‘It helPed me leave my marrIage’

Here’s how these women found answers to their big dilemmas Zoë Hughes, 43, is a clinical aromatherapist. She has two children aged 17 and 12 and lives in Devon

‘I took a rIsk and quIt my job’

Siena Dexter, 37, runs branding agency ideadolls.com. She lives in London with her partner Kieran, 30, a copywriter

My first tarot reading was when I was 21 and working as a runner for a TV company. Michelle Chaso, the receptionist there, offered me a reading and I thought, ‘Why not?’ I remember feeling fascinated and kept in touch with her – once a year we’d meet for coffee and she would do a reading.

So much of tarot is how you interpret the cards you’re given. They seem to tap into your gut feeling – the cards simply reaffirm it and give you the confidence to act upon it.

That’s true for the reading I had in 2011 when I was unhappy in my career. I was in a well-paid job but felt unfulfilled. Michelle’s reading told me I was not in a good place professionally and that I needed a different direction. The Eight Of Swords – a woman choosing to be bound – came up, as did an upside-down chariot, indicating I wasn’t going anywhere.

I knew that quitting my job would be a huge risk, but after I’d seen these cards, I came away thinking, ‘Let’s do this’. I had no idea what I was going to do for money and took a bar job to make ends meet. But my decision really paid off. After gaining more experience in a large agency, I set up my own branding agency in 2017 and I’ve never looked back.

And I still have readings to help me make important decisions.

Growing up in Dorset, with its rich Romany culture, I’ve always been aware of tarot. When I was 14, I spent my first wages from my Saturday job on a reading – and it led to a lifelong interest.

A large part of my fascination was trying to figure out more about myself. I knew that the man I called ‘Dad’ wasn’t my biological father so it was a confusing time. Plus I was falling in love with girls – not an easy thing in the 1980s – and I hoped that tarot might provide some answers. It did.

I’ve turned to it many times, including when I needed affirmation about my divorce. Some people think tarot is like voodoo, but for me, the cards tell me what I already know but am too afraid to act on. Certainly, when the cards told me that divorcing my wife was the right thing to do, it helped me feel OK with a very difficult decision.

One of the main reasons I believe in it is because of other people’s experiences in relation to my life. My biological father had a reading and the reader knew all about me, even though my father hadn’t seen me for 30 years. She knew my occupation, where I lived and even that I had a postgraduate qualification. Not long after, we met by chance when I was visiting Somerset. It was like looking into a mirror. facebook.com/betwixttherapy