Oh this is soooo nice to hear! Many ppl here are not "glossy" either and I'm definitely one of them
I should have first thanked you for your answer, by the way!
I had one more question about the card backs, but then I found the brand new page about your oracle in "What's new" so no more questions... for now ;-)
About being a small fish in the huge tarot/oracle world, I am a firm believer in "small is beautiful". Many creators now praised all over the world and regarded as tarot "living legends" ;-) started very humbly (word?). For sure, Aeclectic displays many decks but in the end, we remember only a few. From all the decks published every year, only a tiny portion brings something new and fresh to the spiritual world. The oracle world lately has been very much about fortune-telling decks such as different variations of the Lenormand. Your unique "little" deck is a bowl of fresh air and it's growing on many of us
******* Wow... thank you, that is big praise, Kissa!
Plus there's nothing wrong feeling like a small fish for a Pisces lady
******* That's very true!
It's funny we hear about the A'HA oracle only now since it got published in 2007.
******* You're right... ok a long story, told as briefly as I can manage it...
I've mentioned in earlier posts, I think, that A'HA is available from about 2 dozen retail outlets all over Australia... mostly "New Age" bookshops etc... I didn't want to go through a distributor originally, because I wanted A'HA to be available through outlets with a 'nice energy'!!! (Linnie the control freak!!!!)
Later, when I realised how difficult it was doing the marketing all on my own, the distributors said they weren't keen to take on 'single product accounts' meaning me, as I only had one product to offer and they prefer dealing with 'multilpe product' companies, as in Hay House etc, so I continued doing my own marketing.
******* I started selling over the net, by advertising through New Age magazines in Australia, and I also found a 'spiritual' website (like AT but much broader interest base... ie AT is mainly for Tarot/Oracle lovers, yes? And I must have seen AT before, but not really seen it... somehow... divine timing or something???) I realised how much nicer it is dealing with the individuals who want to buy A'HA myself, rather than selling through shops whose owners can't really dedicate time to every A'HA purchaser. I do have favourite outlets, with wonderful people, but they are few... and I like getting to know my customers as people, so, although A'HA has been in existence since 2007, and was printed in early 2008, we've been around, but in a very limited 'sphere of existence'!
Oh, yes I could ask more about the booklet... Could you tell us more about it? Do you go through each of the 77 cards, explore the symbolism, give some meditation guidance, prayers etc. or is it something else? In the testimonials a lady wrote that she read it from the first to the last page in one time: that doesn't sound like a study book to me, more like a spiritual or self-improvement book.
******* Ok ... I do go through each of the 77 cards, but do different things for each of them... really, whatever felt right as I was writing the book... If certain thoughts, or quotes flashed into my mind as I was writing the book, I asked why, and if it was relevant, they were mentioned. Some explanations are from my personal experiences ie Grace... that card is about strength in adversity, about graciousness in the face of unapalatable challenge... I thought of my beautiful niece when I was writing that page... because she was the epitome of Grace.
******* Some cards might make reference to very helpful guidance that I've received from someone else's book, famous quotes etc... Full Moon Dreaming is about friendship, shared experience, but also about the liberation of not having to talk, about being content and feeling safe in each other's silence etc it is about Anam Cara (yes, I've noticed an ATer with that avatar... good choice... Anam Cara is precious... our soul friend!)
******* Another card was a challenge for me... I love the artwork of most of the cards (there are a couple that aren't as pretty as the others, but I know they serve their purpose in the deck). One card, though, whilst I actually really like its artwork, had me baffled, because instead of just sitting with the virtue, or human condition etc behind it, and asking for the most perfect symbols to illustrate that, I panicked (it must have been because that virtue was still a challenge for me at that time!
I got into my head about it, and thought "How do I draw that? What symbols could possibly reperesent that?" That's absolutely not how all of the other cards were drawn... and that was the only card which I tore up... I knew it... it wasn't from the same source as the other cards and it didn't have a place in this deck! So, I sat again, emptied my mind, and calmly asked for the most perfect symbols... they came, and I didn't understand them, and had to seek help from a very clear-sighted friend. That story is in the book!
******* Really... nothing of A'HA Oracle is meant to be taken as formal study... I read people's books, poetry etc, talk with friends, listen to wise or not so wise people. I've heard and picked up interesting and thought-provoking snippets all through my life, and, whilst drawing and writing A'HA, because I was so completely focused and attuned to the process (really, it was all-consuming), I think I heard flashes of wisdom in the most unlikely places...... So, there's bits of everything in that little book, and the only rule really is to accept as your truth only that which feels right for you... That's all.
******* Phew... that was a long answer! ... Thanks for your patience.
