Deck Review- The Gaian Tarot

From seeds first planted in the nineteen eighties, The Gaian Tarot has developed from a Limited Edition deck into the mass market edition, printed and released recently by Llewellyn Worldwide. Created by Joanna Powell Colbert, The Gaian Tarot combines her love of symbolic art and the natural world, and was nine years in the making.  

This deck lovingly reflects Joanna's special relationship with nature, her neighborhood and her spiritual community and is an absolutely gorgeous earth centered deck that depicts local Pacific Northwest landscapes, incorporates naturalist history and the very best part...all of these wonderful, everyday people are real! This is a fantastic, multicultural deck that pictures people and animals that are all familiar with Joanna, in her everyday life, her nature journals and photo's taken by her. 

Joanna's artistry is simply amazing, her creative process starts out with several thumbnail sketches, a photo shoot, a digital collage, line drawing and finally, a medium of waxed based colored pencils... the imagery is so real that the Gaian Tarot nearly seems as though they are actual photographs. 

I was immediately drawn to The Gaian Tarot mainly because of it's earth based theme and was doubly delighted to discover just how truly special this deck is. I do a lot of reviews but this deck definately stood out among the rest the second I held it in my hands and began to slowly look through each card. This is not just a RWS clone, although Joanna has faithfully kept the traditional Tarot structure, the images are fresh and contemporary, making it very appealing and quite relevant to our modern daily life.

The cards are so realistic, making it possible to actually envision yourself as part of the scenery and meaning of each card. The accompanying 288 page companion book is a beautifully written and the card descriptions very nurturing and uplifting. I'm a huge fan of affirmations and each card has really wonderful and reassuring affirmation that you can't help but feel great about yourself after reading them.

There are some differences in The Gaian Tarot that you will instantly notice. In the Major Arcana some of the cards have been given updated and more relevant names such as The Seeker instead of The Fool, The Gardener from The Empress and The Builder instead of the Emperor but this just makes this deck so special because when you think of the traditional Tarot titles and their keywords, isn't the Gardener a more fitting title as she represents fertility and abundance as well as creativity and nurturing, all ideas that befit a gardener or someone who works closely with Mama Gaia.

The Minor Arcana are grouped in an elemental manner, with Swords represented by Air, Wands as Fire, Cups as Water and Pentacles as Earth which in my opinion works very well when reading elemental dignities in a spread. Joanna also updated the familiar Court Cards and more accessible  titles such as Child for Pages, Explorers for Knights, Guardians instead of Queens and Elders for Kings. Each Court Card group also has a glorious mix of two male figures and two female figures which makes reading the Courts so much more appealing as they represent actual people and roles that we encounter in our daily life.

This is truly an amazing deck and it would make a fantastic deck to use if you are a beginner! I love it's coloring, modern imagery and earth based theme, I highly encourage you to go give it a look because I can honestly say that The Gaian Tarot is definately one for your collection!

Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide

Artist: Joanna Powell Colbert

ISBN-13: 978-0738718910

Images used with permission from Llewellyn Worldwide

Family Traditions

There's a book that I've ordered recently called Circle Round raising children in the Goddess tradition. I first became aware of it a few months ago on Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom's blog where Mrs. B gave it a great review. I have been mulling over this book, checking reviews and putting a lot of thought into whether or not I should buy it to introduce (more in depth) my beliefs with my youngest two children. My kids know that I'm pagan and  have a basic understanding of what that means but I never really taught them exactly what my spiritual path is all about.

When I was their age (after my father passed away), it was not an option to choose which spiritual path I wanted to follow, I was going to go to the catholic church and follow the belief system that my mother thought I should. I began resenting "church" because deep down inside it did not resonate with me. I could not reconcile the belief that people who commit suicide went to hell...sure, my father took his own life but he suffered from manic depression and alcoholism...did god sentence cancer patients and the mentally ill to  suffer fire and brimstone for all eternity... hadn't these people suffered enough in this world? How is that an example of a loving god?

So I made a vow to myself that when I had children, I would raise them to be respectful, conscientious, loving and kind but not shove my idea of spirituality down their throats as had been done to me. I'm very proud of my children (all five of them) and have always supported them in their search for

meaning...which ironically is more earth based than mainstream beliefs and makes me chuckle to think they have a  mostly pagan belief system and they don't even realize it.

However, now that I'm older, I want my youngest two to experience the world with a more grounded view of life and how they fit in, so I finally made the decision to teach them my spirituality on a level that they can understand. I want them to experience the freedom of a spirituality that does not base it's teachings of fear or control..that being who they are is exactly as deity made them to be.... I want them to embrace their gifts and not stifle them as I did.

In this book, there are many activities and things that we can do together that also teach them about the turning of seasons, about the god and goddess and traditions that we can build together that they can pass along that teach and promote a healthy outlook on the  natural world and how it works. I'm so excited to start reading and sharing with them and maybe I'll post our progress in a few entries. I think it will deepen my own spirituality in the process.

When Witchy Wasn't Cool...

I had the coolest thing happen this weekend, I got an invitation to the Black Hat Society Network! I had been quite envious of this site for a long time now as an invitation is needed to join but low and behold the web mistress put an invite in her blog that said just send an email and an invitation would be extended...."Way cool..!" I said and promptly emailed her.

There is a cookbook in the works at The Black Hat Society Network and I'm really excited to be able to submit an entry that has been in my family for many, many years. My grandmother, may the universe bless her lovely soul, was the grounding and driving force in my young life that was less than idealistic due to my father's alcoholism. Without my grandparents, I would not be the person I am today and I wish that I could hug them one more time.

As a child I didn't even realize that my grandparent's were earth based, to me it seemed as everyones family was that way.... looking back, I see that my grandma and grandpa were true pagans at a time when it was unacceptable and thought of as blasphemy at it's finest. Holidays were mixed with little nuances of paganism and there were occasions that they celebrated that other families didn't have and it wasn't until I grew up and the path found me, did I realize the legacy that they had given me.

My grandparents have been gone for many years now, and at times I can acutely feel my loss but other times I can hear my grandmother's words echoing in my head or think that I've caught a whiff of her perfume (she made her own rose water perfume) and realize her energy still surrounds and comforts me in my lonliest times.

Beautiful Artistry

I've had a Facebook account for a few years now but really didn't use it much until one of my friends that watches my cats' webcam (Hi Ruth!) looked me up. It's actually pretty fun and I've been able to stay in touch as well as make new friends from all over the globe.

There's always cool applications that can be added and I have my favorites like YoVille and Pet Society but not to leave out the addictive Hatchlings either...Anyhow, one of my friends put up some pictures of handmade jewelry that a friend of hers makes and I have to say that her work is absolutely incredible!

I'm always looking for unique handmade pieces to add to my collection and earth based themes are a prerequisite with my tastes. I love the Celtic and pagan looking jewelry and Mel's creations certainly fit the bill. She has even started a new blog called Mel Kickland which has an example of a necklace that she has on her Etsy page where you can view her work. I super encourage you to check it out, pagan or non pagan...I myself plan on looking closer at a necklace that she's made.....and a pair of earrings...and....well, let's just say I really like what I see!