Author: benebell

The Muses of Tarot by Ethony: Book and Deck Set

On By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, personal spirituality, tarot2 Comments

The Muses of Tarot is a book and deck set by Ethony Dawn, with illustrations by Lena and Sasha Semenkova. The book is about 13 muses of the tarot that came to Ethony in her visions and channeled messages to her that correspond with the 78 cards of the tarot deck. In addition to the book, you get a set of 13 Muse oracle cards, 13 altar cards for those Muses, 13 invocation cards, and 7 chakra energy amplifier cards.

The 13 names of the Muses are original conceptions by Ethony that describe universal or archetypal spirits, and by “spirits” here I mean an embodiment that our superconsciousness can take on. They also represent 13 types of tarot readings. For example, Adoria is the Muse of love & relationship readings. Brujula is the Muse to invoke for tarot readings about big changes coming up in your life. Divina is the Muse of predictive tarot readings. Holistix is the Muse of health, healing, and wellness readings. Veilia is the Muse of mediumship. And so on.

In terms of production quality, you always get luxury from Ethony. Everything from cardstock, full-colored guidebook pages, and every fine detail of the packaging design is top rate. The finish on the box, book, and cards is this velvety rose petal texture that’s ultra matte. The box features a magnetic strip closure and every aspect of the graphic design is clean, fresh, feminine, fun, and has that cosmopolitan vibe to it.

This illustration is one of my favorites in the deck.

When it comes to production values, this is perfection. This is what deck creators ought to strive for. Love it all. Now let’s talk about the content.

The premise for this deck and book set, and the manifestations of the 13 Muses must have been a comet of divine inspiration that nose-dived straight into Ethony’s inner genius. I love what she says about the Muses:

“When I work with my creative muses, I believe I am making an agreement with a daemon to bring something from the ether into the material world. . . . The muse and I have a creative love affair. I bring my background, experience, personality and flair to the project, but I am also working with an element of pure magic.”

Continue reading “The Muses of Tarot by Ethony: Book and Deck Set” →

Creative Commons License for the SKT Vitruvian Majors

On By benebellIn cartomancy, create your own deck, Spirit Keeper's Tarot, tarot, tarot community1 Comment
Click me to download the Major Arcana image files for free

I thought I talked about this before, but there still seems to be some confusion around the issue, so I am hoping this post will clarify.

You can download the black & white image files for the SKT Vitruvian Major Arcana illustrations here. (To be more specific, it’s the Majors, the four Aces, and the four Archangels.)

These images are provided to the public for free download and under a Creative Commons Attribution license, which means the following:

You can share the images. You are free to copy and redistribute the illustrations in any medium or format.

You can adapt the images. You are free to transform, build upon, redesign, edit, revise, and in any way remix the illustrations for any purpose, including commercial purposes. Yes, you are free to profit financially from your adapted images of the SKT Vitruvian Majors, Aces, and Archangels.

Attribution or credit notes. My preference is that you make it very clear what part of the image or adapted image is attributed to my original work and what part is attributed to your creative additions. In other words, if you color in one of these black & white images and then sell your colored in SKT image, please make it clear in your product description that I am the artist for the black & white image while you are the artist for the coloring application. If you have traced part of my original art and then redesigned it, transforming it from the original, please include a note about what parts were my original and what parts you’ve redesigned and transformed. I say “my preference” because if you unintentionally forget to do that, I’m not going to be mad at you. =) But just please try not to forget.

While this license is free, if you do commercialize your SKT-based work, I’d be beyond thrilled to receive some merch! =) Send to the below address.

Benebell Wen
P. O. Box 20021
Castro Valley, CA 94546

Tarot of the Divine by Yoshi Yoshitani

On By benebellIn deck review9 Comments

Tarot of the Divine by Yoshi Yoshitani has become one of the magnificent tarot gems of 2020. And for me in particular, it’s a special kind of joy to encounter a fellow Asian American who is also into the tarot.

