By COSTA B. PAPPAS
The Ninth House is tucked away in Downtown Tucson on South Scott Avenue.
A white minimalistic-styled room filled with spiritual objects ranging from crystals to essential oils is filled with the smell incense as soon as you enter.
You’ll be met by Melisa Cole, a young woman with a calming demeanor. She has long black hair with playful dangling earrings with crab claws on the ends.
Cole said that she had been giving tarot readings for over a decade. However, she did add that the store didn’t open until last April.
The Ninth House offers tarot readings from three-question readings to a 90-minute reading. I chose to get a New Year’s reading, a 45-minute tarot card session at the cost of $45, that would tell me the course of my year through a series of cards.
Tarot cards are a form of divination that began in the 15th Century as a way to predict the future. There are many beliefs about the cards, with some believing that these cards allow darker spirits to infiltrate your life, while skeptics view these card games as being no different than playing a game of Go Fish.
These tarot readings, “allow demons into your life… Fuck that,” said college student, Johnny Prygocki.
Cole explained that tarot cards are simply a “reflection,” as we get the information from within, unlike Ouija Boards where you get your answers from outside sources.
Tarot readings all come from the energy within, even though she did note that in some cases our angel guides will help guide us through the reading.
Marissa Mendez, 20, believes in tarot cards.
“They are strangely accurate,” she said. “I think they are a good way to have guidance in situations you are unsure of. They helped guide me with my work life and figure out what I wanted to pursue in my career.”
Cole placed the shuffled deck of cards in a circle, choosing 12 cards as they follow my life from January to next December.
The experience was completely positive. Cole had a calm nature that made the reading go by swiftly. Through the difficulties that the cards warned me of, Cole had logical and straightforward advice, always noting that each difficulty that would occur was meant to get me to the next chapter of my life.
For anyone who is going through a difficult time, or simply wants to give tarot cards a try, I would recommend The Ninth House for a tarot card reading.
The price for a fifteen-minute (mini-reading) is $15. This session will answer direct yes-or-no questions.
A regular 40-minute tarot reading costs $39 and gives customers a view into a specific situation that’s on your mind. Whether it’s a situation revolving friends, family, or a career choice, the reading can cover any situation that has been stuck on your mind.
There’s also a solar return reading at $35, perfect for a birthday gift to yourself or a friend. This reading gives customers a view of the next year of their life and potential challenges as well as positive experiences that will occur.
Then there’s the “Two-Fer” reading that allows you and a friend to experience the reading together.
Leaving the session, you feel uplifted and excited for what this year has to offer. You might be told of a new relationship approaching or a possible job offer. You never know what could be in the cards.
Whether or not the reading comes true, it was interesting to gain a new perspective that would not be possible without the reading.
This reading is recommended to anyone at a time of uncertainty, but even more so, to anyone who is curious about tarot cards. Whether or not you believe in the powers of the cards, it’s a way to see a side to a situation that you would have never seen before.