Authors: Gail Cleare
Destined
| Destined |
| Gail Cleare |
| CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (2011) |
Follow Emily's journey to self discovery, community, spirit and love. A contemporary magic-realism romance.
This is the year Emily Ross takes control of her destiny and learns to deliberately shape the future. Emily has always known she is different. She attracts spirits, has prophetic dreams and can sense people's thoughts. Longing to fit in, she hides her true self. But this changes when she takes a job at the fabulous curio shop owned by Henry Paradis, an occult scholar who becomes her spiritual mentor. Recognizing her talents as the valuable gifts they are, Henry teaches Emily to accept her magical nature and "look forward." Emily chooses the path to light. She finds lifelong friends, falls in love, learns the power of desire and intention, faces her worst fears and is swept toward awakening.
The mystical images of the Tarot's archetypal trump cards chart the way, 22 sequential steps along the path to success known as "The Fool's Journey." Illustrated by images from the Payen Tarot of Marseilles (1713), which is the oldest surviving Tarot deck.
"Readers already interested in the tarot...will enjoy Cleare's serious meditations on the meanings of the cards, and the way the tarot plays out in Emily's life. A little bit of self-help and a little bit of chick lit, packaged together with a positive, make-your-own-destiny message: a pleasant, comforting read."
Winner of Honorable Mention in General Fiction at the 2012 Green Book Festival
Publishers Weekly says:
"Each chapter of this unassuming novel is illustrated with a card from the tarot, and the contents of each section are loosely related to the meaning of the corresponding card. Cleare's narrative follows Emily, a young woman on a path of self-realization and awakening.... The novel is well plotted. Readers already interested in the tarot and its uses for divination will enjoy Cleare's serious meditations on the meanings of the cards, and the way the tarot plays out in Emily's life. What's more, Cleare offers a little bit of self-help and a little bit of chick lit, packaged together with a positive, make-your-own-destiny message: a pleasant, comforting read."
Midwest Book Review says:
"A thoughtful and much recommended novel of tarot. Through the unknown, we can find something magnificent. A novel of romance and the life of the occult and the tarot, it's a fascinating break into this culture and the belief in mysticism."
Dolores Stewart Riccio, author of
Circle of Five
and the Cass Shipton mysteries says:
"The beguiling tale of the transformative power of love and friendship. An enjoyable and enlightening novel."
Patricia Grasso, bestselling romance novelist and author of
Marrying the Marquis
says:
"Gail Cleare delivers a solid debut novel, DESTINED. Ms. Cleare's characters are well-drawn and likeable, her plot and ideas spectacularly original. Enjoy!"
by
Gail Cleare
Illustrated by
The Payen Tarot of Marseilles (1713)
Copyright ©2010 by Gail S. Cleare
All rights reserved.
Paperback edition published in the United States by
G&G Publications
PO Box 18, Whately, MA 01093 USA
ISBN-13:
978-1461007760
ISBN-10:
1461007763
Cover photographs and book design by Gail Cleare ©2012.
for the Ladies of the
Green Circle
Author’s
Note
The Tarot cards known as the Major Arcana describe 22
sequential steps on the path to enlightenment. They begin with number 0, The
Fool, and end with number 21, The World. The chapter heads of this novel follow
the same order. The process of self-discovery and transformation symbolized by
this series of archetypal images is called “The Fool’s Journey.”
—G.C.
A CHOICE IS OFFERED
Description: The Fool heads off on a journey carrying a
pack and staff. He is blissfully unaware of a dangerous chasm nearby. A cat
with sharp claws chases him into the unknown.
Meaning:
A
new direction or phase. Embarking on a journey of self-discovery.
Only
one thing stopped me from punching her. Knowing that the other girls would
probably call the cops, I struggled for self-control. My hands were clenched
into fists, my heart pounding. This time she had gone too far and I couldn’t
ignore it any more.
Lexi
tossed her sparkling blonde hair and sneered at me with her hands on her hips.
Her long manicured nails were painted vampire red. “Don’t be so fussy, Emily,”
she scolded me like a naughty two-year-old. “We all have to pitch in. Get busy!”
“Lexi, I was hired to sell art, not to clean the bathrooms!”
I didn’t call her a bitch, though it nearly slipped out.
She gave me her most exasperated look.
“Sometimes we all have to rally for the cause! Don’t be ridiculous, Emily,
there are some very big clients on the way over.”
Lexi called to the other two Gladstone
Gallery employees, who were standing in the doorway of the storage room with
their eyes bugging out of their heads.
“Girls, quickly! Pull this list of
paintings from the racks. Emily can empty the trash, too.”
She
handed them a slip of paper and glared at me, sending the message that the case
was closed. Lexi fully expected me to roll up the sleeves of my silk blouse,
which had cost the equivalent of a week’s pay, and grab the toilet brush.
That’s when the famous “fight or fly”
instinct kicked in, and I flew. I got my bag from behind the counter and headed
for the front door, saying, “Lexi, it’s obvious this job isn’t working out for
either of us.”
They all spun around in surprise.
“Oh no you don’t!” Lexi screamed,
running over to clutch at me as I slipped out into the fresh air of freedom. “You
can’t leave at a time like this!” She caught my arm with her claws, digging
them into my skin.
I said firmly, “Sorry about the short
notice, but I quit!”
Sheer fury shone from her flashing
blue eyes.
I yanked my arm away
and escaped down the sidewalk, stopping at the corner to look back. She was
standing in the doorway, staring at me with her mouth distorted in an ugly
scowl. It looked for a minute like she was crying. I had a vivid flash of
knowing that something would soon go terribly wrong for Lexi, something
important and personal. Her path was leading to it. I almost felt sorry for
her.
But she did look silly with her face
all contorted like that. Hyper from the drama, I started to giggle. She saw me
doing it and got even angrier, stamping her foot, and it was such a
cartoon-character thing that I totally lost it and hooted outright. I scurried
off to my car snickering madly all the way. People on the sidewalk gave me
strange looks and a wide berth. When I was safely inside my little Honda I
laughed until the tears rolled down my face. Enveloped by an enormous sense of
relief, I sort of floated home to my apartment. I honestly don’t remember
driving but somehow I arrived there and parked the car.
Getting my anger under control was a
very positive thing. My former therapist would approve. She had always accused
me of making emotional decisions based on past traumas, rather than living in
the here and now. She wanted me to give life a chance and see what happened. So
I stuck with the job at Lexi’s gallery for nearly a year, plenty of time to
judge it realistically. Now I could leave the whole humiliating episode behind
and explore my alternatives. I would choose a new direction for my future and
it would be a wonderful, rewarding adventure. All I had to do was pay attention
to the signs.