Darkana Deck......... Woohoo!

Wow... finally my Darkana Tarot Deck by Dan Donche is here!! I originally backed this on Kickstarter months ago, and although there were a few mailing issues, as in the best laid plans of mice and men... I never got disheartened and was happy to see it when it arrived. had I known just how much I was going to fall in love with it at first sight, I would have been way more impatient!!

Opening my red mailbox on this hot Saturday morning I found this cute as a button little brown parcel:

Brown Paper Delight

I carefully unwrapped it as it felt like the cards may not be boxed but they were, and beautifully so.... there is nothing I dislike about this gorgeous grungy badass deck!!
 

Darkana Deck With Free Everwind Sticker!

It came with a signed box and a signed Badass card... this was an extra for those of us who backed the deck on Kickstarter.  Dan's take on the Tarot it just wonderful..... I love the art, the backs fit perfectly and the thought that has gone into the creation of each card is just genius methinks.

Signed Box by the Badass Himself :)

Love the numerals and the font Dan chose, love the dirty splatters and smudged inky grunginess. I love that this is a special card that reminds me of me a few years ago!

Darkana Cards with Back Design

 Just look at the adorable Fool card, and the backs and the symbols and numbers.... YUM!

And a last peek for now, of my two favorite cards so far, this is on my first look mind and no doubt many more will vie for this place. The Two of Pentacles.... why oh why has none thought about this before... a hamster on a wheel... how perfect is that for this card.... !

And my first fave, the Five of Pentacles, this has always been one of my favorite cards in any deck and one of the first cards I look at, but because I was so enthralled with it all I didn't jump straight to my *go to* cards, so I wasn't expecting it..... How perfect is this? Bloody brilliant.....

I shall be using this as my Deck of the Week as from tomorrow so you will be hearing more.

Happiness is a grungy, gorgeous Tarot Deck.

First Footing....

This morning I received an email from Tarosophy advertising a new course called Tarot Life. The course runs for 12 months and each month is accompanied by an instruction booklet available on Kindle or as a PDF. I have been looking for a Tarot study for the New Year and this seems perfect. I have purchased the book and worked out the initial steps.. very exciting. I will use my blog to record my results now and then and keep ypou updated with how its going. Even if noone ever reads my blog, it can keep me updated and act as a reminder... well, in theory!

So its the last day of 2012. This time last year I was about to leave the UK and return to New Zealand. I was not happy about that. I looked forward to seeing my home again and my older girls and my goats and cats, but leaving my mum and my sister and Dilly my best friend, was not easy. Not to mention leaving the cool winter weather for the humid heat of Nelson. I have no idea where we were at new Year, what time zone we were crossing, it went by unnoticed, although I was awake the whole 26 hours we were in the air. I do remember the airport staff at Heathrow were lenient with our extra hand baggage, as a salute to the season though, so that was nice!

Today, reflecting on the year I thought I would devise a 3 card spread to give me a snapshot of this past year. I have called it First Footing after the custom in Scotland, my Motherland.

The spread was designed to show where we excelled in our life journey and personal growth in the past year, what we want or need to leave behind, and what we should pack in our rucksack to take with us when we go first footing!


First Footing Spread


1****2****3


1. What you will leave behind in your footprints as you leave the old year
2. Your biggest path of growth this past year
3. What you will take with you as you step into the new year 

So... these are the cards I drew for this spread. I used my Deviant Moon deck as it was one of my most used this year, especially in the first half of the year :)

5 of Pentacles, 9 of Pentacles & The Tower from Deviant Moon Tarot

 

1. What you will leave behind in your footprints as you leave the old year - Five of Pentacles


Leaving behind hardship and poverty seems like a good thing to me! Although this card seems to be about judgement from how I see it. The watching eye in the church, the female character sneaking around, as if ashamed to be seen. Also the Judgement card is number eleven and I cant help but see the two chimneys as an 11. The poor naked creature appears to be bathed in moonlight from her colour, which brings to mind Diana, the Moon goddess, who was also a goddess of chastity. She was also a patron of slaves, and they would always be given sanctuary in her temples. Interesting, so she could be seeking sanctuary, from judgement, the undeserved judgement of society who shunned her, because they only saw what they wanted to see. Far from a loose woman she could be running from the rape of society.

All these things are good things to leave behind, there has been judgement, but the strongest judgements have been self imposed... as they say, we are our own worst judges!


2. Your biggest path of growth this past year - Nine of Pentacles

This is a funny old card.... nine different Pentacles  hang in the sky, the masked creature is chained to a small skull that looks like it came from a gravestone... could this be mortality? The earthly life. And those Pentacles could symbolise riches in heaven, or in the spiritual world rather than the physical. She has had some setbacks in life, with no arms, and the loss of one foot. But the foot has been replaced by a wheel, which will enable her to move faster maybe. Kind of a built in scooter! In spite of her Venetian style carnival mask and lack of limbs, she does have an air of confidence. Her dress looks well made but with the moon buttons this could be illusion, like everything is not what it seems.
She may look well dressed and bodily incomplete, but she is actually more whole than many, as she is rich in spirit . Her mask could symbolise her lack of presence in the material world and like the moon carved into the stone she walks on, this turns the traditional meaning of the card on its head rather. Her robe could actually be that of a holy or spiritual order, and the mask be her veil, sheilding her from the eyes of the world. No arms could be a way of showing that she reaches out with her soul for wealth rather than grasps with her hands at happiness in material wealth. I see this card here, as being about the importance of enlightenment and spiritual growth.

