Plugging in to Electric Lenormand
This psychedelic Lenormand deck brings me back to my youth! With bright colors and clever images, this deck will entertain you and inspire your Lenormand practice.
There is a new Lenormand deck in town, and it is lit (pun intended).
From Lady Lenormand comes Electric Lenormand. This is a groovy, hippie, good-vibes Lenormand deck that you can’t help but love.
Lady Lenormand is a new independent Lenormand deck publisher. Her decks come in a cute waterproof tin. At $38.00 these decks are a bit more expensive than many Lenormand decks. For the quality, and the ability to support an independent artist and publisher, the price seems more than fair.
The theme of the deck speaks to me deeply. In High School I did a paper on Tom Wolfe’s
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Tests. Then, I did not realize that the band who provided the soundtrack for the acid tests would, in the 1980s, become my favorite band. The Grateful Dead provided me with the community and experiences that opened the door to my career as a tarot professional.
Those who have read The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley, from which Jim Morrison took the name of his band, know that many doors got opened back then. For me, the term ‘electric’ used in this context means only one thing.
I remember going to the refrigerator for a beverage and finding a note from my roommate on a big bottle of apple juice. The note was a warning. It read “ELECTRIC” in colorful magic marker letters. Clearly not something you would want to take a swig of before work.
Electric Lenormand is not the only modern divination tool themed around the psychedelic drug experience. There was a time when I was uncomfortable with decks like Trippin’ Waite. I would have been uncomfortable with Electric Lenormand, as well.
As much as I had nothing but uplifting experiences in my youthful exploration of psychedelia, many of my friends were not so lucky. While there is certainly opportunity for enlightenment, there is also significant danger. A part of me felt a bit of concern around the idea of promoting the positives of drug culture without also pointing out the obvious risks.
Yet, the vibe of Electric Lenormand is so happy, so friendly, and so darn cute, it is impossible for me not to embrace it with glee, just as I gleefully embraced the lifestyle from which it gets its theme.
From a divinatory standpoint, I love the bright colors in this deck. I believe that the colors will stimulate the third eye in order to easily engage the intuition.
As a tarotist, I love the simplicity of the designs. Lenormand is such a different system from tarot and uses different divinatory muscles. Complex Lenormand designs will lead me down a rabbit hole of trying to interpret symbolism. The clear, concise designs of Electric Lenormand make it easy to remember to work within the structure of the Lenormand system.
My favorite aspect of Electric Lenormand is that these cards are really cute and clever. The Rider is a VW bus and a surfboard. I actually traveled the country in a VW bus, along with thousands of other Deadheads. The House is a mushroom house, perfect for an elf. The Clover, of course, is a cannabis leaf. The Tree is perhaps my favorite card as it features the bird from the Woodstock poster on a branch.
The Man and the Lady are both hippies, and there are two of each. This allows for easier exploration of same-sex relationships, polyamory, and relationship complications.
To this day, I am not a proficient reader of Lenormand. Electric Lenormand may change that for me.
You can visit the Lady Lenormand website to get your own Electric Lenormand. Join us on YouTube for a free Intro to Lenormand class with the creator of this adorable deck.
The Mahabharata Oracle: Sacred Text, Archetypes, and Universal Truth
From Gita Rash comes a ground-breaking oracle. Here is my review.
The Mahabharata Oracle
By Gita Rash
Published by Red Feather Mind, Body, Spirit
Review by Christiana Gaudet
I have known artist and mystic Gita Rash for years. A long time ago, I told her she should design a tarot deck. She’s done something even more innovative. The Mahabharata Oracle is now available from the Red Feather imprint of Schiffer Publishing.
The Mahabharata Oracle comes in a magnet-closure box with a substantial guidebook. The deck itself is comprised of 36 named and numbered cards. The cards are printed on sturdy cardstock with lovely gilded edges.
The thing that is so unique and intriguing about this oracle is that it is based on an epic story. The Mahabharata, as Rash explains in the guidebook, is an epic of ancient India. As a tarotist I love the idea of an oracle based on an epic story, since we so often see tarot as telling an allegorical story.
For many westerners, the Mahabharata Oracle may be a first introduction into sacred Hindu scripture. Yet, the oracle and its guidebook are simple enough in design that one need not be a scholar of ancient sacred texts to understand these cards and the wisdom they hold.
In creating The Mahabharata Oracle Gita Rash has served two very important purposes. She has brought an important sacred text to the western world in an understandable form, and she has provided us with a very usable tool for psychic development and divination. As we read the guidebook to understand the thirty-six cards, we get a window into the epic tale of the Mahabharata.
The guidebook shares some clues for psychic development as well as some card spreads. This is a great oracle for beginners and advanced diviners alike. The card images and words are evocative and easy to understand. The guidebook is rich both in its storytelling and in its ability to help the reader understand the character archetype within the card.
