Tarot Master and Fortune Helper James Ricklef
November 13, 2010
By Victoria Evangelina Belyavskaya
“So, it is my philosophy that the purpose of a Tarot reading is to provide you with
insights about yourself and the world around you in order to empower you to
*create* the future you want. This is why I tell people that I am not a “fortune
teller”; I am a “fortune helper.”
James Ricklef about his Tarot Philosophy
It is my pleasure to introduce you a Tarot reader, teacher, lecturer, and author of Tarot books, decks, fiction and Haiku poetry, Fortune Helper, as he says about himself, James Ricklef. James has given a lot of interviews for radios and blogs, and as I made my way through them I learnt more and more about this humble, knowledgeable and very down-to-earth and yet highly spiritually developed man. I found it to be a rare combination I met only a couple of times in my life. I recommend you go to his website, www.jamesricklef.com and explore his interviews, articles, and of course his tarot blog, www.jamesricklef.wordpress.com.
James was one of the first professionals I “stumbled upon” at the beginning of my Tarot Journey. I rememebr him starting his blog, and I was faithfully following him from the Republic of Georgia and from China, and then when I returned back to Uzbekistan, I could not open it. I am still clicking every new link I see from James, but, strangely enough, only articles I really NEED at this time of my life open up. For example, we were planning to talk about Tarot Affirmations and sure enough, the page for Temperance, affirmation of the week, opened up to tell me to be patient: I am still in the hospital from last week’s lung collapse, and though I do not feel well I wanted to hold this show with James: talking Tarot lifts up my spirits! 🙂
During our show, which you can download from the archives at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/edvictoriaevangelina, we talked about non-traditional uses for the Tarot and discussed the place of spirituality in one’s life and ways of exploring it with the help of Tarot. James is working on Tarot for Your Spiritual Path book and he kindly shared two of his new spreads with the listeners.
I have to admit, that I find James *insanely* talented about creating spreads! He seem to be able to take any picture/cartoon/phrase or a huge concept like happiness in Buddhism and wrap his mind around it and prodice a wonderful, simple, useful spread! He shares insights and how-to-s of his many techniques in 5-starred by Amazon.com book Tarot — Get the Whole Story which is a follow up to his Tarot Tells the Tale.
Talking about James I cannot not to mention his lovely deck, Tarot of the Masters, which is inspired by classic paintings by old masters, such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Bouguereau, Rubens, and Hieronymus Bosch. I highly recommend you get the companion book when purchasing this limited edition deck, for having the insight story totally changes one’s perspective and hightens appreciation of the deck.
Listen to the episode #8 to learn one of the most common denominators between Tarot and Feng Shui, to learn how to create and use affirmations (described in details inTarot Affirmations book), to get insights about Spirituality and Tarot and to add two new Tarot Spreads into your collection! Unfortunately, Ed Peterson was busy at work and could not co-host this show…. but hopefully, he will be back on air next Saturday, November 20th, 4pm Central, when we will talk with Ellen Zucker, Intuitive Tarot Reader and Astrologer.
Thank You, James Ricklef, for coming to our show! Thank you for all the work you do to bring Tarot on a higher level and remind people of its spiritual foundation over the mundane “fortunetelling” use!
Check out James’ blog: http://jamesricklef.wordpress.com
Join the FUNdamental experience with Ed and Victoria Evangelina on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/edvictoriaevangelina !!
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by Victoria Evangelina Belyavskaya
The next day after our first show GREMLINS on September 18th 2010, I got a “dreamy” e-mail from Ed. “Patrick Valenza. Wouldn’t that be cool if he was with us for our Halloween show?”
“Well, why don’t I ask him?” I typed back and immediately sent an e-mail to Patrick. We had already been acquainted: my deck was the first, and for now, the only, he has ever sent to Uzbekistan. To our greatest joy, Patrick agreed to be with us on the show on October 30th. What a handful of trust Patrick had in us because at that time we had produced only ONE episode!
“I am your Santa Girl!” I wrote to Ed, “GUESS who is coming to us on October 30th??”
THANK YOU PATRICK for your trust and for the very interesting and engaging conversation we had on air! I have received many responses from our followers, and they say, that it was a great chance to learn more about the author of the Deviant Moon deck which is much loved in the Tarot Community.
