Dear Readers,

Last February, I posted an entry titled, “Tug of War: The Fool, Eight of Swords and Knight of Pentacles.” I was contemplating a new endeavor, one that involved some risk, and felt the adventurous tug of The Fool pulling me in one direction, and the cautious tug of the Knight of Pentacles pulling me in the other direction. The Fool won, and what a experience it has been.

I’m at a new juncture of the journey and have made another hard decision—this time to let go of this blog so that I can further focus my energy on this new path. No doubt, if you are a regular visitor, you have noticed that I haven’t been posting, so this may not be a surprise.

I want to thank you all for your visits and comments, which have meant so much and have brought me such joy.

Susan

Choose your card for the week from the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck by Pamela Colman Smith and Arthur Waite. When making your selection, don’t worry about what the cards mean. Base your choice on the pictures—the stories they tell and how they make you feel.

Let us know which card you chose—post a comment!

I received an email advertising the new King Solomon Cards—the first deck based on Jewish symbolism. This deck is created by Israeli metaphysical and kabalistic counselor, Itzhak Mizrahi, and Israeli artist, Orna Ben-Shoshan. To go to the King Solomon site in the original Hebrew, click here.

I have not found large-sized images of the cards online, but what a treat it has been to get lost in Orna Ben-Shoshan’s personal website, which includes images of her paintings, prints, and masks. Her work is wonderfully surreal, enchanting, and playful. How fun to adopt another favorite artist!

I have just written to find out whether or not the cards ship to the USA from the King Solomon Cards online store. I sure hope so. I’d love to have this deck. Today I was obsessively looking for places online where I can purchase a print or two as well! I came up with the Yessy art gallery.

The Bay Area Tarot Symposium was this past Saturday. What a blast! There were many fabulous presentations to choose from—three each hour. After much deliberation, I attended the following:

The Three-Card Drawing by Mary K. Greer and Nattacia Zeviar.

The Cosmic Tarot of the Spirit by Pamela Eakins.

Self-Publishing Tips and Tricks by Leisa ReFalo of the Tarot Connection.

Samhain and the Tarot by  Carole Pierce.

Evelyn Pine and I did a presentation on using the tarot to write a list poem. It’s always fun to present, but that meant having to miss RuthAnn and Wald Amberstone’s presentation: The Tarot Horse.

Evelyn and I started our presentation by having the group collaborate on a list poem inspired by the Two of Swords. Here’s what resulted:

I see a flying owl.
I see blue sapphire break light into facets.
I see tumbled clouds shadowed blue below.
I see a woman at arms.
I see a clashing of minds.
I see two interconnected spirals.
I see with my hands.
I see with eyes that do not see.

Ronda Kisner has graciously allowed me to publish the poem that she wrote during the presentation. She was working with the Alchemical Tarot deck.

I found home in the tragedy of death
I found home atop the pillar of life
I found home in the silence of night
I found home wading in the waters
I found home in the journey of strength
I found home wearing a purple dress

I found home in the giving of myself

-Ronda Kisner

If you ‘d like to listen to the podcast that Evelyn and I did on writing list poems, click here.

Big thanks to Bob at Carte Karuta for generously donating this deck!

Choose your card for the week from Egorov Tarot, Gold Edition, by Alexander Egorov (published by Piatnik). When making your selection, don’t worry about what the cards mean. Base your choice on the pictures—the stories they tell and how they make you feel.

Let us know which card you chose—post a comment!

Big thanks to Bob at Carte Karuta for generously donating this deck!

Choose your card for the week from Eclectic Tarot by Josef Machynka (published by Piatnik). When making your selection, don’t worry about what the cards mean. Base your choice on the pictures—the stories they tell and how they make you feel.

Let us know which card you chose—post a comment!

Big thanks to Bob at Carte Karuta for generously donating this deck!

Choose your card for the week from The Deva Tarot by Herta Drnec and Roberta Lanpher (published by Piatnik). When making your selection, don’t worry about what the cards mean. Base your choice on the pictures—the stories they tell and how they make you feel.

Let us know which card you chose—post a comment!

You may notice that there is an additional suit to this deck, Triax. According to the LWB, “The fifth suit is called Triax and represents the etheric or spirit. This suit is the bridge between the earhtly and the divine, the physical and the non-physical. When the Triax suit is seen in a reading, it generally refers to events and influences on a higher or soul level.”

The Bay Area Tarot Symposium is less than a month away—Saturday October 4, 2008!

Evelyn Pine and I will be doing a Writing with the Tarot workshop. We’d love for you to come write poetry with us!

There are going to be, as always, a lot of fabulous workshops and presentations. I’ve got the inside scoop on Carole Pierce’s Samhain workshop—it will be a wonderful opportunity to engage in self-reflection with the cards. Other presenters include Ruth and Wald Amberstone of the Tarot School, James Wanless, Ellen Lorenzi-Prince, Arnell Ando, Holly Voley, Corrine Kenner and more.

I’m excited to include the just-released Quantum Tarot: A Tarot of New Physics for the “Choose your card for the week” series! Congratulations to Kay Stopforth and Chris Butler for bringing this beautiful deck to fruition.

Kay and Chris are hosting a Quantum Tarot Virtual Launch Party on Monday, September 1, and there will be a raffle with fabulous Quantum goodies. Don’t miss your chance to win a signed deck.

This is a must-have, folks. What a unique concept:

“Quantum Tarot combines the revolutionary theories of 20th century physics with the traditional 78-card structure of a tarot deck. Quantum mechanics, Einstein’s theories of relativity and superstring theory offer new and strange views of our world. The Quantum Tarot makes these startling ideas accessible through the symbolism of the tarot, giving poetic expression to dry theory. The deck examines how the most important theories in modern physics play out in two extreme worlds; the vast expanses of the universe and the strange, invisible world inside the atom.” —Kay Stopforth

Intriguing, huh? You can also see how vibrant and electric the images are. The cards feel good in the hands, too—nice thick matte stock paper, with silver edges. The book that comes with the deck is comprehensive, beautifully written, and nicely designed, too. You’ll want to supplement your reading with Kay’s blog. She expands on each of the Majors there.

Okay, so let’s choose our card for the week from the Quantum Tarot: A Tarot of New Physics, published by Kunati, Inc. As always, when making your selection, don’t worry about what the cards mean. Base your choice on the pictures—the stories they tell and how they make you feel.

Let us know which card you chose—post a comment!

I’ve got some very interesting decks lined up to share with you over the next few weeks on the “Choose your card” posts. My Quantum Tarot has arrived, and it’s beautiful! I’ll be starting with that this Sunday. I also received three new tarot decks and a fortune telling deck from Bob at Carte Karuta, who generously and unexpectedly donated them for use in the Writing with the Tarot classes that Evelyn and I teach. I was unfamiliar with these decks, so you can imagine the fun I had today when they arrived in the mail. Thank you so much, Bob!