About the Mystereum Tarot

2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ playing card size decks in a great looking box complete with 46 page booklet (lwb) + fold-out intro cardlet. The Mystereum Tarot deck is playing card size! Great for small hands and for shuffling.

$28.95 + S & H.

Visit www.mystereum.com to request your copy today!

Inception Story

The concept of setting into the creative adventure of this tarot deck began several years back when I made a connection between the meaning of architecture and The Magician and The High Priestess. And when I say the meaning of architecture I am literally looking to the word architecture itself. There is a four-point mode of being that I enjoy for the general purpose of architectural analysis which I will use to preface this connection for conversation’s sake, and to provide just a moment of suspense. This four-point mode is somewhat existential, and I have to honestly say I don’t think about these four points much anymore unless a building really perplexes me. Things incorporate over time, are amended into the soil so to speak:

1. How does a building stand on the ground?
2. How does a building extend to the sides?
3. How does a building open and close?
4. How does a building meet the sky?

Now, for just a bit more suspense. I won’t go in to whether something has to be a building to be considered architecture. That’s another story, and tarot is the order of the day here.

OK. Architecture. The meaning of architecture. If I disassemble the word into its Greek roots, I get arche and techne, and I STILL can’t remember how to make the accent over a letter work on my keyboard. I ask that you please imagine the accent and play along. Further for your imagination, that the accent starts low on the left and ends high on the right. Accent ague? Accent grave? Imagination. Arche, techne. Say ar-kay. Tek-nay. And, here’s where I made a connection.

Arche is the first inkling, the creation, the first spark of an idea. Arche is the place of inception. Techne is the giving form to the formless, the making, the putting together of the idea that has been created. Techne is the place of conception. And, I saw The Magician and The High Priestess with their respective 1st spark, the creation of the Magician, and then the giving form, the making of The High Priestess. And though I remained fascinated with the deck and stayed my course with architecture and art, the connection didn’t stick. Or, so I thought.

Scroll forward several years to the summer of 2006 while I’m gardening, and I look up at my turn-of-the-century Victorian house (1906) and realize that I’ve been working on the cards here and there, reading text and history when I can, or simply come across it, and …rush inside and rinse the dirt off and open up the folder on my computer, and there I saw…just down the page!…The Empress carrying to full term! The Emperor overseeing! And, it came to mind that I was thick in the middle of the largest scale project I have ever undertaken, had been walking right on the burial as I amended the soil in my garden. Imagine my bright , wide eyes when I eventually came to looking at the Judgment card having a The Hanged Man moment!

Though architecture provided a form-giving metaphor for the creation of this deck, from which I lifted arche, techne, identity, place, and context, the architecture may or may not stop right there. The warm-up is oftentimes not a member of the performance. Either way or neither, though, one’s path is experienced and built, built back in upon and re-built, expanded and contracted…one’s path continually pulses through the scales of life, driven by life itself. The tarot cards are wonderful trail-markers as well as storytellers along the path. Sometimes there is the soliloquy of a single card as the context. Sometimes a card or cards speak with the chorus of the other cards to flesh out context. Most all tarot decks present a visual vitality that speaks to the mind – you can call it consciousness or anything else for that matter…but in this regard, never-mind the research in this area(s)in this regard though fitting and inspiring even…in this regard there is no proof or re-proof but life itself. In this regard we each have our own say. With vitality at a variety of scales, and incorporating the concept of all similar, each unique to the cards, to ourselves, a whole world is present and complete at each and every scale.

And there, at that point is a shell in my garden cracking open of its own accord underground, the story of the creation and making of this deck sprouted, remembering origin and destiny as one and the same maybe. Or not. The roots of tarot and architecture will flower perennially in my garden, naturalizing over time as this deck is completed and becomes dog-eared from use, naturalizing. I will move from there now to the fruits that began to come from my garden in the summer of 2006. Enjoy!

– Jordan Hoggard, January 2007

The Context Spread

click on the images to view the pdf

Jordan Hoggard

Jordan Hoggard is an artist and architect. He is the Principal of J. Jordan Hoggard Design which is a small architectural company established in 2002 devoted to providing disciplined, responsive, and respectful service to every client, no matter how big or small the project. Jordan works directly with every client to assure their continuing satisfaction throughout the design and construction process.

• “Architecture is for everyone…” © 2003
• “ Form Follows Priority” ® 2007

Jordan has been working on award-winning projects singe 1991.

Graduated in 1991 from Texas Tech University with the degree of Bachelor of Architecture. He was honored with numerous scholarships and awards, held the offices of Vice President and President of the American Institute of Architecture Students, and was named by the Dean of the College of Architecture to the Faculty Search Committee.

Jordan spent five years as a professional painter of fine art oils and watercolors and continues to pursue special studies in architecture and art.

• www.JJHDesign.com
• www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/mysterium-conunctionis/
• www.cafepress.com/mystereum
• www.mystereum.com

Max in a Mystereum Dog Shirt

Music Credits

• Opening Music & Transition Music: Narcissus by Queenie from Dream of Flight
• Closing Music: Music to Look for Something Lost by Michael Masley from Mystery Repeats Itself (Magnatune)

Play or Download the Episode

Spiritualist Minister … Clairvoyant … Herbalist … Cerified Reiki Counselor … Numerology … Dowser … Shiatsu … Foot Reflexologist … Spirtuial Response Therapist … Theraputic Touch …. Energy balancer

Judith Beaudoin, CEO of Crystal Cavern has worked for the last 30 years to bring Harmony, Knowledge and Wellness to her clients. Judith has lectured at the Oregon Herb Society, Women’s Military League of Oregon, Churches in both Oregon and Washington, Readings at Events, Private Functions, Classes, Workshops and Private Sessions. She has appeared on Town Hall on Channel 2 in Portland, Oregon and as guest Speaker and Reader on Vancouver’s Cable Network.

Crystal Cavern

14915 SW 72nd Avenue Tigard, Oregon 97224
1 Mile North of Bridgeport Plaza
(Between Bonita and Carman Drive on 72nd Ave.)

Phone: 503-597-2688

Hours:

• Monday to Saturday: 12 pm to 6 pm
• Sunday: 1 pm to 4 pm

Incense and Associations

There are many different associations for incense and different associations/attributions. Here is one example.

Chakras

• 1st Chakra: Violets
• 2nd Chakra: Sandal Wood
• 3rd Chakra: Honeysuckle
• 4th Chakra: Musk
• 5th Chakra: Carnation
• 6th Chakra: Lavender
• 7th Chakra: Wisteria

Elements:

• Air: Leaves – Patchouli
• Earth: Roots – Valerian, Vervet, Ginger, Spikenard
• Fire: Flower: Clove
• Water: Stems & Branches: Sandalwood, Frankincense, Myrrh, Cedar wood
• Ether: Fruit – Star Annis

Astrological Signs

• Aries: Frankincense, Carnation, Musk
• Taurus: Rose, Magnolia, Ceder wood, Patchouli, Rosemary
• Gemini: Lotus, Lilac, Star Annis
• Cancer: Myrrh, Violet, Bayberry, Patchouli
• Leo: Frankincense, Sweet Orange, Musk, Cedar Wood
• Virgo: Lavender, Narcissus, Honeysuckle
• Libra: Lilac, Rose, Magnolia
• Scorpio: Violet, Bay wood, Clove, Vanilla, Frankincense
• Sagittarius: Myrrh, Rose, Carnation, Sweet Orange
• Capricorn: Magnolia, Honeysuckle
• Aquarius: Lavender, Ylang Ylang, Frankincense
• Pisces: Cloves, Honeysuckle

Books on Incense & Aroma Therapy

Music Credits

• Opening Music: The Oracle Speaks by William Wilde Zeitler from Elegy for Atlantis
• Closing Music: The Calling by Solace from Iman (Magnatune)

Play or Download the Episode

Amy Lamash

Amy Lamash is a passionate Tarot enthusiast who has been discovering Tarot for the past 5 years and loving every minute of it! She has 2 websites, hudsonvalleytarot.com and tarotcalendar.com.

She does occasional tarot parties and paid readings, but mostly tarot is a very enjoyable and fascinating journey. She hopes to pass that excitement for tarot to others via my websites!

Tarot for Your Self by Mary Greer

Originally published in 1984, this classic is the first book to explore and promote the concept of reading the cards for personal insight-for yourself-with detailed instructions how to do so. The exercises can be enjoyed by an individual or shared with others, making it a popular text for classes and study groups. It uses meditations, rituals, spreads, mandalas, visualizations, dialogues, charts, affirmations, and other activities to help you establish your own relationship with the cards. It offers the best in traditional knowledge and know-how. Learn the many variations of three card spreads and ways of moving around the cards in the Celtic Cross Spread to get far more information than you thought possible. Use Mary Greer’s powerful “breakthrough process” with all your readings to turn them into truly transformative experiences.

Journaling Links

• Your Tarot Journal at Tarot Studies
  
• Tarot Journal Articles at Tarot Studies
• Journaling by James Ricklef

Sample Reading from Amy’s Journal

What do you need to focus on during Autumn?

Fey Tarot Mara Aghem © 2002 Lo Scarabeo

1. What is your fiercest desire?
2. What is your rational awareness and long term plans?
3. The bridge to combine the two.

Tarot of the Crone Available

$35: Includes Silk Bag and 78 Cards. Shipping December 15,  2007.

Order at shop.tarotconnection.net

Alchemical Tarot available for Pre-Order

$30: Includes Tuck Box, 79 Cards and a little white book. Estimated shipping date is Feb 14, 2008.

Pre-Order at shop.tarotconnection.net

Music Credits

• Opening Music: The Oracle Speaks by William Wilde Zeitler from Elegy for Atlantis
• Transition Music: Its Here Now by Trip Wamsley from It’s Better This Way (Magnatune)
• Closing Music: Finally by Trip Wamsley from It’s Better This Way (Magnatune)

Play or Download the Episode

Excerpt from a Portland Study Group session on the Sevens.

One thing that I like to do when the 7 of Cups comes up in a reading is to ask the Querent to pick one of the cups. This may give insight into the situation or advice. Each of the Cups corresponds to a planet/major arcana card.

Play along, and choose one for yourself.

If you know this material or have difficulty selecting a card take out the planetary trumps, shuffle them and draw a card that way.

