Author: C. LaVielle

The Fool’s Journey Through the Major Arcana: SunFest: The High Priestess

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

HPS: (Placing finger to lips) Shhhhhhh. There is a secret here. Do you wish to know what it is? Seekers answer “yes.” HPS: Very well, then. The Great Secret is this:  Your life—and the world you live it in—is a beautiful and terrifying…but instructive illusion. That which makes up your particular and personal illusion is behind that Veil. The purpose of your life—and yours, and yours—is to discover how to discover what is behind the Veil. And then to do it. Simple, isn’t it? (Shaking her head, ‘no.’) But take heart. The journey you are on right now will bring you at least a few steps closer to understanding. In the Place of Perfect Equilibrium, I stand watch over the Gateway of Knowing. Have you any questions? (When questioning comes to an end or no one speaks…) It is well. Now, pass on and continue your journey.

The Fool’s Journey Through the Major Arcana: SunFest 2016: The Magician

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey, Uncategorized

The Magician: And just where do you think you’re going? The Fools probably answer that they are seeking enlightenment. The Magician: Ah. And where do you intend to find it? (word the question to fit their answer.) The Fools only answer will be that they don’t know but that they need to cross the bridge. The Magician: As I suspected. You haven’t a clue. Now listen up. You can’t just go wandering around expecting things to fall into place. The Multiverse doesn’t work that way. First you need to decide exactly what it is that you’re looking for. Enlightenment isn’t good enough. Each of you is looking for something different. It may be as specific as “How will I make next month’s rent.” or as general as “What do I need to do next in my life?” But it’s a waste of your time and the Multiverse’s to ask the Multiverse for next month’s rent. Deep down inside, each of you knows what you truly… Read More »

The Fool’s Journey Through the Tarot Major Arcana: SunFest 2016: The World

Posted C. LaVielle2 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

I’m here to give some advice to a bunch of Fools who are starting a journey to enlightenment. And I know I’m in the right place, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more perfect bunch of Fools. I’m here to tell you that you don’t need to go wandering around in the woods to find enlightenment. It’s right here. All the beauty and perfection of the Multiverse is right here and right now. All you have to do is be still… and reach for it. But because you’re a bunch of Fools, you won’t listen to me. You’ll go running around looking for something you already have. So here’s some advice. If you’re going to be Fools, at least be divine Fools. Let go of the cares and worries and responsibilities of your everyday world. Because you’re not there anymore. You’re here, between the worlds, searching for something that’s right under your nose. Only a madman would do that—so be divinely mad. Forget… Read More »

The Fool’s Journey Through the Tarot Major Arcana: SunFest 2016

Posted C. LaVielle4 CommentsPosted in Gifts from the Multiverse, Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey, Writing, Young Adult Fantasy

Last year I was honored to be asked to write a “Fool’s Journey Through the Tarot” ritual for SunFest 2016. My first response was to run away screaming “Nooooooooo!” I know from previous experience that there is nothing more time consuming and brain warping than writing, organizing, and directing a large scale ritual. And then it dawned on me that The Fool’s Journey was exactly what I’ve been writing about on this blog for the past several years and it is exactly what my first book, Forging the Blade (which will soon be available), is about. And after doing the blog, the book, and countless readings for clients, I was a firm believer in the transformative, life changing power of tarot. So how could I not share this amazing tool with my community? “OK,” I said. “I’ll do it.” Fortunately, my community is composed of many amazingly talented people who volunteered to be in or help with the ritual, who serve on Other Worlds Of… Read More »

Who Loves Ya, Baby?

Posted C. LaVielle3 CommentsPosted in Gifts from the Multiverse, Wheel of the Year

Telly Savalas pretty much nailed it. This is, indeed, the big question. The one we wake up in the wee hours worrying and wondering about. Because, deep in our souls, we know that Dean Martin was right. You’re nobody till somebody loves you. Oh dear, I’m showing my age here aren’t I? Having a sweetie, a lover, close friends and family is wonderful. It’s what Valentine’s Day is all about. It makes our hearts sing and the world look rosy. It means we don’t wake up quite as often with the big question heavy on our hearts. But even if you have the happiest marriage and children and friends that adore you, sometimes you still wake up wondering. This is one of the reasons we have religions. If you pay attention, almost all of them are about answering this question. And their answer is pretty much unanimous: “The whole freakin’ Multiverse, Baby! We are all somebody.” But unfortunately, most of us don’t feel this Love.… Read More »

My Snowdrops are out! Imbolc Will Be Here Soon.

