Episode 39: Dan Pelletier & Dark Decks
Dan Pelletier lives north of Seattle Washington with his wife of 22 years, Jan, his two cats, Spook and Pookha, and 32 rosebushes.
He has been reading Tarot for himself and others for over thirty years.
Dan is also co-owner of The Tarot Garden, a highly respected resource for tarot decks and related information on the Internet.
He has written articles appearing on the Tarot for Life website newsletter, Seeker’s Journey, and Tarot Passages; and has published interviews with deck creators on the tarotgarden.com website library.
A few of the decks mentioned:
- International Icon by Robin Ator
- Gothic Tarot of the Vampires
- Gothic Tarot by Joseph Vargo
- Tarot of the Underworld
- Japanese Egyptian Tarot
Hermit’s Journey with Bonnie Cehovet - Symbolism of the Empress
Welcome to the Hermit’s Journey. My name is Bonnie Cehovet, and in this Pod Cast we will continue 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 Empress. The major theme of the Empress is that of abundance. The symbols that surround her reflect that abundance. The first thing that catches the eye is the literal field of abundance that surrounds this figure. The lush grasses, trees and plants speak of fertility, life and living. The Empress represents the feminine principle, fertility and sensuality.
Music Credits
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April 24th, 2007 at 10:17 am
Leisa:
I was absolutely mesmerized by this whole episode! It is a rare treat to be ableto hear the voice of someone whose work you have read on the Internet over a period of several years. I liked Dan’s choice of he term “Sitter” for the person being read for. My term of choice is “Seeker”, with my absolut, bottom of the barrel, last choice being “Querant”. I absolutely hate the term “Querant”!
I thoroughly enjoyed the stories that Dan told, and his take on the “dark” decks. It is always interesting to pick someone else’s brain! I did not always agree with him, but I enjoyed being privy to his thought process.
I do hope that we hear from Dan again!
Blessings,
Bonnie
April 25th, 2007 at 10:16 am
That’s funny, Bonnie. I use all the relevant terms interchangeably and don’t really have a favorite: seeker, sitter, querant, client, that person sitting there, whatever.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
Holy cow, I’m off the computer one week and Lesia has 3 more episodes up! I don’t know how she does it…I have trouble just keeping up as a listener!
I really enjoyed all that Dan had to share and loved his spreads (plus the idea of spreads within spreads). The placements of “The Veil, “unknown Present” and it’s connection with Quantum Physics was very thought provoking, as was his discussion of playing card readings in “freeing up the mind to remove visual noise…and reinforcing what you already know.” Great stuff!
It’s such a beautiful thing listening to people speak about their love of tarot and the many ways in which it is expressed. There are so many interesting characters in the tarot community. I got a good chuckle out of hearing Dan’s spooky voice while doing the vampire cards reading and other voices such as “there is so much love in the relationship…but what about death! but what about death!”
If anyone has further information on any upcoming or annual tarot conferences in Australia, it would be much appreciated if you could please pass that along.
Dan, do you do stop off to do readings when you’re in Des Moines for Tarot Garden business?
Best,
Brad
April 27th, 2007 at 6:27 am
There is a great guild in Australia http://www.tarotguild.org.au/ with meetings and workshops in Melbourne and Sydney.
The episodes did cluster this time. I was uninspired and didn’t put one out the weekend before I interviewed Dan. Then I released Robert Place early to have it available before a workshop.
May 10th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Thanks for the link, Leisa. The tarot guild website is excellent. I’m actually planning to make it to the monthly “Time Out for Tarot” meeting they hold in Brisbane. This month’s topic is “Timing in Tarot.” I am also excited to see that a SydneySider named Paul Fenton Smith is holding a Tarot Masterclass workshop in Brisbane at the end of July. I would recommend his “Tarot Revealed”–it’s very breezy and he gives a lot of great real life examples to go along with the cards.
Wow, the Association for Tarot Studies is offering 10 DVDs featuring lectures from the 2005 International Tarot Conference that was held in Melbourne….cost is only $50 AUD (not even $40 US) + postage. How sweet! Dan Pelletier is actually one of the presenters featured in the DVDs.
Thanks again for giving me the heads up.
September 9th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Wow, how nice Dan sounds!