Planetary Trumps:

• Magician
• Priestess
• Empress
• Wheel of Fortune
• Tower
• Sun
• World

Hermit’s Journey with Bonnie Cehovet – Gaian Tarot

Today I will be discussing one of my favorite Indies – the Gaian Tarot, by Joanna Powell Colbert. I followed the creation process of this deck online, and was impressed not only by the theme (Gaia – Mother Earth), and the artwork (which is stunning!), but by Joanna’s inherent understanding of our personal relationship to Gaia. I do have to admit that it doesn’t hurt that the inspiration for the cards comes from nature scenes on one of the San Juan Islands, here in my very own Pacific Northwest! This deck is mystickal Tarot at its very best!I carried the excitement of a small child as I waited for this deck to arrive in my mailbox. I hurried back to the house to open it, cradling it in my hands – I knew this package would be filled with wonder and magick – and was it ever!

Gaian Tarot

The Gaian Tarot celebrates the living Earth and those who seek to live in harmony with Her. It is an evocative and powerful tool for accessing inner guidance. The imagery of the deck combines multicultural Goddesses and other numinous beings with the mysteries of the natural world. Each image features birds, animals, plants, trees, rocks, constellations and other aspects of nature that amplify the meaning of the card. With its structure rooted in Tarot tradition, the Gaian Tarot is the perfect deck for those who honor Gaia, the earth, as a living, sentient being and who practice an earth-centered spirituality. (from GaianTarot.com)

The Gaian Tarot is a work in progress. The 22 images of the Major Arcana are finished. The Limited (First) Edition of the Majors-Only Deck is sold out, but the Second Edition is now available for purchase.

Music Credits

• Opening Music: The Oracle Speaks by William Wilde Zeitler from Elegy for Atlantis
• Closing Music: Seven Promises by William Brooks from Fowl Mouth (Magnatune)

Play or Download the Episode

She has been teaching Tarot “formally” for the last ten years, i.e., classes with multiple students – generally in metaphysical shops. Classes run the range from introductory to intermediate to advanced skills, and her newest class of last year is Tarot & Magick (not about reading the cards, but working with the archetypal energies in the deck as allies). Gina has also had the honor of presenting workshops for local covens and at Pagan gatherings in the Southeast.

You can see general class outlines at website www.geocities.com/mnemosyne77 – just click on any of the class titles to go to the outline.

I have definitely developed a better understanding of Tarot from teaching, and don’t think that I would have grown nearly as much if I only read the cards.

I’ve also learned how folks learn – that has been an adventure. These days, in each lesson, I try to incorporate something for all four learning aspects: Fire – Intuitive, Water – Emotional, Air -Intellectual, and Earth – Tactile. I provide plenty of opportunities for validation for the intuitives, as they develop the other skills they’ll need when they are having “off” days. The emotional learners need to make heart-connections with each card, and I give them lots of stories, and give them the tools to work with their own cards. The intellectuals need some order, and sometimes I even break out the flow charts and talk to the computer geek in them. And I give practical examples and hands-on experience so that the tactile folks can dive into their decks and know that it’s real. Each student may start from his/her strong point, and then when comfortable, will start assimilating the lessons through the other three methods, as well.

Tarot Spreads, Threads and Mandalas – When you’re done with Tarot 101!

From the very first chapter, the novice reader will find powerful one-card techniques that allow for a greater understanding of each card. As for the seasoned professional, whether you use the Tarot to divine or to converse with the Divine, you are sure to fall in love with your cards all over again as you work through the spreads and exercises in this book.

• Go on a scavenger hunt.
• Create a mandala.
• Ride a numerological roller coaster.
• Weave fabulous stories using the amazing images and archetypes in your own deck.

This is your invitation to dance, dream and dare the Tarot to be far more than a “pack of cards.”

You’re a Star

The human body is the perfect template for so many spreads. In this design, use the star for a five-card reading that provides an image of where you have been and where you are heading.

• The card in the Left Foot position represents where you have been, and the ground that you have covered.
• The Left Hand card speaks of those things that you have received or been offered. This might include not only tangible things, but lessons or other gifts.
• The card at the Head indicates things that are on your mind right now, including the current situation.
• The Right Hand card represents those things that you may pay forward and gifts that you have to offer to others. It is also the hand that opens doors, or closes them, to potential futures.
• And the Right Foot is where you appear to be going if all else stays the same.

Look at the flow of the reading. The left side represents those energies from the past that may be lingering, but are waning. The right side describes experiences for which you are preparing.

Ask yourself if you feel balanced between these incoming and outgoing energies. If your head is caught in a tug-of-war, what might you release in order to maintain your balance? Or are you not seeking balance at all? Are you bound or do you feel chained at any specific point in the reading, and how does that relate to obligations within your current situation?

Finally, decide where you shine brightest in this spread and aim that light on the other positions by combining that card in turn with any that feel less than brilliant. And discover how to shine like the star that you truly are.

Gina Estevez

Cleverly disguised as a business professional by day, Gina Estevez (Tampa, Florida) is a musician, songwriter, mystic, and Mom, who has been shuffling Tarot cards for over twenty years, studying, reading professionally, and teaching along the way. Tarot Spreads, Threads and Mandalas is her first book, and part of her cunning plan to retire from the day job and travel in an RV from one metaphysical shop to another, from one festival to the next, working with folks of like-mind, and sharing her passion for Tarot, Magick and Kaballah. 2008 will see the release of two more books: Mama Gina’s Little White Book For Any Tarot Deck and Tarot: Your Magickal Ally. Contact Gina at mnemosyne7@hotmail.com and visit her little corner of the web at www.geocities.com/mnemosyne77.

Music Credits

• Opening Music: The Oracle Speaks by William Wilde Zeitler from Elegy for Atlantis
• Closing Music: The Lost Memory part 2 by Ambient Light from Shiver (Podsafe Music Network)

Play or Download the Episode

• Pick 3 objects (person, place, thing)
• Pick 3 actions

1. Draw a card for each an interpret the card as the bridge between the dream image and your waking life.
2. Pick one of the object card, either randomly or because of its importance.
3. Pick of the action cards
4. Shuffle the rest of the deck and draw a summary card.
5. Use these three cards to do a reading for yourself.

Dena’s Dream

I dreamed that Leisa had given me a baby duck to take care of. It was cute and fuzzy, and seemed very frail/thin. He didn’t seem like a normal duck though; he had almost the personality of a human. I said he seemed very sweet. She said she was going away for a couple of days, and wondered if I could take care of it. I said sure, and took it. I soon realized that I had not asked for any instructions for its care, nor did I have any place to safely keep it. I felt that he (it seemed male) needed a cage or small enclosure, because he might get trompled on in my home. I was having great anxiety about all of this. In the dream, I lived in a place I didn’t recognize, and both my Mom and Dustin (brother) lived there too. I was afraid they’d be careless and step on him. I put him in my room, and was contemplating putting out a sign that said “Don’t come in.” In the mean time, I gave him some water, and it was good to watch him drink. I reminded myself that I needed to feed and give him water, that I musn’t forget. I thought I might need to go get some duck food soon.

Then, abruptly, the scene changed and I had decided to go on a hiking/camping trip and take the duck with me. I was with a bunch of people, and we were going over some rough terrain. I kept the duck in a pouch close to my belly, inside my clothes. At one point, I bumped against something and was afraid I’d crushed him. I took him out, and he looked like his right eye was injured. I decided I’d better head home.

I was in the car, and the duck was running loose around the floorboards as I was driving. I knew something bad was going to happen, almost like it was inevitable: a hole in the floorboards appeared, and the duck fell through. I saw him tumble out the bottom, and knew he must have died. I felt horrible. I dreaded having to tell Leisa when she returned.

Leisa came back, and I met her at her house. I told her about the duck, and was direct and honest and told her everything. I was still frustrated that I had not had a cage for him, but I felt like it was my responsibility and I’d failed. Leisa was reassuring, said it was okay, although she did seem sad about the duck. I woke up, very relieved that it had all been a dream.

Leisa’s Dream

I just parked by car. I was attending a conference at a hotel a block away. The buildings for that block were joined on the ground floor so I entered the nearest one to get off the street. I was distracted and got on the first elevator that I saw and once inside I realized my error. This elevator would go up but the higher level wasn’t connected to the place I was staying. There was no way to reopen the doors without going to the top.

The inside of the elevator was strange. Very old fashioned with iron grating so you could see the floors going by. The interior was very small. There was barely enough room to stand in it front to back. It was wider than deep so I had to put my luggage to my right. There were only three buttons. 1 – 9 – 10. On the way up I saw empty dusty spaces. Near the top I witnessed a murder by gunshot that I wasn’t supposed to see of course.

When I reached the top I was able to press the buttons to go down without the doors opening but the bad guys knew I was there and wanted to intercept me.

I did dial 911 from my cell phone. There were some reception problems due to the elevator and at some point I was free falling in the elevator shaft and needed to catch back up to my phone. I did accomplish this, escape to a corner of the lobby to complete my call. I was battered, bloody and may have had broken bones but safe.

Dena DeCastro

A professional astrologer in the Portland area for several years, Dena has appeared on local radio shows, taught workshops, and given lectures on topics in Evolutionary Astrology. The evolutionary perspective is that our souls progress from lifetime to lifetime. The focus of Dena’s readings is upon your chart as the dynamic representation of your highest potential, and the guide toward achieving it. Dena hosts the podcast Evolutions of Astrology featuring interviews with astrologers and other readers, as well as discussing various topics of astrology and chart interpretation.

To subscribe to “Evolutions of Astrology” via iTunes, click here.

Music Credits

• Opening Music: The Oracle Speaks by William Wilde Zeitler from Elegy for Atlantis
• Transitional Music: Goodbye by Beth Quist from Lucidity (Magnatune)
• Closing Music: Dream by Beth Quistt from Lucidity (Magnatune)

Play or Download the Episode

She currently has articles and reviews appearing in the World Tarot Network newsletter, and reviews appearing on the Meta Arts e-magazine site and on Aeclectic Tarot . Her website is The Crystal Gate – Tarot .

1. What are tele-classes?

2. What makes tele-classes a viable teaching venue?

3. What is the cost of a tele-class?

4. What kinds of classes are suitable for tele-classes?

5. What is your target student?

6. Where would you advertise a tele-class?

7. What information would you include in your advertising?

• class name
• instructor’s name
• venue
• length
• fee (be sure and note that for a tele-class the student also pays their own long distance phone bill)
• CEU’s (if applicable)
• Course Material: What the class will cover.
• What the student can expect to take away from the class.

