The Oxford Teacher Certification Workshop lasted seven days this month, and was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. 

It was also one of the most challenging things I've ever done. 

For the first three days I wasn't sure I would survive it. 

We tucked 60 hours of learning into 6.5 days, working from 9 in the morning until 9 at night, and often later. 

When I hit the bed after class ended each day, I would try to read, but was soon fast asleep.  It wasn't until Wednesday that I knew I could actually keep up the pace.  (And in fact, it was easier after Wednesday.  I got used to it.)

Am I making it sound bad?  Far from it!  It was rigorous--even tough--but it was  superbly presented--I and my fellow 6 students were having the time of our lives and learning so much. 

Amy Oxford is one of the kindest, most generous, smart, and funny teachers I've ever been fortunate to have.  You cannot imagine a more gracious and supportive person.  At the same time, she knows exactly how to get the job done and how to keep students motivated and working hard.  But somehow, the way she does it, you never feel driven.  You just want to produce. 

It's a form of magic, I swear.

Here are additional photos from the week--enjoy!  There will be more. 

(Click on photos to biggify and to see captions)

I will stop here for the day.  But consider:  this was only the show-and-tell.  Much more show-and-tell and much more of the workshop to come.

Long ago and far away...or so it seems...I spent an entire day drawing.  Ahhhhhhhh...

In reality, it was recently and not that far away.  But I have traveled such a distance interior-ly between then and now. 

What I am referring to:  I had a chance to sit and tangle for an entire day a couple of weeks ago, and experienced all the benefits:  the inner silence, the lovely calm focus, the lack of worry about outcome, and the great sense of peace and timelessness. 

All these things can also come from meditation, although since meditation (vipassana) invites us to turn towards and become aware of whatever is present, there are frequent times when meditation asks us to sit with difficult feelings or sensations. A very wise process, though sometimes a turbulent one. 

The only difference I find between drawing/tangling and classical meditation is the incredible focus that drawing evokes, and how that focus prevents me from being aware of anything else.  Sometimes this is more useful than meditation.

Since that one lovely peaceful day of drawing, life has ramped up and things are, at the moment, confusing and unsettled.  I am sitting with this in meditation and just observing that.

But clearly there is a place for both practices in my life, meditation and drawing, during times like this.   Both feel as precious to me as breathing, and both lead me to clearer perspective and inner peace.  Each method works in its own way.

Every day I meditate. 

But so far, I have not mastered the practice of daily drawing or tangling.  I see the benefits of both, and I always make time for meditation.  But too often I do not make time for drawing.  Instead I pay bills, or work, run irrelevant errands, or knit while watching television.  Or--although this is nearly as beneficial--I work on designing, dyeing for, or hooking my latest rug.  Rug hooking is incredibly meditative.  But it still doesn't have the effect on me that drawing does, and the past couple of weeks have proved to me how true that is.  I frequently feel I want to draw, but tell myself that other tasks are more important. 

But are they?

Life is complicated.  Drawing, breathing, seeing, following just that one line at a time, is so very simple.  Perspective in drawing...perspective in life.

The viewer of art can go into a kind of meditation, a bit of a different sense or feeling.
- Dorthe Eisenhardt

I believe that painting should come through the avenues of meditation rather than the canals of action.
- Mark Tobey

Just sayin'.

Woke up early today and by 9.30 a.m. had dyed one final skein of the background and was on my way to the studio.  I'm now about 3" x 36" away from finishing.  However, I may not get to work on the last bit for another week or two.  I have other commitments (all of them wonderful) that will take up my time until then.

Or perhaps it's mystery flowers?  Any ideas what plant(s) this rug is portraying?  At first I saw what I thought were blueberries...but then I realized that the blue round-and-oval-things were probably flowers, not berries.  And I spotted the larger round fruit. 

I am mystified.  If you think you know, please tell me.

This rug is hand-hooked, but not by me,  It's an old rug from Orvis, and is one of the three rugs I spotted on craigslist earlier this week.  It was made in China and sold in quantity.  Orvis, from what I can tell, doesn't sell hooked rugs any more.  It has a tag on it that says, "100% wool, hand hooked.  Made in China."  (See yesterday's post for more on the adventure of buying this and one other rug) 

While I'm sure it was mass produced (hand-hooked but still mass produced), I'm still enchanted with the design and even the soft colors.  For $12, I'm happy to have it.  I'm only sorry that whoever made it was probably thoroughly exploited...but it was imported and sold here long ago, and now it's in my care.

Those are some hiking staffs on the upper left--I was too lazy to move them.

Look who paid me a visit in the studio today, completely out of season:

I mean, it's April, for heaven's sake.  What is he doing around?  At least he brought his cat.  That was fun.

Ok, ok.  What is this about...?

On Monday, I noticed a craigslist ad for three hooked rugs for $12 each.  With photos.  They were all wonderful.  I wondered if they could actually be hand-hooked.  If they were, I found the price both exciting and depressing. 

Anyway, I am NOT, repeat...NOT...a Christmas or a Santa fan.  But I know lots of people who are, and I had one in mind.  Plus even I--the original Grinch--thought this Santa-with-an-adorable-obviously-loved-kitty was darling.

I emailed the photos to my rug hooking group and sure enough, Cheryl the Rug Rescuer was interested.  And I was interested in one of the other two rugs.  So on Monday I drove to a local Costco parking lot which was halfway between the seller's town and my town, and bought two of the rugs.  Of which Santa is one.  On the way there it occurred to me that I had sadly neglected to ask the most important question:  "Are these rugs hand-hooked?"  I can't believe I didn't ask that!

By the time I pulled into the parking lot I realized my error and pretty much assumed they were machine-made in China.  And that's how it seemed at first.  But then...

Here's a closeup of the cutie-pie cat.  Who cares if he's not hand-hooked?

Ok, so I meet the seller in the parking lot and my first question is the one I should already have asked.  I can see that the three rugs all have a weird backing attached to them.  A bad sign.  Definitely machine made.  Then the lovely and nice seller tells me she bought them from Orvis (she thinks) years ago.  Ok, not just machine made but machine made IN CHINA probably.  Worse and worse.

But who can resist these rugs?  (I'll show the one I kept tomorrow.)

So for $12 each, I buy 2 of the 3 rugs.  They are in great shape and totally clean.  Well-loved.  In the car, I see that the one I'm keeping for myself is "!00% wool, made in China."  Definitely not hand-hooked.

But then...

I researched hooked rugs at Orvis tonight and found the following statement on an old webpage they had (they no longer sell hooked rugs):  "All of our wool hooked rugs are still completely handhooked for an authentic texture, character, feel and coloration. Each depicts a domestic scene that continues the 200 year old tradition of hooked rugs."

No kidding!  So while I'm sorry that some unfortunate Chinese laborer, who doesn't believe in Christmas (I get it, neither do I) was likely forced to make this a few decades ago and probably wasn't paid more than 25 cents, the rug IS here, after all, and we may as well care for it and love it for as long as it exists. 

Sad.  But also, a really wonderful design.  And hand-hooked, after all!

So Santa really did come to visit my studio today, and he's sleeping there with his kitty tonight, at least until Cheryl comes tomorrow to take him home.

Not only am I blessed with many friends, but all my friends are gifted in some way. 

And certainly they are gifts to me.

Today we had another small meeting of the Wooly Bullies (my rug hooking group) at K's house.  We had several members who couldn't come and they were much missed, but we had a great time as usual.  Here are the pictures to prove it.

This is Cynthia's current rug-in-progress.  The last time I saw this rug was about 5-7 years ago; Cynthia thinks she began it about 15 years ago and then put it aside to work on her very large Kokopelli Rug, which is now finished.  I highlighted that rug in my last blog post on the Bullies.  Because she had put it away to work on Kokopelli, Cynthia hadn't seen this floral rug herself for a few years--now she has fallen in love with it again and is thrilled to be so close to finishing.  She did all the dyeing for this rug.  The background is a wonderful onion skin dye.  (This made me want to delve back into onion skin dyeing myself--I so love her background) 

In the "How-adorable-is-this?" category, the winner today was Maria's small bunny-board, above.   This is probably less than 12" long from head to toe.

I mean, seriously, people--doesn't this have "THINK SPRING!" written all over it?  Here is the back of the piece, in case you have never seen a rug-on-a-board before (really, a "ruglet-on-a-board").

Cheryl just completed binding her Parrot Tulip chairpad, another Pearl McGown design.  She was working on this in February when we last met, and you can see the progress she has made since then.  I love these colors!

