Step into the enchanting world of oracle cards and intuitive wisdom with Chika Yamada, energy worker and oracle card reader, in this inspiring episode of Exploring the Mystical Side of Life.

Join us as we share a heartfelt conversation about unlocking your intuition and discovering your own secret language of spirit. From her roots in Japan to her spiritual awakening in Hawaii, Chika Yamada reveals how life’s challenges—and a global pandemic—became catalysts for deep self-discovery and embracing her gifts.

Here are three uplifting takeaways from this episode:

🔹 Access Your Gifts: Embrace the spiritual treasures within you. As Chika Yamada shares, everyone has intuitive abilities—sometimes so natural, we overlook them. Recognizing and honoring your authentic self is the first step to living your gifts.

🔹 Listening as a Spiritual Gift: Discover the power of deep listening, not just to others, but to the whispers of Spirit. The art of listening opens the door to insight, healing, and connection—affirmed by both Chika Yamada and Linda Lang.

🔹 The Oracle in You: Whether drawing cards or following serendipitous signs, Chika Yamada reminds us that intuition grows as you practice and trust it. Your journey is uniquely yours—don’t compare, just follow what makes your heart sing.

Explore the freedom of finding your tribe, the courage of stepping out of the “spiritual closet,” and the joy of embracing who you truly are. Let this episode inspire you to shine your light, celebrate your gifts, and connect with the magic within.

Tune in for practical wisdom, a live oracle card message, and encouragement to trust your journey—because now is the time to let your spirit soar!

 

Transcript:

Chika Yamada:
I was fascinated by the mysticism of all of that. But I kind of looked at it from outside like I could never do this. I don’t have intuition. I’m not psychic. I can’t see, I can feel. I don’t see aura, all of that. And I always felt inadequate all these years, although I knew that we are all special, that we’re all intuitive. For some reason, when it came to me, I was blocking myself.

Announcer:
Welcome to Exploring the Mystical side of Life with your host, Linda Lang.

Linda Lang:
Hi, this is Linda Lang from ThoughtChange.com. We are Exploring the Mystical Side of Life once again this week. If you enjoy our conversations, remember to subscribe and share with a friend. Today we are talking with Chika Yamada. Chika is a energy worker and an oracle card reader. Welcome, Chika.

Chika Yamada:
Thank you, Linda. I’m so happy to be here. Thank you for this opportunity to talk to you.

Linda Lang:
Could you share how your spiritual path opened up?

Chika Yamada:
Sure. Let me give you a brief background of myself. I was born and raised in Japan up until the mid-teen years. At age 16, I chose to come to Hawaii to study English. Of all the places, right? I picked Hawaii. Ever since then, I have been pretty much on my own. I had partner at that time, but through it all, I was busy trying to just survive life, learning the language, learning to take care of myself, grow up fast. Along the way, I was always curious about spirituality. During my twenties, yes, I read various books and I got inspired.

But once I got married, had children, had family, I got caught up in life. I had no time for my spiritual growth or emotional exploration of any sort. So I was kind of just surviving the day and I was doing the best I could. But during COVID, you know, world turned upside down. Things that happened within my own family. And that really forced me to explore how I truly felt. I thought I was happy, but it forced me to just really face my true emotions. It took off the cap of the emotional limit. It was like Pandora’s box, right?

Everything came out and it was a very difficult four years. Up until recently… I’m actually still going through it now. But during that time I realized I want to be honest with myself and face my own truth. And I think that really sped up my process of spiritual journey.

Linda Lang:
I think that was one of the gifts of COVID because we had so much less distraction in our lives, being sequestered, and really having to be present with ourselves. It really made many people very aware of things that were in resonance with them or not.

Chika Yamada:
Yes, yes. It really forced me to face it. I didn’t know that I had so much ego and so much layers of walls that I built. It’s taking me a long time to break that down. But once I started seeing where my emotions were, there was no stopping. You know, it was hard. It was really, really difficult. But there’s no shortcut in life.

