To celebrate the joy...

I have been playing with The Shining Tribe Tarot by Rachel Pollack. It is a deck that I was never attracted to when it was first released, but currently I am loving in. I managed to get a very cheap kit, and the book is great. Part of the reason why I decided to look at this deck again, was another book of Rachel’s called The Forest of Souls, which features this deck among others. I am reading the books by dipping in and having bites here and there – sometimes it’s the only way.
Anyway, I knitted a bag, in gorgeous thick wool in a kind of warm apricot pink… to celebrate the joy and colours of the shining tribe…

Silent Pride

Today is the day of silence in New Zealand, when students all around the country will tape their mouths shut. This is a way to draw attention to the many years spent in enforced silence by people of all ages who have suffered an identity crises because of struggles with their sexuality.
I am very proud of all my queer friends and all they have done to make change across the globe,  and indeed of everyone who stands up for human rights in any shape or form.
I am especially proud of my firstborn, Tabby, who has devoted all of her teenage and adult life to this cause. I chose a Tarot card for her, and I chose the High priestess, she is strong, and wise, she is eons older than her years and she lifts a veil between two worlds.I chose the High Priestess card from the Cosmic Tarot because she looks wise, she looks ahead yet carries the wisdom and landscapes of the past. She holds history and the future in her hands, and lights our way like the moon.

 

I have learned  more than I can ever say from my kids, and I know our whole tribe have learned so much from Tabby. If ever I did something in my life that I am totally happy with, it is raising my kids to be who they are, and to help others to fight for and realise that right.

You can see Tabby on breakfast TV here

 

 And while we are on a pride trip... this is Polly my second daughter of whom I am equally proud, and her gorgeous son Blue, doing their own bit:

Mary and the Tower

Today I finally completed one of the Tarot Bags ordered long ago by my friend Felix. It was for the Mary El Tarot. I don't have this deck, there are a few cards I love but the other...mmmmeeeeehhhh. I based the bag on one of the cards I really like which is The Tower.
Mary El Tarot - The Tower card:

 

And this is the bag I designed and made for dear Felix:

A detail of the stitching:

 

 

The Badgers Forest Tarot

Long time no post, I have been so busy with college, family, making bags etc, I have had little time to blog here. I intend to change that over the next few days as life settles down a little!

Meanwhile I wanted to share this new project by Nakisha Vanderhoeven who created the wonderful TaRat, The Rabbit Tarot and the Blue Dog Rose tarot. The new deck looks gorgoeus, particularly for those of you who love nature. I think it will work well with my Wildwood and also my NZ Naturally Tarot. The Druid Animal oracle would also play well with this deck! Plans for it already.

Here is a photo of the stunning Moon card that Nakisha shared on her Facebook page

This new deck is going to be larger than Nakisha's previous decks and although I love their small size it will be nice to see her beautiful artwork in more detail!

Go and check out Nakisha's videos and her Kickstarter project!

Morgan Greer Tarot Pouch

I have been commissioned to create five Tarot Bags to match certain decks for one of my customers, whom I have created custom bags for before. One of the decks is the Morgan Greer.... I was a bit stuck at first, but then I started playing and I am so pleased with what I came up with! I am not usually one to blow my own trumpet about my art, but I really think this is *perfect*!!! My own Morgan Greer deck is now extremely unhappy about the shabby old bag it has been forced to live in....

I will shut up and let the pictures speak for themselves :O)

Pouch for Morgan Greer Tarot by www.thetarotbag.com

See how the lining matches the back of the cards? I am such a clever Tripp at times... And the stunning shot silk velvet matches the yellow and reds in the deck perfectly!

Pouch for Morgan Greer Tarot by www.thetarotbag.com

Brighid's Spread

As for many of you in the North it is Imbolc and the time of year we celebrate the Goddess Brighid, I wanted to design a spread in her honour, she is the Goddess I relate to most. In the South we are about to hit Lammas, but this spread is suitable for both hemispheres. I like to be able to celebrate together with my friends all over the world. Brighid is also known as a Triple Goddess, which use the three phases of Maiden, Mother and Crone, she also represents fire and is the Goddess of Poetry, Smithing and Healing. I designed this 3 card spread with all of the above in mind: ******2***** 1**********3 1.What new fire should you be tending this season 2.What is creating the poetry in your life now 3.What wisdom is most healing for you at this time I hope you enjoy this spread. I have much more to say about Brighid and what she means to me but I want to get this spread up in time for you to use it on her feast day, so I will leave that for another post! I love this image of Brighid by Lori Karels Brighid by Lori Karels This woodcarving shows the Goddess Brighid in her three aspects as poet, healer and blacksmith. Wooden Brighid Carving Brighid inspire the poet within me Heal my pain Invoke my passion and fire Blessed be... )O(

King Pellinore & the Questing Beast

This is rather a ramble which started by my drawing Pellinor & the Lady from the Dragonfae oracle. I tend to look at the cards before I read the book, and in this case the name and the small dragon reminded me of the story of King Pellinore and the Questing Beast from the Arthurian legends.

