Play your cards right and you might just learn what the future holds.
Artist Richie Brown has created a deck of bizarre oracle cards that he will use to give readings at Reverse gallery in Williamsburg on April 10. In a typical reading, Brown pulls five cards, explains their meanings, and invites the readees to share their thoughts about the predictions. The order of the cards matter and sometimes, so does the direction the cards are facing.
Your intrepid reporter sat down to do a reading with Brown before the opening night of the show. Here are my cards.
Maid
This card represents someone taking care of someone else and it has subservient connotations — but it can also represent the other side of the equation, according to Brown.
“It is a power dynamic,” he said.
Books
This card represents knowledge — but Brown said it can be either a quest for knowledge or a closed-off approach to challenging what already exists.
“It could be resistant to change,” he said.
A masculine skeleton
Brown said this card does not represent gender, but rather feelings that can be associated with masculine traits. I can only hope this translates to always being paid like a man throughout my career.
Fan
This symbol represents opportunity, Brown said.
“It has to do with things opening up to you or the fanning of a flame,” he said.
Bee
Brown said this is the ultimate symbol of productivity, especially within a group.
“It is working with people and finding a way to compromise,” he said.
My editor confirms that this is highly apt.
Brown was supposed to end the reading here, but we were on such a roll, that he pulled out another card to see if it fit with the story.
Bonus card: Fuzzy birds
The pair nestled together represents companionship — but not lovers, per se, Brown said.
“It is not necessarily romantic,” he said.
Summary
My overall reading? I’m going to relax more — presumably because I’ll be richer and more accomplished.
“You may have previously been rigid and you are putting that away and moving on — like with the male card facing forward — and looking at the new opportunity and productivity through collaboration,” said Brown.
The readings may sound supernatural, but Brown said the results, which readees often use to form a narrative, reaffirm how human — and rational — we really are.
“Everything doesn’t happen for a reason — reason is why everything happens,” he said.
