The Mary-El Tarot Marie White, Artist Sneak Peek Tarot World Magazine Christiana Gaudet
Artists have a variety of reasons for choosing to create a Tarot deck. Some do it as an interesting challenge. Others see it as a logical progression from designing collectible card games. Some have a particular vision of the Tarot archetypes that they would like to document and share. Then there are those artists who have a real passion and love for Tarot. Marie White, creator of the Mary-el Tarot, is one of those.
White, a full-time mom and self-taught artist, has been working on the Mary-El Tarot since 1997. Designing a full Tarot deck was not what she had in mind when she painted a picture of The Emperor just after her first child was born. She found the process inspiring, and went on to complete a few other Major Arcana cards. Before long, she was no longer focusing on individual cards, but on a vision for a full deck. She created more cards; both Major and Minor Arcana, working on the ones that captured her most. Eventually, she became more disciplined about the process and began creating them in order.
When it became clear that she was creating a deck that eventually would be published, White began sharing her images and promoting her deck on-line. Her terrific website, Mary-el.com, and her other on-line efforts, made sure that this deck developed a strong fan base. When White self-published the Major Arcana in 2003 it didn’t take long for them to sell out completely.
In my telephone conversation with White, I learned that, unlike many Tarot artists, she is a reader herself, although not yet a professional. She hopes to become a professional reader when her full deck is published, so she can offer readings with it. She says that reading for people with her Majors-only deck is a completely different experience than reading with a standard commercially published deck.
White told me that she enjoys a number of Tarot decks, including the RWS, the Halloween Tarot, the William Blake Tarot, and the Crowley Harris Thoth Tarot. Mary-el Tarot is clearly inspired by the Crowley Harris Thoth, although its images are unique unto themselves. Justice is numbered as Key 8 and the suits are Wands, Cups, Swords and Discs. The Court follows the RWS standard, with Pages, Knights, Queens and Kings. Not all Court cards picture an individual human, and the pip cards do not include suit icons.
The artwork of the Mary-el Tarot is both bold and delicate. The images are so very detailed that I was amazed to learn that each original piece measures only 7 inches by 11 ½ inches! The process that White uses to create each card is just as detailed as the finished images themselves. She told me that each card can take several months to research, a month to sketch, and a few days to paint. It is no wonder, then, that the deck has been in progress for more than a decade! White provides a window in to her artistic process on her website, where she actually shows the stage-by-stage creation of a few cards.
Marie White has always had a fascination with mythology and theology along with art, and is thrilled that these interests combine so perfectly in Tarot. I asked her if there was a theme or goal for the Mary-el Tarot. She said that the main goal was to create a deck that told universal truths and balanced masculine and feminine strengths.
She writes essays for each of her cards that are very different than most standard LBW interpretations. These essays, according to her website, highlight “pertinent information about the card such as: what inspired it, what it symbolizes, or what was experienced during its creation”. Clearly, White’s spiritual and creative process for this Tarot is very organic and very personal. She told me that she is really enjoying the journey of creating this deck, and feels a strong sense of destiny; that she is meant to be doing this at this time in her life.
The traditional archetypal images that we associate with Tarot are not present in the Mary-el Tarot. It would be difficult to figure out which card was which without seeing its name. Some of the images will be controversial in the Tarot community, and some might be considered inappropriate for certain audiences. For this White is unapologetic. She is firm in her conviction to paint what she sees for each card; to “tell the truth” with each card.
One card that has already caused some controversy is the Hierophant. Ironically, it is one of White’s favorite cards and one that she had some trouble creating. It shows a woman nursing two children, one at each breast. Certainly not a standard Hierophant image, but a striking one!
I can’t quite find the words to describe the look and feel of this unique deck. The art is superb, the images are intense, and completely unlike any Tarot deck I have ever seen before. This will not be a deck for the beginning reader, or for the nervous querent. It certainly will be a deck for the Tarot scholar, for the seeker of spiritual mysteries, and for the collector of fine art. White’s focus on personal integrity in creating this deck suggests to me that, in divination, this deck will tell the plain truth whether or not we want to hear it!
White does not know when her deck will be completed, or who will publish it. She will not be rushed and she will not have her deck “watered-down”. The completed Mary-el Tarot will be exactly the Tarot of Marie White’s vision. In the meantime she begs us to be patient with her process. I am sure it will be worth the wait.
Artist Paulina Cassidy has made it easy for us to get a sneak peak at her forthcoming Tarot Deck, Paulina Tarot. Her website, Restless Moon Gallery, has digital images of all 78 cards. Her darkly whimsical drawings made me curious about this soon-to-be-published Tarot, and so I had a conversation with Paulina Cassidy on the phone from her home in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We talked about Tarot, art, and this exciting new deck.
Paulina Cassidy can’t remember a time when she wasn’t an artist. From the time she was a toddler, she had only one choice for a profession. As a young adult working under her maiden name, Paulina Stuckey, she began writing, illustrating and self-publishing storybooks and creating art prints that feature fanciful characters. With the launch of her website in 1999, she developed a world wide clientele.
When Cassidy speaks of the creation of Paulina Tarot, it feels like a truly magickal experience. Cassidy says that she had no real theme in mind when she began designing the deck. In fact, the deck began as a study tool. While she had been interested in the Tarot for many years, she began the fifteen-month project with only a rudimentary knowledge of the cards. “The process of me learning the Tarot was for me to actually create each card.” She told me. “I’d focus on one card at a time, and interestingly enough, when I’d choose a card (I didn’t actually do them in sequence) it felt like it corresponded with an important event or turning point in my life, and then that card became a guiding point.”
Cassidy told me that as she let her subconscious mind guide the design of the cards, the images that resulted were closer to the traditional images and meanings than she had realized or planned. One of the cards Cassidy struggled with was the Five of Wands. “I think I created four or five different images for that one.” It’s no surprise that a card that speaks of conflict might create conflict in its creation!
Cassidy’s primary medium is watercolor and ink. Her work is reminiscent of Tim Burton, Dr. Seuss, and Edward Gorey, three artists that she counts amongst her influences. “But it’s not just art that influences me,” she says. “It’s music, it’s places, it’s a combination of so many elements that affect us and create the style that we have.”
