Meet Katalin

Recently I was lucky enough to connect with Katalin and learn about her Tarot deck and her dedication to helping animals. I’ve divided her interview into two parts and share part one here with you today.

Question: I recently became aware of your deck, HazelMoon’s Hawaiian Tarot. How did you come to write it in the first place? What does Hawaii mean to you?

Answer: Hawai’i has always been there in my heart. Even when I was a little girl back in Hungary where I was born and raised. It was an ultimate longing for me to live there, to smell those flowers and sit on the sand and just watch the ocean. So simple a desire but it was strong for decades and will be the rest of my life. A far away dream that one day I was able to reach.

I was a restless Soul though and I moved in and out from the islands several times. When I lived in cold, snowy Ohio, I felt like painting all these tropical miniature paintings, which later on morphing into this deck. “IZ” Israel Kamakawiwoʻole was my inspiration. His voice and love of Hawaii kept me going to paint each day.

What did and does Hawai’i mean to me? Peace, love, healing and self realization for sure. A simple beauty that I was able to FEEL not just see with my eyes.

Question: How did you get involved with the Tarot Community? Were you a reader?

Answer: I think it was around 2012, when I joined some Tarot Community on Facebook a little bit before when Hawaii Five-0 asked me if they can use my deck in their show, in October 15, 2012. Episode 304 “Popilikia”.

As an intuitive person, before Eye Productions/CBS – Honolulu, Hawai’i contacted me, I had a dream that I was happily run on water and surf. Woke up with such joy that lift me up for weeks. Most of my intuition came through my dreams. I only did some readings to myself and close friends and relatives. Nothing in a professional way.

My intuition always been there since I was a little girl and I was adoring my friend’s mother who was able to read the Gypsy cards. I remember my sister and I barrow her deck and we made a copy of it, hand draw and hand coloring and all these before the computer world. I wish I knew what happened to those handmade gypsy cards.

Question: Your deck is a beautiful tribute to the natural world. Do you have a favorite place to visit?

Answer: My all time favorite place is Kalapana, the black sand beach on the Big island and the tiny island Molokai so I cannot choose either as the one. They are both isolated, spiritual and peaceful little places that are very close to my heart. My husband and I got married at Kalapana in 2010 right in the lava enclosure we built. We planted some palm trees around it and after a few years it became a magical little space. This ‘lava ring’ is visible on satellite photos. We would go out to Kalapana whenever we felt like it and we even slept out there, watching the infinity of the universe and counting the falling stars was a very spiritual night to remember.

We had the good opportunity to visit Kalaupapa on Moloka’i once and the impression the history of the place made it so rich and unforgettable for me.

These experiences are now part of me and my grounding.

Question: I get the feeling that the natural world has informed your decision to shift your focus and devote yourself to senior animals. When did you notice this shift? Can you say more about the process to open your retirement facility for senior animals?

Answer: Hawai’i always reawakened in me things that lay dormant. Feelings that wanted to start talking to my mind. The love and caring for the discarded animals was one whisper deep inside that started to become audible. When people had or wanted to move off island they would sometimes come to the conclusion that dumping their pets or even euthanizing them was a solution. This knowledge was down in me and gnawing on that feeling to care for the forsaken pets. I have a little story and it starts when we had moved to a new location from Hilo to the Kau district on the Big Island and he had taken on a new client with two separate properties to maintain. Upon working at this clients up mountain cabin, he discovered an older dog there that was not one of his clients. Upon inquiring it was discovered that a sad and sordid tale of abuse and neglect was this poor aging dogs history and it is too sad to tell here. Her name was Rosie and she was abandoned on the property, alone, confused and broken from her past. The client did what he could for her but she stayed aloof. As my husband went about his work on the property, he and Rosie started to bond. This communion came home with him in tales of their days together. I could tell it was right to take Rosie in with us. For her and us and the balance of life. I kept this decision to myself as I pondered the impact it would mean to all concerned. One day i went along to meet her and she greeted me with a strange but joyful rolling dance in the dust with howls of happiness to be the object of attention. I loved her right then and knew she should come home with us. I waited only a day to ask of my husband would he like to bring her home? I knew he had always had dogs growing up. I already knew he would like to take in Rosie but ‘dog-napping’ was another concern so our final step was to inquire of the client. He was more than happy to say yes and one day the truck pulled into our driveway, the tailgate opened and out of the dark came a shy and scared Rosie. I called her name and she was so happy. She was given a bath, dinner bowls, a pile of toys and her own bed. It all awaited her arrival. She was more pleased to be rolling in beds and lounging without care. She had become loved and awoken to her new life with an unbounded spirit. This spirit of hers grew inside her without bounds and we both were engulfed by it. She also grew outside and became a chubby old dog with a real family. We helped her to write the life story she deserved. The kind parents tell their children about in fairy tales where everyone lives happily ever after. At the age of fourteen, our poor old Rosie passed on. Years of fear and physical abuse had been internalised and had taken their toll. Years of sleeping on a soggy piece of foam outside in the high mountain air had set arthritis and joint problems in deep and though she gave us all her love, time took her physical being and freed her soul and spirit to the eternal. This is the compelling thought and emotion that has risen in our life to create a place for older dogs and cats to live out their lives in peace and comfort. We call this place today Rosegate. (Rosie’s Gate) She started it all and opened a brand new door/gate for us. In February 2018, we officially became Rosegate Retirement Home for Dogs and Cats as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. We are small and mostly fund the project ourselves with the kind assistance of some friends and small public fundraisers we come up with. A few companies have extended sponsorship to Rosegate in limited capacities too.

Question: What is a typical day like for you now? What is your favorite part of caring for older animals?

Answer: I have to start this with a smile because my day usually starts as early as three or four in the morning. The cats are always hungry and they will tell you that it is to the point of deleterious starvation… every time.

They wake me up telling me to give them food, immediately! Otherwise they will continue to make noise and won’t let me sleep any longer so even attempting to fall back is pointless. One of them, Kahili, has even found out how to manipulate every object for maximum effect, such as banging the closet doors or the pictures on the wall!
I have trained them to allow me at least to get my coffee doing first and that is a small reprieve. While it’s percolating, I have few minutes to sort out their breakfast, in their own bowls and little breakfast areas. (separate little spots, so they have their own happiness munching)
While they eat, I can then have my coffee peacefully, being with my own thoughts and planning for the day. That is my most beautiful moment with all the world still sleeping and only the sounds of munching, the birds starting to stir, plus GiGi the old dog snores.
By then Gigi the doggie has had her quick pee time outside and returned to settle in before her breakfast. She is a gentle old girl of 15 and more patient than the bossy cats.
After my coffee, I check the internet for all the various communications, if any orders came to prepare for shipping and exciting new material and matters the animal community has to share with each other. That can take more time than i wish but it is all part an parcel for Rosegate.
At this point we don’t have animals that need constant medical care but it has been so in the past. That will take precedence over all other matters and schedules and responsibilities get worked in around the needs of the animal in care. To cut to the quick, (pun not necessarily intended) days here at Rosegate are pretty peaceful mostly but as the home takes in more animals the circus never stops. It all depends of the pets we are care for and their personalities.
The moments in between I like to garden and keep transforming this property into a little garden paradise and we were created a 2000 sq.ft. Pollinator Garden. In the winters I focus more on art projects which help to fund Rosegate. In all honesty, that is one of my favorite part and seeing all these fur-babies happy and being content is PRICELESS. Of course a quiet vacation alone might be nice once in a while but we will get there sooner or later. Our motto is… One paw in front of the other gets us down the path. The journey is the destination.