Triumph of Life Tarot: Cancer Sucks!

The Triumph of Life Tarot has been a few years in the making. Over 70 artists came together to create a deck to help fund cancer research. All of the artists who participated have been touched in some way or another by cancer. I created the art for the 6 of Disks, dedicated to my brother-in-law, José Manuel, who died of lung cancer. The card backs feature the initials of those the artwork honors.

Andrew McGregor of Toronto's The Hermit's Lamp spearheaded and coordinated this large and time-consuming project. He writes this about it:

First, get a bunch of people to contribute art to a tarot deck whose focus is the celebration of life. Make it as inspirational and life affirming as possible without denying the hardships we might face along the way.

Each artist would strive to create a card that answers the question ‘How does this image help us get from a place of loss and suffering to a place of joy and remembering?’

Second, print up the deck and sell them.

Third, take the profits and donate them to cancer research.

So 72 artists came together and made it happen!

Here is a selection of card images:

For information on the deck and how to acquire one when they become available on November 1st check out thehermitslamp.com 🙏🏼

New Moon Reading

Today is the New Moon, and the first day of September. It's a blessing to have finally reached the first month of autumn (even though the equinox hasn't arrived quite yet). Hurricane Hermine rolls up the Gulf shedding her bountiful rains, and while the associated cloudy skies have cooled the air slightly, the humidity is fierce. Needless to say, it isn't feeling much like a proper fall....yet! But there is a certain potency in the naming of things, and simply knowing that September is here brings relief, and anticipation of a gradual descent into fresh, dry weather. In Florida we do have the glory of a northern autumn - it just happens to come around during the winter months. In December there are certain trees whose leaves even turn shades of orange and yellow before floating gently to the ground!

Since it is a New Moon I decided to pull some cards: the relatively common Release-Embrace spread (also known as Waning-Waxing, or Fading-Increasing). However you like to call it, the idea is essentially the same! I decided to use the Tarot of the Cat People tonight.

1) What is waning in import at this time? World
2) What is waxing? 6 of Pentacles

Tarot of the Cat People

The woman in the World gazes at a glowing globe, and appears to be in mid-step of a dance. She looks happy - celebratory, even.

Meanwhile, the woman in the 6 of Pentacles appears ready to offer a steaming bowl of food to some very eager looking cats. The woman is robed, and the scene feels homey and comfortable. She provides these adoring creatures with physical sustenance, and they offer constant companionship: a harmonious exchange.

Just yesterday I learned that a major project that I thought would be months away from being relevant is ready to be developed right-this-moment. It's exciting. As a program director I'm largely responsible for steering this ship into what will very much be a whole new world, and I'm jumping in full force. I know that the outcome of this project will provide much needed refreshment to both the program and my team. I'm not doing a jubilant dance quite yet - there is much work to be done! But I'm invigorated by the prospects, and from my current vantage point I see so much possibility.

The 6 of Pentacles, in this respect, shows me that for the next period of time I'll be participating in some important give-and-take with other departments, people - even with my own team. Progress doesn't occur in a vacuum. I have knowledge to offer, but I don't have it all; I rely on others just as much as they rely on me to offer up some of the puzzle pieces that ultimately combine to create the whole picture.

These cards also address another layer of life that has been on my mind of late. After going back and forth over where to go for an upcoming vacation, my husband and I recently decided not to go anywhere at all (releasing the World). In the end we decided to nurture our bank account, and be around for our kids (despite their grandmother coming to visit!). In order to strike a balance between our desire to stay put and our need for a break, we are planning to go on a whole lot of dates while my mother is in town!

May your September be full of cider and cinnamon!

Triumph of Life Tarot Project

Andrew Kyle McGregor, owner of the Hermit's Lamp shop in Toronto, Canada, has spearheaded a project called "Triumph of Life Tarot." The aim of the project is to bring together 78 artists to create and donate art for the cards, and eventually to sell the deck and donate the proceeds to cancer research foundations.

Most, if not all, of the participants have been touched by cancer in some way, directly or indirectly. I decided to participate, as cancer has certainly touched my family (my step-father is recovering from prostate cancer, one of my aunts suffered from breast cancer, my grandmother had uterine cancer, and my husband's brother and father both died of aggressive lung cancer). It's a destructive disease that impacts far too many people in our world. Below is the explanation of my process of creating my card for the deck. If you want to keep up with the development of this project there is a Facebook group, and as things come to fruition and are available for purchase I'll also post updates here!

6 of Disks - Triumph of Life Tarot
O. Destrades

 
This is what I've created for the 6 of Disks, acrylic on canvas. First I will discuss color scheme, and to some extent the symbols, and then I'll discuss my thoughts/process:

The 6 of Disks is associated with the Moon exalted in Taurus. Both the Moon and Taurus are also associated with color scales (Moon - blues and silvers; Taurus - red/orange, brown, indigo) so I've represented these scales throughout the image. Taurus colors are noted in the candle and the color of the woman's skin (the earthy, material elements), and the Moon in the blue and silvery qualities in the sky and moon itself.

In Thoth the keyword for this card is "Success" - manifesting things on the material plane. In RWS this is a card of reciprocity, give and take, receiving assistance, guidance, generosity.

