Gaian Tarot Artist's Journal

The Gardener: A Business Vision (or, "Your Ideal Day")

In the Gaian Tarot Circle, we’ve been studying one Gaian Major Arcana card a month. This month’s card is the Gardener (aka the Empress).  Even though I created this card a few years back and know it intimately, I’m finding it has new and timely messages for me. A couple of nights ago, a group of us from the GTC had a conversation about the Gardener card on a teleseminar call. 

 

The key insight that emerged for me during the call is that the Gardener card is my exact model for how I want my business to be.  There's clearly been an enormous amount of work done — look Ma, no weeds! — but the Gardener has co-created with the nature spirits and with Mama Gaia Herself to create a lush, fertile, abundant garden.  And . . . she is relaxed, happy, healthy, and enjoying the "fruits of her labors"!  And she is pregnant with her next project . . .

I’m a Capricorn and a triple earth-sign to boot, so I have a tendency towards overwork and work-aholism.  Sometimes I feel guilty for taking an entire weekend off.  (I know, I know . . .)  So I’m very excited to have this card as a model for how I want my business to be.  Abundant, prolific, lots of hard work done . . . and I’m taking time to relax and enjoy it all.  Oh yeah!

There’s nothing more powerful than a clear vision of how you want your life and your business to be.  If you don’t know where you’re going, how can you possibly get there?

Many moons ago — well, back in the early 80’s — I read a book that had an enormous impact on my life.  That book was Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want by Barbara Sher. I still have my original copy with all my notes scribbled in the margins. I don’t think I did all the exercises in the book, but the one I did do (more than once) is the “Ideal Day” exercise. This was incredibly powerful for me, because it allowed me to dream about what I really wanted for my life.  Back in the early 80’s the highlights of my “Ideal Day” were: 

La Luna Bella! ~ The Gaian Tarot Moon Card

 (The Moon card was the first card I created for the Gaian Tarot, back in 2001. After I finished it, I wrote this essay, which turned out to be too long for the Gaian Tarot companion book. But it's a pretty juicy article about moon lore, and I think you'll like it. It was first published in Issue 57 of SageWoman as “Our Sister Moon,” Spring 2002.)

La Luna Bella! Who among us does not catch our breath in awe and pleasure at our first sight of the moon in an indigo night sky? We may see her as a new, thin crescent setting in the west just after sunset, or in all her glorious fullness as she rises over eastern mountains, or as a waning thumbnail glimpsed in the early hours before dawn.

For the Moon is constantly changing, and She is utterly faithful in Her changes.

She stirs even the uninitiated. “What a wonderful night for a moondance!” we sing, or “I’m being followed by a moonshadow . . .” We say someone is moonstruck when they behave wildly under a full moon. It's the fault of “that old devil moon,” some may say with a shake of the head. But for those of us who have loved her and studied her ways, she embodies profound mysteries of life, death and regeneration.

In this card, we see a priestess invoking the energies of the full moon, while all around her spiral the eight lunar phases. As the moon waxes, it moves from the seed of the Dark/New Moon (invisible to the eye) to the sprout of the waxing Crescent to the rooted growth of the First Quarter to the budding of the Gibbous Moon. It climaxes in the flowering of the Full, then begins its waning. It cycles through the fruit of the Disseminating Moon to the harvest of the Last Quarter to the compost of the Balsamic Moon, where the seed is planted and nurtured in the darkness. We ride the tides of growth, fullness and release as the cycle begins again.¹

Yummy Links

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Image above found here.

Today in my jaunt around the blogosphere, I'm loving these posts:

From Hecate on restarting a daily practice:  "Even Though You Have Broken Your Vows a Thousand Times."

That is so me!  I have started and stopped and restarted my daily practice hundreds, if not a thousand, times. 

From Mark Silver guestposting on Copyblogger: "Is Spiritual Business a Contradiction in Terms?"

Oh yeah.  Lots of food for thought there (I so agree with Mark) and lots of controversial comments. (Why do so many people seem to want "spiritual" people to be poor? Talkin' 'bout some of the commenters here.)

From Cari Ferraro, calligrapher extraordinaire, on her weeklong Calligraphy Master Class:

I love this post not only because I adore peeking into the art studios and processes of other artists, but also because of the archetype of the juicy crone in Cari's mentor, Sheila.

Yes, my interests are diverse!  Yet there's a common theme of Presence, methinks . . .

My Art Retreat at Sitka

 

Last week I gave myself the gift of an art retreat — five days of getting up and knowing there was nothing on my plate to do except make art, all day long.  Heaven.

I haven’t done any artwork at all since I finished the last Gaian Tarot card last fall. I’ve been wanting to learn the ancient process of encaustic (painting with beeswax) for the past three years, but didn’t allow myself to try it out until I had finished all the GT cards.  I even signed up for an encaustic workshop on Whidbey Island (not too far from me) last September, then had to cancel because I had too many deadlines at the time. 

I became fascinated with the medium when I realized its possibilities — you can build layer upon layer of collage, paint, and embedded objects, with layers of beeswax inbetween.  All the layers are translucent and the bottom layers are somewhat obscured.  You can scribe lines and textures into the wax, and you can scrape back parts of the top layer to reveals color and pattern underneath. 

It’s messy and tactile and makes room for happy accidents. It’s about as different from colored pencil painting as you can get! 

