Dennis Biggins was shaking like a leaf. Wisps of smoke rose from the numerous incense sticks Reiner had lit at the beginning of their session and curled whenever the esoteric took a deep breath.

After Dennis had shuffled two decks of cards and laid each of the top and bottom cards face down on a deep red tablecloth, Reiner’s personality underwent a transformation that sent a cold shiver down his spine.

Reiner had closed his eyes. His eyelids fluttered. Blindly, he let his hands run over the four cards arranged in a square. “I can see it. Right in front of my third eye,” he smiled contentedly and uncovered the cards.

Dennis swallowed loudly. His shoulders tensed. Beads of sweat had formed on his forehead. His mouth opened slightly.

“Don’t say anything!” Reiner raised his hand. For a moment he looked like the enlightened Buddha.

Dennis’ fingers tightened in his lap.

“With these four cards, I can tell you exactly what’s on your mind.” His gray-blue eyes switched back and forth between the tarot cards and Dennis. 

Again, he audibly breathed in and out before tapping the first card. “The two disks show me that you wish for a change. You’re the leader of the table tennis club, right?”

Dennis winced. “That’s right!”

Reiner smiled for a brief second. “Now look at the second card. That’s the high priest. A sign that you want to expand your knowledge and trust your intuition more.” Again he closed his eyes for an interminable moment. The flickering of the candles played with his features. 

Dennis couldn’t tell if Reiner was laughing, mocking him, or looking deadly serious.

“The high priest,” he continued, “is me. You summoned me and I appeared.” He now tapped the third card. “That is you. The Hanged Man.”

Dennis could feel his stomach tighten.

“This card represents stagnation and ingrained patterns of behavior.” He eyed him critically. “Could it be that the table tennis club has been struggling with a membership decline over the last six months and you don’t know what to do about it?”

A drop of sweat trickled down Dennis’ cheek. “Y… Yes, that’s true. I often wonder if it has anything to do with me that no new students wanted to join our club this year and many of the others left.” He pressed his lips together. “We put up posters and asked around, but no one was interested.”

Reiner nodded knowingly. “A difficult situation. That’s why you ate a lot in the winter out of frustration and gained some weight, right?” He said stating the obvious.

Dennis crossed his arms tensely. “I didn’t really want to do that. But everything suddenly seemed worthless and empty. So I began to eat.”

Reiner pointed to the last of the four cards. “Eating alone may fill the emptiness in your stomach, but not the emptiness in your heart. Fortunately, the Princess of Wands will show you the way out.” Again, the flickering candlelight left an eerie smile on his features.

Dennis was about to say something, but Reiner raised his hand again and put his index finger to his lips. “You will be given a new beginning. A new beginning that will help you leave all your stress and fears behind.”

Dennis’ nerves were stretched to breaking point. “And how do I do that? Am I supposed to drop table tennis and start a new club? Or quit school and hitchhike all the way to America?” He jumped up and clenched his fists. “Tell me, Reiner, please!”

The clouds of smoke dissipated into diffuse clouds. The warm scent of sandalwood made it difficult to breathe.

Reiner put the cards back together. “What you should do?” He asked. His eyes narrowed to slits, making him look like a cunning fox. “Simple: take some globuli and get your energy flowing again. The rest will come all by itself.”