Books, Tarot Decks, Readings, "Stuff"

I had a lovely week, my birthday was Saturday -- went to see Otis Link's show at the Copro Gallery in Santa Monica -- awesome -- plus listen to some totally rockn music, "The Billybones".

Sunday was "Hollywood Rocks for Haiti"; I did about 10 readings all for charity, heard some great music, met some incredible people and got on youtube, too !!

Monday the fun continued. My good pal Scott Grossberg took me to The Magic Castle, fed me filet and shrimp and we saw magic shows and talked. Scott is one of the people in this life I admire most. A truly good guy, with a big heart and super smart -- and SUPER intuitive, as well. I think of myself as being sort of unique, one of a kind. But the same can be said, of course, about Scott, too. Scott is different, special . . . truly special.

I talked with Scott Monday night about my ideas for an oracle deck specifically for "past lives". I had developed several Tarot "spreads" for past lives -- some of them that, literally, came to me in a dream -- and wanted a deck that had a very specific look and feel to it, something that replicated, as closely as possible, the mind set in which I immerse myself in order to read "past lives".

I developed that deck this week. I am still doing some of the final tweaks but I feel as if it is 99 % finished and, truthfully, this deck ROCKS !! I love it.

Sometimes I get in the creative frenzy and so I created a traditional 78 card Tarot Deck this week, too, called "The Tarot of Hungarian Shadows" -- not to be confused with Scott's beautiful oracle deck, "The Deck of Shadows" . . . For more about Scott and his deck please check out www.thinkingmagically.com.

Now that I have these new decks -- as well as my books -- some people have asked me "OK, now what?" This note is a heads-up as to my plans for my body of work as well as how you can (if you feel so inclined) purchase any / or all of my books and decks -- plus get a reading and maybe two more for your friends :) !!

First off -- my books. I have 3 books now: (a) "The Metaphoric Mirror", (b) "Hymn to the Manichean", and (c) "Cognitive Dissonance and the Blowback Economy". Books "B" and "C" are compilations; "Hymn to the Manichean" is a collection of poetry and "Cognitive Dissonance and the Blowback Economy" is a compendium of political writings that I have published before -- mainly my (largely ignored) cries in the wilderness about the upcoming "economic meltdown" I saw for the United States. I used terms like "housing crisis" and "bailout" -- and yes that is the word I used -- back before they became such a painful part of our daily lives.

Anyway, both these books are works I am proud of but they are probably not so interesting to the general reader and, as such, I am leaving them as e-books for donations. At some point I may turn them in to print editions but, for now, I am content to leave them in a pdf "donation only" format.

However, "The Metaphoric Mirror" is different. The Galley proofs should hopefully be coming in the next week or two and once those are signed off on then the "print" edition is good to go. I have been offering a signed and numbered edition for $25.00 through my website. There are only going to be 50 of these and there are still plenty left.

The actual price will be $17.99 so if you would prefer a copy that is not numbered -- it will still be autographed if purchased through my website -- but would like the print edition, please go the "Fees" tab to order your copy. Shipping and handling will be added to each order.

Books should be ready to ship within 3-4 weeks from today. For now, I am asking people to order the book through me; it will be available on amazon.com sometime later in the Spring.

Now the Decks; it was my intention always to create individually crafted decks that were pieces of art as much as working decks. However, the price for such a deck would probably be more than I care to ask -- yet I don't feel as if I want to mass-produce these either. If someone like U.S. Games would come knocking on my door then of course I would likely change my tune.

But I am not intentionally going down that path. In fact, my "vision" of the past life deck "Khar - Ma" is significantly different. "Khar - Ma" has 63 different cards, all with both a picture and a title. Each card is also individually numbered. Sixty-three is an interesting choice mathematically -- 3 x 21 or 7 x 9.

But this deck is designed to have a secondary hidden wrinkle, card # 64. Like the Fool card in a traditional Tarot Deck, this card is numbered both 0 and 64. It is a "wild card" and my plan, as long as I do a limited run, is to "choose" a card and label specifically for the individual purchasing the deck.

In other words, each deck will have a card chosen by me as being thematically significant relative to the purchaser's past lives as well as being an integral part of the deck in doing readings for oneself or others.

And Card 64 also adds another mathematical wrinkle to the deck. It is now 8 x 8 but, more importantly, it also matches the 64 squares on a chess board. To me, this linkage to Chess -- and the metaphors of the Game -- are vitally important to the mathematical magic implicit in this deck.

Because this deck IS magical. I am tentatively thinking of doing 63 decks at a price of $63.00 per deck. Each deck would also have a frontispiece card as well as a personally autographed end card, 66 cards total.

I want this deck to go to those who would love and appreciate it -- and this, to me, is not a joke. This is a creative part of my soul and I have a special fondness for this, as well as a very healthy respect for the power of the cards and my system of reading them. I am proposing this as a "revealed wisdom" deck -- one in which I plan to offer a class for owners leading towards a certification in its use.

Because, truthfully, the deck and the means in which it opens up its mysteries to the reader is powerful. I think it will truly help talented intuitive readers with a penchant for past life intuition and a love for the Tarot.

"The Tarot of Hungarian Shadows", honestly, I created for me. It is stamped with my sense of humor, my style of thinking and honestly a bit of my own historical karma. I may also do the deck as a limited run, like the "Khar - Ma" deck, but I am still investigating my options and trying to get some feedback as to how people feel about the deck.

But, for me, personally, this is the deck I plan to use going forward. There are times when a traditional Tarot deck, with both the Major and Minor Arcana, is the proper "choice". Since I have created these lovely decks I will likely do two things more and more going forward: (1) do more radio shows about Tarot and (2) switch the bulk of my personal readings or clients from astrology / clairvoyance readings to readings using one or both of my decks. As such, the price of individual readings will likely go down.

Finally, although I am still in Los Angeles, I am feeling more and more the need to go SOMEWHERE. Does that mean San Francisco or someplace else -- or across the street here :) -- who knows but I am feeling the need again for movement.

I enjoy the gypsy thing, seeing new places, meeting new people. So we'll see.

But -- to sum up (sorta). "The Metaphoric Mirror" is available for pre-sale on my website. It should be in your hands in about 3 weeks or so. Both decks are finished and an announcement as to their release and price will be forthcoming in the next 7 - 10 days.

IHappy thoughts to all.