Main Quest Content
Video Content
1. In the first video for this week, the Fool continues their journey through the major arcana with cards 8-14. I consider this series of videos comparing the majors in the Pixie and Deva decks to be some of the most important content for your class journey, and I think it models a unique approach to these cards that you might not find elsewhere. I hope these videos inspire you to find your own relationship to each of these major arcana cards that transcends any traditional interpretations and is unique to the moment of your pull.
2. The second main quest video is an introduction to Rich Black's amazing "Black Deck," as well as the pocket edition of the Deva Deck for those of you with smaller hands. I can't recommend the Black Deck strongly enough, and I hope you will consider the $100 investment (plus shipping). Rich is a one-person-operation, and he has published this deck all on his own, so there is the high price tag, but I think it is worth every penny, and you will not regret the purchase. Black has just published the 2nd edition of the deck with slightly larger cards, better quality card stock, and rounded corners, and is beginning to ship now as I am writing this (January 2025). I can't wait to hold this new edition in my hands!
Reach out to Rich on social media or through his website to get information on how to purchase this deck.
3. The third main quest video is an introduction to several oracle decks that I love, including the one required for this class, Kyle Grey's "Angel Guide Oracle."
I love oracle decks and I feel like they are an essential component of a dedicated tarot/altar practice. I feel strongly that adding oracle cards to an altar that has a 5 card spread (of tarot cards) can really enrich the reading, and so I strongly encourage you to consider purchasing additional oracle decks to sprinkle into the mix. This video, and the one that is in the side quest content for next week, is meant to help you find these additional decks.
4. The final main quest video for this week is an edited excerpt from the full live Zoom recording (that you can find in the side quest content for this week), and focuses on "The Power of Thought Forms and Sigil Craft." I feel like this is a really important video to watch if you feel pulled towards it. I describe my core philosophy about what exactly is happening with the experience of synchronicity, and how it is an example of the mirroring effect of consciousness. When we focus on a thought form, or magic spell, and charge it with emotional power and ritual, that thought form is mirrored back to us in our lives.
This is the so called "Secret" to the power of attraction. What we focus on with our minds is what we attract to ourselves in our lives. This is of course very relevant to our tarot practice, as we will often find that the cards mirror back to us thought forms and emotions that are powerful in our psyche at that time. Often these thought forms are unconscious, so the cards can help us to be more mindful and intentional with our thoughts/feelings.
Skywatching Assignment
Check your Moon-Venus Calendar for timing this assignment.
Sometime this week you will start your 2nd skywatching expedition over a series of days.
Morning Sky Venus Assignment
If Venus is in the morning sky, as it is for 8 months starting in April of 2025, your expedition will begin either the morning closest to the exact conjunction of the Moon and Venus (check your calendar for the exact time of this conjunction), or the morning before this date if you are wanting to make sure you see the alignment if weather is not good on the morning of exactitude. Depending on where Venus is in her cycle, a morning sky Moon-Venus conjunction will happen either, 1,2 or 3 mornings before the exact New Moon.
I think going out for two mornings is very worth it, even if the weather is looking good for the morning of the closest conjunction, as you will get to have a 2 day encounter with the morning sky, and you will also have a good experience of how far the Moon travels in 24 hours. It is super cool to go out 2 (or even 3) mornings to get a feeling for the pace of the Moon as they are approaching Venus, getting close to the exact conjunction, and then sometimes moving past Venus on the other side.
After your outing to be with the exact (or nearly exact) Moon-Venus conjunction, consult your calendar to know the day that the exact New Moon is happening. The Moon will not be visible on this day, but on the following day make an outing to your place of power for sunset observation, and wait for it get dark enough to see the first crescent Moon appear low on the western horizon.
This first possible visible contact with the Moon after the day of the exact New Moon is when many indigenous groups mark and honor the beginning of the new lunar cycle, and I think it is an important evening to go out skywatching. Pray to the crescent Moon for guidance and support in the coming month and see if you receive any messages. Notice where you go in your imagination as you observe the Moon and see if there is any guidance to be found there.
Evening Sky Venus Assignment
If this is a week when Venus (and the Moon-Venus conjunction) is happening in the evening sky after sunset, then your first outing should be on the morning before the exact New Moon. This will give you an opportunity to observe the last crescent Moon as it appears low on the eastern horizon before sunrise, and will give you an experience of what it feels like on the last day of a lunar cycle, when there is often a strong feeling of completion. Consult your calendar to know what time the Moon rises on this morning, and get out to see it rise amidst the sunrise colors. Try to take a photo that pleases you to commemorate the moment.
Depending on where Venus is at in her cycle, an evening sky Moon-Venus conjunction will happen either 1, 2, or 3 nights after the exact New Moon. So in this case, your second Skywatching outing will happen on the night of that exact (or nearly exact) evening sky conjunction after sunset.