I could have easily ignored it, pretend that nothing had happened, but that would have just caught up with me. And you would never receive any type of reward in life. And after hardships, you do receive a reward of some sort. It may not be immediate. It might come in different forms. It might come in forms of relationship, friendships, or spiritual awakening. I don’t know what it is. But we have finite lifetime to live, and through it all, I learned that it was a gift, Universe’s gift in disguise.

Linda Lang:
And so that was the catalyst to really propel you. Was there something specific that called to you, or was it simply that inner exploration?

Chika Yamada:
Yeah, you know, growing up in Japan, I think it prepared me for being more spiritually open. I was not brought up in a particular religious family or anything, but I am a Buddhist, and we do practicing by culture. Every time we have any big ceremonies, it’s according to Buddhist beliefs or things like going to the shrines, you know, And I didn’t know what they were, but I was kind of brought up with that.

But what was great about that is that we believe in various deities. We believe that the spirits reside in different natural objects like rocks and earth and rivers and sky. So it’s not one God judging your life, but it’s about honoring the spirits, which also resonate with Hawaiian culture. Here we call that mana. And I think that’s part of the reason why it was really easy for me to integrate into lifestyle over here as well.

But having that background really prepared me for knowing that life is not just this lifetime. You know, whatever you do now, you earn karmic debt. You have to pay for that. And I firmly believe in reincarnation and karma. So in that sense, I think it was easier for me to be more spiritually open and go into that. And I was always curious in that world. And I always admire the people with special abilities. My sister, for instance, was a little bit more intuitive.

She could communicate with the spirits, so I thought she was very special. I remember seeing this deck of tarot card in this black box. I don’t know who bought it, but there was one at home when I was little. And I thought it was such a sacred thing that I couldn’t touch it like I could never learn how to use it. I was fascinated by the mysticism of all of that. But I kind of looked at it from outside like I could never do this. I don’t have intuition, I’m not psychic. I can see, I can feel, I don’t see aura, all of that.

And I always felt inadequate all these years, although I knew that we are all special, that we’re all intuitive for some reason, when it came to me, I was blocking myself. But through the years I started pulling cards. Part of the reason was because I was here pretty much by myself. Remember, Linda, we didn’t have Internet a couple of decades ago…

Linda Lang:
I remember.

Chika Yamada:
Yeah, we’re one of those generations that we didn’t have the privilege of having instant access to people or information. So that was… those were the times that I lived through. When I first came to Hawaii, I couldn’t speak English as much as I do now. I didn’t have any family, friends, nobody. Yes, I had met my ex at that time and he was with me, but that was it. My world was really limited, even when I had my kids. Student of Internet back then, so I had many, many lonely nights.

So I started pulling cards because I found out there’s this thing called Oracle Card and it was not religious or anything. I would pull it sometimes, messages on spot, but I kept denying it. I was very skeptical. Just coincidence, just coincidence for many, many years. And I even took certification course that someone was teaching here in Hawaii. But I think that was kind of a turning point. That must have been about almost 10 years ago.

I’ve been pulling cards for nearly 20 years. 10 years ago I took the certification course. There are many other people who flew in from around the world to participate in this program. Some of them are professional psychics that I paired up. Again, I felt inadequate. She can see the future, I can’t. I had great resistance. But in the two days, what I learned is my job is really not to judge what I see, but my job is to really communicate what I receive in any forms that’s right for me.

Some people feel it, some people sense it, some people; I see a lot of it as images or words. And it was not for me to judge whether it’s right or wrong, but just explain that to the person that I’m speaking to. And I got hooked to it. I started doing a lot of card reading to my friends just as hobbies during my lunch breaks or weekends. And they would always say, “It’s so accurate, you should do this more.” But I was always like, “No, anyone can pull cards.” And I still believe that anyone can do card pooling because everybody’s intuitive, right? But someone told me, “Hey, everybody can play basketball, but not everybody is Michael Jordan.” And I thought, “Ah, that’s a great analogy.”

