ONE MONTH until Tarot!

*Cross-posted at Elisabeth Alba's blog

Only one month left!!! ONE MONTH!!! It’ll be here before we know it. 2017 is looking up! Elisabeth and I can hardly contain ourselves, we’re so excited to see the Everyday Witch Tarot in person. So we’re going to throw another GIVEAWAY!

But first! We’d like to announce that we are now taking pre-orders for the Everyday Witch Tarot Special Edition. “Special Edition?” you ask. “What’s that?”
Here are the details!

There are only 16 spots left, so order yours today for the special price! After publication on January 8th, the price will go up to $90. See that dragon sketch above? One of our early collectors requested “dragon” for her keyword. Elisabeth had a lot of fun with that one!
One thing I love about this Special Edition is that I get to meet Elisabeth Alba in person! We’re going to meet up in January after the deck comes out to sign everything together. I’m really excited! There will definitely be a blog post with photos of the meeting, signing, and merrymaking.
And now for the GIVEAWAY!!!
This time I'm is giving away either Llewellyn’s Witch’s Coloring book OR the Hip Witch Tarot – your choice of one! Elisabeth is giving away a signed print of the Ace of Cups. Good luck, and start counting down the days with us until January 8th!

Signed print of the Ace of Cups

Winner's choice of coloring book or this funky tarot deck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Less Than Two Months Until Tarot Release!

Elisabeth and I are totally pumped about the upcoming publication of the Everyday Witch Tarot! What a long process… to finally see the finished product and hold it in our hands will be amazing. We’d like to share two more images from the deck, as well as throw another GIVEAWAY!!! See bottom of post for info about the giveaway.

It’s been a tough few months. We thought the Tower and Strength cards from the Major Arcana would be appropriate cards to share during this time.

“Chaos and destruction—things go boom.”
Sometimes things have to crash and burn to make room for something new and better.

Deborah writes, “The Tower is one of the cards people find most frightening, since it always denotes some kind of chaos and major change (usually one that doesn’t show up in a positive manner). My take on it is a little different, as you can see from what I wrote in the Everyday Witch Tarot book. I’m not saying that things don’t look BAD when this card shows up…just that we need to look past the obvious “towering” that’s going on, to see if there is a glimmer of light visible through the smoke.”

From the book: A fairy tale tower lies in smoking ruins. To one side is a witch with a mischievous look on her face, a wand hidden behind her back with tiny sparks shooting out of it. A black cat peers cautiously out from underneath some nearby bushes. The witch is wearing a black pointed hat and a black cape, and both the cape and her long dark hair are blowing in the wind created by the explosion. The feeling of the card is wild and chaotic, but not depressing. In fact, you suspect that perhaps this witch has purposely blown things up. You just can’t for the life of you figure out why.
Life rarely runs smoothly, but there are times when it seems as though our entire existence is crashing down around our ears. Jobs are lost, relationships implode, we lose friendships that we treasured. Some of this is just Life. After all, as everyone knows, Stuff Happens. But much of the time, that chaos and destruction has to occur to make room for something new and better. Take heart. Try to see the positive in even the worst situation. You can survive the blast.

Things to consider – Depending on where this card falls in the reading, the explosion may already have happened, you may be in the midst of the chaos, or disaster may still be on its way. If the tower has already gone boom, what can you learn from the experience? What new and positive things can rise out of the ashes of what you have lost? If you are in the midst of the mess, how can you cope better or who can you ask for help? If the crisis is on the horizon, how can you prepare better, now that you know it is coming? Look deep and you may find that you already knew there was something you had to let go of, no matter how difficult the process might be. What can you build out of whatever remains?

“I am power, hear me roar.”
You are stronger than you think.

Deborah writes: Strength is one of my favorite cards in any deck, and especially in ours (I just love the way Elisabeth drew it). It is a good card to get along with The Tower, since it shows that you have the strength you need to deal with whatever is going on.”

