Decan of Aquarius
Parrot Tarot and the Cockatoos
Before hopping into this week’s blog, I want to take a moment and explain why even though I have free and paid subscribers, I am not doing gated or restricted posts, making everything available to everyone. I took a leap of faith earlier this year and became a full-time artist and this is one of my revenue streams. When you are a paid subscriber here, you are supporting my entire art-making enterprise, not just my writing, and what I am sharing here with you is the fruit of your support. But this medium is also a more authentic way to share what I am working on, thinking, feeling, and doing than social media and I don’t think pay-gating it works with that ideal. So for all of you who are paid subscribers, I want to thank you for making it possible for me to do my artwork. I would love to do quarterly Esoteric/Art/AMA’s for you guys on Zoom starting in the next month roughly so let me know if that would be fun.
For everyone else, there are many other ways to offer support. I recently opened up commissions and have space for one more larger project. If you have an idea, I would love to hear it and see if it will be a good fit. Buying existing prints and artwork is always lovely and I am in the midst of a whole Etsy shop overhaul. Stay tuned on that. But for the day-to-day patron-style support, becoming a paid subscriber is a huge help. You can also just Venmo me, which several of you do already. My Venmo is my name, KrisztinaLazar. My deepest gratitude to you all just for being here, reading, and sharing as well. That is a huge support in it of itself.
And with that, on with the show!
Creating a Tarot deck is hazardous because you live every card as you are making it. Instead of going through each of the suits - because who on earth would want to be stuck in the Feathers/Swords for that long - I decided to do the Minor Arcana in their decans. A few months back, I did a whole post on decans, which you can read HERE if you need a refresh. This decan of Aquarius seems normal enough, but it was a doozy. I drew and inked the three cards super fast and it seemed like I would be able to breeze through it. Phew! I thought. The 5 is never a good card for me when I pull it in a reading. The sooner this is over the better. The three cards, the 5, 6, and 7 of Feathers (Swords), Defeat, Science, and Futility respectively, are an interesting bunch.
And let’s just say that it was not a breeze. The energy of the 7 just utterly delayed me from finishing these for over a month as family illnesses, deadlines, and a million other things got thrown in my way. Defeat definitely struck but through an almost Herculean effort, I was able to finally put these three behind me.
Above is the image of my Aquarius card, The Star with the beautiful Hyacinth macaw, with the other Major card of each of the decans below her. Each tarot minor card has two Major correspondences if you recall and I signify which card it is by using not the parrot on the card, but the corresponding flower or plant that they are featured with. The Star has Violets on it so look for the Violets in each of the cards below.
The 5 of Feathers, Lord of Defeat, First decan of Aquarius (The Star, Hyacinth Macaw, Violets) ruled by Venus (Empress, Female Eclectus, Wheat).
A Red-vented Cockatoo graces this card. They are critically endangered with only about 450-750 mature individuals in the wild. This card signifies mental turmoil, fear of the unknown and assuming the worst as well as past hurts influencing our current actions. When I pull this card, it usually means I’ve made up my mind about something to have a negative outcome without too much in the way of evidence to confirm it.
While there is lots of evidence that Red-vented Cockatoos are losing habitat and the high price for baby birds, which are stolen from nest cavities is causing their decline, there is work being done to counteract these trends. There is always medicine hidden in the bad cards. Rehabilitation is happening for the Cockatoos and we also don’t need to be stuck in our negativity and fear rut. Use this card as a reminder that we have the ability to re-inhabit our minds with fresh and new ways of approaching problems.
The next card is the 6 of Feathers, Lord of Science, 2nd decan of Aquarius (The Star, Hyacinth Macaw, Violets) ruled by Mercury (The Magus, African grey, Lily of the Valley).
This card features the iconic Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. Sulphur-crested Cockatoos are not only very popular pets, they are very numerous in the wild, so much so, that they can be thought of as pests in certain places. The 6 of Feathers is all about the intellectual clarity one gets from working through difficult experiences. It’s the willingness to learn and try things out through trial and error and can signify a new life away from the turmoil, of say, the card before metaphorically. As a very social bird, Sulphur-crested Cockies flock in the hundreds, and their loud, boisterous, and raucous behavior is how they play at being incredibly inquisitive and intelligent.
They can tear through all kinds of parrot deterrents in moments and reclaim any situation we humans try to keep them out of. As pets and companions, they are notorious for dancing and making facial expressions. Their adaptability is the very definition of Science as they delight in learning to figure out new ways of play and mischief. They are incredibly Mercurial birds.
Drawing this card in a reading can have a variety of significations (like any card of course). It can literally mean Science-stuff, like a medical procedure, research, the scientific method, etc. It also very much is the best Feather/Sword card you’ll ever pull, even better than the Ace honestly, and does mean that there is mental clarity about the situation that is helping you out.
7 of Feathers, Lord of Futility, 3rd decan of Aquarius (The Star, Hyacinth Macaw, Violets) ruled by The Moon (High Priestess, Spix’s Macaw, Opium Poppies).
This card features the incredibly beautiful Blue-eyed Cockatoo that lives in the lowland forests of New Britain east of New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. They are large cockatoos with a distinctive bright blue skin patch around their eye, hence their incredibly creative name. Because of the remoteness of where they live, they aren’t easy to study, but recent years have seen a precipitous decline in their numbers because of palm oil plantations getting planted replacing their natural habitats (seriously, don’t buy anything with palm oil in it - check the ingredients of everything!)
The 7 of Feathers card signifies unwise action and a failing plan, lack of responsibility and even theft. Their habitat is literally being stolen from them by a crop that is utterly extraneous in food production and is gutting the ecosystems it is being introduced to as well as creating a reliance on an economy that is more like a pyramid scheme than a true way to earn a living for a community of farmers. This action is unsustainable and can easily collapse.
Pulling this card in a reading often just means you are self-sabotaging somehow or are literally being sabotaged by someone behind your back. It is wonderfully straightforward in that way.
Next up, the 5, 6, and 7 of Fruit/Disks which are already finished. I’m planning on sharing that in next week’s writing!
I’ve been working on a lot of new things, starting two paintings I have been meaning to begin for years. One is a painting in my Goddess series, Simhamukha, the Snow Lion-headed Queen of Dakinis. I can’t wait to share it with you! And the second is a portrait of me and my mother as Demeter and Persephone in the Eleusinian mysteries!
I’ve also just listed this one-of-a-kind Altar Tapestry Thangka giclee canvas print in my Etsy shop. I used to create lots of Thangka paintings and prints like this many years ago. I have been sold out of them for 15 years lol! And I am so pleased to begin making them again. They elevate and make an intentional art object that you can use for magical use, intention setting, altar creation as well as adorning your walls and beautifying your home space. I use only the top quality canvas giclee prints and use silk brocades, woven metal thread tapestry ribbons, luscious velvet ribbons, metal trims, and silk fringes to make a truly indulgent feast for the eyes.
I’ll be making more of these with other paintings of mine: Green Tara, Unicorn Consciousness, Cherubim, Witch, and Eve which are at the top of the list. Let me know if you’d like to preorder one.
