Printed in the Conscious Creation Journal
April-May 2000, Issue 11
Vortex Tarot
by Lisa Parsons
“A Tarot system devoted to the metaphysical teachings of the entities called Abraham.”
NOTE: Graphics of Tarot cards have been removed from this article for the archives. To view actual cards, click on the link at the end of this article.
Creating this deck has been a perfect way to combine my three favorite passions, computer graphic arts, tarot and Abe! I have been marginally interested in the Tarot since I was 19 or 20. But a few years ago, thanks to the internet, I became aware of how many new decks are out there. There has been a Tarot Renaissance in the last ten years and there are literally hundreds of decks, new and old. I began to collect them; I think I have 75 of them. Everytime I bought a new deck it was mainly because I liked the artwork, but I still found myself looking for the You-Create-Your-Own-Reality type theme and I never really saw it. Many decks are pagan-based, or christian-based, or feminist-based or any number of themes… even baseball! After seeing enough decks built around so many many different topics, I began to realize that the traditional archetypal themes of the Tarot could be applied or focused through almost any lens. The lens I have been filtering everything through for the last couple of years is reality creation as explained by Abraham.
For those unfamiliar with “Abe”, Abraham is a group of non-physical beings who are channeled through the physical apparatus of Esther Hicks. Esther and her mate, Jerry, present Abraham’s teachings worldwide, through seminars, books, and video and audio recordings. I began reading Seth, another channeled entity, back in my twenties but could not quite figure out how to apply what he said about reality creation until Abe came along about three years ago and presented things in a much simpler fashion. I have been led to many other sources as well but again, nothing as clear as Abraham.
Many of the sources I found said “Follow your bliss.” This made me look at what I was doing with my life and decide I wanted something different. And from that point on, my life started to change. The job I was so dissatisfied with just disappeared by bits and pieces until it was totally gone leaving me with a nice severance package that has allowed me to focus on this project. I don’t know what’s next career-wise but I am looking forward to attracting a much more satisfying experience than the one I had in the corporate world for almost 20 years.
I have a degree in Fine Art and I have wanted to take a stab at making my own deck for quite some time since I am mainly interested in Tarot as an art form not a method of divination. I believe we are creating our reality with every thought and every moment so how can the future be told? The cards really don’t tell the future, they speak to what is going on right NOW, our point of power in the present moment. (Most good tarot readers will tell you this.) To be honest, I don’t know if this will work as a system you can do some sort of spread with or just be a card a day meditation sort of deal. I don’t remember when it finally clicked in my head to do an “Abe” tarot but having discovered a love for computer graphics about 5 years ago, I knew it would be the perfect medium for me and Abraham would be the perfect lens. All cards were created using PhotoShop software.
This deck may or may not be widely accepted in the tarot community. The Abraham quoted meanings and my images are very loosely based on traditional tarot. It may be perceived as mere eye candy and a far fetch by the traditionalists, but I know my fellow Abe-heads will love it from the feedback I have gotten so far. Deck collectors are always looking for a new spin on the Tarot too. It has really been a joy creating this deck. 22 cards down and 56 to go!
Below are a few of my favorite cards, to give you just a taste of what this deck is really about. (You can see more of the cards at my web site at http://www.geocities.com/vortextarot/ )
The Fool
This was one of those cards that just seemed to develop on its own when I was playing around one with PhotoShop and Kai Power Tools one day. I think it is a nice illustration of how we are focusers of “the energy that creates worlds” as Abe would say.
“Play Your Way Through This… Your greatest value to others is when you are joyful. Your greatest value to others is when you are connected. Your greatest value to others is to be radiantly healthy. Your greatest value to others is when you are happy. Your greatest value to others is to have and do all the things that are important to you. And as you are living that and vibrating that–then you are a catalyst that is inspiring others to an awareness of that.”
Abraham – – 2/1/92
“Our strongest wanting for you is that you lighten up. In other words, spend more time looking for things to laugh about and play with. Play your way through this. It really is the key. When you follow your bliss it is always an easy journey.”
Abraham – – 9/4/93
The Hierophant
This card features a photo of a stained glass window in a local church. I inserted my own crazy effects stained glass into it.
“Inner vs. Outer Guidance… Because physical beings have forgotten the existence of their own inner guidance mechanism, they look outside of themselves for the guide posts or the book of rules or the groups of powerful influence for rules of right and wrong. (“for if many believe that it is right then it must surely be.”) And as they look outside into the inconsistencies that abound, into the vast divergence of intentions and beliefs, they find only confusion.
In a world full of others, all wanting you to think and speak and act as they would have you, you cannot base your actions on the approval of others. There are too many diverse measures of justice and right and wrong. Too many critics demanding specific action from you.