And I started to kind of embrace, “Okay, yes, I am skilled at this a little bit more than others. And my delivery is different from others but that’s what makes me who I am.” What really made me embrace was this past October 2024, I was doing a single card pulling. I have this monthly releasing ceremony that I do by the beach. I had written what I wanted to release. When I pulled the card, it was the exact message that I had written on a piece of paper.

I was with a good friend of mine. I told her, “Let me pull a card for you.” She was in the process of writing whatever she wants to release. The card that I pulled was exact message that she was about to write. That was a full moon day of October 2024. And I said, “I got it. This is what I need to do. I am going to embrace this now.”

So that’s when I kind of came out of “spiritual closet.” A lot of people, a lot of my friends already knew, but now I started talking to people, “By the way, I do Oracle card reading.” And I created this 100 free complementary oracle card reading challenge. The reason why I wanted to do it was because I wanted to polish up my reading skills and to connect with people and also kind of validate my skills. But every time I do this, I get energized. I never get tired of Oracle card reading. And that’s how I know this is something that I’m meant to do.

And I also know this is just the beginning of what I’ll be doing in the spiritual realm. But right now, I’m embracing it. I love it. Just talking about it gets me excited.

Linda Lang:
Beautiful. Two things I want to touch on from what you’ve shared so far, Chika. And the first one is, do you think that often people can’t see their own gifts because it’s so natural for them that they don’t even realize it’s a gift?

Chika Yamada:
I think you’re absolutely right. And I’m laughing because I think that’s pointed out to me sometimes, right? So one of the lessons that I learned through my hardship is how to be a good listener and just to be really kind to others. So another thing that I’m learning is the importance of expressing what you feel, how you feel. Because whatever your love language is, it doesn’t matter what your love language is, you have to speak their love language.

Many times it’s the affirmation, the power of words, or acts of service. And when you do, only when you do that, they realize what they’re gifted with. Right? So, yes, it’s absolutely true that people don’t know what they’re skilled at. Yeah, I think I was that as well.

Linda Lang:
I would say, too, that listening is actually a spiritual gift. And when you can embrace that, you begin to hear information, receive insights and intuitions. Whether you’re listening to someone talk or just listening to Spirit, that’s a really good door opening into the spirit realm.

Chika Yamada:
Yes, definitely. And I want people to remind themselves that when you hear certain words or some messages, it’s not coincidence, it is a message to you. Even when I do card reading, even if I did, let’s say, 10 readings that day, some of the messages is for me. And it really depends on how you perceive it or how you receive it. You can just see it as, this is not for me, it’s just for someone. Or do you get sensation of, huh? This is in alignment of what’s going on. There’s always signs and messages around. And I was very skeptical.

Angel numbers, any messages, songs on the radio station. I used to think it was just coincidence. Everything has perfect divine timing for it to take place. So start paying attention to it, and it’s going to guide you to right direction. It will tell you listen to your heart a little more. Here’s a hint, if you think of someone, text them, give them a call. This is just not random thoughts. It’s a message.

Linda Lang:
Now, Chika, you talked briefly about judging yourself, and that’s something that a lot of people really do. And they don’t think that they’re good enough or that they have any skills or they’re comparing themselves to other people. But you use this term, the spiritual closet, and how other people could see your spiritual gifts before you actually accepted them and embraced them. Can you talk a little bit about that? Sure.

Chika Yamada:
First off, in terms of judging, I still continue to battle with that. You know, I have ego. Ego of me thinking that I’m not good enough, ego of me thinking that I don’t want to boast my confidence too much, but you just kind of learn to deal with it. When it comes to other people, I try not to judge, try to keep an open mind. But it is interesting about a spiritual closet. People could see it because, you know, I would have hints here. I wear crystals all the time. You know, I talk about, “Hey, I love card readings,” but I wouldn’t strike a conversation with someone that I just met and say, “Hey, this is what I do.”

