E-Soteric Endeavors

In late January, when people still gathered in bars and COVID-19 was no more than a distant news story from across the ocean, I hired Celeste Mott to do tarot readings for my best friend Paige’s bachelorette party. Just off of Bourbon Street, but seemingly a world away from the neon signs and promotors purveying “HUGE ASS BEERS,” my fellow bridal partiers and I sipped absinthe-based cocktails in Belle Époque, a newly-opened speakeasy tucked into the back of the Old Absinthe House, and awaited Mott’s arrival. One of the oldest bars on the famous—and infamous—stretch, the Old Absinthe House claims to have served the green, anise-flavored libation for longer continually than any other bar in the United States. Belle Époque, the recently-opened speakeasy component, offers a more upscale and refined experience than the front bar: vintage absinthe fountains, cocktail waiters, elegant small plates, and absinthe-infused drinks served in bubbling glassware that looks like it belongs more appropriately in a laboratory or head shop than in a bar. Even for a Saturday night on Bourbon Street, it was not overcrowded, but the savvy smattering of congregants present generated a low hum of conversation, harmonizing dreamily with the lounge music that played. We contributed, chatting excitedly, wondering what our cards would reveal upon Mott’s arrival.

Mott carries herself with the air and wisdom of a woman who has lived many years beyond her actual thirty-four. Time being of the essence, she asked the bride to shuffle the tarot deck, and the readings began.

Upon her entrance, the reader introduced herself in a unique accent built from being born in the United Kingdom, spending formative years in Australia, and finally making New Orleans home in 2012. With dark hair and clothing contrasting her fair skin, eccentric jewelry and cat eye spectacles perched on her slim nose, Mott carries herself with the air and wisdom of a woman who has lived many years beyond her actual thirty-four. Time being of the essence, she asked the bride to shuffle the tarot deck, and the readings began.

With each reading across the absinthe fountain, we grew more in awe of Mott’s abilities. Her insight was tailored not only to the personality of the girl whose cards were being read, but to elements of our work and personal lives she could not possibly have been aware of. “You’re the type of person who wants to mother everyone, sometimes to your own detriment—you might even bring home strangers if they need a place to stay.” Surely enough, the bridesmaid addressed had someone down on their luck staying on her couch at that very moment. With each card, the accuracies became more eerily specific, down to personal circumstances we had discussed just that morning over brunch, long before joining Mott at the bar.

In those brief moments of connection with her, with the cards, it seemed she was able to truly see each of us—not just our persons; but our hopes, our fears, and in ways even the arc of our lives.

Having grown up with a mother borderline obsessed with tarot, I have personally long harbored a great deal of skepticism toward the practice. That night in the French Quarter, though, I observed that Mott’s power does not solely exist in her psychic abilities, but in her thorough understanding of psychology and philosophy. Her capacity for deep empathy translates to intuition. In those brief moments of connection with her, with the cards, it seemed she was able to truly see each of us—not just our persons; but our hopes, our fears, and in ways even the arc of our lives.

Tarot Reading in the Era of Social Distance

This begs the question: is it possible to experience the kind of profound connection required to read tarot cards without physical presence? Without sharing space? As so many aspects of our lives shift to virtual platforms, I was interested to learn that Mott has transitioned her tarot reading business to be entirely remote, and became curious to find out just how she is able to take a practice seemingly so dependent upon person-to-person connection, and still enlighten and empower clients from afar via Zoom video chat, audio, or even strictly text.

The Monday after Hurricane Laura tore through Southwest Louisiana I gave her a call; she had spent the weekend conducting runs of relief supplies to evacuees staying in New Orleans, and doing one-card virtual readings in exchange for donations to those impacted by the storm. When she could not schedule any more readings, the donations continued to pour in, and in total she raised $2149 to purchase supplies for evacuees. It’s no surprise that someone possessing professional-grade empathy felt so compelled to help.

It turns out that for Mott, whose career is largely reliant on being highly sensitive to energies and emotions, the transition to remote readings was much easier than I would have expected. “I'll be honest with you,” Mott confided, “the bigger challenge for me has always been in-person.” She began her professional tarot practice fifteen years ago from Australia giving readings online via liveperson.com, which has since rebranded as kasamba.com and was one of the first major “psychic hotline” websites created to connect psychics with clients regardless of their position on the globe. Until around five years ago when Mott began regularly incorporating in-person readings into her schedule, the vast majority of her business was remote—long before COVID necessitated it. “So, it’s been a very easy transition for me to go back to long-distance,” Mott said. “I find I can get overloaded in person. The energy’s very intense, and very overwhelming. So sometimes having a little bit of physical space is helpful for me.” The reasons are not exclusively metaphysical: Mott is immune-compromised, so for the safety of herself and her clients, she is only conducting readings in-person on a very selective basis.