One of the places that clearly shows its influence in Paulina Tarot is New Orleans. Paulina and her husband lived there until 2007, and it was there that work on Paulina Tarot was begun. Many of the characters in the deck are dressed for masquerade, and there is a “Mardi Gras feel” to some of the cards. Harlequins and ballerinas dance their way through the deck. Sweet-faced girls wear magnificent ball gowns with intricate patterns. There are people with wings, and people riding on large birds. There are mythical creatures such as unicorns and mermaids. There are animals such as the world has never seen, like a flying lion, and a cat with the tongue of a snake. When I asked Cassidy who these creatures were and what they meant, she said, “I really don’t know- I wish they’d introduce themselves to me.” Cassidy says that her creatures do talk, “according to people who can hear them.” She says that she can only sense them. “I’ll be sitting there and suddenly something’s hilarious, and I don’t know what it is but I have to run to the drawing board and draw it.” Cassidy says her Tarot is peopled with creatures from her own subconscious, who “found out I was working on this Tarot deck and said ‘Hey, I want to be a part of this!’”
But lest you decide that this deck lacks true symbolism, or is simply an “Art Tarot,” take a deeper look at the cards. You’ll see the Devil, who has enslaved himself. Look at the Queen of Cups, whose gown is the ocean. While each element of each image does not always have a symbolic meaning, each card as a whole does speak its traditional meaning quite clearly.
Many of the characters are in poses similar to their Rider Waite Smith counterparts. Like many of us, the trusty deck in the yellow box was Cassidy’s first. As visually different as Paulina Tarot is, it still sticks to the basic RWS conventions. There are some obvious breaks from the familiar, but none that are out of the ordinary for a modern deck. The Magician and the Hermit are both female, for instance, but their poses and interpretations remain traditional.
As we closed our conversation, I asked Paulina Cassidy to speak directly to the many Tarot readers who will be purchasing her deck. “Just have fun with it,” she said. “Let yourself be amused and entertained and moved by what you see. That means the world to me.”
Paulina Tarot will be released by U.S. Games sometime this year. It will be a standard size, and packaged with an LWB written by Paulina Cassidy. Until the deck is available, we can admire it at Restless Moon Gallery, http://www.paulina.ws.
Please visit Paulina Fae’s website for more information!
(Note 9/7/24: The link to Restless Moon Gallery wasn’t working. The link to Paulina Fae website was added.)
Unlike many of my Tarot friends, I don’t go to renaissance faires and I don’t have cats. And so I might have entirely missed the Tarot gem that is Medieval Cat Tarot if it weren’t for two things. First, a Tarot student told me that her readings improved after she started working with this deck. Then, I discovered that the Little White Book is co-authored by Gina M. Pace, author of the Pagan Tarot. I couldn’t imagine that either my student or Gina Pace would embrace a trite deck. And, as it turns out, they didn’t! Medieval Cat Tarot has enough beauty, mysticism, humor and all-over-good-Tarot-vibes to excite me, even though I usually shy away from cute decks that show animals in costume.
Medieval Cat Tarot is published by U.S. Games, and was released in 2004. At 4 ½” by 2 1/2” the cards are noticeably more narrow than most. Somehow, this adds to the medieval feel of the deck. The coloring, too, is a huge part of the deck’s personality. Both back and front of the cards are covered with flourishes in shades of brown, gold and yellow. Rather than looking dull or dark, it looks royal and antique.
The quality of the deck is standard for U.S. Games, the card finish is glossy and the deck comes in the old packaging format with just the Little White Book. Gina M. Pace, along with Tarot artist Lawrence Teng, has written an LWB worth reading. It’s a lot of good information in a small space, and certainly suitable for a beginner.
One of the most interesting aspects of this deck, other than its peculiar subject matter, is that the pips are designed in the Marseilles style, where each card shows simply the appropriate number of suit icons. But in the center of each card is an oval, with a picture of a cat in action. Thus, the Medieval Cat Tarot has achieved something that many other decks have tried to do less successfully. It has combined the meditative and intuitive grace of the Marseilles style with the artistry and vision of the Waite style.
These little cat pictures remind me of windows into another world; a world where cats walk upright and wear elaborate medieval garb. The pictures are simple, but with interesting detail and symbolism. Once again, the use of color is stunning. Spots of blue, red and yellow simply shine against the dark background.
Many of the cats are shown in basic Waite-style poses. Some of them, however, portray the Waite ideas but make specific reference to cat life. For instance, the Five of Coins shows a sad kitty stuck in a tree in the rain. The Seven of Swords shows the cat who (you guessed it!) ate the canary.
The Court ranks are traditionally named. Of the Court cards, the Kings are my favorite. The King of Swords sits in front of a windmill. The King of Cups sits in front of a water wheel. Beginners will find these kinds of elemental clues helpful, and experienced readers will be charmed by them.
The Major Arcana is also reminiscent of the Marseilles Tarot, except, of course, that all the characters are cats! There are a few other notable breaks from tradition. The Hanged Man, for instance, is hanging from an arm and a leg, instead of just the leg.
Death is one of my favorite cards in this particular deck. The image shows a skeletal cat as the hooded reaper with his scythe. But the scythe curves over the horizon to become a crescent archway. Under the archway, surrounding the death figure, fly dozens of butterflies.
The only cards in the deck that don’t captivate me are the Aces. Each Ace shows its suit icon and an animal related to its element, but no cats! The animals that are shown are not clothed as the cats. Instead, they are realistic wild animals. The Wand has a lizard, the Sword has two birds, the Cup has two fish and the Pentacle has mice. The LWB describes the animals and what they symbolize, but there is no mention of why the Aces are the only cards to break away from the theme of the deck. I can’t help but think that the kitties would want to catch and eat all the Aces!
The cats that grace the other seventy-four cards have sweet and simple faces that are filled with expression. With just a few lines Lawrence Teng can show palpable emotion. The costumes on the cats don’t seem out of place at all, and are lovely to look at. I can’t help thinking that Mr. Teng’s cats would have gotten along well with Beatrix Potter’s animal friends.
Medieval Cat Tarot is a fun and easy deck for beginners. It is also a fine deck for professional readers, especially when reading at a public event or for a jittery client. None of the images are disturbing in any way, and the deck is both pretty and unusual enough to be a conversation piece.
As a whole, Tarot often asks us to step outside of our mental boxes and look at things in a different way. We are asked to stretch our faith, our vision and our understanding. Medieval Cat Tarot helped me to stretch into an imaginary realm in which I thought I would have no interest. But, as is often true with Tarot, if we stretch, we find parts of ourselves we didn’t know we had. Maybe I’ll see you next year at the Renaissance Faire!
Christiana Gaudet July 2008 Sneak Peek Legacy of the Divine Tarot Ciro Marchetti
The soon-to-be-completed third Tarot from artist Ciro Marchetti is sure to be the most meaningful Tarot of his career. It is also, according to him, likely to be his last. He met with me in his home in Boynton Beach, Florida one Tuesday afternoon to discuss his new project, entitled Legacy of the Divine Tarot.
