The Cosmic Tarot

Another deck I recently acquired in a trade, is The Cosmic Tarot. This is the original edition printed by  FX Schmid in 1988 according to the LWB and I love it. It is almost 70's style, has an *Age of Aquarius* feel to me and the people in it remind me of the men and women of my youth, their look and style.

The Cosmic Tarot

The colours are subtle, and subdued, they speak to me of summers long gone, they are early summer morning pink, sunset gold and lazy afternoon blue... they have a watery feeling, that life is flowing gently along, and all you have to do is lie on a raft and float with it down the river. They are not quite real and bring an air of escape, of being lost in a cinema...while the world gos on around you. The film stars featured in the cards make me think of the old movies they used to show one after the other at Christmas time. I don't recognise many of the stars, having never seen much TV, but there are definitely some familiar faces. One I thought I recognised was the Eight of Cups, I thought it was Andy Garcia but apparently it is Martin Sheen... oh well..! The High Priestess is my daughter... absolutely, she has her eyes, her look to a T! One of the things I love about the deck is that the font is actually not a font, it's all hand drawn or written..... and gorgeously done too....

Court Cards from The Cosmic Tarot

 
The deck seems to be more Thoth than Rider Waite based, which does seem to suit it's overall mood somehow. Justice is at 8 and Strength at 11, rather than the other way round as with the Rider Waite. The minors look to be fairly close to Rider Waite but I haven't studied it enough yet to really be sure.

I will look at some of the cards in more detail in future posts as I use the deck more, but I have my favourites already, and then there are some cards I am not so keen on, I really don't get all the gymnasts and sword fighters in the Minor Arcana although I guess they come from the silver screen era. The Devil has a disturbing odd cheesy kind of smirk, but one card which is just *YUK*, is the Ten of Swords... it is supposed to give this feeling though, so I guess it does a good job..... even so I would prefer something less blatantly ugly.

Cards I am particularly taken by are the Five of Pentacles and The Hierophant. The Five of Pentacles shows people leaving a scene of ruin, war and destruction.... so much of this was flashed across news screens in the past 20 years, to me it speaks of the indomitable spirit of humankind. I always tend to see this card in this light, although many see it as a bad card, to me it spells hope. The Hierophant I love because of the light shining from his eyes, like he is seeing incredible visions somewhere out in the heavens. I like to think of him as Galileo, or Dr John Dee.

The Hierophant from The Cosmic Tarot

Of course I had to make a wee bag to suit it, and I had this scrap of lemon velvet and some purple satin lying around, so...... the deck has a home and its box can be saved for another day....

Velvet Cosmic Bag for the Cosmic Tarot

Barbara Walker Tarot Bag

I couldn't resist making this special bag for a tribe member, when she mentioned that she wanted  a bag for her new Barbara Walker Tarot.

I don't have this deck, so I looked it up and was stunned by the design of the backs. They seem so powerful and the colours are so strong. Crying out to be translated to fabric and thread.

I found some heavy black felt in my stash and some hand dyed orange cotton and set to making this wee treasure. I just love the combination of orange, black and white. The deep orange lining looks great and the symbols which I embroidered freehand, stand out so well.

Barbara Walker Tarot Bag

 
The only thing I wasn't so cool about was using Velcro as a fastening... but I wanted it to stay plain, unfrilly and simple.

Barbara Walker Tarot Bag Front

I actually wish these backs were on a different deck as this is not a deck I can imagine ever desiring to have in my collection. I find the images too ugly... maybe ugly is the wrong word.... they just don't connect with me. But the backs did.....!

Triple Moon Tarot Bag & Cloth

I had a great time today making a special order Tarot bag for a trade.

I made the Triple Moon Goddess cloth, and one of the tribe fell for it, and asked for a bag to match...!

The cloth is made of four different cottons and appliqued with the moon symbols which I originally cut from card templates using a small tea plate! The back is lined with a soft deep indigo cotton which I dyed by hand, it has an almost velvet like feel. It measures approximately 24 inches square, so is great for a full moon layout, or astrology spreads. Unlike my Deviant Moon cloth I didn't have a particular deck in mind when I made this cloth, so I guess it was meant to fly off to its current owner.

Triple Moon Goddess Tarot Cloth

Luckily I had enough fabric left to make the bag to match the cloth perfectly! The bag is large enough to hold a standard Tarot deck with the cloth wrapped around it, as was requested. I cant wait until it reaches its new home!!

Triple Moon Tarot Bag & Cloth

And here is the back of the bag.... you cant see the lining in these pics, but it is actually lined with the same hand dyed cotton as the back of the reading cloth.

Back of Tarot Bag

Waking the Wild Spirit!

Wow! I just received my Waking the Wild Spirit book and deck by Poppy Palin, I think it may be out of print now, but I got it in a trade. It is just mind blowingly *GORGEOUS!!!*

My beautiful Waking the Wild Spirit Tarot

This is a very quick account of my first impressions as I have not had time to study the cards or the book, I just wanted to tell someone!

I so love this deck, I dont know where to start, it was love at first hold. The cards are a perfect size for Tarot cards in my opinion, and shuffle beautifully, and the design on the backs...... when you shuffle they just seem to flow through your hands like a waterfall...

