This beautiful deck, the Tarot of Gemstones and Crystals, turned up today. It is an early birthday present from my friend in the States and was a nice boost to my morning. I hadn't pulled my cards for the day by the time that it arrived, so I delved straight into it. Doesn't the greens of the Aquamarine and Chrysocolla sit nicely with the spring colouring of my blog?
I have never used a pack like this. I think that the first time I saw it was during the opening season of Big Brother, which must have been in 2000. One of the contestants, Sada Wilkington, brought her tarot deck into the reality-show house and it was this one. It didn't make much of an impact on me at the time, but as the years have passed, I can now recognise it's beauty and I find the research of it's stones interesting. So much so that my friend kindly sent me her copy. The photographs are stunning. It is different than any other pack I have, since it allows you to step sideways and concentrate on colour and form, rather than dwell on imagery that we have already been exposed to in the tarot. As an example, I would say that both of today's cards are passive in their soft tones of aqua.
Aquamarine is a stone of peace and I am told that it brings clarity. I guess that it's passivity allows a person to step back and view the world or a situation in a new way. In this duo, I am most interested in how one of the pieces of Aquamarine leans away from the Queen of Cups. The Chrysocolla (or Gem Silca) in the second card appears gentle and light when polished, but the two pieces of rough stone remind me of something which has been split open.They reveal jagged layers which look as though they could cut like glass. This might represent the raw e
motion deep within the Queen of Cups.The Hanged Man seems to be too close for comfort and pulls back from the queen. These cards could represent someone in my life. If not describing their whole personality, then just their sensitivity. I can think of a few people who the queen might be, and for the moment, the cards suggest my holding back from them. I need to evaluate things from a little distance.
After receiving my gift this morning, I worked from home, sewing the last rows of the patchwork hanging for one of my school projects. It took much longer than I had expected and is really heavy now. It needs to be backed and have it's edges tidied up and then it is done. I had a bit of a headache yesterday, which continued into today. The meal for my boyfriend's grandmother's 86th birthday was lovely, but I didn't feel so wonderful on the way home. Maybe something I ate? Or maybe the car journey. So once I had finished today's sew-a-thon, I took myself up to my bed and slept for an hour.
Photography from The Tarot of Gemstones and Crystals by Heinrich Hugendubel Verlag
Great reading with the deck! I knew you'd be a natural reading with it. I hope you get lots of enjoyment from it. Grats on all the sewing! Sounds satisfying.
ReplyDeleteThanks Hannah. It really is lovely. I like the sharpness and immediacy of the photography.
ReplyDeleteYes, it has been satisfying to get the sewing done, even though not an easy chore. A lot of the people cut patchwork pieces in completely different shapes and sizes than I asked for, so it made it difficult. I also asked for a 1cm seam allowance which many didn't give. My sewing machine has been over some rough terrain in the last few days!