Marchetti has always collected and admired Tarot art, but has never been a Tarot reader. He’ll be the first to tell you that when he designed Gilded Tarot he knew next to nothing about Tarot symbolism. As he showed me some images from Legacy of the Divine Tarot it was clear that Ciro Marchetti has grown significantly in his understanding of Tarot symbolism and spiritual imagery.
Legacy of the Divine Tarot is being worked completely on a Mac Digital Tablet. When I look at the facial expressions of the Tarot characters, the details in the images and the very realistic flora and fauna, I am shocked that this is done in pixels rather than in paint. Marchetti explained to me that it is not only his own evolution that will make his third deck his very best, it is also evolution in technology that allows him the finer control of a digital pen, rather than a mouse.
Being in the Marchetti residence is rather like being a character in one of his Tarot decks. Everything is beautiful, and carefully placed to create a sense of both expansive space and cozy comfort. There are mechanisms, hot-air balloons, masks, water fountains and lush plants, just like in all three of his decks. I could see that Ciro Marchetti is the best kind of artist, one who real puts the essence of his own identity into his work.
Ciro Marchetti’s second Tarot work, Tarot of Dreams, is revolutionary for a couple of reasons. First of all, for a self-published deck, it is selling incredibly well. Secondly, and more importantly, Tarot of Dreams is sold with a CD in which the Tarot absolutely comes alive. In Tarot of Dreams, Marchetti combined the ancient Tarot with modern technology to create a perfect blend.
Legacy of the Divine Tarot will also be revolutionary. After spending considerable time researching Tarot history and symbolism, Marchetti, although never before a writer, was inspired to write the accompanying book rather than relying on a Tarot author as he had in the past. Furthermore, he made up a “back-story” for his new Tarot. He even created a dynamic video to introduce the Tarot and tell the story. The video is available for viewing on Vimeo at http://vimeo.com/1076456. The link is also on his website, http://www.ciromarchetti.com.
The story of Legacy of the Divine Tarot is similar to the legend of Atlantis. A race of people, foreseeing their demise, left this Tarot for us as evidence of their culture and spiritual knowledge. This Tarot, then, is the legacy of their divine knowledge.
There have been many Tarot decks that tell the story of a race or culture, or that use mythical icons to represent the archetypes of the Tarot. I’m thinking about Ancestral Path Tarot, Lover’s Path Tarot and Mythic Tarot, to name a few. There are far fewer decks that use a made-up mythology as a theme. In fact, modern Tarot historians have spent a great deal of time and energy to dispel myths about the history of the Tarot. I am sure that some of them will not be pleased with this newly invented Tarot myth. There will be others who will think that it is brilliant.
The TarotL History Information Sheet speaks positively about new Tarot mythology; as long as we are do not confuse our myths with historical reality. To me, it seems that myths regarding the end of civilizations are themselves archetypal. People tell stories, too, about how their own civilizations may eventually end. Something deep within us is concerned about our own legacy, and about the legacy of those who have come before us. It makes sense, then, that a story-telling tool of archetypes such as the Tarot might inspire such an imaginative story about its own origins.
Aesthetically and functionally, the mythology of Legacy of the Divine Tarot will not likely intrude on the beauty or readability of this deck. Much more than his earlier Tarot works, this new deck uses symbolism that is easy to read and understand. Many of the cards are reminiscent of the Rider Waite Smith images, though none of them are a direct copy.
The Major Arcana cards are traditionally named and numbered. The images are meaningful, and instantly recognizable. There is a great deal of creativity in this deck, even beyond the beautiful artwork. The Empress is young and pregnant, surrounded by animals and plants. The Fool is distributing Tarot cards throughout the universe, in keeping with the legend that Marchetti created for the deck.
The Minor Arcana cards promise to be just as rich, and just as easy to identify, as the Major Arcana. The Court characters that Marchetti showed me are particularly engaging, as are the other images of people throughout the deck. All of the faces in this deck show perceptible feeling. All of the landscapes are detailed and three-dimensional. All the colors are striking.
Ciro Marchetti plans to finish Legacy of the Divine Tarot by the end of this year. He will self-publish a special limited-edition version of the deck that will be available on his website. A regular edition will follow, although Marchetti is not yet sure who the publisher will be.
As he talks about this Tarot project, Marchetti is clearly excited. Over the years, he has developed an appreciation for Tarot readers, and for what Tarot reading is all about. One of his hopes for this deck is that people will get really good readings with it. As I look at the images of the deck in progress on Marchetti’s computer, I believe we will.
We spend a lot of time thinking, talking, and divining about relationships. Although tarot readings are often assumed to focus mainly on romance (or its absence), every relationship matters. Love and romance matter, and romantic partnerships often influence our happiness throughout life, but all relationships shape our lives.
In elementary school, we build our social development by making friends. In high school and college, while the focus often turns to romance, friendships remain essential. Our adult lives are so much better with great friendships, yet we often lack the time, energy, and commitment to nurture them.
We often deprioritize and diminish friendship. We refer to our friends as ‘just friends’ to denote that they are not love interests nor family members. Yet our friends often become our chosen family.
Longstanding friendships can be a lifeline, and new friends can bring new perspective, joy, and excitement to our lives. In difficult situations, we discover who our trusted friends really are.
A friendship breakup, betrayal, or loss can be just as devastating as losing a partner or sibling. This, and the fact that it is hard to know who is trustworthy, compatible, and worthy of our energy, can make it scary to meet new friends.
Self-help guides often tell us to lean on our trusted friends, but they don’t tell us how to find them. Perhaps to find trusted friends, we first need to trust ourselves enough to set boundaries and decide who we trust and who we befriend. We need to be able to leave a friendship when someone shows up differently than we expected. We need to be able to have hard conversations with people we care about.
When we trust and value ourselves, it becomes so much easier to manage difficult relationships, make new friends, and enjoy being a trusted friend and having trusted friends.
StaarCon 6 Postcard featuring Pixie Arcana by Pamela Steele.
The StaarCorner
This week, we’ve got some logistical information to help make your in-person StaarCon experience the best ever.
Getting Here
The closest airport to our host hotel, the DoubleTree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center, is West Palm Beach. If you fly into Fort Lauderdale or Miami instead, you can take a Brightline or Tri-Rail train up to West Palm Beach.
Our hotel is actually in Palm Beach Gardens, one town over from West Palm Beach. There’s no airport shuttle, so plan on a short taxi, Uber, or Lyft ride to reach us.
Our Marketplace is a full expo and psychic fair, open to the public. Invite your local friends to shop and get readings, and be sure to carve out some time during the con to browse it yourself!
