Tarot reading and astrology seems to have taken the world by storm, with everyone wanting to get in on the action, including some famous faces.
Kate Monahan, an Irish tarot reader based in New York City, started reading just for her friends and family. But once lockdown hit, she began looking into the practice a little bit more.
A year on and a YouTube channel later, Kate has expanded her passion, and from what she says started as a hobby has turned into half her livelihood.
"I started as a hobby kind of during the lockdown last year, and continued to do it because people were responding really well to it, and I was enjoying it too," Kate said.
"Since going back to work, I've been able to kind of do both things. I've kind of gone back to work at a more part-time basis. But similarly, I'm able to do these readings for people then part-time. So I've sort of split up my whole week to do half of my week kind of was my regular day job to kind of just cover my bills and pay my rent and everything else. And then half of my week is now dedicated to making content or doing personal one to one readings with people."
With her social media accounts, Babydollmagick, gaining some traction, some famous faces have dropped by for a reading from the Skerries native.
With former It Galz podcast host Jenny Claffey and fellow Skerries gal Suzanne Jackson both dipping their toes in the Tarot world, Kate isn't shy of becoming a "Tarot reader to the stars."
"It was really cool. It really just kind of goes to show though, that this isn't like a fringe subject anymore. Or, you know, it's like a pretty mainstream topic now. And people are really into it. I'm really into it," Kate said.
"So that was really cool that those people [Suzanne and Jenny] approached me and it just helped me get the word out about this subject that I know a lot about."
And when it came down to the nitty-gritty, the stars are just like the rest of us, wanting some guidance on where to look next.
"I was able to speak to them about issues that they were facing presently and most likely outcome for that and kind of how to navigate that. And that's really how I read tarot. It is from a more soul centred perspective, less fortune-telling, but I tried to read from the present perspective and how we can best navigate your present circumstances so that you get the best future outcome for you, but it's really all about navigating the present," she added.
Thank God Kate stopped to chat to a man in a coffee shop one day who opened up a world of tarot to her, and she grasped more of an interest in the practice. Not to mention Harry Potter had something to do with it too.
"I was obviously a massive nerd for Harry Potter. And towards the end of the series, one of the teachers pulled the tower card, and the tower in Tarot usually represents a shocking event," Kate explained.
"The chapter in the Harry Potter book when Dumbledore dies, it's called the top of the tower. It was all linked to the tower card being pulled. So I kept hearing references of tarot all my life, and then it came right up into my face."
But when it comes down to it, not many of us really understand what it's all about, and Kate explains that it's so much more simple than people build it up to be.
"My hope is that the person I'm reading for will come to discover that they already have all the answers they need within themselves. It's just about getting a new perspective, or, I suppose locating that within yourself rather than me telling you what I think you should do or what the cards think you should do," she added.
"We just talked through what's coming up. Generally, by the end of this, the person has found that they already know what they should do themselves and that they already have all that wisdom within and it helps them with their intuition as we go through the reading."
If you want to get to know more of what Kate does, you can check out her Instagram page here and her Youtube channel here.
