Arcana Obscura

Mosaics painted and placed to portray an old lady sitting at a round table with her cards under a grapevine covered arch adorn my shop’s facade.

The vitrine showcases my scented oils and candles. The tarot card, dices, and runes I make and sell.

It also gives a peek inside.

I sat behind my counter in a tall chair, usually reading while Balthazar, my cat, lays in the counter.

Once the client enters my signature scent captivates their attention.

Cumin for the warmth, almonds, and vanilla for the sweetness, lavender to soothe and hint of rosemary to keep them awake in their comfort.

To the left of the counter, an arch separates the store from The reading room.

Through the translucent gray veil that covers the arch, a small round table can be seen, covered by a deep purple velvet fabric.

My grandmother’s embroidery is in the center of the table, it forms a beautiful circle that helps guide the eyes of the clients towards the cards.

Other than goods of the esoteric kind, I also provide different services: cleansing, blessings, curse removals.

My most popular are all the ones related to heartache, this one wants to start a candle cycle of attraction, this other wants to remove what’s left of his exes energy at his place.

Old people will come for seances, those are always painful to decline; the dead don’t speak to me and I refuse to scam them.

God forbids, the death decide to start speaking as revenge.

And then there are the readings, everyone loves a tarot reading, especially on tourist season.

Lisbon has grown a lot on that aspect in the last few years.

We even get College kids and young tourist in contrast to the usual British geezers.

I like all tourist equally, don’t get me wrong. But is nice to have clients closer to one’s age.

They help you realize that some of your tribulations or queries are not so out of place, it gives you a spectator view from problems that most of the generation shares.

Is not a solution, but is a comfort, and since I am seeing these people come to peace with these fears or expectations, and the works that have to be done to achieve them; I have a better perspective on my own issues.

People usually believe Tarot is a divination technique and that you can get glimpses of the future if your reader is skilled enough.

Is not the case.

Sure you could approach tarot like that, but the future has never been a straight line.

Crossroads pave the way of life, it’s the point of the free will of mankind.

A good reader, or however you wish to call it, is someone who guides the client into a path of self-discovery.

Tarot is a mix, a group of symbols from all culture and history.

A collective unconscious, it’s archetypes are universal and allow us to relate to stories from all around the world.

By knowing the stories and meanings behind the cards, the individual draws parallels between the stories of the cards and its own.

What this story tells about itself is what helps the client build a path towards their desired future.

Because that’s truly what people want when they wish to know their future: a validation that their dreams come true or a way to change the negative outcome.

The cards can give you all the answers, but introspection on the individual’s part is the key to successful reading.

Not all clients are satisfied with this explanation, but I keep doing it and saying it’s my favorite part of the job, because those who do, leave the store with an aura of change.

Of real growth.

Seeing some of my regulars choosing to stop the readings because they have learned enough about themselves to face the upcoming tribulations without a guide, is all the spiritual and emotional pay I can ever need.

Sadly, I also need economical payment.

So I have started to advertise a lot.

At first, this made my oldest regulars feel very uncomfortable as they felt the private ambiance of the shop and my professional relationship with them was changing due to a higher influx of clients.

The influx hadn’t grown that much, so things calmed down by March.

And then youtuber of mild influence in Europe came to my store and things have become pretty chaotic since then.

I would have rejected the reading if I had known and honestly the recording was done without my consent.

But it has been good for my wallet.

That was during the Easter break, six months later it has over two million views.

My Instagram went from one thousand followers over a span of four years to 12k in a couple months, because those girls had nothing better to do with their lives on a Saturday afternoon.

I wished they had told me they were shooting, they were fun but this pseudo-fame is annoying.

Is June now, May left nice an influx of tourism and also other smaller influencers and youtubers have visited the shop to get more views and stuff.

I had to put several signs of “Please if you are going to shoot the Session, inform me” yet “secret cams” have become the least of my problems.

I was having a somewhat recurring nightmare for a couple of weeks. A figure on a giant horse chasing me through a fire that destroyed everything on its path.

I don’t tend to have such vivid dreams unless something is troubling but everything had been fine.

Even with the newer clients, everything felt fine.

To fine.

My family has never been happy-go-lucky, not without having to pay a toll.

On Friday a group of Americans tried to trash the store as a “prank” video.

I live on top of the store, so I try no have any esoteric paraphernalia, in the moonless nights the ambient gets very tense, it gets hard to rest.

So after trimming my beard and getting primped for the work day, I went down to the store with my coffee and magdalenas.

It was still very early so before opening the curtains on the windows and door I did a reading for myself.

It had been a while, so I made a mix of sandalwood for clarity, cinnamon to awaken my mind and cedar wood to clear my fears.

I choose my grandmothers deck, mine betrays me.

One’s deck not only carries one’s energy while reading, but it also becomes familiar.

You recognize every worn-out texture, brand new decks are very trippy at first, it brings back the emotion of not knowing what is on the other side.