The deck is published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House. The Big Five publishing houses are taking a greater interest in tarot, witchcraft, New Age spirituality, and the occult, whereas back in the day, it would be just the specialty publishers like Llewellyn, Weiser, Hay House, Schiffer, or U.S. Games publishing tarot and oracle decks. That this deck was picked up by one of the bigger publishing houses was another factor for my intrigue in this deck.

I love the color palette– bold, bright, with just a touch of whimsical magic to awaken your inner child. The combination of Yoshitani’s illustration style, the enormous amount of research that went into this undertaking, the fairytales, and the tarot is a stroke of divine genius.

Continue reading “Tarot of the Divine by Yoshi Yoshitani” →

The Edgar Allan Poe Tarot by Rose Wright and Eugene Smith

On By benebellIn deck review2 Comments

The Edgar Allan Poe Tarot by Rose Wright and illustrated by Eugene Smith brings to life the dark, macabre world of Poe, envisioned through the tarot. This deck is a creative writing major’s dream come true. The rich references to Poe’s works throughout the tarot illustrations are sure to delight.

Continue reading “The Edgar Allan Poe Tarot by Rose Wright and Eugene Smith” →

SKT III Status Update Report

On By benebellIn create your own deck, Magical in the Mundane, personal, personal spirituality, Spirit Keeper's Tarot, tarot, tarot community18 Comments

I’ve just finished up the first drafts of the Fives, so I figured it might be a good time to share a status update on SKT III (edition still unnamed). There are some videos up already on my YouTube channel to get a little more into the creator intentions behind each card, though public videos ended at the Threes. I’ve put the videos on pause for now, in terms of releasing them.

Works-in-progress drafts only; final production subject to change

If you might recall, Key 1: The Magus was the very first card I learned digital painting on. The line work was done by hand, scanned in, and the color was subsequently done via digital painting software programs. Then it was Key 2: The Priestess, and so on.

It’s amusing to look back on those first five keys, because it’s painfully obvious how scared of color I was. =) I didn’t know what I was doing. I was winging it. And you can tell.

It’s not until Key 6: The Lovers card that a noticeable improvement happens. Then after Key 7: The Chariot, off I went! =) Now that I know how to color, after finishing the Tens I’m going to return to Keys 1 through 5. I’ve already made notes on how I want to revise them.

You can click on any of these image files for an enlarged view.

Continue reading “SKT III Status Update Report” →

Order the 2021 Metaphysician’s Day Planner (with Add-On Options)

On By benebellIn promotional12 Comments

Order the 2021 Metaphysician’s Day Planner today! We offer this custom-tailored package year-round, so order any time!

Delivery Time:

Delivery time will be within 7 days from date of order.

$25

  • Metaphysician’s Day Planner for 2021, with your birth chart (in Whole Signs) and 2021 solar returns chart in the front pages
  • See below for all features in the Day Planner
  • The Metaphysician’s Guidebook (delivered as a pdf e-book, with an additional option to order a physical copy)
    • The Guidebook includes basic instruction on how to read your birth chart and solar returns chart, run transits forecasts for yourself, and insights into the key astrological events of 2021
    • A break-down and explanation of each section in the Day Planner and how to optimize your work and planner organization with those sections
    • Insights into how to work with the grimoire end pages and integrate metaphysical study into your everyday life
    • Basic name analysis with numerology tutorial (for both personal names and business names)
    • Basic medieval geomancy tutorial
    • Lifestyle articles on time management, goal-setting, achievement, how to deal with failure, and more
    • 2021 void of course moon times
    • And so much more!

+ $5 Add-Ons

If you’d like the printable do-it-yourself files for the SKT Mini deck, it’s an additional $5 add-on to your planner order.

You can also opt for the $5 add-on for the printable do-it-yourself Way of the Warrior oracle cards (text-only). Information on the oracle deck below.

For those who’ve never purchased a metaphysician’s day planner before, see below links to previous versions and you’ll get a sense of the contents.

How to Order

STEP ONE:

Either send $25 for the day planner only,

Or send $30 for the day planner + add-on options (please specify whether you want the SKT Mini or the Way of the Warrior oracle deck)

Or send $35 if you want the day planner plus both the SKT Mini and the Way of the Warrior add-ons.

