We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Victoria Belue a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Victoria, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

It all began when I met a voodoo priestess and suddenly felt like I was going to faint. I glanced at my friend who was standing next to me and said, “Tell the paramedics I felt dizzy.” I was sure those would be the last words I spoke before I hit the floor. However, Mother Margaret, the priestess, asked if she could take my hand at that moment. Feeling no fear, I nodded and stretched it out toward her. She touched my hand and the dizziness vanished as fast as it had approached.

She looked at me with her shining emerald-green eyes and said, “That was your power you felt, but you don’t know how to use it yet.”

I had never been to a voodoo shop before. I wasn’t even certain what voodoo or a voodoo priestess was prior to that day. My friend had suggested we go there to obtain a gris-gris bag which is a tiny bag filled with a unique combination of herbs and small talisman objects. Each gris gris bag is created for a specific purpose; love, health, and money are the usual ones.

I wanted success with writing a book whose plot had eluded me for more than a year. I had felt its energy on the periphery of my awareness for a long time. The awareness became so intense that it woke me up at night many times nagging me to write it. I had voiced my frustration to my friend. She was raised in New Orleans and told me she knew exactly what to do. So, when we found ourselves there on a trip, she spontaneously suggested – actually, it was insisted – we go see one of the most respected living voodoo priestesses, Mother Margaret. She made a gris-gris bag and I felt – without a speck of exaggeration here – that I was standing about a foot off the ground on a cushion of air for several minutes after we left her shop.

Even before that amazing day, studying the meaning of tarot cards was something I was drawn to. But my upbringing in a Southern Baptist family and the beliefs within that religion had instilled a fear in them and kept me from pursuing my studies for many years. My fear finally diminished to the point that I went to a ‘new age’ shop one day and bought the Rider-Waite-Smith deck.

Before reading any tarot books I laid out a Celtic Cross spread. (I knew that was a classic layout of cards based on observing readers at parties and events.) The cards I turned over immediately felt like old friends. I understood what they were saying to me. That was the beginning of a life-long relationship.

The problem of my book plot was solved one day when I was taking a long flight alone. As I walked down the aisle of the plane to my seat the almost fully formed plot and its characters popped into my conscious awareness. It felt like one of those moments when you think, “Oh, I forgot to turn the light off in the bedroom before I left.” It was that kind of recognition and certainty.

I sat down in my seat and began writing. (Being a professional writer for television for many years, I always carry a pen and notebook.) I wrote the plot for my first book, The Hand Dealt, for the next six hours. My main characters were major arcana cards from the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck. They were imbued with special gifts lifetimes earlier on the mission of helping the people and planet of Earth.

Even though they possess these above-normal gifts, they nevertheless suffer through the usual circumstances we all face in life. My main character Vesta was abandoned by her father and raised in poverty by her mother. She climbs the corporate ladder as a young adult using her intelligence and determination. She self-soothes with alcohol which doesn’t always turn out well for her.

My posse of tarot characters deal with many adventures in my series the Tarot Legacies. They use their supernatural powers to thwart some nasty characters who threaten the world but they are also very human in dealing with themes of love and loss, ego and true power, aging, and the concept of time.

Tarot cards bring all of these issues to the forefront. When I read for clients I see their stories laid out in the spreads. People ask me how tarot cards ‘work.’ The answer, as I understand it, is that they project a mirror of who we are at the deepest level of our subconscious and unconscious selves. Conscious aspects show up too. Clients recognize those. But it’s when those hidden – unrevealed – aspects surface that significant work can be done and real growth accomplished.

This, along with my decades of study of dream symbology, has led me to my business, my true calling, or as Mother Margaret would say “using my power.”

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I began writing my urban fantasy series The Tarot Legacies in 2018. My first book in the series The Hand Dealt was on an Amazon bestseller list with the following books also ranking high. Tarot urban fantasy is not a well-known genre. In fact, I’m the only one that I know of who writes in that genre. But the uniqueness of the story resonated with readers, even those who didn’t understand much about tarot. I believe the reason is that my characters deal with the very human problems we all deal with – love, loss, loneliness, abandonment, fear and so many other issues.

I’m always focused on being of service to others. Writing my books and reading tarot for clients resonates with me as being truly of service.

My understanding of how tarot ‘works’, based on decades of reading for clients, is that all the many-layered aspects of ourselves are laid out in the major arcana. (That’s why my main characters are from the major arcana.) When I lay out a spread for someone I see their story – past, present, and probable future – laid out before me. Most of what the cards show are subconscious and unconscious aspects the client doesn’t even realize at that point. It’s my job to help them understand how these aspects are affecting their lives and how they can consciously either deal with them or embrace them to further their journey of living at their highest potential.

I am not an ego-driven person and think of self-accolade as a detriment to my own progress and growth. It is through the comments of my long-standing clients that I can say my readings help them navigate their forward courses. By coming to understand more deeply who they are, what motivates and inspires them, and what their current energetic trajectory is, they tell me they are able to make better choices.

Through countless readings, I have come to know that tarot is a powerful tool to help people get in touch with their deepest selves. I embrace what Carl Jung believed about tarot; that it is a way to develop personal individuation. It reveals the light and dark about ourselves, our hopes and our fears, and how we will probably proceed along our paths unless we intervene with our free will. I believe everyone can benefit from a tarot reading based on this foundation.

For me, writing my urban fantasy series is a natural extension of reading tarot. I also publish an online magazine, Astrologic Magazine (AstroLogicMagazine.com) where each month I present new articles from some of the brightest minds in Vedic and Western astrology, tarot, sound healing, soul awakening, and other topics. I call this Practical Metaphysics – ancient science put into modern practice for the benefit of all.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The lesson I had to unlearn was how fear was holding me back.

Launching a career as a tarot reader conjures all sorts of first impressions – most of them unwanted and undeserved. That kept me from embracing what I knew was my calling for years.

It was only after so many of my handful of longstanding clients referred me to their friends for readings that I finally took the step of promoting myself as a tarot reader. This happened during the pandemic lockdown and suddenly I was booked every day with readings.

Quickly I determined that only two per day were possible. There is a lot of energy exchanged during a reading.

I also had fear about publishing my urban fantasy series The Tarot Legacies. I was afraid that readers wouldn’t like them. But it was because the stories are so unique that the books hit Amazon bestseller lists.

“A life lived in fear is a life half lived.” That quote by the extraordinary filmmaker Baz Luhrmann resonates with me deeply and perpetually.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I was a writer and producer for television for over a decade. While I loved my job I was deeply drawn to what I knew to be my calling writing my urban fantasy series and reading tarot for clients. Logically it made no sense to leave a great job with great pay to launch myself into a career filled with misperception. At last, I did it and have no regrets. I’m happier than I’ve ever been, and while my work is demanding energetically, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://victoriabelue.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoria_belue/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/victoriabelueauthor
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@VictoriaBelueMetaphysics

Image Credits
Photos courtesy Kevin Schaefer. Locations Giza, Egypt. Chartres Cathedral, Chartres, France. Druid stone circle near Dublin, Ireland.