like, no, we’re going to talk about your life. And we’re gonna apply this directly, because I know how to apply this directly to your life. I’m in it.

Sheila M 10:24

Right, right. And so how, how was this received by the people around you that you were close with at the time, either your family of origin or your chosen family, so to speak?

Brady Waller 10:36

Sure. I mean, family of origin was kept out of this for the most part, until I think I started being a little bit more professional. chosen family was all in it, but that’s because I think my chosen family was chosen for a reason. You know, like I chose them because they would let me do these things and we’re interested in them as well and wanted to learn more with me. Yeah, I was really blessed I think by having a lot of friends who also wanted to learn these things and would let me like, read cards for them for hours on end. Like give them a birthday present that wasn’t actually a birthday present. It was just a virtual right. Definitely did that for like a year straight. gave no one birthday presents just did their birth charts.

Sheila M 11:19

Yeah, I was like, I mean, I think that’s one of the bonuses to be an astrologer. And but, I mean, I would think that’s a great gift. Maybe not everybody would but I do think it’s really interesting. And I think that especially when it comes to astrology, I think people approach with like such a curiosity and a desire to understand things about why they are the way they are. And I think that’s one of the things I’ve learned from from taking classes with you is kind of breaking down these individual ideas and offering like this opportunity to reflect so how how was that kind of received by everybody when we’re giving unsolicited birthday, which I like I said, I would love that I think that’s like the best gift. But I mean, or that all of my friends would agree.

Brady Waller 12:15

People enjoyed it. I think people put up with me and probably a little bit but they enjoyed it. Um I think I was lucky that I knew these people well enough that I could kind of afford to make the statements that I you should never make in a reading about these people because they were my friends, you know. So like, I had a level of casual conversation with them that led me because I was kind of figuring out what my language was going to be and how I wanted it to be an astrologer. And exactly what I was looking for in a chart and how I wanted to frame things. And so I definitely set a lot of things wrong, I think early on, and probably frame things and lights that weren’t helpful or use language that just wasn’t going to be supportive. And I think I was really blessed. To have a group of friends who would just be like, they’re figuring it out, like, you know, where it just, it probably would have come a lot worse if it was coming from somebody who wasn’t their friend. So I’m pretty grateful for that. But I could like do what we’re probably really bad chart readings and not alienate people. And not like get in trouble because somebody paid for this and I told them bad things. Yeah.

Sheila M 13:23

Right. Right. And so Okay, so you started out with that, which was very, I think, nurturing from what you’re saying and and offered you kind of that space to really start to learn and integrate some of of what you had read about and everything. But what was the transition point where you decided that you really wanted to offer this as like, a service that you would be paid for? Because I know for a lot of people that’s like an enormous step and is incredibly intimidating.

Brady Waller 13:52

Yeah. Well, I’m was blessed again. I mean, I know I can talk about why in a minute, but I was blessed to have connections. I was blessed to have the Prana House and Jacque, who’s the owner who I adopt, you know, by the point that I wanted to give paid readings, was pretty good friends with Jacque already and had known her for a couple years and had been going into the punish Prana house at least once a month. So I just was blessed by having a good relationship with somebody who could give me a chance to do that. And somebody who already knew me and like we had a relationship and I was trusted and like all of that was awesome. To talk about it astrologically I have my moon in Taurus in the 11th house. And so the moon is in traditional language exalted in Taurus, which really just means that the moon has access to all of the resources that it likes. It has all the things that it wants in Taurus. And in the 11th house, we’re talking about community. We’re talking about the connections that you make with other people. And so I think it often works out but like, I’ve just frequently been blessed to have People who can put me in positions. And that’s almost like a point of privilege in my chart, I think and something that I’m always aware of is that I have this this privileged moon that kind of is always in the right position. And trying to be aware of that and trying to think about how I can not undo that, but kind of use that privilege in a more communally beneficial way, perhaps.

Sheila M 15:28

Yeah, yeah. That’s so it’s so cool. And I think in so many of these stories that I’m hearing like, there always seems to be some time to like, right person, right time, right community or somebody just kind of pops out of out of nowhere and, and offers that. That entry point into something new and exciting. So I love that I think that’s so cool. And so when you first started reading for strangers, obviously super different um, how How did it feel? Was it something that you kind of, like loved doing right away? Or was it challenging for you to move into? Did it feel really natural? What was that experience like?

Brady Waller 16:10

I mean, it definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone. Um, I’ve always been a very introverted and behind the scenes person, and I would still claim that as my identity today. And what what doing public readings kind of forced me into was a much more visible space. So I had to figure out how I wanted to be visible, which was a process. I was still I think, probably at least for the first year determining exactly what my voice was going to be. And at that point, I think I was learning on the job. And was was kind of figuring out every reading so like doing readings was really exciting because everyone was a chance to be like, okay, when I frame this this way, I get this kind of response. Or when I talk about this card in this way for this personality Maybe I should think about my language there or like, whatever. So I think like, early on, it still was a big learning process. And I think I still was figuring stuff out. And that’s, that’s sort of what intuition is, to me almost is that it’s just this, like ever evolving relationship with who we are and how we’re going to put ourselves out there and what we want to be saying and doing.