If you want to add an additional outing, your second skywatching experience for this month will happen the night before the exact Moon-Venus conjunction, and the 3rd outing will happen the night closest to exactitude.
Since this is the 2nd month of class and your second encounter with a Moon-Venus conjunction perhaps journal about what was similar and different about the two encounters. What happened for you over the course of the several days of your expedition?
Make note of how high the Moon-Venus conjunction was above the horizon after sunset.
Ritualizing the Day of the Exact New Moon
On the day of the exact New Moon (which happens 1-3 days after a morning sky Moon-Venus conjunction or 1-3 days before an evening sky Moon-Venus conjunction) you can have optional outings to commune with the sunrise and/or sunset (knowing that the Moon is directly in between you and the sunrise or sunset rays), but regardless of whether you go out to be with the sky on this day, be sure to do a New Moon ritual creation of an altar with a New Moon 5 card spread.
Clear everything from your altar, shake off the altar cloth, perhaps light some sage or palo santo, ring a bell, shake your rattle, and imagine really clearing the energy of the past month.
Take at least 20 minutes for this ritual, and start fresh with a new arrangement to your altar. Perhaps use a different altar cloth. Maybe some objects want to stay and others leave. You may find yourself bringing in something from nature, some flowers, leaves or stones. Maybe there is a new crystal wanting to be featured, or a photo found in a drawer. Get into a trance state, work mindlessly, and allow your intuition and artistic creativity to guide everything. Of course, you should also consider shuffling one or more of your decks and pulling cards for a five card spread throughout this ritual. Take photos.
Additional Tarot/ Altar Crafting Assignments
Besides continuing to practice the five card spread and altar practice every day if possible, there are a couple of other assignments I'd like you to try out.
Since we have now begun to systematically look at the full 78 card structure of the tarot: (the major and minor arcana, the aces, and the court cards), I'd like you to do two assignments that will help you become more familiar with all 78 cards. You can do these exercises with one or both decks, perhaps focusing on the Deva Deck this week and the Pixie Deck next week.
Exercise #1
The first exercise is meant to help you rapidly find the cards in each deck that are coming more often than others, and therefore have stronger importance for you at this time.
Take 60-90 minutes (or more if you are enjoying the flow) and shuffle either deck, perhaps more rapidly than you usually would, and every 10 seconds or so, pull a card, make note of it, and then shuffle it back into the deck. Keep shuffling and pulling like this until you pull the same card twice. Write this card down with two marks next to it, and then continue like this noting each time a card comes more than once. In an hour you might pull 200-300 cards, and when I've done this before I've found that certain cards come much more often than others. A couple of cards will come 5 or 6 times, and many will never come.
Exercise #2
The second exercise is to do a "78 card spread" with either deck. This is meant to introduce you to every card in the deck in a way that keeps you in an intuitive flow state. The first card you pull begins the conversation with the deck and each card after that pulls you into your unique flow and ongoing dialogue with the cards. How does the deck want to reveal itself to you?
As with the last exercise, shuffle and pull cards a bit more rapidly, but still intuitively, enjoying the order that the cards reveal themselves to you. Notice how pleasurable it is to see all the cards in a short span of time. Perhaps after you pull each card toss it into a hat like you've see magicians and poker players do.
Additional Exercise:
--Pull a card when you are out skywatching, and hold it out to what you are observing, thus combining both of our practices. Take a photo with the card outstretched in front of you next to what you are observing in the sky.
Side Quest Content Week Four
The first side quest video is an introduction to deepening intimacy with the planet Saturn, and you will find some written information below the video about when to best make visual contact with Saturn.
This could be a great week to do your own research into what some of the best astrologers have written about Saturn. Allow yourself to be pulled towards a book or online article, and trust Saturn themself to show you the way.
The second side quest video is from my 2019 introduction to the major arcana of Ma Deva Padma's Osho Zen Tarot. While there is some overlap between how I present the major arcana here, and the way I do it in my 2024 series of videos, in 2019 I'm only looking at the one deck, while in 2024 I compare the majors in both the Deva and Pixie decks. So I do think this video is unique in this sense, and as I've written elsewhere, I was in a very different place in my personal life in 2019 versus in 2024, as well as a different place in my journey with tarot, and so it may helpful to watch both video series on the major arcana.
And the final side quest video is the full recording of the 2024 live Zoom meeting that focused on "Thought Forms, Spell Craft and Crystal MagicK." You could choose to watch this instead of the edited excerpts in this week and next week's main quest content if you want to have the full experience of the live meeting, with student comments and questions, as well as readings for students.
Enjoy!!!