Cosplay and fancy dress are always welcome at StaarCon, especially Saturday night for the Bardic Circle, so pack your finery! The hotel pool and spa will also be open, so bring your bathing suit too.
Ways to Support StaarCon
Donate to our first-ever silent auction. StaarCon 6 will feature a silent auction for the first time! If you have something you’d like to donate, call or text me at 561-655-1160.
Advertise in the StaarCon program. Want to promote your business to attendees? Visit the StaarCon website for a link to request ad space.
StaarCon is less than two months away! Make your plan to join us!
Tarot can certainly help us understand and manage our relationships. Yet, it is only sometimes that tarot can help us avoid the heartache of trusting the wrong person.
There are certainly cards in the deck that can be a red flag for dishonesty, such as the Seven of Swords. Sometimes the cards will be clear in warning us away from a new relationship, or in revealing an old friend’s new unsavory agenda.
Yet, people are multifaceted, and relationships require choices every day. If you consult the cards about a new love interest, for example, the cards will rarely give you a clear green light or red light. More often, they show you aspects of the person and possibilities for how the relationship could go.
Sometimes the cards lay out a framework so that, if things don’t go well, you can look back and recognize that what you were warned might happen is happening. This can be very helpful as we make decisions.
I am very uncomfortable using the cards to dismiss a possible relationship out of hand if I see any sign of something positive, even if I also see some potential for a negative outcome. I feel that love is always worth a chance.
Yet some cards could make me warn someone away from even a first date, especially if they appear together. As mentioned, the Seven of Swords can indicate someone who is not trustworthy. Likewise, the Ace of Swords reversed, or any of the Swords Court cards reversed.
The High Priestess reversed, when looking at a woman’s potential male suitor, is particularly concerning because it can speak of disrespect of women. Another problematic card in this context is the Sun. While the Sun typically represents happiness and confidence, it can also describe someone with an overinflated ego or narcissism. As one student pointed out, the Sun card image shows a man-baby carrying a giant red flag!
We can always count on tarot to help us process and understand our relationships. Over time, we can also count on tarot to help us learn to trust ourselves and our intuition.
Sometimes I speak with people frustrated with dating, hoping tarot can save them time and heartache by quickly pointing them to the right person. I think the process of dating and finding love cannot be circumvented by divination or any sort of spiritual tool. Meeting, rejecting, and finally accepting a partner lets us use our discernment, hopefully to find something that works for everyone. Tarot and divination can be a huge help along the way, but we still must trust ourselves to make the decisions that will serve us best.
Free Tarot Practice Session with Christiana and Brenda Elizabeth – Sunday, August 23rd, 1:30 to 3:30 pm.
The Week in Review
This Saturday, I am back at the Mandel Public Library in West Palm Beach at 1 pm. Join us for a free one-hour, all-levels tarot class.
On Sunday, join Brenda Elizabeth and me for a free two-hour hands-on tarot class at 1:30 pm at the Hagen Ranch Road Library in Delray Beach.
On Monday, August 24, members of my YouTube channel are welcome to join me at 7 pm ET as I record the September TarotScopes.
Tuesday, August 25, at 7 pm ET, YouTube channel members are invited to our monthly members-only livestream. This month, the topic is “Practical Tarot”.
From Around the Web
If you can’t get a chance to visit the tarot exhibit at the Morgan Library, this video from T. Susan Chang’s Tarot Podcast is the next best thing.
The Morgan isn’t the only place doing a special tarot exhibit right now. The Dali is also having a special exhibition of prints from the Dali Tarot. I will be there, giving a talk on tarot!
The Three of Cups can speak of a community celebration or a party. Sometimes it warns us not to overconsume at a social gathering or, at the other end of the spectrum, to avoid being a loner or a party-pooper.
Yet, I also see the Three of Cups as a card of friendship, especially amongst women. When this card appears positively-aspected in a reading, it can speak of a loving and nurturing friend group.
If you are lonely and want to attract new, delightful friends, put the Three of Cups on your altar with some flowers and sweet-smelling incense or candles. You can expect to meet some new people soon!
A sign in the rain that reads When it Rains, it Pours.
I have always loved the expression “When it rains it pours.” To me, this expression speaks of an energetic and magical truth (more about that later).
I was surprised to learn that this American expression was created as an advertising slogan by the Morton Salt Company. Like most of us, I grew up with the Morton Umbrella Girl, but I had no idea that this expression began as a slogan. Rather, I thought Morton took an existing expression for their campaign.
It turns out that they were indeed inspired by an old English proverb, “It never rains but it pours.” This is a dour saying, suggesting that bad things are usually heavier than we want them to be.
For me, the expression “When it rains it pours” suggests something about the magical law, “Like attracts like.” Whatever we have some of, it can be easy to attract more of that thing. This works for both things we like and things we don’t.
This is why it is so important for us to cultivate lives filled with the energy, activities, and people we enjoy as much as possible. If we want to change things in our lives, we must start by changing our own energy and activities. If we want to attract people we enjoy, we need to stay away from those we don’t.
Life will never be all good or all bad. Blessings and curses come hand-in-hand. Yet, when we understand what we want in life and focus on that, more blessings follow.
StaarCon 6 Postcard featuring Pixie Arcana by Pamela Steele.
The StaarCorner
Mary Ellen Collins has been part of StaarCon since the beginning. She has been a presenter, volunteer, and panel facilitator over the past five years.
For StaarCon 6, Mary Ellen has two important roles. She will be our volunteer coordinator, ensuring our team of volunteers knows what to do and when to do it. She will also be facilitating an exciting panel about the tarot profession.
Tarot pros and aspiring tarot pros will not want to miss “The Business of Tarot”. Mary Ellen will be joined by four successful tarot professionals, Joseph Fararr, Christiana Gaudet, Hilary Parry, and Heather Gaffney Darnell. Together, they will discuss what works and what doesn’t, and offer you insight into what it takes to become a successful tarot pro.
Whether you are just learning about divination and metaphysics, or an aspiring professional, StaarCon will help you get to the next level. Get your tickets today!
We can use tarot to help us change the energy around us. We usually start by looking through the deck face up to find the card or cards that represent the energy we want more of in life.
We can put that card or cards on an altar, create an image of that card with art, hang the card image on the wall, or even, for the very brave, tattoo it on ourselves.
This is another way that “like attracts like” works. The energy of the tarot card will attract like energy to itself, and therefore, to you.