Kathleen is nearly finished with the interior of her fabulous fish rug, titled "The Last Cod."  You can see the small unhooked area at the very top.  She will then have to decide what to do for a border and was taking suggestions today.  (The Wooly Bullies are never bashful about giving suggestions!)  This is an amazing rug, very large and complex.  And a sobering theme.  Designed by Kathleen, with most of the wool hand-dyed by her--a few pieces were dyed by Michele Micarelli as well.  I have watermarked this picture because it's Kathleen's original work, all of it, and I don't want to take any chances (she has given me permission to post it).

And last but by no means least, Maria was working on finishing the background for her stunning apple tree rug.  Whose pattern is this, I wonder?   Another McGown?  Someone else?

I am working on my red & black scrappy rug and did not take a photo of it.  But you can see it here in recent previous blog posts, as well as the punched rug I am working on (see a photo of that in progress in yesterday's post).

Kathleen made a delicious soup, Cheryl brought cupcakes, and I brought two types of cheese (one was a really unusual honey-lavender goat cheese) and crackers from the local gourmet cheese place, so we certainly didn't starve as we worked.

We worried about, and missed, members who couldn't come today and hope all is well.  I spent quite some time just listening quietly and thinking about how fond I am of all the women in this group, and how lucky I am to have you in my life.  You each inspire me in different ways.

As the saying goes, "Good friends are like stars; you don't always see them, but you know they are there." 

Thank you for being there.  All of you.

Just sayin'.

When I left the studio on Friday:

When I left the studio today:

Talk about inching along...wow, is this ever going slowly.  Reminds me of a button I bought myself at a rug hooking workshop years back.  It was true then and it's true now:

"Hasten slowly."  --Augustus Caesar

"Good artists –- those who retain their integrity and have grit –- are usually successful in time.  It can't be hurried. Art takes time." --Bryan Dunleavy

Oh, ok.  Phew!

Where the heck did the week go?  If I didn't know better, I would say I had zonked out.  But, not true--I did a lot of work in the studio.  I don't have too much to show for that as there was a lot of unhooking and rehooking. 

After getting home, I had some fun with a tangle that was all-new to me:  Zonked.  Here was my first take on it (and after that picture, you'll see the inevitable fooling around with the images via my iPhone camera apps). 

Indeed, perhaps I did zonk out after all...

This was my first try.  I decided to try it three different ways in my "Tangle a Day" calendar, using a regular pencil, an 01 Micron Pen, and shaded with the Rainbow Lead Pencil.

A truly wonderful blog on the meditative effects of Zentangle® is HERE, written by Eni Oken on her experience of doing Zonked in a mindful way.

Below are the images I created with the mirror app and the Waterlogue app on my iPhone.

Tiny but definite progress. 

Here's what slowed me down today:

• Walk to the polling place.  Vote.  (This is in the opposite direction from the studio)
• Walk to the studio, work on the rug.
• Walk to the repair shop, pick up my car.  Yet another tailpipe bracket broke and they've had the car since yesterday.  This is quite a distance from the studio.
• 80% of the walking was straight uphill.  Steep hill.

No question all the walking is good for me, and I enjoyed it--all of it.  But it certainly took a chunk out of the day.

I'm listening to George Eliot's novel Middlemarch (1871-1872; it was published in installments) using the LibriVox app on my phone or iPad while I'm hooking.  Love that app.  Eliot is describing such a different world; and yet, the people are just the same as we are in terms of strengths and foibles.  I'm quite enjoying it.

Writing my last post made me realize that yes indeed, I was unhappy with the center of my Red & Black Scrappy Rug.  It had been bothering me for days but when I took the photo for my last post I realized it just "didn't sit right" for me and I wanted to change it. 

So, I did.  I went into the studio today and ripped out most of the center and rehooked the entire thing.  Much better!

It may or may not be significant to a reader, visually, but it has made a big difference to me.  I'm happy also with what I am learning from doing this scrappy rug. 

While it's still not perfect, I'm not looking for perfect.  I'm just looking for a visual that makes me comfortable.  If I had left this the way it was, I would always have bothered me.  So I am feeling a big "Ahhhhhhhhh!" this afternoon.

Ok, how many of you Boomers see that title above, and hear the Petula Clark song in your head?

Right.  That's what I thought...

[You can hit "play" and still continue reading, while listening to Petula in the background.]

The Wooly Bullies (my rug hooking group) headed downtown to Cynthia's today.  Only five of us could attend--head colds and travel adventures limited our number.  Cynthia was her ever-graceful self in her amazing South End townhouse.

So here is a mystery I cannot solve:

How is it I've been to her house several times and managed never to see these two fabulous murals on the walls?  Cynthia and her husband uncovered these while doing some restoration years ago, and wisely preserved them.  They have no idea who the muralist was.  Aren't these wonderful?

I do not understand how I could have been to her house so many times and literally never have seen these.  I CERTAINLY saw them today, and am so happy that I did.

Cynthia had baked some incredibly delicious slow-rise bread, which none of us could resist, and she served that with yummy smoked turkey soup for lunch.  And there were peanut butter cookies!  And good coffee and tea. 

But let's leave the cooking and get on to the hooking:

Can I just say how stunning this rug is, now that it's in its place in her living room in front of the sofa.  She designed and hooked this, and we got to watch as she progressed.  It took a few years, but she got it done.  It's a real centerpiece in her living room.  So lovely!

Meanwhile, Maria was just beginning this cutie-pie rabbit, a chair-pad size piece.  (M:  I cannot explain why this photo & the next photo turned out so "blue."  Odd.) 

I'm looking forward to seeing this develop.

Cheryl the Rug Rescuer has been working on this McGown pattern of Feathered Tulips.  (Cheryl, you can tell from the color of your hand in the lower left just how "blue" this photo turned out.  Either that or you have a serious oxygen shortage.  Apologies--I doctored it up and it's still outrageously blue.)  When last I saw this piece--last month, I think, she hadn't really started it yet, so she's made great progress since then.

Here's a bit of the center of my Red & Black Scrappy Rug.  I wish I had better technique--but then, that's why I'm doing this particular rug, to improve my technique.  And I do see slow improvement.  I'm trying to use up scraps here, although I swear they are multiplying behind my back in the dark of the bag they live in.  I do not see my stash growing at all smaller.  Hmmm.

I bet I will have to do some re-hooking here, depending on how much my technique improves as I go along.  I'm seeing a lot of things I do not like as I look at the photo.  Darn!

While we were there, we ogled all of Cynthia's rugs and her husband's wonderful art.  Here is a rug she made years ago; it's now the main runner-rug in her kitchen, before her sink and stove.  Designed and hooked (and I think the wool was also dyed?) by her.

And finally, we were all appreciating the view from her windows as we worked.  I took this photo of a nearby skyscraper.  It has a temporary piece of art, a trompe l'oeil of a window washer:

 I love my Wooly Bully Rug Hooking group.  Great people, good work getting done, wonderful homes, good food, hilarious conversations.  A real blessing in my life.  Thanks, friends.

I was recently away for seven days on another lovely, extraordinary silent meditation retreat at IMS in Barre.  When I returned, I still had four posts to write in order to finish chronicling the Tarot Rug Project.  Finally I got that done--it felt so good to complete.  Since then, I've needed to catch my breath and catch up with the rest of my life.

This week I finally got back to the studio, and began to sort out how I'm going to handle this gigantic (for me it's gigantic, 3' x 6') Moon Runner, also known as the Moon and Clouds rug.  I dyed all the background (and blogged about it here and here, as well as in a few other posts).  Got all that done back in November, but I hadn't tried out the test colors I dyed for the moon or clouds.  So in the last three days, I've done some experimenting.  Here was my first try at a cloud:

I kind of liked it, but wasn't convinced.  What was it missing?...it seemed too dull to me.  But I beavered on, and today I tackled one of the moons:

...and finally got most--not all--of it done:

...and now, yes, the cloud is definitely too dull.  But I think I'm loving the moon!  And the cloud is very fixable; it just needs more yellow.

Am not certain how the moon will look against the background, but there is only one way to find out.  More work on this tomorrow.  I am getting WAY excited about this rug.

This is the twenty-fifth (and FINAL) post in a series on the Tarot Rug Project (also known as "Exploring the Tarot:  23 Artists Hook the Major Arcana"). 

To view other rugs in the series, go HERE to an index of all the rugs (that post will be kept up to date as new photos are published and the show travels).

