The Rainbow Bridge Oracle

I bought my first Tarot Deck at the age of eighteen, the Waite Ryder Deck(1), which was about the only deck available in 1969. I later became a professional reader, working at Renaissance Fairs, psychic fairs, and clients. My fascination with the Tarot and the Archetypes of the Higher Arcana has never waned. In my twenties I began to paint Tarot cards, often using friends as the models.

“The High Priestess”, painting (1973)

In my forties I decided to pull together new and old works into my own deck, which quickly morphed into something inspired by the Tarot, and often including Tarot imagery, but also…………not. I finally finished the RAINBOW BRIDGE ORACLE DECK about 10 years ago, so the journey to creating, and contemplating, my own Journey with the Tarot and Divination has spanned more than 50 years.

Actually, I haven’t really “finished” the Deck, because new cards arise in my imagination every so often, demanding inclusion.

The Tarot is an elegant, multi-layered language one can learn. Over the years I learned the words, then sentences, then paragraphs, and finally, as I matured as a reader, I looked for the pattern, the underlying Story that wove together each reading. Developing my Oracle Deck, which I use in conjunction with the Waite Ryder Tarot Deck, has helped me to become more eloquent in that language.

The Lakota seer Black Elk (2)  had a vision when he was a young boy. In his vision, he foresaw a future time when many diverse peoples from the world’s Four Directions would come together to form a “great hoop”. He called it the “Hoop of the Nations”. This has been symbolized by a Circle of interlocking Circles, or “Hoops”, an image that inspired my own motif or theme image. Black Elk’s vision also inspired the contemporary term the “Rainbow Tribe”.

We live in a time of enormous, rapid change.  I can instantaneously talk to someone in China or in Australia. I can see their faces on Zoom. I can access the greatest library the world has ever known because it is, literally, at my fingertips. We have become a global society with all the diversity and creative potential of human endeavor.  And we also share the greatest crisis humanity has ever had to face:  that of planetary climate change.  The evolution of a “global tribe” is our greatest evolutionary challenge now. That evolution includes multi-cultural vocabularies for the sacred, as peoples and traditions encounter each other:  RAINBOW BRIDGES to unite us with the Above and Below, with each other, and with other dimensions of spirit and planetary life.

In the Tarot, the Higher Arcana is a progression through what mythologist Joseph Campbell called the “Hero’s Journey”. The first card in the traditional Tarot deck is The Fool. The Fool represents the open innocence with which we incarnate, the beginning of the journey. The Arcana progress through different experiences, revelations, trials, and initiations. The last card of the Journey is The World, the return Home. Here at last the Fool’s long Journey is fulfilled as he returns from whence he began, evolved by many experiences.

The journey is a Circle.

I created a 13-card spread for the Oracle and chose the number 13 because it was traditionally sacred to the Great Mother, as there are thirteen lunations in a year, thirteen menstrual cycles. The 13th Question (or the 13th Moon, the “home moon”) is the Outcome. A Querant is asked to shuffle the cards, and then draw a card in response to each question, laying them in a Circle.  I’ve copied this reading system at the end of this article.  Making a book for the cards came last. Meanings for each card arose intuitively,  from the Mytho-Poetic to some very practical advice. I hope eventually to publish the deck boxed, with a small booklet inside each box.

Here are a few of my favorite cards.  The Journey continues.

THE FOOL

A child walks on the water. No one has taught him that he cannot. Who is going to say what is impossible? The Fool is innocently joyful at the beginning of life’s journey, unfettered by concepts of limitation. Not so long ago, great thinkers of the Renaissance proclaimed that “man would never fly.”  They were wrong. Innocence is the holy state wherein we experience the wonder of being, and when childhood is left behind “enlightened innocence” is a quality to cultivate to experience the mystery of life. Yet there is a difference between innocence and naivete. Sustained naivete may reflect a stubborn refusal to accept the harsh circumstances of life. Cultivate wise innocence, not foolish naivete.

 Reversed:  You are dangerously close to being naive about something and refusing to admit it. Or conversely, it may be high time to override your narrow habit of cynicism, which is neither realistic nor practical, and cultivate joyful openness.

 

THE STAR

The Stars are a perfect image of the constancy of Grace. To raise one’s eyes to the vast azure sky at twilight and behold the ubiquitous wonder of the stars………The waters of Grace are eternal. The woman’s nude figure further enhances this image – there is no artifice in the pure grace that pours through her hands, cleansing and nourishing the soul, bringing hope and renewal.

