There is a fella who use to be a snakeoil salesman in San Diego who is trying to place himself in the center of the Tarot Community. His name is Dax. He really was a "snake oil salesman":

http://files.meetup.com/391622/STRESS_REPORT.pdf
http://www.meetup.com/numindnulife/
http://neurogenesis-inc.com/corporate.aspx

When he failed at his business of selling this snake oil he smelled a possibility of Money in the Tarot Meetups.

http://www.meetup.com/NuMindNuLife/messages/boards/thread/7767279

He now is in the course of setting up The Tarot Guild. Where he is working with others to start a new "Certification" program for Tarot Readers. One of his closest confidantes in this business is Scott Bush.

http://www.meetup.com/NuMindNuLife/members/10627012/

Scott in a post on the Tarot Guild website brags about how he has never read a book on Tarot and does not even look at the LWB that comes with the decks he owns. And this fella is the co-founder of the Tarot Guild that wants to start a Certification program for Tarot readers???? Which will include a "Certified Grand Master of Tarot". If it wasn't so frightening it would be laughable.

Both Dax and Scott are now setting up groups for different Cities through out the Country at their new website:

http://www.tarotguild.com

These guys personify everything that is wrong within the Tarot Community today. They are frauds and charletons. Which is to be expected after all they started off as snake oil salesmen.

The sad part is that they will indeed bamboozle many and harm lots.

History is my gig. I have always loved it. Did you know it is a fact that the World's earliest known Author was "Enheduana". She published on clay tablets in the ancient language of the Sumerian, around the 23rd century BCE.

Her name translates to "the adornment of heaven", and from her writings, and other historical sources it is clear that she was a High Priestess who held the most important religious office of her time. She was from the Mesopotamia region of the ancient world.

One of her writings describes strangers from the North who consulted images on sleeves of tree bark for guidance. I love the hell out of this.

White Light Tarot. Sweetness printed!

You know it is funny how things work out. I was so excited over the Tarot Revisioned Deck that I was wet. It arrived today, and I loved it, rejoiced with it. Loved that they were not numbered, so I could place justice and strength. I bought and paid for this deck and love it, not taking anything from it.

But it is funny how things work. I got through the mail a commercial deck. Sent to me from heaven knows who? I am still trying to figure out who published it? Seriously all the box says is copyright by Jessica Fisher Wilson? There is no "little white book". I'll be damned if I know who published it? It is called "The White Light Tarot"?

It arrived while I was waiting with baited breath for a Tarot deck I paid for. I have a tendency to dismiss free decks, the last was the Gothic, a collection of headstones correlated to the major arcana. Interesting to say the least.

So today I am waiting for the Revisioned Tarot, a definate blow me away deck and I get it, experience it and am as happy a pig in slop over it. Metaphysical life can get no better.

Then I open the unexpected. Unknown Publisher, all rights reserved to Jessica Fisher Wilson, who's 10 of swords is a plane dropping bombs! Who's fool is smokey in a distant light....This is a hellava deck! Rocked me back, and forced me to reconsider "expectations".

Two cats curled are the lovers, Martin Luther King is Justice, and Ghandi is strength. There is nothing more I could personly ask for. The day I recieved my Revisioned Tarot was Columbus day, I got the deck I lusted for, the Revisioned Tarot. But I will always remember the day for the Tarot of White Light, publisher unknown.

Jessica? if you are out there? Your deck blew me away!

I waited for what I wanted and got what i NEEDED.

September 18th is the new Moon. It is also in the Eastern World, from Russia to China the Moon’s Birthday. If you do not want to take my word for this it has been published in D. J. Conway’s book Moon Magic,(Llewllyn Publications 14th edition 2007) and can be found by a study of the Myth of Ch’ang-O. The Point is that from Eastern Europe to China September 18th is the Moon’s Birthday. This year the New Moon falls on this date. Very Cool.

There is however something else going on with this New Moon that is very mysterious. For those of you who have a good Lunar Calendar? Check to see the signs of the Moon for this new Moon. You will see that the Moon will enter Virgo the last sign before the new Moon at 18:57 hourly time (EST) on September 16th, that it will become “new under Virgo” on September 18th at 13:44 and then enter void of Course at exactly 18:57 and remain void until it enters Pisces at 20:27. It is extremely rare for the last of a Moon be a perfect 48 hours. This one is, and it is on its Birthday.

This is the primary reason for my return to Russia on the 14th; this is a Moon that happens so rarely that I must share it with those I was raised by and with. I can’t wait to see the interpretations of this Moon, which we will all agree is a good Moon for study and understanding what is around us. It is a powerful time for divination.

At my home in Russia, we will shuffle the Tarot, count out eight cards for the number of the month and lay this small stack down. Then shuffle the cards and count out the day (18 cards) and lay this stack down then we will count out 11 cards (for the year 2+0+0+9=11) and lay this stack down, we will then flip each stack take the face up card for the day and month and year and create a triangle:

……1……

2………..3

We then will set the surplus cards from each stack in the center of the triangle, to be counted out in the same manner at the Full Moon. This is the Moon that is a wonderful time to examine all aspects of a person’s life, and to see how those aspects correspond with lives associated to us.

