Melissa Cynova I got the first edition Gaian tarot in the lovely gift bag we received at Theresa Reed’s “Soulful Proprietor” workshop. I’d like to say that I formed a long and loving relationship with it, but the truth is, my Girl Child stole it the second I got home and claimed it as her own. I did do a few readings from it, and it really read like a dream.
I love the diversity in the cards – people of color and curvy women, older folks and toddlers. I love the expressions on their faces and the little flowers and elements peeking out of each card that I can draw on during readings.
Sometimes, I do this thing where I forget I’m a witch. I know it sounds weird, but I forget to touch base with the earth and all that I have to learn from it. I can’t do that when I use these cards. I feel like the symbols in the cards are pointing me toward their twins in my own world and that I just need to pay attention.
The second edition is out now (and there’s a delay in shipping – it’s crazy popular, you guys!) and I’ll be reviewing that when I receive it, but for now, here is the creator of this lovely, earth-centered deck – Joanna Powell Colbert.
Little Fox Questionnaire
1. What do you appreciate the most in your friends?
Their depth. Their willingness to face the hard stuff and come out the other side. Their commitment to doing their own sacred work.
2. Your idea of happiness.
Hanging out on the beach with people I love, watching / drumming / singing the sun down and the moon up.
3. Your idea of misery.
Personally: too much time in large groups of people with not enough time to be alone and recharge.
On a larger scale: seeing people (especially on social media) throw hateful, vicious words at each other, making assumptions about the Not-Me that are most likely not true.
4. Where would you like to live?
Right here, where I live now, on this little island in the Salish Sea. I left it for six years and felt like I was in exile the entire time. Never leaving again.
5. Your favorite colors and flowers.
Blues and greens. Lilacs. Lavender. Wild roses.
6. Your favorite poets.
Mary Oliver, David Whyte, Patricia Monaghan, Gary Snyder.
7. Your heroes/heroines in fiction.
Inspector Gamache from Louise Penny’s novels. Mary Russell in Laurie R. King’s novels. Maisie Dobbs from Jacqueline Winspear’s novels.
8. What role does divination play in your life?
I use divination tools for spiritual guidance, to help sort out options around decisions I need to make, to spark new ideas, for comfort and solace. Among other things!
9. Your heroes/heroines in real life.
Terry Tempest Williams. Angeles Arrien. Christina Baldwin and Ann Linnea.
10. What is your present state of mind?
Creatively charged.
11. What is your favorite tarot deck or divination tool?
Besides my own deck? The Dark Goddess Tarot by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince. Charms. And reading omens and signs directly from the natural world.
12. Your favorite songs?
“The Eye” by Brandi Carlile. “Gloria” by Michael Franti. “Medicine” by Rising Appalachia. “Glorious” by MaMuse. “Guadalupe” by Gretchen Peters. “She Carries Me” by Jennifer Berezan. “Holy Mother” by Luciano Pavarotti & Eric Clapton.
13. What is your favorite word?
Numinous.
14. What is your least favorite word?
Putrid.
15. What sound or noise do you love?
Ocean waves. The dawn chorus. My guy, playing guitar.
16. What sound or noise do you hate?
Chainsaws. Dentist drills. Gunshots.
17. What turns you on?
An open heart. The ocean. Roots / Americana music. A well-turned phrase.
18. What turns you off?
Shallow people. Hateful people. Plastic bottles.
19. What is your favorite curse word?
I don’t think I have one.
20. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
If heaven exists and I arrive at the Pearly Gates to discover that God is showing up in a male form, I’ll be pretty pissed. But if heaven exists, and my boat makes a landing on the Western Isles and I see the Goddess waiting on the shore, I’d like to hear her say, “You did good, kid.”