Thank you for stopping by to read about the Windy Path Tarot. The current deck is an expansion of a picture book I created for my niece’s graduation. As I began work on the expansion, I saw a Fool’s Journey emerging with an environmentally conscious theme.

Follow two cats, Clerodendrum and Rhododendrum, on a quest to save the planet, to unearth truth and help us find simple ways to preserve and renew our connections with the natural world. How do we connect in a world that is constantly changing? How do we lessen our impact when years of automatic conveniences have defined our lives? How do we recognize that our thoughts have the power to create?

In the Windy Path the lessons and trials of the tarot become the framework to listen.

Two cats weave through fire, air, earth and water on a journey to save and preserve nature. They are the elements just as we are. We are all energy.

The common artistic thread of the deck is a chalk pastel Mountainscape, the original artwork is featured in The Fool on the first slide. The mountains are transformed into the sturdy rock wall of the Strength card, shrouded in night behind The Hermit, and erupting as a giant volcano in The Tower. The mountains continue throughout the realms of the major Arcana.

Then, they change color to represent the elements in four suits. The aces represent beginnings and creation, and the fives represent the pinnacles of pollution and destruction. Next, we seek balance and work hard to bring homeostasis to the planet, learning from mistakes and growing. We get on the path to following joy and holding peace as our true purpose.

In addition to being quite literal, the Fire element focuses on global warming and consumerism: Water on poison, indoctrination and emotions: Air on pollution and the delineation of our lives from the cosmos: and Earth on toxins, death, and physical illness. But what about the energy of the universe? How can we use it to transform our everyday vibrations with the constant goal towards peace and protection?

The approach is mixed media, with the bulk of it graphic art using Sketch Book. I collage together my own photography (with a few additions), watercolor, pastel chalks, and quite a bit of sparkle, parts of my grandfather’s paintings have been collages in, as well. I’ve also collaborated with my husband who illustrated the cats in their different poses seen throughout the deck and the original book.