New Year's 2015

Happy New 2015, Everyone! Here's hoping that we will see a resolution to all of these cases this year.

Dorothy Scofield

Twelve year old Dorothy Scofield disappeared in Florida on July 22, 1976, while her mother was at DMV, taking a drivers' test. Dorothy went to a department store and had agreed to meet her mother later, but never made it. That was the last time she was seen; it has been almost thirty-nine years.

This reading starts with the two of swords, reversed, crossed by Justice. I already do not like it. The two of swords often comes up reversed when something that was well enough left alone is suddenly active again, but moving in an unproductive direction. It may mean that Dorothy's mother initially was not in favor of Dorothy going by to the store by herself, but agreed to it against her better judgement. For this to be crossed by Justice.....well.....it shows challenges to finding Dorothy, at best. 

The Wheel of Fortune shows up to describe the event wherein Dorothy disappeared. It was, indeed, a random event; Dorothy had not been stalked, but the situation was an unexpected opportunity for the perpetrator. Also, I think a vehicle was involved; it looks as if someone offered Dorothy a ride somewhere, a`la the reference to a "wheel", and it seemed opportune to her, as well. The next description we get here is the four of cups, reversed. Dorothy had never met this person; when the four of cups appears reversed, speaks of relationships and chance meetings with people, but new people. So this places Dorothy with a stranger.

Now we get some information about the stranger. The three of pentacles comes up reversed, to show us that this person either does not have a skill, or does not have a job, or both. So we know that whoever this it, it is someone who is not gainfully employed. And the next card describing him (yes....I believe it WAS a male) is the Page of Wands, reversed. This is a young person who never seems to contribute much in the way of anything positive, and he may have gotten some bad news, as well, that day. 

The crime itself is represented by the eight of cups, reversed, which is the spiritual abandoned for the physical, in this case, sexual perversion. It is followed by the three of swords, reversed. In a reading, the three of swords in this position often means that one of the subjects of the reading was personally compromised by another subject in the reading. In this case, I think Dorothy was able to describe her attacker, and he did not want to be identified. This card often refers to custodial interference, as well. So we can see that he had no intentions of allowing Dorothy to go back to her mother. The next card tells us more about the perpetrator as time went on......he went from being the reversed Page of Wands to being the reversed Knight of Wands. He became a man who never seems to have stable relationships and likes to argue and fight. He may have reddish or light brown hair and be of fair complexion. Although he should be in his late fifties or possibly early sixties now, he is still represented by a knight, rather than a king, because he failed to "grow up". The last card here is the Fool, reversed. This refers to the unsolved case, suggesting that several key choices made were in error. 

There do not appear to be many hints about location in this reading, but I will take a stab at it. There are two "three" value cards, yet they are reversed. One is pentacles, which points us north, and one is swords, which points us east. But they are both reversed! It would appear that the kidnapper switched locations for some reason, and still did not travel very far with Dorothy, possibly "three" to the north, then three to the east. Also, the three of swords comes up in the place of environment, and this card suggests exposure to the elements and to storms, so I would look for Dorothy to be outside. The combination of the upside down Knight of Wands and the upside down Fool is the biggest problem, though. There either was, or is, an opportunity to question the perpetrator, and that opportunity has somehow been overlooked.

Jessica Chambers

I got a request, over the holiday, for an "investigative reading" about the murder of Jessica Chambers, of Mississippi. She was found deceased earlier in December, and fire was used, either as a weapon, or to destroy evidence.

The reading starts with the Queen of Wands, reversed, crossed by the seven of cups. This queen, when reversed, is a jealous, angry woman who acts on impulse, rather than thought. Curously, the suit of wands also represents fire, so we are already being told of the element of fire, and of a feminine influence. The seven of cups represents dreams or delusions......things that the queen wanted, but which were either out of her reach or simply impossible. Beneath this, we find the five of cups, which tells of regrets and bitterness, accompanied by a loss. But that which was out of the queen's reach and the loss represented by the five of cups are emotional matters, and hardly seem like a motive for murder! 