All of the Major Arcana cards have now been covered, along with the interpretations for each card in a rug by each of 22 artists.  If we were to make these "tarot rugs" into a tarot deck, we would need one final design for the back of that deck. 

This rug is that final design, by Pris Buttler, our 23rd artist.

On the left below, you can see her rug from its "DAYTIME" view, and on the right is the same rug turned 180 degrees for the "NIGHTTIME" view.

Pris Buttler is an artist in more than one medium.  She is first a multi-award-winning graphic and fine artist and has a webpage showcasing her paintings and graphics HERE, including her bio.  Please have a look at that site and you will see how she honed her talent in this realm before she took up traditional rug hooking.

Here is the rug one final time, "sunny-side up," so that you can see it full-size on the page.

Pris says that she was inspired to create this rug with its African theme because she happened upon a tarot deck based on African animals.  I'm going to take a guess that she may have been looking at this deck, though I certainly could be wrong.  In researching an African-inspired theme for her tarot rug, she eventually came up with a truly original design.  Her borders reflect patterns from African fabric (and don't you love the designs on the women's clothing?), and the Sun/Moon in the center are motifs reflected on the back of many traditional tarot decks.  Here we see them portrayed in Pris's amazing style. 

I love the way the animals only show up at night...

Pris took up traditional rug hooking in the 1990s and has been teaching for at least 14 years.  Her art training immediately made her a standout in this medium, and she has appeared in Celebrations more than once, including serving as a judge on one of the panels that decides who is accepted into that prestigious annual publication.  (I cannot imagine a harder job than trying to judge that competition)  Lately, her rugs have focused on portrayals of women.

A few years back, Pris became well-known for teaching workshops based on the work of Gustav Klimt, the Symbolist artist most famous for his painting "The Kiss," and active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  In the November/December 2011 issue of Rug Hooking Magazine, there is a wonderful article about one of these workshops (you can see a teaser in the link), and the illustrations are just priceless.  In reading the article and looking at the illustrations, one can see that Pris is not encouraging her students to "clone Klimt," but rather simply to be inspired by his overall style.  There are ten color photos of student work in the article and you simply cannot believe how wildly different each of the rugs are.  Clearly, Pris has the magic touch to encourage her students to new heights of creativity and original designs.  If you have the magazine, please re-read this article.

Finally, Pris runs the annual Black Bear Rug Hooking Camp in Georgia and it looks like a lot of fun.  One thing I didn't mention during this series is just how many of our remarkable rug artists not only teach but also run rug hooking camps, a bonus for all the rest of us who enjoy the camp experience.

In concluding this series, I'd like to say thanks for your patience in reading (and ogling), and thanks to all my fellow artists, most especially to Loretta and Michele who conceived of the show.  You two are remarkable. 

If you, the reader, would like to see the show, please look at the FAQ HERE (scroll down that page), posted on 12/7/15, which details where the show will travel.  And remember, you can bring the show to a venue near you (instructions in that FAQ).

Happy tarot-ing, and happy rug hooking!

And now, back to my regular style of blogging...

This is the twenty-fourth post in a series on the Tarot Rug Project (also known as "Exploring the Tarot:  23 Artists Hook the Major Arcana").  To view other rugs in the series, go HERE (that post will be kept up to date as new photos are published and the show travels).

THE WORLD:  Here is the "classic" Rider-Waite-Smith image:

"We are part of this universe; we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts, is that the universe is in us."
Neil deGrasse Tyson

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe."
John Muir

"To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders."
Lao Tzu

This is the last of the Major Arcana, and I am the artist who created the interpretation of the card in the following rug.  (This isn't the last rug, though--we still have one more rug to go!)

Are you thinking I went off-road with this interpretation?  You'd be absolutely right; I did.  There is nothing left from the original card in this design.

Or is there?

In fact, if you look closely, you will see that every single Major Arcana card is represented on this rug, in the form of the Tiny Tarot, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc., of Stamford CT (USA).  I'd like to thank them for allowing me to use their copyrighted images directly on my rug and also for allowing me to copy their Universal Waite Tarot for use in this blog throughout my posts on the tarot project.

If you are having trouble seeing what I mean, here's a closer look:

This rug is--if I'm right--the only punched rug in the entire project.  There are a few traditionally hooked loops in there, but 98% of the rug was punched with yarn and an Oxford punch needle.

(Thank you, Amy Oxford and Heidi Whipple of The Oxford Rug Hooking School)

What's the design about?  It's a diagram of The Universe (another name for The World card) called the Qabala.  [There are various spellings of that word:  "Kabbalah" and others, but I'm going with the Q-one.] 

Below is the story of this rug, and I'm sticking to it...it begins with my love for the tarot and ends with my love for both tarot and rug hooking:

I began working with the tarot in the 1970s, using it not for fortune-telling but rather as a reflection of the psyche, and I have been learning from its wisdom ever since. Because The World is usually regarded as the final card in the Major Arcana, I wanted to create an image for this rug that would integrate all of the rugs that preceded it—thereby tying the exhibit together. 
 
The Tree of Life (also called the Qabala) portrayed on this rug is an esoteric diagram of The World—not just this world, but all the visible and invisible worlds in existence.  The esoteric Qabala/Tree of Life is a many-layered framework and has, since the 19th century, been associated with tarot.  The twenty-two cards of the Major Arcana have been matched to the twenty-two paths between the spheres on the Tree.  In the rug, I have placed the cards on the Tree in their commonly accepted positions, as a way of summarizing and integrating the Arcana for this exhibit.
 
I hand-dyed all of the blue background yarns for the rug, and used bits and pieces of other leftover hand-dyed yarns to duplicate the traditional colors of the spheres on the Tree.  As I mentioned above, I used an Oxford Company punch needle for the punching process.  A few loops on the rug were also pulled using the traditional rug hooking method. 

In a post I wrote last year--before I was given permission to publicly speak about this project (it was still in the hush-hush phase), I described the fun I had at Amy's school in a class with Heidi, learning to dye the variegated background for the rug.  You can read that post here (it is cryptic because it was pre-publicity for the project, but you'll get the idea).

Here are two of the stops I made along the way to creating the rug.  In the first, you can see my initial drawing of the outline on monk's cloth (I ended up re-doing the font on the title at the bottom), and then on the right you can see the color-planning in progress.

One of the many reasons I love making textile art is that the process is so often entirely meditative.  Forming loop after loop is rhythmic and calming—a type of moving meditation.  I have had a committed meditation practice for many years and appreciate this opportunity to maintain a mindful state while creating art.

WHAT DOES THE CARD MEAN?
This card shows the World Dancer, inside a double circle of protection--the four animals at the outside edges represent the 4 archangels, the 4 elements, and all the other symbology of "four-ness."  We have seen these four in another card--card ten, the Wheel of Fortune.  Just outside of the Dancer is a green, vital, bursting-with-life wreath, a type of ouroboros, with its red sash in the form of an infinity symbol.  She holds two wands, and her legs are in similar position to the Hanged Man, but she is facing up, as he was facing down.  The position of her legs also suggests that she is dancing. 

This is the Fool, come full circle.  S/he has completed the journey, and it has been very successful.  It's time to stop and dance--to pause awhile and look back, as she seems to be doing, to assess where you have been.  Only then can you assess where you are going next, as the journey never ends.  Synthesis a good keyword for this card.  Another message of this card might be that you have all the resources you need to move forward; just open your eyes to the many options that surround you.

When you get this card:
As with each of the other cards, if you choose The World card in response to a topic you are pondering, it will have many meanings that all share a similar theme.  Ask yourself the following questions if you get this card.  One of them will apply to your topic—a little message from your subconscious to your conscious self.

• What resources in The World are supporting me on this issue? (If at first you cannot answer, look more deeply; there is plenty of support for you)
• What great cycle in my life is now complete, or nearing completion?
• What do I need to synthesize from this experience?
• What do I need to celebrate?
• Where in my life do I feel I am holding The World in my hands?

Only one more rug is left in our tarot rug project series, the rug that is the design for the back of the deck we have created together.  That's coming up in the next post.

Curious about the rest of the rugs in the exhibit?  You can see all the posts by clicking on the link at the very top of this post.  There is a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section here (NOTE:  scroll down to the bottom of that post to get to the FAQ).

Thanks for reading.  Your comments are always welcome.

This is the twenty-first post in a series on the Tarot Rug Project (also known as "Exploring the Tarot:  23 Artists Hook the Major Arcana").  To view other rugs in the series, go HERE (that post will be kept up to date as new photos are published and the show travels).