Sheila M 17:24

Yeah, yeah. And that’s, that’s really beautiful. And I think one of the things that, that I hear a lot from people is, well, like, I don’t really know, like, I think this is my intuition. I don’t really know like, how, what was your moment of like, kind of like knowing

Brady Waller 17:47

I almost think the first tangible moment that I can think of.I was I worked at bar normal for three years, that was my longest kind of real world job.And I probably about six months before I left mentally knew that I wanted to leave. I had just started doing readings, I was just kind of mentally checked out of being in retail a backplane. But it took me about six months to make up my mind. And for the last month, month and a half, I was pulling the tower at least once a week, if not multiple times a week. And it was this moment of like, build and build and build until I was finally like, you know what, I get it. I know, okay, like I’m working on it. Um, and then I put in my two weeks and the tower stop showing up. And so that was kind of this moment of Taro became the language for my intuition, because I wasn’t listening to my actual intuition. You know, like, I knew that I wanted to leave in March or April, and it took until October to actually get around doing it. And it took Tarot having to shout at me, for me to actually listen to intuition. And that was kind of the moment where it really set in and clicked. And I was like, Okay, I don’t even necessarily need these things. But they’re still really helpful. Like, they’re the voice box for this sense that I should already be listening to. And that was just really powerful for me to like, and to step back into theory for a moment, I guess. One of my favorite early teachers who just doesn’t doesn’t do things anymore, was Tess Giberson, the city witch, Tess just, you know, doesn’t have a practice at the moment at all, which is a shame, I really missed their voice. But one of the things that I learned from them was that intuition is basically a relationship with self. That when we’re speaking to our intuition, we’re speaking to our inner self. And then within that framework and applying the idea of astrology or Tarot being a language, which is something that I was exposed to through Allah, sparkly cat, I, the idea might kind of precede them. But that’s definitely where I was exposed to that idea of like astrology as language. And this just created this wonderful little metaphoric theory, kind of in my head that if intuition is a relationship and a conversation with self, then something like astrology or Tarot or any other supposedly tool of divination is really just the language we’re using to converse with ourself. And that was just like this moment of, oh, okay, that’s what I’m doing. And now, it just all fell into place from there, I think, at least on a personal level.

Sheila M 20:45

Yeah, I love that so much because I think um, yeah, there’s so much of what you said there that that I can relate to, in my own experience, because I had had this experience of reading people, my whole Life since I was like really young, and that, not knowing why people didn’t get what I got, or why people didn’t feel what I felt, because again, if it’s your only experience here, no other context of knowing that it’s different for other people, I didn’t know that I was hearing energy. Like I didn’t understand any of that. And so when I, when I started with the Tarot and again, like, I already had the connection with intuition before that, but so much of what you’re saying makes sense to me because I just, I had had these cards I tried to learn, couldn’t learn from the book. Put it down, I left it on the shelf for like six months and then came back to it because I literally was like, getting a very strong message to come back to it and all of a sudden could just do it. Like, everybody’s like, how did you learn? I’m like, I don’t know. Like, yeah, I really just did. I just picked them up the one day and I just kind of got it and And that’s what it was like to me. If, if somebody sits down with me, I’m like, no 20 different things about them. But Tarot was like the language that that tells the story of, of what’s really important right now.

Brady Waller 22:14

Yeah, for sure. I was just listening to a talk from the queer astrology conference, which was a couple weeks ago and was phenomenal. I do think that they might eventually make the recordings available for sale. So people who weren’t there should totally do that. There were some great talks, but the one I was listening to was about horror area astrology, which is the astrology of answering questions. And the way it works basically, just for a quick run through is that somebody comes to you and they ask you a question. And you as the astrologer marked down the exact moment when the question was asked, and then you analyze the chart for that moment, and the chart has the answer to the question. And so that was like that was like the really even in Greek and Roman times and then moving forward into traditional and even Renaissance times, that was the main form of astrology because there weren’t reliable birth times. So it was really hard to do a birth chart, if you didn’t know when somebody was born, you have no house if you don’t know where the moon was. And you also didn’t have a level of science where we could hit a button on our computer and calculate the chart, let alone like even looking at ephemeris ephemeris is don’t exist until like the 16th or 17th century. So early astrology was, was often this person has a question, Where is everything right now? What does that tell us? And so in this talk, basically, the the speaker was saying, corollary astrology is at the root of all definition, all the other divinations are just different languages that are speaking what the stars are right now. Because basically every form of divination is the same. somebody asks a question, and then you do your divination, and that’s the answer. It was just really cool to kind of frame it that way. Obviously, as an instructor I’m biased. And so I love the concept of astrology being at the bottom of everything, but I do think it’s it’s just a wonderful way to talk about language. Like ultimately, all forms of divination are saying the same thing. They’re just saying them with different languages. And so they come across different they sound different. They have different inflections.

