Livia and Alessia Schepp

On January 30 of 2011, the father of Livia and Alessia Schepp, of Switzerland,  reported his twin daughters, pictured left, missing; instead of returning them to their mother. French, Italian, and Swiss police have all been involved in the search for the six year old twins. Sadly, their father died in an apparent suicide in Italy by jumping in front of a train; yet, the girls have not been found. Someone asked me to read for them.

The reading gives us the nine of wands as a beginning card. This is impatience, pure and simple. We have someone who was unwilling to to wait for something. It is crossed by the ace of cups, which is often pregnancy, children, birth, or happy family matters involving children. It looks as if the father was unwilling to endure separation from his daughters after his separation from their mother. Underneath this, giving us some foundation for the situation, we have the four of wands. This is a card of whimsical celebrations and fun. Apparently, this was the setting immediately before these girls disappeared. Into the background, we have the Emperor, which is the one card in the deck that describes the role of "father" best, and as it comes up here, I think we can assume that the father did know what happened to Livia and Alessia. The best news we are going to get about this is the ten of wands. This is a card that tells of carrying a burden, but all the way to it's end. So there is a chance that, one day, we may find out exactly where Livia and Alessia are. Something that was a serious problem for the father before his suicide was bad credit and unpaid debt, this we know because the six of pentacles appears reversed. Not all of his financial problems have been resolved, either, despite the fact that he has died. There is a suggestion that he somehow perceived this as a reason to make rash, unbalenced decisions about his children and their fates, as well. So there was a father who didn't like the custody arrangements for his children and was frustrated about money, financial resources, legal fees, and supporting his children.

On his mind at the time the girls went missing were all things connected to the three of swords, which tells of lovers quarreling and breaking up, divorce, child custody disputes, and unresolved disagreements in general. It was his feeling that he could not cope or communicate. The three of wands is the description of environment here, and it looked to everyone, especially Livia and Alessia, like they were just traveling and going from one place to another. This is interesting: sometimes, this card refers to news from across water or sending something or traveling across water, and it is a "three".....I think it refers to the three of them, father and two daughters. It also refers to possible help; the whole journey looked innocent enough, and someone inadvertantly helped him "disappear" his daughters somehow. The dark side of his nature is described by the King of Cups, reversed. This is dishonesty, lies, violence, and sometimes drunkenness. Cups are also associated with water, and as the king falls reversed, I think the girls never made it out of the water. Water had something very big to do with their fates. Sadly, I do not see them reappearing in the future. The last card is the Knight of Wands, reversed. In this case, he simply represents an event featuring discord, fights, upsets, and bad news. Also, the father's suicide. I feel very sad for the mom.

Update To Mickey Shunick Reading

There has been a very sad update to this case. A man named Brandon Scott Lavergne has been arrested for agravated kidnapping and first degree murder of Mickey Shunick. There is no word about having found Mickey, though. I do not believe she has been located as of this update. There should be more news about this tommorrow.

Baby Gabriel

  Sometime between December 26 and December 30 of 2009, a baby boy named Gabriel Johnson disappeared in Phoenix, Arizona. He was last seen with his mother. His mother is suspected in the disappearance, but police still have no clues. Someone wanted the Tarot to answer some questions about this baby and what happened to him, so I will see what a reading tells me. It starts with the Queen of Wands, reversed. She is a rather jealous, ill-tempered adult female, directly involved in Gabriel's disappearance. She is crossed by the Knight of pentacles. This is a young, adult male who is not as quick tempered, and is also involved in the baby's disappearance, but is not as violent or as ill-willed as the queen, and has yet to decide what he is going to do. Beneath these two individuals, we have the three of wands, reversed. This card tells us that something that began as a promising adventure went bad, somehow. It is immediately followed by the two of wands, reversed, relating back to the reversed Queen of Wands and to the pursuit that went bad. This card indicates joint efforts...not always lasting partnerships, but things or efforts that involve two people. As it is reversed, I would say these two people are now at odds.

