Monthly Archives: August 2012

Journey of a Tarot Reader – now an e book!

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Here is a new review of Journey of A Tarot Reader to coincide with its release as an e book!
It is by Ella Jo Street and it was good to read through it again!

Click here to buy Journey of A Tarot Reader

 No great heavy tome of a book is this – it is light to carry and light to read. However, when I picked it up to review it, I found it hard to put down.

This is a book about a journey, a girl who reads tarot takes herself away from her life for a summer to discover what she thinks will be a Bohemian beach life in Greece. Based on her journals she gives a true account of her experiences and her inner world. Her travelling continues as she decides to go further than she had planned and she keeps a diary from the perspective of a Tarot Reader.

The journey reveals people and places as she explores Turkey and leaves her asking questions about the emergence of Tarot in the West. She shares her story with wit and energy helping to reveal the nature of the places she visits.

The book’s strength is its readability and the driving pace that it takes as a travel story  unfolds. It reflects the summer of 2012 in Greece, Turkey, and later Hungary and Czech Republic, on a mission to gain an understanding of the foundations of these cultures.

The clues collected in her travels cause serious research on the author’s return and the book ends with some information that lovers of the Tarot may appreciate.

So, all in all, Journey of A Tarot Reader is a biographical travel story, with tarot overtones, which can enhance an understanding of tarot in today’s world.

This is the first book by Ella Jo Street that sees her finding her feet as a writer. Her other tarot publications attend to each major arcana card in a series of volumes called Edictum of Tarot. (1st Volume out soon)

Some sections of her work about the first four major arcana cards will be made available soon on e books.

 

Welcome to Diamond Seeds!

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Home of Independent artists Ella Jo and Steve Spon. Find FREE Music podcasts and learn about our exciting creative projects. Scatter Dreams with Diamond Seeds!

The Empress Tarot Decoded Issue Three

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The Empress Tarot Decoded Issue Three

This is the third book from the series Tarot Decoded by Ella Jo Street.
Traditionally interpreted as the Mother Figure in a person’s life, Ella Jo looks into the mythological and psychological background of this loaded figure. In her analysis of The Empress card, she traces this important figure from ancient roots, revealing the journey of the archetype to its place in the Modern Tarot.

Describing the many versions of this figure through time and linking up the archetype with psychology, the author gives insight into how the nurturing Goddess has created the archetype for human identity and its development. Knowledge has been gathered from a wide range of resources to assist in a thorough interpretation of the Empress Tarot Card.

Tracing the emergence of the Mother Goddess from prehistory to later societies, research includes a wide range of ancient cultures and medieval folk lore in Europe. Alongside are tarot connections made to the Tree of Life and a corresponding view from Transactional Analysis and Jungian theory.

Purchase book here
The book gives a rounded view of the Empress to deeply enrich the Reader’s understanding of the card and contains material for Tarot training and anthropological research.

The High Priestess Tarot Decoded Issue Two

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The High Priestess Tarot Decoded Issue Two

This is the second book from the series ‘Tarot Decoded’ by Ella Jo Street. In her analysis of the The High Priestess card, she traces this tantalizing figure from her ancient roots to modern times, revealing the Great Goddess.

This collection of fascinating essays explores the mythology and psychology associated with the worship of the Nature and Wisdom Goddess, making this book invaluable for understanding the development of witchcraft and emergence of the Wiccan Religion.

Purchase book here
Also containing an extensive collection of ancient images, this book contains material for Tarot training and is a valuable Pagan source-book.

The Magician Tarot Decoded Issue One

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The Magician Tarot Decoded Issue One
This is the first book in the series ‘Tarot Decoded’ by Ella Jo Street. In her analysis of the Magician she provides meanings for the images on the card using extensive mythological explanations and psychological theories.

This book has been produced as a training guide for those who read Tarot Cards and it contains the basic knowledge of the structure of Tarot. The series has been produced to provide sustenance for the evolution of the Tarot Reader.

Purchase book here

Inside this edition of the Magician one will find The Will, The Wisdom, The Word.

Journey Of A Tarot Reader

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Journey Of A Tarot Reader Serious research on the possible influence of the Mother Goddess Religion on the concept of Tarot

In 2006 Ella Jo made a trip to Greece to read Tarot on the beaches. Her journal reveals the realities of a Bohemian beach community life and the story unfolds as she decides to go exploring. Influenced by her desire to find the origins of the Tarot, she travels to Turkey to look for evidence. In 2005, Ella Jo visited India, finding evidence for the original structure of the Tarot cards; this 2006 journal charts her search in the Middle East.

 

AVAILABLE AS  AN E- BOOK –  CLICK HERE

Ella Jo relates her journey from Santorini to Crete and Rhodes, then on to Turkey returning to the UK through Bulgaria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The book makes entertaining reading as she tells of her encounters with people and places she found on her journey.