Sheila M 24:19

Yeah, and I, I think it’s so like, That’s such a cool thing. I first of all, I did not know at horary astrology was. But that’s so interesting, the way that you broke that down, because I do think that there’s an element of that and all of this, I even, I looked at charts for when to release the podcast to like, went to lunch and everything. Um, and I think it’s very, I just think it’s so interesting and also, how, like you said, there’s all these different paths that kind of converge on the same thing, which I think is so powerful. Um, I love that. I also loved what you said about intuition before. Conversation with self as well. Because, um, like when I was young, I would experience it as if I was talking to myself. Like, I would ask a question and hear it in my own voice and now I know what that was as a kid I thought I would I don’t know what I thought I was doing. Like that, like everybody that again. Like all these things that I’m like, man, I must have been like a really weird kid. And now I’m like, Okay, this makes a lot more sense. And I it was like, it wasn’t until I was older that I really had an understanding of what was going on that I was having. You know that I’m a medium that I was having these like transient spirits trying to get my help at night while I was asleep to help them cross over because they were confused and didn’t know what was going on. But as a kid that is terrifying. Like, truly like confronting So did you have moments in this kind of journey into like, really trusting intuition and connecting where you felt fear or anxiety or anything like that coming up for you.

Brady Waller 26:13

Yeah, I mean, I definitely have. I’m actually gonna use astrology to talk about this for a moment. Yeah, I feel like my my intuition. When we’re looking at the chart for intuition, just as, as an aside, you will frequently look to the 12th house first house axis, which is your rising sign. And anything that might be situated around there is going to have something to do with your intuition because from the 12th house to the first house is where we incarnate, it’s hypothetically because it’s where the sun would come up. It’s also where the soul would descend down into the body. That’s the like, esoteric theory. And so you would look to your rising sign and that’s where intuition is going to be very often. You can also look to the asteroid Pallas Athena And for me palace is a big intuition, marker and whatever sign you have Palisson and maybe the house is like how your intuition often manifests. So I have my palace in my sixth house in Sagittarius, which is also where my sun is. It’s also where my Pluto and my Venus are. Although palaces and close to anything else, actually, anyway, for me, my intuition is always about planning what’s going to come next anticipating what’s going to come next having some sort of vision of where I want to go. That’s what intuition is. For me most of the time, it’s about what change is coming. The problem is, is that I have this lovely Taurus moon that is utterly resistant to change. And so what often ends up happening with my intuition is that I get this hit or I get this calling or this feel or this like, kind of moment of Revelation where like, Oh my god, this is what I need to do. This is where I need to be. This is where I should be putting my energy into my moons like Nope, let’s just keep doing the same thing we always do. And so I think that’s usually where fear comes in and resistance comes in is that like, there is just a part of me that’s really comfortable where I am. And my intuition is always trying to get me to go somewhere new. So that’s kind of like a big internal battle. I think that I I fight with my intuition often is like, how far outside of my comfort zone Am I willing to go right now?

Sheila M 28:28

Hey there, I want you to be the first to know that I am offering a free training, Tarot for Real Life – Get Your Shit Together with the Tarot on Sunday, September 20, 2020 at 12pm eastern time, this workshop is extremely powerful. It talks about the top mistakes that new Tarot readers make, will cover the neuroscience of Tarot and how it can stop the anxiety cycle, and the exact steps to follow to start reading effective And efficiently for yourself. This is where the spirituality of the Tarot meets real life situations. And my goal is to have you leave that workshop, either with a reboot to your tarot reading or if you’re a brand new beginner with a good idea of how to get started so you can sign up for that free workshop in the show notes today or if you already know that you are really interested in signing up for a tarot course I will be opening the doors for my Tarot course for the last time for 2020 of course is called Practical Tarot for Everyday Intuitives. It is a seven week Tarot course that takes you from brand new beginner to tarot reading Pro, and helps you learn how to bring that practice into real life, how to use the Tarot to help you make complex decisions effortlessly. So if that sounds good to you, you can sign up for the waitlist in the show notes. today

Extremely, extremely relatable. I always say when it comes to any spiritual experiences and I think the standard that I set with my whole spirit team or whatever you want to call them is that I really need to be like thrown into things like I am not a super willing to be really experimental. I’m very comfortable you know being in front of people and I on the other hand would very much identify as an extrovert in most ways both like being comfortable talking in public and everything but also outwardly expressing things so like if I’m really emotional about stuff I need to like communicate it which also is probably mercury and Leo as well. But but it like just like a super extrovert about these things, but I think that I I struggle With the transition and really being like, okay, I’ll just like see what happens now. And I think part of it, like, I’ve just been like kind of thrown into the deep end on stuff like, it wasn’t like it just kind of nothing really kind of trickles in. It’s just like, all of a sudden it’s there, and I’m having to integrate and deal with it in a very, like, non subtle way.

Brady Waller 31:24

Hmm, that’s interesting. I feel like I’m definitely the opposite like, much like my leaving Barnes and Noble story, I think that the intuition comes and then it takes me time to actually go and do the thing and I kind of have to be prepared to do the thing. Like I have to have mentally gotten there already before I can physically do it. And that’s even funny because one of the only stories my mom ever tells me about being a little kid is that she would have to give me warnings before we changed, like location or before we change doing things so like if she had to take me somewhere on an hour. She’d be like, Hey Brady in 30 minutes we’re gonna go in 20 minutes we’re gonna go in 10 minutes we’re gonna get you should get your shoes on like I had to keep getting worn or I wouldn’t I couldn’t just adjust and go do something new and I would be traumatizing for small Brady apparently. So I just think that’s really funny because it’s definitely how I actually work now is I have to have been mentally prepared for a while before I can do something huge.

