By Darren Shill
There is something weird that happens between the Aces and the Twos in the tarot. Aces always feel special. All that potential and pure essence of the suit gives them a presence that stands apart from the other cards.
By Sarah Wray
The Ace of Swords is a personal favourite of mine – one of those cards appeared in my earliest tarot readings, at exactly the moment I needed it to, and has appeared often since. It feels like something that’s connected to me at least for the moment. Frankly (and maybe a bit weirdly!) it feels like my card. It’s the first card I go looking for when I’m checking out a new deck. Usually identifying more with the watery emotions depicted by the cups suit (I am a Pisces, after all!), it’s necessary to come up for air from time to time and get some clarity. It certainly was for me on my 30th birthday, when I gave myself a reading while in a bit of a rut, and it has served as inspiration and reminder that, if I try, I can easily see what has to happen and, crucially, I already have all of the tools within me to set off on that path.
By Darren Shill
This week’s Tarot Tuesday reveal was the picture you will see most frequently in Mike Medaglia’s The Luna Sol Tarot – the reverse of the card. This truly gorgeous image is largely self-explanatory; the glowing half-moon (Luna) beneath the blazing sun (Sol). But what may be less clear is the central symbol of black and white concentric lines. This it’s this element I will focus on here.
By Darren Shill
Amidst the height of summer, when we slow through necessity and often enjoy a break from toil, what finer card to reflect on than the 7 of Disks? Those fruitful Disks and gardening tools suggest that this respite did not happen by chance, some work and a little planning probably brought you to this stage of achievement. The card suggests you should take stock of this moment; be present and look around. If we constantly move from task to task where is the reward in life or, perhaps, when do we get a chance to be grateful for those rewards.
by Darren Shill
Congratulations! You’ve chosen your deck! (Was it The Wild Unknown, RWS, Starchild, Thoth or an interesting Kickstarter? Do tell!) You’ve studied the meanings. You’ve told your friends that Destiny’s map is within your hands… But how do you actually read the tarot?
The Hanged One in the Luna Sol Tarot
By Darren Shill
There is a myth that is often repeated when discussing The Hanged One, and that is Odin’s suffering upon Yggdrasil, a giant ash tree known as the World Tree.
At the time of writing this, I have been completely done the artwork for the Luna Sol Tarot for about a month. I feel just enough recovered from the emotional labour to begin to reflect on the process!
by Darren Shill
The tarot Star is always a pleasure. It’s a pleasure to see in a reading and a pleasure to think about (tarot nerd alert!). The Star is a card that, no matter how long I spend studying it, there always seem to be another level to discover. I seem to love what I don’t know about the card as much as I love what I do know. So it brings me a great deal of joy to talk about The Star in the Luna Sol Tarot!
By Darren Shill
Following a highly enjoyable Saturday spent with Mike Medaglia around Finsbury Park, I wanted to report back on the 2018 London Tarot Festival. Using the lovely space of Platform, Kim Arnold, Geraldine Beskin and Bali Beskin have arranged the festival over two levels. The main area downstairs housing a number of stalls, tarot readers (top tip – book your spot as soon as you arrive!) and a space for the free talks. Then upstairs, a modern theatre space was used for guest talks, which you could either pay per talk or gain entry to all via a golden ticket.
By Darren Shill
As the first Court card to be revealed in the Luna Sol Tarot, there are a few things within the King of Disks that you would not notice unless the full deck was laid out before you. However, seeing as you’ve taken the trouble to read our blog, the least I can do is share some secrets! But first, some basics:
By Darren Shill
The suit of Swords is not always looked on kindly by tarot readers. Maybe this is repaying the favour, as Swords represent the element of air, the realm of the intellect, and as such can at times be emotionally cold, perhaps even verging on the cruel. And maybe we feel a little bias when borrowing the Eastern concept that the intellectual mind is something to be overcome in our spiritual development (which is strange when you are told the Ace of Swords is probably the most spiritual of all four Aces). Either way, it is not uncommon for a reader to occasionally wince as if sliced by the card when a Sword appears.
