Hi all! This week will be another new arrival of a preorder, The Psychopomps Oracle by Tiffany Lazic, art by Fabio Listrani. The author previously published a book on the subject, and the artist created some disturbing angel and demon cards that I passed on, along with other tarot decks from Llewellyn. But these illustrations seem more conventional with only occasional creepy weirdness, as befits the subject matter, I guess. The backs aren’t addressed in the booklet, but look like a sigil, possibly made up of symbols of the deities in the deck? There is a lot of mythological information here about figures from many cultures, so I’m going to be using the booklet a lot. 44 large numbered cards with deity names and keywords. The cards are organized in 8 categories: Passage Guides, Threshold Keepers, Gatherers, Rescuers, Visitors, Comforters, Harbingers, and Healers. We’ll see how I do this week. Interview first! What is your most important characteristic? Dionysus, Fidelity, rescuer I didn’t know Dionysus, god of wine and pleasure, also rescued his mother from the underworld. Even though the deck is about death and the underworld and afterlife, it can communicate about other things, like pleasure. What is your strength? Gwyn Ap Nudd, Assistance, gatherer He gathers souls that need to go to the land of the dead as the leader of the wild hunt. He also helped Culhwch win Olwen by assisting him on his quest. He and his hunting dogs are white, and the dogs have red ears. The deck is helpful in learning more mythology, even though it’s mostly about endings. Like a hunt, it can be inspiring even though it always ends in death. Your weakness? Inanna, Sacrifice, visitor She went to the underworld to gain power and knowledge, for which she sacrificed everything. All the learning can be gained elsewhere. It’s not necessary to give up everything to learn from the deck. What can you teach me? Charon, Responsibility, passage guide He must be paid to take souls to the other shore, the responsibility of the traveling soul. The deck can teach me you can never get something for nothing. Pay for what I use and don’t be stingy or complaining about it. How can I learn it? St. Michael, Protection, passage guide The leader of god’s army again the devil and protector of souls crossing over. I am protected from fear of death. That will help me learn to do what is required of me without hesitation. What will be the outcome of our work together? Santa Muerte, Understanding, gatherer She’s not a GRIM reaper, but she IS a personification of death. She gathers the dead to her gently. I will learn and gain understanding from the deck. I will be reinforced in my absence of fear of death. Sounds good to me! I look forward to learning more this week.

Thank you Fire cat! I'm in with the PetraK Tarot paired with Astrodice this week. PetraK Tarot, Death; Astrodice, Neptune in Cancer, 1st House No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man. ― Heraclitus I'm currently reading Joan Chittister's Gift of Aging. In her introduction, she states that the book is not about dying because we don't need to get old to die. Change and loss begin soon after we're born as a natural part of impermanence. In Petra's card, the scorpion represents the sting of loss, but the butterfly symbolizes the beauty and understanding that can come too. Yet if we cling to tightly to the sting, we miss the gift. Neptune in Cancer within the 1st House suggests being viewed by others as a person who drifts toward people and places that feel like emotional home. In times of great change and bereavement, that seems like a sane and safe response in order to learn to accept and to heal.

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