A witch in a black hat points the wand in her right hand off to the side, pushing away a powerful storm. Light is streaming out of the wand, and a funnel cloud can be seen moving away, taking darkness with it. The rest of the card is light, and the witch is so confident in her magic that she isn’t even looking in that direction. Instead, her attention is directed at the giant lion to her left, which she is feeding a cookie to with her other hand. At its feet sits a black cat, looking proud, as if it is saying, “It followed me home, can I keep it?”

There is a lot of power in the Strength card, but it isn’t because the witch has more magic than anyone else, or can turn you into a toad without a second thought. (Although both of those may be true.) Her power comes from confidence in her own abilities, and knowing that the universe makes all things come right in the end. Even her cat has that kind of confidence, and views the huge lion as just a slightly larger member of the family. The Strength card reminds us that we have what it takes to triumph, no matter what comes our way.

Things to consider: If this card appears in a reading, it is almost certainly there to remind you of your own inner strength. It is saying, “Yes, yes you can.” You may feel overwhelmed or uncertain, but whatever you are facing, you have the strength to endure, and in the end, triumph.


Take heart, everyone!
And now, finally, THE GIVEAWAY!!!

We’ve got two items for two lucky winners! Deborah is giving away the mini Tarot to Go! set, and Elisabeth is offering a lined hardback notebook featuring the art for the 9 of Pentacles on the front! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

Tarot Deck Progress Report Part Two

THE KING OF PENTACLES

Deborah: As most of you know, I have been working on a great tarot project for Llewellyn with illustrator Elisabeth Alba. We thought it would be fun to make some blog posts dedicated to the process, showing how I begin by writing a description, to Elisabeth's final painted result. Last time we did the Six of Swords (http://deborahblake.blogspot.com/2015/02/tarot-deck-progress-report-and-giveaway.html). Today, we're looking at the King of Pentacles.

The description for this one was:

Picture: An older sage with gray-streaked dark hair sits on a throne-like chair outside; he looks powerful and strong. Behind him in the distance, you can see a prosperous looking manor house. To his left stands a bull wearing a garland of flowers, and to his right, a white hound reclines at his feet with a large bone. He is holding a chocolate cake with a pentacle on top in one hand, in the other hand is a goblet filled with wine. Grape vines are growing up his chair. He wears a green cloak over brown tunic and pants that are decorated with green ferns or leaves and a simple circlet crown with a pentacle in the front. The mood is one of strength and prosperity.

Deborah: I send the description to Elisabeth, and then she starts the magic of transforming my words into art!

Elisabeth: I usually begin with very rough small pencil sketches, trying to work out the overall composition.

Elisabeth: I scanned those, and place the sketch I like best into the card template. I then digitally create a better, more detailed sketch! I send this to Deborah; the art director, Lynne Menturweck; and the acquisitions editor, Barbara Moore. This one didn't require any revisions! Sometimes they do.

Elisabeth: Once the sketch is approved, it's time to take photo reference. My husband Scott (he's also an illustrator) posed as the King of Pentacles.

Deborah: Scott is so cute! I love the way Elisabeth uses him (and sometimes herself) to create poses for the cards.

I work on the finished drawing using my reference. In the background, the manor house had to look like the one included in the Knight and 10 of Pentacles cards, so I had to design a house and make sure it looked like the same house in each! Here is the finished drawing and a digitally colored version. I like to figure out how I'm going to color and shade it before painting it.

Once again, I make sure to get approval on the drawing before I paint it. I print the drawing lightly on watercolor paper and ink it with a dip pen. I watered down the ink a bit so that the background line work would be grey and more atmospheric. Then I start painting, using my digital color version as a guide!
 

More painting progress...

Once it's painted I scan it, color correct it, do any minor digital touch-ups, and send it off for approval. Here's the final result!

Here is the Rider-Waite version, for comparison:

The process all in one!

Here is the text that will go along with the card in the book, written by Deborah:

“The world is your oyster. Or possibly, your chocolate cake.”
Work hard, do good for others, and all will be well.