A rare Moon, listen to it, enjoy it, learn from it.

Here is a funny story on how things in the Universe work. As many of you know I collect Tarot Decks. I have been for awhile now looking and lusting after “The Golden Tarot of The Renaissance” by Atanassov. This is the deck he did with Giordano Berti and Jo Dworkin.

He did the “Golden Tarot of the Tsar”, a wonderful deck that took the best Esoteric based images presented to the Russian Tsars throughout the history of the monarchy of Russia. A beautiful deck. He also did the “Golden Tarot of Klimt” another marvelous deck based upon the art work of Gustav Klimt. Further he did the Golden Tarot of Botticelli. I have these three decks and all I needed to complete the Atanassov “golden decks” was the Golden Renaissance.

Long story short, got it today. Obviously very excited. Got it home opened it tore through the cellophane only to discover that one card is missing the “gold” that makes Atanassov’s work so unique. That card was the 10 of Pentacles; Naked among both this deck and every other Atanassov deck.

Funny how things work, the astrological association to the 10 of pentacles is Mercury in Virgo. Communicational Judgment…..oh my, isn’t that as personal as a touch on my nipple.

The ill dignified aspects of this card speaks of the endless categories we create in our sense of right and wrong. Our one sided communication, that leaves us stupid to the image we ourselves have projected. How the importance of our words leave us with a healthy negativity to those we speak too.

The dignified aspects of this card tells us a tale of being conscious of “effects”. Effects of us towards and effects of those toward us. There is a talent to communicating that leaves a lasting impression. The trick is to be gracious while refusing to surrender integrity. Like that is a little thing?

At any rate my Atanassov Golden decks are now completed with an error at the 10 of pentacles in the Golden Tarot of the Renaissance. All things considered?

I’ll live with it.

Pre- Natal Tarot cards can be a fascinating exploration in self examination. Every person alive has a total of 6 Pre-natal cards that show what a person has been given life to teach and what they were given life to learn. These cards are based upon the Eclipses that occurred just prior to the first breath drawn. The Solar Eclipse Cards will show what a person is destined to teach, While the Lunar eclipse cards show what a person needs to learn along this path.

Here is an example for how to go about determining your Pre Natal Cards. Lets say you were born on July 18 1975. You would consult your handy dandy Ephemeris (every serious student of Tarot should have one, and know how to use one) to determine when the Closest Solar and Luna Eclipse prior to birth happened, and what astrological sign the Solar and Lunar Eclipse happened in. According to my ephemeris our Date of July 18 1975 tells us that the closest Solar eclipse prior to birth happened on May 11th 1975 and the Sun was in the sign of Taurus. The closest Lunar eclipse prior to the first breath of life occurred on May 25 1975 when the Moon was in Sagittarius.

So next we would pull the three cards from the deck associated with Taurus (The Solar Eclipse) One is a Major Arcana Card one is a Court Card and one is a Minor Arcana Card. The Cards are for the Solar eclipse in Taurus:

1.The Hierophant
2.The King of Pentacles
3.The Five of Pentacles.

The Cards for the Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius are:

1.Temperance
2.Knight of Wands
3.8 of Wands

It should be noted that the Minor Arcana card represents the first deacon of Taurus and Sagittarius that the eclipses happened in. Also for those who are inclined to Crowley and The Golden Dawns practices you would base the Court Card on the degree that the event happened in, again any good Ephemeris will tell you the events degree.

Next you would lay out the Solar Cards like a triangle upwards:

…1...
…….
2.….3

1. Represents what one must teach.
2. Best attitude to use for teaching
3. The Best Teaching Tool that is available.

Then you would lay out the Lunar Eclipse like a triangle upside down:

2.….3
…….
….1...

1. What you need to learn
2. What it is about you that needs to lean this
3. Best learning Tool available to you.

Take a shot at it find your pre-natal cards it will be a good exercise of self understanding. These spreads are also very good spreads for Parents of new born children.

Since I was about 8, I have kept a Tarot Deck “stacked” for seasonal use. It is a deck that I use for daily readings, and to tune my intuition. It is a deck that has been married to my first morning tea (recently swapped for coffee) for as long as I can remember. When I was young this “stacking” taught me to appreciate and understand associations and meanings of the Tarot Cards. It takes a while to “stack” this deck and it takes a year to 13 months to run through it.

Recently a friend was over, they grabbed for this deck that was on the coffee table and I said “Don’t touch my deck”. They politely ceased the reach. My friend told me, “I have heard that some believe their Tarot Decks shouldn’t be touched, but I have handled yours before so I thought it would be ok”.

My friend thought it was the deck I didn’t want them to touch, when in actuality it was the labor that I didn’t want them to disturb. I had “stacked” the deck for seasonal use, and I was in the second season with spring blossoms behind me and summer in full heat. Stacked and ready to go as easily as sleep is surrendered to the new day. Yes this was a deck not to be touched, not because it is a Tarot Deck that I owned, but because it was a deck that I had stacked for a particular use. There is a difference.

