Porch Opens: It’s in the Cards (Tarot Cards, That Is)

Porch, the popular Santa Claus Lane home, garden, and gift store, has moved from Santa Claus Lane and officially opened in its new location in the space long known as Just Folk on Lillie Avenue. With a new coat of white paint and the two-story space filled with lots of tempting items, large and small, Porch owner Diana Dolan has added more shopping joie de vivre to town.

Dolan has also brought along Mary Wessely, the official tarot card reader. Mary offers readings three days a week on the Colville side of the building’s porch. Whether you’re a believer or not, I figured it couldn’t hurt to see what was “in the cards.”

Mary has been reading tarot cards for 30 years. I found her to also be part intuitive/part therapist or, as she put it, “I offer gentle guidance and tools for what they (the person she is reading for) are working on.”

I thought it might be fun to ask Mary to do a tarot card reading about the town itself.

Summerland has an “otherworldly” history with its spiritualist founders who conducted séances and communicated with the “other side.” So I asked Mary to consult the cards in consort with Summerland ancestors to learn what they think about all the new commotion in town. Mary has lived in Summerland, loved the experience and said she clearly got a sense of the “spiritual energy” here.

Mary laid out the cards and began the reading.

“Oh, this is so beautiful!” the reader exclaimed. “The first card that shows up is Spirit!”

For the record, we both then admitted that we got goosebumps. Maybe we had connected with some old timers on the “other side”?

“The collective Summerland spirit world has gone through some hardships and challenging things, as in all people’s life journeys,” Mary went on. “They are saying that the town had been cut off a bit and wasn’t receiving the energy, the vibe, the vitality, but spirit is behind the opening up of the town to receiving and building on the foundation.”

Mary said the ancestors expressed increased pride in what’s being achieved and built, as indicated by the Two of Wands card that shows an emperor holding a globe and overseeing his empire and viewing what has been built.

The “Summerland Spirits,” she said, want us to know that they have had a hand in the town’s growth and changes.

“It’s the time,” Mary said. “There is this big opening: the town, the energies, the spirits are really opening up and looking into the future! They are acknowledging that they worked on this. They worked on this in their physical life and also have influenced it in their spiritual life. This is not new work. This is continuing building on their foundation and enriching it more. They are very much a part of it. They’re right there – they came up right away. This is very, very positive.”

“There is collective consciousness, there’s consciousness by groups, by families, by communities,” she went on. “Summerland went through a period of sadness, heavy energy, lacking zest. Right now, with the evolution that is very spirit ordained, the energy there right now is very happy and very invigorated.”

Not everything has always been roses, though.

“The town’s consciousness has moved through a lot – including challenging people and situations, people who didn’t see eye to eye, combined with a sense of the unknown and what’s going to happen,” Mary said. “It looks super positive – the energy, the resonance is high, it’s joyful – I sense there there’s a lot of synchronicities going on – a lot of A-ha’s. Summerland is continuing to manifest and bloom on its own. The collective consciousness of the town right now is looking really sweet and nice!”

But what about a cannabis dispensary in Summerland? I asked, since that’s been on the mind of a lot of folks.

Mary laid out the cards again, looked perplexed, then nodded her head.

“There’s some hesitation because the area is growing on love, joy, success, and expansion.” She held up the Ace of Cups and The World cards – noting that those cards are very, very positive.

“There is some questioning,” she noted accurately, “but it actually could work out very nicely. The advice would be to think creatively and carve it in a way that works for the area and the town. It needs to be thought out, not a do whatever you want.

“If they formulate what it looks like, it actually could be very good and very successful,” according to the cards via Mary.

Overall, the tarot cards basically deemed that everyone in Summerland should not worry and be happy about the transformative processes going on.

“The town is energized, moving and blooming, as are many of the people,” Mary said. Any concern around things not going well is just a fear. This is a time when it really opens up. If people get pinged with an ‘uh-oh’ it’s merely a fear from the past, as Spirit is totally behind this and actually proud to be a part of it and really wanting the community to thrive, feel connected and feel proud of where they are and what they are creating. It’s all around creation and it’s really beautiful.”

“It’s so clear,” Mary concluded.

If you need any proof, just take a look around.

Mary Wessely offers readings Thursday through Saturday 11 am to 3 pm. Appointments recommended, walk-ins welcomed. Text or call 805.895.2315 for appointments. Porch, 2346 Lillie Avenue, Summerland.