Dianne Skafte

Do you ever feel that your life actually is beginning right now, and your history is only a colorful backdrop for the story? I do. Therefore I will start my biography (literally "life writing") at the present moment rather than turning backwards to the past.

The evening is record-breakingly hot outside the window of my study in Santa Barbara. But the fan is whirling pleasantly, and my new book is lying on the desk next to me. It feels satisfying to have completed a work I've been thinking about writing for some time--50 years! I felt impelled to share the method of card reading that transformed my life when I was a teenager and has remained my faithful companion to this day. I took pleasure in recounting some of my wondrous experiences as I tapped into spiritual ways of knowing and obtained guidance for thousands of clients.

As I write these words, I am aware of the freedom I feel, having retired from academic life. My journey began with a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, included teaching counseling psychology at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and culminated with a wonderful decade of chairing the Depth Psyhology program at Pacifica Graduate Institute. I also practiced as a psychotherapist for a number of years. When appropriate, I used card reading to help clients get in touch with images, dreams, and wishes that stirred within the psyche. I also wrote an intensively researched book (431 citations!) about dreams, oracles, and mystical communication with nature in many times and cultures. LISTENING TO THE ORACLE was published by Harper, San Francisco, in 1997.

But now I enjoy speaking and writing in a more heartfelt way about things that matter most to me. WHAT THE CARDS ARE SAYING was born in this spirit. I wonder why I waited so long to grant myself permission! But no worries! Our lives begin at this moment and open into futures that eagerly welcome us!