Send by PayPal or GooglePay to abelldelivers@gmail.com.

You can also click on this link: https://www.paypal.me/benebell

STEP TWO:

E-mail me at abelldelivers@gmail.com your completed Order Form (see below).

  1. Name as you want it to appear in the book:
  2. Date of birth (month/day/year):
  3. Time of birth:
  4. Location of birth (city, state/province, country):
  5. City, state, and country of residence for 2021:
  6. Size option, from the following (check one option below):
  • [ ] Standard US Letter Size, 8.5” x 11”
  • [ ] European A4 Size, 8.27” x 11.69” (210 mm x 297 mm)
  • [ ] Trade Paperback, 6” x 9” [Warning: Font sizes 7 and 8 used; less space to write in; minor changes to grimoire pages to fit the substantive content into the smaller page size]

If you order the +$5 option, please also include:

7. Mini deck option (check one option from below):

  • [ ] SKT Mini Printables
  • [ ] Way of the Warrior Printables
  • [ ] Both – Note: +$10

Continue reading “Order the 2021 Metaphysician’s Day Planner (with Add-On Options)” →

Tarot Skills for the 21st Century by Josephine McCarthy

On By benebellIn book review, tarot, tarot community9 Comments

Josephine McCarthy is one of the preeminent magicians of our time. She is the founder of Quareia and author of several incredible tomes, among which I’ve read The Work of the Hierophant and The Exorcist’s Handbook. I’m also a big fan of her deck, LXXXI, which I’ve reviewed here. I am now so excited to be sharing with you my thoughts on her latest endeavor, a comprehensive book on tarot that covers both the mundane and the magical meanings of each card.

The edition I received for review is hardcover, with a beautiful velvety matte book jacket. I love that the title anchors the book in the 21st century, while the book’s aesthetics feel Old World to me. I haven’t seen this quality and caliber of production value in a tarot book for quite some time now, so there is something quite exquisite about learning tarot from McCarthy’s text.

The book begins with a strong introduction, giving you a sense of who your teacher, the author, will be, and the context from which classical tarot interpretation sprang. Having read dozens of tarot books published in the last few years, this one is refreshing in its traditionalism, formality, and also its design as a handbook to teach tarot as a venerated practice.

Continue reading “Tarot Skills for the 21st Century by Josephine McCarthy” →

Simplicity Tarot by Emilie Muniz: A Tarot Deck for Everyone

On By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, tarot, tarot community12 Comments

The Simplicity Tarot by Emilie Muniz is this perfect RWS-based deck that checks all the boxes that people keep saying they want in a tarot deck, but don’t seem to notice that Simplicity Tarot exists. It flies quietly, humbly under the radar, and I have no idea why. Muniz’s deck features all the hallmarks for what our community keeps saying we want in a tarot deck, and yet this deck isn’t trending. Why is that?

Here is this deck with imagery that feels classic, timeless, not overly modern, with refinement and elegance, beautiful on any reading table spread, and has the diverse representation so many of us readers today want in a deck.

Continue reading “Simplicity Tarot by Emilie Muniz: A Tarot Deck for Everyone” →

Accessing Genetic Memory Through Tarot: Ancestral Connections and Past Life Recall

On By benebellIn conferences, professional tarot, promotional, tarot9 Comments

The first iteration of this course content was presented at the 2018 Tarot Readers Studio conference in New York.

About the Course

Recent scientific findings have established a link between genetics, inheriting memories from our ancestors, and those inherited memories being retained within our neurons.

In other words, a deep reservoir of untapped knowledge is resident within our own genetic and cellular memory.

This master class will address using tarot as a tool for triggering an altered state of consciousness, which can then facilitate retrieval of genetic memory from the unconscious.

We will be using ritualized tarot techniques to recall generations past, to have conversations with our ancestors through tarot, to find out who they were, where they were from, what their lives were like, and most importantly, what messages they have to share with us, for us at present and for their own future lineage.

Continue reading “Accessing Genetic Memory Through Tarot: Ancestral Connections and Past Life Recall” →