BY LISA MARIE BASILE
For the entire month of October, I will be posting daily to Luna Luna about all things magical, witchy, spooky, and spoopy. From books and tarot decks to films and random research or rituals I happen upon, I’ll be offering up a little taste of the shadow.
First up: The Uncommon Tarot by Shaheen Miro and Theresa Reed (who wrote Tarot for Troubled Times together), which is out today.
This incredibly reimagined tarot experience — and that’s what it is, really — offers 78 cards worth of Miro’s incredible artwork alongside Theresa Reed’s brilliant authorship.
The artwork is Miro’s interpretations of the classic cards done in delicious, zesty, spiritual collage-style with all sorts of symbols, mysticality, and hidden meanings bursting forth or waiting to be discovered. The deck is new to me, so it’s going to be a bit of time (forever, really, like any deck) before I really decipher what sort of essence or spirit this deck brings to my life. But right now, it feels incredibly fresh and energetic; it reminds me that we all have stories — and that they’re all beautiful and complex and divinely-touched) and that we ourselves are breathing archetypes functioning within this world, inspiring others around us, and adding to the mosaic of this life. It also tells me that we all can learn from one another’s beautiful stories, cultures, and energies.
That’s not the feeling I always get from other decks; in fact, this is really the first deck that makes the seeker, the storyteller, and the poet in me come out to play in full force. Not only are the images so completely unique and lush, but they also evoke all the elements of the human condition. You’ve got to hold it and be in its presence to feel that.
Theresa Reed, whose work with tarot (and everything she does) is super rooted in the shadow and human development, shines through here. I feel safe, understood, and like my journey is well-anchored with her at the helm. Her words are a balm, a salve, and a gift.
This is a true gift for the contemporary tarot reader or enthusiast.