Gaian Tarot Artist's Journal

What We Did Last Saturday

Gathering at the River ~ Lammastide

Once again, the local tribe gathered on sacred land to celebrate the First Fruits of the Harvest at Lammas. 

Joanna Macy on the Great Turning

She speaks my truth.  Thank you Hecate, for pointing this video out. 

Eco-philospher Joanna Macy from "The Work That Reconnects", talking about the concept of a Great Turning.

For more info visit http://www.joannamacy.net/
Video by Leo Daedalus (c) 2005 Joanna Macy

Interested in learning more about The Great Turning?
See clips from the new movie at http://www.thegreatturningfilm.org/

Circle Practicum Center

James Wells and Bev Haskins led a Circle Practicum in May.  "As you can see, the Gaian Tarot played a prominent role in creating our beautiful spiritual entre," Bev writes.  A gorgeous altar indeed!  James writes about his circle process work on his blog quite a bit. In the Gaian Tarot Circle, we were recently blessed to experience James' circle work via teleseminar.  It surprised me (shouldn't have, but it did) to find how deep we could go on the phone together.  I'm looking forward to doing more of this kind of work. Blessed be.

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?

Snippets from the Readers Studio, 2010

I'm home from another wonderful experience at the Readers Studio in New York. These conferences just keep getting better and better.  I was thrilled to see so many Gaian Tarot decks made an appearance — there was at least one at every table and often more.  I'm still in "rest and recovery" mode but wanted to post a few photos today.  There's lots more on Facebook, here and here and here and here.

Here's Tarot Goddess Mary Greer and me, both dressed in turquoise for the Sat. night banquet:

Earth Hour 2010 this Saturday, 8:30 PM

By the Shores of Snowy Lake Michigan . . .

(Photo at left: Stella the Traveling Mermaid visits Lake Michigan) 

Last weekend my mermaid sister Nora and I traveled to Wisconsin to spend a few days with Angie Buchanan and the women of Gaia's Womb.  The theme of the weekend was "Womb to Womb" and Nora did a presentation on Home Funerals and Green Burials Saturday morning. I followed up with a workshop in the afternoon on "Tarot & the Mysteries of Life, Death & Rebirth," then taught the women how to read the cards intuitively, without looking the meanings up in the book.  Many ah-ha moments and epiphanies came to the women in both workshops — something all teachers hope for.  

Spending time with these women felt like being welcomed home. After the first evening on Friday, all the faces looked familiar, as if I had known them all my life. It was lovely to meet Holly, Rowan and Willow, and to hear how they see themselves in my 3 of Earth card. With much giggling, they told me which of the women in the card corresponded to each one of them.  I bought a gorgeous handspun, handwoven shawl from Holly in Ostara colors, just the thing to brighten a grey Northwest spring.  Moonfeather, who runs PSG, was relaxed and radiant and has a beautiful singing voice.  She sang a welcoming song to the babies in the wombs of two pregnant women there that brought us all to tears. Angie is a fabulous ritual priestess and hostess, and is the glue that holds this community together.   

We stayed in a convent / retreat center on the shores of Lake Michigan.  Nora and I shivered every time we ventured outside, while these homegirls walked outside in short sleeves and kept saying, "It's really not all that cold."  Ha ha.  The nuns were all elderly and so welcoming. They gave us big smiles when we passed them in the hallways and some stopped to tell us how glad they were that we were there.  Some even gave us hugs and kisses.  "You're so beautiful!" they would say.  "You're so radiant!"  Their walls were covered in artwork that would look right at home at a Goddess conference — the Sacred Feminine is alive and well in these women's hearts.  

Saturday night Angie led us down into the bowels of the convent where we walked through darkened hallways singing "We all come from the Goddess."  Our voices reverberated through the corridors and I imagined the sisters and other retreatants upstairs hearing ethereal strains of our song, perhaps wafting up the heating ducts.  Soon we came into a large ballroom-sized space with a Chartres labyrinth laid out, surrounded by candlelight, with Jennifer Berezan's "Returning" setting the mood. It was one of the most profound labyrinth walks I've ever done.   

Blessed be, women of Gaia's Womb.  You are wonderful!

Lots of photos after the jump.

The Shape of Things to Come

When I picked Elizabeth up from her hotel yesterday morning, I said: Shall we go say Hi to Mama Ocean? So we did.

It turns out that the Star card was an excellent omen for this week, at least for the first two days of my business retreat. Elizabeth and I both felt as though we were “downloading” information directly from the Muse at times.  I think I might have chosen a more electric, fiery card to represent the last two days though, as I am still fairly buzzing with excitement over what we planned out for 2010 and beyond.  

I’m not quite ready to go into details, but I will tell you that I am going to be making a major shift in my business life.  I am going to phase out my web design business and start doing a lot more teaching.  Those of you who know me from this blog (which I started in 2004) may not be aware that I spent most of the 90’s making my living from teaching classes and workshops in the Northwest on Goddess spirituality and the Tarot. I’ve taught in living rooms, bookstores and conference centers. When I moved to the island in 2000, I stopped teaching partly because of logistics (the ferry/transportation issue) and partly because I was ready for new challenges, which included creating the Gaian Tarot.  

A Blessed Solstice to All

 I posted this video last year, but I hope you don't mind that I'm posting it again. I had almost forgotten about it myself. I took many of the photos in the slideshow — some show winters on our beloved island, some show the snowstorm in our own backyard last year, and some show the Lucia Parties over the years.  Cate Kerr took most of the snowy landscapes. My beloved Pop is the "wise man" on the snowy road, just down from our island house.

This video still touches my heart.  We hope it touches yours, too.

A Blessed Solstice to all!

Click here to play a Quicktime movie (high res version) or click here for the YouTube version.

“In the Bleak Midwinter” performed by Craig Olson

Music by Gustav Holst (1906)

Lyrics by Christina Rossetti (1872), revised by Craig Olson (2006)

Photography Credits:

Snow scenes by Catherine Kerr and Joanna Powell Colbert

Interior scenes by Paul Bingman, Chele Eva Armstrong and Joanna Powell Colbert