Crowning this, we have the three of pentacles, which is the card of the apprentice. This is an opportunity for advancement or employment that the queen or the knight wanted but did not get. The next card, representing what has happened or will happen, is Death. While Death may not be telling us about a physical death, (although I do think Gabriel will not be found alive) he is telling us that the lifestyle of everyone involved in this situation is about to change. A lot. The five of pentacles appears in the place of fears. This is a fear of Gabriel being found. In the place of environment, we have Justice. As Justice falls upright, I think someone investigating this may have honed in on a clue, as unlikely as it seems. The ace of wands falls in the place of hopes, which is the hope of finding Gabriel. The Page of Cups ends the reading. This page often brings news of a birth, and as it follows the ace of wands, it is entirely possible that another pregnancy is part of this picture.

There is a lot of fire symbolism here, and a lot of "enterprise" and "craftsman" symbolism, too. As if a baby was part of a business. Sadly, I do not see Gabriel turning up alive, but I do see justice. The Queen of Wands is the responsible party, the Knight of Pentacles was close to the situation but was not directly responsible.

I wish some of these cases would have happier endings, and I hope that Gabriel is found alive and safe, even though the "feel" I got was that he died in a moment of rage and confusion at the hands of the angry Queen of Wands.

Madeleine McCann

I got a request to do a reading for Madeleine McCann, the four year old girl who disappeared in 2007 in Portugal, while vacationing with her parents. I had intended to do a reading for her, anyway, so today is a good day for me to sit down and ask the cards. Below, there is a photo of her, along with an age progressed picture, since she would be nine years old if she were found today.

This reading begins with the six of pentacles crossed by Death. I can see two distinct but possibly coexistant messages here. First, pentacles relate to the element of Earth, and we have the six of pentacles, and as it is crossed by Death, this could mean that Madeleine is no longer with us, or "six feet under" somewhere. On an interpersonal and social level, the six of pentacles could mean that someone wanted something material from Madeleine's parents, and decided to threaten and use Madeleine in order to manipulate them.

As a base, we have the eight of cups reversed, which shows good times, but really nothing more. This fits in with the vacation the McCann's were taking when Madeleine disappeared. A person who is part of this event, but in the past, is the King of Swords, reversed. Court cards in the suit of swords are often law enforcement or lawyers or judges, and sometimes events involving legal matters. As he is reversed, he is not very well meaning toward the McCanns, and possibly not toward Madeleine, either. Because of the next two cards, I feel that he is an actual person who was involved in this. The very best thing the McCanns could have done on the day this happened was to go home immediately.....it looks as if someone threatened them or stalked them, and they did not take it seriously enough. This is indicated by the eight of wands as a possible outcome this could have had, but didn't. The next card, something that DID happen, is the five of swords, which is revenge.

In the place of secrets and introspection, we have the High Priestess, and in this position, she represents insight, but she is insight with which no one truly wishes to contend. Somehow, the truth is perceivable, but no one really wants to see it or think about it. In the place of environment, the nine of pentacles appears. This is a card of financial independence, and it is also the way the McCanns are perceived. There is an air of "they have money, let them solve their own problems" about this. The three of wands reversed follows this, representing an atmosphere where no one wanted to work with the McCanns to find Madeleine. The final card here is the ace of pentacles.

This all appears to revert to the upside down King of Swords. While I feel he is law enforcement, I also feel he knows what happened, and decided, early on, not to help. This king answers to corruption, and wanted to keep charging the McCanns more and more money in order to solve the case. Even then, it is doubtful that Madeleine would have been returned, and it would have been discovered that he did not do his job. No one expected this case to make world headlines, but it did. It really looks like the McCanns were targeted by an angry, jealous man who felt that they "owed him something" for some reason, and it also looks as if the police deliberately did not help or even truly investigate until it was too late. It sounds unusual, but that is what the cards tell me.

As for Madeleine's fate, I pulled two more cards. Those were Justice, and the six of wands, reversed. Sadly, I do not think any news we get of Madeleine will be that she is still with us, but somehow, some way, she will get justice. The Justice card was upright.