I’m offering by silent auction the remainder from the large batch of holy anointing oil I crafted specifically for the SKT Vitruvian decks. What’s left after anointing the decks is five (5) one ounce (1 oz.) amber glass bottles with glass eye droppers that we will offer by silent auction. All details below.
My purpose for anointing every deck was to clear it of any malefic or potentially baneful energies in the material and to energetically protect it for the rest of the deck’s lifetime.
You can use this oil to consecrate and bless any object or space intended to be sacred. Every time you perform a space clearing, after you’re done, anoint the corners of that space (four corners or eight corners, depending on your preferred approach). Anoint your altar tools or ritual tools with this oil. Anoint talismanic jewelry intended to be used for personal protection from malefic or baneful forces.
Bonus Offering with the 2020 Metaphysician’s Day Planner
This blog post will showcase the do-it-yourself printables for a Vitruvian Mini tarot deck. These digital files are a bonus offering that comes with the 2020 Metaphysician’s Day Planner, so if you want these printables, then you’ll want to order the 2020 Day Planner!
Assembling the deck box with craft glue.
It started with having to configure the template for the box design of Spirit Keeper’s Tarot Vitruvian Edition. To make sure everything fit as it’s supposed to, I printed out the box design template, cut it out, folded, and assembled it into an actual box to make sure the designs were aligned as intended.
Of course my initial thought was to print the mock-up and assemble at actual size. However, in the moment, I didn’t have the means to, and could only print it smaller, to scale, on a standard 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper. So I did.
Click on the above image to visit the product description page.
The 2020 Metaphysician’s Day Planner is coming soon.
I’ll be out of the country for most of September, but when I return, we’ll get the pre-order launch up and running. No change to price– it’s the same as the 2019 offering.
The day planners still include your birth chart in Whole Signs and your 2020 solar returns chart. Charts include the traditional and modern planets, the four classical personal sensitive points (ascendant, imum coeli, descendant, and midheaven), Chiron, Ceres, Eris, black moon Lilith, white moon Selena, Vesta, Pallas, and Hygeia.
However, some minor changes to the contents. Also, in the interim, if you’ve been using a metaphysician’s day planner, I’d love your input (comment with your suggestions below). What didn’t work for you? What do you definitely not want me to change? What can be improved? I’d love to hear what you have to say when I go to finalize the 2020 content layout.
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.
Four years ago I released for free digital download the first version of the Chinese Oracle Bone divination cards. Since then there have been 18,769 unique downloads, many have written in telling me the deck is eerily, spookily accurate, so I’m making the inference that there’s a use for this deck and it’s worth my while to edit them and offer an improved version 2.0. I’ve also revised and formatted the companion guidebook for paperback printing.
TL;DR
Here’s a checklist of all the free digital downloads in this post:
With the above, you’ll be able to craft and produce your own 33-card deck, any way you like. Customize to your heart’s delight, until it’s exactly what suits you.
But…
I’ve also prepared direct-click purchase options on third party external websites for those with no intentions of customizing and redesigning their own deck:
This is an advanced esoteric tarot course that will walk you through a 21-card Pyramid Reading designed to be a spiritual experience. The reading and purpose is built upon the Four Directives of the Magus: to know, to dare, to will, and to keep silent. The Four Directives and the blueprints to your inner temple divined through the Pyramid Reading will pave your Threefold Path of Wisdom: mastery over alchemy, astrology, and theurgy, and to understand their significance to the study of esoteric tarot.
$30
A modified version of this course was first presented at the October 2018 UK Tarot Conference in London. This course was first offered as part of the Tarot Summer School 2019 lineup at the Tarot Readers Academy.
Course Description:
Four pillars frame the historical construct of Western esotericism and reinforce the capacity of your inner temple. Working with the Golden Dawn astrological correspondences for the Major Arcana, this course will focus on The Hierophant, Strength, Death, and The Star as the four cornerstones that will unlock your destiny for material success (Earth), your glory (Fire), your spiritual path (Water), and the path of your personal growth, the life lessons to learn (Air).
