Author: benebell

Book Review of the Foundations of the Esoteric Traditions

On By benebellIn book review6 Comments

Foundations of the Esoteric Traditions Book 01

It’s no secret that I’m one of Christine Payne-Towler’s biggest fans and the Tarot of the Holy Light (THL) is my personal reading deck. While I may not reach for the THL for readings I do for others (though those who’ve gotten readings from me know that from time to time, I do), it’s almost always the first deck I reach for when reading for myself. So naturally, I eagerly awaited both Volume 1 and Volume 2 of the companion texts that go along with the THL.

I reviewed the THL deck here (first edition of it) and Volume I of the companion text, Tarot of the Holy Light: A Continental Esoteric Tarot here. This will be my review and overview of Volume II, Foundations of the Esoteric Traditions, pictured above alongside the newest version of the THL deck, which I also have. Wherever you all seem to think my smartness is, multiply that by one thousand and that’s Christine Payne-Towler.

Foundations of the Esoteric Traditions Book 03

Foundations begins by explaining why the THL focus is on Jacob Boehme, a seventeenth century occultist. Boehme’s works are said to have heavily influenced later Rosicrucians, Freemasons, and Martinists, and then the early esoteric tarot deck by Etteilla. While Volume I was a study of each individual card from the THL, Volume II takes us back to the source theoretical principles behind the THL. What was the purpose behind conception of the THL deck? What are the foundational gnostic premises that the deck is built upon? In fact, what are the foundational gnostic premises that all esoteric tarot decks to come are built upon? These are the questions Volume II explore.

Foundations of the Esoteric Traditions Book 04

Volume II provides interdisciplinary instruction on various esoteric theoretical models from Western mystery traditions and ultimately synthesizes it with the continental tarot deck. This is the kind of book you sit at a desk to read, because you have pen and paper ready for notetaking.

Foundations of the Esoteric Traditions Book 05

Since I am not well-learned in Western mystery traditions or the Kabbalah, this was slow reading for me, but wholly enjoyable slow reading. I loved how Payne-Towler compels me to explore the Kabbalah further. Alchemy and esoteric astrology are also explored in detail and depth.

Foundations of the Esoteric Traditions Book 06

If you work with the THL deck, then you must have this book. If you don’t work with the THL deck but possess an active interest in Western esotericism, then get this book with or without the deck, because there’s so much in here that will enrich your own metaphysical studies.

Foundations of the Esoteric Traditions Book 07

Payne-Towler does enter with a distinct religious point of view and I don’t think the THL books are intended to be strict, objective scholarly research. There’s a great deal of scholarly research in here, but pulled in such a way to support a very clear religious thesis. For me, I don’t mind that at all, but it’s worth noting nonetheless.

Foundations of the Esoteric Traditions Book 08

Anyone with occult leanings who want to study the Western mystery traditions should have a copy of this book in their personal library. This is just one of those incredible, rich texts that I cherish having access to.

Foundations of the Esoteric Traditions is 260 pages of Western theosophic exploration keyed to the incredible THL tarot deck, though it’s not an operation manual the way Volume I was. Here, Volume II is a treatise that explores the roots, foundation, and backstory of the mystery traditions that the deck and, beyond the THL deck, esoteric tarot in general is founded upon. Foundations will deepen your pool of knowledge. In many ways, this book is about teaching you how to think, and how to process information found on a tarot deck through the filters of Western occult history.

Foundations of the Esoteric Traditions Book 02 Book and Deck

Volume I and Volume II are both self-published and can be ordered at Christine Payne-Towler’s site, Tarot University. Also be sure to check out the new version of the THL deck. I have both. To be honest I prefer the earlier version, but the new version is more functional. It’s easier to shuffle, easier to transport around with you, and all around more practical as a user-friendly deck. The earlier deck is more of a collector’s item and for someone with my size hands, forces slow shuffle and meditation. With the new deck, I can shuffle faster. Anyway, go check out Tarot University.

Review of the Hezicos Tarot by Mary Griffin

On By benebellIn deck review, tarot5 Comments

Hezicos Tarot 01 Whole View

The Hezicos Tarot by Mary Griffin is a self-published Rider-Waite-Smith based deck that blends a multicultural point of view with fairytale fantasy. It is a versatile, readable, and easily accessible tarot deck for novices, beautiful imagery that is fit for professional readers, and artwork that will tempt any tarot deck collector.

