Interview with Barbara Ndidi Iwowo

Barbara Ndidi Iwowo has been a psychic tarot reader and teacher for over 20 years. In her work she blends the tarot with the ancient teachings of the I-Ching, numerology and astrology to provide a clearer perspective of her clients’ current life issues and their resolutions. She is also deepening her knowledge of Sanskrit in order to contemplate the powerful impact of Mantras on our lives, and is the author of the “Mantra made easy” chant series.

Wiola Zyla: Hi Barbara, thank you for finding the time to talk with me. Barbara Ndidi Iwowo: Hi, no problem.

W.Z.: What is the tarot for you?

B.N.I.: Tarot for me is a tool which can help you get a clearer perspective on where your thoughts, feelings, and actions are taking you. It's like a mirror in pictures of your thoughts and feelings.

W.Z.: You use the tarot, numerology, astrology and I-Ching in your work, how do you blend them? B.N.I.: All cards have astrological denominations and they have numerological denominations for example, the King of Cups is a water sign, so if you understand what water signs are like then

you'll understand what the King of Cups is trying to say to you.

There are 78 tarot cards in total, 22 Major cards which represent the influences on your life that are karmic lessons you have to learn. Whereas the 56 minor cards are your day-to-day thoughts, feelings, emotions, ambitions and practical activities. And when you blend them together the minor cards talk about all your day-to-day activities and the major cards are like the weather forecast and can predict if, an activity should be done at a certain time.

W.Z.: Do you think anyone can learn how to read tarot cards?

B.N.I.: Anyone can learn it, but you have to be interested or have compassion for other people to be able to really convey it properly. People who are only interested in themselves will not be able to read for other people; they can read for themselves, because the tarot can also be a tool for self-knowledge.

WZ: And how can we learn from the tarot about ourselves?

BNI: When you lay down the tarot spread, if it's one card, two cards, or 10 cards or whatever, it reflects how you're thinking, how you're feeling and where those thoughts and feelings are going to take you. Because your thoughts and feelings change every minute, especially me, I'm a Gemini.

And being aware of where your emotions and feelings are likely to take you, you’ll have

some form of control over them. But I say ‘some form’ because some negative thoughts and emotions are built up over months.

So much so, when you get a reading, you won't be able to change those thoughts and feelings. that you've accumulated over months in a couple of minutes. It may take you a while.

W.Z.: Do you think that the tarot can help with self-healing?

B.N.I.: It can help with self-knowledge, and self-knowledge can help you heal yourself.

W.Z.: How about the I-Ching? How does the tarot and the I-Ching complement each other? Are they similar?

B.N.I: Sort of, the tarot will give you a reflection of how you're thinking, how you're feeling, and where your thoughts are taking you. But the I-Ching will let you know what the consequences are of the decisions that you're making. The consequences of If I do I that or If I do this. I use the I-Ching as a complimentary tool, as confirmation.

Because with the I-Ching you lay down the coins and you create a pattern, but you read from the fixed manual. And so, it's very good for people who have doubts about predictions or about the readings, so I use it to confirm the reading. And you'll find that the I-Ching is very close to what I've said in the reading. So, it helps confirm it .Because the most important thing is to believe.

When you have a prediction, you've got to hold on to it and believe it. And as human beings we tend to remember the bad stuff, and forget the good stuff or think that it was false. But it can help put everything into perspective.

W.Z.: If someone would like to start to learn the tarot, what are the first steps you would recommend?

B.N.I.: When I first started the tarot, I was 26, we didn't have access to books back then, we just had the little booklets that you get with the cards, and so we had these little written words and then the rest was intuition that connected with those words.

But now that there are so many books available. I would say read quite a few different books on the tarot. Read different authors because then you’ll have quite a few perspectives. You can then hold your own perspective on the meanings of each card.

W.Z.: Let’s move to our next topic. I know you have a special interest in mantras. Can you tell us what a mantra is? Can anyone chant it and how to start?

