Bitch, Please: Talking To The Star

Bitch, Please: Talking To The Star

[Tweet “Uh oh, Arwen’s talking bad about the Star card in the #tarot. Really?”]

Housewives Tarot Star
Housewives Tarot

#affirmation So I really love today’s card but I am not seeing it in the hopeful setting I normally see it. No, for some reason my first response was, “Oh bitch please…as if we could all do that every day.”

The Star is a card of hope, of goals reached, of aspirations achieved. Here we see a happy housewife whose cherry pie has won first prize.

But my reaction was so negative. LOL So what I want to talk about today is the idea of “keeping up with the Jones.” If you aren’t familiar with that statement, it means the idea that we have to do as well as, or better, than our neighbors.

What a recipe for disaster that is, right? Instead of baking our own out-of-this-world sour cream raisin pie, we set out to mimic the cherry pie winner. We leave our creativity sacrificed on the doorstep of “one better.”

I vote for more pies of all different flavors–and cakes, cookies, cupcakes…ahem. My blood sugar may be dropping. Sorry.

So here’s today’s affirmation based on the Star from the Housewives Tarot (Quirk Books):

Today I am my own star. I reach for my own goals. I focus on what I am best at. I strive to achieve quality in my own way. I set my expectations based on my own strengths. I judge me against myself. I’m my own best competition. Loved and loving, I love each of you.

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on!

The Star, Housewives Tarot, Quirk Books

Boobs, Battles + Owls

Black_17StarToday’s card is a rather dark look at a bright card. Of course,when it is from this deck illustrated by Royo, you can see where the dark comes from.

Famed fantasy artist, Luis Royo, is known for his muscular warriors and scantily clad women. This is not one of his helpless women. Oh no. This Star bears a bloody sword and a determined look. Nothing stands between her and her goal.

The owls behind her are dramatic, but I honestly can’t see how they tie into the Star energy. Well maybe I can. The Star does had a meaning of higher education and lofty goals. Perhaps the owls here are symbols of that.

The bloody sword is a nice touch as is her bare boob. I read a ton of fantasy. I adore the sword and sorcery genre. It never fails to tickle me when I see a warrior babe like this. I mean what idiot goes to war with her booby hanging out like that? She has to know that is going to hurt when it gets sliced.

Shrug. Maybe she’s into that sort of thing? I don’t judge her for it.

But look at her eyes. They are very owl like, aren’t they? As if she’s seen so much war that now she knows what she is fighting for. Now she knows why she is striving for that higher goal.

What about you? What higher goal are you willing to fight for? What motivates you into battle mode?

Yep, that was your journal prompt. Didn’t want you to miss it.

Star, The Black Tarot, N.H. Fournier S.A., aff

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for 9/30 when I will be talking about Judgment with Kim Wilborn on her Spiritual Path to Tarot Telesummit. It’s free to listen to the talk and for 48 hours after. You can also buy the full telesummit to listen to at your leisure if you prefer. I hope you’ll join me!

Magic, Opportunity + Stars

StolenChild_StarToday’s card reminds me that magic happens. That sometimes things just fall into your lap. All you have to do is stay open to the possibility. And that, my darling dears, that can be so freaking hard when you are locked into a negative mode of thinking.

I was eagerly awaiting a Kickstarter project from a Tarot artist. I had already seen enough cards to know I wanted, no, needed the deck. The subject, the colors, the style–all of it sang to me. It sang to me the way my Gaian Tarot sings to me.

The name was a bit off-putting for some who weren’t familiar with the poem by the same name. The Stolen Child by Yeats is about a child who is taken away by faeries. The last line is heart breaking.

“For the world’s more full of weeping than he can understand.”

This deck captures that wish for, that trust in, the innocence of the world. It gives lyrical voice to the magic that so many of us seek and sometimes see. It is a joyful deck. I rarely buy Majors Only decks. I don’t see much use in them frankly (although Tarot enthusiasts like Paul Nagy and Mary K. Greer recently helped me see that a bit differently.)

Now this deck is seeking to find it’s way into the world as a full 78 card deck. Creatrix and fellow Austinite, Monica L. Knighton has launched an ambitious Kickstarter campaign. She’s staying open to the possibility that the Universe (and the rest of us) will support her by pre-buying decks.

For those not familiar with Kickstarter, there are two types of projects. One is a flexible funding in which the money you pledge immediately goes into the project. The other is fixed. That is what Monica has chosen.

