(With apologies to Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and all the members of The Eagles.)<\/p>\n
The gig sounding promising – a private birthday party for a woman who was turning 40 and several of her friends at a verrrry nice hotel overlooking the ocean on a full moonlight night. Susan (names have been changed to protect the identities of the parties involved) agreed to go with me, so we packed our Tarot bags and headed into the night, towards the ocean, cruising the dark woods and hills of California.<\/p>\n
We arrived at the hotel a good hour early, having encounted no traffic at all.\u00a0 I’d kept the radio turned down to enjoy Susan’s delightful company. On an impulse, I reached over and turned it up, just in time to hear the opening note to the studio version of “Hotel California” by The Eagles, and just then we rounded a curve in the road – and our destination loomed up out of the night, against the backdrop of the ocean and sky – a moment I wish I could have captured on film.<\/p>\n
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair We paused to admire the spectacular effect of the architecture, the lights, and the night time sky, then drove into the courtyard.\u00a0 A very polite parking valet helped us remove our bags from the car, and a second valet whisked it away instantly.\u00a0 (Remember Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”? And the driverless carriage that whisked Harker to the castle?\u00a0 The car was gone that quickly.)<\/p>\n There she stood in the doorway; Welcome to the Hotel California The first valet was determined to walk us to where our party was sequestered in a private dining room.\u00a0 I’d rushed out of work and needed a few minutes to assemble myself, so we asked for directions to the ladies’ room, and suddenly he disappeared.<\/p>\n Having transformed from Day Job into Tarot Reader Mode, I went in search of our party while Susan kept an eye on our bags in the completely empty corridor – actually, that entire wing was empty, and still, and a bit eerie.<\/p>\n As I walked into the club to find the party, the piano player struck up – wait for it – “Hotel California.”\u00a0 I took a deep breath, approached the maitre d’, and found our clients at a very large table, covered in food and drinks (the table, not the clients).\u00a0 The birthday girl informed me that they’d be along after they’d finished eating.\u00a0 One of her friends gave me the key to their suite so we could set up the reading areas. Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends I found Susan, and we repaired to the suite to set up – physically and mentally – for the evening ahead.\u00a0 I told her about the piano player’s choice of music, and we had a good laugh on our way up in the elevator.<\/p>\n So I called up the Captain, Welcome to the Hotel California Mirrors on the ceiling, We found a gorgeously appointed suite set up for a party – food, beverages, alcohol – and, yes, pink champagne on ice.\u00a0 At this point, the evening’s theme was undeniably clear; we just had to roll with it.\u00a0 Susan couldn’t remember all the lyrics, so after we’d set up two reading areas, I recited them for her. We took a few deep breaths, and then we heard the party approaching.<\/p>\n We took a few minutes for introductions, and then we each took our first client to the separate rooms for readings.\u00a0 Susan took the birthday girl, and I took the first guest, and off we went.<\/p>\n Client readings are confidential, so we won’t discuss details.\u00a0 Let’s just say that all of the readings fit in quite neatly with the evening’s them.<\/p>\n And she said ‘We are all just prisoners here, of our own device’ Last thing I remember, I was After we finished the readings, we were supposed to lead the party in a fun discussion so they could share their thoughts and experiences.\u00a0 It was quite clear, however, that what they wanted to do was drink, so we packed our things, gave our thanks, and got the hell out of that place.<\/p>\n A third valet brought the car around, helped us load the bags, and we took off into the moonlit night, not looking back.\u00a0 The drive back to San Francisco was lovely – moonlight on the mountains and trees. We talked about the readings, and the evening.\u00a0 As I was dropping off Susan at her house, we did a quick scan on the radio – but no Eagles.<\/p>\n As usual, the next day I called the client for feedback on the event – no answer, so I left a voicemail.\u00a0 Later, I was out running errands, turned on the car radio, and – voila! – the opening notes to “Hotel California” – just as my phone rang, showing the client’s number on the caller ID.<\/p>\n Surreal – and yet, it happened!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (With apologies to Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and all the members of The Eagles.) The gig sounding promising – a private birthday party for a woman who was turning 40 and several of her friends at a verrrry nice hotel overlooking the ocean on a full moonlight night. Susan (names have been changed to protect […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tarotpathways.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tarotpathways.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tarotpathways.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tarotpathways.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tarotpathways.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=530"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/tarotpathways.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":554,"href":"https:\/\/tarotpathways.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530\/revisions\/554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tarotpathways.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tarotpathways.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tarotpathways.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWarm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
\nUp ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
\nMy head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
\nI had to stop for the night<\/em><\/p>\n
\nI heard the mission bell
\nAnd I was thinking to myself,
\n‘This could be Heaven or this could be Hell’
\nThen she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
\nThere were voices down the corridor,
\nI thought I heard them say…<\/em><\/p>\n
\nSuch a lovely place
\nSuch a lovely face
\nPlenty of room at the Hotel California
\nAny time of year, you can find it here<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
\nShe got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
\nHow they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
\nSome dance to remember, some dance to forget<\/em><\/p>\n
\n‘Please bring me my wine’
\nHe said, ‘We haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine’
\nAnd still those voices are calling from far away,
\nWake you up in the middle of the night
\nJust to hear them say…<\/em><\/p>\n
\nSuch a lovely place
\nSuch a lovely face
\nThey livin’ it up at the Hotel California
\nWhat a nice surprise, bring your alibis<\/em><\/p>\n
\nPink champagne on ice . . .
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
\nAnd in the master’s chambers,
\nThey gathered for the feast
\nThe stab it with their steely knives,
\nBut they just can’t kill the beast<\/em><\/p>\n
\nRunning for the door
\nI had to find the passage back
\nTo the place I was before
\n‘Relax,’ said the night man,
\nWe are programmed to receive.
\nYou can checkout any time you like,
\nbut you can never leave . . . .
\n<\/em><\/p>\n