Having a tour guide by your side during your trip can enhance your experience when traveling. A good guide will be able to explain the local culture and traditions and give you other local insights about the places you visit.
A good guide will know the best hours to visit the attractions to avoid big crowds, how to avoid rush hour, and tricks to let you experience the most out of major tourist destinations even with big crowds
They can also bring you to off-the-beaten-path spots you wouldn’t have known otherwise and offer personal suggestions on how to get the most out of your trip.
Weasel on the Watch Tower
Having been as spontaneous as the children who climbed the Magic Faraway Tree, as Yule draws closer, I find myself in a new land. It is a world full of magic where shunks ride mooses on sunny days, crows carry swords and raccoons become magicians! It is the Northern Animal Tarot which hails from Canada and the Wild Heart Studio.
This Northern Hemisphere environment is alien to me. I come from the Southern Hemisphere and I am more accustomed to gum trees, browned landscapes and sweeping plains. Moreover, the wildlife that shares this land are very different to the ones featured in this Northern deck.
As the sun goes down and the sky fills with stars in a constellation I am unfamiliar with I come upon a Weasel relaxing by the edge of a small pond. One of his jugs is spilling water back into the pond.
According to Ted Andrews, author of Animal Speak, when a Weasel shows up it is time to examine your life and to develop your observation skills. As a big picture person I cannot deny that I often miss the detail
Andrews poses some questions that I consider as I watch this industrious creature and he suggests that Weasel may be just the adviser one needs at a time like this. Weasel may be able to help me squeeze into small places in this world or through a narrow exit if a hungry bear shows up.
Despite seeing me the Weasel goes on pouring water. I pull out the spreads that come with this deck and ask if we can get to know one another better by doing these spreads together.
Who Shows Up to Guide You?
Alice followed the White Rabbit. The White Rabbit is the spark of curiosity that activates Alice’s spiritual awakening.It is the White Rabbit which Alice runs after and searches for endlessly in Wonderland, a symbol of her quest for knowledge. Just when things seem rather desperate the rabbit appears yet again, and Alice drives on through. Because Alice follows him, he gets things moving whenever he appears during the story. In a way, he was unintentionally some kind of a guide through Wonderland.
There are a range of guided imagery videos online to help you identify your guide or someone to follow. I have always enjoyed working with imagery to be found in books by Ted Andrews such as Animal Speak and Follow the Shamans Call by Mike Williams.
To identify your guide as you travel in a new and unfamiliar world you might turn to a Goddess deck or one of your treasured Animal Decks. Centre and take your time shuffling your deck!
But hey! If you are here and work with cards you know what to do.
Once you have identified your guide spend some time getting acquainted and seeking counsel.
A Message from the Creator of the Northern Animal Tarot
Hello Dear Lovely Soul,
Although we might never meet face to face, I welcome you to meet me. And hope we can share a friendship through my art work.
I’ve been in love with visual storytelling and fairytale for as long as I can remember! Fairytales awoke my imagination and love for learning about how we share our journeys in life and how we connect to each other and the worlds around us. Tarot cards are full of the magic of storytelling. And it can be used for self refection or storytelling as well. Creating a colourful image rich narrative around situations we might need help navigating.
I also love animals and I believe they can take us deeper into story because we can see to map of the story. Rather than being distracted by the humans that might not match yourself you are able to focus on tarot when using animals in the cards.
I’m Mexican/Dutch so I had a mix of many stories growing up. In my case I didn’t have TV so I turned to books. And when I found tarot and all the amazing art work I was hooked! Ive been painting and print making for over 20 years.
Handcrafted items, locally made is my passion. Working locally and ethically is close and dear to my heart. So I’m excited to bring you heavy line art, print making style with the softness of old fairytales.
I’m excited to bring you creative animal styled art to add to your life. Thank you so much for supporting this art project here for storytellers and self healers.
Much Love Linda
The Tarot Midwife 