Also of interest is that 2012 for me has been a 9 year, and the card is a 9....this could signify that the spiritual development that started this year will go on to become stronger in 2012


3. What you will take with you as you step into the new year  - The Tower

Here I see the breakdown of illusion, and falsehoods. The moonlight is burning through the tower causing it to begin its collapse. The tower itself is actually very small, and so the falling man could actually be in a dream or an Alice in Wonderland kind of world. Perhaps the moons light has set him free from the tower, and although it had seemed a huge thing, we now see how small is actually is. Like the line from the Eagle's song, Already Gone which I have quoted before:

"So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
 And we never even know we have the key "

Self imposed imprisonment has come to an end, and it may feel like you are falling and losing security but actually you are gaining freedom from a prison that was way too small and confining to fit who you really are. The other guy lying down could be the prisoner who is now being put to rest, .... he could represent self criticism, judgement..... like in the first card....Makes sense!

A very blessed and wonderful 2013 to you all......

Thanks 2012.. for everything.

Amazing Three Cards!

As this past seven days has been so eventful, in so many ways, I asked the cards to tell me the three important events or lessons about my most week.

I will begin with a purely intuitive reading from the images on the three cards I drew. I didn't keep them in any particular order of drawing so all have equal weight unless the cards direct me otherwise!,

When I turned the cards over, I found it hard to believe the accuracy of the images.... just like 3 snapshots straight out of my life!

Two of Pentacles, Eight of Chalices & Five of Pentacles - Tarot of the Sweet Twilight

Two of Pentacles

This card says to me that she is looking in that mirror and asking plain and simple...

"What shall I do?" I see birds as messengers and the fact that there are two of them shows lots of advice coming her way but she needs to make the decision ultimately. She knows that she is the only one she can rely on to guide her safely through the emotional turbulence she is in.

The mirror is magic so she is being aided from other sources than this world... her intuition is strong, the image it shows is clear and she needs to trust it.

The floating object in the sea to the right of the mirror looks as if it could be an island, if this is so then maybe its a distraction to take her from the path she really needs to be on.

She is hiding her talents in real life but knows she needs to show them off more.... I wonder if the red hat is a thinking cap... she looks very thoughtful!

Lots of questions this week, and I have been trying to ask what I want and whats best for me in the long run. I have been told by a couple of friends to concentrate on my well being.. and I have felt a strong need to really look and find out who I am now.... I have always seen myself as a bit of a loser in life deep down, but maybe others don't see me this way. Maybe that person in the mirror is me in my true light and power.

Eight of Cups

Oh my so poignant. I see a woman who is walking away with a lot of difficulty from a relationship that was just too unbalanced. The sun is setting in a red sky which says to me that the relationship is ending. She is still connected by the ends of her hair to the tree that is how she saw her lover. He is not attached to the tree, he never was, the tree was the illusion that he created to bind her to him. Her hair os growing out and away from him and the tree... growth is a natural process, it takes time for hair to grow that long, and there are a lot of tangles to be dealt with on the way. She looks sad but determined. She is emptying the cups contents... she doesn't need to escape into the wine anymore. She can see how big the world is.

The lover looks totally disbelieving, his hand is on his heart indicating pain. He is too shocked to feel remorse. She has really left him....  and he is left clutching his goblet of wine for solace. He is dark and shadowy and closed. He stays close to the tree of illusion that was him..., he is blending into it in the shadows. She is light and open one snip and she will be totally free.

There is a path ahead which looks clear, but she ignores it and is looking to the side.. distracted by the wonderful view... so there may be some indecision.

Well yes and yes and yes..... all this happened this week... exactly as in the picture on the card. Even the timescale for the hair to grow that long and for her to get that far away is about right. Amazing.

Another aspect I see here is that the girl is looking out to sea where her sister is far away.....  she wants to be with her, she is maybe raising the last glass to her (in which case it would contain Lindauer Brut Cuvee. The shadowy figure could be our Dad who was cremated this week. The sunset could be his.

Sometimes when there is a lot of loss... its hard to sort out what hurts most.



Five of Pentacles

I laughed when I saw this card.... after the other two it was unbelieveable that this could show. Most of my week has been taken up with the idea of traveling again. I have spent hours looking at buses on Trademe and talking to other travelers and being so inspired. I have had some wonderful exchanges and sharing with one special traveler who is new in my life.

The two chicka's could be me and any of the five awesome friends who have helped me so much this week... Chris, Pearl, Myk, Susan and my sister Debbo. I thank you all and am blessed to have you in my life.

They are flying their colours on their persons and their awesome hippy camper van! They have their bat wing kite to help them and if all else fails the two broomsticks are standing by at the ready. They have everything they need now to move forward. Even the dirty washing has all been done. Ready for a clean start. Fresh air bows through the windows of the bus, blowing the cobwebs away.

Just wonderful.... I have the best friends in my life, who are ever supportive of me, I have all I need to move on, the wings and the wheels and the will. I just need to decide which direction to head in...one half of me wants to hang on the the old dying life, that old black hat was comfortable. This new green one will take some getting used to.

What an absolutely awesome, intuitive accurate deck this is.