Meet Joanna Powell Colbert…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the crossroads of Creativity, Nature and Spirituality… is Transformation.

~ Joanna Powell Colbert ~

In late July, after a day of driving all over Taos, I arrived back at the Mabel Dodge Luhan house and walked up the steps with a woman I had never met.  She was dressed in colors I loved, and although she was road weary, too, there was something about her that I was drawn to immediately.  As our retreat started and we spent some time together, I got to know Joanna, and now it feels as if I have known her forever.  She is a beautiful woman, inside and out – kind, gentle, bright, strong and has a fabulous laugh.  We share a great love of nature and of walking in the world in our own way.  I was intrigued to learn that Joanna had just released a brand new Tarot deck, Gaian Tarot, and as we wrote and read and laughed that week, her deck sold like hotcakes.

Tarot is not something I knew a lot about – in fact, I had been warned against it as a child and grew to see it as “other”.  I am guessing I may not be alone on that front.  Given, though, that I am all about moving through fear lately and the fact that I was eager to learn as much as I could about anything new on that trip, I was full of questions for Joanna. I fell in love with her images and the thoughtful words that accompany each one and it became clear that, for me, this stack of cards and the companion book could be a great meditation tool. I loved that Joanna’s first words to me about Tarot and her work were “I don’t use them to do fortune telling!”  and that she is so open to them being used for good in any way that makes sense to the recipient.  Very cool, and not at all scary.  We decided then and there that I would invite her to Carry It Forward and share it all with you.  Fascinating stuff, and  have I mentioned yet that the deck itself is extraordinarily beautiful?  It is full of stunning drawings of the Pacific Northwest we both love so much.

Intrigued?  I just happen to have a Gaian Tarot Deck right here to give away!  I’ll choose randomly from the comment section on Monday.  But first, let me introduce you to my dear friend, Joanna Powell Colbert.  Here are the questions I thought you might have, and her very enlightening responses.

Welcome to Carry It Forward, Joanna!  I am so glad you are here…

Q:  For many of us, Tarot is something a little (or a lot) beyond our comfort zone.  Can you explain what Tarot is?  Is it, for example, religious?  Can it be used in a way that could be harmful?

At its most basic level, the Tarot is a pack of 78 cards with painted images on them. 22 of those cards are called the Major Arcana and tell a story of the soul’s journey.  The other 56 cards, the Minor Arcana, are divided into four suits and roughly correspond to our familiar deck of playing cards.

The Tarot originated in northern Italy in the mid-15th century. The earliest known cards are beautifully hand-painted decks owned by the courts of the nobility, and were invented to play a card game called tarocchi, similar to our modern bridge. The imagery on the original cards came out of the cultural milieu of the time and place. Just as Renaissance painters like Da Vinci and Michelangelo painted both Pagan gods and goddesses, and Christian saints, so do Tarot cards show both Pagan and Christian influences. It wasn’t until the 18th century that Tarot cards started to be used for divination.

The images on the cards are archetypal reflections of the soul’s journey towards wholeness and unity.  The Tarot is not religious, although there is definite religious imagery on many of the traditional cards. It is, however, spiritual. Rachel Pollack, a widely respected author and teacher, says that the Tarot is a sacred text like the Bible or Koran or Torah. It is a Book of Wisdom, and we read images instead of words. (Rachel also says that the Tarot is a GPS for the soul, and I like that definition a lot!)

Tarot cards are often used as an oracle, or a tool for receiving divine guidance or inspiration. There are many other ways of using the cards as well, from brainstorming sessions to meditation to writing prompts. Some Tarot readers do use the cards to predict the future as best they can, but many Tarot readers do not. Most Tarot readers today use the cards, as I do, as a tool for helping someone to access their own inner wisdom about a particular situation.

The only way Tarot can be used in a harmful manner is if an unscrupulous person uses the cards to mislead or frighten people for financial or personal gain, like the notorious Miss Cleo from late-night TV some years ago. There are people in every religious or spiritual tradition who misuse sacred texts in this way; think of all the “fallen” preachers out there, raking in big bucks from the faithful. I know a lot of tarot readers — hundreds of them! — and every one would be insulted by the common perception of tarot readers as charlatans or con artists, or — heaven forbid! — evil.

Q:  What is Tarot not?  Feel free to myth bust here!

It’s not evil! It is not necessarily used for fortune-telling. It did not originate in Atlantis or ancient Egypt or with the gypsies. It is not something to be frightened of.  It has no power in and of itself, but only in the way it is used.

Q:  And tell us about the beautiful deck you have created. How do you use the cards, personally?

My deck has contemporary imagery, pulling it out of the Renaissance and quasi-medieval feel of so many decks. It is multicultural, encompassing races and ethnicities that do not appear in traditional decks.  And it is nature-based and earth-centered.  As I meditated on the energy and meaning of each card, I continually asked myself:  Where does this teaching appear in the natural world?

I wanted to show a community of people, plants and animals all living in harmony with each other and the planet.  In some ways the deck is a vision of what it could be like to live in the world.  But it is a vision rooted in reality.  All the figures in the deck are people that I know, or are based on people that I know.  Also, every card, even the challenging ones, offer advice and counsel on how to triumph over a particular challenge.

