vervain13 | Sick Day *bleah*

Yesterday I left work early after finally succumbing to a bug which had been after me for several days. During the past week, I was exposed to a coworker and at least two clients who had "colds." Yeeshk. Oh well. At least I'm making good use of being at home with Tarot studies and other similar personal growth pursuits. Presently I am getting acquainted with the Haindl deck having experienced a pull in its direction. The imagery is at once very "earthy," and "Divine." While some reviewers find this particular deck to be somewhat dark in the creator's use of colors and design, I find that it also has a nice array of rich colors and textures. An excellent review of this deck can be found here: http://www.tarotpassages.com/bursten47.htm. This morning, with both Tarot and Runes on my mind, I opted to choose my numerological birth card for meditative purposes. Anyone interested may view the card at http://www.villagephotos.com/viewpubimage.asp?id_=820637. Although the image depicted by the deck's creator differs significantly from traditional images, I found this card to be quite profound and soothing. A sense of being soothed and comforted washed over me...much as the traditional interpretation of "hope" which is usually associated with The Star. It was a great way to set the tone for the day.

Concerning the mention of Runes, this deck has a Runic association with each card of the Major Arcana, the Rune for The Star being Eihwaz, depicted in the upper right corner of the card. I refer the interested reader to Ralph Blum's excellent book, "The Book of Runes," for further information on this and the other Runes currently used by many.