Virginia Welch

Virginia Welch, of Roanoke, has not been seen since July of 1982, when she was last seen alive by her roommate. In 1982, there were no cell phones or email, and all other traceable clues of her to day life stopped at that point, in 1982. We will see if the Tarot can shed any light on her situation.

We have a basis of the Queen of Swords, crossed by the Knight of Cups. These are two people, a man and a woman. The woman was an adult in 1982, and because she falls upright, I will assume she means Virginia no harm. If this queen is not the roommate, she may have actually seen Virginia after her roommate saw her; if not, her testimony is more relevant. The Knight of Cups is a young man who distracted Virginia and the Queen of Swords with a plan or a new idea......a plan that had not been properly researched.....and that was the end of the conversation. For some preceding background, we find the Page of Wands, reversed, which I think is not a person in this reading, but the whole situation......this page in reversal represents bad news, unplanned catastrophe, and indecision. There was a problem with Virginia acting against her own better judgment in connection to the Knight of Cups.

Behind this, we find Justice. Justice is upside right....so something important happened that actually had a well balanced start. But then, Justice is immediately followed by the reversed Page of Cups. This is connected to the knight, and indicates deception. So far, it is starting to look as if Virginia may have stumbled into a situation involving crime, or police matters, and someone hiding information determined that Virginia was a threat. Something else to note is that the number of the Justice card is eleven. Perhaps that related to location, or the name or part of an address or description of a location. The next card is the three of pentacles. This is a completely different direction than the one we have followed via the other cards: matters connected to Virginia stop, and the Knight of Cups moves on. His job is described here in this card....he was either in construction or a job connected to driving from one site to another. As a location for Virginia, this would indicate near someone's workplace, or near her own workplace. Pentacles are "earth" cards, but before we determine that she has been buried, lets see what the other cards tell us.

The first card on the staff is the Hierophant. Virginia did not always want to conform to mainstream

ideals, and this was part of the reason she disappeared. I am almost seeing an effort to "go against the grain" at times. In the place of environment, the Star comes up. This is a card of hope and enlightenment, but as it relates to location, it is interesting to note that Roanoke is called the "Star City of the South". Could she still be in Roanoke? Rivers and water are also suggested on this card, and possibly boats and places where two bodies of water meet. The three of cups appears to tell us that there was a difference of opinion that made the friendship between Virginia and the Knight of Cups a bad "political" choice, meaning that she could not stay associated with her and still keep all of his other friends. It also points to an "air'related" death, possibly strangulation or suffocation. The reading ends with the six of cups, looking back on past relationships and childhood, but not making new memories. This is sad, and I wish this reading gave us something happier. Pictured to the left is the Roanoke Star, on Mill Mountain in Roanoke, Virginia.

Where Is Morgan Martin?

Someone asked me for an update to the missing persons case of Morgan Keyanna Martin, who disappeared in Florida. She was five months pregnant, and only expected to be outside for a couple of minutes. It's been over two years since anyone has seen her.

My update dealt primarily with the question of where Morgan is now. The first three cards, representing the past, are the Sun, the King of swords, and Temperance. This describes Morgan's ideas before she went missing. The Sun tells of success and happiness, Temperance is careful combinations, and the King of Swords is an older male thrown into the situation. I believe the Sun is Morgan's pregnancy, and Temperance represents her new considerations for her health and her future. The King is a man who bore some sort of influence on matters.

The next three cards are the Knight of Pentacles, the eight of pentacles, reversed, and The Last Judgment. The Knight of Pentacles is a young man closer to Morgan's age, possibly the father of her child. I would expect him to have an olive to dark complexion, and brown eyes. The eight of pentacles reversed tells us that the Knight had some problems related to employment, in that he was not particularly gifted in his chosen field, but as the card appears in a reading about Morgan, we may safely assume that there was some blame of her, on his part, for this. He was wrong, but perhaps sincerely wrong. The Last Judgment has come up in readings for Morgan in the past, and we see it again. This is a card of renewal, but as a physical location, it speaks of recovery from water. Lakes, bays, and rivers deep enough for sailing.

The last three cards, representing the future, are the three of pentacles, Strength, reversed, and the eight of swords. The three of pentacles refers almost directly to the Knight of Pentacles, who came up earlier. Apparently, circumstances have calmed a bit, in his life. When Strength appears reversed, it tells of abuses of power, and the King of Swords we saw earlier is often a powerful person. As he is older than the Knight of Pentacles and Morgan, he may have had more sway in the course of events, leading to Morgan's disappearance, than anyone else involved. I do not like to see him combined with any card that speaks of abuses of power. The last card, which is the most troubling, is the eight of swords, which in many decks, depicts a maiden trapped in water, surrounded by eight swords. As the card is upright, I take it to mean that Morgan is trapped somewhere. As a location, it also tells of water. Eight, curiously, is also the numeric value of Strength. Somehow, this number fits in....eight deep, eight to the west, ect. The gist of the message and the cards containing the most pertinent clues do not seem to have changed; water, two men, and ulterior motives playing a role. I wish the reading had delivered happier news.