The Fool's Journey is the path from Fool to Wisdom, from innocence to the world. It's an ancient tale woven through playing cards and gypsy fortune telling. We are in a new era of this archaic form. It's time to update the journey, and for this purpose I created a new oracle called Inner Light Moon.
The first card in this deck is FREEDOM, representing the traditional tarot's "FOOL". The horse in the Chinese zodiac is a classic example of unbridled wild spirit and honesty. With freedom comes risk, uncertainty and passion and abandon. The rider sits upon the steed, wearing the fool's striped cap with the 7 chakra colors. When we open all our chakras and shine with the light of the rainbow, we manifest our divine light in true form. Every moment is a new beginning and a fresh start with the potential to shift our perspective and free our minds.
I started working on these images the year my Mother passed away. Initially it was a fun project to accompany my friend who was also creating an oracle deck. As I dove in deeper, I came to understand more of what the cards represent to me.
I wanted to create a deck that incorporated Chinese culture, heritage and wisdom. Of course, I'm Hapa, and only half-Chinese, so integrating that with the Western Tarot seems like a perfect match. Using the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, figures and elements of Asian spirituality to represent the Fool's journey, I adopted the traditional tarot for the modern spirit seeker.
The Major Arcana usually addresses the spiritual levels, while the Minor Arcana, the suits in the traditional tarot, apply to the practical matters of daily living. For this deck, the Minor Arcana are adapted into 5 "suits" using Chinese 5 Element theory. Aspects of the natural world and the transitions and rhythms of the seasons help to bring the reader into balance and connect holistically to their own beautiful inner nature.
My first exposure to the Tarot was in San Francisco. A friend read to me from Aleister Crowley's Thoth deck, illustrated with Lady Frieda Harris' amazing paintings. While both the writer and the artist are incredible in their depth of study and representation of the deep symbolism, they were both born in the late 1800's. Working with those archaic symbols can be outdated. We no longer live by the sword. We are coming out of the Royal Hierarchy and power structures of previous centuries.
The Thoth deck was my initial connection to the inner workings of the subconscious. Later, when I worked in massage therapy and studied Tai Chi, I learned to connect even more deeply to my intuitive wisdom on a physical level. This finally led to a two year meditation study, where I realized we don't need any of these external tools. All of our wisdom and guidance is always here for us, inside of us. But it is wonderful to use ancient symbols as a tool to connect with these universal archetypes, the deep well of the human psyche, and the underlying love that connects all of us.
The deck is still in development! Stay tuned for more cards and further developments!