THE MOON:  Here is the "classic" Rider-Waite-Smith image:

"They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon."
Edward Lear

Next we will view how CELESTE BESSETTE has interpreted the card on her tarot rug, but before we do that, let's think about the images above and about what this card might signify.

Looking at the image on this card, you may find yourself thinking, "What in the world...??!" and indeed, that more or less captures one of the inner meanings of the card.  For all the stories, songs, poems, and sayings about the moon, it's hard to see anything clearly under its light--especially when there IS no light (the dark phase) or very little light (waxing or waning).  Even under a full moon it can be hard to determine what you are actually seeing, if you are walking outside with that as your only light source.  Colors are dimmed or reduced to white, gray, and black.  Our experience when using the moon as our only light is radically different from that of using the sun.  The moon's light can be confusing, and we may mistake things for what they  are in reality.

And of course, that also encourages our imagination to run wild--which can be a gift or a curse, depending on the direction it takes.  Imagination can be seen in all those stories, songs, poems, and saying have been created ABOUT the moon.  It encourages us to develop our imagination and alternative ways of thinking.  It has long been a source of wonder and mystery to humans.  We may have walked on its surface, but we still know little about it. 

It is strongly associated with intuition, dreams, and our subconscious selves--the area of ourselves that we cannot directly access.  Subconsciousness has no voice, no words, but when and if it wants to communicate, it does so in pictures.  (And what is the tarot but a series of pictures?  Which is one reason I think it is so effective in helping us to communicate with our own subconsciousness.)

In the Rider Waite Smith image above, we have the pool (subconsciousness) at the bottom of the card with a crayfish emerging (sometimes things emerging from the subconscious can look very strange and we don't know what they mean at first).  We have the wolf (the wild self) and the dog (the tame self) under the influence of the moon.  A path leads past twin towers and into the distant mountains.  The moon herself is pictured in three phases.

Although the moon acts as a mirror for the light of the sun, it has a dramatic and visible pull on our oceanic tides.  Water has long been a symbol for our emotional life.  Since our bodies are up to 60% water, I'll let your draw the inference of how much influence the moon has over each of us.  And that's another key word for one of the meanings of this card:  Influence.

Now let's take a look at what Celeste Bessette has done with all of this in her tarot rug.  Here it is:

Celeste Bessette is a talented, well-known, certified rug hooking teacher.  She has appeared in Celebrations at least once (the highly-respected annual magazine that showcases rigorously judged, high-quality rug art).  Celeste doesn't have a webpage and I haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting her (which I hope to remedy soon) but I see on her LinkedIn page that she has been a textile artist for over 20 years and I can see many references to her work online, especially emphasizing her current passion for and teaching classes on hooking stained glass rugs.

Clearly, her interpretation of The Moon card is built on her stained glass explorations.  Isn't it gorgeous--I especially love how the colors and hooking in the moon completely mirror the colors and hooking in the pond beneath it.  The wolf and the dog, the crayfish, the path, the mountains, the twin towers, and the sky are all deliciously watery/lunar/dreamlike.  I love the use of color here and the directional hooking.  It is all enticingly mysterious and a wonderfully accurate interpretation of the original card.  Can't you just picture this as a stained glass window in a gothic structure, with moonlight pouring through it?

WHAT DOES THE CARD MEAN?
Mystery.  Illusion.  Imagination.  Possibly deceit or misinterpretation.  Possibly confusion or inability to see clearly.  This card also reminds us that the moon has phases--predictable cycles; things wax and wane, and if we can determine what phase we are in now, then we can make an intelligent guess as to what phase is coming next.  We also know that if we wait, things will change.  The moon is "perfectly stable in its instability."  We know it has a regular cycle, just as women have their regular menstrual cycles on earth. 

And we know that it can INFLUENCE us, because that is its job.  Remember its influence on the sea-tides, and the fact that we are up to 60% water?

Joanna Powell Colbert says:  "The moon is constantly changing, and is utterly faithful in her changes."

When you get this card, ask yourself:

• What, in me or in my life, is "constantly changing?"  What does that mean to me?
  
• What is influencing that change?  How aware am I of that influence (or those influences)?  How beneficial is that influence and how can I cooperate with it?  Or if it is not beneficial, how might I resist it or move away from it?
• What is emerging (the crayfish) from the change?  If I am not sure what it is exactly, can I note down some words to describe its elements?  (color, shape, feelings)  Or draw my impression of it?
  
• Can I name the "phase" I am in with this change?  Dark moon, waxing moon, full moon, waning moon?
• What illusions or deceptions might I have about the change?  What questions do I need to ask in order to gain clarity?
  
• Where am I getting distracted (the howling animals) from working with this change?  What fears or defenses (the towers) do I have about changing?
  
• How can I encourage myself to use my imagination skillfully, to aid me with the change?  How can I use my dream-life to help? 

“Do not swear by the moon, for she changes constantly...”
― William Shakespeare

“The moon will guide you through the night with her brightness, but she will always dwell in the darkness, in order to be seen.”
― Shannon L. Alder

"Let the waters settle and you will see the moon and the stars mirrored in your own being."
-- Rumi

Curious about the rest of the rugs in the exhibit?  You can see all the posts by clicking on the link at the very top of this post.  There is a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section here (scroll down to the bottom of that post to get to the FAQ).

Thanks for reading.  Your comments are always welcome.

I'm taking a break for several days from the tarot rug project (only five rugs left to show!) and getting back to other things that I have put on hold.  Things will likely be quiet here for awhile, and then I'll get back and finish the tarot rug posts.

I mentioned I had accidentally started a new punch-hooked rug, "Moon and Clouds," a couple of weeks ago (I just couldn't resist a few "experiments" with punching, and it turned into an actual start).  But realistically, I've had to set it aside while I find time to finish color planning it.  Once I complete that, I will need to dye the rest of the yarn.  Until that's done, it needs to wait.  I'm feeling impatient!  Sigh. 

The Moon and Clouds rug has lots of curvy motifs. 

I notice that curves and spirals are taking up room in my brain right now, as you can see in my latest design:

This is one corner of the design for my next traditionally hooked rug.  Spirals.  Curves & spirals...or in this case, it will likely be straight lines and spirals.  I'm using an 8-cut on linen, and my plan is to buy no new wool for this rug at all.  I should have enough already on hand to  make it from the leftovers of previous rugs.  The plan is to make a "scrappy rug" using only my red and black scraps, but who knows how it will evolve.

So I have 2 rugs underway at this moment.  Alas, one of them is temporarily on "pause"; it'll be 2-3 weeks before I can get back to the dyepots, so Moon and Clouds will be waiting quite a while.

In the meantime I am also trying to get back to my tangling.  The other day I posted the tangle on the left below, but that same night I produced the one on the right, a variation.  I like that one too, and I like them together.

More curves and spirals there.  After all...

"When life gives you curves, flaunt them."
Anon.

This is the twentieth post in a series on the Tarot Rug Project (also known as "Exploring the Tarot:  23 Artists Hook the Major Arcana").  To view other rugs in the series, go HERE (that post will be kept up to date as new photos are published and the show travels).

THE STAR:  Here is the "classic" Rider-Waite-Smith image:

"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."
Julian of Norwich

There is something about this card, especially since it comes directly after The Tower card, that makes us want to let out a big sigh, and relax.  All of its symbols are inherently peaceful, and that is one of its themes. 

The card is packed with symbols--we'll focus on just a few.  The lovely naked woman has nothing to fear and is perfectly calm. She is pouring water both into the pool and also on the earth;  water is plentiful in the card.  She has an inexhaustible source of it.  It circles, centers, flows.  In tarot, one of the things that water represents is intuition.  It also represents our emotions.  Both intuition and emotion are in good supply, in a balanced and centered way.  The earth on which she is pouring the water is fertile and flowering as a result.  Behind her is an ibis (a bird associated with the Egyptian god Thoth) on a tree, representing wisdom, and above her are seven small stars, reminding us of the Pleiades (also known as the Seven Sisters) and one large, 8-pointed star, a symbol of the Sumerian goddess Inanna.

Armed with this partial list of symbols and a start on their common meanings, let's look at what Cyndy Duade has done with her interpretation of this card:

Ok, go ahead--say it. 

Wow. 

Cyndy Duade is another in our long line of distinguished and well-known rug artists who contributed to this show.  She is a certified rug hooking teacher, a colorist and dyer, and holds many classes in the Northeastern USA and elsewhere.  She doesn't have a website, but there is a charming and thorough introduction to her HERE.  Well worth reading.  I look forward to meeting her some day. 