My grandmother’s deck is nostalgic and clear of my own reading input on a third party.

Quick reading, three cards, taking a deep breath I flipped my first card as I wondered what was the origin of my nightmare.

Before me, The Tower was on fire and cracking. A sudden upheaval, pride takes to disaster.

-Well…-I looked at Balthazar, it of course ignored me. -Up to a good start.-

Sipping my coffee I mentalized my second question.

What did the figure on the giant steed chasing me through fire meant?

A tranquil sky filled with stars painted in silver ink, a lake on a clear reflecting the woods and the stars, but drawn in silver and gold, two fishes swam in a circle where the main celestial should be.

The opalescent ink made The Moon one of my favorite cards from this deck, she has a cheeky smirk on her face as she adorns the center of the card.

-Es coña-

I was expecting something tense, strong, but The Moon represents the unconscious, illusions, intuition, and instinct. The latter two are the ones hidden in oneself, the illusions that lurk in the mirror that is a lake in the clear that is one pique.

She also reminds me of my grandma.

The last question was, what to do with my waking life?

Balthazar jumped and cried as the door was kicked from the outside.

I was so immersed in my reading that I ignored the drunk idiots talking outside.

-HEY FORTUNETELLERIÑIO.-

A drunk attempt at mocking Portuguese coming from an English speaker? That’s a first.

Usually, the Spanish speakers do it.

I was going to ignore them, but one of my regulars came punctually as ever.

She is 71, she doesn’t need a drunk idiot.

I tried letting her in, he crashed inside with four other guys, a girl that looked like a model and an older man holding a very expensive camera.

He was tall and clearly worked out a lot, all of them did, they could all have been attractive if it weren’t for the musky body spray mixed with vaping oils in sweet scents odor and douche clothes.

-Hey...voce spekearinio inglez?- He made a macho stand in front of the counter.

Miss Ines, my regular, rushed to my side behind the counter, holding her cane upright like a threat.

-o que há de errado com essa porra bêbada?-

When someone makes a sweet, very religious woman ask “What’s wrong with the drunk f*ck?” you can get the general vibe the asshole had.

He wasn’t drunk though, those bloodshot eyes are cocaine.

I know.

So when he asked for a reading I made him sat in the table I have on the front of the store and I sent miss Ines home.

I don’t wanna be alone in the reading room at the back with a coke head that seems like he likes a lot of attention.

A quick one, a freebie I offered, so he would leave quickly. He ignored my “yes, I’m trilingual my man” and spoke to the camera. “Whispering” he informed them I was so “into the prank”

Three cards.

He asked I chose to use a new deck with him, a cheap one from the stand, a freebie for myself. I don’t want his energy.

-Why am I in this world for oh Fortune Teller-

He screamed, Balthazar hissed. I reminded the camera my name was Javier Guzman.

I flipped the first card, The Fool reversed.

Recklessness, people are taking advantage of you and you might be inconsiderate of others.

His blue eyes were dagger as I read the card, cursing the cards and muttering insults.

The second card was a small arcane but before I could even see the card, his girlfriend started screaming she was possessed or something.

Things went sour so quickly I couldn’t react. I felt a strong blunt blow, it was followed by an overpowering peppermint smell.

One of them threw one the bottle oils at me.

Cameraman apprehended them, but they just continue throwing stuff, he threatened them with stuff I couldn’t understand.

The blow had knocked my glasses.

The girl also told them to stop but one of them called her a whore. It was surreal, and the leader of the pack came to fix the prank...I don’t know I was so dizzy and angry.

The bottle hit hard but it didn’t bleed, the bottle did broke on the floor.

-Bro, say everything was okay to the camera!-

He grabbed me by the back of the neck like I was a puppet.

-Come on asshole!- he shouted when I took his arm off.

I kicked them out and told them I was going to call the police if they didn’t leave. The girl tried to intercede and was “nice”.

This made him angry somehow and tried to intimidate me again. Something made me fixate my eyes to the table, my phone was ringing...the card had a horse.

His fist got me right on the right cheek, I stumbled almost feel. Without thinking it I punched him, I broke his nose.

One of his friends was recording on his phone, the cameraman was still shooting as well.

Afterward two of his friends came towards me, one missed an I kicked him in the knee, a trick I learned back when I was lost.

The second one though went for my stomach and I felt the air leave my body.

Flat on my ass, my vision blurry. The bells on my door chime as it opened.

-POLÍCIA PARE O QUE VOCÊ FAZ.-

A policeman...How?

They rushed outside the store, one gave me a kick on the back while leaving. The mix of smells was overpowering so close to the floor, and when I stumbled after the kick my hand found glass.

Flinching made me fall on my back, no glass but the wooden floor hurt my head on the way down.

The roof has stars and the same cheeky moon painted on it, I saw them fade while fainting from the pain.