Tuesday, August 18, 7 pm to 8:30 pm: Third Tuesday Tarot: Court Cards
The Week in Review
Friends, something disturbing has come to my attention. Apparently, someone impersonating me is making phone calls to my friends on social media, trying to sell them a “membership”. If you receive such a call, please be assured that this is not related to me, nor condoned by me. If you happen to get a number on caller ID, please let me know!
If you missed the free livestreamed class last night, A Modern Celtic Cross, you can watch the replay.
This Tuesday, August 18, it’s time for our Third Tuesday Tarot Class, 7 pm in Stuart. Get your ticket and join us!
We often say “when it rains it pours” when we are feeling overwhelmed. One tarot card that can speak of overwhelm is the Ten of Wands.
In the Waite image, we see a person carrying a large, heavy bundle. No one is there to help. It feels like a lot. But in the distance, we can see buildings, perhaps a town. I like to think that the person will successfully reach his destination with the load he is carrying, and then will be able to release it.
For me, this is an important reminder that a feeling of overwhelm is usually temporary and usually manageable.
A yoga teacher once told me I was flexible but not strong. This was something I needed to work on. This did inspire me to build a gym habit for which I am grateful. As I age, I understand the importance of being physically strong and flexible. I also see how necessary it is to have that same balance mentally and emotionally.
At the tarot table, I often hear people define emotional strength as never showing feeling or never asking for help. I gently push back: vulnerability is often the greater strength.
Flexibility matters just as much. However well we plan, or divine, life still surprises us. Real strength means pivoting and finding new solutions without losing our peace when those plans change.
We go to the gym, physical therapy, or fitness studios to keep our bodies strong and flexible. Meditation, spiritual study, and a positive mindset do the same for our minds, hearts, and spirits.
StaarCon 6 Postcard featuring Pixie Arcana by Pamela Steele.
The StaarCorner
Last year at StaarCon 5, we started something new that we are excited to expand upon at StaarCon 6. The Hospitality Room is a place for in-person StaarCon attendees to enjoy some extra-special experiences. Here is what we have in store for you so far.
On Saturday morning, join artist Ciro Marchetti for a special conversational get-together where he will share stories and images from his 24 years as a tarot and divination deck creator.
On Saturday afternoon, stop by the Hospitality Room to enjoy coffee, tea, and refreshments courtesy of Weiser Books, and meet Laurie Kelly, Weiser’s representative. If you have a great book idea or questions about publishing a book or a deck, Laurie is there to help.
On Sunday morning, join Brenda Elizabeth, aka Lady Lenormand, for “Coffee, Tea, and Psychometry”. Enjoy a beverage and a snack, and, with Brenda’s instruction, try your hand at the psychic art of Psychometry.
We are excited to bring you a conference experience that is joyful, experiential, instructional, and inspiring. Please make your plan to join us!
Members outside Florida can join today. Florida friends, you are next.
I have news I have been waiting a long time to share. StaarCast, our virtual home for tarot conversation, live sessions, and recorded content, is opening its doors.
If you live outside Florida, you can join us right now. If you live in Florida, I am asking for a little more patience, and I want to explain why.
Why Florida Is Different
Here in Florida, access to streaming and recorded content is treated as a communications service, and that carries its own tax. It is calculated separately from everything else we sell, and it is based on where each member lives rather than where an event is held. It is an unusual rule, and a genuinely complicated one to put into practice.
We are finishing that part of our setup now. We will not sell a Florida membership until we can charge exactly the right amount and show it to you plainly on your receipt. I would so much rather explain a delay than quietly get it wrong.
Members outside Florida are not subject to that particular tax at all, which is why those doors can open today.
Florida friends, you are next, and I will announce it right here the day it happens.
A Change in How We Sell Virtual Access
Along the way, we made a change worth knowing about. Virtual access used to be folded into the price of a StaarCon ticket. Going forward, it stands on its own, with its own price, listed as a separate item.
That means two good things. If you only want to be in the room with us in Palm Beach Gardens, you are no longer paying for virtual access you would not use. And if the virtual experience is what you want, you can have it whether or not you travel.
What Is Available
Daily Member, $1.95 per day. A single day of access, for when there is one thing you do not want to miss.
Monthly Membership, $9.95 per month. Ongoing access to StaarCast events and content.
Annual Membership, $99.95 per year. A full year of StaarCast, including all premium StaarCon 6 events.
You will find full details and current pricing on the Memberships page at staarcast.com.
If you are considering a daily or weekend membership, take a look at the calendar first for the specific special events, so you can choose the days that hold what you most want to see.
Joining Us in Person at StaarCon 6
If you would rather be in the room with us in Palm Beach Gardens, here are the in-person ticket options for StaarCon 6.
Full Conference, Friday through Sunday: $360. Weekend, Saturday and Sunday: $300. Friday only: $80. Saturday only: $160. Sunday only: $160.
Prices do not include tax, which is calculated at checkout. You will find full details at staarcon.com.
If You Already Hold a StaarCon 6 Ticket
Nothing about your admission has changed, and there is nothing you need to do. I will be reaching out to everyone who has already purchased a ticket to explain the change and walk through the options available to you.
Thank you for your patience while we get this right. I cannot wait to see you, in the room or on the screen.
I love the prose poem “Desiderata” by Max Ehrmann. My grandmother had a stack of copies of this poem that she would give to people. I think this was her way of trying to heal the world.
One of my favorite directives in “Desiderata” is “Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.” This message relieves us of the spiritual bypassing and toxic positivity of fundamentalist thinking, which teaches that spiritual faith is an infallible safeguard against difficulty.
We can’t expect a higher power to protect us from everything, no matter how much we pray or make offerings. That is not what spirituality gives us. Spirituality helps us nurture our inner resilience so that when tragedy inevitably strikes, we can handle it.
Spiritual strength is not the strength of our faith in a doctrine or deity. Spiritual strength is our inner and outer non-tangible resources. That is, our ability to heal, to love, to laugh, to cry, to pivot, and to find new perspectives. We can cultivate that strength using sacred texts and stories, meditation, divination, community building, time in nature, and personal healing.
If you are near the Treasure Coast of Florida, join us for our monthly tarot meetup, Cards and Conversation, at Panera Bread in Palm City, Sunday, August 9, at 4 pm.
Join us for a free livestreamed tarot class on Tuesday, August 11, at 7 pm ET. We will learn a modern version of the Celtic Cross tarot spread. I will stream on YouTube and multistream to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitch.
From Around the Web
Tarot cards can have a place in your yoga practice, says Yoga Journal. I could not agree more.
Here is an article about Strength, the tarot card, and what it means in life, from Medium.com.
Back in 2010, James Ricklef wrote about Desiderata and the tarot cards that could accompany the poem.
