Edmonton Tarot: Conclusion

I've had such fun creating this tarot tour of Edmonton's scenery and landmarks! Thanks, everyone, for coming along on my rambles. I hope this series has helped you get to know my city a little better, as well as the Major Arcana! I've appreciated all the comments you've made on these posts over the past few months. The tarot is always a rich and rewarding journey on many levels.

This final photo is of the tarot display case at Where Faeries Live, my favourite pagan store here in the city.

[Photo by Debra She Who Seeks]

Edmonton Tarot: The World (XXI)

Interpretation: The World is the final card in the Major Arcana. On a spiritual level, it denotes wholeness, balance and integration. All the wisdom lessons learned from the preceding cards culminate in this card. It brings new consciousness and awareness. On a more mundane level, The World card represents triumph, success and deserved rewards. On any level, this is a card of completion -- the reader has achieved what he or she has been seeking and striving to attain. A major cycle of the person's destiny is successfully concluded.

Image: The traditional image for The World card is a circular wreath with the Divine Feminine dancing inside. I have chosen for its Edmonton equivalent this mural of an aboriginal round dance. The circle contains the sacred medicine wheel and an eagle feather. Drummers provide the rhythmic heartbeat for the dance of life.

This mural is located on a building in Edmonton's inner city (corner of 107 Avenue and 95 Street) which is the area populated by our urban poor and homeless. It was painted by local artist Kris Friesen. The mural honours the founder of Boyle Street Community Services, an agency providing programs and services to those who are marginalized. May all who struggle find the wholeness and success represented by The World card!

Tomorrow: The conclusion of our Edmonton Tarot journey

[Photo by Debra She Who Seeks]

Good Summer Reads, Part 2

Brandon Meyers and Bryan Pedas of A Beer for the Shower have written another great humour book -- The Sensationally Absurd Life and Times of Slim Dyson. What happens when a sweet homeless guy with a heart of gold and a trusting nature strikes it rich as an author? And then Hollywood comes knocking for the film version of his book? Be prepared for a roller-coaster ride of fun! You can get this in paperback or ebook format -- click here to go to Amazon's paperback version.

Twisted Roads is the latest from Travis Erwin of Bacon, Beer & Books. After 15 years, two women who have been arch rivals since high school finally face off. Angela has a tarnished name and a bitter heart. Shelly is a small town Texas queen with secrets. Lucas is the man caught in the middle. Written with Travis's usual wit and style, this novel sensitively explores a deeper emotional dilemma: what if you spent your whole life loving the wrong person? Right now  Twisted Roads is available as an ebook but will also be published as a paperback on May 15th. Click here for Amazon's ebook link.

See, this is why I'm still not finished reading Moby-Dick -- I get side-tracked reading all these other great books in the meantime! I hope some or all of them will pique your interest too. Happy reading!

Good Summer Reads, Part 1

Now that nice weather has FINALLY arrived, it's time to pick something good to read at the beach or outside on the deck or, well, anywhere really. And, as luck would have it, some bloggin' buddies have recently released interesting and entertaining books which I can highly recommend!

M. L. Madison of Riot Kitty has written a charming ebook for kids of all ages called The Adventures of Black Jack Pepper. Her brother Nik Houser did the illustrations so this book is a real family project. It's all about a little girl, her kid brother, their endlessly patient Dad and (HRH likes this part) their cat! The heroine has many fun misadventures involving lobsters, polar bears, plumbers, Santa Claus and the police. It's fast-paced and action-packed!  Click here to go to its Amazon link.

If adult reading is more what you're after, G. B. Miller of Cedar's Mountain has written a novel that is a terrific blend of several genres -- sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, erotica, mystery -- Line 21 has it all! Jeannie's basic dilemma is that she must pay off the family loan shark but she has no money. Then an unexpected business opportunity presents itself. Oh my goodness! Line 21 is available both in paperback and ebook versions -- click here to go to Amazon's paperback link.

Tomorrow -- a couple more good books!

A New Look!

Hey, like my new blog header? It was designed and created by the very talented Diane Cayton Hakey (click here to go to her blog). She loves doing blog headers and redoes her own quite often. I've admired her designs for a long time and now she has so generously refreshed my own look! She even updated my basic template a bit -- I've always been too scared to change it in any way in case my blog exploded or something. Tech-savvy I am not. But thank you, Diane, for your fabulous creativity and assistance. I appreciate it so much!

Edmonton Tarot: Judgment (XX)

Interpretation: The Judgment card indicates a time of great healing in the person's life. Some old internalized limitation has finally been overcome, such as guilt, self-hate, narrow-mindedness, etc. The person has been released from some negative aspect that was blocking a fulfilled life.

Image: Built of steel, this huge white stylized Dove of Peace sculpture was erected to serve as the backdrop for an outdoor mass conducted by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Edmonton in 1984. It was afterwards left standing on its river valley hillside as a commemoration of the event. Edmontonians call it "the Papal Pigeon."

[Photo by Debra She Who Seeks]

Happy May Day!

No, I don't mean the airplane disaster Mayday. What kind of sicko would wish you a happy one of those? Sheesh, gimme some credit.

And I don't mean the militaristic Soviet-style International Workers' Day May Day because that was never no fun for nobody (ooo, triple negative score!)

I mean the good old-fashioned pagan festival of running around nekkid in the fields with a horny goat god May Day!

Have fun!