Four of Swords (The Four of Swords card is from the artist Ciro Marchetti http://www.ciromarchetti.com/)** We haven’t spoken about the Fours of the Minor Arcana in a while. This month we will talk about the Four of Swords, and remind ourselves of what happens to the energies of a card when we move forward from the Three. The Four of Swords is a Minor Arcana card, so as we know, the message offered by this card will most likely be more immediate in nature, or will most likely be connected to more day-to-day issues. The easiest way to get a decent understanding of a Minor Arcana card is to examine…

  The Sibyls Oraculum: Oracle of the Black Doves of Africa is an Oracle deck created by cultural anthropologist Tayannah Lee McQuillar, with artwork by multimedia artist Katelan V. Foisy, and published by Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont. The Oracle comes in a nice sturdy cardboard container with glossy color images on the front and a bit of information about the Oracle on the back. Inside the box are the 44-card deck and the companion book. The cards themselves are 3” x 5”; each card is printed in glossy color on both the front and the back. The images on the Oracle cards, appearing to be ancient mosaics, in glossy color are…

The Nine of Swords (The Nine of Swords card is from the artist Ciro Marchetti http://www.ciromarchetti.com/)** We haven’t talked about the Minor Arcana Nines for quite some time. This month, we will examine the Nine of Swords. Comparing cards and their individual meanings is valuable throughout the study of the Tarot, but this process is particularly useful when looking at the Swords cards. If you remember, I stated in past columns that in my opinion the Five of Swords and Seven of Swords are sometimes not easy to tell apart. Understanding these two cards and their differences helps us in part to understand the Nine of Swords and all of…

Three of Pentacles (The Three of Pentacles card is from the artist Ciro Marchetti http://www.ciromarchetti.com/)** We haven’t looked at a Pentacles card in a while, so this month we will examine the Three of Pentacles. The Three of Pentacles is a Minor Arcana card, so we know right away that the message offered by this card will most likely be more immediate in nature, or will most likely be connected to more day-to-day issues. The easiest way to get a decent understanding of a Minor Arcana card is to examine its number, or in the case of Court Cards, its rank, and to examine its suit. In this case, we…

Seven of Cups (The Seven of Cups card is from the artist Ciro Marchetti http://www.ciromarchetti.com/) We’ve been talking about the Cups cards for a few months now. Let’s continue and talk about the Seven of Cups this month. The Seven of Cups is a Minor Arcana card, so we know right away that the message offered by this card will most likely be more immediate in nature, or will most likely be connected to more day-to-day issues. We should remember however that every message, no matter how insignificant or mundane on the surface, can also possibly be a symptom of a deeper or wider issue; nothing in the Minor Arcana is…

Book Review Tarot For Your Self, A Workbook for Personal Transformation (Second Edition) by Mary K. Greer To me, any Tarot book written by Mary K. Greer needs attention, and Tarot for Your Self, 2nd Edition: A Workbook for Personal Transformation is no exception. Tarot For Your Self is published by New Page Books, a division of The Career Press, Inc, Pompton Plains, NJ; it is a 7”by 10” paperback with a glossy color cover and contains 298 pages of nicely-sized typeface printed on white paper. This is not a typical how-to-read-the-Tarot book. Tarot For Your Self does not only present card images, keywords and sample interpretations. Not that there…

Five of Cups (The Five of Cups card is from the artist Ciro Marchetti http://www.ciromarchetti.com/)** Last month we talked about the Two of Cups. This month we will talk about another Cups card, the Five of Cups. This one, like the other Five cards, appears sad on the surface but we will look for the silver lining. The Five of Cups is a Minor Arcana card, so we know right away that the message offered by this card will most likely be more immediate in nature, or will most likely be connected to more day-to-day issues. Remember, while on the surface a Minor Arcana card can appear insignificant or mundane, it…

Two of Cups (The Lovers Card is from the artist Ciro Marchetti http://www.ciromarchetti.com/)** Last month we talked about the Major Arcana card called The Lovers. Perhaps it is fitting this month that we talk about the Minor Arcana version of The Lovers: the Two of Cups. A Tarot deck consists of 22 Major Arcana cards with archetypal correspondences that deal with broad and far-reaching life experience issues, and 56 Minor Arcana cards that are customarily grouped into four categories or suits corresponding with the four elements (sometimes called “Pips” or “Pip Cards”) that usually deal with day-to-day issues. The Two of Cups is part of the Minor Arcana; as we have…

(The Lovers Card is from the artist Ciro Marchetti http://www.ciromarchetti.com/)**   We just passed Valentine’s Day, so this might be a good time to examine the Major Arcana card known as The Lovers. Before we begin, let’s quickly define and describe some terms. There are 22 Major Arcana cards in a Tarot deck, with numbers from 0 to 21; the Majors usually deal with broader and more far-reaching life experience issues, archetypes that are easy for us to identify with and connect with at some point in our lives. An archetype (pronounced “ark eh type”) is a generic, idealized model of a person, an object, or a concept which can be…

Lupa is an author, artist, ecopsychologist, and naturalist in the Pacific Northwest.  She creates ritual tools and other sacred art from hides and bones, and is a prolific author of pagan nonfiction books. The Tarot of Bones is a tarot deck that is inspired by natural history, and combines Lupa’s art and writing skills with her knowledge and appreciation of the natural world, adding the traits and habits of animals to the symbolism of the tarot.   After reviewing Tarot of Bones last month, I was excited to catch up with Lupa and find out a bit more about this tarot deck and its companion book.   Raushanna: I know the natural…