In this image a woman sits next to an ancestral altar - a table covered with a white cloth, bearing a lit candle. She looks up at the moon in a deep blue sky. 6 comet-like rays descend toward her. In my spiritual/religious practice, ancestor-veneration is integral. Our ancestors and loved ones that pass on don't remain in the past; they are often here with us in the present. We welcome them into our lives, request their help and guidance, and honor them with physical offerings of candles, glasses of water, and even foods and drinks that they enjoyed in life. Even though we lose physical touch with our loved ones when they pass, they are always available to help support us and aid us in our physical lives, whether via the feeling of companionship, the sense of being grounded in family or spiritual heritage, or even through mundane-yet-important experiences such as looking for work opportunities. We request their help and open ourselves up to receive it.

In this image the woman is alone, but surrounded in a golden glow representative of an ethereal embrace. She is aware of her ancestors, and they are aware of her. She's looking for a connection, her altar candle is burning, and all she has to do is ask. These comet-like rays fall upon her, representing those sparks of insight, gentle nudges, whispers from our departed loved ones as they support us and point us in the right direction on our earthly path.

I asked my brother-in-law Manuel, who died of lung cancer, to give me my card for this project. Mañe (short for Manuel) was diagnosed with aggressive cancer and died before he was able to leave Cuba and reunite with us in the USA. It was one of the biggest blows to my husband (and to Mañe) because they were like soul mates. Mañe is still a part of our lives. We talk to him, honor his memory, ask him for guidance and assistance and clarity, request help with centering ourselves on our paths in order to achieve success in our lives.

One story I can tell: After a year of asking for help conceiving our first child together (my husband was hoping for a girl), Mañe came in a dream and handed my husband a baby girl. The next day I took a pregnancy test and found I was indeed pregnant, and when all was said and done, it was a girl. The relationship that we have with Mañe felt like the perfect example of the energy of the 6 of Disks united with the questions posed by this project.

Our give-and-take crosses paths at the ancestral altar, and positively impacts the physical manifestation of success in our lives.

Taroscope: Week of December 15-21, 2013

Notice that the title said "Taroscope" - as in, singular!? I am playing around with how I want to continue doing my weekly, community draws, and today I thought I'd pull a single card on whose energy all the astrological signs can meditate.  In some way or another, each card in the deck touches our lives, and the card I drew for today is quite fitting for this time of year:

The 6 of Pentacles, from the Deviant Moon Tarot:

Deviant Moon Tarot - Patrick Valenza
US Games/2008

The 6 of Pentacles is about give and take.  I've heard some people associate this card with "gifts with strings attached" but I don't see it that way at all (unless in some circumstances as a reversal). This card always sings to me of reciprocity, and the beauty in paying things not only back, but forward.  We don't always have the opportunity to return favors, but we always have the opportunity to give of what we have when we realize that we're in the position to be generous.  That may be the ability to give of our own time, our resources, or even simply our attention.

So we are now in Yule, or Christmas time, when the topics of generosity, giving, receiving, and kindness abound. Organizations set up "Giving Trees" where anyone can leave a donation for a needy family.  Communities come together to prepare care packages for those who are facing a meager holiday due to unemployment, homelessness, a family loss, or even military deployment.

I saw someone write the other day that this time of year is when bribery becomes so prevalent. I suppose that between some parents and children it could be the case ("behave or Santa won't bring you that toy you want so badly!!"). But I'd like to think that at its core, the holiday encourages all people to embrace the joy and light that accompany not only reciprocity, but simply giving because we can.

So let the energy of the 6 of Pentacles sit with you this week, and allow you to be more conscious of your own important, vital role in the world community. How are you thankful for gifts received? How do you give of your time, talents, heart, resources? Each positive act is like a drop of sunlight that brightens our shared existence!

6 Stones: Balance

Yesterday the Queen of Bows brought up the importance of balance between life's various domains: family and career, inner and outer creativity, light and dark.  Today the 6 of Stones (Pentacles) offers another kind of balance - that of material support.  Traditionally it's the "gift card," representing the receipt or gift of money, goods, or even time and energy.  Upright it's a positive message of balanced give-and-take, economic stability, generosity, and "passing it forward."  Reversed it can symbolize either taking too much, or giving too much without sufficient reciprocity.  It can lead to debt and other kinds of financial imbalances, as well as energy imbalances when we give too much of ourselves.

Wildwood Tarot

                                     

The Wildwood Tarot card places a heavy emphasis on the traditional reversed meaning of imbalance which has led ultimately to exploitation, the card's key word.  An elderly man and young woman stand with bowls thrust outward to us in silent begging.  They are surrounded by a desolate landscape.  Empty, partially destroyed bee hives sit upon 6 stone pedestals.  The honey has been reaped but the bees were not nurtured and hence the hives collapsed.  Nothing grows in the dry, dusty earth, tools lay broken on the ground, and in the distance a fire rages, burning away the dead grasses.  The Wildwood places a special focus on environmentalism, encouraging us to be mindful of the way we use resources.  In recent decades humankind has pushed the earth's capacity to support us to the brink of failure by using too much, wasting a lot, and not giving back to the cycle of life.

When I see this card in a spread I usually use the more traditional meaning, because while I understand and agree with the Wildwood message, I think that there is a positive significance in there which shouldn't be lost.  But I appreciate the gentle reminder - even when using the positive meaning - that there is a fine line between reciprocity and exploitation, and maintaining that balance requires acknowledgement and mindfulness.

(Wildwood Tarot, Mark Ryan, John Matthews, Will Worthington. Sterling Ethos, 2011)