Sheila M 32:25

That is so funny. My my youngest sister was like that when she was young too. I felt like needs that transition time. And it is funny from from when you talked about like knowing that you had to leave that job until actually doing it. So I had a kind of a similar experience I’d been in my corporate job for Well, I’ve been in corporate America for like 12 years at that point, but I’ve been in that particular job for like seven and I just woke up this one day after like not taking like any sick time for literally like seven years. I just woke up this one day and I was like I just like need the day off, like, I can’t work, like a cannot work today. And it was November 2018. And I was like, I just I can’t. And I didn’t. So I called out and then I called up the next day. And then I called out the third day and on the third day, I was like, Okay, I gotta I gotta leave this job like it’s happening in three days, like the decision was made, it was happening. And but it did take me six months to actually do it because I needed to like, mentally plan, there was a lot of stuff going on, like transition wise, we were moving like we had all this stuff going on. So I was like, Sure, I need like a little bit of a cushion here. So like the decision was made, like, basically in a day, but after that it took like six months for me to actually feel comfortable doing it, and it still didn’t. I mean, that’s the other thing that I do want to say to people to still didn’t feel comfortable. Like No, yeah. I mean, it was not I was not comforted. I didn’t feel like 100% this is I knew it was the right thing but I Sheila, not intuitive Sheila was like, kicking and screaming like I mean, and still I’m at times kicking and screaming.

Brady Waller 34:10

Yeah, there are definitely moments where I’m like, I miss walking out of a building and knowing I have no more responsibilities, like, that was a good feeling. Being in the building was not but walking out and being like, that’s the end of my day. I don’t have to worry about anything anymore. That was great. Because now I think I get some so often pulled into the Oh, well, I couldn’t be doing something right now. Which is a pain.

Sheila M 34:34

Yeah, I mean, just like a chronic issue for business owners. I think even even when you do have like the ability to be very, like gentle with yourself, I think is still really challenging and I don’t I don’t have that in my personality. I don’t have it in my chart. I mean, maybe you do but it’s it’s very hard for me to like just like be like, no, it’s fine to do nothing.

Brady Waller 34:58

Yeah. I mean, I think my Taurus moon always thinks it’s fine to do nothing but the rest of my chart disagree.

Sheila M 35:06

I think all the time how much I could use my Taurus energy in my life because I’m like, like,

Brady Waller 35:14

it’s my favorite. I love it. Tauruses out there, you’re wonderful. I cherish you

Sheila M 35:23

for real. And so you’ve been doing all of this for quite a quite a bit of time now and have done I assume hundreds of readings, all different types. And what would you tell people who are like on the fence about getting either astrology reading or a tarot reading? about like, what it can really open up for them?

Brady Waller 35:50

I mean, honestly, anything, is the annoying, vague answer. Um, I genuinely do mean that. I mean, I think that Tarot because it’s such a radically inclusive language, when it’s used correctly, is able to basically address anything because Taro inherently is archetypal. And it’s talking about the energy of a situation it’s never actually talking about a specific situation. And that’s to me the both the beauty and the almost disappointment I think sometimes of the rider Waite Smith conundrum that it has created of like decks that have minor arcana with scenes like I love scenes in my minor arcana. I think it’s so fun. I think it adds such a cool level. But also, I think oftentimes it creates this idea that like, that specific situation is the card. And that’s never true. Like the card is just talking about the energy of what it feels like to be in a situation like that. So that’s like I think Tarot can be applied to anything them. But even more effectively, I think astrology can be applied to anything because it has been applied to everything forever. Even and I don’t even just mean like the westernized, European and US centered astrology that everybody is familiar with. I mean, all types of astrology is for all of history have been applied to all portions of life. And so ultimately, like, as long as you’re working with the right astrologer, you can look at anything with astrology. And I’m probably not the right astrologer for everything. Actually, I know I’m not the right astrologer for everything. And that’s kind of the beauty of it is that, you know, astrology is such a broad field and such a broad science with so many different areas that you don’t have to be able to do everything to be good. You just have to be good at the things you do.

Sheila M 37:57

Yeah, I love that and I think it’s really important too. And one of the things that I’ve really stressed to people, when I talk about getting any kind of reading or spiritual work is to really like do your research beforehand and try to find somebody part of the reason I wanted to do this podcast also is because it offers such an opportunity for people to get to know me and the way I talk about these things. And that’s how I’ve connected with so many people who have taught me who have done readings for me, and really know that that person was the right fit, because there’s nothing nothing worse than going in and thinking that you’re getting one thing and getting something completely different.

