“Living Tarot Oracle,” an entertaining presentation of the 22 Major Arcana cards, will be presented in the Mancos Opera House on Saturday, Nov. 5, 5 to 8 p.m., and again on Sunday, Nov. 6, 3 to 6 p.m.

This is a theatrical event, purely for entertainment, and the tarot cards are represented by folks who have studied their card and can answer questions that are asked of them. They will each be in an individual station throughout the opera house, in full costume and character of their card.

Clara Martinez will be the Chariot card, or number seven, which represents the Divine Spirit descending to earth in the Chariot of the body — the human form.

“The Chariot image I like the most shows a figure in contemplation or quietude sitting within a chariot readied for activity,” Martinez said. “The number seven denotes victory, initiation and accomplishment. The book of Genesis says that on the seventh day God rested. One can interpret the number 7 of the Chariot to remember that it is good to stop and appreciate our efforts after we have worked and accomplished something of note.”

Martinez lives in Mancos and was involved in the Living Tarot last year as the Universe card, or number 21. She has been a teacher and educator for more than 30 years.

“I would say that the art of teaching entails performance and the arrangement of successful performance to convey and receive the multiple dimensions of subject matter concepts,” she said.

During last year’s living tarot, Martinez said, the Universe card she portrayed received a lot of different kinds of questions. Some of the people desired a yes or no answer, but others were asking for more specific answers.

“The most memorable question was ‘what is the meaning of life?’ ” she said.

It is difficult to prepare for answers before hearing the question, according to Martinez.

“The cast of ‘Oracles’ is very interesting and dynamic,” she said. “Also dramatic is the change in the atmosphere in the Opera House from “ready-set” to “go” after folks start coming in the door and entering the situation. The most interesting phenomena for me was how the Universe responded to questions last year. I found myself thinking repeatedly ‘Did I just say that?’ Then taking notes between people to record some of the answers so I wouldn’t forget what I had just said.

The Fool card will be played by Cody Edwards, also of Mancos. He was the self-proclaimed class clown during his school career, which, he feels, has adequately prepared him for his role as the Fool card.

The Fool card is also numbered zero in the deck of 22 cards, “because it is a wild card in so many ways,” he said. “The Fool symbolizes freedom to roam with a light load and big heart. The Fool tends to be less logical than many other cards relying on faith as well as intuition to guide the way.”

Edwards’ card can be seen as a “new beginning” for many people because it is the zero card, and also that the Fool is represented by “a child coming out of a cave in which it was born ready to leap from the cliff to a new world below.” Edwards said that when someone gets the Fool card, they are called to look at their inner child and perhaps let loose a little bit.

“This card truly symbolizes a playful energy as well as a free spirit to get to the basics of it,” he said.

Edwards likes to listen to a question for a few seconds to really feel the energy of the Fool oracle.

“Then it’s truly a magical thing because I completely embody The Fool and become that character,” he said.  “When this occurs, the advice flows through me like mountain spring water from the source and the oracle is doing the speaking for me.” 

Many of the questions he has heard at the Living Tarot are varied: “How do I get my dream girl?” “What do I need to change in my workspace to be happy?” “Why does everything in my life seem to be collapsing at once?” “How do I get in touch with my inner child?” “What do I need to do in order to bring my family closer together?”

“It helps to live a life similar to the Fool with minimal attachments and a free spirit as well, like I do, but I honestly believe we are working with a powerful source in the Tarot,” Edwards said. “This source is ancient and we as humans living in the 21st century are simply translators for the divine information we are receiving.”

He really enjoys being a part of the Living Tarot community — circus minstrels, musicians, poets, artists, peacemakers and love makers, he said. They have all been his close friends for many years, and he relishes the experience of getting to know them. He has especially liked living the part of the Fool — a very powerful experience in many ways, he said. “Many coincidences have occurred in my life the past few months as The Fool that I may or may not have noticed before The Living Tarot. I’ve been given choices, many times a fork in the road, we might say. Each time I have asked myself, “What would the Fool do here?” And voila, I am living the journey with less attachment and more freedom than ever before.”

Leisha Lawson, of Durango, is going to play the part of the Judgment card. This card represents a sort of crossroads, she said. As part of the Judgment oracle, you sometimes need to make a decision, take a stand, enjoy renewed hope and see things in a new light. Then you can unburden yourself and move past your mistakes.

Lawson said that the most amazing part of the Living Tarot Oracle is that it’s interactive. People will take bits from their own lives that they have been thinking about and that have been weighing on their mind, and then the Reader will help them formulate questions.

“The questions are all about changes — changes in relationship of all kinds, changes around big choices in life, even about how to change to continue becoming a better version of themselves,” she said.

Some of the questions are playful and some are serious, she said, but they all are seeking answers to something.

Lawson has a lot of theatrical experience, having been “bitten early by the theater bug.” She played Mae West at the age of 10 in a school play about the American West.

“Those few moments on stage with the lights all aglow in my face, dressed fancier than I could have imagined, I just felt so glamorous and found a little freedom from the relentlessness of being the same person all the time,” Lawson said. “The act of portraying someone else in front of people is very powerful; invoking the saga of the human experience makes me feel part of a ancient traditional rite. Actors are like the dream weavers of our culture.”

She then became active in theater during college in Oregon, acting in plays such as “Dangerous Liaisons,” “Medea,” “Guys and Dolls,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The School for Wives,” or  “L’école des Femmes” by  Molière. After college she worked as a retained actor for the Velvet Curtain Theatre Company in Los Angeles, wrote and produced plays as the director of a Children’s Theater Program in Alaska, and has directed and acted in the “Vagina Monologues,” a simultaneous nationwide production that is designed as a fundraiser for local organizations that work to end violence against women.

“I also sang in the original Salt Fire Circus and Bare Bones Burlesque and sing occasionally around the area,” she said.

When asked a question at the “Living Tarot Oracle,” she always answers through the lens of her archetype, and each of the answers are unique to the question. They come from a character that represents a very clear focus — not a yes or no answer, but very subjective. Lawson has noticed, as a result of being the Judgment card, that we all have so much in common.

“We are all trying to live as best we can, and we come across the same problems and the same uncertainties in life,” she said.

She has spent so much time getting to know the Judgment archetype that she sometimes feels transformed in her real life.

“I feel more conscientious, purposeful and clear minded because I have practiced embodying an enlightened journeyer and applied those lessons to my life,” she said.

She has come to know her card so well that when she answers a question, she feels like the answer is coming through her — not out of her. 

“I mean, most good advice could find application in our lives somewhere, but sometimes people just hear something that is so unbelievably applicable to them in that moment that it almost does feel meant to be that they pulled my card from a random pile of others.”

Six Tarot card readers at the event will assist each participant in framing a particular question they might have. Once the participants have pulled their one to three cards in relation to their question, they will be directed to the individual “Living Oracles,” reflecting the cards they drew. 

The cost is $10 for one card reading and $5 for each additional card. Readings will be limited to three cards for each individual question.  

This community-based event includes involvement of individuals from Mancos, Cortez, Dolores, Durango and Bayfield. The producers of the event, Tami Graham and Julia Hesse, are both from the Mancos area. 

To benefit the Living Tarot Oracle, on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Yoga Durango on Florida Road, the public is invited to “The Fool’s Journey through Movement,” a two-hour musical journey through the 22 Major Arcana cards of the Tarot deck, starting with the Fool card and ending with The Universe card.  The Fool’s journey represents the spectrum of experiences of the human journey through life and includes cards such as the Emperor, Empress, Magician, High Priestess, The Hanged Man, The Sun and The Moon. The cost is $10 to $20 on a sliding scale.