What Happened to Ashley? — A Missing Person Reading
AUTHOR’S NOTE: On January 8, 2024, Ashely Turcotte, a 31-year-old artist from Barnstead, NH was reported missing. Her car, backpack and phone were found at the Barnstead Town Hall but there was no sign of her. Although I usually wait for a few days in new missing-person cases because they often work themselves out promptly, this one felt like it deserved my immediate attention. (In addition, it’s “local” to me, only a couple of towns over and maybe 15 miles away.) So I performed my “Train to Nowhere” missing-person spread. Not knowing anything about her beyond age and appearance, I chose the Queen of Cups as her significator due to her round face, dark hair and relative maturity.
I pass through Barnstead on occasion; it’s typical small-town New England, not much to see (unless you live there, of course). Don’t blink. The last time I explicitly looked for a “town center” to no avail, but it was dark and there was no neon lighting to be seen (not even a gas station). It has a small population, hovering around 5,000, and is stuck out in the middle of central New Hampshire. If this is in fact a clandestine criminal case, it probably won’t remain secret for long; in a town this small, everyone who is socially active usually knows or “knows of” everyone else, and New Englanders are notoriously suspicious (hey, I “resemble that remark”) and nosy, but they won’t admit it. I’m sure the rumor-mill is grinding away.
The Queen of Cups turned up in the sixth “car” of the train. In my model, this position is described as “A victim of pleasure; bound to another,” and possibly “in the city.” This suggests she may have been lured into a “situation” by some kind of attractive promises or enticements. Here is a close-up of the cards that appeared with the significator.
There were no reversed cards in this spread despite a thorough randomizing for both sequence and orientation, implying that it is a straightforward case.
The World next to the significator suggests that someone had “business to finish” with her. This may be someone known to her and (heretofore) trusted, since there is no indication of force, resistance or other unpleasantness in this particular symbolism. This card merely stands for “closure” and “finality.”
The 6 of Swords is troubling; the last time I saw this card in a similar case (with the Queen of Cups, no less, and with comparable intimations of “allurement”) was for the disappearance of Trish Haynes of Grafton, NH (over five years ago, with a different deck). The cards clued me in that she had been “transported over water” and was “in a wet place;” her body was later found at the bottom of Grant’s Pond in Grafton. If there are any similarities here, this does not bode well. At any rate, the implication is that Ashley has been taken somewhere, most likely against her will.
The 7 of Cups indicates that some effort has been made to confuse and conceal the trail (perhaps her car was “planted” at the town hall as a “red herring”). Cups is the suit of Water, and — although most ponds and lakes are now frozen over — I won’t dismiss the possibility that she is “somewhere wet” and well-hidden. I did note that the Suncook River is nearby but I don’t know what its status is.
The Wheel of Fortune is a card of movement and change; if she is being held, it is not in a fixed location. On balance, while in modern terms this card means “change, for better or worse,” in past times it meant marginally fortunate change, so there is a slight chance she will resurface unharmed. But it may just mean she is still alive and being subjected to unstable and variable conditions.
The Ace of Wands confirms there is a possibility of violence, or at least domination and control. There is a single-minded, hot-headed quality to this card that could signify a male with some kind of grudge. Ciro’s card has a rampaging dragon on it, which could not be plainer in its inference. The Wheel of Fortune and the Ace of Wands are both Fire cards, which could produce rapidly evolving circumstances. (The most optimistic take on these cards is that “authorities will crack the case quickly,” but it still doesn’t guarantee a favorable outcome.)
In summary, indications are that she may be in the clutches of someone with an axe to grind who took advantage of the opportunity. I should also mention that this spread has hints of “human trafficking” (sixth position of “pleasure” — not necessarily hers — and being “in the city;” repetition of the number “6” with the same connotation; 6 of Swords for “being transported;” Ace of Wands for “male domination.” But that’s an easy conclusion to jump to in these perilous times, and rural Barnstead isn’t exactly on the mainline for such things, so that’s a long-shot. I will do one of my other spreads that focuses on the location and condition of the subject if she doesn’t turn up, one way or the other, in a day or two.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on January 9, 2024.