Brady Waller 38:38

Yeah, I think that’s one of the beauties of this kind of new renaissance of Tarot and astrology that we’re seeing, you know, maybe even in the last 5-10 years, especially on social media is that it’s so easy to get to know the voice and the style of somebody that you might go get a reading with. And if you look backwards, In 30 or 40 years, like your main access to how an astrologer functioned was either word of mouth or books that they had written. And then you had to have known where those books were and have come across that book somehow and then you had to get on the person’s waiting list and like, you know, like it was such a difficult process. And I think today we are blessed by the innumerable number of podcasts and websites and social media accounts that are kind of devoted to just sharing different people’s voices and letting them be more accessible.

Sheila M 39:34

Yeah, yeah. So um, so with all of this, what does that connection for you with Tarot and astrology and intuition? How does that kind of weave into your daily life now?

Brady Waller 39:49

Yeah, I mean, I think it comes back to them being languages. Astrology more than Tarot at this point, but some of that’s the person that I’m living with who is also an astrologer. Shout out to Flying Fish Astro on Instagram go follow Deni. They’re awesome. Anyway, so yeah, I think that that the most frequent way that they show up and it’s not even as intuition as much as it is like as me practicing language is that everything I interact with gets associated with astrology. So Deni and I are watching “Anne with an E” the Netflix series together and it’s so good first of all amazing series. It’s a we’ve been sitting here and astrologically analyzing all of the characters and learning about the signs through how we’re archetype playing these characters. So like if you’re familiar with the show, Anne is clearly sag- Gemini polarity we no doubt about it. Marilla is pure Virgo. Matthew is pure Taurus like it’s just it’s so good because that’s It just lets us kind of talk about, well, the astrology and the show really interchangeably. So that’s probably one of the ways that it shows up in my everyday life. I pull cards constantly, if I like, turn this camera around, you just see decks everywhere in my room on like, the top of every, like space, like all of my bookshelves and like Bureau and stuff, they’re just all covered in decks. Um, and that’s, I think, a really good way for me to check in with my intuition. Whenever is like there’s just a deck Let me pull this card see what it says where How am I feel and how does that relate to this card? And it’s it’s just really nice. I don’t think I almost I almost never use guidebooks anymore. It’s just like, what is this card look like? How am I feel and I at the beginning of this podcast I pulled from the portable fortune deck, which is a really cool deck of playing cards actually, that all have little phrases on them and I got the Joker Which is protection from crippling despair.

Sheila M 42:04

That’s good.

Brady Waller 42:05

And it’s got like a little Pelican. That’s like looking at an oil spill. I just thought that was really interesting as like, today’s new moon and yesterday’s sun mercury conjunction. When we’re recording this not for anybody listening was all about hope for me. Everything has been about hope. And so I think that this was just a really cool card to be like, hey, reminder, be hopeful. That’s the astrological energy we’re in. I love that.

Sheila M 42:34

I love that I love everything you said about watching the shows and seeing those different interactions and seeing astrology and the characters and stuff because it’s funny. Like you said, all of these situations in the Tarot have like an energy to them. And I will talk to friends and stuff about things going on and see like the eight of cups or like, once or whatever it is, in in whatever is going on. So I do think that’s so cool and I love I love conversations like that and friends that I guess nerd out about that stuff on. So, because you are a reader, what card Do you really find yourself maybe connecting with feeling like you really embody? Well it can be more than one. I know for a lot of us it’s really hard to pick just one,

Brady Waller 43:22

Ugh changes all the time. It’s never consistent. As a Sagittarius temperance has always been near and dear to my heart, and I actually have the beginnings of it tattooed on my chest and whenever I feel comfortable with being that close to a human being again, forget the rest of it tattooed on my chest. I have I’m in our hermit year this year, and that’s another car that I’ve always been really partial to. This has been excluding, you know, the external world on the on a personal level. It’s been a really lovely year. I moved, I’m in a wonderful new place. I’m living with a lot of my best friends. Like there’s a lot of good stuff going on in my personal life at least. And so it’s been really nice to be in hermit year and get that kind of experience and be like, yeah, the hermit is not shitty. Like I’m just doing my thing. Um I think let’s see. I’ll just keep shouting out friends. So I get the monthly Sincerely the Tarot letters every month from from Jordan of sincerely, the tarot. Yeah, shout out to him. He’s wonderful. Everyone should follow him too. Um, I’m the four of cups this month and that felt really resonant. And so I think that’s a card that I’ve been sitting with a lot the last couple weeks, especially thinking about how maybe Am I four of cups How can I embody four of cups? What does it look like to say? yes that fourth cup if we’re in the rider Waite Smith world. You know, I think it’s been a fun practice. So that’s probably the one that I’m in the most right now and spending the most time with.

Sheila M 45:11

Yeah, I think that’s really interesting to just kind of given everything going on in the external world as well because I feel like so many people are being offered something now that it’s not what they envisioned, and maybe not what they ultimately wanted. But having to like you can choose to kind of take this and make it work, you know, especially as business owners. You can choose to take this and make it work or you can choose to continue being like pouty.