8. How will you organize your class?

• Class Objectives
• What you will take away from this class.
• Introduction
• Main Class Material
• Summary

9. How will you present your class?

• Introduce yourself.
• Ask each person to introduce themselves. (On a tele-class it is fun to also tell people where you are from.)
• Ask your students what they hope to get out of the class.
• Begin presenting your subject. You can do the major portion as a lecture, but class participation is a lot more fun! Note: I like to include handouts whenever possible. They make great visual aids, and present a place for people to take notes.
• Encourage questions.
• Try and end the class on a high note … some kind of exercise or discussion.

Teleclass with Robert Place

This is the introduction to the class Hieroglyphs from the Soul with Robert Place. This class will be offered again on October 24th. Topics covered include the history of Tarot, how to read Tarot and why Robert doesn’t use reversals.

There is still time to register for the class later this month. In the class, you will learn a guideline for interpreting them called “The Seven Patterns”. These patterns include: linear, choice, meeting, central origin, central destination, the central problem and the central teacher.

• Date: Wednesday October 24th 2007
• Time: 6:00 – 8:00 PST
• Cost: $25

For more information and to register visit shop.tarotconnection.net

Music Credits

• Opening Music: The Oracle Speaks by William Wilde Zeitler from Elegy for Atlantis
• Transitional Music: Come When I Call by Emily Van Evera from My Lady Rich (Magnatune)
• Closing Music: And Is It Night by Emily Van Evera from My Lady Rich (Magnatune)

Play or Download the Episode

Ramon Troubadour returns to his devastated home city of Carcassonne to rescue the holy Dame of the Cathars from the flames of the Inquisition. His famous voice and sense of humor help him make new allies in his quest to prevent a bloody crusade.

Only the Dame knows the secret of the holy relic of Montségur. A king will go to war for the relic. A dying pope will kill for it.

Helped by a nameless one-eyed knight, a fighting damsel, a witch and a circus of colorful entertainers on dancing horses, Ramon must stand against a terrifying army led by Death incarnate, complete with archetypal scythe.

Based on the true history of the Inquisition and the legend of the Tarot, The Last Troubadour assembles a magnificent cast right out of the Tarot deck: the Fool, the Magician, The Emperor, The Pope, Death and even The Devil. Don’t miss this tale of knightly valor, Tarot symbolism, tragic history and exciting quests.

1980′s Book Trailer by Kam Wai Yu

New Book Trailer by Kam Wai Yu

Derek Armstrong

So, is this a clever gimmick? Just an author who thought one day, Hey, this hasn’t been done before? Does he even own a Tarot deck?I did not undertake The Last Troubadour lightly. The entire trilogy was a journey of some 18 years. Carcassonne and the south of France are my old haunts, where I explored the history in depth. An important history.

Nor is Tarot a passing fancy for me. My first deck was a Pixie, bought with part-timer earnings after school back in 1972. I’m obviously much older now, and I still have my Pixie, and some 112 other decks. Current favorites include Thoth (bought in 1974), Kat Black’s Golden, Place’s Buddha Tarot, Carol Herzer’s Illuminated, and a dozen others. I actually almost always have a deck in my pocket.

Why do I weave the mystical and legend with history? Well, why not? It’s fun, isn’t it? But more important, it’s a way of conveying important events that is entertaining and at the same time “real.” What better way for me to personally explore Tarot cards and archetypes and to convey some of what I’ve learned. The journey of the Fool is my favorite aspect of Tarot. It’s actually the plotline of all great epic fiction.

So, one day, two decades ago, I meditated on the FOOL in my very old Pixie (Rider Waite Smith) deck and he came to life. He became Ramon Troubadour. His journey became a novel-journey through the tarot major arcana. I actually named him Ramon, after researching Doctor Illuminatus, otherwise known as Ramon Lull, author of 320 books written at the time of my novel (the thirteenth century). He even had a character in his most famous book, Blanquerna, name Ramon the Fool. Wow.

All of my books have Tarot themes in them, some dark, some light. The Game, my hit thriller features a humorous “fool” character in the always-joking Alban Bane character. He was so popular, fans demanded a sequel, which comes out spring 08 as MADicine. This series is a blend of satire, comedy and thriller – bloody fun, quite literally.

The Last Troubadour and the other two books of the series, The Last Quest and The Last Stand, are “dripping with Tarot themes.” Most of the early fans are tarot-enthusiasts. Nevara, my Magician character, is my “fictional” inventor of Tarot. Each character is a major arcane archetype. And, of course, the epic journey is the archetypal journey of the Fool. To which, I added real history, substantial satire (targeting in particular the latest craze for Holy Grail themes), comedy and adventure – shaken not stirred.

Next year, with any good fortune, you’ll start to see these characters in Troubadour-style imagery as famed artist Kam Wai Yu illustrates the Troubadour Tarot, a dream of mine. I hope you’ll take the journey with me.

Best,

Derek Armstrong,

Author, Tarot card collector, novelist, fool.

www.lasttroubadour.com

Books

Music Credits

Opening Music: The Oracle Speaks by William Wilde Zeitler from Elegy for Atlantis

Closing Music: Sante Marie viergene by Briddes Roune from Lenten is come (Magnatune)

Closing Music: When the nichtegale singes by Briddes Roune from Lenten is come (Magnatune)

Play or Download the Episode

• Card Attributions
• Suits & Seasons
• Opening the Key
• The Calendar Spread

Super Project Lab

I was a guest of the Super Project Lab in their series called meet your Futurist.

Once again, truth and fiction collide when special guests from the Portland community share true, unrehearsed recollections from their lives. Their stories serve as inspirational fodder for each evening’s improv.

Friday Sept 21- Meet Your Futurist

The Eights by Ginny Hunt

Eights in Tarot are a mixed bag. They contain the solid sense of four yet without its enclosing, fearful walls. Eights are about moving beyond that structure, but still working within its rules. It takes the growth lessons of all the numbers that came before it and moves still higher, still striving towards the goal. There is the hint of a new beginning with the eight, but it’s more because the old ways weren’t working as well as you’d hoped. There is both building and destruction inherent in the eights, so it may be difficult at times to ascertain the meaning in the card.

Eight is one number beyond perfection and represents the infinity. The mathematical symbol for infinity, the leminscate is, after all, the number eight turned on its side. We see this symbol in various cards in the tarot: The Magician, the Three of Pentacles, but also, auspiciously, in the Major Arcana VIII Strength. More about this in a moment, because as we shall see, Strength fits very neatly into the symbolism of the number eight, with its multifaceted approach to challenges.

Eight was the number of the balance and cosmic order of the universe according to the Egyptians. In Mesopotamia, the eight-leaf rosette was also the emblem of the fertility goddess Ishtar and her planet Venus. This symbolizes the eight’s basic meaning of birth and death and rebirth, or building and destruction and new beginning aspect of the eight. To the early Christians it was the symbol of the new Life, the final Resurrection and the anticipated Resurrection that is baptism. It was also the number of Beatitudes (The Blesseds) of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The number eight as a symbol of new beginning is seen in the Bible, as when Noah saved eight persons from the flood to start over. Similarly, the Jewish rite of circumcision which marks the beginning of the newborn boy’s relationship with God is performed on the eighth day, and in Leviticus 9:1, the inauguration of the Tabernacle as the new dwelling place for the presence of God took place after seven days of preparation on the eighth. In Jewish Qabbalah, the number is the eighth Sephira, Hod or “Splendour.” The star of Bethlehem is usually shown with eight rays. Also, Easter Sunday, the day when Christ is said to have rose from the dead, was counted as the eighth day after Palm Sunday, the day on which Jesus entered Jerusalem. I know, to us it seems like seven, but the ancients had an inclusive way of counting the day itself plus the following days. (read the full post)

Music Credits

Opening Music: The Oracle Speaks by William Wilde Zeitler from Elegy for Atlantis

78 Notes Music: Steamy River by Rhonda Lorence from Winter Moon (Magnatune)

Closing Music 1: Chiron Beta Prime by Jonathan Coulton

Closing Music 2: Skullcrusher Mountain by Jonathan Coulton

Play or Download the Episode

Kevin E. Houchin, Esq.

Kevin is a Lawyer, Teacher, Marketer, Graphic Designer, & Artist.

He has a law degree is from the University of Iowa College of Law and a a Bachelor of Fine Art degree in Graphic Design from Iowa State University. He is principal of Houchin & Associates, PLLC – a copyright, trademark, arts & entertainment, business development, and branding firm located in Fort Collins, Colorado. To contact Kevin, call 970-493-1070 or email kevin.houchin@houchinlaw.com.

From © Primer for Visual Artists & The Top Copyright Myths

Copyright – Subject Matter

• Protects the “tangible expression of an idea”
• Literary works
• Musical works, including accompanying words
• Dramatic works, including accompanying music
• Pantomimes and choreographic works
• Pictorial, graphic and sculptural works
• Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
• Sound Recordings
• Architectural Works

Download the © Primer for Visual Artists & The Top Copyright Myths

Music Credits

Opening Music: The Oracle Speaks by William Wilde Zeitler from Elegy for Atlantis

Closing Music: The Rights of Man by Doc Rossi from Demarzi-6 Sonatas for Cetra o Kitara (Magnatune)

Play or Download the Episode

written by members of the Aeclectic Tarot Forum, edited by Alissa Hall.

Available for purchase and instant download at Aeclectic Tarot

About the Book

Why me to edit this book?

From 2003 until early 2005, I was a volunteer moderator at the Aeclectic Tarot website. During that time, one of the forums I moderated was the Tarot Spreads forum. As a former librarian, I have a keen interest in indexing and making information accessible to the public. For fun, I began to index the Tarot spreads forum, providing categories for users to choose from when searching for spreads. Until the creation of that index, the only way a user could find a spread was to search through hundreds of threads using a keyword search, and relying on personal memory of previous threads.

Fast forward to December 2006, there was a thread started by another AT member suggesting an eBook of Tarot Spreads, and I contacted Solandia and expressed my interest in compiling such a work. Providing examples of other eBooks I’ve created (primarily from my henna design work) she and I negotiated our contract, our work flow and deadlines, and the project officially began in February 2007 with the initial selection of spreads to be potentially included in the work.

Choosing spreads to be included

The index I started has been expertly maintained and added to by the moderator who took over the forum when I stepped down years ago (her logon is “Moonbow”). When going through the current index, I considered which categories were the most helpful as a Tarot reader, which ones were used most often either by a professional or personal reader. From this, the categories of : Love and Relationships, Career and Money, Spiritual Path, Family and Pets, Self Awareness, Creativity, General Outlook, Daily and Spreads for Tarot Readers were created.

