Noel Heimpel, Creator of the Numinous Tarot | Interview

I wrote about the Numinous Tarot in my last newsletter and have been using it this month for some of my daily posts. It’s a beautiful deck. It’s beautiful in a few ways. 1. The artwork itself is lovely. 2. The edges are all shiny and sparkly. (Hi, I’m a magpie) 3. The diversity in race is glorious. 4. The representation of ways to love people is beautiful. 5. The different sizes and shapes and abilities of the folks in the beautiful cards is amazing. 6. The interpretation of the swords as bells brings clarity. Pentacles as Tomes brings groundedness. Cups as …

“A room without books is like a body without a soul.” ― Marcus Tullius Cicero

Book review time!  I’ve finished Book the Second, and have had time to catch up on my reading. Here are some short reviews of the lovelies I’ve just finished: The first and third books were sent to me by Red Wheel/Weiser, and the 2nd one was from my friend, Leeza.  Tarot: Plain & Simple – Leanna Greenaway It is what it says it is. Very simple. It’s got card meanings, reversals, key points about each card and exercises for you to do. This is a beginner book. It also says it’s the only tarot book you’ll ever need, and I’m …

“Accept what life offers you and try to drink from every cup. All wines should be tasted; some should only be sipped, but with others, drink the whole bottle.” ― Paulo Coelho

It’s review time! I got quite a haul at Reader’s Studio this year, and am also in the cool position to receive decks from publishers to review. I’m not mad about it. I haven’t had a lot o time lately (what with finishing my next book and all), but I wanted to knock these out and tell you what I think of them.  I think I should also share that if I get a deck from a publisher that I don’t like, I won’t review it. I think that’s fair considering they send them for free. So if I get …

“Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.” ― Robert A. Heinlein

I like to noodle around Instagram to find new tarot decks. I like decks with diversity, creative interpretations of the cards, and a sense of whimsy. I found the Hip Chick Tarot, by Maria Strom, checks all of those categories.  The suits are renamed, here, with Majors, Create (Wands), Feel (Cups), Think (Swords), and Earth (Pentacles). I just love this – they’re intuitively connected with the suits so I won’t have to have a sticky note to remind me that Swords/Think.  The artwork reminds me of the 70’s – kind of an Electric Company vibe. I have no idea why, …

Masters of Tarot – Interview with Mary K “MF’in” Greer

As part of the preparation for the Omega Institutes “Masters of Tarot” weekend, I got interviewed by one of my personal heroes, Mary K. Greer. That was something else. You can follow the above link to her blog to read all about it. You can sign up for the Omega Institute weekend, here! Rachel Pollack, Mary Greer, George Koury and Liz Dean (and also me!) The theme is Five Approaches to Messages from the Cards and I’ll be talking about stripping your questions down to their base elements to make them more useful.  Thanks, Mary, for the great interview. Keep …

“To learn to play seriously is one of the great secrets of spiritual exploration.” ― Rachel Pollack

It isn’t often you get to interview your hero.  The second tarot book that I ever bought was “78 Degrees of Wisdom“. I’d been reading cards for about a decade at this point, and although I could read the cards, I didn’t really understand them. Not entirely. Rachel Pollack’s book introduced me to my cards in a way that made me feel like we were old friends. I could talk to the cards and for the first time – clearly hear what they said. Magical. Because the Universe seems to conspire to shower me with blessings, I was invited to …

What is the universe but a lot of waves And a craving desire is a wave…” ― Jack Kerouac

I first saw the Nomad Tarot in Beth Maiden’s shop. I try to buy from Beth as often as I can, because I know that she truly adores everything in her shop, and she supports creators and writers. HOWEVER, I have a problem with non-illustrative pips. I didn’t learn tarot with one, and they somehow seem less-than my trusty RWS.  I have found, though, in the last year, that my opinion is less ‘bunch of sticks’ and more ‘pared down beauty’. It really annoys me, though, because I can no longer harass my Marseilles friends and be a brat about …

A to Z Challenge: Write Every Day and Hello, It’s Me

It’s official – April’s come to an end, and so has the A to Z challenge. If you’ve been meaning to catch up, here’s the last handful of blog posts I wrote as part of this challenge. U is for UnfazedV is for VocalW is for WitchX is for quiXoticY is for YouthsZ is for Zapped Weirdly, I’ve done dozens of interviews of other people but have never taken this questionnaire myself. Weird! I’m generally not a fan of talking about myself, so you can find podcasts of me doing that here, here, and here. I’m a reader, a writer, …

Z is for Zapped #atozchallenge

I feel like every year, I write about how to take care of yourself so you can do better readings. I do think it’s important, though, so I’m going to make a little list for you. Readings can be exhausting if you don’t take care of yourself. Check your energy before and after your readings and make adjustments if necessary. Use crystals, rocks, incense, candles, reiki, etc. – whatever tools will help you – to protect yourself and your energy. Be sure to put your cards back in order or charge the under the sun or the moon when they …

Y is for Youths #atozchallenge

I did a podcast with my friends, Andrew and Rose, in which we talked about pop culture and tarot and spirituality and Big Trouble in Little China.  One of the things that I said was that I hope that in 40 years, everything I write about tarot becomes irrelevant. I really do. I don’t mean this in a self-deprecating way, but in that the core of tarot is rock solid, but that the means of interpretation of the tarot is ever-changing, and that’s exactly what I love about it. My son is 12, and his idea of the Hierophant is …