Card of the Week -6 of Swords

First Quarter Moon in Aquarius
6 of Swords

Planetary ruler Pluto

The First Quarter moon in Aquarius has a humanitarian quality as it suggests helping someone who is going through an emotionally turbulent time get to a place of peace. This week is also the week of Samhain when the veil between the two worlds is thinnest. This is a good week for doing rituals honoring loved ones who have passed. As we approach the doorway between summer and winter when the laws of time are suspended this is a good time for doing readings as well. Mercury retrograde also invites us to redo, revisit and generally catch up with projects and other things we have fallen behind on.

The 6 of Swords for me it is a personal card. The first quarter moon in Aquarius is my natal card. I am a Scorpio with an Aquarius moon. So this card is a birth card and its symbol has played out in my life.

One thing that I think is important for people to do is take notice of all the Aquarian moon cards(The Star, the King of Coins, the 7 of Cups, and the 7 of Wands all have a river prominent in the image... see the star for the deeper meaning of the river)

The original colors for this image came from a cheap abstract hotel print in a hotel room my husband and my kids and I were staying in the color combination caught my eye and I drew it out as patches of color with the name of the color penciled in. I took that piece of paper home with me and used it.
The basic layout is from a painting by Mary Cassatt called The Boating Party(1893-94). The color for the water and the water itself was influenced by Benjamin West(1778) a painting called The Battle of La Hogue as well as John Singleton Copley's Watson and the Shark (also 1778).

The island is supposed to look like a woman's body( Mother Earth) but is also meant to represent the island of Avalon( Summerland or Appleland)
The island where Arthur was taken by the 3 queens at his death. It also represents the land of the dead. The sun was intended to be setting and my original intension was that the boatman was taking her and her son to this mythical island like the famed Charon who ferried the dead across the Styx.

This card as a mirror of my own life, illustrates my spiritual journey as a young adult(at age 21) I was spiritually reawakened by a man(my teacher in college who taught Native American Studies) whose last name was actually Boatman, during a time when I was a newly divorced and a single mom on my own with my young (18 month old) son. This encounter started me on my spiritual path and rekindled my interests in all things metaphysical.

My husband Peter's comment which shattered my original intention was that the man was rowing away from the island and not to the island as I had intended. This which was not apparent to me while creating this image also had meaning.

And these are the secrets of the 6 of Swords.
Julie

Visit Aeclectic Tarot for the MAAT Tarot Study Group, join in the discussion
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?p=909192#post909192

MAAT Tarot is HERE!!!!

The truck just dropped off my new decks and books. I opened the boxes
and claimed a deck and book for myself. THEY ARE AWESOME!!! Big
and shiny and GREAT. Just what I wanted. BETTER even!!! I am going to sit with them for
a while and then start signing and packing them getting them ready to ship!!!

Julie doing a happy dance....
finally!!!!

Breaking News on MAAT Tarot

The MAAT Tarot will finally be in my hands on
Monday September 18th!!! I will start shipping
immediatelyon Tuesday September 19th (2 to
3 day priority mail in the states and global
priority everyone else!!) The timing should
allow people who pre-ordered to jump into this
calendar deck right at the beginning which is
The full moon cycle of Aries which starts
Sept 23rd( next weekend) on the Autumnal Equinox.

So this is your absolute last chance to get a
"signed and numbered" deck and book at the
pre-order price. All signed and numbered
deck sets will increase in price starting Tuesday.

Julie :-)

Peace

Spent the day quietly at home alone. This is rare during the rush of Summer.
Everyone was gone busy doing something. My plans to join the activity disolved
and I embraced the idea of staying home and working on an unfinished project. I sat and enjoyed
some classic old movies as a blue silk bodice for my colonial gown took shape.
My mind wondered to days gone by and to future events and back to what my hands were
doing. Handsewing can be like the shaman's drum.

The Big Wheel

I've been having a splendid dialog with a nice Druid from Wales this morning and he sent me a diagram of the Fire Festivals of the Druids(cross-quarter-days) The chart is set up with Yule at the top and the Summer Solstice on the bottom the Equinoxes are balanced on the left and right sides. Like compass points, Yule is north and Summer Solstice is south. The vernal Equinox is in the east(right) and Autumnal in the west(left). This makes good sense and is drawn out opposite of my chart for MAAT.

The same thing with the same meanings just drawn out opposite. My chart takes on the likeness of an astrological chart where the 'night' is on the bottom half of the wheel and the 'day' is on the top half. The rising (sign) is to the left and the descendant is at the right. We are on the same page here though.

MAAT Tarot goes to press

Didn't write in yesterday due to the crazy busy-ness of the day. All final corrections for MAAT Tarot were completed and I had
to give them all one last look though and approval. The box and book dimensions were finalized and I had to re-adjust my designs for both. I finally finished everything this morning after burning the midnight oil until after 1:30am. I have not seen
the whole completed product yet but have seen how the box will be in the form of a blank box with blank shrink wrapped cards.
The cards are BIG like the first edition Blue Moon Tarot, but not so big that they are uncomfortable to handle and shuffle.
The cardstock is the same as the 2nd edition Blue Moon cards but having more cards makes the deck feel so much better.
The book looked great all the corrections were made after having been proof read and reread 5 times. There still may be something I missed but I am pretty sure every detail is what I intended now.

My first day with a blog!

Well this is the first day for my blog I am not sure if a waning moon in my opposing sign is a good time to start something.
But here goes anyway...
I am just days away from seeing the final proofs for the MAAT Tarot cards. The book is done being proofed and I am happy with the results I have seen so far. I am anxious to see the cover completed and the box.
I worked on a powerpoint presentation that I may or may not be able to use at LATS. But I think it is a good idea to have it.
The last minute split decisions I have had to make on the publication of MAAT has been nerve racking. I am always worried i will make some tremendous mistake and blow the whole project. But my guides have been very good to me and let me know my worst mistakes which I caught in the Nick of time, like having new moon in Capricorn for the 10 of coins instead of new moon in Cancer. That could have ruined the whole deck for me. But it was caught and I can breath easy for now. There are so many details and so many things that have to be just right. when its all perfect it looks easy and when there is a stupid mistake somewhere, well it all seems to say, if she was wrong about this then what else is she wrong about...?
Julie