Celtic Messages by Joules Taylor

[6 Haunted Days]

I joined OneSpirit and got these!!

They arrived today....oh what a sweet and delicious surprise to find out they were illustrated by Emma Garner....the artist who's done Good Witch Bad Witch, Faery Wisdom and Tree Magick!!!! I adore her work....just love love it.

These cards are so wonderful! The scenes, animals (there's a Crow card!), Gods/Goddess's, trees....oh so many others! Sulis you have your own card here The art is whimsical, haunting, cozy and sweetness personified. There's also a Crone card.

The borders for each card are unique and pretty, they're cicular cards of course (and a good size, not tiny) and whatever image/message/symbol is for the card...has that symbol running around the outside in little squares. For example card 4 is The Morrigan and she has a large crow sitting on her shoulder so in the border is a crow running along the circle!

Each suit is coloured differently (you can't tell from the backs though)....red, green, blue, yellow....but they are soft colours.

The book looks really good....if you have Good Witch Bad Witch or Tree Magick it's like those, full colour images of the cards and artwork. There's 10 spreads which look great and a interpertation/info on each card along with what the card means in a reading.....it's 64 pages. An adorable little book! But also it comes with a seperate book called Color Youtr Own Celtic Mandala. 31 pages of gorgeous b&w mandalas....I love to colour in these kinds of images....so it's a wonderful little addition.

It comes with a great bag...a rough burlap type material. Never seen a bag like this come with a deck before. It looks very "country", primitive....like an old flour bag from the 19th cen. It fits the feel of vibe of the deck wonderfully.

Ok, so yea, I am in love with this little oracle!! It looked interesting before so when I ordered some books and the Enchanted Spellboard I got this set too. What a grand surprise to love it so much, and to find one of my favourite oracle illustrators had done the images!


I can't wait to delve into it later!!

 

[Anam Cara]

Found an interesting and VERY entertaining (!!) blog
by Joules "Dances with Haddock" Taylor.
http://www.alestrel.blogspot.com/
Same person, do you think?
(Could there be more than one??)
cara

 

[Lewen]

I like the spreads that are included in the book. The Cauldron spread is the one I'm trying next. This is a great little oracle!

 

[pippi]

I just got this deck today. It came with the book, but no mandala book, and no bag. Bought it shrink wrapped at a Barnes and Noble. Guess the one you all were discussing is the deluxe version?

Oh, and the cards and book...REEK to high heaven! I have never had a deck smell so strongly before. It's not even a typical new-deck odor...they smell like a freaky blend of celery and alcohol. Like the most potent alcohol on the planet. I literally can't bring the cards within 6 inches of my face without feeling woozy, it's that strong. Now my hands reek also. Guess that smell didn't accompany the deluxe version...as I can't imagine no one mentioning it yet.

I really LOVE the cards, though! I wish I could handle them. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of the toxic smell? I have them laying out on my table to air out, but the fumes are spreading throughout the air now. I really wish I could provide you with a scratch and sniff here, because I've seriously never experienced anything like this before.

 

[motsa]

I can well imagine the smell -- I have two Sonia Choquette decks that are absolutely toxic if you open the boxes (thankfully the boxes are very sturdy). Someone suggested putting cards like that in a box with a scented dryer sheet for awhile. I keep forgetting to try it myself but it might work.

 

[pippi]

Hi motsa! Thanks! I don't use dryer sheets though, so I don't have any on hand. I put the cards last night in a ziploc bag with some baking soda and shook it quite a bit. After awhile, I took them out and laid them out on a table to air out overnight. It has helped a lot. I can actually bring them close to my face without nearly passing out. I'm going to flip them over and leave them to continue airing out on the other side for the day today. Hopefully by tonight they'll be good to go.

Thanks again motsa!

 

[Joules]

Greetings!

Just a brief note to say I'm very happy you like the Celtic Messages pack (and I'm sorry for the smell in the B&N pack, even though of course I have no control over it. Nevertheless anything that takes the pleasure from using a pack is to be regretted...) I should add that I had no hand in the design of the mandala book, and it does in fact contain a number of images I'm not very happy with, as they have no relevance to Celtic culture. However, the book had to be produced in a hurry for the publisher, and there was no time for them to be changed.

I've forwarded this URL to Emma, as I'm sure she will be delighted to hear how much you like her artwork.

And yes, Zone Doubt IS my blog - I'm glad you find it entertaining!

Cheers
Joules (Dances with Haddock) Taylor

 

[pippi]

Hi Joules! I just finished reading through the book, it's great! I really love the ideas behind the different suits. It's a fabulous deck! You and Emma have created something really special. (I too am a big fan of her artwork!)

Oh, and airing the deck out has helped tremendously in alleviating the strong odor. It doesn't pack that punch anymore, thank goodness!

I'm thrilled with my set. I wouldn't have used the mandala book anyway, so I don't miss that at all. The bag would have been a nice extra, but I can make one myself, no biggie!

I'm going on vacation tomorrow for a week, and Celtic Messages is coming with me!

Thanks for coming by and joining in the discussion!

 

[pippi]

I just noticed on The Field card (#24), one of the squares in the border is empty...the one just above the word "Field". Was this deliberate...does it have significance? Or was it an oversight when the cards went to print?

 

[6 Haunted Days]

Just a brief note to say I'm very happy you like the Celtic Messages pack (and I'm sorry for the smell in the B&N pack, even though of course I have no control over it. Nevertheless anything that takes the pleasure from using a pack is to be regretted...) I should add that I had no hand in the design of the mandala book, and it does in fact contain a number of images I'm not very happy with, as they have no relevance to Celtic culture. However, the book had to be produced in a hurry for the publisher, and there was no time for them to be changed.

I've forwarded this URL to Emma, as I'm sure she will be delighted to hear how much you like her artwork.

And yes, Zone Doubt IS my blog - I'm glad you find it entertaining!

Cheers
Joules (Dances with Haddock) Taylor

A warm welcome Joules!!

Very happy to see you here and posting! As you can see from my above posts, I'm a huge fan of this set. I love it!!

And please do forward our comments onto Emma, I've been a most devoted fan of her art and images for years I didn't know this deck was drawn by her, and I was estatic to find that out when I opened the cards up!

Pippi, that is quite weird about the smell....mine barely had a scent at all. My box doesn't say deluxe or anything on it, but Lewen and I did get both of ours from the One Spirit book club, maybe that's why we had the bag and mandala book? Sometimes they included extras like that for members.