Someone who contributed, in some way, to all this is the King of Cups; but as he falls upside right, I will assume that he is part of the solution, rather than part of the problem. He is a man who is trying to solve this crime, yet is challenged by the lengths to which the perpetrators have gone. He has empathy, almost to a fault. Sometimes it is easier to focus on a murder without so much empathy! This is backed up by the appearance of the Moon, as a possibility. This tells us that working with intuition and theories will help solve the crime; good, old fashioned police work. Sometimes, this card warns of exaggerations and lies, however; so it is important that the general public be patient with investigators while they sort through evidence. The two of wands appears to describe events in the near future, and this card speaks of scientific methods, and productive exchanges of ideas. Via this exchange of ideas, there is also a partnership of sorts: more than one person or agency will solve the crime. Also, a double meaning implied here is that more than one person must be looked at and questioned......we have multiple suspects. 

In the place of fears, we find the Hanged Man. This is a card of sacrifice, especially in the quest of knowledge. Whoever killed Jessica is very afraid of this kind of sacrifice. As a twist, Strength appears reversed in the place of environment; somehow, abuse of authority has played a role here. As of now, the guilty party is not as gratified with the murder as expected, and is mulling over new strategies for quieting down all of the attention that has been generated by it. As a final outcome for this reading, we have the Hierophant, a card of conformity, telling us that conformity is the method the killer is using to avoid detection and deflect suspicion right now. Something I find odd about this reading is the presence of an angry female influence here; I was not expecting that. While I am sure that there will be at least two suspects questioned, one may turn on the other, in return for immunity or a reduced sentence, it seems that jealousy and imagined slights were somehow the motivation for Jessica's murder. 

Happy Holidays

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season!

Will There Be Answers About The Lyon Sisters?

There are now two persons of interest named in the case of the Lyon sisters, who disappeared in Maryland in 1975. There was a massive search in Bedford County, Virginia, and the grand jury is deliberating about charges. The question is, will we find answers through these developments?

We start with the five of pentacles, which speaks of destitution and loneliness. This describes where the girls actually are. It is crossed by the World, which is triumph and achievement. While the desolation of the five of pentacles is not good news, it is rather expected after all these years. The World is a good sign, although investigators are still working at finding answers. The Star appears as a foundation for the recent search......a reliable tip was received. It was followed by the three of swords, which tells us a little more about the tip. There is an element of infighting between involved parties here; someone either heard a secret he or she did not want to keep, or someone divulged information out of malice toward another party. Either way, there was discord involved. The ten of cups appears as a possibility, which means that this lead may, indeed, finally bring the Lyon sisters home.

The Knight of Pentacles appears as a young to middle aged man who is searching for the girls. He is moving slowly, not only in physical searches through rural places which must be physically dug up, or unearthed, (earth is represented by pentacles) but through information and paperwork, as well. Answers will come slowly, but he is not going to give up. 

The six of swords appears as a motivating factor, in some way. It is a fear of travel, or movement, on one person's part. Location, location........if it were a location, it would be a body of water big enough for a boat and deep enough for travel. The five of cups follows, as someone's unshared knowledge. It also has to do with disappointment over an inheritance, or frustration because a reward or payment was not as large as expected. Most Tarot decks show the five cups near a stream or a river. The five of swords follows this, in the place of hopes. This is clearly revenge, which, once again, gives credence to the idea introduced by the three of swords that came up earlier, showing some infighting among parties. The five of swords in the place of desires clearly details revenge. The last card here is the one true problem with finding answers through this investigation; it is the Page of Swords, reversed. Here we have someone who has shared information, but with ulterior motives, and who has not really shared ALL the information he or she knows. Hopefully, the Knight of Pentacles will persevere, and yes, it looks as if we may get answers through these proceedings.

Will The Arrest Solve The McStay Murders?