In the Waite-Smith Tarot, Strength is Major Arcana 8 and is pictured as a woman and a lion. In a contest of physical strength, the woman would likely not fare well. Yet, she has managed to tame the lion.
The woman tames the lion with love and compassion, not with brute force. This is the spiritual lesson that tarot teaches us about what strength really is.
When we see Strength in a reading, it may be a confirmation that you have the strength you need. Very often, though, it is a reminder not to let anger and frustration get the best of you, and to act from a place of compassion, even in stressful times.
Concept photo of changing leaves, pinned to a clothesline.
Before I moved to Florida, August was my least favorite month. At some point, the cool weather would move in, and summer would unofficially end. I’d felt this way since childhood. As a teen, I wrote angsty poems about the unfairness of summer’s end. I think I was born believing I had a right to sunshine all year. Once I moved to the Sunshine State, though, I realized seasons happen everywhere, in one form or another. Nothing stays permanently unchanged.
Seasonal change is a good metaphor for the changes we go through in life, big and small. Some people resist change by nature. Others are change makers. Some create change thoughtfully; others are agents of chaos.
We use spirituality to help us handle change, and to create the changes we want. We pray or cast spells for the outcomes we’re hoping for, and to avoid the ones we’re not. We use divination and prophecy to try to understand what’s coming. Some believe certain prayers or actions guarantee good outcomes and block the bad. That kind of thinking is never healthy. Unwelcome change will happen, and we’ll sometimes be denied what we want, regardless of our mindset, beliefs, or practices. Still, approached with realistic expectations, spiritual practice helps us heal from hardship and helps us attract and create some of what we need.
Seasonal change differs from other life changes in that it’s cyclical and predictable. But knowing something is coming doesn’t always make it easier. Change can mean loss, or the need to adjust. It can bring more responsibility, or a new schedule.
Expected changes are easy to plan for, but they also build habits that are hard to shake. Every year, as back-to-school season arrives, I feel the urge for new shoes and a notebook. I haven’t been a student or had kids in school in years. Still, the moment the season turns, I want to shop.
Times of transition are unavoidable. The seasons of the year, and the seasons of our lives, will always bring change. We need flexibility and creativity to meet it. We need vision, to see the changes we need and the ones already on their way. And through all of it, we need a good sense of humor and a good sense of our own spiritual nature.
StaarCon 6 Postcard featuring Pixie Arcana by Pamela Steele.
The StaarCorner
I am very excited to announce the return of Dame Darcy to StaarCon! At StaarCon 6, Dame Darcy and her partner, Pleasant, will present an important session about piracy of tarot images and counterfeit decks. This is an issue that plagues our community. We are glad to have a forum to discuss it at StaarCon 6.
Dame Darcy and Pleasant are both acclaimed artists. Together, they have produced several independent tarot decks. They will be vendors in the Marketplace, so you will have an opportunity to see and purchase their decks, dolls, and other works of art.
Darcy is also a musician. She plans to share a song with us in the Bardic Circle Saturday evening! We are grateful that Darcy and Pleasant can join us for StaarCon 6. Please make your plans to join us, too!
Vicki Santell and Christiana Gaudet record a presentation for virtual StaarCon 5 attendees.
Virtual Presenter Spotlight: Vicki Santell
Fifty-eight years with the tarot, and a StaarCon 6 session that asks you to stop looking at the cards and start standing in them.
Vicki Santell has been part of StaarCon since the very beginning. She has presented at all but one of them, which makes her something close to a founding fixture of this community. When she sat down with Christiana Gaudet to talk about her StaarCon 6 session, the conversation started with a deck of cards she was handed in 1968 and ended somewhere none of us expected, with a paper plate and an invitation to play.
Walking Into the Cards
Vicki’s tarot story starts in 1968. Someone handed her a deck, she found the images immediately profound, and she has stayed with them ever since. Fifty-eight years later the cards are still teaching her. She describes tarot as an adaptable tool, one that met her wherever her interests happened to take her. Today she works as a shamanic practitioner with a focus on divination, and she does ancestral work as well.
That first encounter set the pattern for everything after it. Vicki did not study the cards so much as enter them. She saw each one as a doorway and put her consciousness through it, absorbing the image rather than reading it. That instinct, refined over decades, is exactly what she is bringing to the Mindful Room in October.
The Minor Arcana …Live!
The Mindful Room is not set up as a classroom. It is open space with chairs and not much else, and that suits Vicki’s plan perfectly. Participants will physically enact Minor Arcana cards, recreating the postures, gestures, and facial expressions in the artwork, then paying attention to what those positions actually feel like in the body.
She is bringing the four tools of the Minor Arcana with her, so people can hold a wand, a cup, a sword, or a pentacle in their hands while they work. She has pre-selected cards from all four suits, focusing on the aces and twos, with some threes if the clock allows. For a 45 minute session, that is a full plate.
The premise is simple, and once you hear it, hard to argue with. Tarot is not only a visual tool. It is a full body tool.
Something to Try Before October
For anyone who cannot be in the Mindful Room, Vicki’s homework is refreshingly low tech. Pick out a few cards. Look closely at the physical expression, the body language, how the body is positioned, the colors, the clothing. Then improvise your props. A stick from the yard becomes a wand. A paper plate with a pentacle drawn on it works fine. Grab a cup from the kitchen. Then start playing.
She is emphatic that this should be fun. It is a game, she says, a little toy. Tarot did start as a game, after all. The results just happen to be profound.
About Vicki
Vicki Santell is a tarot reader, shamanic practitioner, and spiritual counselor who has worked with the tarot since 1968. She blends tarot with extensive shamanic experience and ongoing study of metaphysical, psychological, and spiritual teachings, including Family Constellation, ancestral healing, and inner child work. She is available for private sessions and offers classes occasionally. Find her at VickiSantell.com.
StaarCon 6 Presenter Vicki Santell.
StaarCon 6 runs October 2 through 4, 2026, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Vicki presents The Minor Arcana …Live! in the Mindful Room on Sunday, October 4th at 2:00 pm, with her recorded conversation released to StaarCast Virtual attendees at the same time. Tickets are available at staarcon.com/tickets.
We might go to the cards or get a reading when we are facing or wanting a change in life. It is also true that we might catch wind of any upcoming change in a tarot reading. Whether we are the client, the reader, or reading for ourselves, we need to handle change in the cards carefully.
It is important never to predict, for ourselves or others, an unavoidable devastating change. We know that forewarned is forearmed, but we also know that, in divination, it is hard to see the degree of harm.