The Mahabharata Oracle is a unique treasure. Unlike many oracle decks, this deck is worthy of deep study and contemplation, while at the same time being easy to use and understand.
See my interview with Gita Rash, and make plans to catch her at StaarCon.
A Review of Tarot for Troubled Times
Tarot for healing the self and the world!
Tarot for Troubled Times
Shaheen Miro and Theresa Reed
Published by Weiser Books, 2019
Review by Christiana Gaudet
Tarot for Troubled Times is not the first book to discuss tarot as a tool of healing and magic, nor is it the first book to offer uses for tarot in a turbulent world. Yet, Tarot for Troubled Times is fresh. This book uniquely explores previously uncharted territory with an originality that in and of itself is a major accomplishment.
The book is subtitled confront your shadow, heal your self, transform the world. That is the logical order in which the three parts of this book are presented. Long before I was a professional tarotist I was a political fundraiser and community organizer. Then, we used to say that “the personal is the political”. That phrase from so long ago rang in my mind as I read this book and considered how personal healing leads us to foster social change.
I was curious to see how the authors, Shaheen Miro and Theresa Reed, would structure their co-authorship. These two luminaries make this book a seamless read, unlike many other co-authored books that feel jagged as they shift from voice to voice abruptly.
Part One of the book focuses on exercises and advice based on three Major Arcana cards, the Fool, the Tower, and Strength. I was surprised at how little discussion of tarot there is in this first section. Rather, the authors present a smorgasbord of creative and wise techniques for shadow work and self-healing, including meditation, journaling, Emotional Freedom Technique, and energy work.
Part Two of the book focuses exclusively on tarot. The Major Arcana is presented in terms of archetypes and numerology. The reader is invited to calculate their birth card as a tool of self-understanding. Each birth card offers an affirmation for personal empowerment and a directive for action. Next, there are instructions for finding one’s year card, and the Major Arcana is presented again, this time with affirmations and interpretations in that context.
After a discussion of the Four Elements, the authors provide keywords for all seventy-eight cards, and offer exercises, spreads and techniques using tarot as a tool of personal healing. Though a relatively short portion of the 270-page book, this section is jam-packed with provocative tarot wisdom, appropriate for every tarotist at any level of expertise.
Next is a chapter focused on creative, eclectic magic for self-healing, protection and positivity, including candle magic and jar magic. Oddly missing is much mention of tarot magic. I was grateful for the last paragraph of the chapter which warns against the harmful way in which our community often misinterprets the Law of Attraction.
Part Three of the book brings our attention to the world. Once again, the Major Arcana is presented, this time in reference to year cards for the planet, with appropriate affirmations and associations. The exercise is to combine your personal year card with the world year card to discover a personal way that you can take action to create change in the world. What an intriguing concept!
The rest of the book concerns itself with activism. There is a lot of well-thought-out material in this section, even for those whose views are not completely in line with the authors. This section does a better job than earlier sections of incorporating tarot wisdom with other exercises. Here there is advice on how to listen to those with whom you disagree, a discussion of what privilege is, what it means to be an ally, and tarot exercises to help you explore your allyship, and your activism. There are magical rituals for groups and individuals, and tarot magic to bring justice to the world.
There is even advice, and a tarot spread, about running for office. Back when I was a young community organizer, some of the elders approached me with the idea that I should run for a city council seat. I couldn’t imagine myself in such a role. Though flattered, I refused. Had I a time machine to go back and give my younger self this book, the outcome might have been different. I am excited for today’s young activists who will find empowerment and inspiration with this book!
In the early 1980s, in our dingy campaign offices, we often played with divination, tossing coins to read the I Ching, and working with the then-new Motherpeace Tarot. Tarot for Troubled Times honors and quantifies the ideas we had then, and brings to light a new, more sophisticated and compassionate energy for social change.
Other than my desire for a bit more tarot in a tarot book, there are only two things I didn’t love about Tarot for Troubled Times. They both have to do with my personal preferences for tone, and thus might not be at all disturbing to others.
One is the occasional use of profanity. The other, in Part One, the section on personal healing, are hyperbolic generalizations about the readers of the book. The most egregious example of this is the simple statement, “You are [expletive] brilliant!” I believe that when we use unfounded generalized superlatives, we undermine rather than empower. As my four-year-old son once pointed out after watching an episode of Barney and Friends, “If everyone is special, then no one is special at all”. The use of hyperbole and profanity felt a bit lazy and condescending, and out of step with the rest of this thoughtfully written book.
Tarot for Troubled Times gets five stars and three cheers from me, because it is a unique, well-written, powerful and beautifully formatted book. It is book that can bring activism to tarotists, tarot to activists, and a new vision of tarot and personal healing to us all.
A Review of The Moonchild Tarot
The Moonchild Tarot is exquisite. Check out my review!