This rug is clearly a reflection of her many travels.  One of the most intriguing aspects of the rug is that she has used an endanged bird native to Hawai'i as a substitute for the ibis; it is named the 'I'iwi.  (That's not a typo--it's really spelled that way, and you can find out more about it HERE. )  It's gorgeous and she's captured it perfectly in the rug.

There is a definite story behind this interpretation with its Polynesian theme.  Every single one of the objects and symbols in her rug has personal meaning to her.  Some of that story is revealed by Cyndy in the show's catalog.  (To get the information on how to order the catalog--the proceeds from which help the rug to travel--see the FAQ at the very bottom of this post.)  Even the design in the white border was carefully selected by her to reflect and honor the culture she portrays in the card.  The gourds from which the water is being poured, the flora and fauna portrayed...all reflect that lovely culture.

If anything, I think Cyndy's rug makes me feel even more like giving a relaxed sigh as I look at all the elements she has combined, than the original card does!  And I love the reversals--there's just a little bit of clothing on the woman; she is facing in the opposite direction from the card, the tree and bird are on the other side also.  In this way, the rug mirrors the card perfectly; and there are so many similarities and echoes of the original.  But all is done with a Polynesian twist, with this lovely and grace-filled result.

“Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven,
Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”
― Carl Sagan

“Caddy got the box and set it on the floor and opened it. It was full of stars. When I was still, they were still. When I moved, they glinted and sparkled. I hushed.”
― William Faulkner

“Each star is a mirror reflecting the truth inside you.”
― Aberjhani

 SO WHAT DOES THE CARD MEAN?
The Star is the ultimate card of hope and healing.  The main figure is calm, collected, and has all that she needs to fertilize or bless the earth around her.  She has an inexhaustible source of what she needs - the waters of hope. Notice that she draws not on her own personal power to bless the earth, which could eventually drain her energy; instead she uses the waters of the pool, a deep, round mandala of compassion and healing. 

And while she pours water onto the earth around her, so she also returns water to the pool to ensure that it will never run dry.  This card tells us that even in darkness (stars, after all, are visible only at night, dawn, and dusk), we can look up and see those lovely lights hanging above us, encouraging our spirits.  The Star is like our compass, guiding us in hope towards our next step to healing...guiding us toward beauty and balance.  It is a card of nourishment and replenishing.

I also think this card has a lot to tell us about the importance of Nature in healing our spirits, and how we must not only draw hope and energy from Nature, but also give back to Her. 

In that way, it is a about stewardship and kindness.

When you get this card, ask yourself:

• What calming and restorative forces are at work in my life right now, and how can I most benefit from them?
• When I need to relax and replenish, what is my most effective (healthy) way to do so?  Am I allowing myself to do this?
  
• If someone in my life is helping me and supporting me, how can I give back to them (pouring water back into the pool) once I have the energy and resources to do so?  (This could take awhile and there is no need to rush it)
• How do I use, or how could I use, Nature to heal myself?  And as I celebrate the beauty of the natural world, and draw on that beauty, how can I give back to Nature in some small way?
• If that Star overhead were my compass, where would it be pointing me?
• If that Star overhead were a mirror, what would it be reflecting to me as I look at it?  (Remember that this image will be completely compassionate)
  

As always, thanks for reading and I hope you are enjoying the show.  Frequently asked questions are below, including information on the catalog.

This is the nineteenth post in a series on the Tarot Rug Project (also known as "Exploring the Tarot:  23 Artists Hook the Major Arcana").  To view each post on all the rugs in the series, go HERE (that post will be kept up to date as new photos are published and the show travels).

THE TOWER:  Here is the "classic" Rider-Waite-Smith image:

For many people, this is one scary-looking card.  

For people who aren't familiar with tarot, the three most unsettling cards in the deck are Death, The Devil, and The Tower.  Having already discussed the first two, I hope I have been encouraging all of us to think more deeply about this trio without making assumptions about their "obvious," most extreme meanings (which rarely apply).  For any of them to actually mean what they may first suggest, you would need to have a context of certain specific other cards around them--and that's actually quite rare.  It's far more likely that these cards refer to our ATTITUDES rather than to any dire events, and that is just as true for this card as it is for the other two we've already covered. 

Let's look at a quote by Dawna Markova which captures part of this card's meaning.  As you read it, bear in mind the image above.

"I will not die an unlived life.

"I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.

"I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible,
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.

"I choose to risk my significance;
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit,"

Dawna Markova

What comes to mind when we think about the symbol of a tower?   Some examples include:  The Tower of Babel.  An "Ivory Tower" (an institution of higher learning).  A castle tower.  The towers of skyscrapers (like the former Twin Towers of New York, or the Trump Tower).  The Eiffel Tower.  Cell phone towers.  Church towers. 

What do all these have in common?

They are all related to long-established, often-codified ideas and organizations:  religion, education, business/enterprise, communication.  Towers are built to represent and serve the ideas, purposes, defenses, and ambitions of the organizations to which they are dedicated.

Because of their tremendous height, towers are particularly strongly built and strongly buttressed.  And so is the thinking  or belief system found within some of the organizations mentioned above.  Our own thoughts can be very "strongly built" (and become rigid) and  heavily defended.  Thus, The Tower symbol can represent our limited or rigid thinking, or our absolute belief or trust in some structure we have built up within our own lives. 

Just as the interior of a tower is narrow; so may our own thinking may have grown narrow. 

"Towering ambition" is another phrase that comes to mind here.

Lightning, one of nature's most destructive but illuminating forces, is attracted to tall structures like towers.  In the classic image of this card, lightning has knocked the top off of the tower, and two people are falling from it.  This Tower represents some kind of built-up thought/structure that is not true or correct--lighting (illumination) has come along and destroyed the very top, tossing out its residents and burning out all falsehood or error from the inside.

There are many other rich layers of meaning in each symbol in the classic card, and we cannot delve into all of them here.  We have enough to get us started, though, so...

Here is Michelle Micarelli's interpretation in her tarot rug.

 Michelle Micarelli is one of the co-creators and organizers of this entire exhibit, along with Loretta Scena.  Michele is an internationally renowned textile artist, master colorist, and longtime teacher.  She also works in other media.  It's her mission in life to excite creativity in all her students. 

To watch Michele in the dye kitchen is to watch the master at work.  She can take any piece of multi-colored wool and produce a flawless "twin" in minutes with no recipe, simply working by eye.  I remember reading somewhere that Michele learned about rug hooking from her father--rather unusual--who took it up when he was recovering from surgery.

View her complete profile on her website HERE; be sure to ogle all the rugs and other creations in the gallery on the site. 

If you compare her interpretation with the original card, you will see that the detail Michele has achieved on her tarot rug is truly impressive.  On her website, she mentions that she often works in 4 & 5 cuts to achieve this level of detail.  She has altered her Tower enough so that it appears to resemble a conch shell, set on fire by the same lightning we see in the original card.  The roaring fire within the Tower/shell is scouring out any incorrect beliefs or false ambitions.

The falling human figures are not there--but isn't there a suggestion of people hanging out the windows?  And look at that roiling sky, echoed below by the roiling sea!  The movement, colors, and design of this piece make it especially compelling and attractive.  The combination keeps your eye moving around the rug, noticing new things every time it lands.

I remember Michele saying in a video interview that the ocean is very close to her heart and that she is very concerned about environmental damage to it.  You can see her love of the ocean in this rug (and you will see that theme in many of her other rugs as well). 

SO WHAT DOES THE CARD MEAN?
In the Wheel of Fortune card (Card Ten), we looked at change/transformation that occurs in cyclical fashion, moving up, then down, as the Wheel turns.  In The Tower card, we now look at change/transformation that is dramatic, sudden, and shocking.  Think of the times in your own life when you have realized in a blinding flash (the lightning strike) that something you wholeheartedly believed was not true.  Or when a structure in which you've placed your faith has collapsed without warning.

Our first reaction to events like these is to be totally stunned, then perhaps horrified (or, depending on circumstances, delighted).  A quote from Frederick Barthelme illustrates another common reaction:  "There is a feeling of disbelief that comes over you, that takes over, and you kind of go through the motions. You do what you're supposed to do, but in fact you're not there at all.”  This is a frequent response to shock.

Eventually, reality sets in and we need to deal with the new normal.  We may feel liberated, or we may feel like you've lost everything.  The truth is that we are now seeing something clearly--as it is--and we now need to adjust to it--as it is--perhaps for the first time. 