You will then work through a twenty-one card Pyramid Reading to create a blueprint and map of your inner temple. Any time at any point of your life path, when you feel lost, dedicate some time to going through the steps of the Pyramid Reading to get your blueprint and map.
Discussion of the Four Pillars and each step of the Pyramid Reading will orbit the Four Powers of the Magus (or Four Directives to the Magus) that signify “the fatal science of good and evil . . . guarded by the four figures of the Biblical sphinx, the Cherubim of Ezekiel” (Eliphas Levi), which are:
1. To Know (an intelligence illuminated by study)
2. To Dare (an intrepidity which nothing can check)
3. To Will [or To Do] (a will which nothing can break)
4. To Keep Silence (a discretion which nothing can corrupt and nothing intoxicate)
Your inner temple is designed and built upon these Four Directives, and when constructed in accordance with your higher purpose, yields material success, personal glory, conviction in a defined spiritual path, and transcendental personal growth. The eventual purpose of the magus is to master the Threefold Path of Wisdom: alchemy, astrology, and theurgy, which converge and culminate with the tarot.
The Tarot de Marseille, Rider-Waite-Smith, Thoth, and my own deck the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot will be showcased, so you’ll be able to follow along with a deck from any of these systems.
Content for the course sourced from: The Emerald Tablet of Hermes (Isaac Newton, trans. 1680); Alchemical Catechism from The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus (A. E. Waite, trans. 1894); An Introduction to Astrology (William Lilly, 1852); Astrology Theologized: The Spiritual Hermeneutics of Astrology and Holy Writ (Valentin Weigel, reprinted from the Original of 1649 in 1886); Transcendental Magic: Its Doctrine and Ritual (Eliphas Levi, 1854; A. E. Waite, trans. 1896).
Closed captioning provided on all videos for the Deaf and H/H.
Course Objectives:
• To understand the four pillars of Western esotericism.
• To attain a deeper understanding of the Four Directives to the Magus (that become the Four Powers of the Magus).
• To divine and reveal a map (the Pyramid Reading) for how to achieve material success, glory, how to advance on your current spiritual path, and how to grow in plenitude at any given moment of your life.
• To understand the Threefold Path of Wisdom (alchemy, astrology, and theurgy) and its significance to the study of esoteric tarot.
Course Outline:
Module I. Introduction
The Four Pillars of Western Esotericism
Overview of the Pyramid Reading Workbook
Module II. The Four Pillars
Pillar of Earth: Your Material Success
Pillar of Fire: Your Personal Glory
Pillar of Water: Your Spiritual Reflection
Pillar of Air: Your Personal Growth
Module III. The Transcendental Path
Completing the Blueprints of Your Inner Temple
The Threefold Path of Wisdom
Course Deliverables:
8 videos with a total run time of 2 hours
50 minutes lecture
1 hour of guided tarot reading (each operation preceded by 2 minutes of meditative invocation)
70-page workbook in PDF format (print at 8.5″ x 11″ standard US Letter)
How To Order
$30
I’m going to give step by step instructions on how to order the course and get access to download all the materials for yourself.
Send the tuition cost noted above via PayPal to the e-mail address abelldelivers@gmail.com. Yes, it’s going to say “James Zhang from Castro Valley.” That’s the Hubby. Also, this is the preferred method of payment. (~or~)
Only if (1) and (2) are impracticable for you, pay by ordering me an Amazon Gift Card, sent to abelldelivers@gmail.com. Direct link to Amazon gift card orders here.
When you send payment, please include:
Your name or a name identifier for me to reference you by, (~and~)
Your e-mail address, so I know where to send your ordered course materials to.
That’s it!
But if any of that sounds confusing or you just don’t know, no worries. Email me at abelldelivers@gmail.com to let me know you want to place an order. We’ll take it from there together.
Once I receive your payment as the purchase order, your course materials will be delivered to the e-mail address you specified within 2 business days.
If you don’t receive the course materials in the e-mail inbox specified within the two business days, then something went wrong. Doh! Please email me at the below address asap.
abelldelivers@gmail.com
DELIVERY NOTE: So far I’ve been good about getting the course materials to you in less than 48 hours from when I receive the PayPal payment, so if that time has gone by and you haven’t received anything from me, first check your Spam folder. Second, check to see the e-mail address associated with your PayPal account. I may have sent it to that account if no e-mail was provided in the notes section of the transfer. If still nothing, then something went wrong somewhere, so contact me at the above e-mail addy ASAP so we can get things squared away.