Each spread to be potentially included had to be universal – it could not reference a specific religion (such as spreads for certain Pagan beliefs, etc.) nor holidays (secular or religious) as certain parts of the world may not observe these events. The only exception was Chronata’s “Chakra Cross” a variation on the Celtic Cross which references chakras, a Hindu belief system, but one which is observed by many countries and religious persuasions.

I also had to push myself to overcome personal bias in my preference for shorter spreads. Spreads in the book range from 3 cards, to 14 cards, in length.

Once selected for potential inclusion, there was a lengthy process of contacting each individual spread author to query their interest in the project, coordinate the contracts to them, and compile information to be included on their page.

What else beside the spreads were included

Each page also includes a “blurb” written by the spread author themselves, limited to 50 words or less. This was something I specifically wanted to do for the authors, since many spreads included some background or users’ information within the AT thread that would be lost in the eBook form. I felt it also helped to personalize each authors’ contribution to the book.

How were the authors chosen

I deliberately ignored the authors’ names until the time of contact, as some spreads were written by members who were less frequent contributors to the AT forum, and some were “regulars”. I sought every opportunity to keep this from being a “popularity” contest. Some authors have more than one spread within the book. This is due to the superior content of their spreads, the needs I had as an editor to meet my 40 spread minimum quota for the book, and the amount of authors who were able to respond in a timely manner with their interest in being a part of the project.

Some very good spreads were “lost” along the way due to the authors not receiving the query messages in time to make the deadline, and/or their lack of interest in being a part of the project. Regardless, the final product stands as a great example of collective works, and I’m proud to have been a part of its compilation.

The Look

I designed the card graphics, as well as the page layout, as editor and included some Dover clip art to most pages in order to frame the pages’ content, and to give the eBook itself an overall appeal to the eye. This artistic side of me was great fun to express, as well as the shaping of the textual layout, which is meant to flow with the cards’ spreads, all designed to be shown exactly as they would be laid out during usage (i.e. a spread shaped like a spiral is shown as a spiral in the book, of course).

Also, I chose to use bold text to highlight key words for each spread position, in order to help the reader use the eBook at a glance while reading their spreads.

Copyright protection

As a writer myself, I was passionate about drafting up a very complete (some might say Too Complete!) contract for each author to be a part of the project. While Solandia owns the copyright to the anthology, each author granted what are called “one time rights” for their contributions to the eBook. This ensures that each author owns the copyright to their work, and can publish and profit from their work in any way they see fit later in life. Ensuring each author retained their copyrights for their works was something I felt very strongly about helping them maintain, especially since many had never published a work prior to this eBook and were less familiar with copyright laws.

Alissa Hall

Alissa Hall first began reading Tarot over 20 years ago, and as an adult has dedicated years to learning more about various occult paths. In addition to Tarot, she also reads palms and runes, and offers her gift of karmic path (past life) advisement to her clientèle as well. Known to lecture on Tarot and palmistry, she last appeared in Las Vegas for a series of workshops and classes.

A devoted wordsmith, Alissa has published both short and long works of fiction and non-fiction on subjects ranging from Tarot to Tantra, self-help to storytelling.

A resident of New Mexico for over 2 decades, she lives in the mountains with her husband and son, and is currently expecting her second child.

• AlissaHall.com
• Alissa’s Henna Gallery
• Raven’s Perch Press

Hermit’s Journey with Bonnie Cehovet – the Star and the Moon

Welcome to the Hermit’s Journey. My name is Bonnie Cehovet, and today we will be continuing on our journey through the symbols in the Major Arcana. As I noted in the first Pod Cast of this series, that of the Fool, the imagery and symbolism in the Tarot is what connects us to its archetypal qualities and wisdom. It acts as a gateway between our conscious and our unconscious worlds. Each deck carries with it its own unique brand of imagery and symbols. For the purposes of this discussion, I will be referring to the Waite-Smith Tarot (also known as the Rider-Waite Tarot), as it is a traditional reference, and quite often used for teaching purposes. Interpreting the imagery and symbols is done in two ways: through the intent of the author/illustrator (and here we need to remember that the background for the Rider-Waite deck is that of the Golden Dawn), and how the Seeker sees it through the veil of their own personal life experiences.

Let’s continue our journey through the symbols of the Star and the Moon. The major theme for the Star is that of that of intuition and understanding. We are reminded of the need to acknowledge our inner truth. With this card, we see the ability to renew ourselves spiritually.

The figure in this card is nude, indicating that she has nothing to hide.

She has one foot on land (the physical, material world), and one foot in the water (the world of the unconscious, and of Spirit). As the “water of life” is poured, it divides into five rivlets, representing the five senses.

A sacred Ibis, symbol of thought and mind, perches in the tree behind her.

An eight-pointed star (representing power and mental success) floats above her, symbolizing infinity. Seven smaller stars (also eight pointed) symbolize spiritual illumination. These seven stars also represent the seven chakras, and the seven ancient planets.

In this card, we see the Spirit of the Universe, and the Spirit within.

When the Star appears in a reading, the Seeker is being asked to clear/cleanse something in their situation. They need to let go of doubting themselves, and listen to their inner wisdom.

The theme for the Moon is that of cycles, intuition, and inner development. The Moon is also symbolic of the universal feminine principle.

A crayfish coming out of the water symbolizes our conscious growth. In “The Heart of the Tarot”, Sandra Thomson indicates that the crayfish must get past, or overcome, the dog and the wolf (which represent our domesticated self and our natural instincts).

The mountains represent spiritual awareness. The path between the towers represents the path into the unknown. The yods represent divine energy, and renewed inspiration.

The Moon has thirty-two rays – the Qabalistic number of the ten sephiroth combined with the twenty-two paths on the Tree of Life. It also is represented in all three of its phases, symbolizing body, mind, and spirit.

When the Moon appears in a reading, the Seeker may not be able to establish a rational response to their situation. Something from their past may be affecting their present, so they need to look at whether they are repeating a cycle or a pattern. Any fears that the Seeker has may be reflected in this card.Let’s continue our journey through the symbols of The Devil and The Tower. The major theme for The Devil is that of acknowledging the hidden parts of our personality – our shadow side. These are the forces behind how and why we imprison and limit ourselves.

Music Credits

Opening Music: The Oracle Speaks by William Wilde Zeitler from Elegy for Atlantis

Hermits Journey Music: Dark Moon by Suzanne Teng from Enchanted Wind (Magnatune)

Closing Music: Inspiral by Hands Upon Black Earth from Hands Upon Black Earth (Magnatune)

Play or Download the Episode

Started in 1991 by Thalassa, and currently produced in association with the Daughters of Divination, the San Francisco Bay Area Tarot Symposium (SF BATS) is the oldest continuously produced Tarot even in the country. It has been the inspiration and/or the model for virtually every large Tarot-centred gathering in this country for more than a decade.

SF BATS is a day long event devoted to covering all areas of Tarot and related topics. Many established authors and teachers use SF BATS as an opportunity to try new and different approaches and projects as well as polishing existing work. Exhibitions of new (and often as yet unpublished or privately published) Tarot decks and artwork are an especially important feature of this event. In addition to providing networking opportunities and community building for Tarot enthusiasts of all levels of interest and experience, SF BATS has facilitated or furthered the careers of several noted Tarot artists, authors, and teachers, as well as being instrumental in the publication of several books and decks.

San Francisco Bay Area Tarot Symposium Fall 2007

Saturday, October 6, 2007 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m
First Unitarian Universalist Centre
1187 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA

Visit the BATS Fall 2007 web page for more information

Thalassa

Thalassa is the producer of the San Francisco Bay Area Tarot Symposium (SF BATS), founder of the Daughters of Divination (DOD), and publisher of The Belfry. She teaches and produces divination events in the SF Bay Area, and has presented at the World Tarot Congress, the New York Tarot Festival, PantheaCon, and LATS (LA Tarot Symposium). She lives in San Francisco with a collection of swords, too many books, more tarot decks than one can safely shake a stick at, and a tribe of semi-feral dust bunnies.

• Thalassaland.com
• Daughters of Divination
• Belfry
• Bay Area Tarot Symposium

No more borders

This is my jumbo Thoth deck without the ugly gray borders on it. The links below show the process in greater detail. The Universal Waite Deck posts details the supplies I used to modify the cards.

I know the process is a little scary at first. You might want to practice on the extra cards in the deck or color copy your decks on card stock to practice trimming.

You might find, like I did, that the deck becomes more attractive and nicer to use.

• Thoth Deck
• Universal Waite Deck (with Supplies)

Hermit’s Journey with Bonnie Cehovet – Devil and the Tower

Welcome to the Hermit’s Journey. My name is Bonnie Cehovet, and today we will be continuing on our journey through the symbols in the Major Arcana. As I noted in the first Pod Cast of this series, that of the Fool, the imagery and symbolism in the Tarot is what connects us to its archetypal qualities and wisdom. It acts as a gateway between our conscious and our unconscious worlds. Each deck carries with it its own unique brand of imagery and symbols. For the purposes of this discussion, I will be referring to the Waite-Smith Tarot (also known as the Rider-Waite Tarot), as it is a traditional reference, and quite often used for teaching purposes. Interpreting the imagery and symbols is done in two ways: through the intent of the author/illustrator (and here we need to remember that the background for the Rider-Waite deck is that of the Golden Dawn), and how the Seeker sees it through the veil of their own personal life experiences.Let’s continue our journey through the symbols of The Devil and The Tower. The major theme for The Devil is that of acknowledging the hidden parts of our personality – our shadow side. These are the forces behind how and why we imprison and limit ourselves.

In “The heart of the Tarot”, Sandra Thomson notes that the Devil is perched on what is considered to be a one-dimensional pedestal. This is the illusionary base of many of our decisions. The bondage of the two humans in this card is also seen as illusional – i.e. self imposed chains. Thomson further notes that the figures look not at each other, nor at the Devil figure – they are totally alone and vulnerable.

At the pit of the Devil’s stomach is the sign of Mercury. The Devil’s right hand is upraised and extended, the reverse of the benediction given by the Hierophant. A reversed Pentagram is on his forehead. His wings indicate that he is a creature of the night. His goat-like body connects this card to Capricorn.

The torch in the Devil’s left hand represents will directed at the material plane.

The tails on the human figures are symbolic of their animal nature. The tail on the female bears the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, and the tail of the mail figure bears a flame, like the Tree of Life.

When the Devil appears in a reading, we are being asked to acknowledge hidden aspects of our personality. We are also being asked to note how and where we may be projecting those hidden aspects in our lives. This card is also very connected to the physical, material world.