When this card comes up for you, ask yourself:

• What structure within myself is breaking down, or do I need to break down?  What did I believe that I now see (or suspect) is not correct? 
• What information may I have been ignoring or denying?  What thoughts have I not been able to consider until now?  What might a blinding flash reveal?
• What makes it so shocking?  (It could be an internal or an external event)
• A "Tower experience" may be quite a challenge (though by no means always negative).  It's essentially a rude awakening.  Nevertheless, it is always a gift to be free of a delusion or a way of thinking that you may suddenly realize is not true.  What is the gift here?  Even if it feels like a curse at the moment--if you were to predict what the gift will be, once you can begin to see it, what would you predict?
• Notice that in the original image, the foundation of the tower is very strong.  No matter how powerful the lightning jolt, you do still have a solid foundation, whether or not you can see it now.  How would you describe that foundation, and how will you use it to rebuild, using what you have learned from this experience? 
• Re-read the Dawna Markova quote and ask yourself how it may speak to you.

"It is in the midst of disasters that bold men grow bolder."
Henry IV

“There is only one kind of shock worse than the totally unexpected: the expected for which one has refused to prepare.”
― Mary Renault

"Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often."
Mae West

Remember that you can catch up on all the other rugs in the exhibit at the link at the very top of this post.  If you are curious about what's behind the exhibit, there is a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section here (scroll down to the bottom of that post to get to the FAQ).

Thanks for reading.  Your comments are always welcome.

I'm needing to take a break from the tarot rug posts for just a bit!  Back to those shortly. 

I'm missing Zentangle®, drawing, and my other usual activities.  So tonight I indulged myself with a new tangle, Mollygon.

That's my first-ever attempt above. 

Below are some variations created with an iPhone app.

I was also busy in the studio in the last 2 days, working on the finishing for my nearly-done rug.  The finishing process, which is tedious (I still enjoy it), seems to take forever but I'm almost there.  I may get it all done tomorrow.  A photo of that is coming once it's completely done. 

I created the label for it this evening:

That will get sewn onto the back of the finished rug once I've completed all the other finishing.

I whipped out my sewing machine yesterday--I haven't touched it in years--and spent quite a while hemming the edges of the Moon & Clouds rug which I will be punching.  Since I don't own a serger, I zig-zagged around the outer edge 3x.  And did the same with the inner edge where I'll be trimming it once I'm done.  That is one BIG rug.

Today I drew out a new design for a second, new, traditionally hooked rug.  Below you can see the background wool I'm thinking of using at the bottom of the photo, plus just a little bit of the backing where I've begun drawing the pattern.  There will be more to the pattern, but I'll have to wait until I can get back to the studio in the morning to finish drawing.

Lastly, I am tossing in a picture of this cute felted pouch I've had for years and rediscovered recently.  I wish I could remember who made it and where I got it.  I think it's so well done, and it's also useful for carrying supplies.

Back to my experience with the sewing machine for a minute:  It's been at least 3-4 years since I've used it.  I remember that the last time I used it I had a bit of trouble threading the needle, even with my reading glasses. 

Yesterday?  I couldn't even SEE the needle, let alone the hole. With my (now even stronger) reading glasses.

Yikes! 

It took me 25 minutes--no joke--to get it threaded.  I'd still be there, trying and failing, if I hadn't managed to scrounge up a needle threader after getting completely desperate, and even with the threader it took me another ten minutes to get the job done. 

After I left yesterday I went straight to the sewing store and bought every variety of needle threader they have.  I don't want to go through that again.  Sad, sad, sad.  As Joni Mitchell would say, "You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone."

Well, it's definitely gone!  Boo hoo hoo.

This is the eighteenth post in a series on the Tarot Rug Project (also known as "Exploring the Tarot:  23 Artists Hook the Major Arcana").  To view the entire series, go HERE (that post will be kept up to date as new photos are published and the show travels).

THE DEVIL:  Here is the "classic" Rider-Waite-Smith image:

"I can resist everything except temptation."
Oscar Wilde

"Lead us not into temptation.
Just tell us where it is; we'll find it."
Sam Levenson

"The Devil made me do it."
Flip Wilson

This is yet another card in the classic deck that some people find very disturbing.  So, everyone:  take a deep breath and remind yourself that you are talking about a piece of painted cardboard--that's all!  Yes, it's full of symbols, but we'll get into them in a few moments--it's really not a harbinger of doom.  Read on.

Let's first have a look at Emily Robertson's interpretation of this classic card.

Emily Robertson is an award winning rug artist and teacher, currently known for her feminist and "sayings" rugs.  A great introduction to Emmy can be found in a delightful video HERE, in which you can see dozens of her rugs.  She is unbelievably prolific!  I had the good fortune of being able to hook with Emmy for a few years while she lived close by, and share in her zany humor.  She is a wonderful friend and a truly kind person.  She is also an ordained minister, so it's especially wonderful that she did an interpretation of The Devil as her tarot rug.

In the original image (the tarot card), there are symbols galore, such as  the ridiculous looking half-man/satyr, half beast, the chained man and woman, and more.  But look closely at those chains, folks.  Very closely.  If either the woman or man chose to think rationally for a moment, they would realize that all they have to do to be free is to lift those exceptionally loose, floppy chains over their heads and just walk away.

So why don't they? 

Not to mention that the Devil isn't exactly well-balanced on his tiny, precarious perch; either one of our chained people could knock him off that perch with one small push of an index finger.

So why don't they?

What is really going on here?  Plus, the woman has a "tail" with a bunch of grapes (food or wine), and the man's tail is a flame (passion).  Sound familiar?

This is a card about temptation, addiction, and oblivion.  And often it's also about blaming our problems on external factors.  (See "The Devil made me do it!" quote above) 

All of us have moments just like this in our lives, moments of complete mindless behavior (oblivious to what is really going on) in which we may feel hopeless, stuck, enslaved to something or some one.  "I just can't leave this bad relationship."  "I can't believe I just ate that whole thing."  "I just can't help myself."

Really?

I do not mean to make light of this, as some of these temptations truly do take us over and appear supernaturally strong.  I certainly experience that, and frequently!  But in just about every case, there is something about the situation that we are either unable to see clearly or unwilling to see clearly.  We just do not take those chains off our own necks.

“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..”
John Milton

In Emmy Robertson's interpretation, she has pared down the images.  The Devil himself is only suggested via the tail-like arrows and the pentagram.  In essence, he doesn't even need to be present, because we'll do his work ourselves, by unquestioningly accepting our own negative thoughts and by "sleepwalking" through our days, oblivious.

What is going on in this rug?  Just as the Devil card is disorienting, so is the rug.  Is she walking away from the man?  Or is she leading him and he's following?  Is he pushing her?  Is he reaching out to her with a supportive touch?  We can't tell.  And what about the chains?  In the rug, the chains are actually a mixed-media touch:  actual pink plastic chains that Emmy has attached to the hooking.  The woman appears to have broken one of the chains.  And look at how loose the chain is around her neck--she could lift that right off and walk away.  Is that a door to her right? 

Are they freeing themselves, or sleepwalking into some type of addiction?  We simply can't tell, and I love the ambiguity of this rug.

WHAT DOES THE CARD MEAN:
As I mentioned above, this card often turns up when you feel hopelessly stuck or enslaved by some situation, interior or exterior (although very likely you will be tempted to blame someone or something exterior to yourself).  So...

When you get this card, ask yourself:

• Where am I feeling stuck?  Or what addictive behavior is going on for me?  Or, what is tempting me?
• What am I not seeing clearly in this situation?   Or even, what am I deliberately choosing to ignore?
• If I can't answer that question, am I willing to sit down and write out a brief description of the situation without defending or justifying anything, and read it back to myself?  How might someone I trust describe my situation if they were being completely truthful with me?
  
• Who or what am I blaming in this situation (including self-blame)?  How does blaming help or hinder?
• Is there a way I can help myself in this situation by helping someone else--a sort of mutual aid?  (One of the chained people could unchain the other, which would likely "wake them up" to the fact that they could then simply do the same for themselves.)
  

In general, the only thing to fear with this card is the kind of fear that occurs to us when we are afraid to look at a situation objectively and without blame, and deal with it for what it is.

Remember that you can catch up on all the other rugs in the exhibit at the link at the very top of this post.  If you are curious about what's behind the exhibit, there is a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section here (scroll down to the bottom of that post to get to the FAQ).

Thanks for reading.  Your comments are always welcome.