This means if the project isn’t fully funded, it won’t happen. Yes, those are tears you see in my eyes at the thought of not holding this deck.

The last time I looked she was nearly 9% funded. That’s a good showing but she just started. Several things must happen for this to be a success. The first is that if you agree with me that this deck sees publication, then you go here and choose your level of support. I’ll tell you what that means in a moment.

The second thing is very important. You tell your friends at least twice a week. Seriously. We all think, “Oh I want to do that” but then get sidetracked. The interwebz are full of “oooh shiny.”

So pledge once and share twice a week. 😀

Pledging means you are going to get something for your money. Even the smallest donation of $5 gets a thank you from Monica. As you move up, you get more including artwork, jewelry and, of course, the deck itself.

You have to create a Kickstarter account (you can link it to your Facebook if you like.) If you have an Amazon account, you can link it to that. That’s what I do. Then I make a note in my calendar that X amount will be coming out on that day so I’m not surprised.

I’ve funded a lot of Kickstarter campaigns. Only one that fully funded has ever been a disappointment due to lack of communication from the artist (Dancer’s Tarot.) Or that was on Indiegogo but they are the same thing.

I have met Monica in person as well as chatted with her online about other projects. She is not the flake-out type. She creates and delivers.

You can pre-buy this deck for only $24 dollars which includes domestic shipping (there’s a $12 fee if you are outside of the US.) That’s the lowest amount where you get the deck. Levels go up from there.

You can get three for $64 which means if you and two friends go into together, you get your decks for less than the $24!

  • No, I don’t make a single dime off this.
  • No, I’m not sleeping with Monica.
  • No, she’s not blackmailing me.
  • No, I won’t unfriend you if you don’t support this deck.

I just think this deck needs to be in our hands. The colors, the art, the whole concept bring such joy to our world. I want you to be a part of this.

  • No, I won’t ask you individually if you did this.
  • Yes, I will be mentioning it again.

Oh, remember that opportunity thing? I had the opportunity to buy original art work from the Majors-Only project. When I saw the Star, I cried. It had my octopus, my nautilus and my otter all in one picture. Magic, I tell you. Magic.

I was able to buy that because I asked and was given the opportunity. I stayed open and it fell into my lap.

For your 180 seconds today, can you commit to staying open to the possibility of magical opportunity falling into your lap? Let me know by commenting.

Oh, the winner of the reading? Wendy Woodwife Green! Congratulations. Contact me and we will set that up.

Here’s the link to the Stolen Child Tarot project again: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/774786282/stolen-child-tarot-complete-the-78-card-deck

Star, The Stolen Child Tarot (Major-Only edition). Monica L. Knighton (No Borders Studio, Austin, TX)

Seek Joy,Y’all. Pass it on.

The Tarot Nose: The Star

On my skin it’s very light and breezy. Not what I normally choose to wear but I really liked it. Still have a peppery/spicy tone to it…I guess this is what makes it sharp in the tonal quality. I keep sniffing myself trying to remember where I smelled this before, then it hit me.

The Star Gaian Tarot

Above her the Pleaides rise, those dancing Seven Sisters who symbolize our heart’s home. Behind her is the celestial stream between Heaven and Earth, known as the Milky Way, where pilgrims travel from one realm to the next. Beside her the Kingfisher reminds us of the halcyon days of peace and plenty. With our inner ear, we hear a voice proclaim: “I am the Soul of Nature, which gives Life to the Universe. From me all things proceed, and to me all things shall return.” More than anything, the Star Goddess represents grace, a divine connection that is unearned and freely granted.

Excerpted from Joanna Powell Colbert’s Gaian Tarot page on the Star. You can read more here.

So I’m blessed to  know the parfumer from Esscentual Alchemy. She and I are members of the Gaian Circle. I’ve reviewed all of her Gaian Tarot perfumes so far. This is another of those reviews. I was so excited Continue reading “The Tarot Nose: The Star”

The Fool Meets The Star

This is an ongoing project that I started June 3, 2008. I pick it back up when I am moved to do so.

When last we left our Fool, he’d been shocked to his very core by the unending tragedy of the Tower. But instead of giving in to his fears, he remarked to his faithful little White dog…

Rider Waite Smith FoolThis is an ongoing project that I started June 3, 2008. I pick it back up when I am moved to do so.

When last we left our Fool, he’d been shocked to his very core by the unending tragedy of the Tower. But instead of giving in to his fears, he remarked to his faithful little White dog, Continue reading “The Fool Meets The Star”