Reversed:   Believe again that the light of Grace, like starlight, is eternally present for you, and has no “price”. Don’t be afraid to ask. You have become too exhausted, or despairing, to remember. Go outside, lie beneath the stars, and ask for the Grace that is unconditionally available to everyone.

VISION

True visionary experience is “soul language”; like dreams and synchronistic experiences, a vision has multiple layers of meaning, and transcends time as we understand it. Visions communicate universal and personal truths, and often partake of collective archetypal images. Whether unintended or intentionally induced they can catalyze a life’s work. You are encouraged to “call for vision” in your own way. Do it in a sacred manner and share and discuss your vision with others of like mind.

Reversed:  Visions can be profoundly significant…….but there is a fine line between spiritual revelation and highly subjective schizophrenia. Practice discernment.

THE MAGICIAN

The Magician stands in the classic gesture of invocation. He draws the white light of universal energy to create form on the physical plane. As his creative energies manifest, they are broken into the “rainbow” – the spectrum of the physical world in all its diversity. The Mage is an artist, for his magic arises from understanding the tools he must work with, the clarity of his intention, and the realm from which all visions originate. The Magician urges you to become the artist of your life. There are many resources at your hand.

Reversed:  You feel unable to creatively express yourself. This can be because of lack of self-esteem, discipline, or the education you need to gain skills. Stop saying “I’m not an artist” and go where other creative souls gather and find an artform that speaks to your spirit. You may also be rendering your “power” over to others, instead of believing in yourself. There may be someone manipulating you – cut them off. Now.

MANIFESTATION

“Not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck.”……The Dalai Lama

“Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it” is an old folk saying. Sometimes we get what we think we want, but happiness can soon turn to disappointment. Sometimes getting what we think we want is the worst thing that can happen, because our desires are immature, addictive, vindictive, greedy, or even self-destructive. The “Law of Attraction” demonstrates that we attract that which we focus upon, and what we concentrate upon can manifest. Loving and generous wishes attract loving and generous results. Bearing all of this in mind, now is an excellent time to begin to manifest!

Reversed:  You’re not able to manifest what you want because of either a lack of belief in yourself, or you are too negative in your worldview to render positive results.

SOLITUDE

“Solitude” portrays a woman bearing a flame in her hand as she emerges from the darkness. She is bearing, like Hecate, a torch to light the Way for others who walk in the darkness. She has returned from her own journey into the “underworld”, her own “dark place.”    This is a solitary journey. Yet the final phase of that journey is to become a “light-bearer”. You have learned more than you realize and returned tell the tale. Whether you heal with your hands, words, or art, or by your loving presence, you have much to do now.

Reversed:  You have become too withdrawn from the world, too used to isolation. Too much isolation is just loneliness, a fearful retreat from life. Come out of your cave.

EARTHMIND

“Speak to the earth, and it will teach you”…….Job 12:8

EARTHMIND is included in this deck because today both science and spirituality have converged in our understanding that all life on planet Earth is interdependent, a vast network of ecologies. The Gaia Hypothesis (Lovelock & Margulis, 1979) demonstrated that the Earth is one living, self-regulating organism. The theory was named after the primal Mother Goddess of Greek mythology, Gaia. How would we live if we truly experienced Gaia as mother, friend, self? We are the Earth, and it is important that we live and act with reverence, for the benefit of all beings of the Earth. Future generations depend on us. Thank you for your caring, and for your efforts.

Reversed:  Without caring and effort for a sustainable future, the outcome is reversed for everyone. We’re all together on this one.

13 CARD READING

 

1. What do I need?

(At the beginning of an endeavor or a quest, one gathers the tools and resources one will need to undertake the journey.)

2. How can I purify myself?

(Before any “vision quest” or pilgrimage can begin, inner preparation is necessary.)

3. What must I honor?

(This concerns the importance of recognizing the gifts you possess.)

4. What should my intention be?

(Clearly defining the Querant’s intention, one’s essential purpose in this undertaking.)

5. What is hidden?

(What should the Querant be willing to investigate? Is there a shadow?)

6. What must I do to improve my connection to Spirit?

(What spiritual practices will assist me?)

7. What must I sacrifice?

(What must be released to go forward?)

8. Where am I going?

(This is not about an actual place, but how am I inwardly transforming?)

9. What do I need to learn to be in good relationship with others?

(Skillful means in dealing with others. What might assist?)

10. What do I need from others to be in good relationship?

(What is necessary, and what is unacceptable, in my dealings with others?)

11. Where should I go now?

(In what direction is the Quest leading me?)

12. 12.  How may I serve?

(What service I can make to life, community, and the Earth?)

13. The Outcome.

(insert #1 “Hoops” illustration here)