The King of Pentacles represents prosperity and abundance, but more than that, his strength comes from being strongly rooted in his own success and the success of those around him. The King can represent your own financial situation or he can indicate a strong male figure who is willing to help you achieve prosperity and security, whether on the job or at home.

Things to consider: The Kings are all strong male figures, but that doesn’t mean that a King card can’t represent a woman, although it is less common. If this card falls at a place in the reading where it stands for you, it indicates that your focus is on success and money. This isn’t a bad thing, but be careful not to let your desire for security or nice belongings sweep you away. If there is a King figure in your life—husband, father, boss—are you taking full advantage of the gifts he is offering you? And is what he offers truly what you want?

Deborah: Well? What do you all think? Are you enjoying seeing our progress? Do you like the cards? If you use tarot, do you think you would find these useful? Inquiring minds want to know.

(And don't forget to enter the current giveaway for a print copy of Circle, Coven & Grove plus a great candle sconce by Mickie Mueller! It's still on for a couple of days. http://deborahblake.blogspot.com/2015/03/circle-coven-grove-giveaway-anniversary.html

Tarot Deck Progress Report and Giveaway!

As some of you know, I have been working on a tarot deck for Llewellyn, along with illustrator Elisabeth Alba. (Who rocks. Seriously.) And I am happy to say that I just finished my part of the project, which included coming up with the theme, descriptions for Elisabeth to work from, and writing the book that will go with the actual deck. BOOYAH! Of course, Elisabeth's part will take a lot longer, since she has to do 78 cards in multiple stages. So don't expect to see this deck any time before next year, late-ish. In the meanwhile, though, this seemed like a perfect time to give you an update on our progress, and a sneak peek into how the process works.

Plus, of course, a giveaway, to celebrate my finishing the book!

Addendum: Elisabeth posted a little something on her blog today too, with a link back here, plus a link to a video interview she did where she talked a lot about the tarot! (And said some nice things about me.) If you want to see what she's like, go check it out. One Fantastic Week Podcast

Progress for the Six of Swords by Deborah and Elisabeth

Deborah: Elisabeth and I have been hard at work on the tarot deck for Llewellyn – me writing the descriptions and book that goes along with the deck, and Elisabeth illustrating. We thought it would be fun to make some blog posts dedicated to the process, showing how I begin by writing a description, to Elisabeth's final painted result. It's taken us a while to get to writing this, because we've just been so busy working on the deck! We begin with the final painting for the Six of Swords.

6 of Swords

Elisabeth: The Six of Swords is one of my favorites from the Suit of Swords. I had taken some progress photos along the way, so we figured this was a good one to start with! I was first given a list of all the Sword cards and their descriptions. The description for this one was:

 Picture: A black-haired witch is getting ready to fly off on her broom, two hooded shapes perched on the broom in front of her. A blue backpack with silver swirls on it sits on her back with six swords sticking out of it, a small black cat is perched on top. The full moon shines overhead. She is making an arcane gesture to summon up the wind. The mood is urgent, and a little dark, but also hopeful.

Deborah: Here’s how I arrive at the picture descriptions, in case you were wondering (and of course you were). I have been reading tarot using the Rider-Waite deck for many years, and this deck is based on the 78 cards that are in that classic. So for each card, I would look at the original (as well as a few variations, including Barbara Moore’s fabulous Steampunk Tarot, to see how other people had done theirs). Then I’d consider how I usually interpret the cards when I do a reading, which often varies from the traditional definitions. After that, I’d consider how my interpretation would look in the retro witch style we were using, which includes lots of witches in black hats, with brooms, black cats, and some fairy tale elements. From that I would “visualize” the card, and then try my best to translate that vision into instructions for Elisabeth.

Elisabeth: After reading over the descriptions, I begin drawing small 'thumbnail' sketches to work out the composition with all the needed elements. I usually do them in pencil first.