For example, I have seen the Tower predict a non-egregious wardrobe malfunction. Imagine a reader seeing the Tower in that moment and using it to predict something much worse!
When we see something ominous in the future, it is important to ask further questions of the cards, such as, what do I need to know about this? And, how should I prepare for this?
If there is a specific change you are longing for, you can use tarot cards for manifestation. Choose the cards that represent what you want, visualize that event occurring, and place those cards on your altar with that clear intention.
If a difficult change has happened, a tarot reading can bring perspective and hope for the future, as well as acknowledging and holding space for grief. It is important, when we see grief in the cards, to use that as an opportunity to validate and understand feelings.
The I-Ching, an ancient Chinese divination system, is translated as ‘The Book of Changes’. Perhaps divination and tools of divination have always been used to help us navigate the changes in our lives.
Tuesday, August 4, 7 pm to 8 pm: Global Tarot Circle Live on YouTube, Twitch, Facebook & Instagram.
The Week in Review
TarotScopes for August are available for members on YouTube. TarotScopes for everyone will become available on August First on YouTube and will be uploaded to TikTok this week.
On Tuesday, August 4 at 7 pm ET, please join us for Global Tarot Circle. I will livestream on YouTube, and multistream to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch.
From Around the Web
At StaarCon 6, there will be some offerings that connect tarot to theater. Clearly we are not alone in our thinking! Here, in the Los Angeles Times, is an article about a tarot theater experience.
The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida is running an exhibit about Salvador Dali’s tarot deck. I love that this is happening at roughly the same time as the tarot exhibit at the Morgan Library and Museum!
August First is celebrated as Lammas, or Lughnassad. This is the first celebration of harvest as we move toward autumn. Ethony has a Lammas Tarot Spread for you to try!
Major Arcana 13, Death, is a card that gets a lot of attention, for all the wrong reasons. It has a scary name and image. Yet, this card is by far not the most disturbing message that could appear on the tarot table.
While tarot divination can discuss all matters, including those of life and death, Major Arcana 13 is not a card to be feared and normally is not seen as a prediction of physical death.
Major Arcana 13, Death, very often speaks of change. This card can discuss changes that have happened or are on their way. It can also discuss our ability to handle change.
When we see Major Arcana 13, we can usually assume we are reading about transition. While that itself can feel scary and uncertain, the transitions the card discusses could even be positive, like a job change, a marriage, or a new baby.
Halloween means something different to almost everyone I know.
For some of us, it is the most sacred night of the year. In the Pagan Wheel of the Year, Samhain marks the end of the harvest and the beginning of the dark half of the year. Many call it the witches’ new year. The veil between the worlds is said to be thin, and we honor our loved ones in spirit. We might set a place at the table for those who have passed, light a candle, or sit quietly with old photographs. For these celebrants, the night is somber, reflective, and deeply holy.
Others connect the season to All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, or to the colorful altars of Día de los Muertos, where remembrance comes with marigolds, sugar skulls, and the favorite foods of those we miss. Grief and joy sit side by side at that table.
For many families, Halloween is all about the kids. It is homemade costumes, carved pumpkins, and a pillowcase full of candy. It is parents walking around the neighborhood with flashlights, quietly trading for the best chocolate. (Am I the only one who actually likes candy corn?)
For plenty of grown-ups, Halloween is simply a great party. It is a chance to dress up, be someone else for a night, and dance with friends dressed as zombies, superheroes, and pirates. In my 20s, I enjoyed this aspect of Halloween immensely!
Sometimes people ask me whether one way of celebrating is more “right” than another. I don’t think so. Yet I do think they all have something in common.
Every version of Halloween invites us to look at the things we usually avoid. Death. The dark. The unknown. The shadow parts of ourselves we keep hidden. The ritualist faces those things with reverence. The child faces them with a plastic mask and a giggle. The partygoer faces them with a costume and a cocktail. All of them are saying the same thing. The dark is nothing to fear.
So whether you spend Halloween in quiet ritual, on the sidewalk with a pack of tiny ghosts, or at a party until the wee hours, I hope you’ll take a moment to feel the magic of the season. Light a candle for someone you love. Laugh at something spooky. Pull a card and ask, “What is ready to end, and what is ready to begin?”
May the blessings of the season be yours!
Michelle Barrie teaching at StaarCon 6.
The StaarCorner
The very first StaarCon 6 livestream AfterGlow offerings on StaarCast begin this week!
Tonight at 7 pm ET, please join me for “Every Day I’m Shuffling.” This will be a lighthearted hour of tarot exercises and exploration.
On Saturday at 10 am ET, please join Michelle Barrie for a 90-minute session, “Mediumship with Lenormand.”
We are excited to begin the StaarCon 6 AfterGlow on our new platform, StaarCast!
I hope you will log in and get ready to join us. If you do not have a ticket, you can join for the day in order to attend the livestream event, or for the year in order to attend all livestream events and watch all StaarCon 6 recordings.
As soon as StaarCon 6 ended, I hit the ground running with Spooky Season gigs. This month I’ve had a Friday evening residency at Boston House in Fort Pierce, classes in Stuart and West Palm Beach, and plenty of Halloween parties.
A client who enjoys the deep healing work we do together recently asked me a question about myself, and about tarot. He wanted to know how I can work with clients in long, profound sessions and then also entertain people in a bar.
It’s true that these two activities use tarot in ways that are different, yet similar. It’s also true that the energy of a profound one-on-one session is very different from the energy of a five-minute reading in a nightclub.
This is one of the things I love about tarot, and about the work I do with tarot. Tarot lets us use it in whatever way we need in the moment. We can read about mundane things, and we can use tarot in mundane ways.
Yet tarot also holds deep, life-changing wisdom. Sometimes a snippet of that wisdom will appear in a nightclub reading, just as a profound healing session will sometimes be fun and funny, too.
I often say that tarot meets us where we are. One way this is true is that tarot is here to help with whatever sort of reading we need, wherever and whenever we need it.
Join us for Global Tarot Circle this coming Tuesday, November 3, at 7 pm. You can join the livestream on YouTube, or on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitch, internet willing.
From Around the Web
I liked this Halloween article from 2024 that includes journal prompts and a tarot spread.
From last year, a podcast, Phases of the Fool, discusses the history of Halloween and offers a tarot spread.
Justice is one of the most recognizable cards in the deck. In the Waite tradition, she is Major Arcana 11. (In the Marseille and Crowley-Harris-Thoth traditions, Justice and Strength switch places, so you may know her as Key 8.) She sits between two pillars, holding a raised sword in one hand and a set of scales in the other.