My favorite artistic style for tarot decks is unembellished hand-rendered line art, and that’s exactly what we have here. The Hezicos Tarot is done in watercolor and ink. There is a contemporary style to Griffin’s art. The imagery here leans feminine, storybook, with a fable and fantasy tone that works really well with a modern tarot deck.

Continue reading “Review of the Hezicos Tarot by Mary Griffin” →

The Generation Gap Between Tarot Practitioners

On By benebellIn divination, opinion, personal, personal spirituality, professional tarot, tarot, tarot community, traditional witchcraft32 Comments
Photograph that is unrelated to the topic at hand but posting here for the visual effect notwithstanding because your eyeballs need there to be a photo here and I couldn't source one that would be related.
Photograph that is unrelated to the topic at hand but posting here for the visual effect notwithstanding because your eyeballs need there to be a photo here and I couldn’t source one that would be related.

First off, naturally I will be speaking in generalizations.

People my age are sandwiched somewhere in between the Old Guard and the Millennial Readers.

Although my mother is not a tarot reader, she’s a metaphysical reader/practitioner of sorts and I’m super sure that had tarot been accessible to her as a young one, she would have totally become a tarot reader. Instead, she reads other stuff. Like your face. No, I kid, but oh no, I don’t. She really does.

I can see her attitude reflected in many of the Old Guard tarot readers. “I’m not normal. Tarot is not normal. Damn straight this is fringe. Deal with it.”

There’s an unabashed embrace of marginalized culture. There’s no embarrassment with dressing woo-woo as you walk among normal society. You can almost see traces of a hedge witch mentality.

Although she has never come outright to say so, I get the distinct sense that she doesn’t want everyone and the mainstream to become diviners, mediums, shamans, and practitioners of craft. There is a tacit yet clear exclusionary attitude. Or at least that’s always been the impression I got. She doesn’t want (let alone buy in to the ideas of) Mediumship 101, “everybody’s psychic,” or “pay me $300 and I will certify you as a bona fide tarot master.” (Hi. Certified tarot master here.)

Meanwhile millennial readers apply general business and marketing tactics to tarot–e.g., general PR and marketing principles to tarot business, coaching anyone and everyone to become diviners, mediums, shamans, and practitioners of craft, if you so choose. There are efforts to establish tarot into mainstream culture.

There is a pop psychology approach to tarot (which I have been pegged and critiqued as adopting, so apparently I’m in this camp) that strives to normalize divination practices or astrology, and to talk about spell-crafting as the law of attraction and “yay for positive thinking.”

However, at the heart of the millennial approach is the notion of accessibility, a socialist attitude toward the metaphysics. We can all have equal access to the Divine, to metaphysical energy work. (I confess, that is the attitude I adopt. That line sums up my opinion.) Metaphysics is for everyone. This is not paranormal, it’s normal. You don’t need anybody else to help you connect to the Divine. You only need you.

Okay, so as circumstances would have it, I’m now only a couple paragraphs in and I’ve already changed my mind.

Maybe I haven’t changed my mind exactly, but it is for sure vacillating. Is it really a generational thing? Or is it just a two-different-schools-of-thought thing? Is my personal anecdotal evidence and direct observations even reliable?

I’m in effect just looking around me, only to the point I am able to physically see, and making gross generalizations about what else is out there based on only what I see. Is what I happen to see an accurate microcosmic sampling of the macro? I don’t know. I really don’t.

However, there is for sure a determined voice among the occultists and metaphysicians who say that “occult” means concealed, and we are not to remove the veil for all. Only those who choose the path should or even can go beyond that veil to see for themselves what is there, and then come back with divinatory or revelatory information as needed, like an appointed messenger.

Is that way of thinking a bit reminiscent of limiting literacy to the elite so that the proletariat must rely on figures of authority (like a priest or priestess) for Divine insights? That was the way of institutionalized Western religion for ages. Is it hypocritical when metaphysicians repudiate that kind of authoritarian approach to religion, pursue occultism because they’re anti-authoritarian and want the answers for themselves, but then once they’ve found those answers, act in the same exclusionary manner?

I’ve observed that the Old Guard, Mom inclusive, have this sense that what they do “isn’t for everyone.” She would probably opine that not anyone can just pick up a grimoire, follow something in there, and yield results. Only certain people can do that. As I said, there’s a staunch exclusionary attitude. I’m also sure if I introduced her to the 21st century spiritual coaching power of manifestation business model, she’d find it absurd.

