Lounging across her great-aunt’s couch wasn’t something new for Margo Abbott. She and her family had frequently spent days enjoying one another’s company, playing cards and savoring dinners in the rural neighborhood. But this visit was very abnormal.
She was a nervous 15-year-old who was afraid by what was about to happen. Eight or so people were surrounding her, all waiting for the same thing.
It was Abbott’s turn.
She strolled through the home that seemed so familiar to her until she reached the guest room. Quickly, she spat out a “hi” to the woman sitting at the table with a row of cards spread evenly in front of her. Immediately upon Abbott’s entrance, the woman said, “You have a gift and you need to be doing this.”
Abbott calmly laughed and responded “what?” The woman responded by pointing to the deck of tarot cards on the table.
“You’re meant to help people. You’ve already been doing it, and you just haven’t realized it,” said the psychic.
From that moment on, Abbott knew exactly what the woman meant. She knew that her first psychic reading would lead her on a path to discover her purpose.
“Looking back, there were definitely things going on that I didn’t realize,” says Abbott. “I would know things about people without even meeting them. Starting at age 7 or 8, I felt certain energies from people. If they felt a certain way, I knew.”
Now after 18 years of experience, Abbott truly believes her purpose is to help others by providing life guidance.
“Overall, I have love for everybody and I really want them to feel happy in their life,” says Abbott. “It’s sad to hear someone hates their job or they’re in relationships that drive them crazy or they feel like they can’t be themselves.”
Abbott actually prefers the word “intuitive” to “psychic”, but there are a variety of terms thrown into the realm of reading the past or future. The word “psychic” is derived from Greek meaning “of the mind” and is someone who claims to have an ability to obtain hidden information that the normal senses could not. They tune into the energy of people or objects to draw conclusions.
Another aspect of reading deals with tarot cards. They may be used in a variety of ways like shuffling or laying the cards side-by-side, but it solely depends on the reader’s preference.
“There is a great deal of psychology that overlaps with tarot cards,” says owner of The Cup, Martin George, who has studied the cards for years. “They represent different aspects of people’s personalities.”
Ready to give another reading, Abbott sits at a small coffee shop on the south side of Indianapolis, The Strange Brew. Once her customer arrives, small talk emerges. But within minutes, the purpose of the visit is the forefront of the conversation.
Slipping a small white card onto the table, she collects her client’s birthday and then the configuring begins. By the end of her calculations, the customer now has a life path number, personal year number and a master number.
These numbers help Abbott in her delivery process by giving her details on the client’s personality and future path. While delivering, Abbott constantly shuffles her cards as a method of concentration. She feels the emotional connection immediately.
“One of the psychic things I do is being an impact,” she says. “It’s when you feel what’s going on with someone. If someone sits down and they’re nervous, I get nervous. I shuffle then I bubble people with me so that we’re in the same space.”
Also nicknamed the “giggling guru,” Abbott says her personality trait helps lighten the mood during delivery.
“When you tell someone something and they get defensive right away, they aren’t hearing anything else you have to say,” says Abbott. “People say my giggling stops them from doing that and helping them feel like they know the real me, and that’s important for people to feel comfortable.”
Ever since Abbot’s first reading and obtaining her own deck of tarot cards only a week after, she has been providing her own intuitive services to those in need. She sees, at most, 150 customers per month.
Her popular spot, Mass Ave Wine Shoppe, brings in many customers every other Wednesday to their Wacky Wednesday event. There, Abbott offers her skills in a 15-minute session while customers unwind with a glass of wine.
She also attends home parties to give readings.
“Parties have been happening a lot, especially since the beginning of the year,” says Abbott. “Around this time many people are more unsure or confused about where they’re going in life.”
Since January she has attended 20 home parties.
Being an intuitive is Abbott’s full-time job and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She says a traditional nine-to-five job isn’t her taste.
Her current intuitive position is full of perks, but also some cons.
“I love being my own boss,” says Abbott proudly. “The thing with working for yourself is that you tend to work all the time. You have to learn to set up boundaries. I love helping people get to a better place in their life. I wouldn’t give that up for anything.”
Although most of Abbott’s clients are older adults, she sees children and college students frequently. College students are usually seeking love advice or help with classes.
“It depends on the month, the semester and when the tests are,” says Abbott, giggling. “They want to know is this person for me, should they get back with their ex, what can I do to help me in this class, did I choose the right major.”
Random times during the day, Abbott will sense specific vibes from strangers and her biggest issue is whether or not to spill the details.
“I try to dial it back, but I definitely feel things from people,” says Abbott. “I’m too nervous to just go up and talk to people unless it’s something I think is really important, that I just can’t shake. I don’t want to freak people out.”
One of Abbott’s most memorable moments occurred when she helped a woman reconnect and save her father.
“I felt like something heart wise could be going on. I told her and found out she was a nurse. She went to check him out the next weekend and he was in the pre-stages of having a heart attack,” says Abbott. “They said that if she wouldn’t have caught it he probably wouldn’t have made it. That one really struck me when she got ahold of me again. It kind of shocks and amazes me.”
With a total of 78 cards, the tarot card deck contains both the Major and Minor Arcana. Click through each of the 22 Major Arcana cards below to see what they mean for your future.
