I don’t often get to the evening breakout sessions at the Readers Studio because I’m often offering private tarot consultations to people at those times. This year, I made a point to take no appointments on Saturday evening because Joanna Powell Colbert’s session on the Gaian Tarot was something I really wanted to attend. Joanna is a splendid artist, devotee of Nature/Goddess, and marvellous tarot consultant as well as a warm, intelligent, and sweet person (can you tell we’re friends?).
Joanna’s presentation was simple, direct, and helpful in creating a deeper relationship with her tarot deck, which is fast becoming one of my primary sets of cards for use in consultations, circles, ceremony, and journalling.
The slide show compared three RWS Majors and their Gaian counterparts. I LOVE that the Chariot is a Canoe! The images also gave us a taste of the structure of the Minors as well as a good sense of how Joanna created each card, from photos to sketches, to painting with coloured pencils. Wow!
Joanna then offered a three-card reading to one of the attendees, asking for input from all attendees. Good guidance emerged from the discussion around each card’s picture.
We concluded by asking the question, “What is the best thing I can do for Gaia at this time?” and each pulling a card from the Gaian Tarot. It became a council of colour and word as we shared thoughts with one another in an honest, heartfelt manner. My own card was the Magician, which suggested that I be a conscious transformer of consciousness who helps people discern truths ecstatically so that we can all leave a legacy of walking our talk. Whew!
What’s the best thing YOU can do for Gaia at this time? What creation are you called to bring into reality? How will the Earth be a part of that creation? From what tradition do you come? What is its modern counterpart? How do you reconcile the two? Please let us know, dear friend.
Evolutionary Tarot & Circle Ways 
My sister has gotten a couple tarot card readings and they’ve both been extremely accurate. Yesterday she got another one that had some disturbing predictions about our future together. How accurate are tarot cards at predicting the future?
Thanks for your question. I don’t believe in a pre-determined future, so I dont’ think any symbolic tool (tarot or otherwise) can predict a specific outcome. Weather forecasters tell us that based on certain conditions — time of year, altitude, hemisphere, etc. — we will likely experience a certain type of weather over a given short-term time frame. The same with our lives. If we are conditioned in a certain way, are a certain age, have certain information, perform certain actions or not, then we’re likely to have a certain experience over a given short-term time frame. Every moment is one of choice; therefore, if we decide to make a shift — small or large, private or public — then we can change our course. Life seems to be like paddling a canoe in that it’s a balance of moving with the current and steering. The tarot, or any symbolic tool, simply assists us to check in with internal and external currents so we can make more conscious choices about how we might navigate them. So, what disturbs you about the predictions that your sister recently received? What issue or challenge is happening NOW that you need to be aware of? And what might you need to change in yourself so that you can clear the issue?
This is delightful. Her workshop was one of the weekend highlights for me. I got the 3 of Water. It shows 3 otters playing in the water. They are immersed in the water that surrounds them.
* Immerse yourself in nature. Surround yourself with her.
* Put your feet in the grass, your toes in the sand, your feet in the water. No shoes! Connect! Become one with her, a multi-sensory experience.
* Immerse in nature! We are in such a climate-controlled world, driving in our air-conditioned cars to get to our air-conditioned offices, and back home again to our air-conditioned homes. Time to use the natural cooling system of the earth: Water!
* Be playful!
* Bring a few friends. Nature/Gaia need not be a solitary adventure
* And since two otters are on their back… recognize vulnerability. The earth is vulnerable, give back and recognize how open and vulnerable she is. Protect her. And BE a little vulnerable while in her presence. Recognize her vastness.
Hi James and Donnaleigh! I got the ‘Joanna in a Field of Lavender’ card(don’t remember its number).. so I took it to say…
Be like Joanna and take your creative endeavors out into the marketplace, share your gifts with the world and, by all means, enjoy doing it!
Lovely, Judy. The card is the 9 of Earth.