Posted C. LaVielle5 CommentsPosted in Gifts from the Multiverse, Wheel of the Year

Snowdrops. Ya gotta love ‘em. Dainty, pure white flowers that thrive in the coldest, darkest part of the year. In the Pacific Northwest they always arrive just before Imbolc, the festival of first light. They reassure us that winter won’t last forever. But for me, the arrival of these cheerful flowers triggers bittersweet memories. The snowdrops in the picture are growing in my front yard. They used to grow next door in Patty’s front yard. We were friends and neighbors for over twenty years, and we did a lot of talking during that time. The things we talked about most were gardens and growing things. Two years ago Patty lay dying of cancer in a hospital bed in her living-room, surrounded by grieving friends and family. But snowdrops were blooming in her front yard.

The Gravinis Tumulus and the Holly King and the Oak King

Posted C. LaVielle4 CommentsPosted in Brittany, Wheel of the Year

The tiny island of Gavrinis guards the turbulent entrance to Brittany’s Gulf of Morbihan. To get there, we took a beautiful 10 minute boat ride from the tiny village of Lamor-Baden.   Perched on the island’s highest point is a spectacular tumulus. Actually it’s a tumulus covering a cairn, covering a dolmen.* And it’s old. Built in 3500 BCE during the Neolithic Era, it is older than the Great Pyramid of Giza and even a few centuries older than Newgrange, its more famous Irish cousin. And it’s really big. At 100 meters in diameter, it’s bigger than Newgrange. And the 46 foot long passageway leading to the central chamber is made up of huge stones carved in fantastic patterns that seem to shimmer and pulse. Several sources state flatly that they are some of the most magnificent art humanity has produced, a masterpiece of universal art. And it’s prominently placed. When it was built, sea level was much lower and it was part of the… Read More »

The Secrets of the Carnac Alignments Revealed! (Actually, Just One of Them)

Posted C. LaVielle11 CommentsPosted in Brittany

I have been to Stonehenge twice and was in awe of the engineering ability and sheer effort it took to build it, but the whole thing felt somber and empty, like there was nothing there for the living, and possibly never had been. Stonehenge’s neighbor, Avebury, is a totally different story. The stones there feel good and the energy is celebratory and joyous. You could tell by the way they were laid out that they were avenues and enclosures for community festivals. The archeology also supports this. So how, I had always wondered, would the standing stones of Brittany feel? They are much older, some dating back to 4500BCE—Stonehenge and Avebury date back to about 2500BCE (first stones erected) and 2600BCE respectively. So when my husband and I and Jim and Yvonne, our traveling buddies, decided we wanted to go to Paris, Craig and I put in a request to spend a week in Brittany. Jim and Yvonne were an easy sell after they’d seen… Read More »

The Burning Times and The Civilization of the Goddess: New Pagan Myths?

Posted C. LaVielle6 CommentsPosted in Blog post review, Goddess

I just read a post by John Halstead in his blog, The Allergic Pagan. It was entitled  “Believing in Our Myths, Without Believing in Them”. I don’t always agree with what this guy has to say, but he always makes me think, and this post was no exception. It is definitely worth reading. One thing it made me think about is that perhaps we don’t understand the ancient myths in the same way that their creators–the Egyptians, Celts, Greeks, Norse, etc.–did. The ancients didn’t have history, they had stories.* Some of these stories were so effective on a spiritual/emotional level that they were  told and retold and eventually became myths. The myths of these cultures were as true to them as what they did yesterday, but I think they understood in a way that we don’t that there are different truths. Today we look at stories as either true or untrue, fact or fiction. If something actually happened it becomes history which we lump into… Read More »

Hijacked by Mamluks

Posted C. LaVielle9 CommentsPosted in Tarot, Writing

One of the greatest dangers a writer faces while doing research is getting sidetracked by an irresistible piece of trivia and wandering for hours through cyberspace and reference books. By the time he or she resurfaces, bleary eyed and sated with useless information, hours have passed—hours that could have been spent on something productive. This happened to me, for about the bajillionth time, as I was preparing a presentation about the history of tarot. I kept running across the statement that the first playing cards didn’t appear in Europe until the early 1300’s— and they were probably Mamluk. “What’s a Mamluk?” I thought. And that’s when the Mamluks grabbed me and dragged me through nearly eight centuries of fascinating history that had absolutely nothing to do with the tarot. It all began way back in 800 CE when the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad began supplementing their military with slaves purchased from a place called Circassia in the northern Caucasus Mountains. Circassia doesn’t exist anymore, but… Read More »