Actually, she wouldn’t. She’s pretty open-minded. She’d be surprised at first, but then come around. “Okay, all right, I get it. I wouldn’t have thought of that but I get it.” For instance, it might take her some time to grasp the idea that, say, I’m holding an online webinar course on Learning the Opening of the Key for Tarot Summer School and teaching occult theories to a whole bunch of people I’ve never even met, all at once. Perhaps in her view, spirituality, divination, and woo-based teaching is done one pupil at a time, a single teacher to pupil relationship that is honed over several years, not in 60 minutes.

Whereas maybe I do have a more “free love” attitude here. We’re entering a social era where notions once reserved in the New Age or even occult category run as an undercurrent through mainstream society. Corporate offices pay for yoga classes and meditation retreats for their employees. Businesses far from the woo will consider feng shui tips and tricks. Law firms invite in tarot and palm readers for their company Christmas party. Silicon Valley high-tech companies will hire a witch to cast a circle of protection around their computers, protecting them from hackers. All true stories here. I doubt any of this would have happened even 20 years ago. Things are changing.

As woo practitioners such as tarot readers converge more with the corporate and mainstream worlds, they adopt corporate and mainstream commercial strategies to advance their tarot business. Corporate and mainstream businesses converge more with woo practitioners and adopt woo into their environments because hey, “anything to help us earn more money. If that’s a spell or feng shui, then let’s do it.”

So admittedly, there was no point or core thesis to this post. I just thought I’d ramble on some thoughts of late.

Tarot Summer School at the Tarot Readers Academy

On By benebellIn cartomancy, conferences, divination, Holistic Tarot (book), personal, promotional, tarot community6 Comments

tarotsummerschool

Summer School 2016 at the Tarot Readers Academy will be in session just after the summer solstice, beginning on June 21. Here’s the schedule of courses and lots more info from our headmistress Ethony.

Whether you’re a tarot beginner (in which case may I suggest you check out “Introduction to Intuitive Tarot,” “Tarot and Pop Culture,” or “Unlocking the Major Arcana through Yoga”), proficient with tarot but looking to take your practice to the next level (ooh–check out my class on “Learning the Opening of the Key” *tooting my own horn*) or you’re aspiring to become a professional tarot reader (check out “Party Readings for Tarot Professionals” or “Tarot, from Hobby to Profession”), the first ever Tarot Summer School is a magnificent trove of tarot studies. A complete list of all course offerings is here, via this link. I’ll be a student, just like you, sitting in on all the courses. So many of them are getting me super excited!

There will also be campfire Q&A sessions where all enrolled students can come together (over the Internet; I don’t know how it works; it’s magic; you’ll have to ask headmistress Ethony) and I will try very hard to make it to one of those campfire sessions so if you want to chat with me, ask me your tarot questions, or whatever, you’ll want to enroll and gain access to the campfire Q&A.

Check out the below link to read all the course listings, meet the faculty, and watch everybody’s course introduction videos. It’s a really diverse group of tarot personalities.

www.tinyurl.com/tarotsummerschool

And to give prospective students a free preview of my course, “Learning the Opening of the Key,” I’ve uploaded and made available the first video installment of the lecture series, the Introduction. Check it out:

If that sneak peek into my full course piqued your interest, then enroll today! It’s only $24 USD per course. Or get the lifetime access season’s pass for $199, which gets you all the courses this semester.

CLICK HERE TO ENROLL

And if I did not manage to pique your interest, then… *shrug* doh. I did my best.

But do check out everybody else’s course offerings even if mine isn’t your cup of tea. I know at least one of those master classes is making you go “ooh!!” Embrace that “ooh!!” and your woo, and we the instructors at Tarot Readers Academy will see you at Tarot School this summer.

Writing and Publishing Nonfiction: Module III

On By benebellIn book writing, free download8 Comments

Recap:

Module III is all about the submissions and publication process with traditional publishers.

Coming after this module:

Module III: Traditional Publishers

Module 3 accompanies you from drafting your book proposal to querying traditional publishers. We’ll cover the big publishing houses (and how you’ll need a literary agent if you want to approach these publishers) and also the small to medium publishers (where you won’t need a literary agent).