B.N.I.: Anyone can chant mantras. Mantras were developed by the Hindu and Buddhist monks when they used to chant at the base of the Himalayan Mountains. Because of the echoes they vibrated as they were meditating, they got more and more sounds cutting through them and found a greater connection to the healing energy of the Universe and found they were able to use mantras to heal; whether for physical, emotional or material issues. Mantra in Sanskrit means two words: ‘mani - which means ‘mind’, and ‘tra’- which means ‘to remove from’.

So, when you repeat the mantra, the sound, the vibration connects with you after some time and you'll find it changes the way you feel, which then changes the way you think, then it changes what you attract. So, when you're doing a mantra, you're removing the negative accumulated experiences that stay within you.

I believe that when you do mantra, you're becoming a mother to your ego. To me, the ego is just a collection of your experiences. Positive ego comes from positive experiences, Negative ego comes from negative experiences. And when you're doing a mantra. By chanting or even just listening to it ,or repeating it in your head You are like a mother singing a lullaby to your children, (Your experiences being your children .)

These experiences are in our heads constantly. We could wake up in the morning and one negative thought that comes to our mind can spoil our whole day or even longer. But what the mantras do they allow us to bring some sort of calm and balance to ourselves so that these experiences won’t pop up so often. We get them into perspective. What it does, it draws them into the background of our consciousness, so that there's space for new experiences. Where thoughts go - energy goes, and we can end up repeating the same thing over and over again. But what the mantras can do is help us to stop that.

W.Z.: So, how to start? How to know which mantra to choose?

B.N.I: Okay, it's by the sound. You listen to the mantra, if it appeals to you - it's for you.Then check its meaning out. Feel the sound, see if it connects with you, then that's the mantra you need to do. And when you can logically say: ‘Okay, I want to do a mantra to improve my finances’ then you look for it, or if ‘I want to do a mantra to improve my emotions’ – look for it. If you don't know what you want to do - listen to the one that jumps out at you.

Then when you check out its meaning, it can often serve as a like a little mini prediction of what you need to do.

W.Z.: I know you add mantras to your readings.

B.N.I: Yes. I suggest it almost all the time, because as far as I'm concerned, when you have a reading, I just feel what mantras help you keep on track with the predictions. The mantra helps you balance yourself, so you're open to receiving the gifts of the Universe, which are always around us but we don't always see them . Because of our busy lives or our doubts, or our experiences related to the past, again the ego.

I see that fear, anger, stress, these are all our children; pride, arrogance, joy, laughter - all our children, we created them in living out our expriences. So, when you do a mantra, you're soothing the inner children. The best way to get the inner children to listen to you and to quietly sing to them.

You can sing mantras, or you can just repeat them in your head, or you can just listen to them with intention. It is up to you, I'd say, do it in a variety of ways. So, the mind does not get bored of them .

W.Z.: You’ve published the ‘Mantra made easy’ series, what kind of mantras do you chant there? B.N.I: Yes, I call them the material based mantras for living on Earth.

There are mantras related to finding a partner, mantras related to finding financial abundance in your work. There are mantras related to healing the body, mind and spirit. They are mainly Mind, body and spirit mantras for living on the material plane.

I haven't done too many spiritual mantras like the Gayatri for example , which is a very famous mantra, but it's a spiritual mantra, a mantra you should do in unison with other people to help yourself, and the Universe. But there's a saying in the I- Ching: “When you wish to influence material matters, you have to use material means, when you want to influence spiritual matters use spiritual means.” So, a lot of people I have come across, were actually using spiritual mantras, to try and get a job, but it wasn't really working, they weren't connecting it wasn't the right connection for what they wanted.

W.Z: Where can we find your mantras series?

B.N.I: You can find them on all streaming platforms like Spotify, YouTube, Apple, Amazon etc.

W.Z.: Do you do have a mantra group?

B.N.I.: No, I don't actually but I am thinking about creating a mantra Meetup or Facebook group. And I’m also working on a third album, and this third album will be dedicated to financial mantras because a lot of people have been through financial loss

or businesses have broken down now, so a lot of them will need money first, then love.

W.Z.: Thank you Barbara

If you’d like to find out more about Barbara’s work visit: https://open.spotify.com/album/4ngMhccNU8PGfrqFsu4fOq?si=y1LWYpY0RfSvG4iVD1nD_w&nd=1