First of all, I didn’t expect to like this deck. From looking at pics on the internet, it seemed like a high fantasy kind of deck, with bosomy women and strapping men. Barf. What it is, upon closer inspection, is just lovely. There is some bosom, true, but it’s not like those books that annoyed me so much. We see women in positions of strength and men who are gentle. I fucking love it. There are queer folks and people of color (and queer people of color). Old folks and young. I really enjoyed how happy some of the characters …
“And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.” – Kurt Vonnegut
I was talking to my amazing friend, Kristen, last week. It was her birthday. (Happy birthday!) We started talking about what you do when your dreams and wishes come come true. We all know what it’s like before that moment. I’ll use my first book as an example. I’ve wanted to be an author since I was 6 years old. I was discouraged because it wasn’t a secure and steady job, so I didn’t pursue it in earnest until I was 40. I know what disappointment in regard to dreams is like – it got turned down twice before it …
where there is a woman, there is magic. – Ntosake Shange
I first met Heatherleigh Navarro at one of my first tarot conferences – I believe it was NWTS. I’d heard of her, of course, from mutual friends and friends who had been to her shop, The Boston Tea Room in Ferndale, MI. What I didn’t hear about was her Presence. Good god, this woman has gravitas. Sparkly eyes, quick wit and a great smile. The NEXT time I met her, I asked if she could give me some business advice, and boy, did she. I felt like it was the conversational equivalent of being smacked in the back of the …
If you give up, that’s the end of the game – Coach Anza
I am not a fan of manga, but I have kiddos who are, so I knew this was a thing. I didn’t expect it to be so loyal to the RWS cards. It’s a colorful, fantastical version of the RWS and it’s just lovely. The artwork is eye catching and truly beautiful. I was surprised to see only one person of color in the whole deck, and (I might be mistaken) the rest of the characters were white. The cardstock is thin, which is good for quick shuffling, but you have to be careful not to tear them. The book …
Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read. – Groucho Marx
Tarot Court Cards For Beginners taught this reader some new tricks. I learned tarot mostly by intuition and inferring knowledge from the cards. So, I never really took time to look up the history of the cards. I LOVED this book and learned so much about those damned court cards. When I first learned, i was convinced that the card I chose had to align with a person. Just like the books said – there was a dark haired man in the future. Even if there really wasn’t. I had to give myself permission to stray away from these absolutes …
Shiny! Let’s be bad guys – Pop Goes the Tarot – Firefly Edition
My web and graphics designer, Jake, LOVES Firefly, and I love Firefly AND Jake, so this is for both of us. (but mostly Jake) “Time for some thrilling heroics” Our Jane is as likely to jump to the aid of his Serenity crew, as he is to jump to the other team. He *seems* to have good intent….most of the time. “Fully loaded, safety off. This here is a recipe for unpleasantness, does she understand that?” The Magician lives his life fully loaded, safety off. He has studied and practiced and been through it so that he can walk with …
“When I seek another word for ‘music’, I never find any other word than ‘Venice’.” Friedrich Nietzsche
I received the Venetian Tarot from Eugene Vinitski, the artist behind this beautiful deck. It isn’t often that I’m surprised by tarot. I’ve seen hundreds of decks, and it’s been a while since i’ve been completely delighted by every facet of a new deck. The cardstock is an absolute dream. Its gold embossed on the sides and the paper FEELS good in your hands. It’s thicker, so it makes shuffling more deliberate, which I like. The artwork is astoundingly beautiful. It’s based on 16th-18th century Venetian dress and the characters are wearing Carnival masks. Based on the RWS deck, the …
Book Reviews! Arwen and Rumi!
Arwen Lynch is an author, the editor of the Cartomancer, and an amazing tarot reader. She’s also my buddy, which makes me just light up. Arwen wrote a book called Mapping the Hero’s Journey with Tarot: 33 Days to finish your book. It’s a wonderful resource based on the Hero’s Journey as laid out by big daddy Joseph Campbell. With this book, Arwen teaches us how to use tarot cards to develop characters, plot points and storylines. I used it while writing my new book, and it’s such a lovely new way to use my cards! Rumi’s Little Book of …