The card has the words Bittersweet Farewell, and it is according to the book about two lovers who have to part. I cannot help but find the Pellinore story more apt. I am not surprised to see this card though because my daughter and her girlfriend of 2 and a half years, whom we all love very much,  are going their separate ways. They still love each other, Liv will always be part of our family, as we will hers, and I know they need space to grow, but I cannot help be sad. It is very bittersweet. But we need this in our lives I guess, just like Pellinore needed his beast and vice versa.

Dragonfae Oracle by Lucy Cavendish

King Pellinore spent his life searching for the Questing Beast, it drove him crazy. He would fall sleep in the saddle, so tired was he, even if he were not actively hunting he was thinking about his dear beast. Pellinore's quest got him into some bad situations involving such horrors as his own daughter torn apart by wild beasts of the forest, a curse on his life, the death of his horse and the failure of a friends loyalty and eventually his own death.

This beast was Pellinore's life….. if he ever found it, he would probably have died in the saddle, as his whole life purpose, according to him, would have been over. As it was he didn't find the beast as he was killed by the sons of King Lot of Orkney, whom he in turn had killed.

And what of the beast, was he as dependent on the chase as the King? Well there is rarely a good story that has no antagonist... as it happens the beast did suffer when at one time in his life Pellinore stopped his hunt and decided to take some rest and relaxation in a soft and comfortable bed at the home of his friend Sir Grummore. As we know, too much of the good life can be a danger to ones soul and this indeed happened to the King and his poor beast. He ventured out one day to renew his hunt and found the best pining away and half dead in the forest. To quote from T.H. White's  The Once and Future King:

“The spectacle which they came across was one for which they were not prepared. In the middle of a dead gorse bush King Pellinore was sitting, with tears streaming down his face. In his lap there was an enormous snake’s head, which he was patting. ‘There, there’, the King was saying. ‘I did not mean to leave you altogether. It was only because I wanted to sleep in a feather bed, just for a bit.’ ‘Poor creature’, said King Pellinore indignantly. ‘It has, pined away, positively pined away, just because there was nobody left to take an interest in it. How I could have stayed all that while with Sir Grummore and never given my old Beast a thought I really don’t know. Look at its ribs, I ask you. Like the hoops of a barrel. And lying out in the snow all by itself, almost without the will to live.’ ‘I happened on it in this gorse bush here, with snow all over its poor back and tears in its eyes and nobody to care for it in the wide world. It’s what comes of not leading a regular life. Before it was all right. We got up at the same time, and quested for regular hours, and went to bed at half past ten. Now look at it. It has gone to pieces all together, and it will be your fault if it dies. You and your bed. fter giving the Beast wine and bread The King insists that the hunting party tie the Beast to a pole to transport it back to the castle to be warmed by the fire and fed and nurtured back into health. The King himself tended it until they were both ready to begin the quest anew.”

“The questing Beast having revived under the influence of kindliness and bread and milk had bounded off into the snow with every sign of gratitude, to be followed two hours later by the excited King, and the watchers from the battlements had observed it confusing its snowy footprints most ingeniously, as it reached the edge of the chase. It was running backwards, bounding twenty foot sideways, rubbing out its marks with its tail, climbing along horizontal branches, and performing many other tricks with evident enjoyment. They had also seen King Pellinore – who had dutifully kept his eyes shut and counted to ten thousand while this was going on – becoming quite confused when he arrived at a difficult spot, and finally galloping off in the wrong direction with his brachet (hunting hound) behind him.” taken from T.H. White's The Once and Future King published by Harper Voyager.

I love this story, it is one of my very favorite parts in the legends of King Arthur, and it is such a wonderful example of how it is the, journey, the chase that matters, and not the destination or the prize. Both King Pellinore and the beast need each other, the beast needs to be wanted, his life depends on it, as much as Pellinore depends on the beast to give meaning to his life. When  Pellinore stops the chase the beast is saddened, pines away and almost dies. To me the beast is like our spirit, when we neglect it and suffer ourselves too much worldly comfort,  it becomes weak and begins to fade, it can no longer bring us the joy it once did.

There some images of The Questing Beast, that I really love.... the first by Arthur Rackham

Questing Beast by Arthur Rackham

 This next image is just beautiful and it is by a very talented illustrator Carisa Swenson

Questing Beast by Carisa Swenson

Carisa also has another website which shows her delightful sculpted goblins, dolls and beasts of all kinds.

The Questing Beast by Claudon

The final beast for today is by C. David Claudon who retold Mallory's Morte d'Arthur.

I really love the idea of a wonderous and fantastical beast representing my soul or spirit... what does your soul look like?