Moonchild Tarot
Danielle Noel
Starseed Designs, 2018
Review by Christiana Gaudet
I received The Moonchild Tarot as a gift from my friend and fellow tarotist Serena Fox. Serena attended a tarot class I gave at True Bikram Yoga in Madison, CT, and brought her Moonchild Tarot with her. I was impressed with the unique images. When I returned to Florida, my own copy of The Moonchild Tarot was waiting there for me. There’s a reason I often say that your tarot friends are your best friends!
Danielle Noel is the designer of The Starchild Tarot as well as The Moonchild Tarot. The Starchild Tarot is dedicated to those who identify as starseed. The Moonchild Tarot is for those who honor the moon as part of their spiritual path. While both decks are exquisitely illustrated, The Moonchild Tarot is definitely the appropriate deck for me.
The Moonchild Tarot comes in a lovely, sturdy box with a lift-off lid. This is a deck that will not require a special pouch. The bottom inside of the box is graced with an illustration of the moon, within which reads “You are the dance of light and shadow”.
The cards themselves are larger than usual and printed on heavy stock. The edges are matte gold. The backs are reversable, with a lovely design embossed in gold. The card faces have an appealing matte finish and are borderless. There are many details that make this deck exceptional in its presentation and artistry and justify its $65 price tag.
The box contains not only the tarot deck, but also a hefty 279-page fully illustrated booklet. It turns out that Danielle Noel is a good writer as well as a talented artist.
The booklet contains in-depth meanings for the cards, both upright and reversed, spreads, keywords, and something that is often irritatingly missing from tarot companion books; descriptions of each piece of artwork with some explanation of what the artist was trying to convey with their depiction of each card. The guidebook also includes tips for using the cards in magick and meditation, something I fully appreciate.
I have to say Danielle Noel loses me a bit with her writing tone. She waxes poetic in a way that doesn’t appeal to me, but I think will appeal to many tarot folks. I respected the deck enough to stomach her flowery writing style, until I got to her chapter on tarot history. She makes a case to validate theories of tarot history for which she admits there is absolutely no historical evidence. She says that she judges tarotists based on their take on tarot history. I do, too. I am uncomfortable with those who propagate myth as fact. To me that this the stuff of flat-earthers, fundamentalists, snake-oil peddlers, and those who subscribe to alternative facts. I believe that the current historical understanding of tarot is meaningful enough and doesn’t need to be dressed up with illusory tales. I use tarot to tell truth. Therefore, it feels important to me to clearly distinguish the power of myth from the power of fact when we speak of tarot’s origins. Does the artist’s fanciful take on tarot history take away from my enjoyment of the deck? It might, if the deck weren’t so lovely!
The Moonchild Tarot is fairly abstract. It is is worked in pastel colors contrasted with black and white, in a collage style that includes a variety of artistic techniques, including photography. The moon figures heavily in many of the images. Many cards also include Egyptian references. One of the things I love about this deck is how evocative the images are, while still honoring tradition. This balance makes this deck perfect for readers like me who use both interpretation and intuition to create an insightful reading, and for those who are trained in the Waite tradition. Not every card pictures people, but most do. The people are diverse in race, attire, and body size. To me, this is a huge selling point for a modern tarot deck.
The Knight of Pentacles sports a manbun. The Empress is dark-skinned and dreadlocked. The High Priestess is an Asian woman depicted in a way that honors the Waite tradition magnificently.
The Wheel of Fortune tips a hat to Waite by including the wheel from that card. I particularly love Death, which shows a woman dancing amid images of creatures who transform as part of their life cycle; moths, butterflies and snakes. Major Arcana 21 is called “The Universe” and is a striking silhouette of a robed woman holding a moon against the backdrop of a pastel galaxy.
The four suits are traditionally named and numbered. Some of the images are a step away from any traditional depiction I have seen, but in each case the artist explains the image, and each makes sense to me. Stonehenge is used to depict the Ten of Pentacles; I thought that was particularly clever.
The traditionally disturbing Swords cards convey mood without showing doom-and-gloom images, so this would be a great deck for squeamish clients.
The Moonchild Tarot includes three “bonus keys”, that is, extra cards. They are Shadow Work, Divine Wisdom and Moonchild. Normally, extra cards in a deck earn my ire just by existing. Yet, Danielle Noel does a great job explaining the cards and suggesting uses for them, to the point that I surprised myself by sort of liking them!
The cards are large and hard to shuffle. I am not sure how easily I could make The Moonchild Tarot my professional workhorse deck, but I am tempted to try because the images are so lovely and evocative. I also believe that in-person clients will really be impressed by these cards.
The Moonchild Tarot would be a fine first deck for a beginner, and a wonderful addition to any collection. It’s available directly from Daniel Noel’s company, Starseed Designs.
Images of The Moonchild Tarot by Danielle Noel, used with permission.