It’s been far too long since I have posted here.  Several weeks of being in limbo, infiltrated by a flu virus (I call it the IMFU2 virus!).  Felt like I was visiting the Land of the Recently Deceased. 

It’s time to emerge from the viral infusion, the cellular confusion, the dimensional diffusion.

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I recently obtained an amazing Oracle deck, the Devas of Creation, self-published by Cilla Conway.  (Cilla is also the artist of the Intuitive Tarot, one of my favorite Tarot decks.)  The Devas of Creation is a 72 card deck depicting the emanation of the Divine in its infinite expression and expanson, from the Void to the Cosmos, from the Big Bang to the Fundamental Elements to the Microcosm, and back again.

This deck best speaks to me through one-card selections and meditation.  Near the end of my viral bout, I performed a reading on the topic of “Recover”, and the card that surfaced was the Deva of Emergence.

Deva of Emergence

The Deva of Emergence rises from the tempering fires, shining with incandescent expression.  This is a flare of creative release, the  joy of being and doing and Now!

Cilla Conway provides a wonderful query and challenge from the Devas of Creation booklet:

“What do you love doing more than anything else?
How often do you allow yourself to experience this activity, and the joy that accompanies it?  If you have not experienced that joy recently, you are preventing it.  So what underlying messages do you have that stop you?”

It’s time to emerge from the limbo of excuses and someday.  It is time to be, Now!

Most of the visits to this blog are to the Deck Collection page, likely because of search engine hits for specific decks.  To provide more “eye candy” for the tarot/oracle enthusiast, I will be adding “deck images” pages organized by letter of the alphabet, featuring scans of my favorite cards from some of my favorite and obscure decks.  These images will typically be of the card back, and my favorite major, minor, and court card of a deck.

The Deck Images pages can be reached through the main Deck Collection page, or via the Pages sidebar on the site.

This gives me a good excuse to reaquaint and more closely explore the decks in my collection, and share my passion and shine a light on this treasure house of images.

What is your Quest?

“The first thing to do is to choose a sacred place and live in it.”
– Tahirussawichi, Pawnee tribe elder

As we transition into our august years, my wife and I have sought a place where we can retire, to be stewards of the land,  and learn from and commune with nature.  We are fortunate to have found such a place, in northeastern Arizona, which we call “O-where”.

Inspired by our neighbors, the A:shiwi people of the Zuni pueblo, we have sought the middle place, between the harsh and the beautiful, equally mundane and mysterious.

There is a rocky knob in the center of O-where that is both ordinary and extraordinary. Ordinary in that it is a simple hill of sand, rocks, scraggly Juniper trees, and sparse desert grass.  Extraodinary in that it provides panoramic views of the surrounding landscape in all directions, and is covered with an amazing variety of rocks (including petrified wood) deposited perhaps by an ancient glacier or river.  Most distinctly, there always seems to be a clear crisp uplifting energy on the knob that welcomes and pervades the space.

O-where and the Knob

I built a simple stone ring on top of the knob, using the unique and varied rocks found on the knob, with larger marker stones for the 4 directions and the center.  We continue to add to the stone ring with interesting rocks that we discover on the knob.

Stone Ring, viewing South

On one late afternoon visit to the knob, we were greeted by a large short-horned lizard (phrynosoma hernandesi) sunning itself serenely on the rocks of the south node of the stone ring.

Can you spot the lizard on the rocks to the right?

Lizard on the Stone Ring

Speaking of spots, the short-horned lizard has beautiful spots and markings on its back, for camouflage.

The lizard basks in the setting sun, merging with the rocks…

There is a huge ant mound on the side of the knob, which no doubt is a favorite dining place for the lizard.

Ant mound

The more we visit O-where, the more we long for this special place of simple and stark wonders.  It is a joy to grow in the understanding that the land does not belong to us, rather we belong to the land.  We become as much a part of it as it becomes part of us.

