Liat, 48

tribecatarotreader.blogspot.com

How long have you been working as a psychic?
I think it’s normal for sixteen-year-old girls or eighteen-year-old girls to buy a tarot deck or a rune deck or something and just start playing with it. So, when I was sixteen, I bought a tarot deck, and I found it really fascinating — it spoke to me.

Would you say that your psychic abilities have helped you in relationships?
Me personally? Once — I’ve been married a long time — once my husband came home and I just looked at him and I said, “Did you get a speeding ticket?” and he said, “How did you know?” I looked at him and I laughed and said, “You could never have an affair.” He said, “Yeah!”

Have you ever been hit on by a customer?
Sure! Why not? Male and female.

What do you do in those situations?
You know, these conversations are really intimate, so people kind of feel that they know me. But if they ask me to go out for a drink, I tell them my family is expecting me.

Would you be surprised if there was some sort of psychic fetish?
[Laughs] I’m not surprised. There are many fetishes in this world — that's just not one that speaks to me.

If “The Tarot Card” were a sex position, what would it look like?
Ooh. I have this vision of people sitting on each other’s laps, face to face.

I recently discovered my boyfriend’s porn stash and found out that he has a fetish. It’s actually something I would be interested in doing with him. How do I broach the subject with him? Should I admit to coming across his treasure trove?
Okay — there’s nothing wrong with having a porn stash. So you found it! Big deal. That’s like saying, "I found your Rolling Stone. But you read a magazine I actually like, honey! And I’d like to read it with you."

Do you think that people need to be more open with sex?
Your life is so much simpler and easier and fun when you're open about sex! Let’s say you’ve got a shoe fetish — I’m just picking that out of the air — and it’s an issue for you. You feel shame, you feel embarrassed, you feel like you’re holding energy. Instead of hiding it, just admit it to someone: “By the way, shoes just do it for me.” What’s the big deal? If she says, “Oh, that’s disgusting,” you say, “I don’t have a future sexual relationship with this person.”

I’m a lesbian and the other night I ended up drunkenly fooling around with my best female friend. The problem is that she's straight. I think I may be in love with her. How do I try to convince her that what we did was more than just drunken experimenting without losing my best friend?
You're in a hard place. Cultural norms push you very strongly in one direction or another. So I’m pretty sure that your best friend could be bisexual and could have enjoyable sexual experiences with women. But if she feels a lot of cultural pressure to be straight, sleeping with women may not be a source of joy for her.

Is it worth pursuing, or is that just going to make her feel more comfortable?
I’m sure it’s going to make her uncomfortable. The thing is, I don’t mind sitting in the uncomfortable space for awhile —  but I’m a trained therapist and she may run away. That’s why I say you're in a difficult space. The other thing is, if it doesn’t happen, is she ever allowed to complain about her boyfriend to you? If you try to make that happen and it doesn’t work, it will hurt the friendship.

Any final advice?
We tie ourselves up in knots so easily about the stuff that really doesn’t matter. Be kind to each other. Laugh. Take a small, manageable risk. Be safe! Just let yourself enjoy what comes to you and there’s no walk of shame — if other people don’t want to do it, that’s absolutely okay, but if you want to do it and you’re with consenting adults and you’re safe with each other, whatever you want to do is fine!