Excerpt
Preface to The Triple Goddess Oracle andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Introducing a beautiful new synergistic Goddess oracle designed and executed by three uniquely creative women in an artistic collaboration that satisfies body, mind and soul. The Triple Goddess Tarot was envisioned by Isha Lerner as a tool for living life andquot;each day as if I were the Goddess.andquot; The deck is stunningly executed through Mara Friedman's lovely paintings which, although they stand alone in their own right, become potent oracular forces in this collaborative project that also includes the expressive communication of editor Tara McKinney. Tarot deck, chakra study, and alchemical initiation, this attractive woman-loving oracle is at once simple and complex?simple in the sense that it doesn't over-burden the reader with scholarly references, complex in that it offers a variety of ways to use the deck. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Isha Lerner's comprehensive knowledge of history, prehistory, mythology, and Goddess spirituality informs the book without overpowering it, while her personal experience with alchemy, tarot, astrology, numerology, plant medicine, and sacred sites illuminates every page. Her method is more storytelling than academic, but her purpose is clearly that of a teacher who loves her students as well as her subject. Self-revealing and candid, her willingness to expose her own evolutionary growth over a lifetime of loving the Goddess and walking the path of female spirituality is a valuable tool as well, providing a loose but authentic model for the reader. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;The project is organized around the twenty-two andquot;Major Arcanaandquot; familiar to traditional tarot users, here called andquot;Alchemy Cards,andquot; designed with novel feminist reconstructions of the archaic versions. For instance, the Fool is now the Fairy Queen, and the Hierophant the Wise Woman. The deck involves a synthesis of Buddhist, Hindu, Celtic, Mayan, and other archetypes woven together in a kind of andquot;tantricandquot; blend to be used for gaining self-awareness and becoming awakened in life. The collaborators have added four original andquot;Alchemy Cardsandquot; representing andquot;stages of evolution yet to be embodied,andquot; plus a set of seven andquot;Chakra Cardsandquot; that can be used either with the rest of the deck or as an oracle by itself.and#160; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Readers are urged to relax and let the oracle teach itself naturally over time and through practice. Profoundly esoteric concepts are shared without fanfare. The nurturing respect that these three women clearly share in their relationships with one another transmits itself gracefully through the content and substance of the project as a whole. Each exquisitely painted image has a loving divinatory message to help the reader navigate daily life, with the over-arching goal of grounding the audience in andquot;a new love for the Triple Goddess in the world.andquot; In these difficult and disturbing times, I can't think of anything more useful than this unique translation of an ancient way of life that has all but been forgotten. andlt;BRandgt;Blessed Be. andlt;BRandgt;Vicki Noble andlt;BRandgt;Spring Equinox 2002