Brady Waller 45:44

i think it’s it’s like where, what is the magic you can make in the situation, not often. I find myself kind of adapting New Agey phrases for tarot cards and not like I really hate the new age as a movement. That’s controversial opinion, I think trash and I’m not not gonna hold back. But what I do appreciate is that so many of the ideas are just like slightly off. And it’s just like you were so close. Let’s Let’s make change that a little. So like, there’s to me, there’s nothing about four of cups that is actually law of attraction. But there is something beautiful about four of cups. That is, if you look in any situation, you can find something to work with. And even if that doesn’t negate the fact that the situation still might be horrible, but there is something for you to work with. There is something for you to connect with in every situation. And so it’s not like, well, if you think good thoughts, good things will come to you like No, that’s not what we’re saying. What we’re saying is that you can choose to view things however you want. And you do get to make that choice. It doesn’t change the abstract reality, like reality is reality, but you get to choose how you engage with that. And so I think that Often a four of cups message for me is like how can I create the right container that actually lets me engage with the world? In a way that still has hope to come back to the hope idea? Yeah. Yeah.

Sheila M 47:13

I love I love that you said that too, because I, I hate the word manifestation so much. It makes me so angry. And it really, it really frustrates me, but especially when it comes to four of cups. I think that’s what I have always really liked about that card. Is that there and this year, like, there are so many examples of it where like you can do we never had control. First of all, we’re just seeing that more clearly now. Yeah, but especially like a lot of people are being handed a pretty bitter pill and like, having to figure out how to deal with it. And I think, you know, it’s so funny. I was just talking right before we came on. I was talking to a friend this morning. So I also teach yoga and It’s been a really challenging time for a lot of yoga teachers because a lot of studios are closing, a lot of stuff is shifting. But again, if in these situations where these things close, it’s not about like shutting down any disappointment, but it’s also about okay, but like, what opportunity is there? Like Yes, this is frustrating, it’s disappointing. It’s not quite what you hoped would happen. But it also kind of forces you, you know, out of your Taurus moon comfort zone and and to really try to like confront some new ideas and some new things. And I think that’s, I think that’s really beautiful.

Brady Waller 48:35

I think it’s, it’s even more powerful inside of that when you think about the rest of the suit of cups, right? Because the four of cups is this if the four of cups is this moment of like, hey, what is the opportunity in this situation? Then you get to the five of cups next and it’s like great. You saw the opportunity now grieve for the things you did lose like the four of cups doesn’t go right into moving on. It’s like, No, you, you make your decision about what you do want to view and then you have to hold space to grieve for what you can’t do anymore or for what you lost or for what you’re saying no to by saying yes to something else. Like, I think that’s such a profound step. Almost more. I love that step from four to five in cups more than any of the other steps. That’s just one of my favorites.

Sheila M 49:25

Yeah. And I think it’s really important and I, I talk about grief a lot too. And, and, you know, death and grief and multiple deaths and grief and, and, and how, in America in particular, people have been taught that, that like, first of all, that it’s a step by step process, which is insanity. You don’t just move through a couple steps of grief and then you’re fine. Um, but also, that there’s kind of this idea that you have to like shove down anything that’s like, not Pretty, we’re not like socially acceptable like it’s acceptable to be angry it’s not acceptable to be depressed. Um, and and all of like the language that surrounds that and I really, I have always really liked the cups for that like vulnerability and almost like where like I feel like with with the ones it’s a lot of like speed and action with the cups I feel like it’s a lot of like stillness and like nurturing as you move along and it really is that opportunity to do the opposite of what we do so much in life and really like sit with the feeling even if it’s a negative feeling so to speak. And I’m really offer yourself the opportunity to to acknowledge what’s true for you.

Brady Waller 50:48

Yeah, I definitely agree the suit of cups probably stands apart more than any of the others as the least chosen path to go down. I think we typically choose the other paths not And like, that’s fine. Like they’re a good bad student. But there’s, you know, there are moments where we should probably be on a cups journey as opposed to perhaps swords or Pentacles or wands.

Sheila M 51:12

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I also think, in a lot of situations, choosing a cups type reaction offers a different experience, especially when it comes to interpersonal relationships, like choosing to go that way and offer some some vulnerability is met with a very different response by like, going to swords or wands especially, I say this as somebody who’s very prone to go to wands.

Brady Waller 51:41

Yeah, for sure.

Sheila M 51:43

Yeah, yeah. So um, oh my gosh, I love this. I love this conversation so much. Um, so, um, I do want to take a moment to talk about some of the stuff that you’re working on right now. And in particular, I know you have this Usastrology, five part series that you’re working on and I want to hear all about it. I read about it, but can you tell us a little bit more about the series?