There will be 5 audio lectures (total run time about 40 minutes), 3 workbooks, and supplementary handouts that you will want to go through in the order noted below.

Continue reading “Writing and Publishing Nonfiction: Module III” →

Writing and Publishing Nonfiction: Module II

On By benebellIn book writing, free download7 Comments

Modules I and II are being posted consecutively this week working toward the new moon in Taurus so that maybe everything will be aligned just so and this weekend you’ll be motivated to get to work on that book you’ve always meant to write.

Do not proceed with Module II until you’ve completed the audio lectures and workbooks from Module I. I mean, you can if you want, it’s not like I can stop you, but it won’t make sense. Module II will make more sense if you’ve completed Module I.

Module I: Introduction

Refer back to the post on Module I here. You can also download all files for Module I via Dropbox by clicking below.

DROPBOX LINK TO MODULE 1

Assuming you’ve completed Module I, you now have a solid book idea, you know how and where it would be positioned in the current market, and you are prepared to finish your book manuscript.

Module II will offer some insights and guidance for completing your manuscript.

Module II: Completing Your Manuscript

Module 2 helps you grow your seed of a book idea and walks you through the process of nurturing that seed to full bloom, achieving a completed book manuscript. Let me tell you how I managed to stay on track and finish my books while working full-time and tending to family responsibilities. Let’s talk about the daily grind. How do you structure the chapters of your book? How do you schedule your weeks to make sure you get your target writing done? What are some of my personal tips and tricks? The handouts in this module will help you to track your progress. Also, how can you tell if a work is in the public domain? What exactly constitutes fair use? I’ve got handouts for both questions.

There will be four audio lectures (for a total of about 35 minutes play time), two workbooks for you to complete, and supplementary handouts that you will want to go through in the order noted below.

Continue reading “Writing and Publishing Nonfiction: Module II” →

Writing and Publishing Nonfiction: Module I

On By benebellIn book writing, free download16 Comments

I’m putting together a multi-media web series on writing and publishing nonfiction, placing emphasis on nonfiction in the spirituality and New Age category. I was going to wait until I finished the entire course, all proposed modules, but then I was like F it. Let’s just play this by ear. Throw the spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks.

As each new installment is published here, I’ll link everything together so no matter when you stumble upon these posts, you can trace back to the beginning and follow the steps in consecutive order. All installments will be tagged with the “book writing” category, so you can simply click on that category label and every installment will pop up.

This independent study course will consist of a bunch of downloads, some free and some not so free, pretty much depending on my mood that day that I’m putting the installment together and posting it. There may be some jumping around, however. So for instance, the next installment I have scheduled is out of the order of modules and instead, is a single workbook on publishing contracts. Then we’ll get back to the modules, for Module II.

All right. Why don’t you read on to see what this is all about.

Continue reading “Writing and Publishing Nonfiction: Module I” →

My Perspective and #TarotsoWhite

On By benebellIn opinion, personal, tarot, tarot community43 Comments

It begins around 25:11 when one of my favorite YouTube personalities Kelly-Ann Maddox talks about #TarotsoWhite and the “overwhelming lack of racial diversity in tarot and oracle decks.” Maddox covers it all. She acknowledges white privilege, too much whiteness in the human depictions on tarot decks, disappointment in the fetishization of people of color in the rare times they are actually portrayed (she gives the example of the Nubian queen), and wonders what it is like for us people of color to spend untold amounts of money on tarot and oracle decks only to flip through them to see that you’re not being represented.

Well. The reality is we’re used to it. Or at least I am. It wasn’t until around 2000 that my community was represented in the media beyond sage-y old kung-fu masters with broken English and fortune cookie wisdom, me-love-you-long-time, dragon ladies, geishas, or know-it-all nerds. I mean I guess I’m okay with the know-it-all nerd. I can sort of identify there.

The reality is I’m used to not seeing ordinary Asian faces in the media and tarot is no different. If I don’t see myself depicted on film, then what makes me think I should get to see myself depicted in the tarot courts? Instead, I get “pleasantly surprised” when I see non-stereotypical images of Asians, well, anywhere, and then doubly pleasantly surprised when it’s on a tarot card.