The major theme for The Tower is that of change – abrupt change that is thrust upon us without warning. In “The Heart of the Tarot”, Sandra Thomson suggests that the Tower represents the defensive aspects of our personality. The falling male figure represents rigid attitudes based on ego, while the falling female figure represents rigid emotional attitudes.

Music Credits

Opening Music: The Oracle Speaks by William Wilde Zeitler from Elegy for Atlantis

Hermits Journey Music: Dark Moon by Suzanne Teng from Enchanted Wind (Magnatune)

Closing Music: Points Between by Robert Rich from Open Window (Magnatune)

Play or Download the Episode

I was drawn to Tarot initially, because I knew that, with some adaptations, the system could work for me. Methods like scrying and runes seem almost impossible, while the cards are manageable. Also, it is important for you to realize that I have been blind since birth, so, lacking the visual element of the Tarot isn’t new to me. I just went about it the way I go about everything else: without sight.

First of all, Tarot decks are quite inaccessible, when first purchased. Before I can do anything with them, I have to Braille the cards, along with whatever documentation comes with them. If it’s an actual book, I can put it through a scanner, which speeds up the process, but those little, white books that come with most decks don’t scan well at all, which means that someone has to read them to me, while I copy them out. Needless to say, it’s time-consuming.

I put the card into a Braille typewriter, and write the name of the card. So, for the fool, I would write:

0
Fool

For the four of pentacles, I write:

4P

Once the deck is Brailled, I can begin to use it. When I lay out a spread, I think about the meanings given for each card. I also think about the suit of the card, whether it is reversed or not, and whether it is a major or minor arcana card. I apply all of this information to the question that is being addressed. I then move on to the next card, and do the same thing again, until I’ve interpreted the entire spread.

I know that, for those of you who can see, the pictures on the cards are a great help when it comes to interpretation. Usually, I have no clue what the cards even look like, and so, I rely more on intuition and the meanings I know to be true for the particular card.

I also pay close attention to experiences that people have told me about. On another list, there was a discussion of how to interpret the Moon card, and I gained a lot of insight that way.

Brighid’s Daily Spread

To Explore:

• Things I need to focus on Today?
• What do I need to work on?
• What am I supposed to learn?
• What issues am I dealing with?
• What is key for me today?

Card 1 , Card 2, Card 3

Card 4*

* Shadow Card, (Unknown or Undercurrents) from the Bottom of the Deck

Brighid is a Tarot Reader who practices Feminist Dianic Witchcraft. She currently resides in Texas while completing a social work degree. She shares her apartment with 2 dogs, a cat and a pregnant guinea pig. Brighid has, on occasion, tricked people into reading Tarot books for her. Her favorite decks include the Goddess Tarot, the Medicine Woman Tarot, Goddess Guidance Oracle, Magical Unicorns Oracle and Jamie Sams’ Medicine Cards.

Decks that don’t work as well:

Check out the Braille Spanish Tarot at Aeclectic Tarot.

Titles Only Tarot

It is an interesting exercise to try reading with out pictures. It can be done to test your knowledge and memory of the cards. You can see how you have internalized card meanings and explore what comes to mind when any given card comes up.

One thing to try is to do a reading with the Titles only then pull the same cards from various decks and see how you interpretation changes. You can make your own but writing on 3×5 cards. Here is a pdf of a deck I created for this purpose. It can be printed out on card stock and trimmed to make a set of cards.

For instance, what is the Knight of Wands on its own.

This is a deck I made with the printout on nice paper with golden fish on the back.

Hermit’s Journey with Bonnie Cehovet – Death and the Temperance

Welcome to the Hermit’s Journey. My name is Bonnie Cehovet, and today we will be continuing on our journey through the symbols in the Major Arcana. As I noted in the first Pod Cast of this series, that of the Fool, the imagery and symbolism in the Tarot is what connects us to its archetypal qualities and wisdom. It acts as a gateway between our conscious and our unconscious worlds. Each deck carries with it its own unique brand of imagery and symbols. For the purposes of this discussion, I will be referring to the Waite-Smith Tarot (also known as the Rider-Waite Tarot), as it is a traditional reference, and quite often used for teaching purposes. Interpreting the imagery and symbols is done in two ways: through the intent of the author/illustrator (and here we need to remember that the background for the Rider-Waite deck is that of the Golden Dawn), and how the Seeker sees it through the veil of their own personal life experiences.

Let’s continue our journey through the symbols of Death and Temperance. The major theme for Death is that of transformation and new opportunities. Inherent in a new beginning, or new opportunity, is the leaving behind of that which no longer serves us well.

The skeleton of Death moves from left to right, from unconsciousness towards consciousness. His pink saddle symbolizes that his mission of transformation is based on love.

His black banner shows a five petaled white rose, symbolic of Mars, the five senses, and of life.

In the distance, the Sun is shown between two pillars, symbolizing immortality. A ship, symbolizing the afterlife, is shown sailing towards the Sun.

The four figures in the scene represent the temporal and the spiritual, old and young, male and female … death comes to everyone.

The red plume (as seen in the card of the Fool) represents will and power. The river represents the River Styx (the river that the Greek’s believed led to the underworld), and the constant movement into and out of materialization.

In a reading, Death alerts us that major changes are happening.

The major theme for Temperance is that of balance and control. In “The Heart of the Tarot”, Sandra Thomson refers to this as representing the purification and tempering of our own inner processes.

The crown at the end of the path represents mastery and attainment. The silver cup represents the unconscious, the gold cup consciousness. The water being poured back and forth is the essence of life.

One foot in the emotional world of water, one foot on the physical world of land, we bring balance to our conscious and unconscious selves.

The flower Iris represents the Greek Goddess Iris, Goddess of the rainbow.

Music Credits

Opening Music: The Oracle Speaks by William Wilde Zeitler from Elegy for Atlantis

Hermits Journey Music: Dark Moon by Suzanne Teng from Enchanted Wind (Magnatune)

Closing Music: Night of the Goddess Part 1 by Paul Averinos from Maya (Magnatune)

Play or Download the Episode

There are many ways to energize the tarot session in real life such as:

• tangible constructive action
• small doable action
• new personal name
• affirmations
• body posture/movement
• colour
• meditation on the card
• place the card in a special place with a candle & incense
• wear something
• jewelry or talisman to represent the card
• essential oils
• journal writing
• walking a labyrinth
• creativity (sound, clay, paint, etc.)

Reading List

• Geraldine Amaral & Nancy Brady Cunningham. Tarot Celebrations: Honoring the Inner Voice.
• Susan K. Cole. “Dance and Tarot: Personal Symbols Set to Movement”, Wheel of Tarot: A New Revolution, James Wanless & Angeles Arrien, editors, pp. 205 – 213.
• Dori Gombold. “The Psychodynamic Effects of Tarot Symbolism”, Wheel of Tarot: A New Revolution, James Wanless & Angeles Arrien, editors, pp. 187 – 201.
• Mary K. Greer. 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card (especially the chapter called “The Possible Self”, pp. 231 – 238).
• Mary K Greer. The Essence of Magic: Tarot, Ritual and Aromatherapy.
• Cait Johnson. Tarot for Every Day.
• Robert A. Johnson. Inner Work.
• Corrine Kenner. Tarot Journaling.
• Jill Mellick. The Art of Dreaming.
• Vicki Noble. Rituals and Practices with the Motherpeace Tarot.
• Rachel Pollack. The Shining Tribe Tarot (especially the section on “Ways to Activate a Tarot Card”, pp. 305 – 312).
• Rachel Pollack. Tarot Readings and Meditations.
• Karen Turner. “Transformational Beliefs and Tarot”, Wheel of Tarot: A New Revolution, James Wanless & Angeles Arrien, editors, pp. 180 – 183.
• James Wells. Tarot for Manifestation.
• James Wells. “Walking the Labyrinth”, Llewellyn’s 2005 Tarot Reader, pp. 199 – 204.

James Wells is a Toronto-based Tarot consultant with an international clientele. Since age 12, he has lived, worked and played with the Tarot and its rich symbolism. James is also a Reiki Master, publisher of The Six-Rayed Star, musician, explorer of divination systems, weaver of rituals, and workshop facilitator. His job as a Worker of Oracles is to create sacred space for constructive feedback and soul work – a place where dreams, goals, imagination, intuition and magick, have full sway so that you can enjoy insight, support and healing. James can be reached at workeroforacles@yahoo.ca

Hermit’s Journey with Bonnie Cehovet – Justice and the Hanged Man

Welcome to the Hermit’s Journey. My name is Bonnie Cehovet, and today we will be continuing on our journey through the symbols in the Major Arcana. As I noted in the first Pod Cast of this series, that of the Fool, the imagery and symbolism in the Tarot is what connects us to its archetypal qualities and wisdom. It acts as a gateway between our conscious and our unconscious worlds. Each deck carries with it its own unique brand of imagery and symbols. For the purposes of this discussion, I will be referring to the Waite-Smith Tarot (also known as the Rider-Waite Tarot), as it is a traditional reference, and quite often used for teaching purposes. Interpreting the imagery and symbols is done in two ways: through the intent of the author/illustrator (and here we need to remember that the background for the Rider-Waite deck is that of the Golden Dawn), and how the Seeker sees it through the veil of their own personal life experiences.

Let’s continue our journey through the symbols of Justice and the Hanged Man. The major theme for Justice is that of being just with ourselves, as well as with others. In “The Heart of the Tarot”, Sandra Thomson notes that this is not a blind sense of justice, it is a clear sighted one. Before we act, we need to make sure that we are acting in a way that will insure a balanced outcome. We need to make sure that we are not only acting to bring in that which we desire.

Justice sits with her scales in her left hand, ready to weigh what is presented to her. In her right hand is the sword of reflection, pointing to higher truths, and to victory. It is a double edged sword – it destroys as well as builds in cutting through to the truth. It is her decision as to where the point of balance lies. The scales symbolize, as one might guess, our balance point in life. The pillars to the right and the left of Justice are the pillars of reconciliation, and of mercy. They are connected by the purple veil of higher consciousness.

Justice wears the crown of authority, with its imbedded square jewel of intelligence seated over the third eye, the wisdom and truth seeking chakra. The four sided jewel, along with the three turrets in the crown, add up to seven, the number of Venus. The olive green of her cape reflects the green of nature, and suggests personal growth. Her red dress symbolizes power – the base from which we achieve our growth. Her white slipper indicates purity of thought is at the foundation of her judgment.

