Hi there my yogis,

The next few months are going to be even more hectic than usual.  I really enjoy our monthly luncheons even though so few of you make it a priority – it is a priority for me. I have optimistically booked for the LAST SATURDAY IN APRIL – the 29th.  Please diarise it NOW.  The FULL MOON SALOON at 1pm.  The menu is fresh, wholesome (vegan catered for) and changes all the time.

THE TAROT EXHIBITIONS.  I have two tarot exhibitions coming up.  The first at the Mt.Macedon Gallery in June, and then at the Theosophical Society, (234 Flinders Lane in Melbourne) in July plus a zoom presentation with the Tarot Guild.  I am painting the tarot on Tea Bags.  When I took them in to the Society last week they loved them, thank goodness, and were more than happy to give me space, not just for an exhibition but for ongoing collaborations.  If you haven’t visited the new building housing the bookshop and library, please do, it is worth the time.  I usually spend a little time at The Chapter House coffee shop behind St.Pauls Cathedral in Flinders Street, and then meander down to the Theosophical Society.  They are open for the public 11am to 4pm on Thursdays and Fridays at the moment.  The dust is still settling from the move, and they are searching for staff.

MY PAINTINGS

Although I started with wonderful (I think) result painting The Rider Waite Deck, I started to read Egyptian history, which led me to Crowley and his Thoth Tarot.  If you know anything about Crowley, he was a mystic/magician/yogi and so on whose sole aim was to reach enlightenment.  Certainly the more metaphysical aspects of yoga kept his attention throughout his life..  Because I had been introduced to his work as a dark magician, I stayed apart from his writings and his tarot, however, most recently after I had painted the RW FOOL, I wondered what Crowley said about this image in The Thoth.  Well, nothing could be more different.

Have a look at them.  The RW (Rider Waite) FOOL, is a prissy little person in a lace frock, fiddling about on the edge of a cliff, his handbag well out of the way.  Everything clean and neat.  The waves do look a little boisterous, but not violent.  The dog is the only animated item in this image. The Fool could be dancing to his future, but he certainly isn’t jumping into it.

Now look at THOTH TAROT.  The Fool is large,  muscular and throwing himself into the future through time and space which reminds me of the writings of The Late Carl Sagan a celebrated astrophysicist who wrote “The Cosmos” and  “CONTACT”  Remember the trip through the galaxies in the “pod” – So much like this card.  Carl was also interested in yoga and the tarot and could have been inspired by this card (among many other buddhist writings).   There are many Egyptian allusions and you could almost do a reading just with this one card.  Look closely for the dove, the crocodile, the caduceus, the chakras, and so on.

EGYPTIAN HISTORY.  Thoth was the god of the moon, sacred texts, mathematics, the sciences, magic, messenger and recorder of the deities, master of knowledge, and patron of scribes. His Egyptian name was Djehuty, which means “He who is like the Ibis.” He was depicted as an ibis bird or a baboon.


THE STUDIO 

CLASS TIMES:  (Windarring –  Tues x 2 +Thurs+Fri).

STUDIO WOODEND: Monday Hatha 1pm, 2.15pm Wed. Restorative 1pm .

FREE ZOOM WORKSHOP.  Mondays at 6.30 on zoom.

APPOINTMENTS IN THE STUDIO – I am available for massage, hand massage, Bach Flowers and Tarot in THE TAROT ROOM… you choose your combo and we will explore them together. $85 per session no matter how we put it together.

THE YOGA LUNCHEON:  “THE FULL MOON SALOON”, Last Saturday in the month  (April 29th at 1pm) – I have booked already.  Please put it in your diary if you haven’t already. 

SEE YOU ON THE MAT (SOMEWHERE)

JAHNE