My first inclination is to say, as a person of color, the whiteness of tarot card imagery doesn’t bother me. But I can’t leave it at that. I have to ask myself why it doesn’t bother me. The reason why it doesn’t bother me is what I said before—by now I’m used to it. People of color are used to being invisible. And, well, that’s deeply problematic. So even if it doesn’t bother me, it should bother me just as it should bother every person of color. If it doesn’t bother you, then it will never change. And if it doesn’t change, then the racial paradigm will always leave us marginalized.

As for #TarotsoWhite, I really don’t know what to say on this topic. On one hand, I don’t want to think about race during a tarot reading. Anything in the imagery on a tarot deck that “stands out too much” (and I don’t mean in a semiotic way) can be distracting to me. Here’s the thing: I want to think about race. I want to talk about social justice. But maybe not during a tarot reading.

And I do find that sometimes racial diversity depicted on a deck can be distracting because—sad, sad fact—it’s not something we’re used to seeing. Racial diversity is really different for us. Seeing a token Asian dude or a Black woman doing something that is not stereotypical or fetishized is different, and it’s so different for our senses that it can actually become a distraction. It becomes your focal point because differences are always our focal points. Instead of turning my mental wheels on the symbolism of the pomegranates and what that omen holds for our seeker, I’m thinking, “Oh look! The High Priestess is an Asian chick! How neat!”

One comment you hear echoed among readers about #TarotsoWhite is that the whiteness in tarot is why they have a preference for abstract tarot and oracle decks where any human figures depicted are racially ambiguous. The subtext here is: “I want to be racially inclusive but I don’t want to think about race during a tarot reading and people of color depicted in tarot imagery is still kind of distracting so this is my best response.”

I get that. I dig it. I agree.

The catch is, if no one buys tarot and oracle decks featuring ordinary people of color (and by extension, tarot readers get used to seeing–and liking–decks that feature ordinary people of color), then deck creators and publishers won’t be inclined to feature ordinary people of color, and so we will never get to that point where the Asianness of an Asian High Priestess or the Blackness of a Black Emperor won’t distract us.

The only way for race to not be a distraction is for the topic of race to become boring. When the topic of race is boring, an Asian High Priestess and a Black Emperor will be no big deal for our subconscious to handle. Unfortunately, the topic of race is very interesting right now, especially given the racially charged climate we live in.

So if I, a person of color, don’t even want to think about race during a tarot reading, do other tarot readers want to think about race when they dish out the Celtic Cross? And if we don’t want to think about race in tarot but race featured in tarot makes us think about race in tarot, then do people really want to buy tarot decks that feature different races?

Well. We have to.

Social progress in the tarot world will only happen if it’s profitable for deck publishers to get on board with social progress. Otherwise, they’re going to throw out a few token people-of-color decks so as not to appear racist, and then stick primarily to the all-white Arcana cast. Frankly, it’s not profitable right now for deck publishers to feature people of color because even people of color don’t want to see people of color. Everybody wants to see white people.

Each one of us bears the responsibility of changing that dynamic. Tarot practitioners have to make a conscious, concerted effort to show deck publishers, by the power of our spending, that tarot decks with zero racial diversity are not profitable. It sort of has to be a forced change at first, you know, fake it ’til you make it, and eventually, racial diversity in tarot will finally feel natural to us.

But it’s a tall order because the race thing is so deeply engrained into us that most of us don’t even acknowledge it.

It’s like how my name “Benebell” can bother someone because [true story here–and this is the part that she figured was okay to say in public…] Benewell was the name of her [presumably White] Civil War ancestor and so my name Benebell becomes a nuisance and a point of distraction to her. The racialized reality is [here’s the part people would think is not okay to say in public…] Benebell distracts her because Benewell was an old white dude and Benebell is a young(ish) Asian girl.

The race issue, albeit subconscious, was the distraction, not the name issue. If I had been an old white dude, my name wouldn’t have bothered her as much. But it bothered her because of the race discrepancy. She just couldn’t get over an Asian girl “hijacking” her White ancestor’s name.

That subtle yet insidious anecdote extrapolated out to the tarot community at large explains why we find racial diversity in tarot distracting (though would die before we admit it). It’s because our brains have been wired for a very long time to envision a white High Priestess and a white Emperor, and a white Queen of Cups, and white kids in the Six of Cups, and white people fighting in the Five of Wands. When these people are not white, we can’t help but stop to think, “oh… hey.” And at its worst (like the Benebell vs. Benewell account) it’s a nuisance and at best, a point of distraction.

