THE SCENT OF ANCIENT TIMES

North Of Italy, 11:15 PM

This morning there was a bit of fog 🌫️ and the sky was overcast ☁️, so much so that I brought an umbrella 🌂 with me.

In the end I didn’t need it because by mid-morning the sky cleared, even though the sun remained pale.

Late in the morning I had a huge scare. 😦

When I go up and down the stairs I have to hold on to the handrail, it makes me feel safer.

Well, today I couldn’t do it because someone was standing right where I usually hold on.

My mind started convincing me that I was going to fall, I suddenly felt dizzy 😵‍💫 while going down the stairs, and I could already see myself face-down on the ground… and yet I didn’t fall.

I really don’t know how that was possible, but what a fright!

As soon as I got home I discovered that both the book about Ostara had arrived — part of the Sabbats series — and Giorgia’s Tarot deck, illustrated by Lunastorta, complete with a pouch to keep them in.

I wanted to purify the Wicked Moon Tarot, but I ended up exploring the Major Arcana one card at a time.

It is so dense energetically and symbolically that I decided to stop before moving on to the Minor Arcana, and even with those I will analyze one suit at a time.

I have never felt a deck this dense before, to the point of needing to stop the analysis so as not to overload myself emotionally.

It is definitely not a deck for beginners, nor for people very attached to traditional Tarot.

This is a true initiatory journey, with very strong neopagan and shamanic influences.

It is very far from the traditional moralistic vision.

The most similar deck I have encountered is the one created by Phyllis Curott, the Witches’ Wisdom Tarot, channeled and developed in collaboration with Danielle Barlow, which proposes the hero’s journey in reverse.

It is a vision very close to my own, and it is easy to understand why Christianity keeps feeling so tight to me, despite the deep love I feel for Jesus.

The only downside is the booklet, which is multilingual and includes some interesting spreads, but overall it is rather sparse.

I would have preferred to know many more details behind each card.

However, it is likely that this was a conscious choice, because the initiate must understand the journey of Lunaria, the protagonist of the deck, only when they are ready — and not before.

It is a deck to be explored and sounded out, because each card has meanings so deep that even a single card offers insights and inspiration of great value.

I  haven’t had time yet to open the book about Ostara, but I just can’t stop smelling it.

It has a sweet and ancient scent at the same time, as if it came from very distant times — but never entirely lost.

I quickly flipped through a few pages and spotted the Pasqualina pie that I might try to prepare with my mother next week.

Every time I approach pagan and folkloric themes my heart leaps with joy, and this has never happened with Christianity, no matter how hard I tried to stay within it with all my will.

On the contrary, I felt apathetic and frustrated.

So enough forcing myself to stay where my soul does not bloom!