The square brooch with the circular pin at her heart chakra symbolizes the “squaring of the circle”, a symbol of wholeness, and of the Self.

In a reading, Justice asks us to take the time to gather our facts, and to look at all viewpoints. It asks us to see the truth about ourselves.

The theme for the Hanged Man is that of releasing false, illusional images and of learning the natural laws of the universe. His being suspended upside down symbolizes his need to take a “fresh look” at his situation. He is letting go of the rules of society that bind him so that he can see clearly.

The Sevens by Ginny Hunt

Sevens in Tarot once again bring conflict and choice, but this go round involves less something from the outside happening to you, but your own actions and impulses create the change, cause the ruckus, because you have some silly notion inside you that prompts this. You are the one agitating here, but not for no reason. Sevens take a stand based on an unseen but strongly felt inner truth.

Seven is historically a mystical number. Its mythological and symbolic use is broad and deep. Many different religions and cultures view seven as spiritual, lucky, and very significant. It is the number of the philosopher, sage, and wisdom seeker. When a seven appears in any fashion, you can understand there is more going on under the surface that involves the spiritual, faith, and esoteric realms. Seven is an enigma and as such is difficult to define. It’s like the faith it symbolizes: you know it when you feel it.

Some of its significance stems from the ancient Sumerian and Babylonian civilizations, which identified seven planets and framed seven days of the week around them. Very early among Middle Eastern peoples, seven became known as a “perfect” number, symbolic of completeness and goodness. Not “perfect” mathematically like the six, but symbolizing perfection and as such is often attributed to God. In the Bible, God rested on the seventh day because his work of creation was complete, entire, perfect. Thus seven represents this perfect completeness and also it represents rest, as in the rest that is taken from work. It is from this same word that the Sabbath, the day of rest comes. In Judaism, every seven years a year of Jubilee is celebrated as well as a Sabbatical year once every seven. The “Counting of the Omer” leading up to the giving of the Torah is expressed as “7 times 7 weeks.” In Christianity, likewise, the number seven continues to be significant. It is the number of churches of Asia to which the “Book of Revelation” is addressed, the number of Deadly Sins and Virtues, the number of terraces of Mount Purgatory (one per deadly sin), the number of sacraments in the Roman Catholic faith, the number of heads of the beast of the Book of Revelation, and the number of seals on The Book of Life. Jesus says to Peter to forgive seventy times seven times indicating an unlimited number of times, but also that it is the spiritual thing to do. (read the full post)

Music Credits

Opening Music: The Oracle Speaks by William Wilde Zeitler from Elegy for Atlantis

Hermits Journey Music: Dark Moon by Suzanne Teng from Enchanted Wind (Magnatune)

78 Notes Music: Steamy River by Rhonda Lorence from Winter Moon (Magnatune)

Closing Music: Mystic Chants by Anne Young (Podsafe Music Network)

Play or Download the Episode

Our presenters and topics for the day are:

GAIL FAIRFIELD.

Choice Centered Tarot and Relating
Hardly a reading goes by that doesn’t include a question or comment about relating. Whether the person is asking about a child, partner, parent, or colleague, relationship questions are fraught with more emotion than any others. In this workshop, we’ll explore how to evaluate:

• what works or doesn’t work in a relationship
• what to embrace or avoid
• key questions to ask yourself or the other person
• the purpose of the relationship

As we identify the key questions to ask, we’ll also consider the layouts that could answer those questions. We’ll also keep the focus on empowerment rather than predictions.

RACHEL POLLACK.

Archaeology of the Tarot.
Many card meanings we have today are not the original interpretations. The Fool did not originally mean a wise innocent journeying through life, but rather a crazy person driven from place to place–like the homeless beggars we see in our big cities. Are these older meanings just a curiosity or can they enrich our readings today? In this session (based on her series of Tarot Intensive workshops, and the forthcoming Intensive book) Rachel will trace the development of meaning in the tarot, and we will look together at how to use this knowledge in practice.

JAMES WELLS.

Tarot In Action!
We know how rich and meaningful a tarot consultation can be. Imagine this insight and wisdom creating positive change in your psyche and in your ‘real’ world! Learn creative and powerful methods to bring the energy of your readings down to earth so that you and your querents not only learn about life, but also transform it through consciously sculpted actions.

Plus opening and closing Q & A panel discussions with all three presenters!

10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at WonderWorks, 79A Harbord Street, Toronto (just west of Spadina).
Please arrive between 9:30 and 9:55 so we can begin on time. Thank you.

You’ll need to bring:

• a tarot deck of your choice
• a notebook
• a packed lunch or money to buy lunch nearby

Only $100 for a day of stretching your tarot skills and meeting other great tarot people. Open to people of ALL levels of tarot experience. First-paid first-served basis.

PRIVATE TAROT CONSULTATIONS with our presenters will take place on Sunday, September 9. These one-hour sessions are $150 each and will take place near Castle Frank station in Toronto.

Presenter Bios:

GAIL FAIRFIELD (Choice Centered Tarot, Choice Centered Astrology, Choice-Centered Relating and the Tarot) was born in China and raised in Japan by missionary parents. She was encouraged to find her own answers to life’s questions. Gail was introduced to the tarot in 1973 and was hooked immediately! Gail’s studies in psychology and education contribute to her choice-centred manner of living life and using tools such as the tarot, astrology, and NLP. She currently makes her home in Bloomington, Indiana.

RACHEL POLLACK (78 Degrees of Wisdom, Forest of Souls, Shining Tribe Tarot, and more) is a poet, award-winning novelist, authority on the modern interpretation of tarot cards, and a tarot card artist. She began her journey with the cards in 1970. Since then, Rachel has written thirteen tarot books, including “78 Degrees of Wisdom”, often called the “Bible of Tarot Reading”, and the “Shining Tribe Tarot”, designed and drawn by Rachel herself. Rachel resides in New York’s beautiful Hudson Valley.

JAMES WELLS (Tarot for Manifestation) is a Toronto-based consultant, teacher, and facilitator devoted to merging soul and strategy. Through tools and processes such as tarot, reiki, council circle, and journal writing, he and his clients and students are inspired to become more of who they really are. Tarot has been a part of James’ life since 1979. His insightful, down-to-earth, proactive style makes him a popular practitioner and presenter at home and abroad. James enjoys writing, reading, walking, and good martinis.

For this version, the elements are assigned to points on the pentagram with Spirit at the top. Then if we go around clockwise, Water, Fire, Earth and Air. This is the arrangement used in Ceremonial Magic Ritual to invoke or banish elements.

It makes interesting relationship between positions and allows a variety of ways to read elemental dignities. There is tension between the Water & Fire cards on the right. The same thing goes for the Air and Earth on the left. Cards that are diagonally across from each other are supportive (Air & Fire) (Earth & Water). Horizontal cards are neutral.

If you start at fire and go counter clockwise around the points, the elements are in the order of the Pentagrammaton.

1. Pick an element that best describes the subject of the reading.
2. Does the querent with to increase or decrease the element in their life?
3. Select a pentagram to dictate the order and direction the cards will be read.
4. Shuffle, while thinking about the question.
5. Layout the cards around the pentagram. I like to use the opening of the key to get the 4 natural element cards and calculate the spirit card based on adding the numbered cards up and reducing them to a number less than 22. Having a second majors only deck is very helpful for this. You might get a major card twice.
6. Start reading with the card indicated by the pentagram you picked. Continue in the direction indicated.

Examples

How can i improve communication with my spouse?

(Invoking Air) Start with Water, Move towards Air. Water-> Air-> Fire-> Spirit-> Earth

How can I stop obsessing about my application for college.

(Banishing Air) Start with Air, Move towards Water. Air-> Water-> Earth-> Spirit-> Fire.

I spent a couple of weeks trying to come up with a graphic that would help with keeping track of the pentagrams. This is what I came up with.

The colored paths represent the starting paths for each of the elements.

• Red-Fire: Diagonal Line between Spirit & Fire
• Blue-Water: Horizontal line between Air & Water
• Yellow-Air: Horizontal link between Air & Water
• Green-Earth: Diagonal Line between Spirit & Earth
• Light Violet-Active Spirit: Diagonal line between Air & Fire
• Deep Violet-Passive Spirit: Diagonal line between Earth & Water.

Pick your element. Decide if you want to invoke or banish the element. Banishing always starts at the element. Invoking starts away from the element and moves towards it. The first path is the one with the color of the element. The two spirit paths are represented by violet. Since they don’t touch the spirit point, consider the high end of the path to end in spirit to use the diagram. For example, banishing active spirit starts at Air.

Examples

• Invoking Fire: Start at Spirit, move towards Fire. Spirit-> Fire -> Air -> Water -> Earth.
• Banishing Water: Start at Water, move towards Air. Water-> Air -> Fire-> Spirit -> Earth

The Sixes by Ginny Hunt

Sixes in tarot are a welcome relief after the disruptive, conflicting adrenaline-pumping fives. Sixes restore harmony to the chaos, they offer comfort, nurturing, sympathy, and healing to those battered by the losses of the fives as well. Sixes are the kudos you deserve, the solace you need, the balm on your wounds.

Six is the number of the Major Arcana card VI The Lovers and it represents all the qualities of a secure, loving relationship such as harmony, beauty, nurturing, love, marriage, family, responsibility, understanding, sympathy, healing, empathy, perfection, order, duty, comfort, and service. Even its shape is soft and beautiful, its form is a continuous curve without angle, without line. It is almost a spiral, going towards infinity.

Six is both the sum (1 + 2 + 3) and the product (1 x 2 x 3) of the first three numbers. It is therefore considered “perfect.” In mathematics, a perfect number is one that equals the sum of its divisors (excluding itself), and 6 is the first perfect number in this sense because its divisors are 1, 2, and 3.

In alchemy, the upright triangle represents fire, and the upside-down triangle is the symbol for water. Together they symbolize the unity of opposites. The hexagram is seen in the Seal of Solomon, and this symbol is often used in ceremonial magick. It has been adopted as the national symbol of Israel and is a common symbol in Judaism, as there was a 6-pointed star on the shield that David carried to battle Goliath. Another version is the Unicursal Hexagram devised by the Golden Dawn in order to create a six-pointed star symbol in one movement rather than two. Qabbalistically, six represents Tiphareth, or “beauty.” (read the full post)

Hermit’s Journey with Bonnie Cehovet – Tarot and Personal Growth

Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom and The Four Insights: The Wisdom, Power, and Grace of the Earthkeepers

Welcome to the Hermit’s Journey. My name is Bonnie Cehovet, and today we are going to be talking about Tarot and personal growth. I have recently been working with a book by Alberto Villoldo, Ph.D., entitled The Four Insights: The Wisdom, Power, and Grace of the Earthkeepers. Since I have a tendency to mix and match my work tools, I immediately placed the intent of this book on a level with that of Rachel Pollack’s Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom.