Another factor contributing to Mott’s preference for remote readings is her age—despite her apparent wisdom, she qualifies as a Millennial. “I grew up on the Internet,” she said, “And so I’ve grown up communicating with people through text.” She’s also a writer, which of course helps when it comes to written communication, too. From the other side of the world, she’s long been drawn to New Orleans’ literature and music and moved to the Crescent City to obtain a Masters in Fine Art in Poetry from University of New Orleans. She released her chapbook Lucid: A Micro Memoir with Porkbelly Press earlier this year under the name Kia Alice Groom, and in it explores her extensive experience with lucid dreaming. “Dreamwork,” as she calls it, is another service she regularly provides her clients remotely. “I've always been really fascinated by dreams. I dream very vividly every night and I always remember them,” Mott said. “And so, I love being able to do that for clients, because I find a lot of my clients have these very vivid, spiritually-impactful dreams and they want to know: ‘What does this mean, why is this happening?’” Mediumship, or the practice of mediating communication between the living and the spirits of the dead, and past-life work are also components of her practice.

Misconceptions About Tarot Card Readings

Since we’re discussing the contemporary role of tarot, it is also important to acknowledge its history. Tarot cards date back to the 1430s in Italy, and were created simply as playing cards. While many varieties existed, the standard modern deck is based on either the Venetian or Piedmontese tarot, which consists of seventy-eight cards divided into the major arcana and minor arcana. The minor arcana cards are divided into four suits, much like standard playing cards, but a bit different: typically wands, cups, swords, and pentacles. Each suit contains four court cards (king, queen, knight, and jack) as well as ten numbered cards—sound familiar? The illustrations on the major arcana cards depict various characters and forces, frequently based on characters from the Christian Bible. “The kind of Christianity that people were practicing in fifteenth century Italy––there was also a lot of mysticism involved in it. People at that time were fascinated by astrology, and they were fascinated by this more mystical version of Christianity,” Mott noted. “And I mean, Catholicism is actually pretty mystical when you get down to it.”

“The kind of Christianity that people were practicing in fifteenth century Italy––there was also a lot of mysticism involved in it. People at that time were fascinated by astrology, and they were fascinated by this more mystical version of Christianity,” Mott noted.

One misconception of tarot, traced back to the beginning of the 1780s in France, is that the cards themselves have some inherent power or spirituality. “It's just a deck of cards,” Mott emphasized, “And people use them differently depending on who is using them.” She also noted that neither the cards nor the reader have the ability to see the future, as many perceive is the case. “That’s not what we do really, this idea of telling the future, because free will is something that people have,” Mott explained wryly. “So, the cards can illuminate paths and hurdles and obstacles and potential, but nothing can really tell you what is one hundred percent going to happen, because you make choices, and that’s what dictates what’s going to happen to you.”

Cold Reading, Hot Reading, and Psychic Reading

Aware of my skepticism, Mott explained to me candidly that there are different types of readings that tarot readers and other professional psychics engage in: Cold reading, hot reading, and psychic reading. Cold reading is something we all do, regardless of our line of work. It includes picking up on physical cues and body language—certain inferences can be made, for instance, if someone is wearing a wedding ring, or recently dyed their hair. “I would say most tarot readers, including myself, use a little bit of cold reading as well [as psychic reading],” Mott explained. “I don’t necessarily mean to, but yeah, I’m going to notice things…as opposed to when you're reading for someone if you're doing long distance, all you're getting is intuition.”

Next to the more innocent-natured cold reading is hot reading—more intentionally deceptive, hot reading entails doing research on a client ahead of time to make the reading seem more accurate. This could entail running a Google search, having a plant ask questions before the session, or plain, old-fashioned Facebook stalking.

“Psychic reading is in a totally separate category,” she told me. “That's when you're not necessarily using cold reading techniques, you don't know anything about the person, it is all coming through intuitively or through some kind of sixth sense or additional skill.”

The third category is what Mott has built her career on: psychic reading. “Psychic reading is in a totally separate category,” she told me. “That's when you're not necessarily using cold reading techniques, you don't know anything about the person, it is all coming through intuitively or through some kind of sixth sense or additional skill.” In an industry based on something so intangible, where fraudulent practices like hot reading are rampant, Mott’s countless client testimonials point to her talents as a genuine psychic reader: “She is the most honest and accurate reading I have ever received,” one reviewer wrote on Facebook. “No gimmicks, no schemes, just a pure honest reading.” Many others echo the sentiment: “No gimmicks, Celeste is the real deal!”

So, while the backdrop of a French Quarter speakeasy and the physical presence of a spectacled card reader set an excellent scene, it seems that is all extraneous. In the absence of physical cues, when conducting readings remotely via audio or even text, all that remains is intuition. “I think it makes it a more powerful energetic connection,” Mott said of the practice. “It’s kind of like if you have a disability where one of your senses is shut off: like if you’re a blind person, your sense of hearing becomes way more acute. If I can’t see you, and I can’t hear your voice, I can only read your energy.” And, when it comes to energy, Mott is a very avid reader.

Set up a virtual reading, purchase a copy of  Lucid: A Micro Memoir, or read more about the art of tarot and other mystical practices on Mott’s blog at celestemott.com.

She is also on Instagram and YouTube as @celestemott and on Facebook at Tarot by Celeste.