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The cards can be a real mystery! (Image from Shutterstock.com)
By Sarah Wray
A little while back, I talked about being a total tarot newbie. I shared my experience of picking a deck that suited me and getting to know the craft. I was, and perhaps still am, The Fool. Now, having spent a few months with my tarot cards, I’m feeling more confident in my ability to read and interpret the cards. I still have a long way to go – there is SO much to interpret, after all! – but I wanted to share the ways in which I’ve been developing my tarot skills. Who knows? It may help some fellow beginners!
by Darren Shill
This week’s card from Mike Medaglia’s Luna Sol Tarot is The High Priestess. It is another beautiful card bursting with meaning.
The Slow Holler Tarot (see below)
By Darren Shill
Tarot deck collectors have have not suffered from lack of choice for a long time now. I remember how difficult it was to pick one from all of the available options when choosing my first deck back in the ’80s. But now, with crowdfunding and the ability to place pre-orders online, the number of different decks out there has truly exploded!
by Darren Shill
It comes as no surprise to anyone that the tarot contains a few apparently dark themes. Pop culture often focuses on cards like Death, The Devil and The Hanged Man; maybe that’s because, unfortunately, nothing sells like bad news*. And if you’re of an older generation, maybe you get an unsettling Tales of The Unexpected or Live and Let Die vibe (if a gif exists of Roger Moore looking weird when Solitaire reveals The Lovers, please no-one send it to me). It might not be until your first proper look that you see the cards that fizz with joy, like The Sun, 10 of cups or The Aces. Of course, if the tarot is going to reflect life, then it needs to cover the full spectrum of our experiences, both difficult and wonderful.
Sarah’s personal tarot starter kit
By Sarah Wray
Everybody has to start somewhere! Sarah Wray, Liminal 11’s Marketing & Publicity Manager, is a total newbie when it comes to tarot. In this post, she shares her early experiences of choosing a tarot deck, learning to do tarot readings and opening her mind to the positive effects that tarot can have on your life. From the perspective of a total novice, she offers some advice to help fellow tarot beginners take their first steps.
Temperance from Mike Medaglia’s Luna Sol Tarot
by Darren Shill
It’s been an exciting few weeks for Liminal 11, not least because we’ve finally started unveiling the beautiful images that make up Mike Medaglia’s positive, warm deck, The Luna Sol Tarot! After many months of planning and gushing over other creators’ decks, it felt like a long wait to finally show you these cards. It feels great to have them out in the world! In case you missed them, Strength and the Ace of Wands are pictured below.
The Tower by A Miyako M
by Darren Shill
During the last few weeks, we have principally focused on individual cards from Mike Medaglia’s Luna Sol Tarot. This week, I wanted to look at a single card from someone else’s deck: The Tower by Addi Miyako. Addi, from San Jose, California, finished a successful Kickstarter campaign in early February this year for a deck of 22 Major Arcana, all rendered in stunning water colours. This Tarot deck came either with velvet bags or furoshiki wrapping cloths, the latter produced by a local San Jose business, Nichi Bei Bussan.
Addi’s cards are mostly close-up portraits of individuals bearing the essential essence the tarot archetypes. There are two notable exceptions, however: The Wheel of Fortune, where a hand tattooed with many of the traditional symbols holds a beautiful coloured wheel adorned with cyclical markings. View Post
The Ace of Wands from Mike Medaglia’s Luna Sol Tarot
by Darren Shill
Last week, we revealed the first Major Arcana card from the Luna Sol Tarot: Strength. Now we move into the Minor Arcana, and how apt that we start with an Ace; even more so that it is the Ace of Wands, the suit that is commonly ordered before the others, and with reason. Wands in the tarot have a natural twig-like appearance, often with green budding shoots, as opposed to being some finely-crafted mystical tool. Nature has kindly performed all the hard work here. Wands are a natural wonder! View Post
Strength from The Luna Sol Tarot by Mike Medaglia
by Darren Shill
Cards on the table, I write as a biased observer. I have watched Mike Medaglia’s Luna Sol Tarot gently emerge to life with wonder, enthusiasm and delight as each new card appeared. And with so many wonderful options, including an amazingly narrative-packed Minor Arcana, it was no easy job to help decide which card image should appear publicly first. Thoughts were divided between Strength and Justice, just as these two cards jostle in position between numbers 8 and 11 on so many decks. But of course, the inner resilience and gentle power of Strength could not help but win through. View Post
