Another interesting video – this one is a background piece from Madonna’s Reinvention Tour. (Note: you may want to take some Dramamine first.)
I’m sorry today’s piece is so short – we spent the weekend reading Tarot at the Pittsburg Scottish Renaissance Festival, which was great fun – and a great deal of work! Having spent all of today washing costumes, stowing gear, and doing the post-event paperwork, watching videos is just my speed right now . . . .
It’s not *exactly* Tarot, but this video from Richard Kadrey is still very cool. And it looks like it was shot at Crocker Galleria in downtown San Francisco, which only increases the cool quotient.
The Wheel of Change Tarot by Alessandra Genetti is amazing. Breathtaking. Astonishing. No, really. It is. It’s an RWS-based deck, with Alessandra’s gorgeous artwork and creative interpretations of the cards, the deck is visually and emotionally compelling. Everyone I’ve ever read for with this deck has fallen in love with it at first sight, and, if they’re into Tarot at all, has raced home to order their own copy.
Alessandra is one of the most energetic, alive people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. She’s awake, aware, and so very in tune with her environment, and that all comes through in the beauty and realness of the cards. So it’s not realistic that a young woman would actually be riding a lioness (the Strength card, a glorious image), but Alessandra makes it *real* with her attention to detail, and her ability to imbue the images with movement and life, and with her attention to the smallest details in all of the images.
The Devil card is a vibrant, almost hallucinogenic, mix of colors and shapes, which perfectly captures the energy and the feeling of the Devil card. It’s so much color, shape, movement – so intense – overwhelming and inspiring – a visual encapsulation of the Devil energy, and one that reframes the Devil card and its role as an archetype in a meaningful and useful way.
Some decks don’t maintain the same level of artistry with the minors, but that’s not the case with this deck. The Ten of Swords card is the best one I have ever seen, and one of the best Tarot cards I have ever seen, period. The symbolism is complete and perfect, not one bit overdone, not one thing out of place. The moon in the center of the card glows, casting its light and illuminating what needs to be seen. Even if someone has never had a Tarot reading, and knows nothing about Tarot, they cannot fail to be moved and to perceive the truths in this card simply by looking at it.
All of the cards in the deck have Alessandra’s incredible artwork, astonishing colors, and balance, creating one of the most visually perfect decks I’ve ever worked with. Each image captures the archetype, the feeling, the energy, of each card in a complete, but not finite, way. The layers of images and the fabulous level of detail in the cards provide conscious points of focus and unconscious suggestions to keep them new and fresh, reading after reading.
This deck is a fabulous, easily read, and yet very rich deck, visually and symbolically. Alessandra’s take on Tarot will show you new ways to think about the cards, and about reading Tarot. The Wheel of Change Tarot will change you, and your readings, for good – and for the better!
Sunday morning started bright and early again (although probably not as bright or as early as it did for those who stayed up dancing all night!). As it had on Saturday, my day started with protein and coffee, and Lon Milo DuQuette. Instead of an interview with Lon, I was attending his workshop on “Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot.” An intense and involving topic at any time, but especially after a late night! I had been fortunate enough to attend an all-day seminar with Lon on the topic, so I was curious to see how he could take a full day’s worth of information and compress it into two hours – talk fast! Lon ran over his time slot – in fact, the Ammerdown staff had to ring the luncheon gong three times before the organizers reluctantly called an end to Lon’s session.
After lunch, Anya Gascoine-Marco presented the final session on “Tarot and Runes.” In addition to walking us through the runes themselves, Anya provided us with blank paper runes so we could each create our own set of runes during the workshop! Once we had our introduction to the runes, and our personalized runes, we paired up to do readings for each other using Tarot and runes. My partner, the wonderful Julie, had an excellent feel for the runes, despite never having worked with them previously, and we both found the process fascinating and informative.
At the end of Anya’s workshop, Ali (the mastermind conference organizer) thanked us all for being there, and distributed goodie bags with wonderful decks and books. Everyone milled about, oohed and aahed over their goodies, drank more tea and indulged in more biscuits, until finally the centre staff politely, but firmly, made it clear we really did have to pack up and let them start about cleaning up for the next group. I exchanged contact information with several new friends, and the DH and I rode off into the sunset in our little red car, enlightened, informed, excited, and intent on returning for next year’s conference.
How often do you read an online article, lured by the promise of an interesting title, only to reach the end and think “Hey, I want my time back!”? Not a danger when one is perusing Aeclectic Tarot! If you haven’t read Bonnie Cehovet‘s series of interviews with Women in Tarot, featuring interviews with Mary K. Greer, Valerie Sim, Johanna Gargiulo-Sherman, Rachel Pollack, and Sandra A. Thomson, you might want to make the time. Cehovet made good use of her time with each of these amazing authors, and the resulting conversations – transcribed verbatim – are some of the best online Tarot material I’ve read in months. Each author has her own perspective, opinions, and wisdom to share on Tarot, and you can learn more reading these five articles than you can learn from several books. Cehovet also hosts a Tarot podcast which you can find on her website.
Morning comes early in the British Isles summer, and came through our bedroom window at the Ammerdown Conference Centre, site of the Tarot Association of the British Isles Annual Conference, far earlier than seemed necessary to my jet-lagged mind and body. However, with an exciting day ahead, I leapt managed to fall out of bed and find my way down to breakfast.
Fortified with protein and coffee, the first delight of my day was the opportunity to interview Lon Milo DuQuette for the podcast. We had a great time (as always – Lon is a fabulous guest!) and finished just as the first session was starting.