Traditionally, Justice speaks of fairness, truth, and cause and effect. When she appears in a reading, she may point to legal matters, contracts, or an important decision. She is ruled by Libra and associated with Air, the element of the mind. Justice asks us to be honest, to be fair, and to accept responsibility for our choices.
Some readers see Justice as the karma card, a sign that we are about to get what we deserve. I don’t read her that way. To me, Justice is one of the Cards of Acceptance. She reminds us that every action has consequences, and that we can accept what is and make wise choices going forward. That is a message of empowerment, not punishment.
Yet there is another way Justice can appear in a reading. Sometimes, she is talking about balance between the mystical and the mundane.
Many of us who love tarot also love the spiritual life. We meditate, we pull cards, we light candles, and we look for meaning in everything. That is a beautiful way to live. Yet the bills still need to be paid. The dishes still need to be washed. The car still needs regular maintenance.
Sometimes, a seeker is so focused on the spiritual that the practical slips away. Sometimes, a seeker is so buried in the practical that there is no time left for the soul. Either way, the scales are out of balance.
Justice reminds us that both sides matter. There is an old Zen saying: “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” The spiritual life doesn’t excuse us from the mundane. In fact, the mundane is where we put our spiritual wisdom to work.
Look closely at the Waite Justice card and you may notice that one foot peeks out from under her robe. I like to think she is ready to step out into the world. She has done the inner work, weighed the truth, and now it is time to act.
As above, so below. The mystical and the mundane are not opposites. They are two sides of the same scale.
The next time Justice appears in your reading, ask yourself: “Where in my life do I need more balance between my spiritual self and my practical self?”
As we draw closer to Halloween, the end of October, and the end of 2026, I keep thinking of the phrase ‘betwixt and between’. This phrase describes being on the horns of a dilemma and unable to choose. It also describes something deeper.
Halloween is the time when there is less separation between the spirit world and our world. During this time of year, we are truly between the worlds. Halloween itself is a balance. On one hand, it is a fun celebration for kids and adults alike. On the other hand, it is a solemn time to honor our ancestors.
On the mundane calendar, the fourth quarter is also betwixt and between, since so little actual business is conducted in the final months of the year. We are still in 2026, but we are already looking toward 2027. The autumn months are betwixt and between as well, having left the warmth of summer and preparing for the cold weather that is certainly on its way.
When we consider being betwixt and between, we may see it as being unable to make a decision or not fitting into a clear category. We may feel we are neither one thing nor the other. But being betwixt and between can also mean maintaining a state of spiritual grace, holding space for nuance.
There are so many things where too much is bad, but too little is equally unfortunate. Sometimes we find ourselves holding the balance between kindness and honesty, or work and play, or self-care and care for others.
In this space between worlds, it helps to practice openness and flexibility, and to know that sometimes, if you don’t need to choose one thing over another, holding the balance between more than one possibility can be magical.
Bex and Jennifer perform at the Tarot Improv event at StaarCon 6.
The StaarCorner
People are enjoying watching recordings of sessions from StaarCon 6 on StaarCast! If you visit StaarCast, you will see that we have at least two new sessions scheduled in the StaarCon 6 Virtual Track, which is the new home for our live AfterGlow sessions.
On Wednesday, October 28, at 7 pm ET, please join me, Christiana Gaudet, for a 60-minute session called “Tarot For Life.” We will explore the versatility of tarot and discover different techniques for different types of questions.
On Saturday, November 1, at 10 am ET, join Michelle Barrie for a 90-minute session on mediumship with Lenormand.
If you do not yet have a StaarCast membership, you can get an annual membership that will allow you to view all sessions from StaarCon 6, or you can buy a daily, weekly, or monthly membership that allows you to attend our new live AfterGlow sessions.
We look forward to seeing you on StaarCast!
We are also planning StaarCon 7, so stay tuned for those announcements.
Brenda Elizabeth hosting Coffee, Tea and Psychometry in the StaarCon 6 Hospitality Room.
A liminal space is a threshold, either literally or figuratively. In architecture, hallways can be liminal spaces. On the calendar, dates of seasonal changes are liminal spaces. In life, any transition we encounter takes us into a liminal space before we enter our new chapter.
We also see liminal space as the state of mind where magic happens, and intuition strengthens. We experience liminal space as we drift off to sleep, in that moment between waking and sleeping. We experience liminal space in meditation.
A tarot reading can happen anywhere. Yet a tarot reading should always happen in a space declared sacred, even if only for that moment, and from a liminal state of mind. What does that mean?
Before a tarot reading, we cleanse and protect our own energy and the energy of the space we are in. We adopt a mindset of quiet curiosity, where anything can be true, and we have no preset opinions or ideas.
In a reading, we exist on a threshold between the worlds and between possibilities. The more we can adjust our own energy and expectations to this, the more easily we will receive the messages we need.
Tuesday, October 27, 7 pm ET: Trick or Treat Members-Only Livestream on YouTube.
The Week in Review
If you are a member of my YouTube channel, you can get your November TarotScopes now!
This Saturday, October 24, please join me for a free, all-levels, 90-minute tarot class at 1 pm at the Mandel Public Library in West Palm Beach.
This Tuesday, October 27, members of my YouTube channel are invited to join me for our monthly Members-only livestream. This time, our theme is “Trick or Treat”!
From Around the Web
Attendees on a recent livestream encouraged me to start sharing my tarot poems on YouTube. I am not sure when I will do that, but I was excited to see that Moon Scarab has been doing the same thing!
If you work with the Thoth tarot, or decks in that tradition, you will benefit from understanding the practice of elemental dignities. You can actually use this interpretation technique with any tarot deck! Joy Vernon taught a class on this a few years ago. Check it out on YouTube!
One of my favorite cards that describes liminal space is Major Arcana 12, the Hanged Man. In this image, we often see a person hung by one foot in an obviously uncomfortable position. Yet, he is composed and relaxed. He wears a halo, suggesting his focus is on spirituality rather than discomfort.
This card can speak of yoga, sobriety, sacrifice, and the need for patience. It reminds us that perspective is everything, and if you cannot change your situation, you may need to change your attitude.
How does the Hanged Man keep his focus inward when his situation is so deeply distressing? He has entered a liminal space where time and physicality matter less. By accepting his circumstances, he rises above them into healing, contemplation, and possibility.
Many spiritual traditions use physical discomfort to aid meditation and growth. That has always felt counterproductive to me, but the Hanged Man helps us understand how this works.
Does this mean we must endure physical discomfort to enter liminal space? No. There are many ways to find that internal space where magic happens. Yet, when we are in a distressing situation, liminal space allows us a certain type of peace and a place where we can find solutions.