In the Cauldron of Creativity

You may have noticed that I have not been consistent with my blogging for some time now.  There’s a few reasons for that.  I feel like I am in a third-quarter-moon phase of blogging; that’s the time when the old ways of doing things no longer fit, but the new way of doing things is not yet clear.  I have been ruminating for months about changing things up; changing the name of the blog and its design, moving it over to Wordpress, keeping to a regular schedule, brainstorming ideas for posts.  

You see, the title “Gaian Tarot Artist’s Journal” no longer fits me or this blog. I originally started it in 2004 to document my process of creating the cards and to get feedback from readers. Along the way, I started blogging about all sorts of different things that I’m interested in.  Since the Gaian Tarot cards are now done, the blog needs a new name.  But what?
 

Upon what Threshold do I stand?

(Mixed media collage by Joanna, 5.31.10)

We've been studying the Seeker card over at the Gaian Tarot Circle. This morning I posted this question on the GTC forum, then answered it myself:

What is the key insight you taking away from our study of the Seeker this month?

For me, the "ah ha" moment came during the mid-month call when I asked you all to pull a card that answered James Wells' question:  "Upon what threshold do I stand?"

I pulled the Wheel, and it took me awhile to glean the insight of that card as an answer. I had a lot of help from GTC members.  I am standing upon the threshold of transitions into new cycles, new seasons, new spirals of creativity and growth.

That's exactly how I feel right now.  I have completed the artwork and book for the Gaian Tarot (a huge epoch in my life is ending — the winter tree). I have started an online community and expect to be doing a lot of teaching in the years to come on the Gaian Tarot, especially after the Llewellyn edition is released (the spring & summer trees). I have reaped a financial harvest from the sales of the limited edition decks (the autumn tree). Meanwhile I long to metaphorically "hit the road" and seek out new adventures (new creative projects), like the Seeker.  

I wonder, where will the Fox lead me next?

Nine of Earth - Gaian Tarot Card of the Week

What wisdom do I need to keep in mind this coming week?

       Nine of Earth

The 9 of Earth is one of the cards in the deck that is uniquely me.  It's based on a photo that Craig took a few years ago during the island Lavender Festival and represents a time in my life when I was very happy and satisfied.  

I think of the 9's as the culmination of a cycle, before a new cycle begins. It's a time when you get to rest on your laurels, so to speak, and enjoy the abundance in your life. As I wrote in the book:

You’ve enjoying a time of accomplishment and comfort. You’re at the peak of your creative powers, and are well paid for your work. You are connected to your family and community, yet have time alone for creative and spiritual pursuits. It is a time of peace and plenty in your life, both internal and external.

So I have to ask myself how this card applies to me now, today, this week.  

Four of Air - Gaian Tarot Card of the Week

What do we need to know about the week to come?

Four of Air

Beautiful, beautiful robin's eggs, all nestled away in a cozy little nest.  What a perfect seasonal card to pick, especially since Mama Robin is even now sitting on a nest of eggs, just under my studio deck.  It was a joy to watch the process as the robins built a nest in one location, then abandoned it when they decided another spot would be safer and more secure. The first next was extraordinarily beautiful but rather precarious.  The one they settled on is much harder for us humans to see, which is probably part of the point. It's hidden away from prying eyes, safe for those eggs to incubate until the little ones are ready to hatch.

The moon wanes over the next four days as we await the New Moon in Taurus on Thursday May 13th, which brings (ta da!) the opening of the Gaian Tarot Circle. I'm working on all the goodies I have planned, to have them ready in time for the GTC members on Thursday.  At the same time, I'm feeling in need of more sleep and rest than usual. Perhaps that's in response to the long hours I usually work, or perhaps it's in response to my new commitment to cut way back on those work hours. Perhaps I'm just tired because I've ramped up my exercise program considerably over the last 10 days or so.  I haven't yet reached the point where exercise gives me more energy; I'm still pretty tired when I'm done!  

In any case, I feel like this card is giving me permission to cozy up, cuddle up and dream a bit more.  Hide out from the world for a bit longer, and dream a few new dreams . . . 

What about you, dear Readers?  What does this card say to you? 

Video: The Gaian Tarot Lovers Card

A close look at the Gaian Tarot Lovers card, just in time for the season of Beltane! I compare it to the Rider Waite Smith version, explain why I made certain creative choices, and talk about why I chose my models.  Enjoy!

Ace of Air - Gaian Tarot Card of the Week

       What wisdom do I need to keep in mind this coming week?

       Ace of Air 

Wow!  What a wonderful card to pull today.  A butterfly emerges from her cocoon that hangs from a hawthorn tree, one of the Beltane flowers.  Emerging from gestation, oh yes!  Tomorrow I’ll be releasing all the details for my newest project, the Gaian Tarot Circle community site.  This is something I’ve been dreaming up for months, and I’m thrilled that its time is so near.   

Spring!  Rebirth!  Renewal!  Metamorphosis!

Yes I am blossoming with new ideas for creative projects, classes, books,  . . .  And I’m in the midst of healing myself of some minor health issues that have been irking me for months.  I’m back on track with daily walks outdoors, where I can get my exercise and connect with Mama Gaia all at the same time.  Blessed be!

And what does this card say to you, dear Readers?