Dear Joanna - everything, as always, is beautiful and supportive here. I do, though want to specifically and especially thank you for your clear calls to resist violence, domination, and fascism. It is *because of* your direct, explicit, and consistent connecting of political/community engagement and your love of the world and all Their beings that I follow and learn from you. Spiritual leaders who refuse to make these connections engage, to my mind, in spiritual bypassing. I am so grateful to you always for the ways you model how to live in and care for this world!
Oh, thank you for telling me that. It means the world, it really does. As if we could separate our spirituality from our everyday life! That sounds like the old body/spirit earth/spirit split we inherited from patriarchal religions, doesn't it. I had a number of unsubscribes after this post and I'm OK with it. I bless them on their way.
This entire post is so full! Here’s a part of my draw: One of my cards chosen in a spread by Joanne Powell Colbert, using her GAIAN deck .
The question: What do I need to know right now? The Tree ( Hanged Man/ woman). The advice: find your center. Be still and receptive. Experience how THE MYSTERY flows within you.
Well I Love your words about being open to experience The Great Mystery that flows within. Brilliant!
And I also wrote out Opening Directions from where I LIVE! I’m a graduate of The Four Winds school and opening directions ( 6 ways) is an integrational part of what I do naturally. So, bringing it more locally rather than globally is so smart. I never thought about that. Again, a true gift!
Thank you, Vicki. Big smile on my face. It makes me so happy to hear you wrote something local for calling the directions. I'd love to read it if you want to share ... you can email it to me if you'd rather not post it here.
Thank you for being you, I was so happy to get your first set of Gaian Tart cards in 2012, and it is today still the only deck I can read and work with, I just recently got the Herb Crafters Tarot by yours truly It is awesome and beautiful. I just started working with it and it makes me feel like I am part of the universe.
Grateful for the Gaian tarot and your steady ongoing presence.
The last three mornings of picking only one card from the deck brought me the powerful cards of the Guardians of Air, Fire, and Water, in that order. I relate to your first tarot deck experience in 1970, as I was gifted with my only other tarot deck in December 1970 followed by an unsettling experience with the Emperor/Actor/Builder card in the context of the young man I loved who became a carpenter after his experience in Vietnam. He had given me a tarot deck before leaving for Vietnam and pushed the cards away when I began to talk about the Actor card he had pulled after his return. So many synchronicities.
Amanda, I love hearing that you chose 3 Guardians, 3 days in a row. Wow to your story about the Emperor / Actor / Builder card. "Unsettling" is a good word! Love the synchronicity with my own experience in 1970.
Oh, Joanna, thank you thank you for the lovely letter and for sharing your garden and your Gaian tarot with us. And for the reminder of the importance of being ready. You are magic.
Wow! So much richness and beauty in this! I especially applaud your dedication to the connections between earth-based spirituality and the many ways we can and are resisting fascism in the US right now, even if the media is not covering it and our friends in other countries aren’t aware of it. Thank you!
Thanks, Cassie, I appreciate your perspective so much!
BTW I looked at your post about your trip to the PNW ... In the photos you posted from the top of Mt. Constitution, the island you see is Lummi Island, where I used to live. I walked the west side of Lummi most days and used to wave at Orcas 😊
That’s amazing! I’m writing an environmental novel now about sea level rise and the intelligence of sea creatures, and some of the characters are from the Lummi Nation. Such a rich and beautiful tapestry of diversity and biodiversity in the area! 💚
I did not - but I just looked at her website and will definitely start to read her work. Do you have a favorite book of hers you’d recommend for the first one I read?
I think her only book of poetry so far is "Patriarchy Blues," although she also edited an anthology called "Singing the Salmon Home." Honestly my favorite is a little guidebook she wrote called "Northwest Know-How: Beaches" believe it or not! Because of her commentary on all these NW beaches. That little book has the best Land Acknowledgement I've ever read.
Dear Joanna - everything, as always, is beautiful and supportive here. I do, though want to specifically and especially thank you for your clear calls to resist violence, domination, and fascism. It is *because of* your direct, explicit, and consistent connecting of political/community engagement and your love of the world and all Their beings that I follow and learn from you. Spiritual leaders who refuse to make these connections engage, to my mind, in spiritual bypassing. I am so grateful to you always for the ways you model how to live in and care for this world!