Interesting thing is when you do that, it brings in new relationships or new connections, or it gives you new opportunities. For instance, I went to another island called Lanai. I met this random tourist who was just traveling. She complimented my jewelry and I said, “Oh, I love crystals because I do a card reading.” And she said, “Oh my gosh, I’m a tarot card reader.” So we connected instantaneously and we did exchange reading. It’s things like that.

I’m finding out that when you’re out of the spiritual closet, like, I used to think people would judge me for that.  In fact, they don’t. Everybody that I speak to think what I do is so cool. And I was like, why was I hiding all these years?

Linda Lang:
And the funny thing is that even when you are hiding it, it’s in your energy field. People who are intuitive can pick it up. Even people who don’t know they’re intuitive. I can’t tell you how many people have said to me, “Oh, I always thought you were that way,” right? Dealing with the metaphysics and looking at the spiritual side of life. So I just thought that was really rather amusing, that even if I tried to hide it, I couldn’t.

Chika Yamada:
Yeah, I’m sure people could sense it. And people have told me before, I look like an oracle card reader. And I said, “What do you mean?” My friends are like, “The way you dress, the way you carry yourself, the way you speak, it’s just perfectly matches with that oracle card reader.” I didn’t even know that that’s how I present myself. So it’s interesting.

Linda Lang:
Chika, do you have any words of wisdom for any of our listeners who might be feeling a little less-than or comparing themselves to other people who they think are further along the path than them?

Chika Yamada:
Sure, I was there for the longest time and know that, and this is such a cliche, but everybody’s special. I think you just need to have the courage to embrace it. And that doesn’t come easy, but don’t give up. If there’s anything that interests you, you know, just stick with it. It took me 20 years to really come out and start doing this and start talking to people about it openly. But I was always interested. I always loved doing it, even though I didn’t have time and there were times that I didn’t do anything.

But don’t give up. You have the answer within yourself. And whatever makes your heart sing, that’s what you should pursue. You don’t have to do this professionally. You can just do it so that you’re happy, because that’s very important. Honestly, I was not psychic or intuitive. I did not see, feel nothing. But that’s a skill that you can develop, but you just need to open up your heart to it, to what you believe and what you love.

Linda Lang:
So do you consider yourself intuitively gifted or psychic now?

Chika Yamada:
I think everybody’s psychic, right? In their own way. I am an intuitive reader because the reading I do is very free form. The same card can mean anything else depending on that situation and whatever message that I receive. So would I call myself psychic in my mind? No. Because in my mind, psychic is someone who can tell you exactly what happened in the past or what’s coming in the future. I do not do predictions. I only bring out what you already know in the form of cards. And it makes it easy for people to see and digest the message that I have.

Again, the message I have is not the message from me. It’s the message from above. I’m just a conduit. So the more open you are, the easier you receive. I try to keep myself as open as possible. And in simple language, I don’t… I’m a very simple person. I don’t use difficult words and nothing scary or anything that breaks your confidence down. My job is to give you message in a loving way. Not to say that I’m not telling you the truth, but that’s just my style.

Linda Lang:
It’s really interesting, actually, to talk about styles because there are a lot of people, tarot and oracle card readers, that do quite a bit of ritual. They maybe cleanse their space, cleanse the cards have a specific way of, let’s say, shuffling and then choosing the cards. There’s other people who just, you know, kind of go in and pick one and here it is. So what do you say about that?

Chika Yamada:
Whatever fits you is perfect. I don’t think there is any specific way that you should be doing things. Of course, yes. You want to cleanse your space and, you know, other protocols that you may have. I don’t have any. I just set my intentions. I always tell people, and some people might disagree. If they want to pick up the card and feel it themselves, if they want to take photos, that’s fine.

