We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rakaiya Arae’ a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Rakaiya, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I had really great friend who was a very talented tarot reader. I was harassing her for weeks for readings, but one day she told me that we are both gifted and I should invest in my own deck. That was a little over two years ago, and the day after I bought my first tarot deck at The Honey Pot in Little 5 Points. My first few readings were personal and I learned so much from the book included with my tarot deck as well as simple researching. I shared my personal readings with my friend and she was so proud of me and suggested I started doing small readings for friends. This is when I found out how gifted I truly was. It was like I would do a reading for a friend and they would say “No way!” then call me a week later like “OMG you were soo right!”. For me personally reading the tarot cards has always been about interpreting the big picture story with in. It’s all about using and focusing my intuition on the cards, the energy, and intention. It might not sound like a lot, and that’s exactly how I was thinking when I first started readings. What I didn’t realize when I first started reading tarot is how draining it could be to my body and how taxing it could be on my mental. This was a huge obstacle for me because I was tired all of the time emotionally with out knowing why. It wasn’t until I bought this book “Psychic Witch: a Metaphysical Guide…” by Mat Auryn that I realized what I was missing was grounding and extra self care in my routine. When I started doing the exercises in the book I was in turn better at tarot reader because I could focus in a way I couldn’t before. I think the most essential thing I have learned while reading tarot is how to truly take care of myself and make internal cup overflow. Nothing about this was easy. The hardest part for me was setting boundaries and putting me above even those I loved. I did not become this person over night it took a lot of patience and I’m still learning and putting in work to become the best I can be. I feel like I will be discovering new things about myself and tarot for the rest of my life. There is no limit on how much you can learn when it comes to the art of tarot because art is always up for interpretation.
Rakaiya, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I was born and raised in Decatur, GA and I’m 21 years old. I’ve always really liked art and music especially as kid. I would sing all the time because I was choir at church and school. I also really loved to paint I made my first 2 piece canvas painting when I was around nine or ten. I also was intrigued in modeling, so around 13 I went to a modeling school. Deep down my path has always been creative but I honestly did not tap back into that creativity until a few years ago. When I started reading tarot it did so much for me than just bring another source of income; it opened a door way to much abundance. My first time ever vending and reading tarot was in August 2021 when Underground Atlanta reopened and that has pretty much been my home ever since. You can catch me reading tarot and selling my art there on most weekends. I have experienced noting but support from all the beautiful people there. I feel like what sets me apart from other tarot readers is how genuine my readings are. I try to make sure everyone has a warm and welcoming experience when they sit down at my table. Most of the time people have a hard time leaving because our conversation is too beautiful. Honestly, I am most proud of my drive because there ae some days I just do not want to read tarot. Even on those days I remember that even on my cloudiest day I am Arae’ of Sunshine, so even if I’m feeling down I would feel worse if could’ve made someone smile and didn’t. My general readings start at $11.11 and my highest reading is the Aura Reading $44.44 which is a 10 card spread on any topic or any questions you may have. On my website, (araeofsunshineaos.com) I offer multiple different options when it comes to tarot readings, and in addition to tarot I have my apparel, prints, podcasts, blog post and so much more!
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
There are a few books that really influenced me and my perspective on life. When I read “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell it proved to me that hard work, dedication, and passion really does take you far. This book talks about how it roughly takes around ten thousand hours to master something, and Gladwell does an amazing job at breaking down examples of how the most successful people in the world did just that. It opened up my eyes and made me realize my dreams were not all that unreachable I just had to find something I love and dedicate myself. Ten thousand hours is a lot of time yes, but at least it is time spent on something loved. “Mindset” by Carol S, Dweck Ph.D. challenges two different mindsets “the fixed vs. growth” with varous of examples and experiments. I really enjoyed this book because it helped me identify more ways I could have more patience with myself and my learning process. Learning the fixed mindset made me comprehend how I have put a limit on my potential, because believing that your qualities are carved into stone is the fixed mindset. Thinking that you have to contstantly prove yourself to be a certain person in fear of not being enough. You loose your core values doing that but it is what we are taught .Where as the growth mindset is based on the idea that you can cultivate your basically quality through effort and help from others. This mindset promotes reaching out for help and knowing that there is always room for growth. “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz helped me clear society’s dream and make room for my own. It is a Toltec wisdom book that explains how we all are not that different, but actually reflections that can not recognize each other due to the “smoke” society cast on us. It helped me realize and understand how to live in heaven on Earth. How to make everyday blissful despite all the negativity. I really love this book and I am currently hosting a book club on my YouTube and Spotify Podcast, please tune in!
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding thing for me when it comes to making art is when I create something super crazy and random and someone absolutely loves it. That is by my favorite thing when I just paint or create how I’m feeling and people genuinely appreciates it. I feel like another hing is creating something that makes people feel anything is beautiful to me, because people today can be very out of touch with their emotions. The most rewarding part for me when it comes to reading tarot is when someone gets up from a reading with more clarity than before. I feel like nobody ever wakes up and says, “Yeah I’m gong to get tarot reading today!”, so when people support me I know that this is something they needed. Over all though the most rewarding thing is be able to connect with other artists and creatives. The opportunities are endless when it comes to doing what I really love and that has got to be the best part. The journey is just beautiful watching all your ideas and thoughts manifest into reality, and that is what every single creative or artist does. We take whats in our head and despite all the conflicting thoughts of “Is this good enough?”, we still find the courage to present our work.
Contact Info:
- Website: araeofsunshineaos.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/rakaiya.arae
- Facebook: facebook.com/araeofsunshine.lc
- Linkedin: linktr.ee/araeofsunshineaos/
- Twitter: twitter.com/araeosunshineLC
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIk9SVpsE-_XPOPIKcGn5zg/
- Other: https://soundcloud.com/aos-arae-of-sunshineee https://open.spotify.com/show/0rJuZ6whj97nmBQgBECpJF linktr.ee/araeofsunshineaos