It’s just something we have to get over as tarot readers. Not only do we have to get over it, but we have to push homogeny out of profitability and convince publishers and deck creators that it’s just economic good sense to feature boring racial diversity. No Nubian queens or geishas, just plain, boring people of color, but, you know, decked out like the Queen of Swords or the hermaphrodite in The World.

Addendum.

The tarot and oracle decks that fetishize or exoticize race are popular because we can observe racial difference in a way that emphasizes difference. Somehow that’s okay for our subconscious to handle. It’s when different races, i.e., people of color, appear normal and run-of-the-mill that blows our [subconscious, and sometimes not so subconscious] minds. When people of color are depicted as the “other,” that’s okay, and we can work with that. That’s not distracting because the depictions play in to our preconceived stereotypes. Deck creators and publishers have to do better than that. Racial diversity and inclusion has to go beyond Afro-centric Timbuktu pharaohs of ancient Egypt Imperial China Japanese samurai culture art.

The Eternal Crystals Oracle Cards by Jade-Sky

On By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, gemstones and crystals, oracle deck6 Comments

Eternal Crystals Oracle Cards 02 Whole Set

The Eternal Crystals Oracle Cards by Jade-Sky and illustrated by Jane Marin is a beautifully produced high-gloss deck that features 44 gemstones and crystals. Jade-Sky is a self-professed psychic-medium and channel and Jane Marin, in addition to being an artist, is a healer and life coach. The two have come together to create a visually spectacular deck.

Eternal Crystals Oracle Cards 04 Box Cover Open

No complaints here about the packaging. You’ve got a sturdy, high-gloss deck with an equally impressive companion guide.

Let’s start by having you choose a card, shall we? See below. Choose a card– left, center, or right, and remember which position you chose. We’ll revisit this reading later.

Eternal Crystals Oracle Cards 05 Three Cards Select

The deck features mesmerizing photographic art, mostly abstract, and selected I’m guessing in large part to invoke color therapy. These cards are incredibly calming to gaze at. Cutely, I sort of used this deck as a checklist of the gemstones I have in my collection. In the below selection of cards, I’m missing apophyllite, cerussite, and chiastolite, admittedly stones I’ve never even heard of before.

Eternal Crystals Oracle Cards 10 Cards

The imagery for each card is specifically selected to facilitate a connection between practitioner and the crystal in question, and by concentrating on that connection, you can experience the healing vibrations of the crystal… or so goes the companion guidebook.

Continue reading “The Eternal Crystals Oracle Cards by Jade-Sky” →

The Starchild Tarot — Akashic Edition

On By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, tarot15 Comments

Starchild Akashic 01 Deck Set

The New Age spiritual movement as it manifests in 2015 and 2016, the years of publication for the Starchild Tarot, embraces the importance of developing personal intuition through cards, like tarot. Decks like the Starchild have introduced a new generation and new class of tarot readers that didn’t exist before. Starchild is one of those decks that makes tarot more accessible to mainstream Millennials. While timeless and other-worldly in its vision, the Starchild Tarot manages to also be very much about the “now,” and the present.

I have both the first edition Starchild Tarot, which I reviewed here back in June of 2015 and now the latest 2016 Starchild Tarot Akashic Edition, which I love even more than the first. As of this posting, the Akashic Edition is sold out, so you’ll have to contact the artist and creator, Danielle Noel directly to see if there is a pre-order option or waitlist for the next edition.

The tarot blogosphere has been gushing over the Akashic Edition and I am a little late to the party (as usual). I figure I’ll use my review time to compare the two editions.

Starchild Akashic 02 Box Compare

On the left is the first edition and on the right the Akashic edition. You can see from the above photograph that the Akashic is just a sidge larger than the original. I’m also loving the new box design. Both boxes are of amazing quality.

Starchild Akashic 02 Deck Compare

Noel’s signature style comes through in both. We talked about the card backs from the original edition in my last review, which feels more mathematical than the new card back design. Here, hmm… I’m actually thinking I prefer the original card backs! But it’s an entirely subjective judgment call.

Starchild Akashic 03 LWB Compare

The coloring for the Akashic Edition has been muted, giving the design a more “ascended” feel… if a design could be ascended. I do prefer the new cover to the companion guidebook over the original cover.

Continue reading “The Starchild Tarot — Akashic Edition” →