I recently began writing a review of the wonderful Gaian Tarot, created by Joanna Powell Colbert. Communication with Joanna regarding permission to use the artwork on my Tarot blog quickly became chatty and as luck would have it, she kindly agreed to a short interview based on the Gaian Tarot. This post is that interview, the review will follow in a couple of days. Enjoy.
In late 2000, I was invited to be the Artist Guest of Honor at a conference in Chicago. A woman I’d never seen before walked up to my vending table on the first night. She was wearing a T-shirt decorated with a sequined version of the RWS High Priestess. She looked straight at me and said, “YOU have to do a Tarot deck!” I heard the voice of the Goddess speaking through her; it wasn’t just an offhand remark. That woman turned out to be Janet Berres, who was the founder and director of the International Tarot Society (now, sadly, defunct). Throughout the course of the weekend, people kept coming up to my table and asking “Didn’t you do a Tarot deck?” By the 12th or 13th time I heard this, I capitulated. Message received.
Then I had to decide on a theme for the deck. I didn’t want to do yet another RWS clone, because — why bother doing something that has been done so well, so many other times? The same with doing a Goddess-themed deck. I didn’t feel that I had anything new to bring to yet another Goddess deck.
Then I realized I could bring together two great passions of mine — my love for the natural world (aka Mama Gaia) and my wilderness studies, with my love for the rich, archetypal imagery of the Tarot. I brought those two loves together in the Gaian Tarot.
The Guardian of Water is probably the most Goddess-specific of all the Gaian Tarot cards. Even though the figure in the card can be read as a human, she definitely carries the energy of the Ocean Mother. And the Gardener (Empress) is an aspect of the Earth Mother, as is Gaia, the World.
I recognized my Death card when I saw it one day on a walk. I was out exploring the island where I lived at the time with my naturalist-mentor Nikki (who posed for the Explorer of Earth). We came across a decaying boat we had seen many times before, and were startled to see that someone had laid the body of a young, dead heron in the boat. There were skulls of other birds and animals in the boat as well. We both sank to our knees, aware that we were in the presence of the Death Goddess. (The Heron is sacred to me, an epiphany of the Goddess in this specific Place.) We collected cedar and yarrow from the meadow and made offerings by laying those in the boat. At some point, I just knew: this is my Death card. I had my camera with me and began taking photos. Later on, I created the painting, adding some details and taking away others. But the painting is pretty much the same as the scene we saw that day. We never did find out who had put the heron in the boat.
More recently, it was time to start the Elder of Water and I was unhappy with the photo reference I had planned to use. So I started thinking about the qualities of a person who was over 70 years old and had spend his life on the water. He would need to be a fisherman, I thought, or someone who was intimately familiar with the tides and moods of the Ocean Mother at all times of day and night. I decided I wanted him out on the water, in a boat but not a canoe, because I already had done that in The Canoe (Chariot). A rowboat sounded right to me. So I knew I wanted an elderly man in a rowboat, out on the water. Then my eyes happened to land on a beautiful print I bought recently from Cari Ferraro, a calligraphy artist. I read the quote by Rumi:
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell. Don’t go back to sleep
Dawn! of course! The setting should be at dawn, that magical time of transformation that is always so silent. I’ve been in the habit of getting up before dawn on Summer Solstice the last few years with my circle of island sisters. We head to the east shore of the island to watch the sun rise over the mountains and light up the water with color. I searched through the photos I’ve taken at dawn on Solstice morning, and found one that was exquisite and perfect — sky and water in shades of pink, violet and blue. From there, I remembered a picture book that my children loved when they were kids —”Dawn” by Uri Shulevitz. It’s a beautiful account of being out on the water at dawn, in a rowboat. (Read it — it’s total magic.) And I had the inspiration for my Elder of Water.
I’ve said many times that if I’d known it would take me nine years to finish this project, I never would have started it; so I’m glad I didn’t know! During the years I worked on the Gaian Tarot, I became immersed in the community (human and otherwise) of a small northwest island, and later left it to move back to the mainland. I nursed my beloved father through his last days and witnessed his passing. I became a grandmother. I went to Tarot conferences around the country and made many wonderful friends in the Tarot community. I started writing my blog, which has connected me to like-minded people around the world. I stayed centered in my circle of “mermaid” sisters and brothers here at home. The Gaian Tarot is a love letter to the Pacific Northwest and some very specific places in it. It’s a love letter too, to the community of people who love and honor the Earth.
Catherine: Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions Joanna, it’s been a lovely experience.
Joanna:Thank you Catherine!
Further Information
Images of the completed cards of the Gaian Tarot can be found at Joanna’s website, Gaian Tarot; as well as divinatory definitions and meanings for all the cards.
Joanna also writes a blog to keep her fans and admirers up to date about the Gaian Tarot and it’s progression towards completion.
The Gaian Tarot is now published by Schiffer Books – get your copy here.
…I want this deck :D
It’s awesome isn’t!
Watch this space for a review I’m currently writing about the deck featuring more about the cards themselves and their artwork, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting Doug :)
Wow – her artwork is really amazing. I like her take on the Death card. Her story behind the image on the card is really interesting as well. I can’t wait for part two and more images. Being able to see them online gives me an incentive to buy the deck.
Thank you for your comment Theresa,
Joanna really knows how to create beautiful work doesn’t she! The most amazing thing I find is that the entire deck is coloured by pencil, though most of the time it looks like oil. Joanna explains the creative process in detail on her website – it takes between 80-100hrs to produce a single card! Makes the whole project even more amazing.
In Part Two, the review itself, you’ll get to see a lot more of the cards, and also a reading I did with the Gaian Tarot before I began the review/interview process. Watch this space :)
Wonderful interview with Joanna. Her love of nature is an inspiration–and her 9 years of working on Gaian is a testament of her devotion to its beauty. Thank you, Joanna, for creating a masterpiece that will be enjoyed for generations to come. I for one would love to buy the collector’s edition!
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for your kind words. Joanna was a dream to work with, so gracious and very generous with her answers – and she gave me a scoop with the Elder of Water! Her work is truly amazing and very inspiring, and I agree that 9 years of work is testament to her devotion to the beauty of nature – I couldn’t have put it better myself :)
That’s you and me both Lisa, no doubt also a large portion of the Tarot community!
Thanks for stopping by my blog, it’s great to see you here.
Blessings,
Catherine
Dear Joanna,
My spirit resonates with yours. I appreciate the native, Northwest/North American imagery that is so familiar to my life up here, and the nature-based spiritual awareness that is woven into your work. I was just sharing with a neighbor-friend-student how realistic and joyful some the images are, representing scenes from our lives, or where we would like to be.
I almost moved to Orcas Island, but ended up on the Oregon Coast, after living in Bellingham for 3 years. Looking forward to your visit to Oregon and hope you can join us for the 14th Annual Tarot Retreat this summer!
Love & Light, Katrina Wynne
Katrina, it was lovely meeting you at BATS. Yes, the deck is very Place-centric (PNW) but I’m thrilled that people all over the world also seem to love it. Orcas Island is one island west of my island and I used to see it every day when I went for a walk. I miss island living! Looking forward to a visit to the Oregon coast.
Catherine, Lisa, Theresa, Douglas – thanks so much. Many blessings to all!
Hi Joanna – thank you! It’s lovely to hear from you :)