Hard to believe that she gets from this to the finished product!--Deborah

Elisabeth: Then I scan then and put them in the card template on Photoshop and make a better, but still rough, sketch there. This is what I first show Deborah; the art director, Lynne Menturweck; and the acquisitions editor, Barbara Moore.

Deborah: Sometimes (usually, in fact) the sketch was perfect from the very first. Other times, there might be small details that didn’t match up with what I’d had in mind, and Elisabeth and I would email back and forth until we’d gotten the changes ironed out to both of our satisfaction. Thankfully, our visions for the deck line up very well, and we’ve never had a problem coming to an agreement on the best possible arrangement.

Elisabeth: If all is well in the sketch, I take photo reference! My husband Scott (he's also an illustrator) and I have accumulated a lot of costumes that are great for posing in, though the only costume part visible in this photo is the white skirt. For other cards, I've used tunics, leather armor, medieval leather belts, cloaks, and even a sharp battle-ready sword.

I love this part--Deborah

Then I work on the finished drawing, using the reference. Sometimes I draw the figures with pencil and scan them and place them in the sketch digitally. Other times I just draw them entirely digitally with my tablet. This one was drawn digitally. I also do a rough digital color version at this point, so I can figure out how I'd like to paint it.

I sent the drawing in for approval and everyone agreed that the figures in front of the witch were too blob-like (the color version above shows their unedited appearance), so I made a hand visible and the tips of their boots, which helped immensely.

I then print the drawing lightly on watercolor paper. I ink the drawing with a dip pen and black ink (Dr. Ph. Martin's Black Star matte ink - super waterproof, strong black, flows nicely). Then I start painting! I paint with Dr. Ph. Martin's Hydrus watercolor inks. Very saturated colors, and I can get darker than I would with tube watercolor. They are a little harder to work with though because they are not reworkable. Once it's on the paper, you can't take it off. I also used gouache to get more opaque in the moon and stars.

Here it is, inked, paint started, next to the Ten of Swords which I was painting at the same time.

Base colors down... Note - the colors are off from the original because I was using my phone camera and didn't bother to color correct!

Then once it's painted I scan it, color correct it, do any minor digital touch-ups, and send it off for approval! Card done! Whew! Once again, here's the final:

Here is the Rider-Waite version:

Quite a difference between the original and this one, but you can see where the idea came from--Deborah

Process comparison!

Here is the text that will go along with the card in the book, written by Deborah, along with the card again, so you can see how it will look:

“Anyplace but here.”

Sometimes you just have to get gone. Try not to take your troubles with you.

This witch isn’t going to spend one more minute where she is. She’s already on her way, with only a few necessities, because time is of the essence and sometimes it is better to get out with nothing than to hang on to things or people that are weighing you down. But she’s not traveling alone. It isn’t clear if she is helping her traveling companions or if they are helping her, but either way, they are in this together. An arcane gesture to summon the wind, and they’re off into an unknown future. All she knows is that anyplace will be better than whatever it is she’s leaving behind.

And now for the giveaway!!!! 

I bought a number of decks to look at when I was working on this, some of which I just used the book for, and some of which I never got around to using at all. None of the decks themselves have been opened. Here are three of them. The winner will get to choose which one he or she would like to have! (And I will probably give away the others in the future, so don't despair if you don't win this time.)

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment. Tell me if you have ever used tarot cards either for fun or for serious fortune telling, or if you just like the pretty pictures. Are you looking forward to this deck? Planning to buy it when it comes out? Want more progress reports on other cards? Inquiring minds want to know.

This contest is open to everyone and will run until Friday 27th at noon EST. The lucky winner will have until the following Friday to contact me, and let me know where to send the prize. No purchase is necessary.

 

Fast and Easy Daily Divination

Lots of people read their horoscope every morning, but for many of us, that is the only bit of “checking in” we do. After all, few people have the time (or inclination) to do a full tarot spread with their morning coffee. And mostly, we don’t need that much detailed information. Luckily, there are lots of fast and easy ways to get a quick hint at what your day holds, or what you need to know to make the most of it.