In light of the recent arrest of Chase Merritt for the murders of Joseph, Summer, Gianni, and Joseph McStay, who were missing for over four years before they were found in shallow graves in the Mohave Desert, I decided to do a reading to find out we will get any answers through this development. 

We begin with a base of the ace of wands crossed by the Knight of  Swords. This is almost classic symbolism for a new piece of information, or a tip, being put into the hands of law enforcement. Policemen are often represented by court cards in the suit of swords. Below this, we have the Page of Wands, which is also often a message, backing this up. The Page can also be a person with information, but this person would be a witness, not a defendant or anyone involved in the investigation. The Fool appears, as the reason the tip was investigated, and also suggests that someone went "out on a limb" to investigate a lead that seemed dubious, or not provable at first. 

The Emperor appears as a possible motivation for the arrest, and I suppose that is a pretty straightforward message: it stands to reason that Joseph McStay's father would want the case solved as soon as possible. Perhaps he is the one who did some of the sleuthing, or discovered something in his son's possessions or records that required further investigation. This is followed by the High Priestess, reversed, in the place of things that will come to pass. I do not like this card here, because it tells us of surface knowledge, or half truths; not the revealing of the entire truth. A challenge for law enforcement and prosecutors will be a temptation to accept only part of the whole story, rather than digging deeper. 

The first card on the staff is the three of swords, telling us that there has already been a bit of "infighting" between individuals close to this matter. Testimony from the person who was arrested may bring on more debate, and it will become even more personal than it already is. This is followed by the four of swords, reversed, which is a sense of urgency on the parts of family to get the whole matter over with, and the case closed. In the place of desires, we have a card that seems very much out of place, and that is the Moon. This is not a desire for closure, but a desire to keep hiding something, or misrepresenting something. Combined with the reversed High Priestess, this does not bode well for the arrest of Chase Merritt, in and of itself, solving this case. The last card is the three of wands, indicating that we are looking for more than one individual to stand trial for this crime. Ultimately, we will eventually get that information, but it will not be easy on the survivors of the deceased, and getting the truth from any witnesses or witnesses after the fact will be difficult. 

Honing In On Brian Patrick Miller

The question of how to find Brian Miller was posed to me, and he still has not been found, seen or heard from, so I will put this question to the Tarot, and see if any new ideas result.

We start with Temperance, crossed by the four of pentacles in answer to the question of how Brian can be found. So it looks like we have the beginnings of a good mixture of investigative skills suddenly shut down, via information being withheld, for some reason. Beneath this is the ten of wands, reversed, which bespeaks duplicity. But is this on the part of law enforcement or a witness? The next card is the ace of pentacles. Somehow, this seems like a lead or a tip, when it appears in relation to this question. As a location, it refers to earth, and possibly a small flower garden. 

A distinct possibility here is described by the eight of pentacles, reversed, which tells me that we are looking at an unethical use of skills somewhere in the investigation, so that helps to answer the question concerning who would withhold information. This is followed by the seven of cups, which is delusions of grandeur, or lots of discussion about unrealistic possibilities. So a definite problem exists in the investigation. 

The Knight of Pentacles appears in the place of fears. There is some perceived reason for someone to be afraid of Brian being found. In the place of environment, we have the High Priestess, reversed, which is feminine influence and superficiality. Somewhere, connected to this case, is a woman who delivers half truths and gets away with evasiveness with law enforcement. Not enough is known about her connection to Brian's case to force her to testify. Also, as a location, the seven of cups and the High Priestess would indicate water. I would say water, pillars, palm trees, and perhaps a statue. The three of cups appears as a desire, which is obviously the desire to find Brian and have a happy ending to this story. It is also another water card, but this time, it's mundane location description is, once again, of a garden; possibly at an estate or a house where lavish parties have been thrown. The last card here is the Queen of Swords, letting us know that in order to cut to the chase, a court order will be required. This Queen represents legal or judicial authority; she may be a prosecutor or a judge. It may be a good idea to write a letter to whoever oversees the agency responsible for the investigation, or for Brian's family to contact their state representative, and get the ball rolling that way.