Brian Stevenson began the conference with an excellent workshop on “Tarot as a Psychic Tool.” In addition to working with Tarot cards, Brian also gave us the opportunity to try psychometry. I had the pleasure of being paired with Phil Croft, TABI chairman, and trying my psychometric skills on his watch, with fairly good results. (A lovely timepiece, may I add!) Phil then did a reading on my wedding ring, which was amazingly accurate! Brian also showed us how to use a piece of yarn and a hard candy to make a pendulum (talk about kitchen magic!), and to use our pendulum to answer questions. (Many participants were happy to consume their pendulum at the end of the session.) We then had an hour break for lunch, and time to take a walk through the gardens on the Ammerdown estate.
The afternoon began with Mick Frankel enlightening us on the use of the I Ching in Tarot readings. Mick’s concise, elegant explanations made this ancient oracle acessible even to those who had never worked with it. Mick used traditional and modern texts of the I Ching, as well as the Oracle of Mi-Lo, which is the interpretation of the I Ching found in Lon Milo DuQuette’s Book of Ordinary Oracles. With Lon in the room to provide insight into his interpretations, the workshop took on a whole new level of meaning and immediacy! Mick’s in-depth knowledge of I Ching and Tarot, and his enthusiasm for both oracles, gave everyone a detailed and useful introduction to working with the two oracles together in a reading. After so much enlightenment, a tea and biscuits (cookies!) break was in order.
The afternoon program resumed with Rachel Pollack speaking on “Tarot Archeology.” As always, Rachel was inspiring and exciting, as she discussed her trip to Greece last summer, and spoke about the influence of the ancient empires and their mythologies on the development of Tarot. Rachel also led us through an excellent “Fool’s Reading”, based on her work on the Fool archetype and her teaching intensives, which provided both amusement and many points to consider. (Asking the cards “Where have I been a Fool?” is not always a question one wishes to have answered!)
After a short break, dinner was served, and everyone took a bit of time to relax after the day’s sessions. I was able to run away with Ania Marczyk for a short podcast interview, which was delightful. The green hills, the birdsong, the setting sun – it really was a perfect setting!
The evening was filled with socializing, wine drinking, a prize raffle, more wine drinking, and an auction to benefit TABI. The bidding was fast and frantic, and TABI Chairman Phil Croft did a star turn as the lovely assistant, parading the items around the assembled bidders in what is now fondly referred to as “The Walk” (which in itself raised the level of bidding to a new frenzy – several items went for higher amounts because the bidder would add additional sums if Phil would do “The Walk” to present the item!). The bidding resulted in many happy owners of wonderful new Tarot books and decks.
I finally had to call it quits at midnight, but the party went on until 5:00 a.m.!
Artemis will tell you The Minchiate Tarot by Brian Williams is my favorite deck. I’m not sure what my favorite deck is (I think that depends a lot on my mood and the circumstances of the reading), but if I had to choose only one deck to take with me in exile on a desert island, this would be one of the top contenders.
Why? For starters, it’s simply a beautiful deck, with Williams’ excellent artwork and sensitive coloring on the images. The cards are a visual pleasure, even without using them for a reading.Williams reinterpreted the medieval Minchiate to give it a more artistic and readable look. (No small feat – some of the original Minchiate images are almost indecipherable, and Williams used his historical research and Tarot knowledge to create clear images in the updated deck.) The deck appeals to people who appreciate a lighter touch in the images and colors, compared to the saturated, intense colors found in many decks.
As for intellectual and reading appeal, the deck, with 97 cards, has additional majors cards not found in a typical 78 card deck – the 12 signs of the zodiac, the four elements, and the four cardinal virtues. Instead of the High Priestess, the deck has the Grand Duke; instead of the Emperor and the Empress, it has the Western Emperor and the Eastern Emperor. Fame takes the place of the Judgment card. The minor suits feature their emblems in various arrangements, along with human and animal figures.
These additions and substitutions challenge me as a reader to break out of the RWS / Thoth way of thinking and deepen the reading I can give my client. I find the deck is especialy good to use in readings for people who read Tarot for themselves, as the unusual set of majors also helps them think of the cards in a different perspective and to find new ways that the cards relate to one another.
I highly recommend this deck for anyone who is looking for something different from the standard 78 card deck, and for anyone who has an interest in medieval decks, but wants some modern clarity injected into the muddled images.
In spite of jet lag, incomprehensible directions which name roads that don’t exist, and impossible-to-see road signs, the Darling Husband managed to navigate our little red rental car to the Ammerdown Conference Centre for the Tarot Association of the British Isles Annual Conference, arriving safely late in the afternoon on Friday, July 6, 2007. The centre itself is a converted stables and dovecote on a lovely estate in the countryside near Radstock, Somerset. After an exhaustive tour and orientation to the centre (including a warning about the bull in the field on the way to the monument), we were finally shown to our room to collapse for a bit before the evening’s festivities.
Registration began at 6:00, followed by socializing, and dinner at 7:00. I recognized a few people from the excellent workshop on face-to-face readings I’d taken with Ania Marczyk and Brian Stevenson in London in March, and we had a good time catching up. Shortly after dinner, the one and only Lon Milo DuQuette arrived (fresh from speaking in Amsterdam) and we chatted while he had a late supper. We were joined by Rachel Pollack, and had a delightful time keeping company. (With the two of them, how could it be otherwise?!)
After dinner was more socializing, and drinking wine, and socializing, until midnight, when the lack of sleep hit full force, and I decided that discretion was the better part of staying awake through the next day’s classes, and called it a night.
