I have just stepped into a multicultural universe of color and feelings. The main language is love, or rather, coexisting in harmony with nature and learning how to love again. It doesn’t necessarily need to be lovers’ love, it can just be that compassionate love that we are born with and forget. I get such a compassionate, healer’s perspective from this deck. It really resonates with an area of my brain — or is it my heart? — that taps into my subconscious to bring forth messages of an oracular nature. Damn! I’m inspired.
Growing up can really disconnect us from our heart. I have trouble with this notion all the time because I can see it manifesting in others, and reflecting back at me. I struggle with the hardships of life and having to find it in myself to build invisible walls to keep others out. It sucks! I like to see the best in people, the qualities that make them shine. Adulthood is trying to toughen me up and to dry out my compassion, and if I let it, one day I may come to be just as bad. But luckily, I’ve got this deck now.
The Chrysalis Tarot by
Holly Sierra and
Toney Brooks is a sacred amulet of luck and protection that will not allow any of that negativity to come through. It dispels the evil of the world and creates a safe haven for all of us that struggle with those hardships, so we can feel protected. It sounds so hocus pocus, I know, but I honestly feel like this deck is a working tool to open your eyes to the real world, to connect with nature and to find compassionate love again. The kind of love I am talking about is mutual respect between living beings, no matter their accepted level of intelligence. If it has life, it is sacred and meant to be without question. That’s how I feel about it.
I feel like this deck is a working tool to empower yourself and to bring out potential meditation so that you can achieve a higher form of consciousness. While it does not seem purely Celtic, Shamanic, Pagan or Wiccan —
which I THOROUGHLY appreciate, as I don’t identify or resonate with any of the a fore mentioned, — there are influences present in this deck. It is multicultural. You can find an archetype of each person in the deck, with different forms of beauty… and not one is ugly, because they are all pure on the inside. It makes the deck accessible and easily relatable to people from diverse cultural backgrounds, which I appreciate. I’ve always had a problem with people being of the same skin tone in tarot decks. Lack of diversity renders a deck useless to certain cultures out there, and I think that truly successful tarot decks can be related to universally. As in, will include a bit of everything, thus making it more versatile and understandable.
I have never written a review like this before. All of my other reviews are of course of decks I enjoy, but the writing I have channeled after looking through the entire deck is very different and I hope you can see that too. If you want your own copy,
Holly Sierra is actually sending some decks out with custom butterflies painted on the inside flap. Each creation is original! No duplicates! A must! Get your copy now.
INTERVIEW WITH THE CHRYSALIS TAROT:
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Most important characteristic:
King of Stones. Hello,
Toney Brooks! It seems you were a key component in the development of the deck. It seems you clung to the harmonious song of the world of
Chrysalis, and you went like a bard painting the town with the colors of
Chrysalis. I feel like music and lightheartedness in an approach to a serious venture such as this will greatly improve the experience with the deck. With the dog we see a loyal companion and friend following wherever we go. How uplifting.
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What are your strengths as a tarot deck?
Knight of Spirals. Here we have an adventurer who isn’t bound by rules. Oh, no… we have the need for adventure seeking and even for trouble, so long as the rewards are great. I feel like the parrot can be all talk as well as messages. Action and quick thinking come to mind here, also being bold and daring… and not knowing how to be any other way.
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What are your limits?
Two of Stones. This bear doesn’t look like he is meant to be there. in fact, he looks as if he’s lost or looking for something in the wrong place. One wrong step or slip, and he could fall and end up really hurting himself. I guess this serves as a warning and a reminder that words only go so far, after that our own actions are what define our outcome. This stands true for tarot, and is explicit in the card.
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What are you here to teach me?
Four of Scrolls. If you’re not sure, sleep on it and give it time. Don’t try to act or force things to happen the way that you want them to, because then it won’t be natural. Sometimes stepping back from the situation will bring an answer. The image makes me think about dreams, and finding answers in dreams. Perhaps it is through meditation that the meanings of the cards will really come to life for us.
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How can I best learn to collaborate with you?
Strength. Go it alone if you want, it’s a jungle out there. Embrace the journey for what it is and be ready to face challenges as well as getting your hards dirty. It is through experience that you will learn to conquer your demons and face your fear, and it’ll take a lot of courage. I also feel this is an implication to read over the booklet once, absorb what you can and then put it away. Let the cards really speak to you as you relate them to your life, then they will really start to sing.
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What is the potential outcome of our working relationship?
Ace of Stones. Grounding. This is a —
rather personal — gift of grounding. I feel like it is offering to be the rock in times of need, a beacon of hope and positivity with the way the sun is shining behind it. It is a source of energy and possibly a seed of renewal if you approach it with the right attitude.
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Which card do you want to show off?
The Devil. Funny! This card jumped out earlier when I was shuffling this deck for the first time to conduct this interview. That mask really speaks to me as the mystery that it represents. We have a rose, a mirror and an infinity sign. Will we go by our intuition as suggested by the mirror, or by the passion and the pain as suggested by the thorny rose? We’re only going to be kept on the surface until we start digging deeper and unmasking the secrets.
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How do you see me?
Death. One of my birth cards, and a concept that I have a lot of trouble with. Going from the booklet, this suggests that you are coming out of a dark time in your life. Intuitively, she seems wise to me and with that coin I feel she has conquered a destructive force. Reading off the card itself, I feel like life is a maze and once you get out, that means your life is spent. Here she is just outside it, with what seems to be a ball of yarn. I have seen strings in death cards before and believe it is an allusion to fate as well as a continuous line that can illustrate our progress in life. It makes me think about my life and how I am shaping it.
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How do you see yourself?
The Magician. Tricky trickster! These birds look so mischievous as they toil with what I take to be a sacred source of divine energy, wisdom and strength in the form of a swirling tree. I can almost hear their nagging “cawww cawww cawww” as it seems to drag on. They’re shape shifters, teachers, and creatures of the hunt. This card has strong divine influence to it, and brings us to the concept of “as above, so below” from the point of view of nature.
I have not yet written a review this charged with words, but the deck really speaks to me. I’m going to be honest, while I feel that many would benefit from my use to it, I plan to use it alone. I want to really learn what I can benefit from with this deck before I start using it to empower others. It has a lot to say to me, and I intend to listen carefully. I can see many nights of candlelight and music while I go over the teachings of this deck as they pertain to my personal life. I feel strong vibes of ayahuasca, DMT present in the cards even though they don't look as if they are meant to be that way directly. Some artwork such as
Spectral Eyes comes to mind when I look through the cards, reminding me of my brief experiences in a trance. There have only been two in my life, but they have lasted me with their rich knowledge and experience.
I really like the
Chrysalis Tarot, and wish I had not been hesitant to get it at an earlier time. I want a beautiful bag to house it in as well as a reading cloth. Looks like I have a job for
Wyldechilde at Etsy.
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