On my recent birthday or Year day as I prefer to call it (another Year on this plane-t),  I pondered on the existential subject of “Why”, as in “Why am I here… at this place… at this time…”  (or maybe I was influenced by having just watched Monty Python’s “The Meaning of Life”).

I then narrowed this meditation even further, and focused on the letter “Y”.

Visually, the letter Y depicts both a convergence and divergence.  Looking at it from top down, Two paths converge into One.  Viewed from the bottom up, the One diverges into Two.  Or viewed from the center, the One point at the crux of potential of what was / is / will be.   Y is the only letter in the English language that functions as both a vowel and consonant, demonstrating its morphic transitional nature.

In reflection on my birth/Year day, I performed a Tarot meditation on “Y”, using the Intuitive Tarot. The 3-card positional spread I used as an overlay or structure to this Tarot meditations was:

Receive / Integrate / Transmit

Intuitive Tarot: Knight of Discs / Hierophant / King of Discs

I was immediately struck by the positioning of the figures:  looking back, looking inward, looking forward.  Past / Present / Future.  These figures are symbolic of the intersection of the “Y”, the Past (Knight of Discs) and the Future (King of Discs), connected through the bridge of the EverPresent, the Infinite Now (the Hierophant).

• The Knight of Discs:  Air of Earth, reflecting on the twists and turns that his travels on the wheel of life have taken him.  His conical helmet is flat topped, indicating a sense of restraint (self-imposed?), and the ring of gold at the top shows his dedication.  His gaze is analytical and stern, yet juxtaposed against a backdrop of strange geometric shapes, suggesting he has experienced and has an affinity with the unusual.  Perhaps he is realizing that life shapes and transforms itself in unpredictable yet creative ways, in order to transform and inform the beholder. The incoming branch of the Y.
• The Hierophant:  A bridge between spirit and matter, an external guide to the inner light and outer limits. He provides the keys to open the doors of perception. The central support pillar of the Y, the Y- beam, the I-beam, the Inner Eye Beam.
• The King of Discs:  Fire of Earth,  a seasoned leader with the perspective of experience, and a passion that is tempered and direct.  His crown radiates with solar energies, showing he is infused and in tune with creative forces.  A respected patriarch who provides guidance, impetus, and inspiration. The outgoing branch of the Y.

Receiving these 3 cards on my Year day gives me guidance on what has shaped me, what is within me, and what I can transmit to others.  The gifts I received from these 3 Wise Guys (Y Guys, Guide Y-ers):

• Be receptive and learn from different perspectives.  Learn from the past, and move on.
• Integrate the inner I to cross the bridge from inner to outer purpose.
• Use your experiences to transmit guidance, foundation, and inspiration to others.

I periodically perform Tarot readings for my self, as a meditative interaction, a time of spiritual play and reverance, delighting in the random coincidences.  Often I choose a word or phrase as the focal point for these tarot interactions.

For a recent reading, I chose the word “Progress“.   Progress as a verb, as in “going forward”.  I want/need to Progress in many areas of my life.  For this reading, I used the Intuitive Tarot, by Cilla Conway.

The card I pulled was: the 2 of Rods.  Traditionally, the 2 of Rods (or Wands) is often associated with initiative, boldness, originality, commanding attention. Certainly appropriate themes to foster Progress!

And then I looked more closely at the specific imagery on this card.  And then I smiled, and glowed, and realized what day it was (Jan. 19, 2009, MLK Jr. day), and the momentous event that was about to take place the next day (Jan. 20, 2009):  the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States!

The card depicts a tall, lean, dark, regal figure standing atop a hill (Capitol Hill?), holding an orb in his outstretched hand, reflecting on the state of the world. In the background there appears to be a vast multitude of faces, of many colors.  A larger orb glows at the top of the card, like a spotlight or Sun.

Intuitive Tarot: 2 of Rods

The scene is like a leader or actor on a great stage, pondering and expressing a vision of progress. The 2 parallel rods or bars crossing the orb could represent the 2 great leaders (Martin Luther King and Obama), and the ladder they have helped to build in the climb towards unity.  The 2 bars crossing the “O” is somewhat reminiscent of the Obama campaign logo.