Brady Waller 52:10

Yeah. So it gives some, I guess, background context. I’ve been doing weekly Astro hens, pretty much almost since quarantine began, like we started in April. And we’ve been doing them almost every Sunday. Just there’s been a somewhat consistent group of people, but it’s it’s changed and fluctuated and we get together every week on zoom, and we talk about random astrology things. we’ve kind of been all over the board in terms of topics, but something that has been coming up really consistently over the summer especially as the Coronavirus situation intensified and then there was the mass eruption of protests after the murder of George Floyd. Something that kept coming up no matter what we were talking about was the US chart and people wanting to know because everybody It kind of it seems like an astrological community or who’s just vaguely aware of astrology knows, there’s big transits coming up for the US in this decade. That’s been language that’s been thrown around, I think quite a bit. And so like the fact that that conversation just kept coming up, made me really want to be able to offer something to people about it. You know, I’m a sixth house son, I want to be of use to my community and I have a Sag sun. And so if I know things, I want to tell other people about them and if there’s an opportunity for me to learn things and then tell tell other people even better. So I actually just kind of on my own started doing research on the US chart, the astrology podcast released a really wonderful us chart episode in July that I used for a lot of research and reference. Shout out to Chris Brennan. Um, yeah, I mean, that’s kind of the background It is of why I wanted to do this series and also like we’re in utter chaos in the United States. And this election has just it has been disappointing beyond belief. And so I kind of wanted to offer something that would, you know, in some way, give astrological context, because that usually helps me feel better. And I wanted to feel better. And so some of my goal is just to give context for everything that we’re experiencing, and to explain maybe why some of this stuff is going on as best as I can, as best as I understand it, but also to just kind of give everybody a better view of like, what is the psychology? What is the identity of the United States? How does it get impacted by the transits that we’re having right now? What can we expect looking forward the rest of this decade and even for the next four years with whichever one of these old men become our president. You know, if if you can Until I’m very disappointed with our options. But I think we’re having looked at both of their charts, it’s going to be really, there’ll be good conversations. Yeah, they’re annoying.

Sheila M 55:12

So you do have an element that looks at Trump and an element that looks at Biden and pulls on both of their charts as well.

Brady Waller 55:20

Yeah, I guess I should say what the five weeks are. So the first week we’re trying to establish what the USA chart is, and when this podcast comes out, I think if I have the time, right, that’ll already have happened. So we’ll just be establishing what chart Are we going to use as the birth chart of the US because there’s really a lot of different options. Everything back to the first time that somebody landed on what is now the United States soil up to is it sometime on July 4, and what time during the day, or is it something after July 4, because technically, we’re not a country yet. Anyway, the second class Then looks at history and we will specifically be focusing on major moments of conflict and what brought about that conflict awesome often or major moments of change. So specifically kind of highlighting wrote the Civil War and World War One and World War Two and then some of the more more recent events like 911. The third class, which should be the first one that people can actually attend after the podcast comes out, is going to be on the next decade and looking at the 2020s The United States has a Pluto return. It has a Neptune opposition, it has a Uranus return. There’s a lot going on. And so we’ll be talking about that stuff and trying to make some predictions and also be looking backwards again because Uranus returns have been major moments in US history Neptune opposition’s have been major moments in US history. Pluto returns can be timed out in other countries. Looking at So we’ll be doing some of that work. And then yeah, the last two weeks will be bite in synastry with the US chart, and then Trump’s industry with the US chart. And specifically talking about how maybe in the last four years, some of the things that happened to Trump’s chart and how they happened to the US chart and maybe how, you know, trying to give some context for some of the reactions that he’s had.

Sheila M 57:23

So interesting.

Brady Waller 57:24

Yeah, it’s gonna be a lot of fun. But this is where like, the idea of astrology as a language comes in, because we’re basically just like talking about United States history, or United States possible future. But we’re using astrology as our language. We’re using astrology as our framework. So I’m really excited for that. I’ve been doing lots of research. I think it’s gonna be really fun, man.

Sheila M 57:49

I really wish that was a course when I was in school. I would have taken astro-history, you know?

Brady Waller 57:57

Same. Yeah, that would have been Great. I mean, it’s funny because I still have tons of my like history High School Notes when I first started getting into astrology and I still have some of them. And so I’ve like looked back and gone through history books, a little hesitantly with astrology in mind, and it’s been really fun. I definitely Wish I got that.

Sheila M 58:19

Seriously. I know, I feel like it would retain things better. Um, cool. I’m so excited for that. I think it’s gonna be really awesome. So I will put all of this in the show notes so that people can find you sign up for the classes. I know that the first two classes will have happened before this. Will they be recorded? Will they be available or anything? They will? Okay.

Brady Waller 58:42

Yeah, so everything is going to be recorded and will be available. The whole series is donation based, and I’m just basically having people like sign up for a specific newsletter and I’m going to be sending out the links there and then posting them to my Instagram kind of day of so it’s not like there’s no paywall. There’s no barrier I just want people to be able to come and then after the fact, I’m going to have them up for donation sale, basically on my website. So you’ll be able to like watch all of them kind of after the fact because the Biden and Trump ones might not be super relevant in the next coming months. But I think the other ones will continue to be relevant moving forward. And so I definitely want to keep them available, and maybe add to them at some point. Absolutely continue to learn learn more, because what’s been really interesting is like, I had a plan going in of what chart I was going to use. And then the more research that I’ve done, the more I’m like, I don’t actually think that’s the chart anymore. But I’m not going to change my mind now because I’m carrying too deep. I’m in way too deep. But I’m going to talk about a lot you know, there’s going to be really interesting conversations. I don’t really think you can nail down a true birth chart for the US. But I think you can talk about which chart captures the identity of our country. The most Yeah. And that’s the chart that we’re going to be using. Because that’s what I think it’s the chart that speaks to most to like, what is the ideology of the United States? What is the people of the United States, not as individuals but as like, a community consciousness? Because I do think that the United States has some degree of consciousness. Yeah. And trying to find the right chart for that has been really fun. And like, there’s no I’m not an expert. I’m not claiming to know the exact chart, but it’s still been really fun to think about, and to kind of throw my hat into this conversation, because it’s been a conversation that’s been going on literally, since July 4, 1776. People debating about what the actual chart is.