Today's suggested resource is a rug hooking resource (not tarot):  The Green Mountain Rug Hooking Guild).  Enjoy the hooked rug artistry at that site.

This is the seventeenth post in a series on the Tarot Rug Project (also known as "Exploring the Tarot:  23 Artists Hook the Major Arcana").  To view the entire series, go HERE (that post will be kept up to date as new photos are published and the show travels).

TEMPERANCE:  Here is the "classic" Rider-Waite-Smith image below:

"Joy, temperance, and repose, slam the door on the doctor's nose."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Use what seems like poison as medicine. Use your personal suffering as the path to compassion for all beings.”
Pema Chödrön

"A fretful temper will divide the closest knot that may be tied,
by ceaseless sharp corrosion;
a temper passionate and fierce may suddenly your joys disperse
at one immense explosion."
William Cowper

Let's have a look at Jule Marie Smith's interpretation of the Temperance card on her rug:

Jule Marie Smith is an enormously talented, highly respected rug artist who--as with just about all the artists in this project--has won numerous awards for her originality and mastery of color.  I think she is too busy teaching, dyeing wool, and creating rugs to have a webpage.  The easiest place to see several of her rugs is HERE--to see them, scroll down to the bottom of that page.  (The page is a description of a class she's giving in 2016.)  I've been lucky enough to take two classes with Jule Marie and loved every minute of both.  I hope to study with her again.  Rug hooking seems to attract very special and kind people, and Jule Marie fits right into that category.

To see one of her rugs up close is to see how she paints with wool, using colors in both bold and subtle combinations.  She has long been known for her penchant for creating original colorful borders around her rugs.

Jule has worked with The Egyptian Tarot rather than with the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, and her rug reflects that.  I love the design, from her red-rayed sky and powerful sun, to the lotus border and the angelic figure in Egyptian garb pouring from one flask to another (complete with "walk like an Egyptian" stance). 

And those wings!  Check out the coloring in the wings.  I also like the bargello-like water underneath, its pedestal and lotus vase, and the Serpent of Wisdom sneaking in an appearance.

Going back for a moment to the original Rider-Waite Smith image at the top of this post, you can see the complex and numerous symbols in the card itself.  In both the card and in Jule's rug, we have an angelic figure mixing a liquid between two cups.  So...

WHAT DOES THE CARD MEAN?
One of the many traditional meanings of the card is that of bringing two unlikely things together and successfully integrating them.  To do this, one must achieve the correct balance--first within oneself, and then with any external ingredients.  And if you look at the angel's feet in the card, one foot is on land (the material world) and one in the water (subconsciousness).  This angel is all about balance, moderation, and careful experimentation until s/he hits just the right combination of ingredients in the two substances to create the perfect blend.

When you get this card, ask yourself:

• What may need to be more balanced in my life right now?  Where may I need to be more temperate, more moderate?
  
• What two (or more) things need to be brought together?
  
• What INTERNAL balance to I need to achieve?  What external balance can I then try for?
  
• What actions have I already taken to achieve this balance?
• What other "mix" might I try?  Have I given up too soon?  How can I change the blend and try again?
  
• What can I learn from the Middle Way in dealing with this blend?
  

A few more quotes may help you, especially the last one from Rumi:

"Temperance:  Eat and carouse with Bacchus, or munch dry bread with Jesus, but don't sit down without one of the gods."
D.H. Lawrence

"The ingredients of health and long life, are great temperance, open air, easy labor, and little care."
Sir Philip Sidney

“Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralyzed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds' wings.”
Rumi

Remember that you can catch up on all the other rugs in the exhibit at the link at the very top of this post.  If you are curious about what's behind the exhibit, there is a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section here (scroll down to the bottom of that post to get to the FAQ).

Thanks for reading.  Your comments are always welcome.

Today's suggested tarot resource:  The Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI).  You don't have to be British to appreciate and use what they have to offer.

 This is the sixteenth post in a series on the Tarot Rug Project (also known as "Exploring the Tarot:  23 Artists Hook the Major Arcana").  To view the entire series, go HERE (that post will be kept up to date as new photos are published and the show travels).

NOTE:  This is likely to be a lengthy post, as this card is one of the most misunderstood cards in tarot.  If you just want to see the image of the tarot card rug, scroll down to it past all the verbiage below.

DEATH:  Here is the "classic" Rider-Waite-Smith image below:

                                                            

                                                                OMG, AM I GOING TO DIE???

Before we get to the tarot rug interpretation of the card, let's first clear up some misunderstandings about the card itself.

This is one of the most anxiety-producing cards in the deck.  And usually for the wrong reason!  It does mean death, but not in the way you may think.  In my experience, it has very rarely meant physical death unless it shows up in combination with one or both of two other cards in the deck (which I will not be naming here), even if you are asking a question about a health issue. 

For example:  In 2010 I was diagnosed with a life-threatening, aggressive, and serious illness.  It was tense.  I did a reading for myself (yes, I read for myself as well as for others) and the Death card came up.  Now, for years I've been studying tarot and reading for clients and I have seen the look on their faces when this card presents itself.  And I've done my best to truthfully reassure them that it's saying something other than, "Prepare to meet your doom." 

But there I was--looking at the card in my own reading about my own health, and in a life-or-death situation.  Could I take my own advice?

In fact, I did.

Was it easy?  No!  Especially when the Death card showed up in EVERY reading I did for myself for the next 8 or 9 months.  It got to be a joke.  I did a reading for myself about once a week...and there was Death staring me in the face.  I'll shorten the rest of the story by saying that after the early diagnosis, further tests proved things were even more serious...so I chose to have every aggressive treatment Western medicine could provide. 

It wasn't a fun year. 

But here I am, six years later, in good health.  Am I going to die?  Sure.  Possibly even from that very illness diagnosed in 2010; although I seem to be "cured," it could just be hiding. 

But the fact is, we're all going to die, and despite the fact that the Death card turned up in every reading, I knew it was about the death of my former relationship to the way I thought about my body.   It was the death of the illusion of immortality, but it wasn't telling me I was about to die.  Not right then.  Did I believe that the entire time?  No--I had moments of pure terror.  But I did believe it most of the time...all the other cards were suggesting that I would be fine.   It's always important to look at the card in the context of all the other cards you are getting (I do not think 1-card readings are generally useful).

Do NOT make the mistake of jumping to conclusions about this card.

It commonly shows up when something in our internal lives--some internal process--is ending.  It's about ending a relationship...but let's bear in mind that this can include but goes well beyond a person-person relationship.  It can be ending a relationship with school (graduation), or ending a relationship with a community (moving), or ending a relationship with a particular interest or hobby.  Or it can be the ending of a relationship with a company or department within that company (changing jobs).  Or an ending of a particular belief system ("I'm immortal!"). 

The type of ending this card signifies might better be termed a transition--something that normally happens gradually, organically.  It's often about step-by-step change of a profound nature. 

Most people do not resist change. What we resist is transition. Change is a situational shift. Transition, on the other hand, is the process of letting go of the way things used to be and then taking hold of the way they subsequently become. In between the letting go and the taking hold again, there is a chaotic but potentially creative “neutral zone” when things aren’t the old way, but aren’t really a new way yet either.  --William Bridges

There is another card, coming up soon, which is also about change, but sudden, shocking change that is external.  We'll be discussing that when we get to card #16.

Here is Doug Rankin's interpretation of the Death card in his tarot rug:

Let's have a quick look at these two complex images side by side:

Doug Rankin is an internationally known teacher and artist, based in Canada and teaching at his business, Highland Heart Hookery, and at many other venues.  While he doesn't have a personal website, I did find these photos of Doug with some of his rugs and with the work of many of his students HERE, in the "Shaded Flowers" and in the "Maud Lewis" workshops he offered at the Museum.

In the catalog for the tarot rug show, Doug explicitly states that he searches out artistic challenges, and that he took this card on for that reason.  And in looking at the original image, you can see why.

The classic image is packed with symbols--the pale horse, the white rose, the four figures around the horse (king, child, bishop, maiden), the two towers, the rising or setting sun, and of course, Death itself in full armor.  Doug's interpretation has turned the image so that horse and rider are coming straight at you.  And is that Charon's boat coming across the River Styx?   You can see so many of the other symbols have been skillfully worked into the design. 

I like this in-your-face presentation of the symbols, as the endings and transitions signaled by this card truly feel challenging and "in-your-face" when we come up against them.  Endings are often obvious; it's the beginning of new things--promised by this card--that are more of a mystery at first.

