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For Savage River author and manufacturer Polly Staniford, tarot card reading has parallels to the craft of storytelling. Other Passions, a routine column, appears in the February concern.
Polly Staniford is co-founder, imaginative manufacturer and author with Aquarius Films. She’s 42 and resides in Haberfield, Sydney.
Did tarot lead you to a profession in movie and television?
I was constantly interested, since I was a kid. I didn’t get provided my very first deck up until my early 20s, and I was currently studying movie by then.
Tarot and oracle: what’s the distinction?
Tarot has 22 significant arcana, which are based upon traditional archetypes, and have really particular significances. The significances do not alter in between the decks, however each deck has its own small analysis.
Oracle cards are much easier– significances about things like love or abundance or shadows– and they’re simply a great tool to utilize with the tarot. They’re a method of getting a fast message.
You do not have to be clairvoyant?
Absolutely nothing like that. It’s everything about taking advantage of the signs– I simply like the significance of the folklore behind it.
What of individuals who state tarot is bunkum?
If you do not think it, then do not do it or engage with it. All of us have our own special methods of browsing through life, and for me, it opens brand-new methods of seeing and can light the course ahead.
You have 75 decks. Why many?
I’m an extremely visual individual, my moms and dads are both artists, and it’s interesting there can be numerous variations of the exact same thing, and they all have their own originality. I select them up in my journeys. It’s ended up being a sort of fascination where I can’t stop purchasing them.
Do you utilize tarot on yourself?
I’ve got a deck on my desk that I describe when I require a little bit of clearness or peace of mind– as in, OK, I’m on the best track. And when [Aquarius Films co-founder Angie Fielder] and I are employing brand-new personnel, we frequently pull a couple of cards after the interviews to see if they offer any insights about that individual. And typically it weds with our impulses.
And the messages that you do not wish to check out?
It’s simple to believe, ‘oh, I do not like that, I’ll pull another card’. You have to listen and in truth, what you didn’t desire to hear is really something you require to face.
Any exceptional readings?
I do numerology too and just recently, my other half and I will bid on a home. Prior to the auction, I was pulling all the cards asking: ‘Are we going to win? Are we going to get it?’ And I kept pulling the variety of your home and photos of homes– representing clean slates– and I resembled, oh my god, this is so strange. And after that obviously we got your house.
What are you dealing with enhancing now?
Comprehending and acknowledging patterns. With tarot, if you get the Sun card with a Knight of Pentacles– that indicates something … the patterns of what particular cards indicate with others.
What takes place when you’re doing a reading for somebody and the cards spell problem?
The cards do not ever state ‘you’re going to pass away’ or anything like that, however frequently I believe, ‘oh, this reading is a bit facing’. My viewpoint is to simply check out the significance of the card and do not hold back. I get anxious since I believe I’ll anger somebody, or what if I’m incorrect? So far, they go, ‘oh, my god. Yes.’ And next minute you’re hugging, and you’re friends.
You do tarot readings on set, too?
I’ve constantly discovered the cards to be an excellent way to link, especially on set when it’s a brand-new group of individuals coming together. It’s fantastic how rapidly individuals pertain to you when they discover what you do. Undoubtedly, when you do a reading for somebody, they open personally about what they’re going through or how they’re feeling, therefore quickly, you simply type of develop connection.
Is tarot having a renewal?
Now that we’re in this age of speaking out and #MeToo, I believe individuals are discovering their power once again. And females’s power has to do with their instinct. Ladies who had an interest in organic solutions or tarot were as soon as thought about witches since males hesitated of that power.
You’ve produced 3 function movies and you co-wrote and produced Savage Riverjust recently on ABC TELEVISION. What’s on the cards for 2023?
A number of movies entering into production and a number of television series, together with another 4 things that we’ll be actively establishing for the list below year.
Your work appears to line up with your pastime.
Stories are what I like, and the cards inform stories. For a long period of time, I questioned how do I stabilize these 2 enthusiasms, however in fact, they’re really comparable. Tarot is a method to gain access to instinct.
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Philippa CoatesAFR Magazine deputy editorPhilippa Coates is deputy editor of The Australian Financial Review Magazine. She is based in our Sydney newsroom. Get in touch with Philippa on Twitter. Email Philippa at pcoates@afr.com.au
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