July 19 – 21, 2019 will be the Masters of the Tarot conference held at the Omega Institute in Rhineback, New York. The Masters of the Tarot conference is an annual tradition started by Mary K. Greer and Rachel Pollack. This 2019, the master teachers featured at the event will be Mary and Rachel, Michelle Tea, author of Modern Tarot and many other works of fiction and creative nonfiction, and the renowned psychic Terry Iacuzzo, author of Small Mediums at Large. Oh. And also, me.
If you’ve ever been interested in attending a tarot workshop held by me, this may be your last chance to meet me in person and pick my brain, at least for a very long time. I won’t be making any public appearances for the tarot in 2020 and some significant plans to shift gears have been in the works for some time now. So at least for me, the 2019 Masters of the Tarot conference is going to be very special and deeply personal. My workshop presentation topic will reflect as much. =)
Also, you’re going to be learning innovative and profound insights into the tarot from living legends: Mary K. Greer and Rachel Pollack.
Michelle Tea is a prolific author who has published numerous memoirs and novels. One of her books, How to Grow Up (Penguin/Plume), is currently in development with Amazon Studios. Tea is the curator of the Amethyst Editions imprint at Feminist Press. Her writing has appeared in Harper’s, Cosmopolitan, Marie Clare, xoJane, and BuzzFeed, among others.
The tuition for the event is $465, which covers workshops by all the master teachers, all panels, breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the Omega Dining Hall from Friday, July 19 to Sunday, July 21, and daily open classes in meditation, yoga, tai chi, and more.
Angie Green, the creator of the Simple Tarot, is running an incredible giveaway for the Beginner’s Kit! You can read a review I did of the deck here.
I get the incredible opportunity to team up with her and run a giveaway through my channel for one of her Simple Tarot Beginner Kits!
Deadline for Giveaway: March 15, 2019
Winner Announced: March 16, 2019
From Angie:
The winner will receive a Simple Tarot Beginner Kit by Angie Green.
From Me:
In addition to winning Angie’s Simple Tarot Beginner’s Kit, you will also win and receive a signed copy of Holistic Tarot.
About the copy of my book: Note that this is from the first print run of Holistic Tarot. There have been subsequent edits, revisions, and many other print runs, so just know that this edition has all the original typos and errors. It’s from the very first batch of HT ever printed. So maybe it’ll be worth money someday? Who knows. Anyway.
I’m also going to include the following in a magical tarot starter kit:
a consecrated crystal,
a bottle of aura, energy, and space clearing spray,
a blank tarot journal that I will intuitively hand-select for you, and
a plush velveteen drawstring bag for your tarot deck.
Eligibility for the Giveaway
U.S. residents only. This giveaway is limited to those living in the United States.
Second, I ask that more seasoned tarot readers to please sit back on this giveaway. I’d like this giveaway to be reserved for those just starting out on their tarot learning journey.
So, how do you enter? To enter, complete To-Do #1, To-Do #2, and To-Do #3. That’s it. =)
To-Do #1:
Share any one of the below photos of the Simple Tarot on Twitter, Instagram, or as a public Facebook post with the hashtags #thesimpletarot and tag the deck creator @thesimpletarot and in your caption, share why you’re excited about this tarot deck and giveaway! Or you can gush about all the cool free tarot resources Angie gives away here: https://thesimpletarot.com/resources and share that link.
#thesimpletarot
@thesimpletarot
To-Do #2:
Link to a posting from this website (benebellwen.com) or a video from my YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/c/BenebellWen) that you really liked and felt was insightful to you, including a few short words on why you liked it.
To-Do #3: Most Important!
Leave a comment to this blog post that includes:
(1) Hyperlink to your completed To-Do #1, and
(2) Hyperlink to your completed To-Do #2.