Let's look at some quotes that may illuminate the card:

"Life is one big transition."
Willie Stargell

“How strange that the nature of life is change, yet the nature of human beings is to resist change.  And how ironic that the difficult times we fear might ruin us are the very ones that can break us open and help us blossom into who we were meant to be.”
― Elizabeth Lesser

“To say goodbye is to die a little.”
~ Raymond Chandler

"...Every beginning ends something."
Paul Valery

"There is a time for departure, even when there’s no certain place to go."
Tennessee Williams

WHAT DOES THE CARD MEAN?
I think that's been covered!  It doesn't mean you are going to die.  It's a reference to the fact that something in your life is passing away:  a relationship with something...or some one.

When you get this card, ask yourself:

• What is ending in my life?  What transition am I in?
• How am I handling it?  Am I resisting it (the king), accepting it (the child), turning so that I'm not really looking at it (the maiden) or trying to bargain with it (the bishop)?
• Which of these attitudes, if any, would work best in the situation?  How might I end this with the most grace?
• What are my feelings about this ending and how am I handling them?
• What kind of healing and renewal might this ending offer me?

One final point about this card:  As I said early on in this series, I don't believe that tarot is well-suited to prediction.  Others may feel differently, but I believe if someone is "predicting the future" with tarot cards they are either genuinely psychic--which is a different process from using tarot--or they are misusing the cards.  The future is never fixed.  Never base any important life decisions on your interpretation of one card, or even an entire reading.  These are, after all, just pieces of painted cardboard.  If you want a medical (or legal or relationship) opinion, go to a medical professional (or attorney or therapist).  Then be sure to get a second opinion and confirm with multiple sources if it's a critical decision.

Remember that you can catch up on all the other rugs in the exhibit at the link at the very top of this post.  If you are curious about what's behind the exhibit, there is a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section here (scroll down to the bottom of that post to get to the FAQ).

Thanks for reading.  Your comments are always welcome.

This is the fifteenth post in a series on the Tarot Rug Project (also known as "Exploring the Tarot:  23 Artists Hook the Major Arcana").  To view the entire series, go HERE (that post will be kept up to date as the photos are published and the show travels).

THE HANGED MAN:  Here is the "classic" Rider-Waite-Smith image below:

“To change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions.”
Steven Covey

"I like to turn things upside down, to watch pictures and situations from another perspective."
Ursus Wehrli

"Take a walk with a turtle. And behold the world in pause."
Bruce Feiler

"When things don't happen right away, just remember it takes six months to build a Rolls-Royce and thirteen hours to build a Toyota."
Chad Hymas

The quotes above show two of the common interpretations of this card. 
Now let's have a look at what Kathleen Herbert did with this card in her tarot rug:

Kathleen Herbert is a longtime textile artist, certified teacher, and collector of and speaker on the history of antique hooked rugs. I met Kathleen years ago in Connecticut and it was great to reconnect with her through this show. 

What I did not know about Kathleen until I saw the rug is that she also has another hobby--collecting gravestone rubbings and epitaphs, or "Mourning Art."  I love her whimsical take on The Hanged Man.  Many people, when they first see the classic image on the card, feel quite nervous about it; they don't notice that the Hanged Man looks untroubled by his predicament.  He is hanging by one foot, after all.  The other foot is free.  There is no indication that his hands are tied.  With a bit of effort he can likely return himself to an upright position.  Does he wish to?  Is he deliberately suspending himself upside down to gain another perspective, as with an inverted yoga pose?  Or has he come to a place in life where he is, literally, in suspension--even stuck--and is being forced to wait something out?

In Kathleen's rug we see a cheery looking and acrobatic Hanged Man, with that halo or sun-like hair about his head.  I like her brilliant sun and shooting stars, and the trees with their "mourning art" branches and leaves.  Is that a raven we see, and is there a hint of Edgar Allen Poe in this rug?  Kathleen has added her own traditional headstones, complete with epitaphs, and the whimsical multi-colored skills and fire.  Her rug makes me smile.

WHAT DOES THE CARD MEAN?
When you get this card, ask yourself:

• Where might I be feeling stuck in my life, or as if someone has hit the "pause button"?
• If I am not feeling that way:  Is there something in my life on which I may need to pause, need to gain a very different perspective?
• There's a notion that when standing on one's head, one can allow all the usual thoughts to fall out and onto the ground.  ...What typical thoughts do I have about this situation that I may need to put down, and how can I make room for some fresh thoughts to enter?
  
• If I am feeling particularly blocked in a situation, could it be that I'm not recognizing several possible remedies?  (The unbound foot, the untied hands)  How might I help myself?
• Can I be comfortable and accept just coming to a complete stop for awhile? 
  
• What is the best way to gain a very different perspective on this?

Remember that you can catch up on all the other rugs in the exhibit at the link at the very top of this post.  If you are curious about what's behind the exhibit, there is a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section here (scroll down to the bottom of that post to get to the FAQ).

Thanks for reading.  Your comments are always welcome.

Today's suggested tarot resource:  Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot, by Marcus Katz and Tali Goodwin.

This is the fourteenth post in a series on the Tarot Rug Project (also known as "Exploring the Tarot:  23 Artists Hook the Major Arcana").  To view the entire series, go HERE (that post will be kept up to date as the photos are published and the show travels).

JUSTICE:  Here is the "classic" Rider-Waite-Smith image below:

“Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.”
― William Penn

Let's have a look at Lisa Chaloner's interpretation of the classic image:

"It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do; but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do."
Edmund Burke

"An inconvenient truth..."
(Movie title and idiom which captures some of the meaning of this card.)

 While I haven't (yet) had the pleasure of meeting Lisa Chaloner, I did find the following statement from her on her Etsy site: 

"Traditional Rug Hooking is my obsession. I picked up a hook in 1991 and haven't put it down since. In 2009, I completed the Pearl McGown certification process for traditional rug hooking. I teach rug hooking classes for 8 months of the year.  I love to let the color in my rugs express the silent part of personality, so I began dyeing my own fabric 10 years ago. The adventure of hand dying is always exciting and satisfying."

In the catalog for the Tarot Rug Show, Lisa has done a great job describing why and how she interpreted the classical image in this way.  I don't want to spoil Lisa's statement in the catalog about the meaning of the various symbols she has put into her interpretation.  To buy a catalog--the proceeds from which will help the rugs to travel from venue to venue, contact Michele Micarelli at amicarelli@snet.net  -  catalogs are $18 US plus shipping and Michele can fill you in on shipping costs. 

However, I can say this:  In both pictures we have the sword of truth and the scales of justice (harking back to the scales of Ma'at in Egyptian mythology).  In many tarot decks, Justice is portrayed as blind (blindfolded).  That's not how the classic Rider-Waite-Smith deck portrays her, but it is how Lisa portrays her in her rug.  Each of the animals in Lisa's rug has a symbolic meaning and specific purpose in her image.  And I love the way the single foot peeping out in the classic image--grounding the figure--becomes a small bare foot in Lisa's version. I also like the richness of the sky in her rug, and the perfectly portrayed stone wall Justice is sitting on.  Finally, I like the fact that her Lady Justice is outdoors, something she addresses in her write-up about the rug in the show catalog.

WHAT DOES THE CARD MEAN?
"Fair's fair!"  <-- Remember the times you have said this yourself in a dispute, and all the times you've heard kids shouting it to each other?  That's the core meaning of this card.  The truth, symbolized by that upright sword, is often not only true but also inconvenient.  Although "inconvenient to whom?" may be the question.  The truth might be welcome to us but inconvenience someone else...or vice versa.  The point is, it's time to look at the situation from the perspective of what is fair, what is a just solution.

When you get this card, ask yourself:

• What situation in my life is requiring some type of adjustment to create an ethical solution?
• What type of adjustment must I make in this situation to ensure justice?  Am I willing to do this?
• If the situation calls for me to fight for justice--standing up for myself or for someone else--am I willing to do that?
• Actions have consequences.  Am I considering a particular action, and have I thought through the consequences of that action?
• Is there an ethically challenging situation arising in my life that I haven't recognized and need to address?

Remember that you can catch up on all the other rugs in the exhibit at the link at the very top of this post.  If you are curious about what's behind the exhibit, there is a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section here (scroll down to the bottom of that post to get to the FAQ).

Thanks for reading.  Your comments are always welcome.

Today's tarot resource:  Two books.  Tarot for Yourself by Mary K. Greer and The Forest of Souls by Rachel Pollack.