The Tarot Review

Healing Tarot, by Juno Lucina and Monica Knighton

Posted by: TheReviewer on: March 13, 2012

Juno and Monica give us a sneak peek at the forthcoming Healing Tarot, a black and white Tarot due for publication in 2013.

The Healing Tarot: 78 Ways to Wellness is a an entirely new Tarot deck in progress by Juno Lucina (The Kingdom Within Tarot deck and The Alchemy of Tarot book) and illustrated by Monica Knighton (Tarot of the Dead deck and Stolen Child Tarot deck); each image is specifically crafted to whimsically portray the health and wellness message of the Tarot cards. The complete and comprehensive book that will accompany this visually stunning black and white deck considers these healing messages from all aspects of the Tarot–Astrological, Qabalistic, Archetypal and Traditional.  Major Arcana and Court Cards have been completed, and we are 13 cards into the Minor Arcana. This deck and book set is scheduled to be published by Schiffer Books in early 2013. To see card images and receive important news and announcements, please check out our website, or “like” our Facebook page.

Here are three cards from The Healing Tarot—the first is Strength (which seems to be everyone’s favorite) with an interesting twist—instead of opening the lion’s mouth, she is keeping it closed!


Strength, Healing Tarot

Strength

Traditional Interpretation

·        Confront and tame one’s body, the animal nature
·        Lust, power, vitality, ego, passion
·        Happiness, fun, amusement, luck
·        Love of life (or the lack thereof if poorly aspected)

Upright Health Message

·        Pursue life and live from your own truth—the truth of others will only bring you dis-ease and further complication right now.
·        Watch out for illnesses arising from excessive living—too much or too little control, too much or too little eating, too much or too little sex, too much or too little pleasure, too much or too little doing.
·        Signifies any health issue in the core of your being—heart and circulation problems; spine and back troubles; loss of purpose, sense of self, and love of life.
·        Enjoy life, love yourself, and pursue your passions with unrestrained delight to recapture your lost health.
·        Meditate upon Path 19, Netzach to Tiphereth, to understand Strength’s Way to Wellness.

Reversed Health Meaning

Life has lost its flavor: You feel exhausted, outside yourself, and bored with the repetitive cycles of simply existing. Thwarted in your attempts to attain your initial goals, you are beginning to withdraw and give up the chase. Worries about the state of your health consume you, and you wonder if you have the strength to withstand your current struggles. It is time to reconnect with your center and befriend your ills—stop viewing them as obstacles that must be overcome, and instead recognize your symptoms as clues to find the systemic dis-eases to be brought back into balance. Remember your passions, and pursue them as a knight pursues his love in order to reawaken your hunger for life.


Knight of Cups

Knight of Cups, Healing Tarot

Knight of Cups, Healing Tarot

Here is an example of a portion of the text from our book about the Knight of Cups, which focuses upon how the archetypes of the Knight of Cups may affect our health:

Archetypes you are enacting that may affect your health—

Archetype of THE MYSTIC:

·        Bright side: aware of the hidden connections between things, divine inspiration, intuitive, able to see the truth of the matter, sensitive to secret influences and intentions, premonitions about people and things to come, direct line to divinity.

·        Dark side: Disconnected from those around you, ungrounded, imbalanced, unable to create stability for yourself in the physical universe, always seems to be “somewhere else”, daydreaming to a fault, lost sense of self in the vastness of it all.

·        Health concerns: eats “quick fix” foods like too much sugar or else entirely forgets to eat; sleeps too much; resorts to hidden vices like over-eating, alcoholism, or drugs to cope with painful reality; sometimes “punishes” the body for not behaving in a spiritual manner.

Archetype of THE INNOCENT:

·        Bright side: childlike wonder and sense of play, openness to new experiences and people, no preconceptions or prejudices, joyful and carefree, live in the moment.

·        Dark side: immature, refuses to face responsibilities, doesn’t honor another’s boundaries or purposes, self-centered.

·        Health concerns: negligent with basic hygiene, eats for sensual experience without regard for long term health consequences, only goes to the doctor if “it hurts”.

Archetype of THE ROMANTIC:

·        Bright side: idealistic, loves everything to do with love, knight in shining armor, giving, adoring of the beloved above all else, imaginative, openly shows emotions, optimistic, poetic and artistic nature, woos creatively and wholly, amorous, soulful.

·        Dark Side: tragic, melancholy, obsessed with beloved, cannot be alone, cannot separate yourself from the beloved, self-sacrificing, lost in fantasy of love rather than actuality.

·        Health Concerns: depression leads to neglect of the body—doesn’t eat, doesn’t sleep, doesn’t clean, doesn’t leave the house; may even consider suicide if separated from love too long.


10 of Pentacles

Ten of Pentacles, Healing Tarot

Ten of Pentacles, Healing Tarot

This Minor Arcana demonstrates the incredible detail that Monica puts into these images; we also chose to share this card because of its positive message—the accomplishment of a healthy old age!

Creator Bios:

Juno Lucina, named for the Roman goddess responsible for first opening a child’s eyes to the light, is ever fluid and changing. More a verb than a noun, more a blank canvas than an outcome, she wishes that all awaken from Vishnu’s dream, to see all that is. Juno is just a Story pointing the Way. She is the creator of The Kingdom Within Tarot deck, and author of The Alchemy of Tarot: Practical Enlightenment through the Astrology, Qabalah, and Archetypes of Tarot ( http://www.facebook.com/TheKingdomWithinTarot ).

Monica Knighton is an illustrator, writer, and lover of monsters and folklore.  She is the creator of the Tarot of the Dead, and recently concluded a successful a Kickstarter campaign for The Stolen Child Tarot, a major arcana deck based on the Yeat’s poem The Stolen Child.  Images and information on all of Monica’s work can be found on her blog at No Borders Studio: http://nobordersstudio.blogspot.com/