In all likelihood, only those who stack a deck for a particular season will understand this. A seasonal deck understands that roses blossom differently in time than walkways are shoveled. Plants do not bloom at the same time they blossom, no matter what “intuition” has to say about it...leaves fall in the Autumn, bud in the spring, create summer foliage, and disappear in the winter…. No ones “intuition”, or wishfull thinking can change this.

After my friends visit? I can understand where the “myth” of “Don’t touch my cards” came from.

No one is sure exactly when the Moon became sacred. Archeology, dates the first association of a devine nature to the Moon, to a carving known as the "Greatness of Laussel," carved in a cave and dating back to 20,000 BCE. It is an image of a woman holding a horn, or antler, with a 13 month calendar around it.

Another carving in a cave known as the Angles-sur-l'Anglin which dates back to 13,000 to 11,000 BCE shows three figures standing again with a horn or antler, depicting the three stages of the Moon.
You would think, that people being what we are would see the Majesty of the Sun, it rises every day. Feeds crops with light. Is constant. Yet it is the inconsistencies of the Moon that reflects life more honestly. Life when lived properly is cycles not day to day grind. There is an old Russian saying that translates to:

"Trust the Moon, it does, what it does. While the Sun is so fickle, it will rise, but won't shine, on the same dog's ass everyday."

The Sun will lose you in daily warmth, while the Moon will guide you throughout the struggles of the year. Her differences will cycle you through the seasons. The Sun whispers of the day, while the Moon reminds you of time beyond the instant. In the shortest days of winter, under cold sunshine from a frigid window looking out? The Sun lies. So brightly appealing, yet so cold. The Moon however when followed closely tells you what to expect.

Sergei Timofeyev, was a Leningrad geophysicist. He decided one day to investigate the old Kolduny wives tale that the Moon affected the weather. Even today the planet's scientists seem split on this, while country folk the world over know better. He found that Sunspots, run in eleven year cycles. He measured air mass and temperatures and discovered that they had a 19 year cycle, that of the Moon. He found that catastrophic weather patterns were indeed associated with the Moon. Even today ask any Law Enforcement Officer, they will tell you stories of their experience with the Full Moon.

Why is the Moon so sacred to the Kolduny? Because it has been there, like a loyal friend, changing just slightly enough to describe and appeal to humanity. Over our heads and watching, longer then anyone can remember...Never judging, always accepting, and offering her timeless guidance, in our small, yet all self important exsistance.

The very first time that the Kolduny symbol of Tarot was published, was in 1913. P. D. Ouspensky writing in St. Petersburg published his work entitled “Symbolism of The Tarot”. When he wrote about this and offered up a symbol, neither his representations, or his knowledge was original. Instead he used common peasant Russian understanding and teachings to bring him to the dance of discussion concerning Western Occultist thought concerning the Tarot. As the old saying is: “Much is lost in translation.”

Ouspensky described a symbol of a small circular dot, which he claimed represented The Fool Card, (contained in a triangle contained in a square.)representing Humanity contained within a triangle which he claimed all sides of the triangle were made up of Major Arcanna Cards, 1 through 7 the left side of the triangle, 8 through 14 the right side of the triangle and 15 through 21 the base of the triangle. This he claimed represented the Divine surrounding the Human. Please at this point google "P.D. Ouspensky tarot". If you love the Tarot, you will find it a fascinating study.

He then went on to describe how the 14 cards of the cups were lined up to form a base, the 14 cups of the disks were laid out to the left, the 14 cards of swords were laid out along the top and the 14 cards of the wands were laid out along the right to form a square around both the Divine and the Human, representing the Universe in which both the Divine and Human reside.

This was heady thought, that the Western Occultist latched on to, and have held dearly ever since. As clearly shown in Stuart Kaplan’s Volume One of the Tarot Encyclopedia, page 14, where he details briefly Ouspensky’s writings.

The truth is Ouspensky, like other occultists never had an original thought. How he came to this symbol, and how he bastardized it so? No one, truly knows. Does the symbol exist? Yes! With a minor change. Humanity is not represented by a dot but rather a circle of Divine creation using the universe that both Humanity and Divinity reside within the Universe. It is not a dot that the Fool represents but rather a circle, a circular line much like the snake biting it’s own tail, known as the “oroboros”…sounds like a good description of humanity eh?

Ouspensky, made his claims stating that an “illiterate and ignorant people could not have devised the astrological, numerological, and intuitive definitions as contained in the Tarot.” Yeah buddy, and city folk can't grow wheat, lol. I wish I could have met Ouspensky, I would have asked him about his half assed knowledge. I would have told him how my grandmother laid out her cards as he described when she left them dormant between readings, and when the Moon was Void of Course. I perhaps, would have explained a bit to him.

But first I would have asked him: "Did you have a Kolduny lover"?