Marvel
A triptych of threes
Balance between a cluster of four
Ankh
Lone dragonfly,
Tiny glass mystery
Maybe a bird singing.
Healing hands
Helping hands
Hands writing
Street sign says Special
Event Prepare to Stop, Too
Late, put on heart brake
I am just loving this oracle deck, written by Angie Sullens with art by Silas Tobal. It came in a beautiful, sturdy box and also had a green sheer pouch to hold the cards, plus US Games included a free bookmark. The book is gorgeous - heavy paper, full color, quite sumptuous in its own right. Angie refers to herself as, " Dumbledore and RuPaul's secret love child."
1. How can I best cleanse my mind?
24. The Dancer
We see a woman dancing with a white goat on a parquet floor holding a tambourine. "you are invited to take the time to enjoy rather than hurrying to the next goal." I like this permission for a mental vacation.
2. How can I better care for my body?
36. Weaver of the Red Tent
A woman in a red dress and veil with heavy silver jewelry smiles in front of a red palisade. Well, this was interesting since I have started my period again after six years of no bleeding, due to being on HRT. The card speaks to "healthy interdependence" vs "ultra-independence as a trauma response... We continually feel the pressure to perform, produce, fix, create, heal, help without ever acknowledging our own needs."
3. What is the best way for me to connect with spirit?
16. The TrailBlazer
We see a woman moving through the forest following a dove, while various creatures trail behind her - wolves and lions. The moon is eclipsing her head.
This card speaks to being the expert on your life, rather than giving your power away to a doctor, lawyer, or any other "authority." It recommends to stop fearing my path, be loyal to my visions and the longings in my heart.
4. How do best connect with my intuition/inner priestess?
17. The Scholar
We see an elderly woman consulting a huge time, while boos are piled high on the shelves, a lone raven on the top."She's a scholar of the sacred texts of experience..." The card is a reminder to embody what I know and put it into practice. Trust my gut.
Blessed Be.
If the angel deigns to come it will be because you have convinced her not by tears. But by your humble resolve to be always beginning to be a beginner- Rainier Marie Rilke
Beginnings, successes, and failures. I chose to be a beginner when I signed up for the children's illustration class at Cabrillo College. I know my artistic talent needs to be developed so I enrolled in watercolor classes as well as online drawing classes.
The online classes were complete flunk. I read the essays and watched the videos, but never did the homework. What a difference it makes being in an actual classroom with an actual teacher. I remember taking the nude portrait class at the Corcoran in Washington DC, my senior year of high school. We laughed as the model did a headstand and we had to draw his danger dangling straight down his belly.
I felt so inept then, still do when confronted by some charcoal or pastels. I completely fail in realism, something my art lacks unless a photograph. My art feels childish more than cartoonish, immature rather than anime, and I comfort myself by saying at least it's mine. At least I'm willing to put it out there.
Still my inner critics says it's no good, has no value, and in my dad's voice, it will never make any money. Maybe my art is primitive. It certainly is inconsistent. What is consistent is my pattern of doing something a hundred times, then stopping, just like the batik silk scarves I made to earn money for the Global Walk.
Or the Herland crafts that I would make after hours - stained glass boxes in the shape of pink and black triangles; decoupage cigar boxes lined in burgundy velvet repurposed from the thrift store; simply scanning objects and adding a pithy quote to create mugs, bookmarks posters. Magnets and more, who knew what you could do with a laminator and a pair of good scissors.
Some sold and did make money but there was always a feeling of falseness. It wasn't real art, especially any collage work, using somebody else's images, cut from magazines and old calendars as opposed to just doing a google search and downloading an image. Although in this day and age of AI scrapings, whether mixing music or images, who’s to say what is art?
These days I struggle with colored pencils, I’ve used up all the pastels, I muddy up the watercolors too often. I’m going back to painting with acrylic. Wonder if I do better with oils. We'll see after the next hundred little canvases bloom...
I choose to be a beginner. Not quite the perpetual student, but certainly willing to flip from medium to medium. Never mastering any modality fully, but least feel comfortable getting my hands dirty. The page and the coffee table now splattered as I spray liquid confetti from the ends of an old toothbrush across the page.