When you leave your comment, please be sure to include the e-mail address that you’ll check in the event you win, because the winner is going to be notified on March 16, 2019 by the e-mail of record per the comment you’ve left to this blog post.
You do not need to publicize your e-mail address in the comment! It can stay private!
When you fill in the comment box, just input the Email address in the Email line only, where it includes the note, “(Address never made public).”
I will see your Email address, while it remains unpublished on the blog post, and will use that Email address to contact you in the event you’ve won.
Only those who leave a comment below with a working e-mail address (and who reply within 24 hours to the notification that you’ve won) are eligible.
The winner will be announced here on this post on March 16, 2019.
I will e-mail you to let you know you’ve won and will need your full mailing address. I’ll mail you the Holistic Tarot starter kit, give your name and address to Angie, and she will mail you the Simple Tarot Beginner’s Kit.
Selection Process:
The name of each commenter to this blog post (To-Do #3) will be written on a slip of paper and put into a container. I’ll pull a name at random and film the drawing, which I will then post to my Instagram on March 16, 2019.
On the same day, I’ll privately notify that individual via e-mail and update this post to announce the winner.
The winner will have 24 hours to reply to my e-mail and claim the prize. If I don’t hear back from the winner in 24 hours, I’m going to draw a second name and the prize will be awarded to the second runner up, who again, will have 24 hours to claim the prize, and so on, and so on, until somebody claims the prize within the 24 hours of e-mail notification. =)
WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT
3/17/2019 Update
Sorry, sorry I’m late to this! It’s been a hectic weekend!
#9 is the winner. Hello, Dana! You’ll be getting an e-mail from me in 5, 4, 3, 2…
Spirit Keeper’s Tarot is a hand-illustrated 78-card tarot deck (with 2 additional versions of Key 0, for a total of 80 cards) inspired by late Renaissance woodcut prints, with symbology based predominantly on medieval European alchemy, Hermeticism, Zoroastrianism, astrology, the Kabbalah, Abrahamic angelology, Egyptian mythology, Sufism, and late Renaissance Christian mysticism.
The narrowly-tailored premise of Spirit Keeper’s Tarot is to transform tarot keys into calling cards for accessing a spirit world of beneficent immortals.
The artwork is original black and white line drawings done by hand, by me, in pen and ink, then digitally remastered to monochromatic sepia tones. The cards are bordered with a tea-stained parchment design.
All decks will be anointed with hand-crafted holy anointing oil made of Ceylon cinnamon, cassia cinnamon, myrrh resin, and sweet lemongrass.
While the First Edition SKT deck was in black and white, a largely faithful scan of the original line drawings I did by hand, the remastered Vitruvian Edition is in monochromatic sepia tones with redesigned architecture.
The namesake for this edition comes from Vitruvius, who lived around 80 B.C. to 15 B.C. Vitruvius was a Roman architect who taught that every structure must exhibit three qualities: stability, utility, and beauty. These three qualities have come to be known as the Vitruvian Triad.
A millennium after Vitruvius, Leonardo da Vinci was inspired by the Roman architect’s works. One of da Vinci’s most famous sketches–rendered in sepia ink–is the Vitruvian Man (1487).
Limited Print Run
We will place our print run order based on the number of pre-orders we get plus a couple hundred extra to spare. That’s it.
After this print run is sold out, we won’t be reprinting. Even if a future SKT deck happens, it won’t be for many years and it will be different from this version. SKT will not be handed over to a mass market publisher anytime soon, either.
All Decks are Anointed
I craft my own anointing oil from essences and macerated oils I make myself from raw ingredients painstakingly sourced to ensure quality. The Ceylon cinnamon bark was purchased at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey. The cassia cinnamon leaf was imported from India. I use whole, highest grade myrrh resin (tears of myrrh) and lots of it (because making your own true essential oils requires a lot of myrrh). The lemongrass is fresh, local produce that is personally sun-dried over several months before the oil-making process even begins. And then the oil making process takes another several months before they’re ready. The olive oil is from Athens, Greece. Multiple layering of astrologically-timed ritual work is crafted into the anointing oil.