In “Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom”, Pollack sets down a solid basis for the interpretations of each of the card groups – the Major Arcana, the Minor Arcana, and the Court Cards. The Major Arcana is further broken down into three distinct areas of life experience: cards 1-7 deal with the main concerns of society (love, social authority, and education); cards 8-14 represent a withdrawal into self-awareness, with a symbolic death and rebirth; while cards 15-21 represent confrontation, followed by a union with the Divine. Working through the path of the Major Arcana can be equated with working through Jung’s process of individuation, the goal being enlightenment. The Major Arcana can also be seen as the fifth element – Spirit.

The four suits of the Minor Arcana are associated with the traditional four elements: Wands with Fire (action, passion, will, career), Cups with Water (intuition, emotions, love, friendship, joy), Swords with Air (conflict, mental activity, wisdom), and Pentacles with Earth (physical world, work, nature, material things), and the unspoken name of God (Yod – Fire, and the creative spark, the energy needed to begin any enterprise); Heh – Water, the actual beginning of the enterprise; Vau – Air, the development of the plan: Heh – Earth, and finished creation). Pollack notes that the Minor Arcana provide the commentary on life in a reading.

The Court Cards are expressive of personality types, defined by their elemental quality. In general, Pollack references Kings as representing social responsibility, power, and success; Queens as representing deep appreciation of the suit, and creativity; Knights as representing action, responsibility to others; and Pages as representing exploration and study.

The Tarot acts as a mirror for our lives, reflecting on many levels the situations we are facing, showing us different ways of looking at them, how we got into our current situation, and what options we have for dealing with it. It is an active tool of transformation, acting as a gateway between our conscious and unconscious selves.

Music Credits

Opening Music: The Oracle Speaks by William Wilde Zeitler from Elegy for Atlantis

78 Notes Music: Steamy River by Rhonda Lorence from Winter Moon (Magnatune)

Hermits Journey Music: Dark Moon by Suzanne Teng from Enchanted Wind (Magnatune)

Closing Music: Above the Clouds Suzanne Teng from Enchanted Wind (Magnatune)

Play or Download the Episode

This Podcast Episode has been archived. It is available for purchase at shop.tarotconnection.net in the Year TwoArchive mp3 DVD.

Kallon Basquin, Ph.D., L.C.S.W., is an integrally informed psychotherapist and educator in private practice. He has an advanced degree from U.C.L.A. and specializes in contemplative and integral consciousness.

In addition, he has studied meditation and principles of enlightened living with contemplative masters from Tibet and India for 35 years. He travels internationally, both facilitating contemplative workshops on health and healing, as well as working with healers from diverse cultures and healing perspectives.

His workshops integrate Eastern/Western healing and contemplative wisdom traditions and are his contribution to creating an enlightened society.

www.kallonbasquin.com

See It, Feel It, Be It

See It: See the Image but don’t obsessively hold the details.

Feel It: Feel the texture and granularity. Let the feeling happen and touch you.

It starts to speak to you with out words. It becomes vivid. The brightness, the color has a communication. The shape of it has a communication. You are drawn in you connect with that and all at once things start happening in you.

Be It: Be alive with the energy. You are grounded in the moment but your awareness is expanded. Your sense of being is expanded.

Soul Retrieval

The emotional energy generated by looking at a card can be used as a form of Soul Retrieval. Kallon describes a process you can do in the morning and evening to work with difficult memories or situations in your life.

Music Credits

• Opening Music: The Oracle Speaks by William Wilde Zeitler from Elegy for Atlantis
• Closing Music: Zephyrys by Stellamara from Star of the Sea (Magnatune)

This Podcast Episode has been archived. It is available for purchase at shop.tarotconnection.net in the Year One Archive mp3 DVD.

long with thousands of other people, I was made homeless due to the Olympics in Sydney on 2000. Landlords were kicking people out and renovating places, so many people like me who didn’t have a lease ended up without anywhere to live. An online pal, a fellow free-ware developer, offered me a room in his place – in Arizona. So I jumped on a plane and set off. Since I wasn’t allowed to work in the US, I decided to work on some pet projects on the web. One was a site on fork bending http://fork-you.com and one was a tarot deck. You can ask Dan Pelletier about the fork bending

Digital graphics were still pretty new, and I’d been playing around with it since the very beginning – I made my first digital tarot deck on dPaint on an Amiga in the early 90′s. I think I had 32 colours to work with, and there was no ‘anti-aliasing’ or ‘feathering’ so it looked pretty much like Lego blocks. Technology had improved in those 10 years or so, and now it was possible to use millions of colours and layering, so digital collage was by then a feasible option.

2000 doesn’t sound that long ago, but I’d be surprised if there were 10% as many decks on the market then, compared to now. Anyway, I had this idea that I wanted a deck that LOOKED like my Visconti Sforza, but that READ like a Rider-Waite. There are probably scores of decks now that would kinda fit that bill, but then, there were none. Even Brian Williams ‘Renaissance Tarot” didn’t look remotely Renaissance – more like a pastel Art-Nouveau fantasy of the Renaissance. Anyway, I had this idea to digitally collage old artworks to created easy to interpret tarot cards. It was as much about my love of International Gothic style art as it was about tarot, and they weren’t heavily collaged. I was working on a tiny little laptop with a touchpad, didn’t even have a mouse, so it was pretty rough. You can still see it on my site http://goldentarot.com

The deck developed quite a following online. I think I’d really struck a chord that a lot of people, like me, liked the feeling of tradition and the heritage of the tarot in the Renaissance without wanting the difficulty of trying to read a deck without illustrated Minors.

About a year after the deck came out, I started getting emails to congratulate me on getting Golden published. It turned out that it had been pirated in Germany, as part of an annual calendar/deck set by a publisher who had previously pirated other artists’ work. My Agents at the time said it ‘wasn’t viable’ to sue the German company, and the German copyright agency said it wasn’t a breach of copyright as the images I’d used was public domain. Of course this is rubbish – collages are NEW works of art, and copyright belongs to the collagist. But I can’t afford to sue someone myself, especially on the other side of the world. So, I was very annoyed but there was little I could do.

Then, unbeknownst to me, a fan in the US took up my case in the forums. Judy Sidone Tillinger had studied medieval and Renaissance art in College and now worked as an editor at a newspaper in New York. She started an email campaign, and I got swamped with hundreds of emails of support, and also requests to publish the deck legally so people could buy copies. I was flattered, but didn’t want to go through that whole rejection-slip process as I had with earlier projects. I sent everyone a polite standard “thanks, but it’s too hard to get published” reply. What I didn’t realize is that people must also have been sending the major tarot publishers similar requests, as both US Games and Llewellyn asked me to submit formal proposals, which I did. USGS very quickly send me a contract, which required that I sign copyright over to them. I’d always sworn as an artist that I’d never give up my copyright, but US Games were insistent, and pointed to the piracy of my work and said they needed to own copyright in order to legally protect against future piracy attempts. I still wasn’t too sure. I went to a great copyright lawyer, who pointed out that the contract also gave them full, exclusive digital rights – so they could technically make me shut down the website that had got me the fan base in the first place.

Then, late at night a few days after I got the contract, I got a call from US Games. A woman said she was just checking the number and that I was home, and that Stuart Kaplan would ring me back shortly. Kaplan took long enough to call me that I was completely freaked out and feeling quite nauseous by the time the phone rang. STUART KAPLAN! CEO of US Games, author of the huge Tarot Encylopedias, father of the modern tarot in many respects. Love him or hate him, tarot owes him a huge debt of gratitude for its current popularity. I heard his voice and didn’t know what to say. I don’t think I was very coherent, but I basically got the message. He liked my deck, and would I sign the contract? I explained about the copyright issue and he said that the contract wouldn’t be changed – I could sign it and be published by US Games, or not. I had a week to decide.

After a sleepless night, I got in contact with Llewellyn, who had been much more communicative throughout this whole Proposal process, and told Barbara Moore about the deadline (I’d say ultimatum, but that’s really too harsh a word). She understood, and offered to rush it through – but said that it was very unlikely with such short notice, that normally their assessment process takes months of market research etc. And as it turned out, she was right – they said no, and so I signed with US Games and they got copyright of the deck.

Two Strength Cards

As soon as I signed the contract, I got to work. I had to start again from scratch to create the deck at high resolution for publication. Given the limitations of working from low-resolution files, it was a difficult task. Many of the original designs were impossible to do at the higher resolution. In addition, I had to make it ‘more Rider Waite’ – a requirement for US Games decks, and also something I wanted to do. After all, making a beautiful but easy-to-read deck was my main intention.

I worked obsessively. Pretty much sixteen hours a day at least, seven days a week for about 4 months to finish the deck. Over 1600 hours in a very short space of time. My friends were worried about me – I’d ignore the phone and glare at them for bothering me and not invite them in when they dropped in to check if I was alright. Luckily I was single and living alone then

It was partly because that’s the way I work best, completely immersing myself in something, but it was also economic necessity – I got one small Advance when I signed the contract, but then no more money until it got published. My credit card held out for awhile, and then my brother helped out with bills and rent.

Finally it was finished and I sent it off, expecting a long, drawn-out editorial process of amending cards. To my surprise, they only asked me to change one card. Then, it was a case of them doing their end of the process. I got on with my life. I enrolled in Art School to get a qualification to teach, met Jasper there, became a VJ (live video performance artist). During that period, I had very little to do with tarot. At Art school, they pretty much look down on anything as commercial and graphic-design related as a tarot deck, so I just didn’t really think of it as part of my life. There was delay after delay with the publication and I think it was coming up to two years before it finally made it to market. After many and varied reasons for delays, the last straw was when it got pulled from pre-order on Amazon because they basically just didn’t believe it was really going to happen any more. I tried to explain to them that it WAS on it’s way, on a train across Northern America… it should have arrived by now…. then I heard that the train had got derailed by an avalanche and that the freight (including my decks) had got cleared off the rails so that other trains could get through…

It ended up seeming more and more like it would never get to market, but finally it did. And it looked WONDERFUL. Probably many of your listeners have seen Golden – the majestic blue box, the deck’s gilded edges. Kaplan had wanted it to be their ‘deluxe’ product and I’d said I wanted an affordable, budget edition made as well, so that everyone could afford a copy if they wanted it. The compromise was what had taken the 2 years – US Games went to great lengths to find a publisher in China who could make such a high quality product at such a budget price. They’d had to experiment a great deal to get the gilded edges not to flake and chip. Usually, a gilt-edged book is only read a few times, but a tarot deck is constantly handled. I don’t know HOW they did it, but it’s a technical triumph. I still can’t believe that they made such a stunning package for RRP of $25 (and I hear you can buy it for as little as $14 in the US). It’s got to be their least profitable product, considering the quality of the production.

