For anyone interested in having their fortune read with tarot cards or want to learn more about the readings themselves, the Wainwright House is offering people the chance for both this summer, by teaming with tarot extraordinaire Michael Orlando Yaccarino.

When Yaccarino was growing up in Northern New Jersey, he claims there was a lot of paranormal activity in his house, and he became very interested in all things mystical.

“It never frightened me, it just intrigued me,” he said. “From very early on, it alerted me that there were levels of existence not available to the typical five senses. I always wanted to go beyond the veil to see what we might not be aware of.”

At 12, Yacarino acquired his first tarot deck, and over the years studied with tarot masters and became a renowned tarot expert.

“The images spoke to me in a way that hinted at the areas of the unseen,” he said. “The images were very powerful and touched on things not apparent to the naked eye. I knew one day I would devote a portion of my life to it.”

The Wainwright House is presenting the Sunset Tarot Series, private 25-minute readings as the sun sets over the harbor with Yaccarino, and they will run on alternate Thursdays throughout the summer. After the first night, it was such a success that they have already made plans to bring him back in the spring for more.

“This was an idea that I approached Wainwright about and they had really done nothing like this, but they believed in me and were familiar with my work,” he said. “It’s a stunning setting and a spiritual oasis and I had the idea to create a private reading series so people can come and have a private tarot reading in this glorious setting. What was remarkable and unexpected is that even before the five-night series began, it was completely sold out.”

The whole idea was to have this during those magic hours of the afternoon of the sunset and for those signed up (others can get on a waiting list), they will get their reading in the music room of the Main house, where you can see the magnificence of the outside.

“What I worked at really hard to make this special, was to create a really beautiful environment for the readings,” Yaccarino said. “Music playing, candles and flowers and incense and it’s a very peaceful and serene setting. As the sun is setting, we will find our inner illumination.”
Another program that Yaccarino and the Wainwright House have teamed on is a series of hands-on workshops for those interested in using Tarot readings for themselves or other individuals called Trot Journeys. Yaccarino originally presented the series last fall in the Wainwright House and due to the overwhelmingly positive response, he is retuning with this soon.

“You don’t need a background in tarot, just a sincere interest and I take people from really very basic to a much more advanced understanding of the cards,” he said. “More than anything else with my students, I stress the understanding of their cards through the visual interpretation. While I give the students a firm background and history of the cards that go back until 15th Century Italy until today, the bulk of the course is really rolling up our sleeves and learning to do really powerful, effective readings.”

There are 78 cards in a tarot deck and Yaccarino said that a lot of tarot readers usually just teach memorizing what each mean, but that’s not his way of teaching. In fact, he said that only a small amount of cards are really needed.

“I encourage my students to understand the messages and also bring their own intuitive and creative sense into it and really create narratives,” he said. “My approach is practical but at the same time I encourage my students to reach beyond the practical to a term that might be described as mystical.”

As for his approach, Yaccarino stresses that he doesn’t want to impress anyone or predict the future - only that he wants to work with his client to make them the best they can be.

“From those cards, I look at a situation where there is an unbalance and offer suggestions that can be beneficial and constructive in such a situation and offer options on how to be the most effective you can possibly be,” he said. “My role as a reader is a work of service. I don’t want to dazzle anyone.”

To learn more about Yaccarino, you can visit his Web site at orlandotarot.com.