I personally use the cards for spiritual guidance.  If I am confused about a particular situation in my life, or I am having trouble choosing between one of several options, I will read the cards.  If I am highly emotional about a situation, I will ask someone else to read for me, as it can be very difficult to see beyond your own emotions.  Of course, I also read for other people.  Mary Greer, another beloved Tarot teacher and author, sees herself as a “midwife of the soul,” when she reads the cards for another. I aspire to do the same.

Q:  What inspired you to spend so much time creating this deck?

I was on a mission. I believed that I had a calling from Spirit to create this deck. Beginning in 2003, I started posting each card on my blog as I created it, and it was very helpful (and inspiring!) to get feedback from hundreds of people along the way, as I then knew I was striking a collective chord.

I believe, along with Joanna Macy and many others, that we are at the time of the Great Turning, when humanity can either self-destruct or evolve.  I see turning to cards like my Gaian Tarot as a source of Wisdom to be one of the ways we can each singly grow into our Deepest, Wisest Selves and then to turn our gaze outwards and help to heal the world.

Q:  And how long did it take?

Nine years.  I started the deck in the fall of 2000 and finished the last card and the book in the fall of 2009.

Q:  What are your hopes for the deck?

Here’s what I wrote in the introduction to the book:  ”I hope that the Gaian Tarot helps you to connect with the Divine, in whatever way you conceive that to be. I hope you will be inspired to connect more deeply with the natural world in the place where you live. And I hope my images help create a culture of strong and gentle women and men, working together to create a beautiful, peaceful and just planet.”

Q:  Say I don’t “believe” in Tarot.  How could I use the deck?

There’s really nothing to believe in, or not to believe in. That’s kind of like saying “I don’t believe in a rock.”  If you mean that you don’t believe that Tarot cards can predict the future, that’s fine. Neither do I, as a general rule.  You could, however, take a “what-if” approach.  You could say to yourself, “What if the cards could point something out to me that I might otherwise be missing?”  You could just play and pretend. You could ask my favorite all-purpose question, “What do I need to know right now about a particular situation in my life?” and pull one to three cards.  Just allow yourself to gaze at the cards and notice any emotional reactions or personal associations you might have with the cards. Allow your intuition to awaken, and jot down a few notes about what you think the cards might mean in relation to your situation.  Finally, open the book and read what it is written about the card. Take what applies to you and leave the rest.  Remember, your intuition trumps the book meaning every time.

Back in my church-going days, we used to pray for guidance, then open the Bible at random and point to a spot on the page with our eyes closed. Then we’d read the scripture as a divine message.  Now I know that this is a time-honored practice called bibliomancy, and it can be done with any inspirational book, not just the Bible. Tarot cards work much the same way.

Q:  Where did you draw inspiration for the illustrations from?  For the book?

During the nine years that I created the deck, I lived on a small, rural island in the Pacific Northwest.  Many of the scenes are specific places on that island and in the Bellingham, Washington area.  The people in the cards are all based on people that I know.  They are part of my spiritual community and my island community.  I received inspiration in meditations and on long rambling walks around the island.

Q: What’s next for you?

When I was at the Taos Women’s Writers Retreat (where I met you, Christa!), I was inspired to start writing an illustrated book called “Reading the Book of Nature”.  It is a series of meditations based on practices I’ve collected from many sources over the years on how to create a deeper relationship with the natural world.  Other than that, I continue to teach workshops and online courses about the Gaian Tarot, earth-centered spirituality, and manifesting your dreams. I offer Tarot consultations and sell my artwork as well.

Q:  Tell us what you did that led up to you creating this work…

Before I started the Gaian Tarot, I had spent about fifteen years as a teacher of women’s spirituality and earth-centered spirituality, and as an artist specializing in images of the Divine Feminine in Her multitude of forms.  Then I moved to the small island I mentioned previously and threw myself into nature-awareness studies, getting to know the Place where I lived on an intimate level.  I built a straw bale house with my husband, planted a garden and learn all about the native plants and wildlife. All that passion and knowledge went into the Gaian Tarot.

Q:  What was your favorite part of creating it?

All of it!  Coming up with the structure for the deck, receiving the inspiration for each particular image, choosing a model and doing a photo shoot, using the photos as references to create the art, doing an intense cross-cultural symbol study for each card, writing up the card descriptions and meanings — and the pure pleasure of laying color and form down on paper.  Sheer bliss!

GPS for the soul.  I love that.  And a new word for me, too – bibliomancy.  I often do that with all sorts of books.  It is often the way I choose the quotes for my posts here, in fact. And I love, too, that the deck is so grounded in nature.  For me, taking photographs often brings me to the same place of calm and peace.  I can’t wait to read your new book!  What a gift you have, my friend.

Thanks so much, Joanna, for your incredible work, for your words here, and for all you do.

If you would like to read more about Joanna, her site is www.gaiansoul.com and her Gaian Tarot deck can be found here.

And leave a comment below if you would like to be a part of the drawing for your very own set!  If you are reading this in email form,  you can reply by email to enter…