Because what’s important isn’t really the card itself. You know, it’s what the message that they receive and how they feel. I probably should do more cleansing, but I think cleansing of my mind and myself Is more important than cleansing the object itself.

I think intention is the biggest thing, and I think the style comes in handy. Or you should go with whoever you feel comfortable. I might be too tame for some people, and that’s perfectly fine. There are some amazing card readers, you know, who are very entertaining, and they’re very good with their words. And I love watching everyone. And if they resonate with you, go ahead. There’s no right or wrong.

Linda Lang:
So, Chika, would you be interested in drawing a card and giving a message today?

Chika Yamada:
Absolutely, yes. So I have many, many cards. The way I pull cards is when I do full reading. I use about four, five different decks. I could do it with just one simple deck, but because I have these beautiful cards, why not? And today I am using Magic of Unicorns cards, and something popped out. So here’s the card. I’ll show it to you and tell you what this means.

Oh, “Access Your Gifts.”

Linda Lang:
Well, that’s right on target, isn’t it?

Chika Yamada:
Exactly. Access Your Gifts. Explore your treasure chest. Accept who you truly are. And this is exactly what we’re talking about today. And this is what I love about card reading. Every time I pull, it resonates with the topic that we have. So whoever is watching this, take this as a sign that you are special.

You have something in you. You don’t have to feel that you’re inadequate like I did. You know, all of us have these special, wonderful gifts. If you like it, pursue it. If you think these decks of cards are pretty, buy them. I have over 60 of them. Do I know how to use all of them? No, I switch them up. It doesn’t matter.

Just follow your heart and, you know, make your spirit shine. We have only limited time in this lifetime to live. Why not enjoy? I wasted… I’ve waited way too long to have this to happen. I’m enjoying it now. I’m past, you know, half a century years old, and I’m enjoying it now. Now is the time to shine.

Linda Lang:
We do set very high expectations, don’t we? It’s almost like we think if we have a gift, a natural gift, we’re like a savant, and it’s like, fully developed. Right? You know, right there. That’s how it should be. But spiritual gifts need to be developed and explored and enhanced and grown.

Chika Yamada:
Yes, for sure. And one more thing that I want to tell people. You have your own tribe. I didn’t always have people around me, but over the course of time, because I didn’t give up, I attracted the people that share similar beliefs. People who support my gifts, my difficult times, and all of that. So find your own tribe. You don’t have to follow a teacher. I don’t have anyone that I specifically follow. There are people who help me grow. But you can be your own teacher. Just explore. Don’t hold back.

Linda Lang:
And the more that you do shine your true light and step into your authentic self, that’s how your tribe finds you.

Chika Yamada:
Authentic self, that’s an absolutely great word to remember, finding your authenticity. So the word oracle in you is just exactly that. You have your oracle in you already. Really, you just have to look within. And I know it’s, it’s like, but how do I look within? It’s a time consuming process, but we always have the answer within ourselves. And just be authentic. Don’t care about what people think. That’s a big advice. Yeah. Just be yourself. Of course, be kind to others. Like, be kind to yourself as well. I think we forget that very often.

Linda Lang:
Beautiful. Thank you so much for being my guest today, Chika.

Chika Yamada:
Thank you so much, Linda. Great talking to you.

Linda Lang:
And if people want to know more about your readings or your energy work, where can we send them?

Chika Yamada:
Yes, I have a website. It’s called oracleinyou.com, oracleinyou.com. I also have Instagram that’s ongoing. This one is under a different name; it’s called @alohanaturalspirits. I have random stories and some card readings posted there. So if anyone wants to check that out, that’d be great too.

Linda Lang:
Beautiful. And thank you for listening to this week’s edition of Exploring the Mystical Side of Life. You will find all of our conversations on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform. Come visit me at ThoughtChange.com, pick up your copy of Learning to Listen. That’s one of the first things that you need to do to really embrace your gifts. That’s it for this week. We’ll see you again next time. Bye for now.