I saw the #Tarot7Connection video challenge via Marilyn from Tarot Clarity on Tarot Tube and decided I would post a response via blog before reading the questions! =)
For visual interest, there will be random photos of pretty tarot decks accompanying my responses – no connection between the photos and my responses beyond coincidence.
Continue reading “#Tarot7Connection (TarotTube Challenge) Responses”
Before I read anything about this deck, as I set down the first two rows of cards, my immediate first impression was this has to do with yoga.
And that all made sense when I read that the creator, Serena Borsella, is a yoga coach.
The Inner Light Tarot is modern femme boho-chic. It radiates with the light of a California summer sun, inspiring harmony of physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, to achieve union of body, mind, and spirit.
I kind of feel bleh for talking about AI so much, but everyone in every nook and corner of my life, personal and professional, is talking about it, so it’s hard to avoid wanting to chime in.
When you’ve got multiple thumbs in varying (and very different) pies, you’re exposed to a diversity of opinions, and wow is it diverse. If you’re only mingling in liberal arts circles, then you’re not hearing, truly hearing, the discussions about AI happening in the scientific circles, and if you’re only mingling in scientific circles, then you’re not hearing, truly hearing, the discussions about AI happening in the liberal arts circles. And so it’s been interesting hopping from one camp over to the other and back to witness the contrast.
While lurking I recently saw a comment that made me smile and chuckle. A person had asked whether the SKT would be a tarot deck suitable for total beginners. This person also e-mailed us at abelldelivers (which only the hubby J checks with any frequency, and I only respond back to emails delivered there if J has nagged me at minimum five times to sit down and reply to the querent to answer the question goddammit). Other times J will come in to my room, rephrase the person’s question, get my response, and I guess rephrase my response to answer that person directly. This turned out to be one of those other times.
In that thread, the commenter writes that we had replied to their inquiry and said that “yes, there is no reason why this deck could not be used as a beginner’s deck.”
My first thought was, wait, did I really say that?
Okay, here’s what happened. I totally remember now.
Continue reading “Is the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot (SKT) for Beginners?”
The illustrations for the Cosmic Wisdom Tarot has this nostalgic and heartwarming animations-of-your-childhood storybook style to it that is then paired with one of the coolest tarot card meanings guidebook I’ve come across.
I love the creative mind-map layout for the card meanings. Each card comes with a definitive “this card means yes” or “this card means no” in the case of asking a yes or no question to the cards. I love the bullet points of keywords and single-sentence thesis for each card, upright and reverse, and then the breakdown of symbolism, which is also going to help you learn the RWS system.
The Cosmic Wisdom Tarot is outfitted to be a great beginner’s deck, if you or someone you know is looking for one, because in addition to the RWS-keyed deck art, the guidebook does a great job presenting the tarot as a versatile tool, whether you are interested in learning it for divination, for self-discovery and personal growth, spiritual cultivation, or for inspiring your creativity.
Continue reading “Cosmic Wisdom Tarot by Ethony and James Fenner”
In my video “Taoism: A Decolonized Introduction,” I made a passing reference to the Six Ancestral Sage Kings (or Six Holy Kings) and their significance in Taoism, promising that I’d dedicate a standalone video on the subject, so here we are.
Everything you need to learn about the Tao can be learned from the Six Holy Kings – or so goes an axiom credited to Confucius.
He isn’t the only one to uphold the Six Kings as the paragon of aspirational virtue and wisdom. Even Confucianism’s rival school of thought, the Mohists, would name-drop the Six Kings, 堯舜禹湯文武.
Cultural references to the importance of the Six Holy Kings continues well into the modern era with the founding of the Republic of China. Sun Yat-sen cited the importance of the new Republic upholding the tradition and values of the Six Holy Kings (“中國有一個道統，堯、舜、禹、湯、周文王、周武王、周公”).
Chinese historian and philosopher Li Zehou 李泽厚 notes that the Six Holy Kings are shamanic rulers, wū 巫, and that their divine right to sovereignty comes from their alignment with Heaven, which is received on the basis of their abilities to commune with Heaven. The shamanistic-historical traditions of the Chinese civilization comes straight from the Six Holy Kings. (You can read more about this in Chapter 10 of I Ching, The Oracle.)
Every facet of my disposition – even fate, the cards I’ve been dealt in life – seems to be on a cusp. Astrologically by both Eastern and Western charts I’m a cusp baby. Cultural identity wise, mine is the hyphenated experience. I’m agnostic when it comes to party lines, but you’ll certainly hear the far right calling me too woke, and the far left calling me too trad.
I’m often too structured and austere for the creative arts community and too sensitive, too mystical-leaning for the corporate world. I like agendas, strategic plans, and realistic goal-setting; I value efficiency, utility, and productivity, all attributes that do not go over well with the creative arts community. I also account for unseen influences, trust my psychic impulses, and value empathy, compassion, mercy, softness, vulnerability, and kindness, attributes heavily frowned upon in the corporate world.
Continue reading “When the Middle Path Means You Belong Nowhere”
I came upon a TikTok video presenting these seven questions for getting to know someone better and it inspired me to answer these questions in a blog post myself, to share with you a little more about me.
I hope likewise you’ll choose one of the seven questions to answer in the comments section or treat it as a tag and answer all seven on your platform.
Plenty of authors and artists prefer keeping their next big project under wraps until it’s ready for launch. And that’s a wise decision. I’m not very wise though. Plus, it’s not like you can rely on what I say about my “next” project anyway, because I keep on changing my mind.
“When rationality runs dry, it’s Red that will reconcile this world, a hue vibrant and vital inside its brown.”
And so opens Chapter 1, Zero, of Red Tarot: A Decolonial Guide to Divinatory Literacy by Christopher Marmolejo. This is going to be a tarot book like no other. I can tell already. :: hearts for eyes ::
“To be born, this work broke open my heart, and so let this reading be opened by my blood offering, a requisite pound of flesh…”
Marmolego’s writing is going to draw out your feels, that’s for sure. Either you will be fully onboard this train or you will be left scratching your head. You’ll see what I mean. Let’s continue.
Red Tarot is not an easy read, but it’s not intended to be. It’s filled with dense layers covering symbolism, mythology, history, present day politics, literature, and so much more. This book is about shedding red light on each card in the tarot to reveal it as a prism of political praxis, inspired after Prof. Sandy Grande’s Red Pedagogy.
Each tarot card entry draws from four key disciplines:
This is achieved by weaving in the teachings of Toni Morrison, bell hooks, Paulo Freire, and José Esteban Muñoz.
Continue reading “Red Tarot by Christopher Marmolejo (North Atlantic Books, 2024)”
benebell wen 