Sheila M 1:00:46

Yeah. And I think it’s really interesting too, because in in these because I have taken some of your classes. There’s such an opportunity to have conversation and community and I think it’s one of the things that people have been struggling with and quarantine and also looking for answers or comfort in terms of where we are headed and what’s going to happen and, and feeling that like real intense anxiety not just about the upcoming election and everything there but also about the health of America and like us pandemic and everything. So I think like, what you’re doing is really offering like this beautiful environment for people to connect and maybe suit some anxiety as well.

Brady Waller 1:01:29

Yeah, I mean, I definitely the third class is kind of the most important one, because it’s the one where we’ll be looking forward. And I mean, to be totally candid, like it’s not a pretty picture over the next decade. It’s just not especially when you look at what’s happened historically, the Civil War can be was almost the exact same transits that we’re having a Uranus return and a Neptune return or Neptune opposition within a decade. Then World War Two is a Neptune return and a Uranus return within a decade. And so when you look at kind of the cycles that we’re completing again this year, and then you add in Pluto like, yeah, America’s gonna go through large scale change that we just have to put out in the open. I think what’s exciting and hopefully reassuring is that we know that we have this knowledge already we know America is going to go through large scale change, which means we get to be prepared to create that change. And that’s what’s so exciting about looking forward in astrology, at least in my opinion, is that it empowers us. It doesn’t become fatalistic, it doesn’t say our Pluto return is going to end America. It just says a Pluto return is a time of reckoning and rebirth. How do we want to be reborn? What do we want that to look like for our country? What do we want to reckon with? You know, I think we get to ask those questions and then bring them up and be a part of doing that. So that’s To me, that’s what’s the most exciting is that hopefully people come out of this class. And they think, well, this is the change that I want to see with these archetypal possibilities that are coming to us. Because I’m not really going to talk about exactly what I think will happen. I’m going to talk about what happened in the past, and what these energies are usually like, and kind of give everyone the opportunity to take that as as they want to take it.

Sheila M 1:03:24

Yeah. And I think that’s part of the reason why I’ve connected with your work a lot is because I come from the same perspective of really not wanting to just hand everybody the answers, but to empower people with information so that they can make their best choices rather than, like disempowering them.

Brady Waller 1:03:41

For sure. I mean, there’s no, I’m not psychic, I make no claims to have any more knowledge or any more ability to perceive things than anybody else. I just have spent a lot of time reading and researching and doing this stuff and so I think You know, like, it’s not like, I have some all knowing answer that I can give somebody like I just, I speak this language and I’m going to try to translate it to you. And I hope that what my translation offers is something that you can take and you can work with. Yeah, I feel like that’s kind of the center of my practice is just like wanting to be a translator, basically.

Sheila M 1:04:24

Yeah, I love that. I love that. So where can people find you online? I guess, pretty much just online at this point. for the foreseeable future, how can they find you? How can they connect with you?

Brady Waller 1:04:38

Yeah, so my Instagram is @themythiclandscape. And that’s pretty much where everything is centralized. You’ll be able to get everywhere else from there. I do have a website that’s just www dot the mythic landscape calm and I have a Patreon that you can find either on my website or on my Instagram, that links right there. The Patreon is really fun. I’ll just shout that out. There’s a bunch of cool stuff there. You get weekly or monthly Tarot deep dives, you get reflections on zodiac sign changes, you can get community readings, you can get mailed readings. There’s a mentorship program, there’s a monthly kind of one on one we work together in a container program. Like there’s a lot of fun stuff there that I’m really excited about doing. So we’d love to have some more people to hang out with and play around with. If we ever do go back in person, I work with the prana house in Westchester. So if you’re out in Chester County, you should come to the penthouse. And if you’re in Philly, and specifically West Philly, I, pre COVID had been offering readings at transfiguration hair studio, so I just want to give them a shout out there. I’m not doing readings in person there but they’re cutting hair and doing really awesome majiggy clear comp work. So if you’re in West Philly, you should go get your hair cut there. Because they’re lovely,

Sheila M 1:06:00

I love it. Thank you so much for taking the time today. This was really, really wonderful. And I knew it would be but it was it was even better than I thought it would be. So thank you so much for being here, Brady.

Brady Waller 1:06:12

Thank you for having me on. This was so fun. Yeah, I had I had a great time. I love talking about astrology and intuition and all this good stuff.

Sheila M 1:06:21

Thank you so much for listening to Living Tarot. If you loved today’s episode, please leave us a review and subscribe so that you never miss an episode. This helps us reach even more budding intuitives. Feel free to share on Instagram and tag me at @Starsagespirit and let me know what you learned , what surprised you, and what you’d like to hear even more of. As always, if you want to hear more about my courses, or book a reading with me, or for full episode show notes, you can head over to starsagespirit.com