The Major Arcana have all had their names changed in the most delightful way. The first card I saw was  the Wandering Minstrel, the fool, the free spirit.....  colourful, bohemian, wild and oh soooooo handsome..! He was followed by the cunning man or the Magical Spirit, with his flowing grey locks, his tin whistle and his top hat, dancing barefoot before the campfire.... wonderful! Then I found his partner in music and dance...that wily old fox, The Fiddler, the wild spirit, devil may care......summoning demons and imps to his tune...

Waking the Wild Spirit Back and Tin Whistler

The four suits of the Minor Arcana are Water, Earth, Air and Fire instead of the traditional Cups, Pentacles, Swords and Wands and each card has a keyword, for example the Three of Water is the Wishing Well, and the Page of Earth is bearded, ballet dancing Jack-in- the- Green.

The companion book at first glance looks rich with treasure, poetry, folklore, myth amd magic. I feel like locking my other decks away (yes even my Deviant Moon..) and just playing with this beauty until I have made all the characters part of my family.....

More Tarot Bags.....!

Just had to show you some more bags, before they all go. These are my Jester Bags, suitable for keeping all kinds of magical objects safe. I like the flat bottoms but for Tarot decks some people prefer them to be made envelope style. They are great for crystals or runes too. I like to use fun contrasting fabrics and add bells for some jingle to the points. My Faerie Deck is rather attracted to the one on the left with the purple lining! The red one I traded for a gorgeous Rabbit Tarot.. (more about that in another post.)

Magical Jingling Jester Bags

 

 
I had an idea of making bags for each of the four elements... to suit various decks, or just because! The one showmn below is crocheted in many weights and textures of yarn, from really fine and whispy to soft and chunky silk thread. This bag was my Air element bag. I prurposely had lacey stitches to give the feeling of airiness, and the colours were chosen to match different aspects of the sky and clouds.

Air Element Tarot Bag

 

Next another knitted bag, but very different from my Deviant Moon one.... I taught myself this lovely leafy/tree style stitch and knitted this bag using an oatmeal coloured pure wool. I am currently using it as nesting space for my Well Worn Path and Hidden Path oracle decks, which I like to use together.

Knitted Tarot Bag with Tree Stitch

 

 

Now this beauty is my Fire element bag, I love this, it feels soooo good! The main part of the bag that holds the deck is crocheted in soft orangey cotton yarn, and I added a gorgeous flamelike eyelash fibre into the mix to crochet the flap! I must take another pic of it closed to show it in it's full glory. Not sure which deck to give this bag to yet, currently it is being checked out by the Cat People!

Fire Element Tarot Bag

Tarot Bags & Cloths

I have become addicted to making bags for my decks, and everyone elses! Stitched, knitted, crocheted... all colours, shapes and sizes...I have made heaps now. Other folk seem to like them too, so I have been having a lot of fun, making them to order for my online store, or to trade, usually for decks or books on my wishlist.

The first cloth I made was for my Deviant Moon deck, and I knitted a bag to go with it, I was really pleased with my efforts, I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist, which means I can be easily put off if something is not working out how I feel it should. With knitting though, I have been happily freeform knitting, shaping the bags as I go and really enjoying the whole process.

This bag is called The Hermit, it's made from a slightly rough weave outer cloth and lined with a toning cotton, it is actually a wrap more than a bag, with a pocket at one end for the cards and the rest of the wrap opens out to a cool cloth for 1-4 card readings. Shown here opened up, with The Tarot of the Cat People. The wrap is held closed with ribbons and clay beads.

The Hermit - Tarot Wrap

This next bag is a cotton double drawstring bag, fully lined with black muslin. I embroidered the pentacle freehand using space dyed machine threads. The ribbon ties are finished with Indian style sliver beads.

Purple Pentacle Tarot Bag

This is my Deviant Moon cloth, made from four different quilting cottons and backed in heavy indigo cotton fabric. The cloth measures about 24 inches square. I painted the Moon by hand on calico and sticthed it to the cloth.

Deviant Moon Tarot Cloth

Here is the cloth pictured with the bag that I knitted for my Deviant Moon deck... I love it, it fits the cloth too and is all soft and snuggly like a wee deck sleeping bag. It is often to be found under my pillow! I even added a wee label to the bag :)

Deviant Moon Tarot Bag

This is one of the first tarot bags I made, its made from a gorgeous shot thread silk velvet and hand appliqued and embroidered. This bag doesn't have one particular deck yet, it has held a few over the years!

Shot Velvet Embroidered Tarot Bag

Archeon Tarot

Today I couldn't decide on a new deck of the week... I tried the Archeon but even after three hours shuffling it wasn't calling me....  odd, I don't know why... I love a lot of the art, love the crows especially but something is not right yet. It could be the shininess or the regimented borders... I think the cards would be much better if they were bigger and had no borders, borders take a lot away from this deck I think but it is too small to trim. Its all personal opinion, but I think Tarot and Oracle cards should be bigger than playing cards!

This is one of my favourite cards in the deck, love the colours and composition and the crow! See how that border and big words at the bottom spoil it? I could handle the words even if the cards were borderless.

Funny how I have a phobia of birds (well.. the *F* word....) but I am attracted to Corvids.... must be my dark shadowy nature... strains of Edgar Allen Poe....

I love this Tim Burton short movie of Vincent Malloy quoting The Raven!

 

We watched Dark Shadows the other night, loved the atmosphere and the aesthetics... the make up and acting was excellent, but the storyline was kind of boring. Would have been amazing on a big screen just for the atmosphere.... kind of funky 70's music they chose gave an interesting twist.