Melissa Cynova 
I’ve never met Nancy Antenucci, or as I like to call her in my head, “The Nucc”. We haven’t met in life, but online, I feel like we’ve been best friends for about 30 years. I was tickled to get an inscribed copy of her book, Psychic Tarot, with the note “To a special kindred that I haven’t met but I sure as shit know.” Yeah. We’re bffs.
Like all of my good friends, the first thing Nancy does with her book is call me on my nonsense. I have never liked being called a psychic, because it feels like a taunt. I’ve been made fun of for doing readings for as long as I’ve done readings. “Hey, psychic, what am I thinking?” (that you’re an asshole? I don’t know, you tell me) If a word gets thrown at you often enough, it becomes weaponized. I started calling myself a Reader mostly out of self-defense. Nancy starts her book with the word psychic, the meaning (that I just KNOW stuff) and sweeps the shame off of it. In reading the book, she makes you confront language and stigma and yourself. Honestly, it annoyed the hell out of me, but it really changed my mind.
Psychic Tarot takes you through what a reading is, what being psychic is, the tarot deck (really great chapters about the arcanas, the court cards and the Fool’s Journey), how to trust yourself, and this fantastic set of principles that tell you HOW to read. I’m so pissed that I didn’t have this when I started reading. Each step of the reading is described – what it feels like, what to do. Nancy and her co-author, Melanie Howard really bring you through the entire experience of what it is to do a reading. There are also a bunch of spreads and exercises to get you in touch with the cards.
Nancy has created something that will take the fear out of being called a psychic. That’s pretty big magic. I asked her to fill out the LFT Questionnaire, and she rewrote the questions and created her own. This made my ENTIRE day. I present to you, the Nucc’ Questionnaire.
The Nucc’ Questionnaire
1) If all books were to disappear, which book would you commit to memorization to tell any that would want to hear?
Alice in Wonderland or Siddhartha
2) What is your idea/s of Happiness?
An unscheduled day
Playing pool and a great juke box
Cigs
Moving, moving, moving
Walking my dog in sobriety (I am sober..not my dog)
Laying on couch getting a foot rub from my husband
3) What is your idea/s of misery?
Having to listen to 50’s music or a Christian radio channel
One religion
Cigs
Being late
Waiting to hear of a cancer diagnosis for myself or another
Being with folks that see and think is strong gender paradigms for more than 3 hours
4) What would be the movie that best describes your generation?
It hasn’t been made. The 60’s folks got “Big Chill”, the X generation got “Breakfast Club”. We didn’t get one although I sometimes fantasize of what the setting would be. The best one so far imagined is being stuck at an airport.
5) Thoughts about the Apocalypse?
Apocalypse literally means “uncover or reveal”. We are in the beginning stages of that (although my dad believes it started with the Beatles). All of our systems are being uncovered. The veils are parting. We have often heard of the 4 riders of the Apocalypse but nothing exists in a vacuum. I often wonder who their counterparts are…Compassion, Balance, Prosperity, Light? If we are indeed going into the 6th Extinction, we need to do what john Michael Greer has heavily suggested – Live with Less and Throw Good Parties.
6) Have you changed your mind about any of your teachings from your 2011 “Psychic Tarot – Using Your Natural Abilities to Read the Cards” book?
I would highly recommend that people use the book any damn way they want to rather than specify that they use no other books or definitions for a year and a day. I would also include the power of being connected to your beloved ancestors.
7) Are you considering another book?
Most definitely. I would like to focus on creating a strong creative spirituality for all. I may mention Tarot here and there but it won’t be a tarot focused text. (now that I actually proclaim that….I will probably end up writing another divination book)
8) Do you have a mission?
I am an Aries. We breathe mission. I got my mission the day that the 2001 Commission report gave their finding that the attack happened because of “Lack of Imagination”. All the patterns were right there but no one was really looking outside the box to put it together. Logic only gets you so far. My mission became crystal clear that day when I realized that I can help empower others creativity.
9) Where would you like to live?
I want to grow old in a non-metro area so I can see stars. I love green and hills. Pennsylvania is my home but she is far too conservative for me to thrive in. Ideally, I would spend time in Inverness once a year.
10) What sound/noises do you love?
Trains
The sound when you quit Skype
The dialing of a rotary phone
Screen doors
My son’s voice and music
The methodical beat of the incense burner that the priests wave over the crowd during the Stations of the Cross
11) What sound/noises do you hate?
Any sound of or coming from violence/pain
Sirens
Babies crying in an adjacent apartment
Trump
12) Who would you have as dinner guests for one night?
I work with this list constantly….just in case.
Bowie
Peter Gabriel
George Verdak
Ruth St Dennis
Marie Montesorri
13) What are some lesser known facts about you?
I was kicked off the cheerleader squad in 7th grade for a bad attitude
I love catsup on cottage cheese
I won the talent portion of Junior Miss but probably blew the bigger title when I advocated that as a government, we have three leaders who were trained from birth to travel, know languages and live in several kinds of lifestyles
14) What was the most influential tarot reading you ever received from another?
Ferol Humphrey and I stayed up most of the night years ago at BATS tarot conference to look at how the world may change. It gave me the image of us coming to a Y in the road. None of us will be able to stay in the middle but will need to choose our reality. It is a master’s duty though to lob a stone at any master making the other turn as a last ditch effort to wake them up.
15) What is your concept of Hell?
Our current system of democracy.
Dentistry from any era.
Chronic Pain and Anxiety
16) What would you change in your life if you could magically?
All levels of shame would be removed
I would wake up to a huge savings account and a paid mortgage.
17) What irritates you about the current state of tarot readers?
The differences between the pre and post internet readers through training, community building and the misunderstandings of each other.
The extremists of intuitive versus traditional book reading styles.
The idea that Lenormand is far better than Tarot in terms of prediction.
Fixing.
18) what would be your worst job if you ceased to be a diviner and creative advocate?
An ambulance driver.
19) What happens at the end of the world?
At the same time, every human on this planet shout “IT’S A GAME”. We then become big giants laughing with each other and talk about the duration of this round.
20) Who do you serve?
The Creative Unknown and facing my death without regrets.
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Nancy Antenucci of Between The Worlds LLC (www.betweenworlds.us) is a seasoned tarot reader as well as a creative advocate for creative thinking. Her book “Psychic Tarot – Using Your Natural Abilities to Read the Cards” is a compilation of 25 years of her work. Her usage of imagery and gesture has created an innovative style as a coach and teacher with deep results. She founded Twin Cities Tarot Collective which produces a the North Star Tarot conference, an innovative monthly Meetup and training for readers. She is currently branching into creative strategizing for start ups and mid sized businesses as well as creating multi-media videos bringing the divine into the everyday.
