My Instagram post from five days ago noted that 2024 (or more accurately, year of the Wood Dragon) corresponds with hexagram 43. Some have been describing it as a forecast or prediction. That’s not entirely accurate, so I thought I’d clarify.
It’s not so much a forecast as it is an application of I Ching theory.
Continue reading “I Ching and the 60-Year Lunar-Solar Calendar Cycle”
Michele Knight-Waite is a celebrated, award-winning astrologer and psychic. Once voted “UK’s Favourite Psychic,” she is a media personality, best-selling author, and regular astrology columnist at various magazines. These days you can also find her on Instagram and YouTube where her generous spirit is on full display.
I love that she has channeled her many gifts into creating a modern RWS-based tarot deck that blends together the art of photo collage, with cameos from some of our favorite historical figures, and the familiar iconography of Pamela Colman Smith, who is featured on the High Priestess card.
There are notable graphic design elements here that I really love. Somehow, it’s both borderless and it has a border, where the full composition continues all the way to the edge, but then there is that classic tarot card white margin for the card title. See also how, for instance, in the Seven of Pentacles, the Pentacles “spill” over and out of the border.
Continue reading “The Knight-Waite Tarot by Astrologer and Psychic Michele Knight”
This is going to be a multi-part series of personal reflections on my life experiences and interactions with having mainland Chinese in-laws and the cultural clashes that have ensued. Part I was about the MIL. Part II continues where Part I left off, moving on to the father-in-law.
Continue reading “Cultural Clashes and the In-Laws II: The FIL”
This is going to be a multi-part series of personal reflections on my life experiences and interactions with having mainland Chinese in-laws and the cultural clashes that have ensued. I’m Taiwanese American, and politically my family has been as far Green* as it gets. The Taiwanese and Chinese have a longstanding history of animosity toward one another, an animosity that has often played out at the interpersonal level.
Part I will begin with my late mother-in-law.
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* “Green” is an international political marker and movement that prioritizes participatory grassroots democracy, social justice, social progressivism, ecopolitics, and localism. Here it also relates to the Taiwan independence movement.
Continue reading “Cultural Clashes and the In-Laws I: The MIL”
[Leaving the original text for this post below in case anyone is interested in the historical context.]
I’ve been receiving a number of messages expressing confusion around the password-protected posts, so I hope this note will help clarify.
The post that went up yesterday titled “How to Survive Criticism and Pitchforks (2024 Day Planner Add-On)” is password-protected because it is for those who ordered the 2024 Day Planner Add-On, explained here. In short, it’s tradition that I offer an optional add-on to those who order the annual Metaphysician’s Day Planners. For 2024, it’s that password-protected post.
That post falls outside the scope of posts on my blog designated “Closed Circuit.” All closed circuit blog posts are archived here: https://benebellwen.com/category/closed-circuit/
For information on how to gain access to Closed Circuit blog posts, read here: https://benebellwen.com/2019/07/13/revisiting-why-there-is-a-closed-circuit/
However, not all password-protected posts are Closed Circuit posts. Therefore the password you get for the Closed Circuit posts will only work on Closed Circuit posts.
Thank you for your understanding,
Bell
I previously showed the above in a #54321tarot tag. Whether you get the coins or cards, if you’re interested in the 72 angels correspondences, there’s a free download from me at the very end of this walk-through.
The download is so you can do a direct comparison between the 72 angels and tarot correspondences per Christine Payne-Towler’s Tarot of the Holy Light and the tarot correspondences per Frater Setnakh.
This post is a photographic walk-through of the 72 Angels Talisman Coins and Cards created by Frater Setnakh.
Continue reading “Frater Setnakh’s 72 Angels Talisman Coins and Cards”
The Gold Lyre Tarot is a feminine spin on the classic RWS, representing the divine feminine of today’s blended American culture and gender-fluid evolution. It is the exquisite creation of two best friends, Lacy Martin and Christine Scanlon, who combined their talents in art and divination to produce this tarot deck that balances the scales between modern and traditional.
The deck’s namesake is attributed to Apollo’s lyre, Apollo being the god of prophecy and music, and the lyre a symbol of wisdom and moderation. Hermes was the creator of the golden lyre. Later merged with the Egyptian god Anubis to create the syncretized Hermanubis, the namesake also calls upon the god of translators, interpretors, and conductors of souls. Likewise, the Gold Lyre Tarot holds songs and messages that only you can hear.
Continue reading “Gold Lyre Tarot by Lacy Martin and Christine Scanlon”
I first intuited what felt like a waning phase in terms of activity and creativity in the tarot industry in 2022. But, you know, maybe it was just me. So I dismissed the thought.
Earlier this year, I started seeing comments in discussion forums from people in our community that were echoing those same thoughts. Apparently it’s not just me! I think people are really feeling it.
So I wanted to talk about my observations of the state of the tarot union as it stands now, at the close of 2023.
This is a photo walk-through of the KLD Tarot by Kate La Dez Studios. It’s a modern photo collage deck that features a candy pink and midnight violet-blue color contrast that recurs throughout the cards.
It’s the 78-card RWS-based tarot with 2 bonus cards. Each scene takes place in a dreamscape, with the pink and violet-blue clouds representing the divine feminine and masculine aspects within each of us.
benebell wen 