In addition to that video series already freely available, I will be producing another set of videos to go along with this redesigned deck, with new content tailored around the aspiration to make this deck more intuitively accessible so that you don’t feel like you need to be anybody other than yourself or to know anymore than what you already know (or are willing to learn) to gain access to all that this deck can offer.
The set of videos that went with the First Edition deep-dived unapologetically into mystical realms that required the suspension of rational skepticism, i.e., we were talking about your Holy Guardian Angel, ritual magic, angels, demons, the Akashic Records, and that kind of thing.
The new set of videos will be more practical and applicable to everyday readings. How do you interpret SKT court cards in readings? How do you actually and effectively integrate basic beginner-level astrology with tarot readings, using the astrological correspondence system that the SKT deck follows? How do you use your deck and Book of Maps together to do an I Ching and tarot divination?
The Book of Maps
Only the $65 Premium Package will come with the Book of Maps companion guidebook to the deck and it’s just a PDF digital file.
There’s also an additional 230+ pages to this revised edition of the Book of Maps. The new additions will include more on how to read the SKT court cards, working with the Olympic spirits, integrating astrology with the tarot, integrating gematria with the tarot, and an entire reference section on using the tarot and I Ching divination together. You will be able to look up short form I Ching oracles based on your SKT tarot card readings by consulting this Book of Maps. No additional I Ching texts required.
Get on the mailing list to receive important updates and progress reports about your pre-ordered deck.
I will be sending progress reports, important updates, and everything related to your order of the SKT deck by the mailing list linked here: www.tinyurl.com/SKTnews.
From now until the pre-order window closes, I’ll also be sending exclusive previews, maybe some freebies, and who knows what else through that mailing list only.
Whether you’re just interested in staying up to date on the progress of the Vitruvian Edition or you’ve already pre-ordered your deck, get on this mailing list!
This isn’t some promo marketing thing. It’s 100% a my convenience thing. I can easily, by one click, send out notices to everybody who has consented to receiving e-mail notices and don’t have to keep track of or keep on updating any manually created email lists.
This edition is going to be the last SKT print run for a very long time… years, or maybe even never.
We are going to place a production order based on the pre-order quantity, plus some hundreds to spare and sell until they run out. And then that’s it.
We are not going to reprint this version of the deck. We might consider reprinting new versions of SKT way, way down the line in the future, for a possible five-year anniversary or ten-year anniversary special. In fact, there’s even the chance of never.
SKT will not be handed over to a mass market publisher. Maybe when J and I are so old and feeble we can barely hold a pen to write our own names, we might at that point give SKT to a publishing house, but it won’t happen anytime soon, so please don’t hold out for what you hope will be a cheaper version of the deck in two years.
Still got questions?
Please e-mail your inquiries to abelldelivers@gmail.com.
The following free PDF download is an excerpt from a manual that will be part of an online course forthcoming in 2019: Sole Proprietorship in the Sacred Arts.
Part guidebook, part hands-on workbook, this excerpt is 62 pages of reading and prompted brainstorming that will cover the following:
My story
Myths of the six-figure mystic
What is a business model?
What is voice and how do you define your voice? (This is the starting point of effective branding.)
Branding your identity (Let’s begin considerations for your brand’s physical appearance.)
How do you build a reputation? (Preliminary thoughts are provided; the online course will go more in-depth on this topic.)
Sign up to receive e-mail notification when Spirit Keeper’s Tarot and the Book of Maps are available for 2019 pre-order.
Although the First Edition is sold out, I’ll be re-designing the deck and releasing the deck for sale again in 2019. Sign up by clicking on the banner above to receive e-mail notification as soon as pre-orders are open.
Spirit Keeper’s Tarot is a hand-illustrated black and white 78-card tarot deck (with 2 additional versions of Key 0 cards, for a total of 80 cards) inspired by late Renaissance woodcut prints, with symbology based predominantly on medieval European alchemy, Hermeticism, Zoroastrianism, astrology, the Kabbalah, Abrahamic angelology, Egyptian mythology, Sufism, and late Renaissance Christian mysticism. The narrowly-tailored premise of Spirit Keeper’s Tarot is to transform tarot keys into calling cards for accessing angelic realms, or the spirit world of beneficent immortals.
benebell wen 