For a really, really, really, extra-long time, I refused to acknowledge reversals in the Tarot. Maybe the Tarot itself didn't want to talk to me about reversals, maybe I wasn't ready to think of things this way. I like to think of myself as a reasonably "spiritual" person, even though that's become as nearly an air-headed term as "woke" these days. I thought all positivity and no negativity was the way to go. I liked the idea that there were already enough cards to suggest a negative person or event, that made learning any reversals "unnecessary" Since I'm in an organic meat suit like everyone else, and not a box of gears, I'm exercising my option to change my mind about that.

It's a tricky time in this world of ours. We have insane technological powers, ridiculously convenient conveniences, and the ability to share information so fast that "Rome falls nine times an hour." None of this has solved a lot of problems inherent in being an ape. We still have greed and cruelty, just faster. If the wrong people have so-called god-like technology, it does the so-called devil's work. I won't go into anything political because it doesn't take a lot of extrapolation for someone to guess how I vote, and I *really* don't enjoy arguing politics on the internet (nor have I seen it do any good) - but we all need to do better. Refining the most positive message possible out of a reading isn't going to help *me* help most people figure out the way out of their own personal minefield. What if your smoke detector gently emailed you an article about all of the uses for ashes and remedies for burns instead of waking you up with a shrill beeping noise?

Does this excuse a reader from tact? Of course not. 

A reversal doesn't give us permission to start slinging woes at our clients.

Are all reversals negative things? No.

Something like the reversal of the Tower lets us know that, yes, things are a mess, but maybe it's not as bad as a disaster, and may-be we did it to ourselves. 

So how can we look at a reversal and stay "positive"?

If we see a court card in the reversed position, we don't have to demonize the individual in question. It's better to think of them as someone in a rough spot. What do we do in rough times? Generally speaking - not our best. Instead of living in a bipolar Star Wars universe, where someone goes from Hero of the Clone Wars to Most Hated Man In The Galaxy, we instead search out what the heck is making that person so tense all of a sudden. Empathy for the individual doesn't mean we drop our guard, it means we make an effort to understand what we're working with. The positivity is in knowing just how involved we should make ourselves in this person's suffering, or what we can do to ease it. 

Super-nerdy example aside, I feel like the reversals open up the Tarot to an extended vocabulary of meaning that is more important to decoding our individual situations than a pollyanna oracle of blessing after blessing. 

Trungpa's "Passion, Aggression, and Ignorance" plague our evolution, but in Temperance, we find out we need a pinch of each of these in a "Get Shit Done" casserole. 

So, yeah, reversals are cool, now. (to me)

Taylor
  

These beautiful circles just came to me from the printer. You can get one of these 4"x4" pretties here.

Something about the End of Summer marks the time when I start to get requests for Tarot readings. I could speculate everyone has financially recovered from Summer vacations, or that we're wanting to get a leg-up on the end of the year itself. Maybe the veil really does thin out as we get close to the darker days of the year. Maybe the Cosmic Coincidence Control Center just doesn't like it when it's hot out and refuses to cooperate. (I can't think of a single reading that hasn't been riddled with coincidences and I thank Robert Anton Wilson's "Cosmic Trigger" for the term) 

Whatever it is, this is the time to book your Tarot readers. Just Sayin. ;)

Writing blogs kind-of does my head in. I don't think anyone could possibly be interested in these posts, and the low-engagement of "free-to-play" social media doesn't make me feel there's a big enough audience to even write to.

Finding direction this year has been a little tricky, I burnt out on Zanbul at the beginning of the year, totally bummed that I still have so much to do, totally wondering if anyone cares, and totally forgetting how to draw because I want to and not because I had better do it if I don't want to be homeless.

SO, I started another Tarot deck, because why not cure burnout on a long-term project with another long-term project, right? Makes sense.

After a couple of months of that, I started making little circles of art (which I believe you can see some of in the post immediately below this one) because I  needed to do some art that didn't have some huge base of work it depended on sequentially, or otherwise.

On top of all this, I still get emails about the Ellis decK companion book - it's a pile of .rtf documents that may see the light of day sometime. The truth is - it will cost money to print and I basically do this and odd jobs for a living, which financially rules out the possibility of having a print run soon.

I'm struggling with my depression, which is basically like spending all of your time sharing your head with the most negative person in the world, who tells you there is no point to any of the projects, points out you never finish anything, and serves to remind you that, again, none of this is going to  make you much money at all, and could possibly just cost you money.

I'm doing my best. Right now, I'm finding some peace in working on all three projects in some kind of tandem, reminding myself I DID actually finish the Ellis decK so I might be capable of finishing something else, and doing part-time work to help keep us fed and in rent. 

I'm doing my best.
Taylor

recent stuff. doing some stand-alone circular pieces

Enjoy the color and detail of the Ellis decK in this borderless edition. The large size 3.5''x5.75'' (89×146mm) is perfect for engaging storytelling during your Tarot readings. This durable, plastic cardstock shuffles smoothly and will withstand time, abuse, (within reason) and liquids, (you could take them to the bath with you if you wanted) All preordered Luxe editions will be signed by the artist.



SAVE $25USD by preordering the Ellis decK Luxe Edition (regular price $100USD decks will be in limited supply after the pre-order) GO NOWWW

Hop on over to the store and buy like sixteen of them!

After a short honeymoon with Fulfillment by Amazon, I've decided to return to handling the shipping directly. I'm shutting down my sellers account as soon as the last of the Ellis decKs have been purchased from their site. Until then, you can buy the remaining plastic Large edition decks for $60.00USD at Amazon.com. Stay tuned for announcements on other deck availability!