Oh, thank you for telling me that. It means the world, it really does. As if we could separate our spirituality from our everyday life! That sounds like the old body/spirit earth/spirit split we inherited from patriarchal religions, doesn't it. I had a number of unsubscribes after this post and I'm OK with it. I bless them on their way.
Yes! Such a powerful point - it really does sound like the splitting that is so much at the root of patriarchy.
This entire post is so full! Here’s a part of my draw: One of my cards chosen in a spread by Joanne Powell Colbert, using her GAIAN deck .
The question: What do I need to know right now? The Tree ( Hanged Man/ woman). The advice: find your center. Be still and receptive. Experience how THE MYSTERY flows within you.
Love that!
Beautiful, Vicki! Love this so much 😍
Well I Love your words about being open to experience The Great Mystery that flows within. Brilliant!
And I also wrote out Opening Directions from where I LIVE! I’m a graduate of The Four Winds school and opening directions ( 6 ways) is an integrational part of what I do naturally. So, bringing it more locally rather than globally is so smart. I never thought about that. Again, a true gift!
Thank you, Vicki. Big smile on my face. It makes me so happy to hear you wrote something local for calling the directions. I'd love to read it if you want to share ... you can email it to me if you'd rather not post it here.
Thank you for being you, I was so happy to get your first set of Gaian Tart cards in 2012, and it is today still the only deck I can read and work with, I just recently got the Herb Crafters Tarot by yours truly It is awesome and beautiful. I just started working with it and it makes me feel like I am part of the universe.
Colleen, your words go straight to my heart. Thank you so much. 💚
I have always loved that spread! I need to bring it out. Thank you for your words! 💜
Thank you Shari. I keep tweaking that spread … so many ways to use it 💚
Grateful for the Gaian tarot and your steady ongoing presence.
The last three mornings of picking only one card from the deck brought me the powerful cards of the Guardians of Air, Fire, and Water, in that order. I relate to your first tarot deck experience in 1970, as I was gifted with my only other tarot deck in December 1970 followed by an unsettling experience with the Emperor/Actor/Builder card in the context of the young man I loved who became a carpenter after his experience in Vietnam. He had given me a tarot deck before leaving for Vietnam and pushed the cards away when I began to talk about the Actor card he had pulled after his return. So many synchronicities.
https://www.royalmaze.com/actor/
Amanda, I love hearing that you chose 3 Guardians, 3 days in a row. Wow to your story about the Emperor / Actor / Builder card. "Unsettling" is a good word! Love the synchronicity with my own experience in 1970.
Dearest Joanna,
Much appreciation for your words which bring me exactly what I need this hot, humid, June Texas morning. Blessings and gratitude to you.
Thanks Mary Beth. I can remember some of those San Antonio mornings! Sending you cool PNW breezes.
Oh, Joanna, thank you thank you for the lovely letter and for sharing your garden and your Gaian tarot with us. And for the reminder of the importance of being ready. You are magic.
Thank you Susan! You're pretty darned magic yourself 😊
What a nice way to begin a Sunday morning. Thank you for your creative ways to connect👍🏼❤️
Thank you so much for telling me that, Vicki!
Wow! So much richness and beauty in this! I especially applaud your dedication to the connections between earth-based spirituality and the many ways we can and are resisting fascism in the US right now, even if the media is not covering it and our friends in other countries aren’t aware of it. Thank you!
Thanks, Cassie, I appreciate your perspective so much!
BTW I looked at your post about your trip to the PNW ... In the photos you posted from the top of Mt. Constitution, the island you see is Lummi Island, where I used to live. I walked the west side of Lummi most days and used to wave at Orcas 😊
That’s amazing! I’m writing an environmental novel now about sea level rise and the intelligence of sea creatures, and some of the characters are from the Lummi Nation. Such a rich and beautiful tapestry of diversity and biodiversity in the area! 💚
Oh lovely! Do you know the poetry of Rena Priest? She is Lummi and was the WA state Poet Laureate for a couple of years.
I did not - but I just looked at her website and will definitely start to read her work. Do you have a favorite book of hers you’d recommend for the first one I read?
I think her only book of poetry so far is "Patriarchy Blues," although she also edited an anthology called "Singing the Salmon Home." Honestly my favorite is a little guidebook she wrote called "Northwest Know-How: Beaches" believe it or not! Because of her commentary on all these NW beaches. That little book has the best Land Acknowledgement I've ever read.
Thanks so much! I will definitely check this out and hope our 3 paths will cross the next time I’m in the PNW!