Your most important work — that which is the very basis of your accomplishment, achievement and satisfaction from this life experience — is finding your true sense of self.”
Abraham — “A New Beginning II”
Death
The Death card is another that I like. The butterfly is one that I drew about 20 years ago that I still had in a sketchbook.
“A New Beginning… As birth is the deliberate focusing of attention from Non-physical into this physical time-space reality, death is the withdrawing of focus from the physical realm. In the same way that you may in one moment, give your attention to a particular book or movie, and in the next moment turn to another — so it is with the focusing of attention into this physical life experience. And in the same way that you cannot imagine sitting in one movie theater for many years, watching the same movie again and again — your broader Non-physical self cannot imagine remaining in one physical body century after century.
Death is truly another New Beginning. What comes after death? The answer is MORE! More opportunities to focus, compare and decide. You are Eternal Beings, romping about the Universe giving your careful attention to a myriad of subjects, finding pleasure and interest and satisfaction everywhere you turn — forever!
Abraham-Hicks — 10/6/96
And so we can say, really, there is no death!
The Tower
The sky and the sea are clip art but the Tower is from a photo of a miniature edifice called “Squire’s Castle” that is located about 6 miles from my house in what is now a part of the Metroparks system here in Cleveland. There was some romantic story connected with it that I can’t remember the details of, something about a man named Squire building it for his wife who died before it was completed. I made the fire with special effects in PhotoShop.
“Creation by Default… Many who are standing in great contrast say “I cannot believe that I am the Creator of my own experience, for certainly I would not have done these negative things to myself!
We are not saying that you did it deliberately, but we are absolute in our knowing that it is always your doing. We call that “creation by default.” The absolute laws of the Universe apply whether you are aware of them or not. When you are not aware and not deliberately choosing your reality, and focusing on the lack of what is desired as so many do, you attract undesirable experience. And so your work in this physical place is to offer your thought deliberately in order to have and be and do that which is important to you and that which feels good or right to you, because you can, by deliberate intent, send your thoughts in the direction of the things and experiences you want rather than in the direction of what you want or the opposite of what you want.
Take responsibility for what is happening in your experience and you will find your ultimate glorious, satisfying freedom to now launch into your future all of the wonderful things you can imagine.”
Abraham — “A New Beginning II”
Judgment
This card actually started as a photo of a statue in Lakeview Cemetery, where President Garfield’s tomb is located.
“This Time of Awakening… This is literally a time of awakening. A time when more of you will be aware of the true nature of your being. And during this process of awakening, you will experience tremendous satisfaction and joy.
It has never been more important for those upon the Planet Earth to understand the creative process, for never before has the creative energy been so powerful. Never before have thoughts been translated into actual physical manifestation so rapidly. This is a glorious time. A time of great wanting. A time of much more allowing and a time of much more receiving.
But each of you chooses the degree of satisfaction, contentment, peace, love, or joy that you will experience, for there is a broad range of that which may be experienced and all of it hinges upon your willingness to make decisions about what you want, and your belief, or knowing, that “that which you think….is.”
Abraham — “A New Beginning I”
The Sun
The Sun is a big favorite of mine. I think it was the first card I did. The child is a photo of my nephew who was chasing bubbles at the time it was taken. The Sunflowers are actually from a photo of some silk ones that I keep in a vase around here. (The vase is featured in ‘The Star’ card.) And the cat is from a photo of one of my dearest departed pets. She was a sweet little soul who lived to be 22 years old which is pretty old for a cat. The rest of the card was created with special effects.
“You Came Out of Your Exhuberance… You did not come to this physical place and time to prove anything to anyone–to prove worthiness or make your mark. You came forth out of sheer exuberance for life. You said “I will go forth into physical experience, and collect data of my time and place. And then I will allow guidance from within. I will look for things to appreciate that cause me to vibrate in harmony with my broader perspective. And as I achieve this enlightenment, or clear vision, then I will be a funnel that will allow pure positive Energy into this time and place..”
Abraham – – 2/28/93
“The Basis of Your Life is Freedom.
The Objective of Your Life is Joy.
The Result of Your Life is Growth.”
Abraham – – 1991
The actual title of this deck of cards, “The Vortex Tarot,” evolved from the fact that there are about ten or eleven cards that feature a vortex in some form or another. Since Abraham often talks about how we create vortexes of energy, I thought that would be a great name for it.
Remember, to check out the rest of the cards in this deck (as I finish them!), click here: http://www.geocities.com/vortextarot/ – http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/vortex/
©2000, Lisa Parsons, including images. Abraham material is copyright 1991-1999, Jerry & Esther Hicks. Printed in the April-May 2000 Issue of the Conscious Creation Journal. http://www.consciouscreation.com (Feel free to duplicate this article for personal use – please include this copyright notice.)