Written by: Dr Caroline Blackler / Moti
Hello, I am TABI’s Treasurer, Moti, otherwise known as Moti Black or Dr. Caroline Blackler, and I have been TABI’s treasurer since 2010.
I am an artist and writer living in Sheffield.
I don’t remember where I first heard of Tarot, but I remember from a young age nagging my parents to get me a deck. By the age of twelve, they gave in and I got the Russell Grant Astro-Tarot Deck as a present. Immediately, I knew that wasn’t the right kind of deck for me, as it did not follow the conventional 78 cards (although how I knew that at the time, I have no idea), so I went out and bought myself a Rider Waite Deck.
Over the years I put up with people telling me I would be cursed, Tarot cards were evil, and that intelligent people didn’t believe in such nonsense. For years at a time I put my cards away to be a good girl whilst I earned my PhD in Politics, and went on to become the project manager of a national government funded gender equality project.
In 2009 I started following TABI on twitter (@TabiGB), and for the first time I was talking to other Tarot enthusiasts. Soon after I was a member of TABI and attending my first ever Tarot conference. It felt to me that I had been talking in a foreign language all my life, and suddenly, I could say to someone “I am having a Four of Cups day” and they would understand exactly how I felt.
I began to assess what we do because we feel it is expected of us, what we feel is a good thing to do, and what our soul path really is. I turned my academic research towards looking into karma, past lives, tarot, and Buddhism. In addition to giving Tarot my full attention, I also returned to my other two passions in my life: art and writing.
I have been toying with a novel for nearly as long as I have wanted a Tarot deck. It has changed a lot since I first wrote the synopsis back in 1992, but, like the Tarot, I am now starting to take it seriously and I’m working on pulling it together into a final manuscript. At the moment, it is called “The Casa Martyrs”, and more information can be found on my blog.
In October 2013, I was extremely excited and honored when I won a competition to have my art work be used for TABI’s Facebook Group.
Since then, I feel like my passion and technical skills have grown, and that I may soon embark on creating my own tarot deck: something I have always wanted to do, but never thought I had the knowledge or skills to do.
At the moment, I have 107 Tarot Decks, and I love so many of them that I am finding the next task very difficult! I am meant to pick a card from my favourite deck which says something about me. It was a tough choice between the Shadowscapes, Wild Unknown, Magical Forest, Crystal, Deviant Moon, Sweet Twilight, Wildwood, Celestial, Cruel Thing… and many more…
Finally I chose the Celtic Wisdom Tarot, because it was one of the first decks I bought. I remember pawing over it when I was meant to be thinking big political thoughts at university, but was thinking it that it would be amazing to one day know as much as Caítlin Matthews. Although I don’t know that much today, at least I am studying the right subject 😉
I decided to pick a card at random, rather than choose a card to satisfy my ego (which would be The Guardian/High Priestess). I was shuffling the cards, thinking, if you aren’t what I want to put in this blog, I will pick another card, so the deck pre-empted me, and threw out my stalker card. I call a card a stalker card when it turns up all the time, no matter what deck you use or what spread you are using.
At the moment, my stalker card is the Three of Pentacles, and this is the Courtship of Knowledge Card from the Celtic Wisdom Deck, which does sum me up quite nicely.
I believe this card is both saying that I give my best to projects I am working on, and telling me to devote that kind of attention to future projects.
As the Three of Pentacles is often linked with team work, I think it is also telling me that the TABI panel are essential for pulling together big projects (such as the 2015 conference!) And that it is a wonderful privilege to be working with such a great team.
On a personal level, this card has also come up in positions which I feel are telling me that my first Tarot deck should be a team effort, so when I finish the big piece of art I am working on at the moment, I may be seeking out collaborators – be warned 😉
Visit my blog at www.motiblack.co.uk
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