The second part of the book, headed ‘Notes’, takes a deeper look at the subjects uncovered in her journey. She presents serious research on the possible influence of the Mother Goddess Religion on the concept of Tarot, seeking linguistic and historical material to provide insights. Ella Jo also investigates the mystery of Tarot’s appearance in Europe, providing glimpses of evidence from surviving historical data.

Purchase book here

This book is a must for those interested in the fascinating phenomena that is Tarot.

NEW! “Journey of a Tarot Reader” in E-Book for I-Pad and I-Phone

Attitude Is Everything Lyric Book

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Attitude Is Everything Lyric BookAccompanies Attitude Is Everything CD Album

As her third album comes to fruition, the songs which were held back until now kick out with a vengeance into the collective consciousness. ‘Attitude is Everything’ is described as Ella Jo’s Gothic-Neo-Folk contribution to popular music. Reading the lyrics one can see why.

Embedded in the variety of songs present on the album are angsty lyrics that are intensely personal – although the actual issues are mostly hidden in the poetry. The lyrics deal with the nitty-gritty which we can all relate to, without giving personal experiences away.

In fact, the depth of the poetry contained in the lyrics of both contributing songwriters (Ella Jo and past associate Terry Bartlett), are far from depressing. They are reflective, dealing with human struggles in the process of finding identity and making ones own way in the world.

As with most Gothic material, there is intellectual influence from Punk through to Electro music, although, happily, total morbidity has been left out.

There are ten songs on the album, and at times one may sense passing agony in the lyrics, although some songs are more about poking fun.
Purchase book here
This collection of lyrical poetry touches the psyche with a refined etiquette already hinted at in the previous work. Best appreciated at midnight by candle light, in a heightened emotional state, with dark chocolate and a black lace handkerchief nearby!

Alter Ego Lyric Book

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Alter Ego Lyric BookAccompanies Alter Ego CD Album

This is a collection of lyrics from the Album Alter Ego which was released by Ella Jo in 2009.

The book contains a section called The Stories Behind The Songs. It gives credit to the co-writers, Terry Bartlett and Steve Spon and an insight into the moods and issues, which influenced the song writing.

The book is semi auto-biographical as well as containing modern urban poetry which has been ultimately set to music.

Purchase book here

This book can be enjoyed on its own or as a companion to the album Alter Ego

Limits Of Milkweed Lyric Book

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Limits Of Milkweed Lyric BookAccompanies The Limits Of Milkweed CD Album

This is a collection of lyrics from the Album Limits Of Milkweed which was released by Ella Jo in 2009.

The book contains a section called The Stories Behind The Songs. It gives credit to the co-writers, Terry Bartlett and Steve Spon and an insight into the moods and issues, which influenced the song writing.

The book is semi auto-biographical as well as containing modern urban poetry which has been ultimately set to music.

Purchase book here

This book can be enjoyed on its own or as a companion to the album

Ella Jo and The Magician Tarot card

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The Magician
Ella Jo began giving Tarot readings in her late twenties. When she travelled to India she read Tarot on the beaches of Goa and over the years she took her cards with her as she explored Europe.

After three years of counseling training she visited Bengal in India to research the Origins Of Tarot, which was published in Femspec Magazine in 2007. Her books are derived from her research and field notes and have been written as an aid for those who read Tarot.

In the first issue of the series, Tarot Decoded, she brings to life the image of The Magician Tarot card. The Magician signifies the creator of the Tarot and the Reader themselves and therefore must also include an explanation of the structure of Tarot. She takes the reader from the basic meanings of the card to an investigation of our States of Being, on the way giving a view of the structure of the Minor Arcana (the small cards).

The Magician is numbered One of the Tarot’s Major Arcana. These cards make up twenty two of the ‘trump’ cards in Tarot. Major Arcana cards correspond to archetypal characters. Karl Jung, the psychologist, used the word ‘archetype’ to explain an experience that every person has in common with another, for instance everyone has parents, a belief, a place in society etc. Each card of the Major Arcana corresponds to an archetypal character and so every person can relate to it at some level.

Archetypally, the Magician’s role is to show that all human beings possess an inner structure based on the four elements, which make us who we are. The Magician gives us the tools to work on our inner landscape, enabling us to improve.

All of Ella Jo’s tarot books examine the cards relationships to mythological figures, and how their characters are reflected in ourselves.

Purchase book here

As The Magician is related to the intellectual side of our being this book covers ways to investigate this.

The Magician can be viewed as an introductory card to learning Tarot. However, Tarot is a vast subject and will not make sense all at once. As the reader learns more about the subject, the pieces will begin to fit.