I normally do not relate personal readings to public events, but the symbolic impact of this card, and of this moment, gave me a tremendous lift and feeling of positive transformation as we all work towards Progress, for our selves, for each other, and for the world.

Winter wonders…   

Midwest Winter Wonders

… from the Zander Woods Forest Preserve, near Thornton, Illinois.

The Intuitive Tarot by Cilla Conway is an evocative and transporting deck, providing unique and exotic perspectives into common and uncommon Tarot imagery.   Each image is framed in an oval window, which is like a glimpse through a dimensional portal into iconic scenes.

Per the accompanying book to the deck: “… we can see oureslves reflected in them:  a mirror world, which shows us as we are, and as we can become.”

The artwork in the Intuitive Tarot is simple yet other-wordly, populated with angular angelic/alien figures in dreamlike landscapes.  This is similar to my own artistic style, so I find myself easily “drawn in” to the imagery.

The Intuitive Tarot waited on my shelf for 4 years before I started to explore its strangely familiar portals.  Those portals now beckon to me…  perhaps you will also open these doors of perception, and break on through to the other side….

Intuitive Tarot: Moon - Sun - Judgement

Intuitive Tarot: One of Rods - 4 of Swords - 3 of Cups

Intuitive Tarot: 8 of Rods - 10 of Discs - Knight of Discs

One of my most sacred activities is the exploration/discovery/revelation of a personal mythology through the medium of Tarot.  I have found that working with and meditating on Tarot symbols and artwork is a powerful portal that connects me to aspects of the universe that I resonate with and learn from.

As part of that path of discovery, drawing my own Tarot artwork is the most direct and rewarding way for me to reveal that personal mythology, which I feel we all have as a unique yet connected part of our individual and collective being.  

(For an excellent example of this exploration and discovery through Tarot artwork, see Marie White’s Tarotsmyth blog.)

Here is a draft of my exploration of The Chariot card.  The Charioteer IS the Chariot, blazing new paths as he explores the universe. The imagery is in part inspired by the aspect of the superhero, part Superman in his confidence and strength, and part Dr. Strange in his magickal explorations and studies of inner and outer dimensions.

Strange Tarot - Chariot - draft

The Solstice is the time of year when the Sun Stands Still, balanced at the point between the longest night (northern hemisphere) and longest day (southern hemisphere).  It is a time to reflect and let go of the past, and rejoice and look forward to the future.

Stand Still, reflect on the cycles of change, participate in the joy as endings become beginnings and back again.

Ring Out, Solstice Bells!

Mystic Meg Tarot - Changing

The Jasniak Tarot (also referred to as the Jasniak Color Tarot) is a kaleidoscopic beauty of a deck published in Poland in 1998.  The author/designer is Aleksandra Jaśniak, and the artist is either Anna Galuszka (per the box cover) or Longin Szmyd (per the preface to the accompanying 300-page book).  The artwork is crisp and expressive with a sharp graphic style, and there is a liberal use of vivid almost psychedelic colors, patterns, and shapes throughout the deck.

The imagery in the majors has some subtle hints to Marseilles themes, yet with a modern aesthetic.  The images often expand just beyond the background frames and titles, providing a dynamic yet subtle effect.

The court cards are exotic (and somewhat erotic) characters, arrayed in fantastic robes or intricate armor.  The minors are non-scenic yet energetic arrangements of the suit symbols, pulsating with psychotropic patterns.

Here are some of my favorite cards.  There are so many cool cards in this deck, it was difficult to select just a few.  Tune in and turn on!

Major Arcana:

Jasniak Tarot - Empress and Justice

Jasniak Tarot - Hermit and Devil

Court Cards:

Jasniak Tarot - Queen of Wands and Knight of Cups

Minor Arcana:

Jasniak Tarot - 2 of Cups and 3 of Swords

Jasniak Tarot - 6 of Coins and 9 of Wands