I will not spoil your appetite for downloading the show and listening to it, but I will say that you will learn a lot about the artist, mystic, dreamer, creator and man Patrick Valenza, including the reason why suddenly ALL nightmares disappeared from his life; why the cemetery where most “texture” images are taken at is a “sweet” place for him; how the cards of the DM “revealed” themselves; why his forthcoming self-published deck has the title “444”; and what an amazing SISTER DECK TO THE DEVIANT MOON is in his closest plans! We also talked about families, dreams, mystical experiences and much more.
Having heard that the Six of Pentacles was the only card from the whole deck that Patrick had to re-do, Ed Peterson (my famous in all matters of numerology co-host) immediately responded with his magic knowledge, knocking everybody’s socks off: the Six of Pentacles, according to his calculations, corresponds to the number 74 and both the number 74 and the Six of Pentacles card are Patrick’s Primary Challenge. One’s Primary Challenge is calculated by a formula using the letters in one’s name (see below).
Thank you Ed for this in-depth study of the numbers of our well-loved artist and, as we know now, Mystic! Thank you, Patrick, for allowing us to share this on the blog!
Patrick Valenza was born on March 15th, 1967 according to Patrick Valenza.
March 15th, 1967
3 + 15 = 18 = The Moon = his core number = The Moon. Tarot. Art. Psychic. The unconscious/subconscious. Past-life memories. Dreams. Imagination. Surreal. The night. The dark.
March 15th, 1967
15 + 1+9+6+7 = 38 = Queen of Cups = his “secret” number = Sensitive.
“Light brown hair, blue/hazel eyes;
On intuition he relies.”
[modified quote from Eileen Connolly’s book “Tarot: A New Handbook for the Apprentice”]
—————————————————————————————-
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z
Where:
B = 2 K = 2 T = 2
C = 3 L = 3 U = 3
D = 4 M = 4 V = 4
E = 5 N = 5 W = 5
F = 6 O = 6 X = 6
G = 7 P = 7 Y = 7
H = 8 Q = 8 Z = 8
I = 9 R = 9
7 4 1
his primary challenge = PV = 74 = Six of Pentacles = Generosity. Sharing wisely. Gifts.
On the show, I shared my continuous stumbling upon the Deviant Moon and here’s the portrait Patrick drew on my package. Can you believe it, that he did it BEFORE he had ever seen my photo? It is only after I have received the package when we became Facebook friends, and he calmly scribbled on my wall: “this is exactly how I thought you look like”. Artist? nope. Mystic!!
A present for Val Sherill, who was the first one to guess who our “secret” guest was, is already on the way to her: DM deck, of course, wrapped in paper with Patrick’s gorgeous drawings on it. I am sure it is yet another of his works to be framed and cherished!
And a present for all of our followers is A New Can of Worms spread, which goes together brilliantly with the DM deck. This one is created by Koneta Bailey of www.NewPathsTarot.com, with the drawings by her husband, Mister B.B. 🙂 I totally adore that little worm that tries to escape! Halloween, cemetery texture images, warms, deviant moon….. what a lovely outing, lol !!
Steps to help open and examine what is in your “Can of Worms”
- Card one — Using the can opener: (insert question here) example. “How do I change or shape my actions in order to achieve my goals?”
- Card two — A Peek under the lid: The outer influences that affect me in a negative manner.
- Card three — Prying the lid: Once the negative issue has been revealed, this is the best course of action for remedy
- Card four — Take a good look inside: Looking at the problem straight in the eye (s) and realizing it’s quite fixable and not as bad as you first thought. This card is for further help and advice with meeting the problem head on. (puns intended)
- Card five – Containment. The positive influences that I need to hold onto and utilize. Things or people that can help me deal with the negative/slimy worms I find in my can.
- Card six — Escape. Once you have a clear idea of how to deal with your particular “worm” put him to work for you. Use him to your advantage to lure what you want/need to you. Or, if the situation calls for a complete release, he can be the one that got away. In most cases though, the worm that tries to get away is the one that needs the most attention.
Happy Listening!!!! Thank you for following our show, Facebook page and this blog! May you have a power filled day!
Link to the show with Patrick Valenza: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/edvictoriaevangelina/2010/10/30/talking-with-ed-and-victoria-evangelina
Talking with Ed and Victoria Evangelina 