Years ago, when I was practicing with my first coven, my then-high priestess had us do an interesting experiment. Every day for a month, we pulled one rune stone at the beginning of the day. We wrote down the stone, and any flashes of intuition we got when we looked at it, and then checked in at the end of the day to see if there was, in fact, any relationship between the two. Not surprisingly, there often was.

This also turned out to be a great way of learning the runes themselves. I started out having to look up the meanings of each rune in a book [my favorite is Lisa Peschel’s A Practical Guide to the Runes—it’s old, but it is easy to use and understand], but by the end of the month, I was much more familiar with them. If you’re interested in becoming better acquainted with the stones or any other form of divination, try doing something like this. It’s a fun and practical way to learn. Either pull one out of a bag, if that’s what you store them in, or place them in a small bowl and just close your eyes and grab one.

If rune stones aren’t your thing, you can do this with tarot cards instead. If you’re not used to using the cards, I suggest starting with something basic like the classic Rider-Waite Tarot. That’s the one I started with, lo these many years ago, and I have been reading professionally for ages with this one pack. [It’s a bit battered by now, but it works so well for me, I’m rarely tempted to switch to something else, despite the bevy of beautiful decks out there.] However, there are lots of variations on the tarot card deck, and you can pick whichever one seems to “speak” to you the most loudly.

As with the rune stones, you can start your day by shuffling the deck and picking out a card at random. Sometimes one will even jump out of the deck at you. You can either ask a question (“What does my day hold?” “What do I need to know today?”) or just see what comes up. If you are dealing with something tricky, you can ask a specific question, like “Should I go out on a date with that hunky guy at the office?”

There are plenty of alternatives for those who don’t have or don’t like either rune stones or tarot cards. I have a number of interesting decks that I use for inspiration, answers, or just a way to get in touch with spirit quickly and easily.

One of my favorites, which I’ve used numerous times in ritual with my group Blue Moon Circle, is the Goddess Inspiration Oracle deck, by Kris Waldherr. She’s well known for her beautiful goddess-themed artwork, and this deck is filled with amazing images, as well as lovely descriptions of the 80 goddesses featured on the cards—yet another way to learn while being inspired and guided.

Another one I like is The Gifts of the Goddess: 36 Affirmation Cards by Amy Zerner and Monte Farber.

My current favorite was a Yule gift from my friend Rebecca Elson. She gets to preview lots of great decks for her blog, The Magical Buffet, and she knew I’d love this one when she saw it. The Conscious Spirit Oracle Deck, by Kim Dreyer, has lovely pictures and inspiring affirmations. I’ve taken to pulling one each morning, standing at my altar, and reading it out loud. Then I try to carry its message through the rest of my day. For instance, this morning’s card was number 18: Air Elemental. And the affirmation said, “I embrace the element of air and am open to all knowledge and wisdom.” Isn’t that a great way to start out the day? (Also, I have to do research today, so it makes a certain amount of sense.)

The simplest way to use any of these options is to choose one—runes or tarot or some other form of tapping into intuition—and simply pull one stone or card each morning. Take a minute to focus on it, and you’re done.

If you want to take it a step further, you can keep a couple of different options out where you can access them easily, and pull from whichever one calls to you the most that day. Or do runes one month, and tarot cards another.

To move a little more deeply (and I highly recommend trying this, at least for a month sometime), write down your stone or card, and any thoughts or feelings you have about it, and keep track of them in a small notebook or in your Book of Shadows, if you have one. (If you already journal, you can add this to your daily jottings.) At the end of a day, a week, or a month, take a look back and see if you can make out any patterns that could be helpful.

Asking for guidance and/or inspiration doesn’t have to be complicated or take a lot of time. You certainly don’t have to be an expert card reader to do it. (In fact, many folks like me, who do read professionally, can’t read for themselves at all. Ironic, isn’t it?) You just have to take the same amount of time and effort you would put into reading your daily horoscope. And honestly, this is likely to be a lot more helpful!