I was very worried that it would get written off as a bit of a Show Pony – lovely to look at, but sniffed at by tarot professionals. Although I’d put a huge amount of research into tarot tradition for the deck, I’d also added in extra symbolism of my own so it wasn’t 100% ‘traditional tarot’. I’m not a dedicated tarot expert – I haven’t dedicated my life to tarot the way many people have. I’m really in awe at the mastery of people like Stuart Kaplan, Mary Greer, Rachel Pollack, Dan Pelletier etc, but my interests are too varied to concentrate on becoming an expert in one field. So, I’ve been very surprised by the acceptance of the deck by tarot experts. When I heard that it was one of Mary Greer’s favorite decks (long before I was lucky enough to meet her in person) I was stunned, as her ‘Tarot for Your Self’ was the first time I’d read a book that explained use of the tarot how I’d used it myself since my teens – intuitively, for personal insight and self-awareness.

I’d never read for other people – I don’t think I’d even had my tarot read professionally. That’s not what it was about for me – it was always about archetypes and analyzing the world around you – where you fit, how you affect the things that happen in your own life. A tool to assist personal responsibility, not to surrender it. It still makes me very uncomfortable when someone turns to a tarot reader to ask something like ‘should I take this job?’ and wants a ‘yes or no’ answer. They may as well toss a coin, if they’re not willing to consider the complexity of the situation, and face all the additional questions a proper tarot reading may raise. Anyway, I know a lot of your listeners may disagree with me there, so I’ll move on

Golden Tarot finally hit the shelves in 2004. By then, there were already many, many new decks flooding onto the market, including many medieval and Renaissance themed decks. I was thrilled when it was voted one of the ‘Top Ten’ decks on Aeclectic for 2004, and then it happened again in 2005. By the 2006 vote, I was just plain shocked to see it still in the ‘Top Ten of All Time’. There must be hundreds and hundreds of decks on the market now, I find it hard to think that mine is still so popular. My rating on Amazon is still a 5-star average after over 50 reviews (and they’re not all personal friends of mine I guess that goes to show that if you research something well, and put in your own personal passion and vision into it, there are going to be other people who share that passion and vision.

I get the most amazing fan mail for Golden Tarot. It’s funny, because I feel that what I’m doing, say, with my video art, is more important (that sounds so pretentious! Don’t know how else to put it though), more creative, more innovative. But then, golden really touches a lot of people – enough to get them bothering to email me and say so.

A lot of people have asked me when I was going to make another deck. That always seemed a bit weird because I’m not a collector, and I think that now I’ve created the deck I wanted, why would I bother making another one? And from a financial point of view, it would be crazy. even if it IS a popular, successful deck, I know it’s never going to make me enough money to be worth the hours spent making it. At least, with a traditional publiching model. I make about the same as unemployment benefit from Golden. I’m not complaining – I mean, at least I’m making that much, I don’t starve. And as I mentioned earlier, I doubt it’s a cash-cow for US Games, considering the luxury packaging, gilding etc. But after I read ‘The Long Tail’ I thought there has to be a better way. I have a sizable online following and the most wonderful, dedicated fans – many of whom have been with me since the pre-publication days. Lots of people around the world share my love of tarot and the Renaissance, and I can digitally collage old-master paintings better than anyone (Hmm, come to think of it I might be the only one doing it…). I must be able to make a better living

I’ve been a digital developer for a long time – running free graphics websites like http://retrokat.com/medieval/ since the 90′s and with new media like mobile phone content becoming more widespread, that’s where I should be looking to make my main living. Since I don’t own the digital rights to Golden, I can’t just adapt that for mobiles. Also, that wouldn’t work very well anyway – you need to design completely differently for the small screen. Which gave me the idea for a new deck…

Leave the RWS layouts out of it. If they were so tiny, then it’s just going to be a memory trigger and no more – and I want more than that. I want something that has a chance of connecting with the person, a trigger for reflection and personal insight. And what can possibly do that with so few pixels?…

The human face. It’s the first thing we recognize as babies… and regardless of language, we can read a lot about what someone’s trying to communicate from their expression. And if there’s one thing they did well in the 16th and 17th centuries, it’s painting faces.

So.. it was to be a deck of portraits. Maybe a few symbols here and there, if they didn’t detract too much from the person’s facial expression or body language, but predominantly, faces chosen to communicate the meanings of the card. Faces you can become familiar with, faces you can read. ’78 friends you can hold in your hand’.

I popped a website up saying that I was considering this new deck, and showed a few draft samples. Behind the scenes, I was trying to get a mobile-content deal. Ack, now there’s a hard market to break into. People started to ask me when the deck would be finished, and I explained that it was on hold unless I could get a deal for it. Then, along came a very generous benefactor who offered to pay me to finish the deck. This person wants to remain anonymous, understandably, as they don’t want to get swamped by requests for money. Fishing for a private benefactor was the furtherest thing from my mind. The person doesn’t want a percentage or anything, just a copy of the deck when and if I can get a deal. Incredible! Like a fairytale. So that’s what I’m working on at the moment.

Cielo Preview

You can see some of the cards on tarotcielo.com – although due to piracy of my work, I can only show a few. At least, until/unless I get a deal

Another market I’ll be looking to with the deck is use of digital images for online and 900 line readers. Some of these readers use digital images of cards, but there are very few public-domain decks, and the commercial deck publishers are very strict about use of images from their published decks. For example, you couldn’t show a client images from Golden Tarot through online chat or by email without paying a usage fee to US Games Systems. And if you’re thinking that some of that will go to the deck creator, that’s not true in my case.

I think if I can create images that work well with online and phone readings, and if the reader knows that a payment (no matter how small) goes to the creator of the cards, then they’d respect that. That’s how the music industry is evolving. I have friends who sell their own tracks, for example through sites like Martian Music, and their fans will happily pay $1 a track rather than pirating the music, because they KNOW that most of that goes to the band. Digital rights are really empowering like that – you can use that more direct connection between artist and consumer to make a more fair deal for both. That’s an exciting for both creatives and consumers.

In particular, I think tarot people are concerned about fairness, karma etc. eg, ebay sellers email me to ask my permission before they list copies of the pirated German pre-US Games version of Golden Tarot. And if anyone tries to sell pirated versions or unapproved products related to Golden, immediately someone will recognize it and email me from my website. That sort of dedication and direct relationship with my fans has been there right since the beginning with Golden. I’m sorry if any of your listeners have emailed me and not got a reply. I always mean to, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day!

Hermit’s Journey with Bonnie Cehovet – Gold & Gilded Tarots

Welcome to the Hermit’s Journey. This is Bonnie Cehovet, and today I am going to be talking about a specific type of Tarot deck – those that fall into what I call the “Gold” or “Gilded” category. Sometimes these are viewed as art decks, sometimes as collectors items, and sometimes they are published as Special Editions of a regular Tarot deck. They all have one thing in common – they feature the color gold. This can be done through using the color to highlight different parts of a card, or it can be done through the application of gold foil. I adore the gold foil decks – but I absolutely dare someone to get a decent scan with them!

One of the decks that is unique unto itself in this category is the Golden Tarot, by Kat Black (U.S. Games Systems, Inc.). The imagery is a collage of artwork from the late Middle Ages and Early Renaissance, featuring the color gold prominently, along with the use of a gold border and a gold back to the cards. The most stunning feature of this deck, however, is the gilt card edges – when you take the top off of the box (which is one of the most elegant – and sturdy – Tarot boxes that I have ever seen!) the gilt edging transfixes you – it is so incredibly mesmerizing, you just want to sit there and look at it! Bravo Kat!

Gold Leaf Tarot Decks

	Golden Tarot of Klimt Golden Tarot of Klimt at Aeclectic Tarot
	Golden Tarots of the Pyramids The Tarot Garden Database: General Search
	Golden Tarot of the Renaissance Golden Tarot of the Renaissance at Aeclectic Tarot
	Golden Tarot of the Tzar Golden Tarot of the Tsar at Aeclectic Tarot
	Mantegna Tarot (silver foil) Mantegna Tarot at Aeclectic Tarot
	Nefertari’s Tarot Nefertari’s Tarot at Aeclectic Tarot
	Tarot of the Visconti Grand Trumps Tarot of Visconti Grand Trumps at Aeclectic Tarot
	Basara Gold Tarot The Tarot Garden Database: General Search
	Golden Botticelli Tarot The Tarot Garden: Upcoming Releases / Preorders
	I Tarochi Egizi (delux gold edition) The Tarot Garden Database: General Search
	Visconti Tarot Visconti Tarot at Aeclectic Tarot

Gold Editions

	Baroque Bohemian Cats Tarot The Baroque Bohemian Cats’ Tarot Gold Edition
	Golden Man Tarot The Tarot Garden Database: General Search
	Golden Rider Tarot Golden Rider Tarot at Aeclectic Tarot
	Golden Tarot Deck Golden Tarot of Deck at Aeclectic Tarot
	Medieval Scapini Medieval Scapini Tarot at Aeclectic Tarot
	New Century Tarot deck New Century Tarot at Aeclectic Tarot
	Stairs of Gold Tarot (aka Tavaglione Tarot) Stairs of Gold Tarot at Aeclectic Tarot
	Victorian Romantic Tarot (Gold Edition) The Victorian Romantic Tarot

William Wilde Zeitler

William Zeitler is a composer and professional musician. He has numerous published and commissioned works to his credit. A classically trained pianist, he earned his music degree from the California Institute of the Arts.

The Glass Armonica is the musical instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761. Said to be the invention that pleased him the most, Franklin’s Glass Armonica is a series of glass bowls mounted on a horizontal rod. Tapering in size, they are played like wine glasses as they spin.

William’s instrument is custom built and was a year in the making. It contains 44 glass bowls mounted on a hand crafted stand of cherry and oak.

4 Full album are available at www.williamzeitler.com

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Music Credits

Music: The Oracle Speaks by William Wilde Zeitler from Elegy for Atlantis

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